This July, the Yacht Club de Monaco set sail on two remarkable journeys along the American East Coast to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States’ independence. The first brought a private group of Members to New York for four days at the very heart of the festivities. The second, more ambitious in scope, saw the Club’s flagship Tuiga escorted along Long Island Sound from New York to Newport, calling at some of the oldest and most storied yacht clubs in America.

A Private Members’ Journey to New York

To mark America 250, the Yacht Club de Monaco brought together a select group of Members in New York July 3-7, for a program built around conviviality, discovery and celebration. The itinerary was deliberately intimate — never more than a small party moving together through some of the city’s most storied addresses.

It began at The Lowell Hotel, a discreet townhouse hotel steps from Central Park, with a welcome dinner in the Majorelle Club Room that set an elegant tone for the days ahead. Independence Day itself, July 4, was spent almost entirely above the city: brunch on the Hudson Vu terrace as the Tall Ships and the Patrouille de France passed along the river, and an evening BBQ on the Manhattan Rooftop with front-row views of the fireworks.

Sunday belonged to the sea. Members were welcomed aboard the Amerigo Vespucci, the Italian Navy’s celebrated training ship, before lunch at Electric Lemon and an evening visit and cocktail reception at New York Yacht Club — among the most storied institutions in the sport, its Model Room and America’s Cup trophies offering a fitting close to a day devoted to sailing’s heritage.

The program’s final act was a cruise aboard Tuiga past the Statue of Liberty, followed by a farewell dinner at the Harvard Club of New York. For those who extended their stay, a further day brought private visits to the Explorers Club and the Nahmad Contemporary gallery — a quieter coda to a vivid week.

The Grand Yacht Club Tour

In the wake of the Independence Day parade, in which Tuiga had taken part on the Hudson River, the Manhattan Yacht Club organised a second and larger undertaking: The Grand Yacht Club Tour with Monaco. Over nine days and eight nights, from July 11-19, its 30-metre schooner Arabella escorted Tuiga and Viola along Long Island Sound, calling at some of the most distinguished yacht clubs in the United States before a final arrival in Newport, Rhode Island.

The scale of the undertaking was significant for the Club, from the transatlantic transport of Tuiga by cargo ship to the mobilisation of her crew. Representing the Yacht Club de Monaco throughout was Claudia Batthyany, who carried the Club’s voice and vision to each of the receptions offered by the host clubs along the way.

Each stop followed its own rhythm: a formal welcome by the Commodore, a friendly regatta in the afternoon, an evening aboard Arabella with members of the host club, and an official reception ashore. At every port of call, gifts bearing the Club’s colors were exchanged : the Yacht Club de Monaco crest, the Club’s Assouline book, and a set of commemorative stamps created for the occasion, accompanied by a signed note from the Club’s President, H.S.H. Prince Albert II.

The fleet’s course took them first to Larchmont Yacht Club then to Indian Harbor Yacht Club in Greenwich and to Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club in Oyster Bay, the doyen of the clubs visited, where the transmission of sailing from one generation to the next was on full display, and where a group of children came aboard Tuiga to great delight.

A technical stop at Port Jefferson preceded the run to the eastern end of Long Island and Devon Yacht Club (1908), where the Commodore extended a rare honour, inviting the Club’s representative to join personally in the ceremony of striking the American colours. From Montauk, today more a maritime resort than a traditional yacht club, the fleet gathered at Block Island before “The Great Race” to Newport, arriving in style off Castle Hill to a private evening hosted by Commodore Clare Harrington exclusively for Tuiga, Viola and their guests.

Newport itself brought the voyage to its close, with regattas in the bay, a closing ceremony and a gala dinner at the Newport Yacht Club attended by the club’s incoming Commodore and Rear Commodore — and the promise, as it was put, of “a sequel.”

A Voyage with Lasting Value

Beyond its considerable logistical and financial investment, the Tour built something not easily measured but very real: direct relationships with the Commodores and leadership of five of America’s oldest and most respected yacht clubs, several of which have already expressed interest in joining the Monaco Classic Week — a fitting continuation, given that Devon Yacht Club entered the classic yacht Manitou in the 2023 edition, and Seawanhaka Corinthian hosted the 2025 6 Metre World Championship. It also placed the Yacht Club de Monaco, through Tuiga‘s presence at the heart of America’s 250th, before an audience of several hundred American club members — and it brought the Club’s youngest counterparts, the junior sailors of Seawanhaka and beyond, into direct contact with a tradition of passing on a love of the sea that the Yacht Club de Monaco holds just as dear.

 Looking Ahead

Together, these two journeys — one intimate, one epic — tell a single story: of a Club that, in this historic American summer, chose to sail toward new and old friendships alike. An invitation is now open to formalise the relationships built along Long Island Sound ahead of the Monaco Classic Week 2027, and to maintain the connections made in Newport with a view to a joint project.

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