royal yacht squadron cowes membership fees

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Special Report: Rolex Fastnet Race

Hints of the Modern Invade Royal Yacht Squadron

By Christopher Clarey

• Aug. 14, 2015

COWES, England — At the Royal Yacht Squadron, they still wear black tie and toast the queen every Saturday night. They still fire the cannons from their battlements to start the Rolex Fastnet Race and scores of other races throughout the year.

But as it celebrates its 200th anniversary in 2015, the Squadron — as it is known in Britain and in much of the sailing world — is not quite the same club of old.

It remains seriously exclusive and thickly populated by royals: from Prince Philip, the now 94-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth II, to Juan Carlos, the former king of Spain, to the Aga Khan.

Yet the Squadron elected its first three female full members this year, even if their names have yet to be released publicly. The club also has adopted a palpably more open approach to those who dwell outside Cowes Castle, the Squadron’s clubhouse on the Isle of Wight that was first used for defensive purposes when built by Henry VIII in 1539.

“I think we’re more relaxed about it all,” the club’s commodore, Christopher Sharples, said in a recent interview in the castle. “There used to be the feeling that you mustn’t put your head above the parapet or you’re certain to be shot. And I think they’ve got quite good parapets here.”

They do indeed, as well as a memorable, concentration-sharpening sign affixed to them: “Warning. Starting cannon may fire at any time.”

“I think there was a notion for quite a few years that the Squadron was a bunch of sort of pompous old guys together, very much the blue-blood, old-school type of thing,” said Mike Broughton, a British navigator and former British naval officer. “To be honest, I think over the last 10 years in particular, they’ve worked hard to modernize and also to modernize in terms of professional racing. They’ve modernized their racing management, which has been great to see actually, and they’ve worked hard to keep up with the times.”

That does not mean, however, that the time has come for an outsider with a profound love of the sea (and fancy dinners) to ring up the Squadron and ask to be emailed a membership application.

“The first thing to say about that is you get invited; you don’t apply,” Sharples said.

The club’s regular membership is now capped at 535, and there is a four-year waiting list. “There are also about 70 naval members who come in from a slightly different category,” Sharples said. “They come in through a side door and don’t have to queue up, and that’s because of our longstanding relationship with the Royal Navy.”

The club remains the only one whose member yachts are allowed to fly the white ensign of the Royal Navy.

The recent decision to add female members is part of a wave of similar moves by long-established British clubs: the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews in Scotland elected its first female members in 2015 after 260 years of existence.

“I’m a firm believer that if a club wants to be a single-sex club only, it can be, but not if it’s connected to sport,” Sharples said. “I think if you have a social club in London, I liken it to bull elephants hanging around a watering hole. Well, nobody seems to mind about that do they? But if on the other hand you are connected to a sport where you have facilities that sportsmen use, it seems to me much better that you give equal opportunity to ladies to use and access those facilities.”

When the club was founded by 42 gentlemen in 1815 in a gathering at the Thatched House Tavern in London, prospective members were required to own a vessel of at least 10 tons.

Today, boat ownership — at any tonnage — is not a requirement. “You have to be somebody who is actively involved in sailing,” Sharples said. “If you have access to a boat or regularly sail on somebody’s boat, that’s fine.”

To become a candidate, one needs a proposer, a seconder and three other initial letters of support, plus eight additional letters: all of these from club members. Only then does one join the list with a chance to eventually face an election, which involves the full membership.

Avoid too many blackballs and you will join a club with a uniquely rich maritime history whose members and their boats played a role in both World Wars. The membership roll has included the Arctic polar explorers Robert Scott and Ernest Shackleton, a Russian czar, British kings, the round-the-world solo-sailing pioneers Francis Chichester and Robin Knox-Johnston, as well as Ben Ainslie, Britain’s biggest sailing star of the moment, who the club hopes can finally bring the America’s Cup back to the Squadron.

It left here in 1851 when the yacht America — owned by a syndicate of New York Yacht Club members — defeated a fleet of yachts representing the Squadron in a race around the Isle of Wight.

