- July 11, 2025
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In his year as commodore, Michael Landis has helped lead Bird Key Yacht Club through occasionally tumultuous waters, including the aftermath of hurricanes Helene and Milton and pending teardown of the old clubhouse. But he said the support of his team and a touch of humor helped the club navigate a way forward.
He hands over the title to his current second-in-command at a change of watch ceremony June 21 at the Field Club. The commodore sat down with the Observer to reflect on his tenure and background, and share some advice for his successor.
"I'm most proud of the people I had the opportunity to work with," Landis said when asked about his favorite part of serving as commodore. "We have a phenomenal board, and it's great to be part of that group. We all respect each other, we get along well, we work hard, and we play hard together."
Landis, who has lived in the area for the past 13 years, was born in northeastern Pennsylvania and a longtime resident of New York, where he met his wife, Cathy. The two recently celebrated their 49th wedding anniversary.
He celebrated at his own incoming ceremony last June, when he replaced Commodore Steve Horton.
His family came to the Bronx from Sicily, and he worked in Manhattan for most of his career. His background is in construction, specifically with a global elevator and escalator company.
"We were basically designing and building high-rise buildings, and maintaining them," he said.
He continued, "The last big project I put together was with Larry Silverstein for towers three and four of the World Trade Center."
The day the towers fell was emotional, Landis said, but he appreciated being in a position to help as the city worked to recover.
"I, unfortunately, watched them come down, but I was there as we started to rebuild," he said. "We were down in the red zone every week. Some of our construction riggers helped move the steel beams off the buildings — off the rubble, I should say."
While it was a difficult time to experience, Landis said he and a friend still make time to talk on the phone every anniversary.
Landis loved the city, but his work later took him to New Jersey to head the North American headquarters of a Swiss construction company, and eventually to worldwide travels to Europe, China and South America. He first got into the construction industry after a stint in the U.S. Army, after which he received a full honorable discharge.
"I've had the opportunity to see a lot of places and build in a lot of different environments," he added.
Nearing retirement and having seen his children off to college, he and his wife started making regular trips to warmer climes in the winter. While they visited several destinations, they always looked forward to seeing friends in Longboat Key who had called it home for 30 years.
"We were coming across the Ringling Bridge and looked around, and we said everything you could want is here," he said. "You have the city, the culture, the water, the beaches."
Landis first connected with the Bird Key Yacht Club when seeking advice from member Marvin Quin about a nonstop sail from Sarasota to Key West, called the Bone Island Regatta.
Now, he enjoys taking out "Even Tide," a Sabre 34 built to handle even heavy North Atlantic conditions. He learned how to sail while lifeguarding in the Poconos area and has bareboat sailed throughout the Caribbean.
There are plenty of aspects he appreciates about the club, but he said, at the heart of it, it comes down to the close connections members form.
"The club just speaks for itself," he said. "Everyone is friendly, whether you're a sailor, a power boater, tennis player or whatever. At the end of the day, we're all just good friends."
One of the largest projects to arise in his tenure is the upcoming demolition and rebuilding of a clubhouse. Leaders needed to adjust the timeline when facing skyrocketing construction costs.
But Landis and Britt took the development in stride, even donning Wayne and Garth costumes for the club's "Party On" celebration that would have marked demolition day for the 65-year-old building. Britt said they have been making progress with the project, bringing down costs closer to what they initially anticipated.
"We're absolutely committed to getting this done, but we're going to do it intelligently," Britt said. "As we've said to members, we're going to build it without compromising the integrity or vision of the club."
Besides moving the ball forward on the clubhouse, Britt said he plans to work hard to maintain the club's platinum status, voted upon by 4,000 people in the yachting community.
Landis said maintaining a good sense of humor is essential for keeping an organization going when unexpected challenges arise.
Britt said he plans to do everything in his power to keep the good times coming, and he shared his appreciation for how welcoming members consistently are to new additions.
He and his wife, Irene, didn't consider themselves part of the typical club crowd when they first moved to the area. But she shared her interest in the Bird Key organization, and they tested the waters with a summer program.
"I've joked that when my wife and I joined, we thought we'd be surrounded by the equivalent of Thurston Howell III from Gilligan's Island," he said. "But that's the furthest thing from the truth. ... It's amazing because members have done such great things, but they're just regular friends here. That's not going to change."
The incoming commodore said he knows many clubhouse neighbors already, but he plans to visit every nearby residence as he assumes his new role.
Landis plans to stay involved with the club, and he said with the support of General Manager Tammy Hackney and fellow team members, he has no doubt Britt will take on the new role flawlessly.
"Really, Tony doesn't need advice," Landis said. "He's going to do an absolutely fabulous job of carrying on this momentum that we've started the past few years toward building a new clubhouse."
One piece of advice he did offer is to focus on the relationships with community members, which he said makes the long hours worthwhile.
"We're down to earth," Landis added. "There's nothing pretentious about what we're doing. We want to keep the boutique atmosphere, and we don't want to grow too big, because then it becomes impersonal. Regardless of what our background is, where we come from, or who we are, that doesn't make any difference here."
Britt will be the first Canadian to hold the title of commodore, and, like his predecessor, he plans to celebrate his old stomping grounds at his change of watch.