NYYC Milestones 1844-
About the New York Yacht Club 1844-
'Friendly Competition between Foreign Countries'
The Isle of Wight in the Solent has long been the epicenter of yachting in England. In 1851, a schooner painted black arrived there looking to win races. This was the yacht America, owned by John Cox Stevens, the first commodore of the New York Yacht Club (NYYC), and other club members. View More Early American Yachting Yachting, or sailing for recreational purposes, can be traced in the United States to George Crowninshield of Salem, Massachusetts. Crowninshield, described as a "swell and a dandy," was a member of a prominent and wealthy mercantile family whose trading ships sailed between American and European ports during the early days of the Republic. He built Jefferson in 1801, a 22-ton sloop that he used for pleasure sailing along the New England coast. He also built the 192-ton brigantine, which he named Cleopatra's Barge. She was the largest private yacht in the United States in her time and was seen frequently in the sunny European ports along the Mediterranean. (Illustration of Cleopatra's Barge from Peabody Essex Museum.) View More Founding of the NYYC John Cox Stevens and eight other progressive New York yachtsmen met aboard Stevens new yacht Gimcrack, seen in the thumbnail, during the afternoon of Tuesday, July 30, 1844. Gimcrack was anchored off the Battery at the foot of Manhattan Island. Stevens proposed forming a club among New York businessmen and residents, which could serve as an organization for weekend New York Harbor racing, and summer cruises in the cooler New England waters. View More John Cox Stevens -- First Commodore of the NYYC John Cox Stevens was the first commodore of the NYYC and the prime mover in the America syndicate. The trophy America won in 1851 became the America's Cup. This portrait of Commodore Stevens and his family is excerpted from The Low Black Schooner by author John Rousmaniere. View More NYYC's First Clubhouse 1845- December 18, 1999 -- George M. Isdale Jr., commodore of the New York Yacht Club (NYYC), announced that the first clubhouse, built in 1845, has arrived at Newport, RI. The building, described in historical records as "a little edifice in the gingerbread style of the period," is situated on the club's Harbour Court property. View More Yachting Ensign Prior to the enactment of income tax laws in the early twentieth century, the federal government obtained most of its operating funds from the collection of tariffs and customs duties levied on foreign goods entering American harbors. All vessels were subject to inspection, including private yachts. As the popularity of yachting increased, the burden of customs inspections became tiresome and unnecessary. View More New York Yacht Club's Annual Regatta154th Annual Regatta -- How we got Here from There On July 15, 1845 the members of the New York Yacht Club met in their Hoboken, NJ, clubhouse for the first time. Two days later they began a tradition that lasted: the club’s Annual Regatta now in its 153rd edition. (Illustration is of the NYYC's Annual Regatta 1868 by Currier & Ives.) View More Navy Membership The 1845 annual meeting at Windhams Tavern produced not only the first full slate of officers and the club burgee, but it marked the beginning of the New York Yacht Club's relationship with the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard which continues to this day. James Gordon Bennett, I Presume
First Woman to Join the NYYC: 1894 Lucy Carnegie was the first woman to join the NYYC; the year was 1894, and it was not all smooth sailing. Much debate was heard in the board room and echoed in the New York Herald that wrote, "...Legal lore scintillated across the room. Eloquence leaped skyward in volumes. View More History of One Design Racing at NYYC The legendary yacht designer Captain Nathanael Herreshoff, an honorary member of the NYYC, designed a fleet of boats back in 1896 called the Newport 30 class. This fleet would prove the genesis of a series of one-design classes organized within the NYYC. View More History of the NYYC's Model Collection More so than any other portion of the NYYC collection, the Model Room at the NYYC's clubhouse represents the history of the NYYC. Further, it is a complete study of yachting in America from its origin, represented in a three-dimensional format. The thumbnail photo shows models at the club's rented Madison Avenue clubhouse that predated the 44th Street clubhouse. In 1872, it was described as "...very comfortable, containing about 120 models and many marine pictures." In 1876 the first official full model and the oldest presentation model, that of Mohawk was acquired. More... 'The Clubhouse at Sea' an Excerpt The NYYC established a set of objectives for the new clubhouse and sent it to more than a dozen architects with invitations to compete for the commission. Leading the list of stated goals was a suitable Model Room: “This is the principal room, and it is to be used for the regular meetings of the Club, and also on more public occasions. It should be large and high, capable of containing 300 people, and containing approximately 3,800 square feet. Upon the walls space must be provided for exhibiting the models now in the club’s possession. From a book by John Rousmaniere. View More America's Cup History -- Excerpt This gathering in England in the summer of 2001 was to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the America’s Cup, “the oldest trophy in sports.” It began with a letter penned February 22, 1851. View More Earl of Wilton and the America's Cup While Prince Albert was the protagonist for the Great Exhibit -- the first world's fair -- the Earl of Wilton, commodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS) in 1851, was the protagonist for the £100 Cup. This was the first significant international regatta that led to the transformation of the sport of yachting from a national pastime to an international one. View More Commodore J. Pierpont Morgan J. Pierpont Morgan's advice about yachting, "If you have to ask how much it costs, you can't afford it," is so familiar that it's trite. But what did the commodore of the NYYC, from 1897-99, really mean? View More Walter Cronkite on the New York Yacht Club The New York Yacht Club has been an organization of remarkable achievement for all its 150 years. Auspiciously, it was founded on a yacht, and equally auspiciously, some might say, it was born with a certain autocratic air. View More Auld Mug's first appearance in Newport was its farewell It arrived, sticky and stinking of champagne, in an armored truck in the middle of the night.Hours later, polished and sparkling in the sunshine, it was presented to the commodore of the Royal Perth Yacht Club during a bittersweet ceremony at the Marble House. Twenty years ago today, the New York Yacht Club relinquished the America's Cup, the historic and prestigious yacht racing trophy it had proudly held since 1857. Men in blue blazers and women in sundresses attended the ceremony, which marked the Cup's first appearance in Newport. View More Profile of Olin J. StephensWritten by and Published Courtesy of John Rousmaniere Yacht designer Olin J. Stephens is Member Number 1 in the NYYC’s seniority list, having joined the club in 1930, or 78 years ago. This week, as part of the NYYC Race Week at Newport Presented by Rolex, the club will celebrate a Classics Regatta and Olin J. Stephens 100th Birthday Celebration on July 18-20. Race Week Dates are July 18-27. This is a copyright-free excerpt from a chapter by John Rousmaniere that first appeared in "The Encyclopedia of Yacht Designers." View More |