The Cup, a silver ewer, had been purchased for the competition by a Squadron member, Henry William Paget, First Marquess of Anglesey, who had had his right leg amputated after being wounded by one of the last cannon shots of the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

Cowes Castle was Paget’s summer home, and it became the Squadron clubhouse after his death in 1854.

The cup purchased by Paget was eventually renamed the America’s Cup. Though the Australians at last managed to wrest it away from the New York Yacht Club in 1983 and yacht clubs from New Zealand and Switzerland have since won it, the British have yet to reclaim possession.

Ainslie, an honorary Squadron member and four-time Olympic gold medalist, helped Larry Ellison’s Oracle Team USA retain the trophy in 2013 by playing a major role in the epic comeback in San Francisco against Emirates Team New Zealand. But he is now head of his own team, Ben Ainslie Racing, which will represent the competitive arm of the Royal Yacht Squadron in the 2017 America’s Cup competition in Bermuda.

That will come in the final year of Sharples’s four-year term, which has already included the bicentennial celebration.

“I suppose my ultimate aim, if you like, is to help Ben bring the Cup back to this club before I step down,” Sharples said.

Yachting World

• Digital Edition

Cowes Week: Everything you need to know about this historic regatta

• Harriett Ferris
• July 5, 2015

Take a look at our essential guide to find out what you really need to know about Cowes Week

What is Cowes Week?

Cowes Week is one of the best know sailing regattas in the world. It is certainly one of the longest running, having first taken place in 1826. That’s 68 years before Yachting World was first published!

It has been held in August every year since then (except during the two World Wars). Over the years the regatta has been visited by royalty and other world-famous personalities as well as naval warships, superyachts and square-riggers.

Yachting World has covered the event from our very first issue. We have plenty of fascinating guides, tips on winning and live streaming video over at our Cowes Week page

What are this year’s dates?

This year the regatta will be held 8-15th August. The event lasts for eight days and takes place every August at Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

How many yachts are competing?

Between 800 and 1,000 yachts. The participants are split up into 40 classes, from modern multihulls, IRC yachts and classic dayboats.

RACING TIP: Cowes Week Tactics: use our local knowledge to get the best out of racing in the Solent

Who competes? What type of racing is it?

The event hosts amateur sailors alongside Olympic atheletes and professional sailors, with a wide range of ages and abilities.

What type of racing is it?

The majority of classes start and finish on the Royal Yacht Squadron line and sail varied ’round-the-cans’ courses designed to suit the style of boat and prevailing wind and tide conditions on each day. A number of classes also sail courses from a committee boat start on certain days.

It’s a logistical feat, with 1000 boats sailing some 30 different courses in one of the busiest commercial stretches of water in the world.

RACING TIP: Cowes Week sea breeze – getting to know your typical Solent summer winds

How do I watch the racing at Cowes?

The majority of classes start and finish on the Royal Yacht Squadron line while, just to the West, The Green offers a panoramic viewing platform of the yachts cheating the tide as they battle their way to the finish.

In addition, there are opportunities to get afloat to watch the racing from the organised spectator boat.

HIGHLIGHT: The Solent Sunbeam- a pretty dayboat that has been a stalwart of Cowes Week for nearly 90 years. Find out more here

I can’t attend. How can I follow the racing?

The Yachting World team is presenting the daily video highlights and will be part of the live streaming video that you can watch on the Yachting World website.

Alternatively, for results and official information on courses, updates on racing, plus interviews, listen in to Cowes Radio on 87.7FM.

What rating system is used?

Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week uses three different rating systems, IRC and ISCRS for monohulls and MOCRA for multihulls.

Details of the systems are provided below:

This rating system is used by offshore multihulls and is administered by MOCRA Sailing who can be contacted at [email protected] or at www.mocra-sailing.co.uk . Typically about a dozen of these fast and exciting boats take part in Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week.

