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Corsair Yacht Club was incorporated on August 14, 1937. The official roster of the club listed a veritable “Who’s Who” in Southern California yachting history. Notable among them was Bert Ashbridge, the brother of Fred Ashbridge, builder of many famous sail and power boats bearing his name. Other charter members include Duncan Poundstone, the first Commodore, Robert R. Aston, A.H. Gain, C.W. Falkner, Charles H. Pool, G.A. Van Evers, Lawrence G. Walters, Griffith Barrenger, Lester Hughes, Stan Cripp, Harold Ward, Millard Russell, Walt Cole, Harry Thayer and Earl Sweinhart.

Then came the war years. Many Corsairs went into the armed forces. The Navy occupied the West Basin, and issued orders for the dismantling of the Corsair club house. Staff Commodore Bert Ashbridge, who was then Secretary-Treasurer, banked the club funds and closed the books for the duration of the war. Thus ended a chapter of Corsair Yacht Club activity.

The death of Bert Ashbridge in 1952 revealed the high regard he held for the Corsair Yacht Club. He bequeathed thousands of dollars for perpetual trophies, one for sail boaters and one for power boaters.

EMERALD BAY THE LAST FRONTIER….Until Memorial Day 1961, Emerald Bay was considered an open and very poor anchorage. Staying overnight was done occasionally, but only by the real salty sailor. Between World Way II and 1961 only four moorings were installed in the bay - for the Boy Scouts’ 65’ “MANTA”; John Wayne’s “NORWESTER”; Charly Lafferty’s “SPINSTER”; and Earl Sweinhart’s “HI-DE-HO”.

Until that Memorial Day, Corsair Yacht Club did not have a home at Catalina and held its cruises at various coves - the Isthmus, Big & Little Fisherman, Big & Little Geiger, White’s Cove and occasionally off Sandy Beach at Emerald Bay. In August 1960, Dr. Andy Anderson and Dick Sweinhart went up to Emerald Bay to show Dr. Anderson a gorge and beach that were directly off the stern of the “Hi-De-Ho” mooring. After crawling under barbed wire and into waist-high weeds and inspecting the wash thoroughly they could see possibilities in converting it into a Yacht Club Cove. All they needed was permission from the Island Co., an air compressor, three jack hammers, one bulldozer, 75’ of 24” culvert pipe, 150 concrete blocks and 20 sacks of cement….TO START!

The following winter the Corsair Yacht Club Board of Directors determined they would also need money, 75 strong backs, liability insurance and enough ladies willing to feed the construction crews for the next two summers. The Board of Directors knew the club had some hard workers, but were totally surprised when nearly all of the Corsair Yacht Club members came to the First Work Party on the 1961 Memorial Day Cruise. That was the start of Corsair Cove - with picks, shovels, various tools, an air compressor and literally tons of construction material. Construction began in earnest and has never ceased. The excavation and burial of the 24” drain pipe was completed in two weekends and ready for the bulldozer that did not arrive for several more weeks. By the 4th of July the real construction started. There was a separate crew for each project - the block wall, fire ring, barbecue pit, lockers and heads. The tables and flag pole came the following year and the septic tank in 1968. Corsair Yacht Club has some real sand hogs.

It wasn’t very long until the word was out and other yacht clubs wanted to use CORSAIR COVE. The Corsairs’ reputation grew, along with widespread recognition of the Corsair burgee. Corsair members proved Emerald Bay to be a beautiful, (even if not the calmest) mooring area. There are now nearly 100 moorings in the West Emerald area.

Today, one of the strongest Clubs on the Pacific Coast, the Corsairs have a very eventful calendar. It includes nine cruises to beautiful Catalina Island, sail boat races, fishing contests and the Commodore’s Ball.

The Corsair burgee is recognized in many ports of the world. Membership is limited to seventy-five. The membership is usually filled to capacity, with applicants waiting to join.

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Corsair Yacht Club Commodore's Ball 2019

by Thomas Wasper

November 2, 2019 The Reef Restaurant Long Beach, CA

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Business Details

Joe Churilla

562-773-1271

[email protected]

