FCYC was born on July 23, 1981 when a group of interested local boaters applied to the BC Government under the Society Act to create the False Creek Yacht Club. The next year, 1982, the first club executive members were elected and Barbara Carstensen was chosen as FCYC’s first Commodore. 1983 marked FCYC’s first official sailpast.
At this point in the early 1980s, all FCYC had to show was a group of interested boaters and not much else in the way of facilities. So, the club made the decision to invest in a barge, called the Tantor, which was supposed to serve as a temporary home. A tiny little event got in the way of this grand plan – Expo 86! After Expo, a group of club members attempted to lobby the various levels of government to try to get a permanent spot in False Creek.
The challenge was daunting! FCYC was competing with 30 other organizations, many of which were large commercial operations, for rights to prime real estate in False Creek. With only about 15 signed-up members at that time, the chances of FCYC being successful were very small. The Board decided the only way this ambitious plan would succeed is if the plans for the proposed building were so expertly done that FCYC was positioned with banks and potential lessees to appear much more solid than the Club actually was. So, they decided to commission the same designer and architect responsible for the Calgary Olympics to create the plans and design a three-dimensional mockup of the proposed FCYC building. His name was John Sproule.
To engage such a distinguished architect was incredibly ambitious for such a fledgling club. Essentially, FCYC had no money to pay his fees. So, the Board turned to the membership with a unique offer. For those members who would put up a substantial sum of cash on the slim chance that this money would help FCYC secure the building rights. It was understood that this was a long shot, however, those members would thereafter be considered Honourary Life Members with dues prepaid, and not have to pay any more dues for the remainder of their membership if the bid was successful.
Contact Info
Address:
1661 Granville St, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1N3, Canada
Phone: 604-682-3292
Email: FCYC@FCYC.COM
Website: www.fcyc.com
