The Buckeye Lake Yacht Club Trophy

by P/C Ronald M. Gabel, Toledo Yacht Club Historian

(with introduction by P/C Steve Harris, BLYC)

Each year, Toledo Yacht Club hosts the Mills Trophy Race, one of the oldest and most prestigious sailing contests on the Great Lakes.  As a part of their annual program, Toledo Yacht Club Historian, P/C Ron Gabel, writes an article about one of the 50+ trophies presented for the race.  In 2010, the featured trophy is the Buckeye Lake Yacht Club Trophy.  The text of his article is reprinted with permission below.

SGH

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The Buckeye Lake Yacht Club Trophy

INTRODUCTION This is a short narrative on the Buckeye Lake Yacht Club trophy won 99 years ago by the sailing yacht “Bones” of the Toledo Yacht Club at the 1911 Inter-Lake Yachting Association regatta at Put-in-Bay, Ohio. 1911 I-LYA REGATTA 1911 was the 18th I-LYA regatta held on July 22 to 26 at Put-in-Bay.  187 sailing yachts were registered with I-LYA in 6 different racing classes.  i.e. 21, R, 18, 16, 14 foot.  The sailing yachts sailed a windward and leeward course in a West – South – West 10 MPH breeze. An estimated 200 motor yachts attended the regatta and were anchored in the lagoon and bay.  Many of the sail boats made the journey to Put-in-Bay under sail while others were towed to Put-in-Bay as  Commodore S.O. Richardson or T.Y.C. did with “Old Sam” behind his 90 foot yacht Jessamine. Four trophies along with regatta flags and cash prizes were awarded.  The four trophies and winners were:
  1. Buckeye Lake Yacht Club Cup – won by “Bones” of T.Y.C.
  2. I-LYA Cup – won by “Psammaid” of C.Y.C.
  3. Gardner Cup – won by “Olsiketo” of Detroit
  4. Buffalo Yacht Club Cup – won by “Zenda” of Lakewood Yacht Club
Regatta flags were awarded in each class for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishes. Cash prizes ranged from $60 to $150 for a 1st place finish and $25 to $90 for a 2nd or 3rd place finish. RACE RESULTS VIA PIGEONS The Toledo newspaper “News Bee” provided the only daily race results from Put-in-Bay to Toledo by launching 6 homing carrier pigeons after each race.  The 6 birds flew the approximately 44 miles course within 1 hour and 10 minutes.  The first pigeon arrived in only 49 minutes averaging nearly 54 miles per hour.  (Tailwind?) TROPHY The face of the trophy is inscribed:

I-LYA 1911 (crossed) BLYC & I-LYA (burgees) BUCKEYE LAKE YACHT CLUB TROPHY

The second quadrant is inscribed:

WON BY BONES TYC Com W.F. Brown, Owner Fred Pritchard, Skipper

The trophy is silver and has a registration number of D25.  She stands overall 11 inches high, the cup is 7 inch high with a 6 inch diameter top.  The pedestal is 4 inches high with a 4 1/2 inche base and three handles. The 99 year old trophy is preserved in excellent condition at the Toledo Yacht Club archives. I-LYA AND BLYC The Inter-Lake Yachting Association was founded in 1885 by three prominent yacht clubs of the day, Cleveland Yachting Club, Detroit Yacht Club and the Toledo Yacht Club.  In the early years of the I-LYA, membership was somewhat limited to yacht clubs boarding the Great Lakes or its tributaries.  At the December 1906 fall meeting of the I-LYA, Buckeye Lake Yacht Club applied for membership even though she was located on the inland Buckeye Lake.  Past Commodore George Worthington (1885) of the Cleveland Yachting Club supported the BLYC request and pointed out that Buckeye Lake was connected to the Great Lakes via the tributaries of the Ohio and Erie Canal system.  Commodore John H. Craig of T.Y.C. was the standing Commodore of I-LYA in 1906.  BLYC was admitted to the I-LYA in December 1906 – 104 years ago. Buckeye Lake Yacht Club is located on Buckeye Lake State Park some 35 miles East of Columbus and just South of Newark off I-70.  She is a member of I-LYA, US SAILING, and American Yacht Clubs. POST SCRIPT After the intial challenge in 1911, the Buckeye Lake Yacht Club Trophy was apparently retired from competition.  In 1983, the trophy re-entered competitive sailing as a PHRF class trophy in the Toledo Yacht Club Mills Race. Today, the Buckeye Lake Yacht Club Trophy is awarded for the Best Corrected Time on the Presidents Course, PHRF K class. This year, 2010, will mark only the 26th challenge for this nearly 100-year old trophy. P/C Ronald M. Gabel TYC Historian  
  TOLEDO YACHT CLUB TROPHY WINNERS PROGRAM BUCKEYE LAKE YACHT CLUB No. 16
DATE YACHT OWNER/SKIPPER CLASS CLUB
1911 Bones W. Brown/F. Pritchard TYC
1912-1982 No Info Retired from Competition
1983 Osprey Aduvall PHRF JRSC
1984 Rhumb Runner Don Carsten PHRF JRSC
1985 Shadow Fax J. Johnson PHRF JRSC
1986 Blown Away Robert Mesteller PHRF MBC
1987 X-Ta-Sea J. Norris PHRF CIYC
1988 Imaagine G. Walters PHRF JRSC
1989 High Roller Ted Wagner PHRF WSSC
1990-1995 Kicks K. Richardson PHRF FYC
1996 Das Boot J. Kline PHRF WSSC
1997-1998 Kicks S. Boettner PHRF FYC
1999 Blue Eyes C. Turney PHRF NCYC
2000 Sea Wise C. Weiss PHRF BYC
2001 Alcoholics Alluvus Scott Giles PHRF DSA
2002 Kicks Scott Boettner PHRF FYC
2003 Christina II Roger Blair PHRF FYC
2004 Salt’n Pepper Pete Irland PHRF PHYC
2005 Abracadabra Roger Stark PHRF NCYC
2006 No Entries
2007 Second Wind Bill/Judy Kellner PHRF SSC
2008 Moxie Michael Polgar PHRF GIYC
2009 No Entries

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