On 8 July 1862, nineteen yachtsmen met in the office of the merchant, the Honourable William Walker, in the Exchange Building and subscribed to a resolution. "We the undersigned yacht owners, hereby constitute ourselves into a club to be termed the Australian Yacht Squadron". Within a year, the club was accorded Royal patronage by the Prince of Wales, under the name Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, in accordance with the recommendation of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, His Grace the Duke of Newcastle. The foundation of the Squadron resulted directly from th arrival in June 1862 of William Walker's yacht CHANCE, an iron hulled schooner of 71 tons, registered with the Royal Thames Yacht Club. William Walker was the Squadron's first Commodore, from 1862 to 1867. On 19 November 1902, a company named Yacht Squadron Club House Limited was incorporated with power to carry into effect a provisional agreement dated 14 November 1902 with F***y Louisa Tucker to lease Carabella, as the property on the present clubhouse building site was then called. On 5 January 1903, a formal agreement was signed between the Squadron and the company whereby the premises were sublet to the Squadron. At the expiry of the lease, the property was purchased by the company. The Squadron Burgee was hoisted at Carabella for the first time on 24 January 1903, on the present flagstaff. On 21 January 1972, Yacht Squadron Club House Limited changed its name to Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, a company limited by guarantee, and the unincorporated Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron merged into the renamed company.
