Southern Yacht Club
Encyclopedia
 Burgee |
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| Founded | 1849 |
|---|---|
| Clubhouse | New Orleans |
| Country | |
| Website | http://www.southernyachtclub.org |
The Southern Yacht Club is located in New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
's West End
West End, New Orleans
West End is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Lakeview District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Lake Pontchartrain to the north, the New Basin Canal and Pontchartrain Boulevard to the east, Robert E. Lee Boulevard to the south and...
neighborhood, on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain
Lake Pontchartrain
Lake Pontchartrain is a brackish estuary located in southeastern Louisiana. It is the second-largest inland saltwater body of water in the United States, after the Great Salt Lake in Utah, and the largest lake in Louisiana. As an estuary, Pontchartrain is not a true lake.It covers an area of with...
. Established in 1854, it is the third oldest yacht club
Yacht club
A yacht club is a sports club specifically related to sailing and yachting.-Description:Yacht Clubs are mostly located by the sea, although there are some that have been established at a lake or riverside locations...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Sailing
Southern Yacht Club is an extremely active sailing club and is the organizing body for the Race to the Coast, the oldest point to point regattaRegatta
A regatta is a series of boat races. The term typically describes racing events of rowed or sailed water craft, although some powerboat race series are also called regattas...
in the Western Hemisphere
Western Hemisphere
The Western Hemisphere or western hemisphere is mainly used as a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian and east of the Antimeridian , the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.In this sense, the western hemisphere consists of the western portions...
. Initially raced on July 4, 1850, the race continues to this day with the course starting on the shores of New Orleans on Lake Pontchartrain
Lake Pontchartrain
Lake Pontchartrain is a brackish estuary located in southeastern Louisiana. It is the second-largest inland saltwater body of water in the United States, after the Great Salt Lake in Utah, and the largest lake in Louisiana. As an estuary, Pontchartrain is not a true lake.It covers an area of with...
and finishing in Gulfport, Mississippi
Gulfport, Mississippi
Gulfport is the second largest city in Mississippi after the state capital Jackson. It is the larger of the two principal cities of the Gulfport-Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, Mississippi Combined Statistical Area. As of the...
.
Southern Yacht Club also is host to an active Rhodes 19
Rhodes 19
The Rhodes 19 is a sailboat, designed by Philip Rhodes and originally manufactured by O'Day. Currently, the Rhodes 19 is built by Stuart Marine Corp. To date, approximately 3500 of the boats have been built....
, Vanguard 15, Sunfish, 420, Laser, Optimist and J-22 fleet as well as multiple Handicap and Offshore Racing Fleets and several high school sailing programs. Additionally, the Southern Yacht Club has, for over fifty years, hosted Intercollegiate Sailing Association
Intercollegiate Sailing Association
The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association is a volunteer organization that serves as the governing authority for all sailing competition at colleges and universities throughout the United States and in some parts of Canada.-History:...
regattas including The New Orleans Sugar Bowl Regatta, often partnering with Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
.
Southern Yacht Club is home to four U.S. Sailing Olympic medalists including Gilbert Gray who in 1932 won a Gold Medal in Los Angeles in the Star Class, G. Shelby Friedrichs, Jr. won Gold in the Dragon Class in Mexico City, 1968 and most recently, Johnny Lovell who received a Silver Medal in Athens in 2004 as well as numerous other national and international champions.
Southern Yacht Club is a founding member of the Gulf Yachting Association.
History
The Southern Yacht Club of New Orleans, traces its roots to the Gulf Coast resort of Pass Christian, MississippiMississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
and to the year 1849, making it the second oldest yacht club in the United States.
New Orleans in the antebellum era was a proud, thriving port city, banking center and cultural leader. However, during the summer months, many New Orleanians retreated to the Gulf Coast to flee the heat, humidity and yellow fever. Summer homes, hotels and boarding houses dotted the coast from Waveland
Waveland
Waveland may refer to:in the Atlantic Ocean* The islet of Rockall, designated as an independent state by Greenpeacein the United States* Waveland, Florida* Waveland Avenue, a bordering street of Wrigley Field , in Chicago, Illinois...
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
to Mobile Bay
Mobile Bay
Mobile Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, lying within the state of Alabama in the United States. Its mouth is formed by the Fort Morgan Peninsula on the eastern side and Dauphin Island, a barrier island on the western side. The Mobile River and Tensaw River empty into the northern end of the...
. A favorite among New Orleanians was the Pass Christian Hotel. There, SYC’s organizational meeting was held on July 21, 1849 and the hotel became its headquarters for several years. Eighteen yachts answered the starting gun of the first regatta. Activities continued at "the Pass " until 1857 when the club relocated to New Orleans and held its regattas on Lake Pontchartrain.
The seventeen years of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
and Reconstruction greatly curtailed boating activities until 1878 when the club was reorganized and its first postwar regatta held. The following year, a handsome clubhouse was built over the water. It became the scene of many elaborate social events as well as sailing competition. In 1899 a new and larger clubhouse was erected under the leadership of Commodore Albert Baldwin. Regattas continued annually on the lake with the fleet competing each summer in interclub races on the gulf coast.
Designed by Rathbone DeBuys, an SYC member, the one design Fish class sloop
Fish class sloop
The Fish class sloop, also known informally as Fish Boat is a one-design sailboat designed in 1919 by New Orleans resident Rathbone De Buys, member of the Southern Yacht Club...
had its debut in 1919 and quickly became the most popular one design class in the Gulf South. Other early classes of yachts introduced were the Massachusetts Bay 21 Footers, Stars
Star (sailboat)
The International Star is a 6.9 m one-design racing keelboat for two people.The boat must weigh at least 671 kg with a maximum total sail area of 26.5 m . It is sloop-rigged, with a mainsail larger in proportional size than any other boat of its length...
and Sound Interclubs.
The 1899 clubhouse had been extensively enlarged and renovated in 1920, but by 1949 it had deteriorated and was replaced by a modern, concrete and steel structure. This building was expanded in the 1960's and 1980's, and another major expansion was to begin in 2005. However, Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
struck in August of that year, causing widespread destruction throughout the region. Heavily damaged by wind and flood waters, the clubhouse was ultimately destroyed by a massive fire which burned, unchecked, in the hours following the storm. Sadly, many historic yachting trophies and other priceless artifacts were lost in the fire.
Under the leadership of Commodores Ewell Potts III and Hjalmar Breit, an interim facility was quickly erected to meet the needs of the membership and the renowned local firm of Waggoner & Ball Architects was retained to design a new facility. SYC's fourth clubhouse was dedicated September 12, 2009. It is a modern structure containing luxurious appointments and state-of-the-art sailing accommodations. Current Commodore, James Wade, christened the clubhouse in September of 2009, in anticipation of Southern's 160th anniversary in October 2009.
Through more than one hundred and sixty years of prosperity, depressions, wars, yellow fever epidemics, flood and hurricanes, the Southern Yacht Club has maintained a Corinthian tradition of keen competition, sportsmanship and eponymous hospitality.