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

Chapter 13: A Century of Champions 125 Emily Billing was born in Clearwater, Florida, and graduated with honors from Clearwater High School. Emily got her start in sailing as an infant when her father, Past Commodore David Billing, (without the knowledge of her mother Anne Unger) took her for her first sail in a pram. As a young child, she could hardly wait to reach the age of eight so she could join the CYC Youth Sailing Team. She would climb the tree by the floating dock and watch wistfully as the older kids launched their boats. When Emily finally began to sail, she pushed herself to the limit. She moved up from Optis to Laser Radials at the age of fourteen and traveled the world sailing in the most competitive regattas. She was one of the five CYC Youth Sailing graduates to be selected to participate in the trials for the 2008 Olympics. Emily is now attending Yale University. Her outstanding record on the water earned her a place on the Yale University Sailing Team. Paige Railey was born in 1987 in Clearwater and is a graduate of Clearwater High School and the University of South Florida. Paige and her twin sister Brooke started sailing Optis at the age of eight. Both girls were excellent sailors, but Paige was extremely motivated to keep up with her older brother Zach. At fourteen, Paige moved up to Laser Radials. Paige’s accomplishments on the water are truly outstanding. She has repeatedly won first place in the Radial class in major Laser regattas around the world including: Laser Midwinters East, Laser Pan American Games, ISAF Youth Worlds, ISAF World Games, ISAF Sailing World Cup, and the Laser Radial Women’s European Championship. She was selected as the US Sailing Female Athlete of the Year in 2002, 2003, and 2005; and in 2006 was the youngest athlete and the only American ever to receive the honor of being chosen as the US Sailing Rolex World Yachtswoman of the Year. In 2010, she received both the Florida Women’s Sailing Association Young Sailor of the Year Award and the Torch Award for Best Performing USA Athlete at the 2010 US Sailing Rolex Miami OCR. In 2008, she was the alternate representative for the US Olympic Team in the Laser Radial Class. Paige is clearly one of CYC’s rising stars.

Emily Billing. Courtesy of the Billing family.

Paige Railey. Courtesy of the Railey family.