Republic of Singapore Yacht Club – 200 years of history
Singapore’s oldest social club and Asia’s oldest yacht club – the Republic of Singapore Yacht Club (RSYC) – celebrated its milestone 200-year anniversary in February 2026 with a series of exhibitions opened by the President of Singapore.
Left to right: RSYC Commodore Balakrishnan B., President of Singapore Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Minister for Education of Singapore Desmond Lee open the RSYC Heritage Gallery on 7 February 2026.
History Ink was appointed by the RSYC to deliver two exhibitions, a Heritage Gallery, an oral history programme, a heritage film and an archives project. We worked closely with the RSYC’s Marketing and Events Department, the Heritage Working Committee, as well as Oxygen Design Studio, to deliver these varied projects across a nine-month timeline.
The President of Singapore reads the RSYC’s earliest Minute Book dating back to 1919.
The RSYC was founded in 1826 by British merchants keen to chart and sail the waters around Singapore. Established just seven years after the arrival of Sir Stamford Raffles, the Singapore Yacht Club, as it was then known, flourished under the guidance of William Read, a merchant and founder of the Singapore Turf Club – another venerable local institution History Ink has had the pleasure to work with. The RSYC obtained Royal patronage in 1922 when the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII, became the first Royal Patron. A new clubhouse was opened on Trafalgar Street in 1920, which was designed by architects from Singapore’s preeminent architecture firm, Swan & Maclaren (designers of the famous Raffles Hotel). The Club was renamed the Republic of Singapore Yacht Club soon after Singapore became an independent nation in 1965. The following year, Singapore’s first President, Yusof bin Ishak, visited the Club’s new clubhouse in Sungei Pandan and became the Club’s first Singaporean Patron. Today, the Club serves both its members and the wider community through charity events, sailing regattas, and by supporting marine research and environmental sustainability.
The President of Singapore, with Desmond Lee and Commodore Balakrishnan and the RSYC Committee, at the Bicentennial Charity Dinner.
The exhibitions were unveiled by the President of Singapore, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who is also Patron of the Club, at a special anniversary Gala Dinner on the 7 February 2026, which raised more than S$326,000 for charity.
The RSYC Committee and History Ink’s Amelia Allsop at the anniversary Gala Dinner, with one of the exhibitions behind.
