About the RNNYC

The Royal Netherlands Navy Yacht Club was established on April 29th 1899 by officers of the Royal Netherlands Navy to encourage seamanship for young naval officers. To experience the responsibilities of commanding a seagoing yacht, no matter how small, was considered the best preparation for their job. The same applies to facing the elements from a small and low deck. Another useful aspect of off shore sailing is that it requires teamwork, especially when racing, which is regarded to foster desirable qualities in leading men and women. The RNNYC encourages its members to participate in yacht races and provides training in seamanship, navigation, yacht handling and racing. Alongside these ‘core business’ aims, the naval yacht club organises regattas and represents the Royal Navy during maritime events.

In November 1901 the Netherlands Navy Yacht Club received its Royal predicate from Queen Wilhelmina. In its first ten years, some 40% (±350) of the Navy′s officers were member of the RNNYC. Today, there are approximately 500 members. Membership used to be restricted to officers, midshipmen and retired officers of the Navy and Naval Reserve. Since 2008, membership is open to officers from the entire Netherlands Defence Force. Membership is also open to civil servants in permanent employment of the Ministry of Defense, officers of foreign defense forces serving in the Netherlands, and, in extraordinary situations, people without any direct links to the Defense apparatus.

The RNNYC’s marina with a welcoming clubhouse is located on the Harssens Peninsula, naval premises next to the Texel ferry terminal. Guests are very welcome.

Racing

From the very start the RNNYC has been involved in offshore yacht racing. RNNYC yachts such as the old “Najade” have competed in races such as the Fastnet Race, Hook-of-Holland-Harwich, North-Sea Regatta, and many others, commanded by famous skippers such as Wim Coolhaas. While halfway the 20th century quite a few members were keen racing yachtsmen, later cruising got the upper hand when naval officers became modern family men who preferred to take their families on recreational trips. But a hard core of racing yachtsmen remained. Skippers such as Dirk de Haan and Marc Lohmeijer successfully raced the Pion-class “Fortuyn” and X-class “BaXmeester”. Honourable members like Aas Visser raced the Dragon and IOR-class yachts. Later generations of skippers such as Bas Dijkhuizen, Joost Carol, Paul Bijleveld and Erik Enzerink also filled the KMJC trophy cabinet with many cups and various titles of Dutch championships in the 1990s. Today, the KMJC mainly consists of recreational sailors and competitive sailing has faded into the background.

Harbourmasters

Jeroen Sterkenburg / Joost Wijngaarden

The Board

President: Michiel Posthumus
Vice-president/secretary: Peter van den Berg
Chief Finance: Bas Kreijger
Assistant Chief Finance: Arnoud Monné
Chief Membership Administration: Mees Vervelde
Chief Maintenance: Rob van den Heuvel
Chief Infrastructure: Taco van der Schraaf
Chief Activities: Vacancy
Patron: Rear Admiral Harold Liebregs