A fully international rating system that is used by many thousands of boats worldwide. Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week has 8 classes racing under this system all week. This ensures tight rating bands and close racing in fleets between 30 and 60. Ratings can be obtained from www.rorcrating.com . Owners who only enter one or two IRC races a year are able to apply for an IRC Single Event Rating at a reduced price. Further details here .

ISCRS is a simple rating system that has been developed by the Island Sailing Club to provide a rating system for those who do not require the sophistication of IRC. This system is free but you must be prepared to take the rating you are given! At Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week we offer cruisers that do not normally race the chance to take part in the regatta using this system. This is especially aimed at the hundreds of cruising boats that take part in the annual J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race and which therefore have a rating. If you do not already have an ISCRS rating and wish to enter this class then please contact us.

Who organises the racing?

Cowes Combined Clubs was formed in 1964 to co-ordinate the racing. Each of the member Clubs (Royal Thames YC, Royal London YC, Royal Southampton YC, Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes Town Regatta, Island Sailing Club, Royal Southern YC, Royal Corinthian YC and the Royal Ocean Racing Club) plays an active role in running the racing during the event while the overall coordination is handled by the Executive Management Team and staff of the Cowes Week Ltd organisation.

I’d like to enter my boat for next year. What do I do?

The Notice of Regatta is available to download here and you can enter online here .

The Royal Yacht Squadron

Frequent reference to the Royal Yacht Squadron will be found elsewhere in this work, and under this particular heading no attempt can be made to give anything further than the merest outline of this club’s history.

The Squadron dates from 1815. For some few years prior to that date the pastime of sailing had been growing in favour in the Solent, and a number of visitors were attracted to Cowes every summer to indulge in the sport. It was only natural that these first yachtsmen should ultimately form a club to carry on their sport in an organized fashion, and so we find that a meeting was held at the Thatched House Tavern in St. James’s Street on June 1, 1815, under the presidency of Lord Grantham, when it was decided to form the Yacht Club, which was to consist of men interested in the sailing of yachts in salt water.

The qualification for membership was the ownership of a vessel not under 10 tons, and the original subscription was two guineas, with an entrance fee, afterwards imposed, of three guineas.

In 1817 the Prince Regent became member of the organization, and he was the first of the long list of Royal patrons which have honoured the club. Upon the Prince Regent becoming King in 1820, he consented to give a royal title to the club, and from that date it was known as the Royal Yacht Club – the first yacht club to enjoy that distinction. For some years after the formation of the club but little was done in the way of organized racing; but in the year 1826 a regatta was held, on August 10, at which a gold cup of the value of £100 was competed for. The winner of this, the first cup ever competed for under the auspices of the Royal Yacht Club, was Mr. Joseph Weld’s famous cutter,  Arrow.

In the following year, in addition to cups presented by the club and by the town of Cowes, the regatta was made memorable by the presentation of a cup by King George IV. This was the first royal trophy presented for competition in a yacht race, and was won by Mr. Maxse’s cutter  Miranda.

The club continued to be known as the Royal Yacht Club until the year 1833, when, in July of that year, King William IV, as a mark of approval of an ‘institution of such national utility,’ authorized the name to be altered to that of the Royal Yacht Squadron, the name by which it has ever since been known. His Majesty followed the example set by King George IV, and gave a cup to be competed for every year, and this custom has been observed by the reigning monarch ever since.

Up to the year 1829 there had been several alterations in the flag flown by yachts belonging to the club, but in that year the Admiralty issued a warrant authorizing members to fly the white ensign, and at the same time the white burgee, as we know it to-day, was adopted.

The application of steam power to yachts was viewed with much disfavour in the Squadron in earlier days, and at a meeting held at the Thatched House Tavern in 1827 the following resolution was passed : ‘Resolved that as a material object of this club is to promote seamanship and the improvements of sailing vessels, to which the application of steam-engines is inimical, no vessel propelled by steam shall be admitted into the club, and any member applying a steam-engine to his yacht shall be disqualified thereby and cease to be a member.’ In 1844 this rule was somewhat modified by admitting steam yachts to the club of not less than 100 horse-power, and in 1853 all restrictions in regard to steam were removed.

