A Day at the 700 Yacht Club, Seoul, South Korea

by Josephine Lee, 10mag.com on 15 May 2012 It’s Sunday afternoon at the 700 Yacht Club’s Opening Day Regatta. Around a dozen racing yachts are positioned by the starting line. On the start boat, the commodore stands beside the signal flags, looking at his stopwatch and motioning that it’s almost time. I point the air horn upward once more: five, four, three, two, one. The blast rings in my ears, but I’m already crouching with my camera trying to get a shot of the boats as they leap forward. The winds have picked up and the sun is finally breaking through the hazy sky – a great beginning to the club’s first race of the season.

Tucked beside the Sunsang Bridge at the Nanji Han River Park, the 700 Yacht Club offers a unique sailing experience near all the comforts and conveniences of the city. On the club’s official opening season at the start of April, I spend the day in the excited bustle of members, staff, and other reporters reveling in the good weather and friendly discourse around the clubhouse and its newly refurbished terrace.

The event kicks off with the christening of a new sailboat and a quick explanation of the rules of the race by the club’s founder Harold Shim and outgoing Commodore Marcus Von Engel. The whites of the sails, full and radiant with the cold spring breeze are a sight to see, and the air is punctuated with the energetic shouts of racers hollering instructions and my own irrepressible shrieks of glee.

By the third round, after observing a brief collision between two yachts and getting an abridged, verbal lesson on sailing from Marcus, I am impatient to get closer to the action. The water, earlier the color of slate, now shimmers in the evening light and the boats catch the deepening sunset in their sails as they turn toward the finish line. Another moment passes and it’s over.

Back at the clubhouse, members warm themselves in the dining hall and regale each other with the day’s highlights while waiting for the other teams to return. The Club inaugurates the new Commodore, Mr. Shivkumar, in a Commodore Installation Ceremony to replace Marcus, who is leaving Korea. Awards and prizes are given for the day’s races and the clubhouse fills with laughter and merriment as team prizes are mixed up and everything is repeated twice, in English and Korean, for the benefit of the diverse members.

Founded in 2006, the 700 Yacht Club also formed Korea’s first international yacht racing team, which participates in competitions around the world and makes headlines by being the first group from Korea to join in on major yacht races. In their slideshow, Harold shows video of the club’s racing team participating in the 174th Australia Day Regatta and winning in the race’s largest division. In addition to international races, the club also participates in lake and ocean sailing and invites members along on other domestic and international destinations.

Full story: http://10mag.com/community-700-yacht-club-seoul/