The New York Yacht Club (NYYC) is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. As of 2001, the organization was reported to have about 3,000 members.[1] Membership in the club is by invitation only. Its officers include a commodore, vice-commodore, rear-commodore, secretary and treasurer.
The club is headquartered at the New York Yacht Club Building in New York City. The America's Cup trophy was won by members in 1851 and held by the NYYC until 1983. The NYYC successfully defended the trophy twenty-four times in a row before being defeated by the Royal Perth Yacht Club, represented by the yacht Australia II. The NYYC's reign was the longest winning streak as measured by years in the history of all sports.[2]
The present primary clubhouse is the New York Yacht Club Building, a six-storied Beaux-Arts landmark with a nautical-themed limestone facade, at 37 West 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan. Opened in 1901, the clubhouse was designed by Warren and Wetmore (1898), who later helped design Grand Central Terminal.[8] The centerpiece of the clubhouse is the "Model Room", which contains a notable collection of full and half hull models including a scale model history of all New York Yacht Club America's Cup challenges. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987.[4][5][9]
As Penn Club of New York (est. 1901) became the first alumni clubhouse to join Clubhouse Row for inter-club events at 30 West 44th Street[10] after Harvard Club of New York City (est. 1888) at 27 West 44th, New York Yacht Club (est. 1899) became the first non-alumni clubhouse to join at 37 West 44th, then Yale Club of New York City (est. 1915) on East 44th (and Vanderbilt) and Cornell Club of New York (est. 1989) at 6 East 44th on the same block, with Princeton Club of New York joining in 1963 at 15 West 43rd (the only alumni clubhouse who wasn't on 44th Street, whose members, part of the staff, and in-residence club, Williams College Club of New York were absorbed into Penn Club following a previous visiting reciprocity agreement between the Princeton-Penn Clubs, before Princeton's went out of business during COVID).[11][12] Despite being in New York City, Columbia University Club of New York (est. 1901) left Princeton after residence agreement issues[13][14] to become in-residence at The Penn Club, while Dartmouth shares the Yale Club, and Brown shares the Cornell Club.
Harbour Court, Newport Rhode Island
Harbour Court – New York Yacht Club
To better host regattas, in 1988, the club purchased an impressive water front property in Newport, Rhode Island.[15]
History
The Yacht 'America' Winning the International Race, 1851, Fitz Henry Lane
The New York Yacht Club was founded on July 30, 1844, by nine gentlemen. John Cox Stevens, the leader of this group, and a prominent citizen of New York with a passion for sports, was elected commodore.[16]John Clarkson Jay of Rye, one of the nine founders, was a grandson of Founding Father John Jay and served as the first Secretary of the board.[17] George L. Schuyler and Hamilton Wilkes were also NYYC founders who, together with Stevens and two others, created the syndicate that built and raced the great schooner-yacht, America. Wilkes served as the club's first vice-commodore. Schuyler played a key role in the founding of the America's Cupregatta, and served as its unofficial consultant until his death in 1890.[18]
In 1845, the club's burgee was designed.[19] The waters off Newport have been a key sailing venue for the NYYC since the beginning of its history. Indeed, the day the club was founded in 1844, its members resolved to sail from the Battery to Newport. Two days later, they did, with several stops on the way, and trials of speed.
During the first decades of the club's history, racing for prize money was the objective among most members. In 1851, a syndicate of NYYC enthusiasts built and raced America, capturing the "One Hundred Sovereign Cup" at the annual regatta of the Royal Yacht Squadron. On July 8, 1857, the coveted trophy was donated to the NYYC, to serve as a challenge cup for sportsmanlike competition between nations. The "America's Cup Race", named for its first winner, played a central role in the history of the club until this day.
In 1865, the club was incorporated, adopting the Latin motto: "Nos agimur tumidis velis"– "We go with swelling sails" (adapted from the verse of the famous Roman poet Horace, "Non agimur tumidis uelis", "We do not go with swelling sails", in Epistles, 2, 2, 201). During this time, membership transitioned from the "old guard" to a new generation of yachtsmen, who built large schooner yachts captained by professionals. Marking this evolution was the 1866 resignation of Commodore Edwin Augustus Stevens, brother of founder John Cox Stevens and member of the America syndicate.
