Be a part of history by visiting the Albany Yacht Club, one of America’s oldest yacht clubs – first organized in 1873.

From the Albany Yacht Club you will be treated to a grand view of New York’s capital, the City of Albany, with its dashing array of old and contemporary architecture, including the Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza office complex. First settled by the Dutch in 1624, Albany has been the home to three U.S. Presidents, the first director of the Smithsonian Institution and President of the National Academy of Sciences (Joseph Henry), and famous authors, including Herman Melville (Moby Dick), Pulitzer Prize winner William Kennedy (Ironweed) and Joseph Persico (Roosevelt’s Secret War). However, as a boater, you will note with great interest that Albany was the starting point of the famed Erie Canal. First built by Governor DeWitt Clinton in 1825, the Erie Canal (as well as its companion, the Chaplain Canal) was the waterway to the west that settled our great nation.

On the Rensselaer side of the river, take a stroll down Riverside Avenue to the Crailo State Historic Site, one of the area’s oldest remaining buildings and home of a number of Dutch artifacts excavated from the region’s first settlement, Fort Orange. Pick up supplies at a number of local stores well within walking distance from the Yacht Club. Also within walking distance you will be able to access laundry facilities, pharmacy, banking services, liquor store and a post office. A short cab ride will take you to innumerable restaurants, specialty shops and entertainment facilities on both sides of the river, as well as to the Albany International Airport and the Amtrak rail station.

While you are with us we hope that you will mingle with our members and have the opportunity to make friends you will be eager to see again season after season. We have pump-out facilities, showers, cable television, wifi internet, bagged ice and canal permits for the Erie and Chaplain Barge Canal System. Also, be sure to attend one of our Friday night dinners at the club, or perhaps you may want to visit us during one of our special club functions. Either way I am confident that you will thoroughly enjoy yourself.

For reservations please reference our dockmaster page and email your reservation, or call the Albany Yacht Club at 518-445-9587. You can also hail the Club on VHF channel 16.

Sincerely,

Mary Ellen Torrisi, Commodore

Albany Yacht Club Description & History

Albany Yacht Club was organized in 1873 and had numerous locations along the original Albany waterfront. Over the years changes in the Albany waterfront necessitated several relocations including a move to the Rensselaer side of the river in 1954. In 1971 the State then took the site of the Clubhouse to build a new bridge which crosses the Hudson to Albany, and the Club built a new Clubhouse at its present location. Albany yacht Club is now located 1.5 miles north of marker #221 on the east side of the Hudson River in Rensselaer, New York, just south of the Dunn Memorial Bridge.

The Albany Yacht club prides itself in being one of the oldest organized yacht clubs in the country. The club host transient boaters who are visiting the Albany area or as a stop-over before entering either the Erie or Champlain Canal system. Canal permits are available at the facility.

Fuel facilities include mid-range gasoline as well as diesel fuel. Services include bagged ice, pump-out facilities, cable TV, Wi-Fi, showers, maps, etc. Within walking distance of the Club are a grocery store, deli, diner, drug store, Laundromat, post office, bank, medical services and the Amtrak rail station. Taxi service is available to serve transients for connections to Albany International Airport, a large number of restaurants, shopping malls, West Marine, etc. The club is just minutes from downtown Albany, the Empire State Plaza, New York State Museum, Albany Institue of History and Art, Albany Visitor’s Center.

Peg LochnerCurrent Officers, Board Members, Committee Chairs, and Dock Masters