Box 14777,Long Beach,CA,90853,United States

Business name : Corsair Yacht Club

orsair Yacht Club was established on August 14, 1937, so that “…all members may so associate themselves as to secure the maximum pleasure and usefulness of their respective pleasure crafts and through association, further promote good fellowship among members as well as others interested in the field of yachting.” The club celebrated its 70th anniversary on Memorial Day 2007 at Corsair Cove. The club’s facility is located on the West End of Catalina Island at Emerald Bay. Official Club cruises are held at Corsair Cove about nine times a year. We also hold cruises to other Catalina coves and on the mainland. Our monthly dinner meetings are held on the mainland at a local restaurant in Long Beach. Our membership is limited to 75 regular members. Membership is open only to owners and operators of vessels of sufficient size and properly equipped for safe overnight cruises to Catalina Island. We are a very active club. Participation in a minimum number of club events, including work parties, is required to maintain membership status. We have an active Junior Corsair program, and are a family oriented club. The club is open to sail and power boaters, and is made up about equally of each. Our members come from all over Southern California. We are members of the Southern California Yachting Association (SCYA), and hold one sail boat race a year at Catalina Island. Members also actively engage in fishing, diving, hiking, kayaking, navigation, and other nautical recreation. We enjoy reciprocal privileges with many of Southern California’s most prestigious Yacht Clubs.

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Old Long Island

Dedicated to the preservation of Long Island's 'gold coast' estates and other things old.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

J.p. morgan jr.'s corsair.

12 comments:

Glamorous photo. As Morgan Sr. once said, "if you have to ask, you probably can't afford it"

Incidentally, Corsair was built at the Bath Shipyard here in Maine. We look at it in this photo and we're moved both by its graceful lines, and its tasteful opulence. What isn't entirely clear is its size: At 343 feet, it was likely around 150 feet and more LONGER than the Morgan house at Matinecock Point. Think about it.

Aaargh, I didn't mean to comment three times, but forgot to include this link to a good article about Corsair: http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/node/30155

I don't own a hardcopy of this photo but it was among a number that sold at auction a few months ago that were part of a larger collection of Morgan family yachting possessions. Also sold was this beautiful trophy from J.P. and E.D. Morgan's racing yacht 'Columbia' (an America's Cup Defender): http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/9921594

Today's word verification, "prime", is so appropriate for the subject of today's post. Also, great commuter yachton right of photo. My dad often told us about how he and his friends used to canoe under the bow of this magnificent yacht (while it was at anchor, of course). If any of you ever get to visit the Model Room of the New York Yacht Club, there is a large scale model of the Corsair (once the NYYC flagship)on display that is incredible. It features "cutaways" in the hull that allow you to peak into stateroom, head, coal bin, etc. Memorable, to say the least. OFLI

OFLI, I have indeed seen the model of Corsair at NYYC. Just extraordinary---as are so many of the models in that equally extraordinary room. There is also a magnificent model of the Corsair at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath. It was made for the lobby of the Bath Ironworks, where Corsair was built. The fittings on that model are of gold to imitate the brass ones on the actual boat. Also on file at the Museum are the plans for Corsair. The various Corsairs plied Maine waters often---Mrs. Morgan Sr. and two of Morgan's Jr.s sisters all summered there (as did Morgan Sr.'s mistress), and the local Society columns of the day are full of tales of dinners held aboard the yacht, with sparkling guest lists, and tales of launches back and forth to shore. In his memoirs, Louis Auchincloss tells a marvelous tale of one Bar Harbor summer when his parents were summoned to dinner (his father sometime represented some of the Morgan interests). His mother, already invited to another party, made a social lie to her hostess of the sort that we're encouraged not to make as children, thus enabling them to go to the Morgan party. When called up by her children for the hypocrisy, she said that someday they would understand the necessity.

JP Morgan Chase owns a collection of dinnerware from the Corsair- terribly chic and elegant, emblazoned with the Corsair's flags (I think there's a nautical term for those triangular flags, but it escapes me) and comprising all sorts of items that no self respecting plutocrat would set to sea without: bouillon cups, oyster plates, celery dishes and the like.

DED, I'v driven past the Bath Iron works, but unfortunately, did not get a chance to stop in. I spent a few days at Small Point, Beautiful, but as one cruising book put it "... has mosquitos the size of sea gulls". Magnus, The small triangular flag you're referring to might be a burgee. For those of you interested in steam yachts, I would recommend the coffee table book, "The Steam Yachts: An Era of Elegance", by Erik Hoffman. Very nice book. In addition to the Ocean going yachts, it also features fast commuters, also owned by many of the North Shore's finest (such as the one pictured near the Corsair). On a nice day, it sure beatsa private train car or limo. OFLI

Magnus, love the details about the Corsair service. Quite remarkable, given the generally more casual air about even high end yachting nowadays, to think of the Morgans and their guests properly dressed for dinner, sitting down to delicate cups of consomme. The last time I was on a big yacht, a few months ago, it was ketchup bottles all the way. On the other hand, my great-grandfather, who was not particularly fancy in the big scheme of things, never went sailing without a tie, right into the 1960's. That era is very gone. OFLI, I have personally never seen a mosquito bigger than a sparrow up here, but I have heard of larger. I remember a summer evening many years ago, much too warm. I went down to the yacht club with the idea that I'd row a dinghy out to the center of the harbor and enjoy the still evening twilight. You'd think I'd know better in Maine at dusk in the summer. I lasted less than five minutes. I still remember the sound, like a million little dive bombers. It was like a scene in a horror movie---think 'The Birds' recast with mosquitoes.