"New York Yacht Club motto - Nos Agimur Tumidis Velis"The Great Ocean Yacht Race Between Henrietta, Fleetwing & Vesta, by Currier & Ives in 1867
The year 1866 is remembered in club annals for the legendary "Transatlantic Race". In December, the NYYC schooners Henrietta, Fleetwing, and Vesta raced from Sandy Hook to The Needles, Isle of Wight for a $90,000 winner-take-all prize. The Henrietta, owned by 21-year-old James Gordon Bennett Jr., and skippered by Captain Samuel S. Samuels, won the race in 13 days, 21 hours and 55 minutes. Bennett would be elected commodore in 1871.
On August 8, 1870, the schooner Magic represented the New York Yacht Club in the international 1870 America's Cup competition in the New York Harbor and was won by Franklin Osgood's American yacht Magic. She beat 17 competitors, including the English yacht Cambria and the yachts Dauntless,Idler,Fleetwing,Phantom,America and others.[20]
In 1876, the Mohawk, a large centerboard schooner, capsized due to its sheets being "made fast" (fastened securely) when a freak squall struck. Vice-Commodore William T. Garner, his wife and crew died in the accident. It is believed that this tragedy led to the extinction of the great centerboard schooner yachts. The Mohawk was later sold to the U.S. Navy and recommissioned as the USS Eagre.
In 1895, Richard H. Barker composed 'The yacht club march: march and two-step: for piano' in honor of the New York Yacht Club.[21]
In 1994, as part of the club's 150th anniversary celebrations, Melissa H. Harrington wrote the book The New York Yacht Club, 1844–1994.[22]
Clubhouse "Station No. 1" of the New York Yacht Club c.1894 at Bay Ridge
Clubhouse "Station No. 3" of the New York Yacht Club c.1894 at Whitestone, NY
Clubhouse "Station No. 4" of the New York Yacht Club c.1894 at New London, Conn
Clubhouse "Station No. 5" of the New York Yacht Club c.1894 at Shelter Island, NY
Clubhouse "Station No. 6" of the New York Yacht Club c.1890s at Newport, RI
Clubhouse "Station No. 7" of the New York Yacht Club c.1894 at Vineyard Haven, Mass
Clubhouse of the New York Yacht Club c.1894 at Rendezvous Glen Cove
Former CommodoreJ. P. Morgan was present at a board meeting on 27 October 1898 to discuss the construction of a new clubhouse. Morgan offered to acquire a 75-by-100-foot (23 by 30m) plot on 44th Street in midtown Manhattan [23][24] if the NYYC raised its annual membership dues from $25 to $50 and if the new clubhouse occupied the entire site.[24] The board accepted his offer, and Morgan bought the lots the next day for $148,000 and donated to the club.[25][26]
Members hosted an informal housewarming party on 29 January 1901 and gave Morgan a trophy in gratitude of his purchase of the site.[27][28]
Racing and the America's Cup
The America's Cup featured in the New-York Tribune in 1903.
Following the disastrous[clarification needed] Bay of Quinte America's Cup challenge in 1881, the club's committee voted a new rule to govern its races:[29]
The America's Cup challenges of 1885, 1886 and 1887 used this rule with an 85ft (25.91m) waterline length limit. In 1887, the NYYC adopted the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club's rating rule, which handicapped length comparatively less. Then, in 1903, the NYYC changed its rating system to the "Herreshoff Rule", devised by the yacht designer, Nathanael Herreshoff. Later renamed the "Universal Rule", it would be adopted by the majority of leading American yacht clubs. The rule governed yacht design for almost forty years.
