100 AND GOING STRONG!
Whangarei – in the early 1920s – had no clubs and few yachts of any kind. There was no organised sailing, apart from the New Year’s Day Regatta at Onerahi which attracted mainly visitors.
That all changed on 26 April 1921 following a visit by the Governor of New Zealand, Lord Jellicoe. He arrived on the government steamer – the Tutanekai – and was met by a small fleet of launches off Manganese Point and escorted to Onerahi. A fairly modest welcome.
The town fathers decided something more formal was needed and WCC was born. Arthur Pickmere – a man who understood the value of sailing and seamanship – was the founding Commodore. Comprising just a handful of seven-footers (the club’s first class of racing yachts) these were indeed
