Sailing Club Returns To Its Mecox Bay Home

Generations of kids living near Mecox Bay in Water Mill learned how to sail at the Mecox Yacht Club at the end of Bay Lane. Never mind the exclusive sounding name, the “club” consisted only of a 12-by-16-foot storage shed with a small front porch attached to it, and a few Sunfish sailboats scattered about.

Operating from at least the 1930s, if not earlier, the club once sat next to farm fields at its Bay Lane location. Eventually, it found itself hemmed in by big houses and their bigger hedges. By the late 1980s, the club had fallen on hard times, as membership dwindled. The little clubhouse was abandoned, and the land around it was overgrown with weeds.

But about seven years ago, a group of former members asked the Southampton Town Board to help it restore the club. After a court battle with neighbors, who objected to the use, was resolved, the town last year agreed to underwrite the construction of a new clubhouse at the site.

On at 10 AM on Wednesday, June 6, the results of that effort were to be on display when the town held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the recently-constructed clubhouse building, which is just as low-key, if a bit more expensive, than the one it replaces.

“I’m very excited to finally see this come to fruition,” said Councilwoman Christine Scalera. “And all of the credit goes to the community members who had the fortitude and passion to see this through. It’s a very exciting day when we can celebrate both the history and the memories of the site and the many more memories to be made there in the future.”

Besides Scalera, three long-time club members who led the effort to restore the club — Julie Burmeister, Jeff Mansfield, and Andy Russell — were expected to be on site, as were Town Parks Director Kristen Doulos and other town staff.

sjkotz@indyeastend.com