The Bell Clapper Race, A Port Credit Yacht Club Tradition

You can blame it all on Happy Hour. Friday nights at Port Credit Yacht Club used to mean half-price drinks and the whole membership packed into the bar to celebrate the end of the work week. Around 10 o'clock most Fridays in the early 1970s, someone would notice that one particular couple had slipped out. "They've just gone down to the Dufferin Mark to check the clappers," people would say. In truth, they had simply had enough of the noise and smoke, and had taken their sailboat out onto the quiet lake toward the sparkling skyline of Toronto.

How a Friday Night Escape Became a Port Credit Yacht Club Race

It became such a regular habit that other members started wanting in on it. That is how, in 1973, the Bell Clapper Race was born. The very first entry form was a bar chit, signed by each skipper before 7 p.m., who agreed to buy a round for the whole crew. Race protests, when they came, were heard by a committee chaired by Norm Archbold, who presided in full judge's robes and wig. According to PCYC's own club history, "the rating system was cleverly designed so that nobody actually won the race," which tells you everything about the spirit the whole event was built on.

SEE THIS YEAR'S RACE
Traditions this good are still very much alive. See this year's Bell Clapper on the current club racing calendar, or email us if you want to get involved. pcycracing.ca/2026-bell-clapper/

Pandemonium on the Patio at Port Credit Yacht Club

At exactly 8 p.m., the brass bar bell was sounded and the calm ended instantly. Roughly seventy people tried to get through the patio door at once, sprinting across the lawn, leaping hedges and boat cradles, racing for their docks. A few crews found their boats had been quietly sabotaged by their own dock neighbours before the start, one was tied underwater to its own slip, another had buckets tied to the keel, and one skipper discovered his jib had been hoisted upside down. Once every boat finally cleared the harbour, "Gentlemen's Rules" took over and the fleet settled into a competitive cruise down to the Dufferin Mark and back.

A Bowl of Chilli and a Trophy Made From a Bell

Boats started drifting back to the Club around midnight, and every crew was greeted the same way: a bowl of hot chilli and one question, what colour was the toilet paper draped around the Dufferin Buoy that night. The trophy fit the story perfectly. It was presented by the Canadian Coast Guard to the member whose Friday night escapes started it all, who immediately handed it over to the Club as the race's permanent prize, an actual brass bell clapper, pulled from a small river buoy.

JOIN US
More than fifty years later, the race still runs every September. If a club with this much personality sounds like your kind of place, start your membership application or email us and we will walk you through it. pcyc.net/apply-online

A Tradition Still Worth Sailing at Port Credit Yacht Club

The 2026 Bell Clapper is already on the calendar for this September. These days the race itself runs as a straightforward club start, but the trophy, the chilli waiting at the dock, and the story of one couple's quiet escape more than fifty years ago carry on exactly as they always have.

EXPLORE MEMBERSHIP
Explore membership options or email us to book a tour. Come find out for yourself what a club with this much history, and this much fun, feels like. pcyc.net/why-pcyc