The Shearwater Yacht Club has its origins in the Canadian Forces Sailing Association (CFSA); formerly the Royal Canadian Navy Sailing Association (RCNSA) The RCNSA was founded in 1949 in an old seaplane hanger near the Club’s current location.
From 1957 to 1967 the Club shared facilities with the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron at a location known as Seaward Defense, now the site of the Halifax Container Pier. In 1967, RCNSA relocated to our present site at Shearwater to make way for the construction of the container piers. The facilities have been built up over the years by the efforts of members on the principle of self-help, a cornerstone of the Club’s operation.
With the unification of the Canadian military in 1968, the name of the Club was changed to CFSA (Halifax Squadron). The Club continued to operate under the auspices of CFB Halifax until 1982 when it entered the CFB Shearwater NPF organization. A 1986 amendment to CFAO 50-5 limited CFSA to service personnel. The Club wanted to retain a broadly based membership and formed Shearwater Yacht Club as a recreation club of CFB Shearwater under the provisions of CFAO 50-20. The SYC was created at the Spring General Meeting in April, 1986, with all members of CFSA (Halifax Squadron) being granted membership in the CFB Shearwater Yacht Club. The SYC and CFSA formed a single Club at the Spring General Meeting in April, 1990.
Over the years the members have raced and sailed a wide variety of club-owned craft ranging from the Club’s original 14-foot clinker-built dinghies to yachts obtained by Canada as war prizes during World War II. The Club membership’s sailing interests include cruising and racing. Club members enter area regattas as well as the Charlottetown and Chester race weeks and races in the Brasd’OrLakes. Club members and boats have participated in the Marblehead to Halifax, Falmouth to Yarmouth, Halifax to St. Pierre and Miquelon, and Newport to Bermuda ocean races
(Adapted from the SYC Members’ Handbook)