New Orleans in the antebellum era was a proud, thriving port city, banking center and cultural leader. However, during the summer months, many New Orleanians retreated to the Gulf Coast to flee the heat, humidity and yellow fever. Summer homes, hotels and boarding houses dotted the coast from Waveland, Mississippi to Mobile Bay. A favorite among New Orleanians was the Pass Christian Hotel. There, SYC’s organizational meeting was held on July 21, 1849 and the hotel became its headquarters for several years. On August 8, 1849, Southern Yacht Club's first regatta was sailed in the Mississippi Sound off of Pass Christian, Mississippi with twenty-two yachts answering the starting gun and was won by Captain Robert A. Hiern of Mobile, Alabama sailing on the sloop "Undine". Activities continued at "the Pass " until 1857 when the club relocated to New Orleans and held its regattas on Lake Pontchartrain.