In the early 1950’s, a handful of sailing enthusiasts, most of them Penguin owners, formed the Nashville Sailing Association For the next few years, they spent weekends racing their boats ‘round and ‘round Bush’s Lake, little more than a pond, in North Nashville. But while their facilities were scant, their enthusiasm for racing was considerable, and so they joined in 1954 with The Nashville Tennessean, Nashville’s largest newspaper, to sponsor the city’s first sailing regatta, "The Tennessean". Soon, the regatta had grown so much that the site was moved to "the big pond" – Kentucky Lake.

The in the late 50’s, Old Hickory Lake was formed. One of the results of the impoundment was the development of a small island residential community named Harbor Island. By 1961, some of the Harbor Island landowners, who were themselves sailor, banded together with members of the Sailing Association to organize a yacht club. The Harbor Island Landowner’s Association allowed the group of sailors to use a small portion of the island as a base for their sailing activities, and so the organization was named Harbor Island Yacht Club.

The original base was on the site of our present property, but the facilities were a far cry from those of today. A dirt road turned from the causeway and wound down to a rocky shoreline. Boat launching was, at best, precarious, so the sailors built floats, anchored them in the harbor and left their boats, mostly Thistles and Lightings, on them. Access to their boats was by small dingy and oars. It wasn’t long before the club founders took up a collection and financed the first improvements to their facilities. They constructed a wooden seawall, a floating dock and a gathering place at the end of the day, a wall-less shed, complete with pseudo restrooms at either end. Harbor Island Yacht Club was well on its willingness to improve the facilities. Work parties were formed and soon the shed had become a clubhouse, complete with porch, deck and fireplace. The "outhouse" style restrooms were transformed into a real bathroom with "indoor" plumbing. A little sailing here, and a lot of work there, were fusing the membership into a respectable organization.

As spread and more and more sailors came out of the woodwork to join the bustling club, the membership found that their treasury had swelled along with their numbers. Contractors were hired to add a kitchen to the north end of the clubhouse, extend the porch deck, and even add another restroom. Their zeal to improve the waterfront facilities led to more work parties, and they constructed a floating dock off Green’s Point, spread crushed stone in the driving areas and poured the concrete launch ramp.

By 1969, HIYC was solvent enough to float a bank loan. Three adjoining lots were purchased, and were graded and paved for a level boat storage area and electric hoist. Concrete floating docks were constructed along the new concrete sea wall, a sewage disposal system was installed, and new parking areas became available. But when it was decided to roof the clubhouse porch, it was back to the tried and true method of "membership muscle".

In the spirit of cooperation, the US Corps of Engineers established a NO WAKE AREA in the harbor, approved moorings for cruising boats, and a future dock to run parallel to the causeway. That winter, the harbor was cleared of large rocks by a floating crane loaned to the Club by the Nashville Bridge and Barge Company.

Facilities remained virtually unchanged until April 1976, when the membership voted to construct a new clubhouse to provide adequate space and facilities to accommodate the burgeoning yacht club. Architect-Engineer-Associates, with Charley Warterfield at the helm, drew the plans, and the contract was let in October. Unfortunately, the contractor declared bankruptcy in early 1977, leaving the skeleton of the new building a forlorn sight in the winter snows. The Board began negotiations with the bonding company, a step that was to last eight long, frustrating months. Finally, in the fall of 1977, HIYC received a satisfactory cash settlement from the bonding company and a new contractor was hired who completed the new clubhouse in the early summer of 1978.

Once again members offered their pocketbooks and person services to furnish, equip and decorate the spacious facilities. In 17 years, HIYC had come a long way from the winding dirt drive to the handsome new structure.

Since 1978, members have upgraded and repaired docks, the hoist and moorings, planted and landscaped the grounds, sunk poles to ring the driveway and built dinghy racks. Private funds have financed and built two private docks with slips, both of which will revert to the Club after a specified time. In 1980, the original clubhouse was renovated to house a full-time caretaker whose job is to keep a watchful eye on boats that are on trailer, docks or moorings.

In 1981 and 1982, the Board of Directors concentrated on three areas of improvement, to reduce the indebtedness of the club, to attract young, new members, and to increase racing activities among the cruising class.

