HISTORY OF NOTKIt was a time (1957) when Kallithea and Tzitzifies were retreats, where residents of Kallithea, Athens and Piraeus would stroll along the beachfront.
There was a lively mood in the air, contributed to by the guitars and cantatas that were played in the quaint seaside tavernas. It was an idyllic time, before Kallithea was transformed into a cement city.
Tzitzifies had charming seaside fishtaverns that offered entertainment to the simple people. From spring to autumn, the beach was crowded with people swimming during the day, taking nonchalant walks in the early evening and dining at night. At that time the waters were crystal-clear and the setting was incomparably picturesque.
A group of friends, head of which was the journalist Nikos Asimakopoulos (who later was appointed the General Secretary of NOTK), the Airforce Squadron Leader Nikiforos Kortesis, Panos Mavroudis and other lovers of the sea, conceived the idea of establishing a Yacht Club.
The only area that had a small port and a make-shift structure (which were necessary factors in establishing a Yacht Club), was the "Aeroespresso" Base of the Hellenic Airforce (at that time it was the Royal Hellenic Airforce). It was located opposite the Horse Racing Track (next to what was later called the "Delta of Faliron"), where several small boats belonging to Airforce Officers were already moored.
After many meetings, speculations, prepositions and requests submitted to the then Mayor of Kallithea, the unforgettable Commander Georgios Iatridis, they finally managed to gather the amount of signatures required to set up the Club, and in 1958 the Tzitzifies Kallithea Nautical Club (NOTK) was established.
Later, due to its important and constantly expanding nautical sports activities, it was renamed Tzitzifies Kallithea Yacht Club. From its establishment to the present, NOTK has come very near to closing down from threats of evictions, prosecutions, etc, mainly due to changes in the town-planning (the expansion of the beachfront avenue, designing of the Delta). The most recent threat was the building of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games facilities, which called for the whole area of Tzitzifies and Kallithea to be re-designed in order to build the Tae Kwon Do and Beach Volleyball Stadiums and the ultra-modern, 500-berth Nautical Sports Port, where NOTK will once again operate in order to continue its historical course in the field of nautical sports.
NOTK has developed into a significant Yacht Club, involved in all nautical sports and in particular Triangle Sailing, Open-Sea Sailing Canoe-Kayak, Technical Swimming and Amateur Fishing.
Our Club is maintained by its members, both with and without boats, as well as the Sailing Federations.
NOTK's Athletes and boats participate in all Races and Championships (Pan-Hellenic, Pan-European and International), and has had many distinctions. The finest moment of NOTK is when Sofia Bekatorou, one of NOTK's athletes, won the Gold Metal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, in the 470 Women's category.
Every year, NOTK organizes the very successful Open Sea Races of "Korfos" since 1982, "Poros" since 1985 and the International Sailing Race "Cyclades" since 1995.
NOTK also organizes successful Pan-Hellenic and Pan-European Triangle Sailing Championships.
According to official data from the Hellenic Sailing Federation, in 2000 NOTK had the largest nautical sporting yacht fleet, while in 2003 NOTK had the largest number of registered racing boats in the Saronic region.
