New York Yacht Club  The New York Yacht Club (NYYC) is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. As of 2001, the organization was reported to have about 3,000 members. Membership in the club is by invitation only. Its officers include a commodore, vice-commodore, rear-commodore, secretary and treasurer. The America's Cup trophy was won by members in 1851 and held by the NYYC until 1983. The NYYC successfully defended the trophy twenty-four times in a row before being defeated by the Royal Perth Yacht Club, represented by the yacht "Australia II". The NYYC's reign was the longest winning streak as measured by years in the history of all sports. The NYYC has entered 2021 America's Cup under the syndicate name "American Magic". In 1845, the club's first clubhouse was established — a modest, Gothic-revival building in Hoboken, New Jersey, on land donated by Commodore John Cox Stevens. After outgrowing its cramped quarters, the club moved to several other locations, including Staten Island, Glen Cove, New York and Mystic, Connecticut. Its primary clubhouse is a six-storied Beaux-Arts landmark with a nautical-themed limestone facade, located at 37 West 44th Street in midtown Manhattan. Opened in 1901, the clubhouse was designed by Warren and Wetmore (1898), architects of the exterior of Grand Central Terminal. The centerpiece of the clubhouse is the "Model Room", which contains a notable collection of full and half hull models including a scale model history of all New York Yacht Club America's Cup challenges. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987. In addition to its Manhattan headquarters, located inland, the club maintains "Harbour Court", a clubhouse opened in 1988 on the water in Newport. The New York Yacht Club was founded on July 30, 1844, by nine gentlemen. John Cox Stevens, the leader of this group, and a prominent citizen of New York with a passion for sports, was elected commodore. John Clarkson Jay of Rye, one of the nine founders, was a grandson of Founding Father John Jay and served as the first Secretary of the board. George L. Schuyler and Hamilton Wilkes were also NYYC founders who, together with Stevens and two others, created the syndicate that built and raced the great schooner-yacht, "America".