The Lake Washington marina that was the birthplace of CYC, is home to four of its strongest one-design fleets and is an important recreational asset for the city of Seattle is in danger and may sink into history without your help.

CYC was founded at the Leschi Moorage in 1945, and while our clubhouse is now located at Shilshole on Puget Sound, the club still runs an active racing program on the lake. The J/24s, for one, are the region’s largest one-design keelboat fleet, with as many as 30 boats racing in the CYC Tuesday night program. Thunderbirds, Thistles and San Juan 24s all make strong showings on Wednesday nights on the lake.

But the Leschi Moorage, without which our lake racing program would probably perish, is in a rapid state of deterioration. The southern part of the moorage, in particular, is in a sorry state of disrepair. The entire outermost row of slips, where finger piers are rotting and sinking, has been unusable for several years.

The time to save the marina is now, and we need your help.

The city of Seattle, which owns the marina and leases it to a concessionaire, is considering issuing a request for proposals (RFP) to seek a private development, maintenance and operations partner at Leschi and the nearby Lakewood Marina. The Parks Department will make a presentation on the RFP process to the City Council on Tuesday, April 21 at 9:30 a.m.

A contingent of Lakewood tenants is opposed to the RFP process and will, no doubt, be present at the meeting in the Council Chamber at City Hall, 600 Fourth Avenue. We need to be there, too, to show our support for the RFP process or, in the alternative, to encourage the city to move forward with a separate RFP for Leschi.

If you can’t be at the council meeting, we would encourage to show your support for CYC’s position by writing to the mayor and to members of the Council’s Parks Committee. Clic here to download a sample letter, including applicable addresses, which outlines our key points. Feel free to customize the letter to include your personal opinions.

Achieving a positive outcome on this issue is critical to the future of a large segment of our racing program. Please take the time to make sure our voices are heard.