The present quarters, the Castle, were taken possession of in 1858.

The first Commodore was the Earl of Yarborough, who held the post from 1825 to 1846. He was succeeded by the Marquis of Donegall, who occupied the position for two years, and was in turn succeeded by the Earl of Wilton, who retained the post from 1849 to 1881. In 1882 the office was filled by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, and retained by him until 1901, when, upon becoming King, His Majesty became Admiral, and the Marquis of Ormonde was elected to the Commodoreship.

The Vice-Commodores during the same period have been : The Earl of Belfast, from 1827 to 1844, and afterwards (as the Marquis of Donegall) from 1845 to 1846; Sir Bellingham Graham, Bart., from 1847 to I850 ; C. R. M. Talbot, Esq., M.P., from 1851 to 1861; the Marquis of Conyngham, from 1862 to 1875; the Marquis of Londonderry, from 1876 to 1884 ; the Marquis of Ormonde, from 1885 to 1901 ; the Duke of Leeds, 1901 to present day.

Cowes and the Royal Yacht Squadron

The Cowes Week sailing regatta is the largest event of its kind and one of the longest running. The first one took place back in 1826 when the Royal Yacht Squadron organised three days of racing beginning on 10 August. Now it runs over eight days, with around 1000 boats and 8500 competitors taking part, to a backdrop of onshore festivities culminating in a firework display that has been tradition for over 150 years.

Britannia racing at Cowes, undated, William Lionel Wyllie

© National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London | CC BY-NC-ND

Our digitisation expeditions have revealed several images that relate to Cowes Week. In the collection of Mount Stewart (National Trust) are three views of the Royal Yacht Squadron clubhouse at Cowes Castle – the building at the very heart of the event – by Charles Gregory. We’ve also scanned a beautiful painting in a private collection of the Egeria schooner, which won six Queen’s Cups at Cowes Week between 1865 and 1881.

Coastal Scene (Cowes), undated, Charles Gregory

Mount Stewart, National Trust | All Rights Reserved

If you  browse our website for images of Cowes harbour , you’ll find dozens of images documenting how it looked before and after it became a hub for yachting and sailing races – including a lot of images by Thomas Rowlandson, who made two tours of the Isle of Wight in the 1790s with his friends.

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Yachting World

• Digital Edition

Inside the Royal Yacht Squadron – we get a rare view of this most exclusive club

• Belinda Bird
• May 18, 2015

Sarah Norbury jumps at a rare chance to see inside the Royal Yacht Squadron, that unique and intriguing yacht club at the centre of Cowes, in its 200th anniversary year

Photo: Paul Wyeth

The Royal Yacht Squadron’s Castle clubhouse is best known to most sailors as the centre of the action at Cowes Week. Puffs of smoke in the aftermath of the bangs waft across the water towards the fleets of yachts, their crews’ faces pinched with concentration as they plan their beat up the rocky Island shore.

No first-timer to Cowes Week can fail to be awestruck by the Castle. Competitors mill around before their starts, staring at the flags and course-boards, getting a sight down the startline straight into the windows.

Looking is as near as most sailors ever get to this most aristocratic of clubs. Members will repair to the Squadron after racing, taking tea on the lawn, before entering the Castle for cocktails before a party or the fabulous Squadron Ball, but for the rest, the Castle itself, built by Henry VIII to repel the French, is a visual symbol of the club’s exclusivity.

The Platform, from where Cowes Week starts are signalled. Photo: YPS/Boat Exclusive

The most prestigious club in Britain, possibly the world, is wreathed in mystique. The only way to join this club of Kings, Lords, Hons and Sirs is to be invited by a member and be subject to a secret ballot. The fact that the membership list reads like Debretts is an indication of most sailors’ chances of being invited.

It’s said that wealthy tea merchant Sir Thomas Lipton was blackballed for being ‘in trade’, which is why his 1898 bid for the America’s Cup was sponsored by the Royal Ulster YC. He was allowed in eventually, but died just two years later so scarcely had time to enjoy the Castle’s delights.

