Rowers fear yacht club's expansion plans in Coal Harbour could spell end of their 133-year-old organization

Members of the Vancouver Rowing Club fear an expansion proposed by its Coal Harbour neighbours, the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, could lead to the demise of their 133-year-old organization.

The yacht club recently submitted a design proposal to Vancouver Port Authority that would add 47 new slips to its facility.

But the rowing club is concerned this will narrow an already-busy public waterway in Coal Harbour, making it dangerous for its members — as well as other people on the water. 

"This could mean the end of rowing [in the harbour]," said Dimas Craveiro, a member and former president of the club, which has been based in Coal Harbour since 1886. "And we ask ourselves, what is the Vancouver Rowing Club that's been here for 133 years without rowing?

The two clubs have shared the federally owned waterway for more than 100 years. 

Renewal plans 

Leigh Stratton, executive-at-large at the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, says the club has been interested in a Coal Harbour renewal project for the past 10 years. 

The proposal would see an extension to the club's docks built further into Coal Harbour, and would require establishing a designated rowing channel between the yacht club and slips on the other side of the harbour. Right now the waterway is open-concept.

"We're really excited for this to go forward so there's actually a defined channel [in the plan] that would allow the rowers to continue, because we really want the longevity of that sport within Vancouver," Stratton said.  

The yacht club proposed a rowing channel 63.5 metres wide between the proposed expansion and the other side of Coal Harbour.

In response, the rowing club proposed a compromise of an 81-metre-wide channel. In that case, the yacht club would only be able to add 35 new slips.

The yacht club did not agree with that proposal, says Craveiro. He says the design plan has not changed at all, and that there is no plan B or C. 

Craveiro, who says the rowers have been in talks with the yacht club since 2011, says rowers going up and down the waterway need space to pass each other, as well as a 10-metre buffer from each side of the channel in case of winds and currents. 

"The safety buffers would be essentially gone for us," said Craveiro. 

"We all have to compromise, and in this particular case, they aren't compromising at all," he added.

'Impossible to continue'

Craveiro says apart from its members, the rowing club welcomes around 300 people for beginners classes every year. 

He says the club is concerned about maintaining access to Coal Harbour.

"The restriction of the waterway is going to make it, we think, impossible to continue rowing as we know it today," he said.

"Our overriding concern is more than just about rowing. It's the use of the public waterway for a few [people] as opposed to many," he added.

There is no date yet for when a decision will be made concerning the yacht club's proposal to the port authority.