One of the nation’s oldest yacht clubs launches another fresh start in Biloxi
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- Biloxi Yacht Club has a 25-year lease with the city for the Old Biloxi Library building.
- Stephen Royball will become commodore during May 3 change of watch on the library steps.
- The two-week youth sailing sessions start June 1.
Biloxi Yacht Club has weathered hurricanes and stormy seas in its 177 years, and now is moving ahead with bold plans for its new yet historic location.
On Sunday, May 3, the traditional change of watch ceremony will see Stephen Roybal become the new commodore. Tim Manuel has served in the post since 2024.
Prior watch ceremonies were held at the massive clubhouse, restaurant and swimming pool the yacht club built at the beach after its former clubhouse was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina.
Insurance and expenses were so high, the group sold the Southern-style building to Harry Mohney in 2024, yet stayed at the site and leased the property for $1 a year. It temporarily moved next door to the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art while it looked for a new, permanent location.
“It is with great excitement we officially announce the BYC has executed an agreement with the City of Biloxi to restore the Old Biloxi Library for our new clubhouse,” the group announced earlier this year.
The club moved in Feb. 1 and has since renovated and opened the bottom floor for meetings and events. It has big plans, starting with the return of the youth sailing camp this summer.
Traditional ceremony
Sunday’s ceremony at 1 p.m. will be on the tall steps of the historic building at 124 Lameuse St., just south of Biloxi City Hall. The building was constructed in 1925 and the towering steps will provide an impressive setting for the change of watch.
The outgoing and incoming commodores will stand at the top of the steps. Positioned from there down to the sidewalk will be their flag officers, board members and then former commodores, all in their blue blazers with their patches and khaki pants. The flag will be raised and the National Anthem will be played.
It’s a tradition repeated over the years by the yacht club, which was established in 1849.
“We’re the fourth oldest in North America,” Roybal said, and this new location is what he believes will keep the nonprofit group going strong.
What’s next
“We put ourselves in a much better financial position when we sold that old building,” Roybal said, and now the group has options and opportunities.
“We have this whole building,” Roybal said, and a 25-year lease with the city. As the owner, Biloxi pays the insurance policy on the building. “It’s covered by their umbrella policy,” Roybal said.
The group is waiting on a permit from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to begin work on the top level and restore the original footprint. The decorative arches built to create separate spaces for the library will come down and the space with wooden floors and soaring ceilings will be a large, open area to host events, plus a chart room and trophy room with the original fireplace.
“Once that permit is in hand, we have everything lined up to get rolling upstairs,” he said.
When the top floor is complete, the plan is to restore the ground floor to locker rooms and maybe a gym, he said.
There is enough space on the south side to hopefully replace a parking lot with a swimming pool and pickleball court for members, he said.
Community feel
After 15 years of running a dining room at its former locations, “we’ve trimmed down operations pretty significantly. We’ve realized that we’re not a restaurant,” Roybal said.
Since moving to the new location, yacht club members are cooking on Fridays. “A lot of our longtime members are passionate about cooking, and they’ve stepped up to do that for us,” he said, which brought back the community feel.
The club has partnered with neighboring Adventures restaurant to cater a meal, and Half Shell Oyster House will cater Sunday’s meal for members after the ceremony.
The club probably won’t build a kitchen at the new location, Roybal said, but would like to put in an outdoor cooking pavilion.
The yacht club is open 4-9 p.m., Wednesday to Friday, with food every Friday. They plan to add family night meals on Wednesday, and possibly Sunday brunch once a month.
Water activities
One of the tradeoffs at the new location is the proximity to the waterfront. Yet Roybal said the distance from the new location to the commercial harbor just down the street isn’t much farther than it was from the former clubhouse to the dock.
Biloxi has agreed to help the group establish a place for sailing lessons, regattas and other events, and the youth sailing camp that had been suspended for about five years while the yacht club dealt with financial issues is back this summer.
“We’ve hired two U.S. Sailing Level 1-certified instructors,” Roybal said. The two-week sessions start June 1 and run Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
The changes are resonating with the community, he said. They’ve already signed up 40 new members since Feb. 1. Membership requires an application and two references and isn’t limited to Biloxi residents, he said.
