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

faster boats would have gone farther during the initial run and would have farther to return, everyone would have a fair chance. The sailing portion of the regatta used a more traditional approach with a six-mile triangular course with boats handicapped for length. Both races were held in the Gulf of Mexico (hopefully far away from one another). This unusual regatta was organized by CYC in conjunction with the Clearwater Beach Association (chaired by Jesse Smith—original owner of the Palm Pavilion and later city commissioner) as part of the city’s Fourth of July celebration. This was just one of many events in which the city and yacht club collaborated during Taver Bayly’s long term as commodore (1933–1940). Club members were also active participants in races around the country and the world during the 1930s. Don and Jimmy Cochran, Ted Kamensky, and Guy Roberts were especially successful in big and small boat races about which you’ll hear more in chapters to come (Ransom and Tracy, 1961). In 1937, another severe storm hit the Clearwater area, damaging club property and members’ boats. The CYC power fleet participated in a massive community-wide rescue effort and saved two girls and a boy who had been stranded on a “bird rack” near the Anclote Lighthouse (Ransom and Tracy, 1961). Once the storm had subsided, CYC members, once again, pitched in with money and labor to make repairs to the clubhouse and grounds. The club also served as the location for meetings of a wide variety of community organizations during these years. Newspaper accounts in Taver Bayly’s collection report the club hosted Clearwater High School events and meetings and social functions of civic, business, and service organizations including the Lions Club, the Rotary Club, the Tuberculosis and Health Association, the Clearwater Bar Association, and the Jaycees. Officers of the British ship HMS Dragon were entertained by area service clubs at CYC and

The Snipe shed where many a Snipe was built by Guy Roberts and other club members. Courtesy of the Jamieson/Cornett/Bayly family.

Chapter 2: Boom, Bust, and Back Again 35