Yacht Club de France, the yacht club on the avenue Foch since 1867

The Yacht Club de France, the private sailing club on the avenue Foch, was born on 15 June 1867 as the Société d’encouragement pour la navigation de plaisance, created under the patronage of Napoleon III. It took the title Yacht-club de France on 11 November that year.

Jules Verne, Jean-Baptiste Charcot, Virginie Hériot, Louis Renault and Gaston Menier were among its members. The club organised regattas, drew up racing rules and in 1891 created the Coupe de France to help French yachts compete with foreign ones. In 1907 the International Yacht Racing Union recognised it as the national authority.

After splits and a merger with the Union des yachts français, the club took back its name in 1902. In 1920 it handed authority over racing to the Union des sociétés nautiques françaises. In 1946 it created the Coupe Virginie Hériot in memory of its benefactor, and from 1978 it sponsored the Tour de France à la voile.

In the 16th arrondissement, the club gathers some 500 members, admitted on two sponsors. Its rooms hold a library of more than 3,600 volumes, including Éric Tabarly’s original logbooks, with a restaurant, a bar and a garden reserved for members.