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... more