Seventy-seven seasons,
one handshake at a time
Adapted from the club history written by past member Bob Mayfield — keeper of the story until his passing in 2005.
From soda bar to stewardship
- April 1949
Boating enthusiasts meet at the Sunset Soda Bar on Lake Road, Painesville Township. Hiram Laird organizes a boating club; membership is set at $10, annual dues $10. By July, the charter closes with 33 members.
- 1949
Land on the Fairport side of the Grand River is leased from the B&O Railroad at $30 a month. Members clear the land and build their own docks — a habit that never really stopped.
- 1950
Incorporated with the State of Ohio as The Outboard Boating Club of Lake County — outboards only at first, “so that the average working man could afford to belong to the club.” (In time, boat-size limits would replace the propulsion rules.)
- 1951
The Ladies Auxiliary forms and promptly out-builds everyone — clubhouse improvements and grounds beautification. That June, the club’s first fish fry sells out at $1 a plate.
- 1953
Members buy a 24×32-ft Quonset building — the first real clubhouse, opened on Decoration Day with a flag raising, boat parade, and potluck. It had a dirt floor. It was perfect.
- 1957
“The Island” is leased from the Diamond Alkali Co. — at $12 a year — adding docks and room to grow.
- 1968
On August 9, the club officially becomes the Fairport Harbor Yacht Club — the outboard club all grown up.
- 1978
The club buys the Island — every full member paying an equal share. A screen house there becomes the second clubhouse, and the Island a favorite of visiting boaters.
- 1979
Led by member Ralph Parsons, the club purchases the mainland property it had rented since 1949. After thirty years, FHYC finally owns its home.
- Today
Third-generation families tie up where their grandparents cleared brush. The club remains what its founders built: member-owned, member-run, and open-hearted about it.
The club grounds from above — the Grand River on its way to Lake Erie.
Weathered every storm
The early years threw everything at the club — a firebug that burned every building on the grounds, floods, ice jams, and lean seasons. The members rebuilt each time. As Bob Mayfield wrote: without those “strong-willed visionaries, we would not have what we have here today.”
The name on the burgee
A white diamond and red arrow on royal blue — the FHYC burgee flies over the same stretch of river the founders cleared by hand.
Past Commodores, 1949–2025
Seventy-seven seasons of leadership. An asterisk honors those who have crossed the bar.
Rick Langer serves as Commodore for 2026. Meet this year’s officers.