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

sailboat that a boy and his dad could build in their garage with simple hand tools. The boat was not to cost over fifty dollars...Well, I was glad to do anything for the kids, especially to promote sailing...I drew lots of small boats every night...Every time I had a nice little sailing skiff drawn, it figured out to too much cost. So, I finally cut the bow off making it a butt headed pram...I hauled it down to Haven Street Dock in Clearwater and Cliff McKay, Jr., got in and took off in about a twenty mile breeze. He scooted out into the bay on the wind, off the wind, across and then reached back to the dock, he landed saying ‘it was really great! ’ ...Little did any of us that day realize how successful that little boat…(was) to be! (Mills, 1984: 3–4). Despite the fact that Clark designed and built many larger, more sophisticated boats and yachts, he is and will always be remembered as the father of the Optimist Pram. CYC is honored to be the host of the annual regatta named for its designer and one of Clearwater’s most colorful citizens. The Clark Mills Regatta and the Clearwater Championships became regular parts of the club’s annual regatta schedule in the late 1980s when the Clearwater Yacht Club Youth Sailing Program was formalized. While sailing instruction for children had always been a priority at the club, in 1988 a group of seven CYC families (the Strohauers, Brinkleys, Petersons, Kidds, Horsts, Andersons, and Margaret Calderbank) decided it was time to formalize these activities. With support from then Commodore Chuck Harris and with Gary Strohauer (commodore 1993–1994) as committee chair, the Clearwater Youth Sailing Program was founded. The first sailors in the program were:

CYC Youth Sailing Program’s first group of sailors. Front row (left to right): Robbie Kidd, Justice Anderson, Aubrey Peterson, Liz Horst, and Christine Calderbank. Back row: David Strohauer, Pierce Brinkley, and John Anderson (1988). Courtesy of Gary Strohauer.

Chapter 7: Small Sailboat Racing at CYC 79