Yacht Club leader preaches local involvement as key to progress

Mornings for new Commodore Harry Anand often start with smiles and rounds of “Hello, commodore” as he walks down the hall of the Sarasota Yacht Club. 

SYC members and staff agree that it's easy to get to know Anand due to his kind attitude, hard-working spirit and dedicated involvement in the club.

At the start of the new year, the SYC board of directors announced former Vice Commodore Anand would be stepping up in Commodore Tim’s Clarke’s place. Anand has big plans to move his favorite club into the future and keep its status as one of the top private yacht clubs in the world. 

“Harry is a visionary and has some very exciting and forward thinking plans for the club's future,” said Karen Harmon, SYC general manager. “He is a good partner in creating a great culture at the club where people want to be a part of the magic.” 

Anand migrated from India to New York in 1982 and lived there for 32 years. He settled down in Laurel Hollow.

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“This was fondly known as the Gold Coast of America,” said Anand. “It's this whole strip where there's a lot of very historic old families. We used to call it the backyard of Teddy Roosevelt. We had a couple of Rockefellers, the Jones family to the Whitney family to the Birdman family to the Grace family. That's where I built my home. When we moved in, my kids were 2 and 3 years old.”

Anand has always had a passion for getting involved in the community. While running his industrial chemical company, Royce International, he became involved with the schools and the planning boards of the Laurel Hollow. Having many friends in the police force, Anand went to the civilian police academy and became the commissioner of police for 10 years.

In 2007, Anand ran for mayor and served three terms. He said that he was mayor during some challenging times, such as the 2008-2009 financial crisis, Hurricane Irene and Hurricane Sandy. He shared that these challenges motivated his love of bringing people together locally.

“What makes us a very special nation is the fact that we have people who serve in the local communities,” said Anand. “Unfortunately, less attention is paid to what's happening in our local towns compared to what’s happening in D.C. But that's where America lives. It's our sheriffs, it's our local commissioners and our local bodies that make towns function and local communities. So I'm very big on local involvement and making a difference that way.”

After deciding to not run for a fourth term in 2013, Anand followed his business partner to retire on the Gulf Coast in the Sarasota area. With his house on the north shore of Long Island, Anand had been boating since living Laurel Hollow. It was a no-brainer to switch from his New York yacht club to his now beloved SYC.

Anand has been a member of the Sarasota Yacht Club for 10 years. He served on multiple committees such as the membership committee and the finance committee. During the COVID-19 pandemic, membership at the club had dropped, so Commodore Tim Clarke gave Anand the task of refinancing. Anand was the perfect man for the job due to his business background. This led to him becoming vice commodore for the previous two years.

Along with his many responsibilities at SYC, Anand is Royce International’s managing director and he serves on the board of directors for the Gulf Coast CEO Forum. 

Anand and the club have big goals for the next coming years. He shared that the club is going through the permitting process to build a new marina and drafting plans to expand the campus. He also said they are focusing on fundraising with the SYC Cares division, which benefits different nonprofit organizations around the community.

The Sarasota Yacht Club threw Anand a Bollywood-themed Commodore’s Bash on Jan. 20 and around 200 people attended. Anand said the energy of the staff and the members make him feel honored to serve as their commodore. His intent as commodore is to make the club a happy place for each of the members and staff for them to come through joyous and difficult times.

“In spite of all of our plaques and titles, what makes us who we are is our staff and our members,” said Anand. “We have phenomenal staff, at every level, from our marina staff, to our dining staff, to our management staff. They are all phenomenal people. The second is our members, our members are very engaging members. They open their hearts. It's a very tight knit community and a very family environment.”