Club History - Born to sail The Royal Brunei Yacht Club started life in a disused fishing boat, moored at the Subok wharf just outside “Brunei Town” and across from Kampong Ayer. The cabin of “Tenggiri” made a cramped bar, which could squeeze in just four or five at a time. A derelict former customs house in Muara was used as a first dry-land base - but this was long before the port was established in 1974 and road access was difficult along rough jeep tracks. Since formation on September 29 1952, the RBYC has progressed through several premises and membership has grown from a handful then to 600 now. On the estuary just outside Bandar Seri Begawan is the marginally formal air conditioned Kota Batu restaurant and bar facility. For families, the more casual open-air club house at Serasa is popular for its pool and beach-side location looking across to Sarawak’s Crocker Range. The monsoon winds of Borneo have always provided ideal sailing conditions. But from its early days the RBYC club has ridden the crest at Borneo’s premiere sailing events, and also struggled in the trough at times when the interests of members leaned towards other activities. Its first Regatta was the annual Borneo Interport in 1954; its first victory against contenders Miri-Belait Boat Club, and Yacht Clubs from Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu) and Sandakan did not come until in 1962 – appropriately at a refurbished Muara base. Today sails dot the Muara bay each weekend. The Club enjoys a full sailing and a good balance of sailors and power boaters use the Serasa facility. Visting Yachts from all around the world often moor off and use Club facilities. Other members play rugby, football, and cricket in the club’s name, and still others join primarily for social reasons. A fleet of only seven snipe dinghies back in 1954, these largely thanks to benefactors such as the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and North Borneo Trading Company, has been upgraded and expanded over four decades to include Hornets, Lazy Es, Javelins, Fireballs. Today the club has a variety of boats available to members. The history in our making Typical of Brunei in the 1950s, the first Commodore was Brunei’s “British Resident” of 1951 to 1953, John Barcroft. His vice was a friend from the football pitch, Pengiran Kerma Indra PG Abdul Rahman Piut - also a keen fisherman, in true Brunei tradition. Both instigated sailing get-togethers of the “Boat Club”, but civil servant John Gilbert is credited with obtained royal patronage and the formal induction of RBYC in 1952. One of many Club traditions became a “Trafalgar Day” dinner marking John Gilbert’s birthday and acknowledging services to the club that stretched until 1958. By February 1954, the Club had moved to a bungalow at Subok, the present day site of the country’s Arts and Crafts Centre and Shell depot. A Hong Kong Chinese barman cum caretaker and a club carpenter cum boatswain ran operations, but in those early days it was food that was on a “Bring-your-own” basis. In 1956 curry tiffin before Sunday race-days was introduced. Later Nasi Goreng became a Saturday lunchtime favourite of the business communities. While Asian food still features prominently on the menu, the Kota Batu and Serasa Club houses are now well-known in Brunei for their varied and quality western dishes. As today the Subok Club was a honey pot for expatriate socialising in the 1950s, replacing the Old Government Rest House as favourite party venue. It often had high level official guests from overseas, and HMS Britannia has been amongst the visiting naval ships moored off in those days before the Brunei river silted up. An influx of expat engineers from Australia - drafted in to build the BSB/KB trunk road – helped swell membership numbers to 50 in 1954, and added an edge to the sailing. They joined a cross-section of government officials, medics, and educationalists, who were mainly British and Bruneian in the days when the state was a British Protectorate. The membership base of the RBYC has reflected Brunei’s gradual development as an oil-rich nation ever since. After the 1962 rebellion, overseas peace-keeping Forces were drafted in to Brunei and remain today; in 1974 Royal Brunei Airlines was set-up; International School Berakas opened in 1975; during the late 1970s and early 1980s a construction boom coincided with the nation’s ambitions as a newly independent nation. This status was achieved in early 1984, when the RBYC Commodore of the time, Peter Meyer, represented the Club at the ceremony at the town Padang. The RBYC expanded and relocated around that same time. The Serasa site was opened on June 22, 1980, and on November 1 1986, the membership delighted in a return to the river-side with the new Kota Batu Club house.