About Pacific International Yachting Association

The first notes of the founders are dated May 15, 1920 creating Pacific International Yachting Association being a merger of the Northwest Yacht Racing Association and the Pacific International Power Boat Association, the later organizations having been in existence for some time previous

By laws were a simple one page document stating the order of meetings, how disputes would be settled, and if a vote on a motion was tied it was then defeated.  All questions of parliamentary practice not provided for would be determined by Robert’s Rules of Order.

With the growth of PIYA came many responsibilities, the first being the allocation of sail numbers through NAYRU (predecessor to US Sailing), North America was divided in Areas A – H, with the dominant Yacht Racing Association in the area responsible for the distribution of sail numbers owned by members of the association member yacht clubs.

Appeals followed, with each YRA having an appeals committee as a prescription to the RRS by US Sailing, this is also recognized as a valid appeals committee by the Canadian Yachting Association (CYA).

Special Regulations began to appear in the early 1960’s and were developed by the Association in recognition of the number of overnight races that were being run in those days.  It is safe to say that these were probably the first standards of any consequence in the world and were the basis of the ORC regs as we see them now.  Our Special Regulations have evolved over the years to reflect the changes in equipment and government requirements.

Membership is by Organization/Club – Active or Associate.  These member clubs are entitled to the same privileges regarding race entry, protest, appeals, individual yacht trophy awards, etc.  The only difference being in the vote allocation of clubs which is noted in the By-Laws.  Application for Membership may be submitted for consideration by the Membership Committee at the Annual Meeting.