Some accept a blackballing with grace, others kick up a stink, like the owner of a 150-ton schooner who, the story goes, sent a message to the club that he was anchored within close range and would commence shelling unless he received a personal apology from Percy Shelley, son of the famous poet, who had blackballed him.

Flying the white ensign

The appeal of being a member is obvious. Who wouldn’t want to fly the white ensign from their stern? The Squadron is the only yacht club with a Royal Navy warrant to do so, granted in 1829. And who wouldn’t want to walk boldly in to meet and drink with the great and the good?

I asked the current commodore, the Hon Christopher Sharples why, when a number of royal clubs are struggling to find new members, the Squadron has a healthy waiting list. “It’s a very fine club,” he responded. “People enjoy the standards and the tremendous history. Members treat the Castle as a much-loved country home.”

RYS commodore, the Hon Christopher Sharples

Originally named The Yacht Club, it was founded on 1 June 1815 by a group of 42 gentleman yachting enthusiasts. Five years later, member King George IV conferred the Royal in the club’s title and in 1833 King William IV renamed the club the Royal Yacht Squadron. Members met in the Thatched House Tavern in St James’s, London, and in Cowes twice a year for dinner.

Today there are 535 members and dinner is served in the magnificent Members’ Dining Room, under the painted gaze of illustrious past admirals and commodores. The room is adorned with silver trophies and scenes of the high seas, and waiters bring course after course from the kitchens and wine cellars below. There are bedrooms for overnight stays, a room for members to keep their ‘mess kit’ or black tie, which is required dress on Saturday nights, and even gun lockers for shooting parties.

But sailing is the club’s raision d’être and neither a title nor a fortune are a guarantee of entry. The club professes that “any gentleman or lady actively interested in yachting” is eligible for nomination.

The Library, a peaceful sanctuary as well as an important archive. Photo: YPS/Boat Exclusive

The Squadron was where yacht racing was born. In the early 1800s the aristocracy came to Cowes to socialise and cruise in their boats. The first races were duels between the yachts of the day, then rules for fleet racing were drawn up. The first club regatta, later to become Cowes Week, was in 1826. For more than a century the reigning monarch would be there to present the King’s or Queen’s trophy.

Some of history’s greatest yachtsmen are on the Squadron’s membership roll: Sir Thomas Sopwith, John Illingworth, Sir Francis Chichester, Sir Alec Rose, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston. Ties with the Navy are strong and some of British maritime history’s most famous names have been Squadron members, not least Nelson’s vice-admiral Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy who commanded HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, Admiral Lord Cochrane who was the inspriation for C.S. Forester’s Hornblower novels and Admiral Sir Jeremy Black, captain of the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible during the Falklands War.

The public’s more usual view

Perhaps the club is still best known around the world for hosting the race around the Isle of Wight in 1851 won by the schooner America , which took home what became known as the America’s Cup. The Squadron donated the Cup itself in 1851 and mounted a number of challenges to win it back.

More than 160 years later the America’s Cup has still never been won by a British challenger, but now the commodore believes the Royal Yacht Squadron has “the best chance we have ever had” with its sponsorship of Ben Ainslie Racing as official British challenger for the 2017 Cup.

• 1. Flying the white ensign
• 2. Bicentenary celebrations
• 3. Inside the Castle

With its ideal waterfront location and superb harbour, the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club is widely recognized as one of the premier yachting clubs. It operates year-round facilities including the marina, guest rooms, meeting and dinning rooms and a full-service restaurant and bar. The Club is happy to welcome all to consider Membership. It's a family friendly place, with a very active RYA Training Centre for sailing and powerboating. The Membership enjoys regular lunch and weekly dinners along with special events and holiday activities.