The NYYC entered 2021 America's Cup represented by the American Magic team, led by Terry Hutchinson and Bella Mente Quantum Racing Association. In May 2018, it was announced that Dean Barker will helm the boat.[31] "American Magic" references the first Cup winner, the yacht America, and the first defender, the yacht Magic.[32]
Regattas
Engraving of spectators watching the annual regatta, late 19th century
The Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS) is a British yacht club. Its clubhouse is Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. Member yachts are given the suffix RYS to their names, and are permitted to wear the White Ensign of the Royal Navy rather than the merchant Red Ensign worn by the majority of other UK registered vessels. The club's patron was Queen Elizabeth II.
Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other water-borne craft for as long as such watercraft have existed.
A yacht club is a boat club specifically related to yachting.
America was a 19th-century racing yacht and first winner of the America's Cup international sailing trophy.
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The Indian Harbor Yacht Club is a private yacht club in Greenwich, CT with a long and storied yachting tradition. The club, founded in 1889 in New York City by a group of prominent sportsmen, is based mainly around personally owned yachts and pleasure boats, but also has a long history of competitive races. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. The New York Times noted that "Indian Harbor ranks among the most influential institutions of its kind in the country." Membership in the club is by invitation only.
The Atlantic Yacht Club is a family-oriented yacht club located on the shores of Gravesend Bay in south Brooklyn. A storied member of the New York sailing community, the club is perhaps best known for its contributions to New York sailing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when it featured prominently as one of the leading yacht clubs of its day.
John Pierce Rousmaniere is an American writer and author of 30 historical. technical, and instructional books on sailing, yachting history, New York history, business history, and the histories of clubs, businesses, and other organizations. An authority on seamanship and boating safety, he has conducted tests of equipment and sailing skills and led or participated in fact-finding inquiries into boating accidents. He has been presented with several awards for his writing and his contributions to boating safety and seamanship.
The 100 Guineas Cup, also known as the Hundred Guinea Cup, or the Cup of One Hundred Sovereigns, was a regatta in 1851 which was the first competition for the trophy later named America's Cup. The trophy was valued at 100 pounds-sterling which led to its various names, all variations on 100 Pound Cup. The race was won by the yacht America, leading to the trophy being renamed "America's Cup". The official event known as "The America's Cup" was founded in 1857, when the deed of gift established the racing regattas. The 1851 competition was a fleet race, whereas modern America's Cups finals are match races.
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The Widgeon was a 19th-century yacht and Sandy Hook pilot boat, built in 1855 by James R. & George Steers for Daniel Edgar of the New York Yacht Club and designed by George Steers. She came in 17th in an unsuccessful America’s Cup defense in 1870. Widgeon was sold in 1871 to a group of New York pilots to replace the John D. Jones, which sank in a collision with the steamer City of Washington. New York pilots condemned the Widgeon as unseaworthy in 1879, which sparked a fight for steam pilot-boat service. In 1883 a decision was affirmed by the Supreme Court and the Board of Commissioners of Pilots that pilot boats could be "propelled" by steam.
The Gracie was a 19th-century racing sloop yacht built in 1868 by James E. Smith shipyard at Nyack, New York. She raced the America's Cup defender Mischief in the trails off Sandy Hook in 1881. Gracie raced at the New York Yacht Club, Atlantic Yacht Club and other eastern yacht clubs. After a 42-year career in racing, she was sold in 1909 and converted to a freight boat sailing from Milton Point, off Long Island to New York.
Franklin Osgood was a 19th-century businessman and yachtsman. He was one of the most experienced yachtsman having sailed for more than 23 years. He was owner and manager of the racing yachts Widgeon, Columbia, and Magic. He was the first defender and two-time winner of the America's Cup. Osgood was inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame in 2020.
The Dauntless was a 19th-century wooden yacht schooner, designed and built in 1866 by Forsyth & Morgan at Mystic Bridge, Connecticut, and owned and sailed by noted yachtsmen, among them James Gordon Bennett Jr. and Caldwell Hart Colt. She was first called the L'Hirondelle and later renamed the Dauntless. The Dauntless was in three Trans-Atlantic matches for the New York Yacht Club. She came in fourth in an unsuccessful America’s Cup defense in 1870.
