The Bureau was established in 1947/48 by Ed S. Terwilliger based on work begun by E. D. Wright, a marine surveyor, as an independent, privately owned organization.
The funding came from a group of insurance companies (yacht underwriters) and from National Association of Engine & Boat Manufacturers, Inc. (NAEBM).
The board of directors was evenly divided between marine insurance companies and boat manufacturers.
Reports developed as a result of these investigations became guides to underwriters and their surveyors and to boat builders.
In 1959, the Yacht Safety Bureau was reorganized as a non-profit public service membership corporation in the State of New York with no change of its name.