Its original 15 incorporators were: William P. Clyde, president of the Clyde Steamship Company; Washington E. Connor; Alfred de Cordova; William B. Dowd; Jay Gould and his son George Jay Gould; Jesse R. Grant; Cornelius Hatch; James B. Houston; Frank K. Lawrence; Christopher Meyer; Thomas C. Platt; Henry O. Taylor; Cornelius F. Timpson; and George S. Scott.

They briefly considered making a home on Charles Island in Milford going as far as to place a down payment on the property in the spring of 1884 [9] before pivoting to the purchase of land in Rye from the Wainwright family.

A large Queen Anne-style clubhouse was finally constructed on the tip of Milton Point on Long Island Sound[10] in 1894.

[21] More recently, AYC women won the 2016 International Keelboat Championship in a one design J/70 with Clemmie Everett at the helm of a crew that included Alix Hahn, Carolyn Russell and Erin Sprague.

This initiative under the leadership of then Commodore Philip Mallory, introduced a new type of boat called the Wee Scotts.

The club's Young American Junior Big Boat Sailing Team, established in 2013,[26] have placed first in the 2016 Bermuda Race (Class 10) while other AYC junior sailor honors include winning the Stephens Brothers Youth Division Trophy and Storm Trysail Boomerang Trophy.