Short name | SYC |
---|---|
Founded | 1849 |
Location | New Orleans, Louisiana, United States |
Website | www |
The Southern Yacht Club is located in New Orleans, Louisiana's West End neighborhood, on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain. Established in 1849, it is the second oldest yacht club in the United States.
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 regatta in the Western Hemisphere. 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 and finishing in Gulfport, Mississippi.
Southern Yacht Club also is host to an active Rhodes 19, 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 regattas including The New Orleans Sugar Bowl Regatta, often partnering with Tulane University.
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.
The Southern Yacht Club of New Orleans, traces its roots to the Gulf Coast resort of Pass Christian, Mississippi and to the year 1849, making it the second oldest yacht club in the United States.