Marina Group Buys Montauk Yacht Club From Gurneys

The Montauk Yacht Club, one of the easternmost hamlet’s oldest establishments, is once again a place.

A spokesperson for the giant marina company Safe Harbor confirmed this week that the group purchased the century-old yacht club from Gurney’s Resorts last July and will reestablish the name as the Montauk Yacht Club when they reopen in April 2023.

Since 2018, the yacht club had been known as Gurney’s Star Island Resort & Marina, after the investors who purchased the former Gurney’s Inn in 2013 bought the 35-acre property and invested a reported $13 million in refurbishing the 107 hotel rooms.

With 219 slips capable of accommodating vessels up to 300 feet, the Montauk Yacht Club is the largest marina in the harbor.

Safe Harbor owns more than 130 marinas across the United States and in Puerto Rico — the largest dedicated marina owner and operator in the world, the company says.

“The Montauk Yacht Club will be about connecting people by water,” a spokesperson said. “Whether its paddleboarding across the harbor or chartering a boat or the concierge reservations for destinations, it will be about the connection to the water.”

For those who desire a visceral connection to the water, the new operators plan to offer a new amenity this summer: a “Safe Harbor Water Suite.” A luxury floating suite moored at a slip at the marina will give guests for whom a simple water view from their hotel room is not quite enough, a much more tangible connection.

Safe Harbor will offer electric boats for charter and will handle bookings of destination visits by boat to hot spots like the restaurants in Greenport and Shelter Island or sunset cruises to Duryea’s.

The company is making some minor changes at the property this winter, like installing a retractable roof over the yacht club’s indoor pool and converting some tennis courts to pickleball courts.

Other things are staying the same. The restaurants — Showfish, Il Forno and Pool Club — will remain for the 2023 summer season, the company says.

The company says it is also dedicated to improving employee housing, supporting local charities and events throughout the hamlet and steering its guests and customers to other local businesses and wares.