The History of American Yacht
Club - Rye, NY

"A New Steam Yacht Club. The First Of It's Kind In The World."

Much has changed in the 120 years since "robber baron", Jay Gould and a group of his friends founded the American Yacht Club in New York City. By 1887, clearly in need of a shore station, the club purchased "12 acres and some rocks known as Scotch Caps" from the Wainwright family at the tip of Milton Point in Rye, NY. The price was $6000 for what has become one of the outstanding locations on Long Island Sound.

In the beginning, all the boats enrolled in the club were steam yachts. However in 1889, the first American Yacht Club sailing race was held. In a "blow", 6 yachts completed a 20 mile course and established a tradition for what was to become one of the preeminent sailing clubs in the world. In the club's fleet have been America's Cup Defenders, Trans-Atlantic and Bermuda Race winners. Its sailors have been Long Island Sound, North American and World Champions in a number of classes. They have captured Olympic medals - most recently in 1996 when Courtenay Becker Dey took a bronze in the Europe class. Four AYC skippers have won the US Women's Sailing Championship.

Through the years, the American Yacht Club Annual Invitational Cruise has been a test of sailing, boats and seamanship, as well as a family competition and plain old fun afloat.

One of the defining moments in American Yacht Club's history, however, didn't take place on the water. On July 27, 1951 an electrical fire burned AYC's landmark clubhouse to the ground. Galvanized by the event and the leadership of then Commodore William Crow, the membership rallied to support the construction - in little more than a year - of the comfortable building that now commands the view of what has been called "that magical point".

Welcome to Bay-Waveland Yacht Club.  The club was founded in 1896.  In 1901
BWYC became a charter member of the Southern Gulf Coast Yachting Association,
and admitted to Gulf Yachting Association in 1922.  Club Members are active
regionally and nationally as both competitors and administrators.  Club Members are
proud to be part of the long tradition of yachting on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
BWYC is a private club for members and their guests.  BWYC members may have
reciprocal membership privileges at other GYA-member yacht clubs and many yacht
clubs throughout the United States.

Gulf Yachting               Mississippi Coast Yachting         US Sailing                            Flying Scot Sailing
Association                  Association                                                                        Association
http://www.gya.org/ http://www.mcya.info http://www.ussailing.org/ http://www.fssa.com/