Membership Information

• Established in 1844 and is the third oldest club holding a Royal Warrant outside the British Isles.  RBYC is under the patronage of Her Majesty the Queen.
• The best waterfront location in the heart of Hamilton.  Well known and respected reputation and is a wonderful place to socialize in a warm, friendly and safe atmosphere, with an array of social opportunities throughout the year.
• Exclusive access to dining times at the Club for Members, their guests and reciprocity members.
• Membership in the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club connects you to fellow members in key industries such as insurance, shipping, reinsurance, finance, banking, sailing, oceanography and sport fishing.
• Reciprocal arrangements with other Royal Yacht Clubs as well as most yacht clubs around the world.
• Member of International Council of Yacht Clubs
• Active Saturday fleet racing programme with qualified Race Management.
• RYA certified Sailing Academy, with year-round opportunities to sail/learn to sail for both adults and children, organized by resident Director of Sailing. Adult members receive considerable discounts on all Sailing Academy classes for themselves and family.
• Connection of members’ children to a social hub creating great camaraderie. Youth membership available for children participating in the Sailing Academy.
• Significant Membership savings on Boating Classes.
• RYA Powerboat certification classes, with resulting discounts for boat insurance with local insurer and internationally recognized license.
• Host of major International events including Newport Bermuda Race, Bermuda Gold Cup, 505 Worlds, RC 44 and other regattas.
• Excellent food created by resident Executive kitchen staff at reasonable prices.
• Members can host functions at the Club at reduced rates in a selection of private rooms or public spaces using in-house catering.
• Provisioning from Club bar/restaurants and availability of Club staff for boat trips or home entertainment.
• Ability for your guests to stay at the Club and use the facilities with a Guest membership.
• Utilization of Club dinghies and boats.
• Convenient for boaters to load/off load and a day dock to utilise while dining at the Club.
• A 122 berth marina, with access to electrical and water.  Berths are available to Full Members on a one or five year licence.
• Members only merchandise (Full Members) including ability to Club burgee and apply to fly the defaced ensign (RBYC Flag).
• attend and vote at any Annual or Special General Meeting or to vote by ballot;
• propose any individual for membership;
• claim any share of the property of the Club should it be dissolved;
• serve on any sub-committee;
• wear Club Colours;
• fly Club flags;
• licence, or occupy a berth in the marina.
• a)    hold an office in the Club; b)    serve on the Board of Governors; c)    serve on any Standing Committee; and d)    requisition a Special General Meeting.

RBYC   Members enjoy reciprocity at British Commonwealth Royal Clubs around the world, including:  

• Royal Canadian Yacht Club, Ontario, Canada 
• Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, Perth, Australia 
• Royal Lymington Yacht Club, Lymington, UK 
• Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, New Zealand 
• Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron, Nova Scotia, Canada 
• Royal Perth Yacht Club, Australia 
• Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, Australia 
• Royal Thames Yacht Club, London, UK  
• Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes, UK 

The Club has also cultivated strong relationships with many other yacht clubs, such as the New York Yacht Club and the Cruising Club of America through the world-renowned Newport Bermuda Race.  A full list of our reciprocal relationships may be found here.   We kindly request members of reciprocal clubs provide a letter of introduction from your Club, and our Members should request the same.  For further information, please contact the Assistant Club Secretary

Useful Links

Full Membership Application

Affiliate Application

Membership Fees

Membership Rules

Club House Rules

Membership Committee Chair

Jennifer burland adams, vice commodore.

Jennifer joined the Executive Team in January 2021 having previously been part of Membership and House Committees. Professionally she works with the Third Sector. Jennifer was Rear Commodore, Sailing for three years, ending in December 2023. As of January 2024 she is the Vice Commodore of the Club. The Vice Commodore chairs the Membership Committee and supports the Commodore.

Flag Officers of the Royal Yacht Squadron

The Hon Sir James Holman

[email protected]

Vice Commodore

P l f french esq.

[email protected]

Rear Commodore Finance

Jeremy bennett esq.

[email protected]

Rear Commodore Yachting

B b huber esq.

[email protected]

Royal Yacht Squadron

The Castle, Cowes, Isle of Wight, P031 7QT

Tel: +44 (0) 1983 292 191

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