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

Tiger (owned by Jack Powell), Panacea (owned by Jack Eckerd), and Rage (owned by Homer Denius) as well as many others. Nineteen seventy was a particularly noteworthy year in the SORC series. Four famous seventy-three-foot racing yachts came to the area for the race: Windward Passage (owned by Mark Johnson), Ondine (owned by Huey Long), Kialoa II (owned by Jim Kilroy), and Baccarat (owned by George Koumantarous). Ross Yacht, Clearwater’s well-known boatyard owned by Courtney Ross, became a hub for yacht building, repair, and race preparation during this period. An article in the St. Petersburg Times on January 11, 1970, notes: “Ross’s yard and the anchorage in front of it off Island Estates, north of the causeway to the beach, is literally strewn with SORC boats, the names of many of which haven’t shown up on the official entry lists yet.” Kahlua Cup and Clearwater Challenge

Rage on the way to the start of the St. Pete to Ft. Lauderdale SORC race in 1968 (Francis Seavy at the helm, Charlie Morgan at the mast, Bruce Cochran in the rigging). Photo by Dan Hightower; courtesy of the Seavy family.

Chapter 6: Big Boat Racing: The Legacy of the Haligonian 67 Eighty ocean racing yachts from all over the US and several other countries participated in the 168-mile race. The trophy for the regatta (still used for the Kahlua Cup’s successor regatta, the Clearwater Challenge) is a large crystal sculpture of a sailing yacht atop a wooden base. Race In 1977, CYC’s first major annual “big boat regatta” was founded and quickly became a classic on the offshore circuit (Hall, 1991). The Kahlua Cup Regatta was jointly sponsored by CYC and Maidstone Wine and Spirits (importers of Kahlua). On November 18, 1977, the St. Petersburg Times ran an article with the following information: “The American Importers of Kahlua, a Mexican coffee liqueur, have tapped the Clearwater Yacht Club to sponsor the first annual Kahlua Cup yacht race. Club officials are hoping the event and its accompanying five-day festivities will put the club on the map.” Boy did it ever put the club on the map! The club’s marina and parking lot were packed. CYC slip holders moved their boats to other locations to make room for the competitors. The clubhouse and grounds were hopping and competitors, club members, and folks from all over town danced the night away to live rock and roll bands. The CYC Gulls camped out in the Drydock in order to be ready to serve coffee and doughnuts in the morning—and to generally keep an eye on things.