We are the second oldest Yacht Club in the United Kingdom, preceded only by The Royal Thames. The Dee Yacht club began life in 1815, the same year as The Royal Yacht Squadron. The 150th Anniversary of our founding was celebrated in 1965. In 1997 we celebrated the 150th Anniversary of the granting of our Royal Charter in November 1847. Unfortunately the annals of the Club are few, most having been destroyed by fire in 1929, but we have the AGM Minute Book dating back to 1930, the Minute Book for the Sailing and Management Commitee dating from 1947 as well as a few other items of interest.

We know that Edward Watson Lloyd, who was Clerk to the Assize for the North Wales Circuit (which also included Cheshire), was Honorary Secretary of the Dee Yacht Club in 1838 and had become Commodore by 1843. The names of his predecessor(s) and successors in office are, alas, unknown.

For very many years, and after its formation in collaboration with the Royal Ocean Racing Club, we helped organise and/or hosted offshore racing in the Irish Sea; until in fact the 1960s, when the Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association, better known as ISORA, was formed and undertook the organization of all offshore racing on both sides of the Irish Sea. Also, in accordance with the Objects of the Club, we gave assistance, financial and otherwise, to the clubs in the area.

In 1977, in celebration of the Silver Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's Accession to the Throne, at the invitation of the Royal Thames Yacht Club, we organised the Silver Jubilee Offshore Series race for the North West area.

The Eastern Irish Sea Series (EIS) was conceived by our then Commodore, Dr J.S. Talbot, in November 1993 as a series of six separate day-long offshore races, to be hosted by various clubs in the Eastern Irish Sea, with the overall winner being presented with the EIS Perpetual Challenge Trophy.

In 1997 we renewed our collaboration with the Royal Ocean Racing Club. Conjointly with Liverpool Marina Yacht Club we organised a 160 mile race form the Mersey to Pwllheli, ranking as a qualifier for the Fastnet race.

We have hosted a regatta in the Menai Strait for very many years, perhaps since before the turn of the last century, perhaps even earlier. Records exist of local regattas in the Menai Straits early in the 19th century - Town Regattas from 1830 and the Royal Welsh Yacht Club from the 1850s and there is ever reason to suppose that the Royal Dee, as a prominent yacht club of long standing in the wirral and North Wales area, would have also hosted its first regatta in the Strait around this period.

So what are we now? I quote from the late Richard Yeoward, a former Honorary Commodore 'The Royal Dee Yacht Club is an ancient club formed of a limited number of invited members whose knowledge and experience will be held in sufficient respect by the world of yachting for it to be available to others now and those to come in the future.'