southern yacht club nola

Southern Yacht Club

Review Highlights

“ Goat loves to watch the sunset in the west bar, while drinking his many Goat Drinks with his many friends! ” in 3 reviews

“ There is also an outdoor pool and picnic tables shielded under the building. ” in 2 reviews

“ The views simply can NOT be beat. ” in 2 reviews

Location & Hours

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105 N Roadway St

New Orleans, LA 70124

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Overall rating

Gold medal winner , great food , great stuff , top of the line managements Best chef in the past 17 years

Friend who is a member bought me here for lunch. every thing was great staff was friendly.

Double Cut Pork Filets

Turtle soup was a test: failed. Wrong flavor and a weird consistency. Redfish special was nice and fresh. Vegetables were way undercooked and very spotty service. Of course. Dropped bread and never returned until the end. One star for the great view. Overall go for the view. Forget the food.

This is a beautiful facility. I've been to several work banquet type dinners here and have enjoyed them all. The staff is welcoming and the food has always been tasty. The views of Lake Ponchartrain are amazing. The floor to ceiling windows, and balcony access make it easy to take a few deep breaths and just chill. Maybe it's just me, but I find water views relaxing. I've been to the club during the day with friends who are members, and there is good stuff going on. The kids can swim in the super clean, outdoor pool. There's a snack bar, an outdoor bar for the grown ups, lots of meeting space, and of course sailing. I've got friends who's children have learned to sail there from very young ages. They seem to instill a love of the sport.

We were here tonight. I have visited for decades, both as a GYA Club member, and as a guest of other members. SYC is a very GREAT place, and is an INSTITUTION in Gulf Coast sailing. The restaurant & bar are excellent. The new building is a beauty. The members are typical Southerners, so friendly & hospitable. If you are eligible to visit SYC, don't miss this venerable institution, founded in 1842. Rick

So I'm trying to be tougher on my reviews and not write as many five star reviews. Normally I would review this place as 3 stars based on my experience at a Saturday daytime lunch on the third floor. But I have to say the view is just breathtaking, hence the extra star! Well, one of my best friends is in a sorority and their alumni chapter had a breast cancer fundraiser lunch at this venue on a Saturday morning/afternoon. I had never been before so I was excited to check it out! If you know me well then you know how much I love being near water (heck, I live on bayou St. John! Hehe) so I was really excited excited to see their space. Well, I was not disappointed! There is a horseshoe type parking space which is one way. The Peking closest to the building is reserved for club members, so exclusive! Hehe And the building sits right next to the water. There is also an outdoor pool and picnic tables shielded under the building. You walk into a modern lobby and there are signs letting you know what floor each event is being held. So up to the third floor I go and the room is lovely! There are huge windows that show off the amazing view! In fact, during a break my girlfriends and I meandered to the balcony to take pictures and take in the picturesque vantage point! As for the food it was adequate but nothing really a stood out. You can see in my pictures the standard Cesar salad, catfish almondine and chocolate mousse. Everything was tasty but not remarkable. Service was very efficient and polite so definite plus! I quite enjoyed this event and the views that went along with it! Happy sailing!

See all photos from Michelle B. for Southern Yacht Club

One of the oldest Yacht Clubs in the USA the SYC has a long and distinguished history in the annals of yachting. This is the epicenter of sailing for the NOLA area and the club has some fantastic programs. They have a nice pool area with a smaller kid friendly splash pool. The clubhouse has nice facilities overlooking Lake Pontchartrain and the food is generally good to excellent depending on what you order. This spot is always a hub of activity and it is certainly a popular venue for many events and activities.

Disappointment, thy name is SYC. Expecting something akin to the preKatrina SYC, I was very saddened by the office-building like ambience. Cold, industrial, not a touch of charm.... oh, and the food was horrible. On top of this truly unpleasant experience, the staff was incredibly rude and insisted upon picking up plates, silverware, and glassware without even asking if anyone was finished. Truly horrible experience. I hope I never have to go back.

I'm a fan but also a member of this private club. So if I pay to have the ability to go there then why the review?? Because there are a lot of things about this club which make it wonderful and a very unique part of NOLA: 1. There are amazing activities for kids during the summer and at different parts of the year. Need to get sponsored by a member but 100% worth it. 2. Watch a sunset from the bar! Best I have found in the city. 3. New chef is really good. He mixes up the menu on a monthly basis with specials all the time which keeps the place interesting. Find a friend who's a member and make them take you to dinner... you won't regret it.

Romantic and peaceful place to watch the sunset. I really enjoy coming here. It's such a pretty place... like a mini getaway in the city. Food is yummy too.

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Yacht Clubs

Southern Yacht Club

southernyachtclub.org

105 North Roadway Street

New Orleans , LA 70124

(504) 288-4200

Southern Yacht Club is located in the West End area of New Orleans, on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain. Established in 1849, it is the second oldest yacht club in the United States.

From the SYC Commodore :

Video: The Story of the Southern Yacht Club

The Second Oldest Yacht Club

SYC originally met in the Pass Christian Hotel

New Orleans in the antebellum era was a thriving port city, banking center and cultural leader. However, during the summer months, many New Orleanians would retreat to the Gulf Coast to flee the city’s heat, humidity and outbreaks of yellow fever. Summer homes, hotels and boarding houses dotted the coast along the Mississippi Sound to Mobile Bay. The first recorded regattas in this region were held as early as the 1830s in the coastal ports of Biloxi and Mobile.

A favorite destination 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. James W. Behan was elected as the club’s first president (the title “commodore” was not used until 1854) and eighteen yachts answered the starting gun for the club’s inaugural regatta that summer.

Activities continued at “The Pass” until 1857 when the club relocated to New Orleans and held its regattas on Lake Pontchartrain. Meetings were held at various locations in the city.