The Fleetwing was a 19th-century wooden yacht schooner, built in 1865 by Joseph D. Van Deusen and owned by yachtsman George Archer Osgood. She was one of the fastest yachts in the squadron. The Fleetwing was in the famous 1886 transatlantic ocean race for the New York Yacht Club. She came in 12th in an unsuccessful America’s Cup defense in 1870.
The Phantom was a 19th-century centerboard schooner-yacht built in 1865 by Joseph D. Van Deusen and first owned by yachtsman Henry G. Stebbins. She was one of the fastest yachts in the New York squadron. The Phantom won 1st place in the June 1867 New York Yacht Club regatta. She came in 7th place in an unsuccessful America's Cup defense in 1870. She was sold as a racing yacht several times before she went out of service in 1900.
The Idler was a 19th-century schooner-yacht built in 1864 by Samuel Hartt Pook from Fairhaven, Connecticut, and owned by yachtsman Thomas C. Durant. She was one of the fastest yachts in the New York squadron. Idler came in 2nd place in the America’s Cup defense in 1870. She was sold as a racing yacht several times before she capsized and sank in 1900.
The Madeleine was a 19th-century racing schooner-yacht built in 1868 by David Kurby in Rye, New York and owned by Commodore Jacob B. Voorhis. Madeleine was the winner of the America's Cup in 1876 and an American defender in the 1870 America's Cup. She won the two most desired trophies reserved for schooners, the Bennett and the Douglas Cups. In 1911, the Madeleine was dismantled and sunk at the mouth of the Hillsborough River, Florida.
The New York Yacht Club Building is a seven-story Beaux-Arts clubhouse at 37 West 44th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Opened in 1901, the building was designed by architect Whitney Warren of Warren and Wetmore as the sixth clubhouse of the New York Yacht Club (NYYC). The clubhouse is part of Clubhouse Row, a concentration of clubhouses on 44th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. The building is a New York City designated landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark.
↑ Clary, Suzanne. "A Legacy of Sailing: Owners of the Jay Estate & Yachting in New York 1843 - 1966". Rye Magazine: Weston Magazine, Inc. (38): 244. Retrieved January 2, 2016 – via issuu.
↑ Richard H. Barker 'The yacht club march: march and two-step: for piano' (Toronto: Whaley, Royce & Co., c1895)
↑ Melissa H. Harrington The New York Yacht Club, 1844-1994 (Lyme, Conn.: Greenwich Pub. Group, 1994)
↑ "Yachting: Commodore Morgan Gives the New-york Club a Site for a House to Race for the Canadian Cup Yacht Associations Meet". New-York Tribune. October 28, 1898. p.4. ProQuest574511646.
↑ "Com Morgan Pays $148,000.: Loses No Time in Making Good His Offer to Provide Site for New Clubhouse for New York Yacht Club". Boston Daily Globe. October 29, 1898. p.5. ProQuest498954045.
↑ "N.Y.Y.C. Honors J.P. Morgan: Silver Loving Cup Presented to the Club's Ex-commodore". The New York Times. January 30, 1901. p.7. ISSN0362-4331. ProQuest1013633831.
↑ "Harriman Gets Chicago Lines.: Terminal Transfer Company's Stock Reported in Control of Eastern Man. Details of the Deal. Charity Ball for Benefit of Nursery and Childs' Hospital a Success. General New York News". Chicago Tribune. January 30, 1901. p.5. ProQuest173095798.
↑ Hamersly, L.R.; Leonard, J.W.; Mohr, W.F.; Knox, H.W.; Holmes, F.R. (1914). Who's who in New York City and State. Cornell Library New York State Historical Literature. L.R. Hamersly Company. p.666. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
Further reading
New York Yacht Club by New York Yacht Club and Rarebooksclub.com (Mar 4 2012). ISBN1130831000
The History of Yachting, 1600–1815 by Arthur H. Clark; pub. under authority and direction of the New York Yacht Club (New York; London: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1904)
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