The Knickerbocker Yacht Club



Knickerbocker Yacht Club was founded in 1874 when a group of New York businessmen, regular patrons of
the old Knickerbocker Tavern in lower Manhattan, won a long shot bet on a Kentucky Derby horse. The group
bought a small club on the Harlem River, named their new digs after their old stomping grounds, and set sail. A year
later the club was towed to Port Morris on the East River and thence, in 1891, to College Point. In 1907, the Club
established a beachhead on Manhasset Bay, and soon transferred all its holdings to Port Washington. The original
branch clubhouse survives today as the upper story of our modern building.

KYC is the home of a series of commissioned one-design boats, the most famous of which is the Olin-Stevens KOD,
designed in 1959 and still in active racing use today. Many of these beautiful little sloops can be seen in the Club fleet
while others are privately owned. KYC, long known as "the little club with the big fleet" is also host to the Knickerbocker
Cup, the premier East Coast match racing event that attracts world-class skippers and crews every autumn. Check the
racing calendar for dates: watching the K-Cup from our spectator boats is truly a thrill. Throughout the summer season,
"Thirsty Thursday" evening is given over to PHRF racing and one-design fleets battle on weekends.

Our homeport of Port Washington is one of the liveliest cruising ports on Long Island Sound, with movies, concerts,
shopping, and marine supplies all within walking distance. KYC is the perfect jumping-off point for a cruise down
the East River, and if the weather is stormy, the Long Island Railroad provides excellent service to and from Penn Station.