page_title: Royal Yacht Squadron
section_title: Racing
hierarchical_section_title: Royal Yacht Squadron / Racing
caption_attribution_description: English: Sir Richard Sutton's cutter Genesta, 1885 challenger of the America's Cup (John Beevor-Webb design, 1884)
context_page_description: The Royal Yacht Squadron is a British yacht club. Its clubhouse is Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. Member yachts are given the Suffix RYS to their names, and permitted to wear the White Ensign of the Royal Navy rather than the merchant Red Ensign worn by the majority of other UK registered vessels. The club's patron is Queen Elizabeth II and the club's admiral is Prince Philip who is also a former club commodore.
context_section_description: In 1851, the club's commodore, visiting the Great Exhibition, issued a challenge for the squadron's £100 Cup for a race around the island. The New York City–based America, representing the New York Yacht Club, triumphed in this race, giving its name to one of the oldest and best-known trophies: the America's Cup.  The victory was witnessed by Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales, later commodore of the club and Edward VII.
  The site is also used as the start of the Round the Island Race which occurs annually.
  During the American Civil War Deerhound RYS witnessed the fight between USS Kearsarge and the Confederate cruiser CSS Alabama. Gazelle RYS rescued the Empress Eugenie at the end of the Franco-Prussian War and the squadron yachts supplied British soldiers in the Crimean War.
  The German Kaiser brought the 1887 America's Cup challenger Thistle to Cowes in 1892, which encouraged the Prince of Wales to build the royal cutter yacht Britannia, one of the most successful racing yachts of all time.
caption: Genesta (1885), the club's first challenger for the America's Cup
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