About Us

The Manalapan Yacht Club, founded in 1961 on Hypoluxo Island, when William E. Benjamin purchased the Countess Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsam's estate as a social club. Initially a haven for local boaters, it grew from the ten founding members to include all Ocean Ridge residents by 1970. The MYC became known for member cruises to destinations like Key Largo and Vero Beach. Today the club also includes non boat owners and fosters camaraderie with a long tradition of friendly get togethers at other local clubs. Today he club thrives and has a long waiting list of potential members. The club still cruises by hosting exotic trips to places like Iceland, Portugal, Italy, and Cuba while maintaining its original vibrant local Manalapan community spirit.

A Brief History of the Manalapan Yacht Club

Early Years The history of the Manalapan Yacht Club actually had its roots in 1957 when William E. “Bill” Benjamin purchased “Casa Alva”, the estate of Countess Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsam and began developing the property. The estate encompassed the whole south end of Hypoluxo Island.

The house, all 23,000 sq. ft., would be transformed into a private “social” club thus the Manalapan Club was born. As the community’s population grew, the boaters discovered like kind and on May 6, 1961, the Manalapan Yacht Club was incorporated. On May 8, 1961 our 10 founding members met and elected Morgan Jones Commodore. In the early days the Town of Manalapan operated out of a trailer situated by the La Coquille tennis courts. So town meetings started being held in the main drawing room of the Club. The Manalapan Yacht Club held their meetings in the La Coquille bar! The decor was nautical, of course, with burgees and pennants flying from the rafters depicting the travels of MYC members.

The first visit to a new locale meant the swapping of burgees which were brought back to further adorn the bar. The “saloon” became more than just a watering hole. It became the Flag Officers’ office where all great decisions transpired.

One of the highlights of the spring season was the annual cruise aboard the “Paddlewheel Queen”. Membership began to grow in the late 60’s as more boat owners joined up. News of the good times easily spread since most folks were also neighbors. Cruises ranged from Manalapan to Jupiter, Vero Beach, Lighthouse Point, Keys, Boca Grande and to ports in between.

Members were solely Manalapaners until 1970, when Ocean Ridge folk were asked to join. Life was less complicated back then. The Town’s clerk would type up the directory for the Club. Mail was sent to Bill Benjamin’s P.O. Box and his secretary would sort and put the mail in the proper “cubby hole”. Local residents would save the cost of a stamp and drop off their checks.

One of the early traditions the Club instituted was designating widows of former members as “Honorable Ladies”. Remember, these were all neighbors and so the “Ladies” had full privileges except the right to vote and were not left out socially. The ladies were required to host an annual party for the members by cooking them a meal. The Club supplied the booze, a tradition which lasts to this day. Well, cooking for the group got old in a hurry, especially as the Club grew and home cooking was replaced by trays from Publix.

Past Commodore Brailsford Nightingale, held some of these parties as a potential funds raiser and instituted games of chance to try to help the Club’s exchequer. Good times were had by all.

By the mid to late 70’s much change challenged the Club’s Flag Officers and membership. First, the Manalapan Club closed its doors with MYC’s burgees and mementos packed away and new arrangements had to be made. Still, most places we cruised to were glad to see us. This would not be the case a decade later, when, although they were glad to see us, they did not have enough dock space for our “fleet”.

One of the favorite trips of the 70’s was a cruise to the Rio Mar Club in Vero Beach with great dockage, a lovely clubhouse, wonderful food and walking distance to the beach. Many boaters would stop at Francis Langford’s Outrigger Restaurant and Marina on Jensen Beach usually on the way up. In 1979 when Ed Snowdon became Commodore, attrition had taken its toll, and we had as many Honorable Ladies as members. He opened the membership to non-boat owners for the first time. Membership grew and stabilized and by the late 80’s had to be capped. It was under Ed Snowden that MYC made its first visit to Key Largo Anglers Club in 1980. Except for KLAC’s construction years (1986-88 and the Covid-19 period 2020/2021) we have held our annual meeting there every year since.

In the early 80’s, the Club held many a Flag Officers’ Ball at the Ocean Club and later moved the December dance to the Little Club, where the Neil Smith Orchestra entertained us for many years. Now “Ryan & the Rockers” gets the party started.

We have been privileged over the years to visit some very special places, and it is a credit to the caliber of our membership that all these reciprocal clubs would like us to return. In 1995, the first female boat owner Mary Brown joined. In 2010, the first female officer Christine Cannon Bucher was elected.

Since 2002, we have taken a variety of exotic cruises that included the that went to South America and the Panama Canal.

In 2014, some members boated on the river from New Orleans up the Mississippi to Memphis.

In 2015, our group flew to Cuba.

In 2016, Iceland was explored on a Windstar cruise.

In 2017, 33 members sailed from Ireland to Portugal on the Windstar.

In 2018, 21 members sailed from Montreal to Boston on the Windstar,

***explored Italy’s Venetian Islands aboard***.

In 2019, 28 members

2020 & 2021 Covid-19 put our travel plans to a standstill although some members did explore Morocco later in October 2021.

In August 2022, the Douro Wine River Cruise onboard the AMA Waterways was a big hit. Now in the 21st century, finding dockage is harder than ever, but some things remain unchanged.

The comradery and good times the Club is known for continues (the bar bills too). Based on our rich history, the dedication of its Flag Officers will continue the tradition of their mission to support the Club through well planned events for all members.