Brooklyn’s many boat clubs prep for new season

The Early Days 

Miramar was founded in 1932 when an ardent group of young men began what they called the Miramar Boat and Canoe Club on the north shore of Sheepshead Bay. In 1944, Miramar was incorporated and reorganized as a cooperative yacht club, taking the name Miramar Yacht Club. By then, the club had day sailors, cruising boats (Division 1), power boats and, of course, canoes. Come 1969, Miramar acquired and moved into its current facility, 3050 Emmons Avenue, and today has a fleet comprised of Ensigns (the largest class of full keel sailboats in North America), Division 1, and Ready Boats (Miramar’s Ready Boat program is an opportunity for non-boat-owning members who are certified by the club to take club-owned sailboats for day sails by themselves, thus giving the member a taste of what it would be like to own and take care of one).

Diversity 

One of the more unique attributes about Miramar, according to Commodore Nasim Shamailov, and what makes the club stand out from its counterparts is its diversity. 

In the early days, the membership of boating clubs in the area, like the membership of many voluntary associations, was relatively homogenous. People of various ethnic and religious groups formed associations for themselves. 

Miramar’s founders were Jewish and thus excluded from membership in non-Jewish boating clubs. While that kind of segregation has eased in the years since the club’s inception back in 1932, Miramar was, from the beginning, a haven for sailors of every ethnicity and race.

“We welcome everyone that has the same passion for the water and sailing as we do,” said David Shin, past commodore, adding, “We promote…