Royal Yacht Squadron

The Yacht Club, as it was first known, was founded 1 June 1815 at the Thatched House Tavern in London. The club was for gentlemen interested in salt-water yachting and the 42 original members agreed to meet for dinner twice a year, in London and in Cowes, to discuss their mutual interest. Most were regular visitors to Cowes, then a fashionable watering place, or had houses nearby and Cowes Regatta, which was based on the annual licensing of the local pilot vessels and races between them, was a popular spectator sport for the visitors. In 1814 it is recorded that the yachts also took part in the parade of sail, perhaps providing the impetus for the founding of The Yacht Club the next year. The club became The Royal Yacht Club in 1820 after the accession of George IV, who had joined in 1817, and it was created The Royal Yacht Squadron by William IV in 1833.