Yet another Yacht Club step-parent

In the search for the origins of the Charlottetown Yacht Club few organizations are as poorly remembered  as the Charlottetown Aquatic Club.  It seems to have operated for only a year or two and then it disappeared.

Its creation can be traced back to a lead editorial in the Charlottetown Guardian on 19 March 1912 under the heading Wanted – A Charlottetown Aquatic Club.  The editor stated “a strong organization must be called into existence to set to work on bolder and broader lines than has yet been attempted here.” He was probably critical of the Hillsboro Boating Club although he gave them credit for what had been attempted and achieved in the past However, “it is now time to take a further stride forward.”   The issue was likely the fact that the Hillsboro Boating Club seems to have been restricted to non-motorized craft and motor boats were the coming thing!  A move to strengthen the Boating Club or develop a new organization would bring untold benefits.  It is worth noting that in 1912 there was still severe restriction on motor vehicles in P.E.I. and this increased the interest in motor boating.

It was more than a year later that the Club finally came into being and it was clear that this was very much a motor-boating activity. Headed by Bruce Stewart, who was a builder of marine engines and owner of a number of fast boats, the club was fully operational and held its first activity only a few weeks after its foundation.  The club races were front-page news in the Guardian which reported that upwards of 1,500  people lined the park roadway to see the grand parade of motor-boats and the first races.  Activity continued  throughout the summer and into the next year but by 1915 war news was crowding other activities off the front page and if the Charlottetown Aquatic Club still existed its events went unreported.