The yacht club in Saratov officially began its activities on September 16, 1876, when its charter was approved. It was established based on the Circle of Marine Pleasures, which appeared a few years earlier, initiated by one of its founders, S. V. Alfimov, a member of the St. Petersburg River Yacht Club. This club became the eighth in Russia and the first on the Volga. The first rowing competitions under the club's auspices took place on July 8, 1878. After several years of meetings on a barge, a small wooden building was constructed on stilts by the Volga shore for the club. In 1904, the club moved to a new beautiful building, also on stilts, near the Merchant Shipping Company dock.

Club members were divided into active, honorary, and staff. The uniform was dark green with a gold embroidered emblem, while the staff wore regular sailor uniforms. In addition to organizing boat races, the club opened an ice rink and a gymnastics section on Cathedral Square, conducted research on shallows and fairways, as well as courses on navigation and shipbuilding. The season opened in April with the raising of the flag and a prayer service.

The club's main income came from membership fees and rental of mooring spots for vessels. In the pre-revolutionary years, the club had about 250 members, and the number of vessels, including sailing, rowing, and motorboats, exceeded 60. Many of them were built in the club's workshop, one of the best in the country.

With the advent of Soviet power, all the club's property was nationalized. The building was dismantled for firewood in 1920, and around the same time, the club ceased to exist. Today, there are no reminders of the yacht club and its dock in the landscaped square on the Cosmonauts Embankment.

From 1878 until his death in 1914, the club was headed by the respected Saratov notary and public figure G. G. Dybo. After him, until the club's closure, his son, architect V. P. Dybo, took over. The board included well-known entrepreneurs such as S. V. Alfimov and milling magnate O. P. Schmidt.