I'm never clear on Morgan, Morgan Jr. - who owned "Matinecock Point"? Did Sr. first have property, then Jr. inherited? If I read the upside-down date(1894) stamped on copy I have - this yacht is Corsair II. Corsair I was a 185-foot purchase(1882) from Charles J. Osborn(Jay Gould's private banker}. Corsair II was 241-feet, commissioned after his father died around 1890. Designed by J. Frederick Tams and John Beavor-Webb. Corsair III was 304 feet built in 1899 by T. S. Marvel of Newburgh, NY. Corsair IV built at the Bath Works in 1929 was 343 feet. Link to captain's log on a early voyage - http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-01-24/wall_street/30046344_1_brooklyn-bridge-jpmorgan-skylight

Half & Half, Morgan Sr.'s country estate was on the west bank of the Hudson River. As far as I know he never owned Matinecock.

O(F)LI: Burgee- yes. Thank you

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At Auction: Nautical Curiosities from J.P. Morgan’s Corsair

The second in a series of enormous steam yachts named Corsair was built for J.P. Morgan in 1890 by Neafie & Levy of Philadelphia, replacing an earlier craft used by the financier as a ferry between his Hudson River estate and office on Wall St. In 1897 the 241-ft. Corsair II became the flagship of the famed New York Yacht Club when Morgan was elected Commodore; in 1898 it was bought by the government and renamed the USS Gloucester , serving as a gunship in the Spanish-American War. Morgan, who commissioned an even larger Corsair to replace it, entertained great men of the day from Teddy Roosevelt and Thomas Edison to Mark Twain aboard the floating mansions fitted with every possible luxury.

Corsair with a Flagship banner. Some 220 pieces of it will be included in an historic sale of nautical curiosities from the various Corsairs and more at Boston Harbor Auctions on May 1. Other items from Morgan’s collection include a silver Tiffany & Co. cigar cutter designed in the Corsair ‘s crescent and star motif; his mahogany poker set complete with ivory chips; Boston-made brass ship’s clocks; embroidered table linens; specially bottled Scotch whisky and engraved tumblers; canvas covered wicker provisions trunks; and even a classic wooden launch from the Corsair III (pictured below in front of the NYYC in Newport). Not a bad haul….

Jared Paul Stern is the editor of Driven .

All photos courtesy Boston Harbor Auctions.

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Comments on “ at auction: nautical curiosities from j.p. morgan’s corsair ”.

Cute house.

Amazing. The interior is a wonder, I’m sure. I’ve been on Victorian Yachts at the Museum in Newport. Pianos, red velvet sofas. I can only imagine what’s in there.

Very cool. Great find MW.

Sweet! Bit of fun: the on-line catalog of the Morgan Library is called “Corsair.”

Jamie Dimon should buy it all.

I love the simplicity of the poker chips.

Comments are closed.

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California Yacht Club Destroyed in Fire

MARINA DEL REY— A huge fire destroyed the California Yacht Club, located in Marina del Rey, on Dec. 11.

Los Angeles County Fire Department received a call around 11:30 p.m. that night and arrived to find a massive two-story fire. 

Videos from news outlets show bright red flames traveling over the roof of the club and producing large black clouds of smoke.

Two firefighters suffered moderate injuries and were hospitalized before the blaze was extinguished just before 1:30 a.m. Dec. 12. The cause of their injuries has not been released. 

Among the most prominent California clubs, the California Yacht Club was established in 1922 and has a long history of promoting yachting and maritime activities. It has frequently hosted national and international regattas, with recent events including the J/70 World Championship, U.S. Junior Women’s Championship, Martin 242 North American Championship and CFJ National Championship.

The club was started in Los Angeles harbor by a group of loyal yachtsmen – most from the Los Angeles Athletic Club and the rest active in other early yacht clubs of that day. In 1941, America went to war, and the Coast Guard took over CYC’s facilities in Wilmington. Members continued to fly the Club Burgee, but after World War II, the facilities were so run down that CYC never could return to its birthplace.

Former owner Steve Hathaway noted that his father helped build the club in the 1960s. “It’s been a home for so many people,” said Hathaway in a statement. “We are so heartbroken right now… It tears me apart to see… It’s just terrible.”

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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