Articles

140 Years

Established in July 1871 as the Early Closing Association Rowing Club, and the Club has been continuously active from premises beside the Yarra River for over 140 years. The Club has a great heritage, which has been enhanced since 1981 when women were formally enrolled as members.

The Early Closing Association was concerned with the “early closing” of shops. When several Bourke Street drapery shops agreed to close at 2pm on Saturdays, the shop assistants decided to form a rowing Club at a meeting held at the Bull and Mount Hotel on 23 August 1871.

At this meeting, 50 members were nominated, rules were passed and a decision was made to order 4 new Gig Fours from the boat builder James Edwards. Initially, the Club rented boat space in the Edwards boathouse, which was nearer to Princes Bridge than our present clubhouse.

The name Yarra Yarra Rowing club was chosen by August 1873, which recalls an earlier name for the river, as well as providing an historical link to Aboriginal variants of “Yarra” to indicate a flowing or rippling character.

At the Melbourne Regatta in March 1874, a Maiden Sculler (P.J. Steele) was the first Club member to win at a public regatta. This started a fine tradition of scullers who have been capable and successful in competition, including many at Victorian sculling championships.

Yarra Yarra Rowing Club was one of the 18 foundation members of the Victorian Rowing Association (the first rowing association established in the world) during October 1876. Yarra Yarra is still very active in the wider aspects of rowing administration through Rowing Victoria.

Yarra Yarra has won championship races in many classes of boats during its seasons of rowing. The Club has also won a number of Victorian rowing premierships. During the 60’s, the Club was very strong and enjoyed a number of wins in championship races and several Victorian Premierships.

Our first clubhouse on the present site was opened in November 1904, but it was destroyed by fire in January 1929. Our next clubhouse was built in 1930, standing for 75 years and refurbished on several occasions as the requirements of members changed.

Our present clubhouse was constructed over the winter of 2005, during which time our fleet was spread far and wide across the State, however a small number of vessels were stored in a temporary compound between Banks RC and Melbourne Grammar allowing our squads to continue training. The shed was completed in November beginning a new era in Yarra Yarra history.

The 2006/07 season was one of the Club's most successful in recent years. YYRC recorded three wins at the Victorian Championships, won the Men’s C, Men’s D and Women’s E Grade Premierships, and had the top four Male C Grade Rowers in the State commemorated at the Rowing Victoria awards.