The Royal Yacht Squadron entered the 2021 America's Cup in Auckland, New Zealand, with the Ineos Team UK syndicate led by Sir Ben Ainslie, but did not win.

In March 2021, an entity associated with the RYS, called Royal Yacht Squadron Racing Ltd, was officially accepted as the Challenger of Record for the 37th America's Cup competition.

Its association with the Royal Navy began early and Nelson's captain at Trafalgar, Admiral Sir Thomas Hardy, headed the list of naval members.

"Come listen to my ditty, and a song to you I'll sing..."[4] Another naval connection is that the Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott was a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron.

To enable the application of naval discipline on board a civilian ship, he registered the Terra Nova RYS as a yacht of the squadron and sailed under the White Ensign on his second and final expedition to Antarctica in 1910.