Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron

Founded in 1862, the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron is one of Australia's oldest and most storied yacht clubs. It sits at Wudyong Point in Kirribilli, with Sydney Harbour on its doorstep and the Opera House and Harbour Bridge practically next door.

Private members yacht club on Sydney Harbour (Kirribilli) offering an extensive club program and waterfront facilities. The Squadron runs a year-round sailing program and Academy with learn-to-sail and performance pathways, organises regattas and events, and provides dining, accommodation and function spaces. Waterfront services include an 18-tonne travel lift, jib and mast cranes, fuel (diesel and premium unleaded), pump-out, storage for one-design vessels, a members' workshop and access to a range of onsite marine contractors. The club also provides yacht repair services including haul-out/slip work, antifouling application, topsides polishing, prop maintenance and through-hull checks.

As a private members' club, access is generally through membership or an invitation, so contact the Squadron before visiting. Nearby, our Kirribilli marinas and Sydney Harbour pages cover berths and services around the harbour.

The RSYS Sailing Academy delivers Discover Sailing and youth pathways (including Tackers and junior development programs), keelboat courses and ancillary courses that support members and non-members to learn sailing skills and progress to performance squads and competitive racing.

Junior sailing isn't new here: the Squadron's youth program dates back to 1960, and dinghy classes like the Optimist and the Laser (now ILCA) have long been its backbone. The idea is a clear pathway. Young sailors start in small boats, progress into squads and racing, and many move on to keelboats and offshore crews. Adults get a similar ladder, from introductory keelboat courses through to crewing in the club's harbour racing.

Looking at other options around Sydney? Browse sailing courses on YouSail.

The Squadron fronts Sydney Harbour (Port Jackson) at Kirribilli, with immediate access to busy harbour waters used for club racing, twilight series and major regattas. Its Kirribilli waterfront includes pontoons, slipways, a travel lift and hardstand.

Wudyong Point sits on the harbour's north shore, beside Kirribilli House. That puts it right on the main harbour, a short sail from the Bridge and from racecourses running east toward the Heads. The harbour is a demanding place to race: the breeze bends around headlands and high-rises, tides run through the narrows, and ferries and commercial shipping have right of way. Local knowledge counts for a lot.

New to the harbour? Our Sydney Harbour sailing guide covers the rules, hazards and best anchorages.

Nineteen yachtsmen met in the office of William Walker MLC on 8 July 1862 to found "the Australian Yacht Club". A royal warrant followed on 27 June 1863, and the club became the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, was its first patron; Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, later held the role. William Walker served as the first Commodore, and James Reading Fairfax held the post across several terms between 1881 and 1913.

In January 1903 the Squadron moved to its current grounds at Wudyong Point, Kirribilli. A few quirky relics tell the story of those years, including an archway of whale jawbones from the Twofold Bay whaling station. In 1904 the Squadron and Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club donated what became the Sayonara Cup, after Alfred Gollin's Sayonara from Victoria beat the Sydney representative Bona off the Heads. It became a perpetual challenge trophy between royal yacht clubs in Australia and New Zealand.

The Squadron's best-known chapter is the America's Cup. In 1962 a syndicate led by Sir Frank Packer challenged under the RSYS burgee with Gretel. She won the second race, the first time the Americans had been beaten in a Cup race since the 1930s, and lost the fourth by just 26 seconds before going down 4–1. Gretel II challenged again in 1970 at Newport, Rhode Island, also losing 4–1. The club's centenary history, Sydney Sails, appeared in 1962, and its archive today holds more than 2,500 artefacts, artworks and trophies.