Join us on Thursday, October 19 at 6:00pm for our next Sailors’ Series lecture, with special guest Alice Dickinson, Curator of Collections at the New York Yacht Club.

Upon entering New York Yacht Club’s (NYYC) 44th St. clubhouse, opened in 1901, a visitor proclaimed, “except for the absence of motion, one might fancy oneself at sea.” Founded in 1844, NYYC has been a leader in the sport of sailing for over 175 years. Spread across two historic properties located in New York City and Newport, RI, the club’s collections speak to innovation and tradition on the water. The world-renowned model collection grew from an 1845 bylaw requiring members to donate a model of their vessel to race. The rule set about a tradition of documenting member vessels through these objects and as a result, the evolution of yacht design can be tracked by examining the approximately 1,300 models on view. The clubhouses’ walls feature paintings by marine artists including James Edward Butterworth, Frederick Schiller Cozzens, and Eduardo de Martino. Representing years of racing, the trophies, one of the most significant collections of late nineteenth-century presentation silver in the country, includes monumental works by Tiffany & Company, Whiting Manufacturing Company, and Gorham Manufacturing Company.