By 1983, ‘The Plan’ (explained in the amendment of the bylaws, Article II) had been adopted by the membership and the indebtedness on Club property had been reduced considerably. Additionally, by 1983, the membership voted to institute a new type of membership –the Junior Active (see Article IV, Membership) in the ongoing efforts to attract new members interested in sailing. Finally, cruising class sailors had implemented successful summer and winter racing series that included not only those who owned cruising boats, but ALL those members interested in competitive sailing.

1984 saw the new birth of a new two day cruiser race, the March Winds Regatta. This new race ended HIYC’s Winter Frostbite series and inaugurated the spring racing season among mid-south yacht clubs. True to form, the March Winds came in on Saturday like a lamb with a light are drifter, and left on Sunday with a force of a 6 to7 howler.

Also in 1988, a small group of avid sailors visualized a fleet of their "own kind", a style only known to Cruisers. With enthusiasm, hard work, and dedication, the Cruising Fleet born! Membership in 1988 was a unique group of 14. Into the 21st century, membership reached 33 individuals and families and expanded to include those who owned all kinds of sailboats.

The cruising fleet actively worked to form a nucleus for all individuals who love sailing. Ultimately, the purpose was to allow all individuals the opportunity to experience sailing in an atmosphere of good fellowship.

In 1988, Mandy and William Hofmeister were instrumental in forming "Miss Mandy’s Sailing Camp", the nucleus of which was the many parents and juniors who sail at HIYC and at Percy Priest Yacht Club. From this small and underfunded beginning has come Harbor Island’s Junior Program – comprised of a sailing camp which now runs four weeks in June, several regattas aimed specifically at junior sailors and an ongoing contingent of juniors participating as crew and skipper in the many club regattas. Many of the children that have graduated through the program become coaches in the program by completing a U.S. Sailing Instructor course taken over two weekends in the spring. The Junior Program reaches far and wide as one of the best outreach efforts the club has to offer. Spanning several states, it is available to those who cannot afford to pay, through the scholarship funding from generous members and other interested parties.

In the early nineties it became apparent that there was a need for new docks to replace the old ones that had served us so well for so long. The first project was headed up by Thom Garrison, with a committee of helpers. This particular project, the Courtesy dock, was conceptualized as an overnight parking area for cruising boats on the south side and a launching area for dinghies on the north. It turned out to be the most labor-intensive dock project the club undertook. We found out later it was easier to let the experts do some of the work. The Courtesy dock became a very popular amenity, sometimes too popular as there was limited space and a lot of takers. This dock also served as a convenient place to park the Race Committee boats. Other dock projects undertaken included a new ramp dock and a new swimming and dinghy dock anchored to Green’s Point.

Two new Race Committee boats were purchased during the early nineties – 25’ Carver (named "Moon Pie" in keeping with certain Redneck traditions) and a small center console Proline to be used as a mark boat (named BB2 in keeping with certain Club traditions). These boats replaced the houseboat that had served the Caldwell/Wolery race committee for so many years. The infamous green boat, BB1, a subject of unending comment was finally auctioned off and purchased for a nominal sum by then harbormaster, Joe Ballard, with the understanding that it would immediately leave the Club property.

With the passing of the Caldwell/Wolery team, the Club asked Bruce Richards to form the all-volunteer Race Committee so that we could continue to run our regattas. Over the years, this has worked admirably though not without the occasional snafu. Most Club members have led or served on various Race Committees, leading to a build up of knowledge about running races and regattas throughout the entire membership. Three other projects deserve mention. For about fifteen years, small dinghies were stored on a rack constructed by Chip Broome and Tom Bond, a small structure measuring approximately twelve by fourteen feet. This was replaced in the early nineties by a much larger structure located on what is now the Laser lot. The project was headed up by William Hofmeister who saw the structure as easy way for members and especially Junior members to store and launch Club Lasers and other dinghies close to the water. It was a smashing success. The old rack, no dilapidated, was moved to the extreme south end of the property, near the causeway, and was slated for eventual destruction. Bruce Campbell and Bill Killebrew had other ideas and with some materials borrowed and bought and with a little sweat equity from various members, the structure was reborn as a storage building for Race Committee supplies. It also became the Lightning Bar and Grill, complete with bar and serving hatch. Bruce has continued to improve the structure, adding decks and Tiki torches during major Club events, which brought about a new name for the building, the Tiki Hut.