and was blown up as a hazard to navigation. In 1869, the club built a clubhouse adjacent to the Parliament Buildings on Front Street. In 1881, a clubhouse by architect Frank Darling of Darling & Curry was completed on Toronto Islands on the site of the present clubhouse, as “the increasing number of railway tracks had completely changed the character of the Esplanade … originally … flanked by handsome residences and the bright blue waters of the Bay.” To reach the new location, the club purchased the clipper-bowed steam launch Esperanza and secured landing rights at the foot of Yonge Street that it held until 1953 (evolution of the waterfront led to further moves — to York Street until 1979, and to Parliament Street until 2011, when the present station was established on Cherry Street). The 1881 building burned in 1904 (at a time when buildings, predominantly built of wood, were heated by coal stoves and lit by lanterns and gas lighting, fires were frequent and the building standard was founded on an expected average life of 20 years). While buildings were rising up and burning down, the members were engaged in racing. The club challenged for the America’s Cup in 1876, and while the Countess of Dufferin was unsuccessful on the water, her owner was more successful at the negotiating table, and weaned the New York Yacht Club from its habit of requiring the challenger to race against its entire fleet. In 1878, the club’s yachts were granted the privilege of wearing the Blue Ensign, defaced with a crown in the fly. This endured, with a break for both the First and Second World Wars, until the advent of the new maple leaf flag of Canada in 1965. As the club’s yachts grew increasingly sophisticated, members’ tastes in designs diverged. Early examples hewed closely to the extreme British plank-on-edge style that relied on ballast, not hull-form, for stability. As the century wore on, Canadian designers such as Alexander Cuthbert and A. Cary Smith began to incorporate more of the features of American yachts such as form-based stability and centreboards. Members were also looking back to Britain for well-rounded designs from such notables as George Lennox Watson and William Fife. In 1896, Lincoln Park Yacht Club of Chicago challenged the RCYC to a series of match races. Interest was such that several cities vied for the contest; Toledo, Ohio won