– Commodore Steve Harris, BLYC Historian
March, 2023
Recently, I-LYA Historian Tom Thanasiu shared an article from the 1957 I-LYA Yearbook on Facebook. This article highlights the team that won the first Junior Bay Week Regatta in 1956…
Wakefield Crew — 1956
I-LYA Junior Champions
Buckeye Lake Yacht Club
After 6 years of desperate attempts to win the coveted Wakefield Cup the Buckeye Lake Yacht Club Junior Sailing Team finally crashed through on top in the 1956 Series at Put-in-Bay. Two of the members of this team started with the original entry of 1951 and have sailed each of the 6 years. Jim Dressel, the skipper of the Wakefield winning crew of 1956, has one more year of participation since he started when he was 11 years old. Jim promises for certain that he will be back again this year at the Bay with a little more experience.
The original 1951 team reported to the Sandusky Sailing Club with a great amount of awe and respect for the considerably older crews they were to compete against. Jerry Cooper, the skipper for that year, and Jeff Dum were 12; Don Wilson was the “old man” of the crew with 13 years of age. The team hardly expected to win, but after the series was over and they finished in last place they fully realized what they would have to do to be serious competition. The next year, the same team reported to the Edgewater Yacht Club, and they came back home with a far better record. Through the years of participation, various members of the team have been elected skipper in accordance with the boat that was to be sailed. Jerry Cooper dropped out in later years because of activity in early football practice. Jerry today is a Naval Cadet at Annapolis and takes part in the Academy Yacht Racing Program. Age eliminated Don Wilson, but he is still a member of a “hot” Lightning crew. 1956 was the last year for Jeff Dum who is now a student at Ohio State University with a future planned for the field of medicine.
All four of the members of the team of last year are owners of Lightnings at the Buckeye Lake Yacht Club in which they take part in every race scheduled and also travel to many of the regattas. After winning the Wakefield Series last year, “Father Dressel” came through with the purchase of a new Lightning for his son, Jim, and Tommy Davis took over ownership of Jim’s old boat.
In the four-boat round robin race of the elimination series last year, the Buckeye team sailed against Devil’s Lake, Lorain YC, and Toledo YC. Two firsts, a second, and a third gave them a first place and permitted them to continue into the Wakefield Series against Vermilion BC, Perrysburg, Bayview YC, and Detroit BC. In this series of 5 races they picked up 4 firsts and a third for a total of 24 points as compared to their nearest competitors’ 14 points. During one of the races of the series a sudden squall took an unexpected turn and caught the fleet with most of them on the downhill home leg. The Buckeye Lake team was well in the lead when stresses won over the mast and down it came. The debris was cleared away and pulled aboard and a small portion of the main was left flying to carry them over the finish line for a winning gun. The race was called off due to damage to other boats that was beyond the control of the crews.
Winning the Wakefield Series provided the Buckeye Lake team with the highly prized honor of being the entry of the Detroit River Yachting Association and the Inter-Lake Yachting Association in the Sears Cup Races for the North American Junior Sailing Championship at Montreal. The host club for the races was the Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club. No greater praise could be given to any organization for the manner in which the races were conducted nor the hospitality provided. Each minute of the week-long stay was provided with interesting and entertaining activity. All of the races were under the direct supervision of the North American Yacht Racing Union and every detail was considered. The Y-Flyer, an 18-foot scow-type boat, was used; this boat was new to most of the crews. Light rigging caused many breakdowns. Nearly all of the races were sailed in good winds and the crews had a real work-out for the 8 races. The racing was held off the Lord Reading Yacht Club near the junction of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence Rivers that forms Lake St. Louis.
The final results of the series were:
- Corinthian YC, Seattle
- St. Petersburg YC, St. Petersburg
- Edgewood YC, Narragansett Bay
- Royal Hamilton YC, Hamilton, ON
- Chicago Corinthian YC, Chicago
- Monmouth BC, Red Bank, NJ
- Buckeye Lake YC, Columbus, OH
- Larchmont YC, Larchmont, NY
The experience encountered will surely be remembered by all four members of the Buckeye Lake Yacht Club team. Their most sincere thanks are extended to everyone concerned.
In 1957, the BLYC team returned to Junior Bay Week – Jim Dressel, Ed Ballenger, Tommy Davis, and newcomer Marty Headlee would go on to repeat BLYC’s 1956 win and, once again, earn the opportunity to represent I-LYA and DRYA in the North American Junior Championships, this time held at Southern Yacht Club in New Orleans.
— SGH