The facility known as the Yale Sailing Center was officially renamed June 3, 2006 to the McNay Family Sailing Center at Yale University to honor a generous gift to the school's sailing program. A dedication ceremony and reception took place at the center, located on Long Island Sound.

"The exceptional generosity of the Joseph McNay family has provided current and future Yale sailors a top-notch varsity intercollegiate experience. The operational support of the program, the endowment of the head coaching position and the restoration of a spectacular facility have all been achieved because of this extraordinary Yale family. We could never thank them enough," said Tom Beckett, Yale's Director of Athletics.

The original sailing center was constructed in 1967 and renovated with the McNay gift in 2002, which also funded the women's and co-ed teams' move to varsity status that spring.

"I am really excited that the McNays are being recognized for a gift that allows us to take the program to the next level. They have been tremendously supportive to us in many ways," said Zach Leonard '89, the McNay Family Director of Yale Sailing.

The McNay Family Sailing Center is a state of the art facility that includes a kitchen, living quarters, offices, classroom space, lockers and a full maintenance area. The center houses a fleet of 420 racing dinghies, augmented by FJs, Lasers, windsurfers and three safety launches. The sailing area is located on open water and boasts among the finest wind and waves in all of college sailing.

The Yale Sailing Team has produced scores of All-Americans (including three-time honoree Stuart McNay '04), world champions and Olympic medalists in its long history. In fact, nine Yale sailors have competed in Olympic Games with five medals between them. The women's team won the 2004 National Dinghy Championships while the Bulldogs finished second at the 2005 Collegiate Team Racing Nationals. Yale has won the last two Ivy League Sailing Championships, while Eli sailors finished first, third and fifth at the 2006 Women's Singlehanded National Championships.

The organization in operation at the McNay Family Sailing Center is the Yale Corinthian Yacht Club (YCYC), which was established in 1881 and is the oldest collegiate sailing club in the world. The club is comprised of Yale student members of the varsity co-ed and women's sailing teams and sailing alumni known as the Yale Sailing Associates.