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

parties and very serious world-class sailing. You’ll learn about the various “homes” inhabited by CYC over the years and a period of time in which the club was “homeless.” You’ll learn the history of the infamous annual “drunken grapefruit party,” the Cruisers, the Gulls, the Bow Chasers, the Solmates, the origin of the Optimist Pram and Dinghy, and CYC’s Youth Sailing program. You’ll learn about the club’s contributions to the community and about times when the club and the city were in serious conflict. In addition to the memories of members of the Historical Committee and the results of the long term planning study, this account of CYC’s first hundred years is based on club archives, materials published on the club’s website and in its newsletter (the Compass), the records and albums kept by the Gulls and Bow Chasers, and vintage scrapbooks and photographs generously provided by Sandy Jamieson (Taver Bayly’s granddaughter), Betty McGraw Perkins, Bill Welbon, Jr., Hitch Kamensky (Commodore Ted Kamensky’s son), Donna Ventura, the Cochran family, and Francis and Naomi Seavy. Other important source materials are historical documents and archival materials housed in the archives of the St. Petersburg Times, the Florida Studies Center and the Special Collections Department of the University of South Florida Tampa Library , the Clearwater Historical Society , the archives of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club , the Heritage Village Archives and Library , and The Florida and Wickman Collections of the Clearwater Public Library . The book also draws heavily on three booklets prepared for the club’s fiftieth (Ransom and Tracy, 1961), sixty-sixth (Gamblin and Gamblin, 1976), and eightieth (Hall, 1991) anniversary celebrations and from the input of numerous current and former club members and employees. Photographs of more recent club events have been obtained from a variety of sources. I especially want to thank Bill Brancaccio, Bev Dolezal, Miles Curry, Amanda Fleming, John Hanson, Sarah Nicolosi, Fay Nicholson, Barbara Pender, Sandie Ramsden, Judy Widger, and the many, many other club photographers for their hours of photography on and off the water and for helping to select the photographs that appear in this volume. Without the dedicated efforts of web masters David Billing and John Hanson and Compass editors Harry Nichols, Diane Gustard, Judy Boland, Tina Fitzgerald, and Emily Lloyd, many of these photographs would not have been available for use in this book. Very special thanks also go to the members of the club’s Centennial Celebration Committee (Past Commodore David Billing, Judy Boland, Vice Commodore Robert de Vos, Tina Fitzgerald, Brenda Hanson, Joyce Jenkyn, Barbara Keast, Jim Lorenz, Kathy Milam, Rear Commodore Hoyt Nichols, Barbara Pender, Commodore Sandie Ramsden, Terri Roberts, Past Commodore Andy Spetz, and Donna Ventura) and to the centennial celebration sponsors. Many, many thanks to all who have helped Clearwater Yacht Club’s first century of camaraderie, cruising, and competitive sailing live on in this book.

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