As a young boy growing up on Long Island we belonged to the Centerport Yacht Club. This began my love of Sailing and Architecture. The clubhouse is a huge mansion from the glory days of the 1800′s with prime access to Centerport Beach on the north shore of Long Island. The tender would take us out to our moored boat, dinners in the beautiful restaurant in the main house, swim team practices at the pool and Regattas on the Blue Jay sailboats. This is why I love Lakewood so much…It reminds me of my idyllic childhood on Long Island.

In the years following World War II, the waters of Northport and Huntington Bay on Long Island Sound became a growing center of one-design sailboat racing. A number of these racers, calling themselves the Centerport Yacht Club, began operating out of a small shack on Centerport Harbor and challenging the existing Huntington and Edgewater (Northport) Yacht Clubs in the area. On Valentine’s Day in 1947, a certificate of incorporation was approved by the Supreme Court of the State of New York and The Centerport Harbor Yacht Club was officially established. From that day forward, the Centerport Yacht Club has been a special place for racers, Olympians, cruisers, friends and family to gather together in the Corinthian tradition.

The Club began looking for a permanent home in 1948 while taking up temporary quarters at the Holiday Lodge on Northport Harbor. The following year, the summer mansion of the Daniel P. Morse Family (whose father Samuel invented the Morse Code), which was down the street from the Vanderbilt’s summer home, came up for sale across the harbor, and the CYC’s founders knew they had hit upon their new home. After much renovation work by Centerport Yacht Club members, our current clubhouse was formally dedicated on July 2, 1950.

When: Now
Where: 33 Beach Plum Centerport NY 11721
Cost: Varies
Link: Centerport Yacht Club