The Yacht Club de France is one of the most important yacht club

Yacht club

A yacht club is a sports club specifically related to sailing and yachting.-Description:Yacht Clubs are mostly located by the sea, although there are some that have been established at a lake or riverside locations...

s in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. It was established in 1867, during the Second French Empire

Second French Empire

The Second French Empire or French Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.-Rule of Napoleon III:...

. This club was bestowed Royal Patronage by HRH Emperor Napoleon III and its first president was Admiral Rigault de Genouilly.

In 1891, a new club was founded, the Union des Yachts Francais, Société d'Encouragement pour la Navigation de Plaisance. In 1907 the two clubs merged and were recognized by the International Yacht Racing Union (now the International Sailing Federation

International Sailing Federation

The International Sailing Federation is recognised by the International Olympic Committee as the world governing body for the sport of sailing....

).

Activities

Among other competitions, the Yacht Club de France, together with the Yacht Club Italiano

Yacht Club Italiano

The Yacht Club Italiano is a yacht club in Genoa, Italy. It was founded in 1879 and is one of the oldest sailing clubs in the Mediterranean. This club was bestowed Royal Patronage by HRH King Umberto I of Italy since its inception....

, runs the Giraglia Cup

Giraglia

Giraglia is a French island at the northern tip of Corsica in the Mediterranean Sea, known for its lighthouse and for the Torra di Giraglia, a Genoese tower which is an Official Historical Monuments of France....

 regatta from Saint Tropez, past Giraglia (the northernmost point of Corsica

Corsica

Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....

), to Genoa

Genoa

Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.