Devon Yacht Club KEEPING THE PAST AFLOAT SINCE 1908 BY LYLE GREENFIELD
When people think of yachts, many imagine sleek power craft with multiple sleeping berths and mahogany decks for serving fizzy beverages and canapés to fancy people in cruise wear. But an earlier definition referred to “a sailboat used for racing,” or simply for pleasure, as is the case with most of the craft moored at the Devon Yacht Club on Gardiners Bay in Amagansett. Established as the Gardiners Bay Boat Club in 1908, it was officially incorporated as the Devon Yacht Club in 1916 by the original founders, four wealthy businessmen and their families from Ohio (yes, Ohio). The gentlemen, which included Colonel William Cooper Procter, grandson of the Procter & Gamble founder, had traveled east on hunting trips since 1906. They believed the lands abutting the bay would make a perfect summer colony, and purchased over 2000 acres of what was then considered marginal, mosquito-infested dune and marshland. Shortly after building their summer residences, they began work on the waterfront
gathering spot that would become the Yacht Club. After 113 years and multiple hurricanes, the beachside club and docks very much resemble the original structures, a living page in the East End’s history. In 1934, the club initiated an annual summer sailing and regatta program for children, imparting nautical skills and a lifetime of memories. The founders probably couldn’t have foreseen the largesse of those who would come later, but the East End has clearly benefited from club members’ generous gifts over the years: the site for the Amagansett Library; 130 acres of shoreline along Fresh Pond and Gardiners Bay; 1300 acres stretching from the bay to the ocean, an unspoiled habitat that would become Napeague State Park. Each year since 1947, Devon has hosted a Grucci fireworks show on the Fourth of July for members and neighbors alike. So, here’s to the Devon Yacht Club—to wind in your sails and sunshine on your decks in your 114th historic season by the sea.
114 • AFLOAT USA Hamptons Summer 2021
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