The First Hundred Years: Clearwater Yacht Club, 1911-2011

race management and race committee support for events organized by the Florida Women’s Sailing Association, the Dunedin Boat Club, and the Clearwater Community Sailing Center. Staging these regattas requires a carefully orchestrated effort and involves a large number of volunteers— both members and non-members of CYC. In 2010, forty members, twenty seven non-members, and CYC General Manager Tom Brusini made major contributions to at least three regattas. An additional twenty-six members were assisted by eight non-members on the CYC Safety Committee. Many club members and members of the CYC staff work hard to support these regattas through landside activities. Every member of the Race Committee and Safety Committee (and indeed every member of the club) is critical to the success of the club’s internationally respected regatta program. On the water, however, the directors of the

CYC’s Principal Race Officers. PC Fairlie Brinkley (top left); Jerry Harris with his wife Carol (top right); PC David Billing (center); PC Dick Boblenz with his wife Connie (bottom left); and John Ardolino. Photos by Amanda Fleming.

orchestration are the Principal Race Officers (PROs) on whose shoulders the responsibility of the regatta’s success or failure falls. In the past, Arthur Kisby, Chuck Harris, Bill Welbon, and Norb Zebny were among those who performed this crucial role. CYC has five PROs who have led the team on the water in recent years: John Ardolino, David Billing, Dick Boblenz, Fairlie Brinkley, and Jerry Harris. The following are brief biographies of these five critical members of CYC’s Race Management Team. Past Commodore Fairlie Brinkley PC Brinkley began sailboat racing at the age of eight in Clearwater prams on the Neuse River, near Pamlico Sound in North Carolina, and by the age of fourteen was teaching sailing professionally. In 1977, he began working on a race committee at Edgartown Yacht Club on Martha’s Vineyard. Race

Chapter 12: Excellence in Race Management 115