Hull Yacht Club
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| Short name | HYC |
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| Founded | 1880 |
| Location | 5 Fitzpatrick Way, Hull, Massachusetts 02045  United States
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| Website | www.hullyc.org |
The Hull Yacht Club is a U.S. boating organization located in Hull, Massachusetts, with access to Boston Harbor. The club is based mainly around personally owned yachts and pleasure boats, but also has a history of racing competition.
In the Spring of 1880, thirteen Hull summer residents, who owned and raced small sailboats founded the Hull Yacht Club on June 26, 1880. W.B. Lambert was elected the first commodore and held that office for three years. During the first two seasons there was no clubhouse, sailing events were run from a private pier and dock, and meetings were held at members homes. Even though they started with no clubhouse, being close to Boston with plenty of deep, protected water drew many new members. The Hull Yacht Club was incorporated two years later, April 20, 1882, having grown to 128 members.
In 1882, Hull YC leadership worked out a deal with the Hingham-Nantasket Steamship authority. A pier and facility were built that would accommodate both steamship traffic and also act as the first Hull YC clubhouse. The facility was completed on June 15, 1882. The club used the second story, which had a ballroom, stage, and a wide piazza on three sides.
The location and new facility were an immediate draw, and membership soared to 405 in 1883. Wealthy businessmen were looking for alternatives to Boston; Hull and Marblehead were the most popular choices. According to Outing Magazine, from 1883 to 1889 Hull Yacht club was one of the most active clubs in America. Each summer the Hull YC hosted no less than six open regattas; some were the largest open regattas run on the east coast at that time. It was common to have $1000 in cash prices and greater than 200 vessels entered.
Hull YC had a philosophy similar to the Seawanaka YC in New York, which was a ‘Corinthian’ or ‘amateur’ yacht club. Members with small vessels were allowed entry and owners were encouraged to race their own boats rather than hiring skippers. Hull YC took an active role in promoting racing rules. In 1883, Peleg Aborn, Secretary of the Hull YC, was a leader in the movement to create a national yacht racing association. The move was well supported by active Corinthian sailors and small boat sailors, but was not supported by the large established clubs like the NYYC and the Eastern YC. It took many years but eventually a national organization was created which evolved into what is now US Sailing.
The Hull Yacht Club boasted a membership that included many affluent and influential names in Boston: Melvin Ohio Adams, Lizzie Borden's defense attorney; Albert A. Pope, the father of American bicycling; Harry Converse, founder of the Boston Rubber Shoe Manufacturing Company; Charles Lauriat, the bookseller; William Weld, the shipping magnate; Dr. Francis Brown II, the founder of Boston's Children's Hospital; Dr. Myles Standish, the ophthalmologist and direct descendant of the military leader of Plymouth Colony; and Charles Francis Adams II, Americas Cup Skipper and US Secretary of the Navy.
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