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

Chapter 7 Snipes, Optis, Lasers, and Youth Sailing: One Design, Small Sailboat Racing at CYC

On January 9, 1935, a planning luncheon for CYC’s very first annual regatta was held at the home of Commodore Taver Bayly. The following year, the club held the first annual International Snipe Midwinters Championship (aka Snipe Midwinters)—a regatta destined to become second in importance only to the Snipe Nationals. You’ll see this regatta mentioned in the history books of yacht clubs across the country. In the early days, Snipe Midwinters participants camped out in the CYC parking lot and it sometimes got a bit rowdy. It’s rumored a member of a visiting fleet once put the big CYC cannon on the club manager’s desk in the middle of the night. In the morning, the irate manager called Francis Seavy of the CYC fleet with an unprintable message. The main culprit in this escapade may have been CYC’s legendary “Grapefruit Party.” While the history of this party is a bit sketchy, it is generally agreed that Ted Kamensky, who owned citrus groves, 73

International Snipe Midwinters Championship brochure, 1939. CYC Archives.