Sixty years later, a surprising port for Toronto’s once-blacklisted Jewish sailors

As a general though unwritten policy, Jews were not welcome at Toronto’s Royal Canadian Yacht Club starting from its founding in 1852. So, a century later, in 1951, a group of 18 Jewish boating enthusiasts started the Island Yacht Club, which was not discriminatory in its admissions. Now, having just celebrated its 60th anniversary, IYC is considering merging with RCYC.

The Toronto Star reported that the idea for the merger originated with IYC commodore David Baskin. “The history of the founding of the IYC, a long time back of course, [was that] Jewish boaters were not welcome at the RCYC,” he said. “But that’s a long time ago. Times have changed.”

Not only have RCYC’s admissions policies changed, but the odds for IYC’s future viability are also not the same as they once were. According to a video narrated by Baskin on the Star’s website, at its high point IYC had over 350 member families, but now it has only 80 boating members and 40 social families — few of whom are younger than 50 years old.

The commodore attributes this precipitous drop to a two-year hiatus during which the club had no dining facilities following a fire that destroyed the clubhouse in the summer of 2004. Although an architecturally impressive and award-winning new clubhouse was built, IYC has not been able to fully recoup its membership.

RCYC has been receptive to the merger idea floated by IYC, because it is bursting at its seams and is in need of more docking space

RCYC has been receptive to the merger idea floated by IYC, because it is bursting at its seams and is in need of more docking space for the boats of its current and future members. With the clubs only a mile apart along Toronto Island’s shore, the idea would be to turn IYC into a satellite of RCYC.

In a letter dated June 12, Baskin informed IYC members of an official proposal from RCYC for the two clubs to merge. On June 7, the IYC board considered the proposal and appointed a committee “to consider the matter and to commence negotiations with the RCYC.” Baskin urged members to realistically consider the club’s prospects without the merger. The merger “would guarantee the ongoing operation… without many near term changes for our members, although we would be sailing under a different burgee. I have come to the conclusion, sadly, that this may be the only way that we can keep our club going,” the commodore wrote.

RCYC is open today to members of all religions and racial backgrounds. “I don’t think race is an issue anywhere in our club. It just isn’t an issue anymore,” RCYC’s commodore told the Star. “We’re promoting sailors, and that’s really what it’s all about.”

While not forgetting what happened in the past, most IYC members do not consider RCYC’s historical discrimination a reason to oppose the merger. “One can’t expunge the memory. We’ll maintain a respect and tradition for what happened,” noted Marshall Pollock, the IYC’s vice commodore and a 40-year veteran of the board. “The old days when discrimination was rampant are gone, and one has to be pleased about that.”

What appears to be more worrisome to IYC members is the difference in cultures between the two clubs. Whereas RCYC has a dress code, IYC does not. “Aside from historic questions of religion, we are a less formal and considerably smaller club. Many of our members like things pretty much the way they are,” Baskin wrote in his letter. “While the cultural change for the RCYC would be largely unnoticed by most of its members, it could be significant for some of ours. Our ability to maintain the IYC in its present form will largely depend on the course of the negotiations,” he added.

Times have indeed changed since Cecil Yolles, 87, was “totally turned down” after trying to get into several Toronto yacht clubs, including the RCYC, in the years following World War II. He, a founding member of IYC’s, believes the possible merger is “a wonderful idea. But it’s sort of ironical, in a way.”