Club sails into top 15

Deepa Bharath

Newport Harbor Yacht Club has been ranked among the top 15 yacht

clubs in the country for the first time.

The distinction was awarded by St. Louis-based John Sibbald and

Associates Inc. in a report released Friday.

The survey, which selected the United States’ top 200 private

clubs for 2003, was conducted by the Club Leaders Forum, a magazine

published by the search firm.

The firm sent questionnaires to 6,000 clubs countrywide toward the

end of 2003, managing partner Kathryn Sibbald said.

“We had a total of 1,600 clubs that were nominated, out of which

200 were yacht clubs,” she said.

Sibbald said the best clubs were then picked based on 10 major

criteria: The club’s history of excellence, quality of membership,

condition of the facilities, caliber of professional staff,

competence of board members, the club’s adaptability to changing

times, members’ devotion to club culture, spirit of generosity,

prudent fiscal management and, finally, the club’s image and its

reputation in the community.

The top three spots for the best yacht clubs were taken by the San

Diego Yacht Club, St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco and the San

Francisco Yacht Club. The Grosse Pointe Yacht Club in Michigan and

the New York Yacht Club rounded out the list of the top five.

The report has been released once every three years since 1998,

she said.

Newport Harbor Commodore John Cotton, a third-generation member of

the yacht club, said he has no doubts that it is a premier club.

The distinction of being named among the country’s premier clubs

“is an honor,” Cotton said.

The club is what it is because of its dedicated membership, he

said.

“Our club is run by its members,” Cotton said. “That’s what

separates us from all the other yacht clubs.”

Members volunteer to be on committees, organize events and run

programs, he said. The club now has 1,000 members, of which 700

attend regularly, he said.

The club’s ranking speaks a lot about the quality of the club,

which will celebrate its 90th anniversary in January 2007, General

Manager Thomas Gilbertson said.

“This was the first yacht club in Newport Harbor, and so

obviously, it has a rich history,” he said. “The club’s traditions

have been its strength and guidance over the years.”

The yacht club hosts 40 regattas every year, including national

and international events, keeping alive the “Corinthian spirit,”

Gilbertson said.

“But we’re not a high-profile club,” he said. “It’s a place where

people can indulge in recreation in safety and solitude, and they

like it that way.”

* DEEPA BHARATH is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

She may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or by e-mail at

deepa.bharath@latimes.com.