The Race to the Coast

The year after its founding, on July 4th, 1850, SYC held the first of what was to become an annual race from New Orleans to Pass Christian. The racecourse winds its way across Lake Pontchartrain, through The Rigolets to Lake Borgne and then into the Mississippi Sound. This annual Race to the Coast continues today and is among the oldest regattas still regularly contested in the United States.

A Clubhouse, at last

The seventeen years of Civil War 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 on the shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain. It became the scene of many elaborate social events as well as sailing competitions. 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.

The Fish Class sloop, designed by SYC member Rathbone DeBuys, 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 Footer, Star and Sound Interclub.

The 1899 clubhouse was extensively enlarged and renovated in the 1920s. The grand ballroom addition hosted many gala events which featured many of the emerging jazz pioneers of the day. The grand structure saw heavy use by the US Navy and Coast Guard during World War II and, in 1949, it was replaced by a modest, concrete and steel structure. This building was expanded in the 1960s and ’80s, and another major expansion was set to begin in 2005.

The Gulf Yachting Association

In 1919, America’s Cup celebrity and sailing benefactor, Sir Thomas Lipton (who lived in New Orleans as a young man), donated an elaborate trophy to SYC for an Interclub Challenge amongst Gulf Coast yacht clubs. This effort helped spark the reorganization of the Gulf Yachting Association. Originally conceived in 1901 by members of SYC and several other Gulf Coast clubs, the GYA brought together yachtsmen from Houston to St. Petersburg and as far inland as Arkansas to encourage the sport of yacht racing.

The popular Fish Class became the standard-issue yacht of each GYA club for the annual Lipton Cup Challenge, which remains keenly contested to this day. The GYA’s year-long interclub series is named for SYC Commodore Auguste Capdevielle, who passed away in office in 1940. In 1968, the Flying Scot replaced the aging Fish Class as the GYA interclub yacht. Today, the GYA has over thirty member clubs.

The Olympic Games

The 1932 Olympic Games saw SYC Star Class skipper Gilbert Gray and crew, Andrew Libano, win a Gold Medal. It was U.S.A.’s first-ever Olympic medal in sailing. SYC sailors continued to be regular participants in the Olympic Trials, but none would reach the games until G.S. “Buddy” Friedrichs, Jr., with crew, Barton Jahncke and Click Schreck, won the Gold Medal in the Dragon Class in 1968.

SYC’s next Olympian was Flying Dutchman sailor, Steve Burdow, crewing for Paul Foerster in the 1992 Games. The pair won the Silver Medal that year.

From 1996 to 2008, SYC was represented in four straight Olympic Games. Skipper Johnny Lovell and crew, Charlie Ogletree, dominated the Tornado Class during this period, winning multiple national and international class championships. Their greatest success came in 2004, when they won the Silver Medal. In 2008, SYC would be represented in two Olympic classes in Tsingtao, China.

Luxury yacht builder John Dane, III had made several runs at the Olympics during his lifelong sailing career, but it was not until 2008, at the age of 58, that he finally achieved his goal. Sailing in the uber-competitive Star Class, with his son-in-law as crew, John peaked at just the right time to win the Olympic Trials and represent U.S.A. in the 2008 games. Unfortunately for both Dane and Lovell, the conditions were not as expected and their careful light-air preparation became a liability. Neither team won a medal.

The Olympic Sailing Association at New Orleans

A Founding Member of the NSHOF, the Olympic Sailing Association was founded by SYC members to encourage development of future Olympians. This successful non-profit organization maintains a strong presence throughout the Gulf Coast region.

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina made landfall just east of New Orleans on August 29, 2005 causing widespread destruction throughout the region. Though only modestly 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 trophies and other priceless artifacts were lost in the fire.

After two years of construction and countless hours of work by Commodore Jim Wade and the Governing Committee, the new clubhouse was opened in 2009. Once again, SYC had a permanent home and, like the previous clubhouses, it is the crown jewel of the New Orleans Lakefront.

Over the years, SYC sailors have won four Olympic medals and numerous national and international championships. Through more than one hundred and fifty years of prosperity, depressions, wars, yellow fever epidemics, floods and hurricanes, the Southern Yacht Club has always maintained a tradition of keen competition, sportsmanship and eponymous hospitality.

Quick Links

Getting Here

The Sailing Museum & Hall of Fame

365 Thames Street

Newport, RI 02840

401.324.5761

[email protected]

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Southern Yacht Club 1900s

by nolahistoryguy | Apr 6, 2021 | 1900s - 1910s , Lakefront , West End | 0 comments

Below is a sneak peek of this content!

Official Apparel Storefront is now open!

On behalf of the International J/22 Class Association and J/22 Fleet 46, Southern Yacht Club is pleased to invite all sailors to the 2024 Midwinters. The organizing authority for this regatta is the USJ22CA and the Southern Yacht Club..

Official Notice of Race
Online registration form
Official Notice Board
A listing of current entries
Information on New Orleans weather

2021 Optimist Midwinter Championship (Spring Team Qualifier)

Notice board

Hosted by USODA

Southern Yacht Club, New Orleans LA

Notice Board

Welcome to the Event Website for the 2021 Allstate Sugarbowl Optimist Midwinter Championship

(Spring Team Qualifier)

Hosted by Southern Yacht Club

Dates: November 25-28 (Racing Days Nov 26-28)

Registration is closed!!

This event will serve as a qualifier for the 2022 Optimist Team Trials, 2022 Spring International Teams and mid-season USNT and ODP2 Teams

Fleet Assignments for Sunday are posted in the Race Documents section below

Gold division = yellow streamers, silver division = green streamers.

All Classes

Coach/Spectator

Green Fleet

Opti Championship

No entries yet.