Elk River Yacht Club Memories

Jim Simon, Commodore 2000

Several early settlers along Oldfield Point, Harlan Wells, R.H. Thatcher, Francis Brown, C. Judd “Shorty” Stewart, Fred Wardenburg, John B. McClatchy, Walter Dilks, Frank and J. Tenney Mason and others formed a yacht club in 1928. Since these men were prominent residents in Philadelphia, they met at the Union League Club to draw up the charter for the Elk River Yacht Club. The Star sailboat class had originated in 1911, and was gaining popularity on the Chesapeake Bay. The original founders of the ERYC must have decided that they wanted to develop a Star fleet for the club. In 1928 and 1929 several members of the yacht club purchased Star boats and began to participate in races on the Bay under the auspices of the ERYC. The club then sponsored Star sailboat races from 1928 to 1963.

In 1931 The Walter H. Dilks Trophy was established. It was to be presented to the winner of three Star races over the 4th of July weekend. A large silver tray commemorated the winners, and each winner also received a smaller memento as a trophy to keep. It appears that there were no races from 1940 to 1949 due to the war, but races resumed in 1950 and were held through 1954, and then again in 1958, 1959 and 1963.

In the late 1950’s Howard Lippincott, one of the owners of the Lippincott Boat Works in Riverton, New Jersey, joined the ERYC in order to race in our Star sailboat races. With a new, light and very fast Star, he easily won the major races. Howard also had a large cruising sailboat, and he and his family would sail to the Elk River and anchor off Oldfield Point for the weekend when he participated in the Star races. Howard was a celebrity and brought a lot of excitement to the club when he raced. He went on from the ERYC races to participate in national races to promote the Lippincott Boat Works.

In the mid 1950’s the ERYC Star fleet had dwindled to a few Star sailboats and the ERYC decided to adopt the smaller Penguin sailboat class. The Lippincott Boat Works which specialized in building Stars, Lightnings, Snipes, etc. built a number of Penguins for ERYC members. Penguin races were held for a number of years.

The ERYC had some excellent Star boat racers. Judd Stewart raced Fawn, (#619), Hugh Mahaffy raced Minx (#588), Bill Poole raced Red Fox (#579). Hugh Mahaffy owns the oldest Star Shasta (#2) in the world. It is stored along with his Minx and the Poole’s Red Fox in a barn on Town Point.

I remember one Labor Day series of races in the mid 1950’s. Peggy Stewart Jones, Shorty’s daughter, skippered our Star Tortoise (#676) and I was the crew. The Simon family was new to Oldfield Point and I was a novice sailor. Peggy, on the other hand, was an excellent sailor like her parents and her brother Judd, and we did very well in the races. That experience taught me that the problem racing was not our old boat or its name, but rather the inexperienced skipper! Gradually I improved my sailing skills and our family purchased a newer Star White Shadow (# 3141). In the July 4th series in 1963, I won the Walter H. Dilks Trophy with the help of my crew, Lisa Page, who became my wife in 1966.

I remember one Star race when the wind was very light and most of the Stars were just drifting. But Judd Stewart broke away from the group and drifted toward the shoreline. He had seen the leaves rustling on the shoreline trees and suspected there might be more wind closer in. Sure enough, he picked up a gentle breeze and finished the race well ahead of the rest of us.

In the 1950’s and 1960’s the Labor Day Dinner and Annual Meeting was a formal affair at a member’s home. Men wore coats and ties and ladies dressed up. It was an adult event; children did not attend. After dinner, the men picked up their chairs and moved to another area of the lawn for their annual meeting. Only men attended the meeting as only men could be members of the ERYC! Meanwhile, the ladies gathered for their own conversations.

In 1966 Judd “Shorty” Stewart, a founding member of the ERYC, died suddenly. The men of the club were in a quandary. What to do about his wife Peg Stewart? They felt honor bound to include her as a member of the ERYC, and so she became the first woman member and consequently paved the way for other women to become members as well.

The 4th of July Picnic was always held on the 4th of July weekend in between Star sailboat races. The sailors would anchor their boats off shore and join the rest of the ERYC members for the picnic, which was an informal affair for the whole family. After lunch, the sailors returned to their boats for the afternoon races.

John Moomaw and his wife purchased a home on Oldfield Point in 1970, and he was Commodore of the ERYC in 1973. John believed that members should arrive at ERYC events by water instead of by car. For many years John would stand up at the Annual Meeting and propose that all members who attended events held on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay and who had arrived by car should be assessed $1.00. The motion was always seconded, but never passed!

In the 1960’s, a new event was initiated to provide another venue for club members to get together in the dead of winter. Called the Mid Winter Rendezvous, it was usually a dinner followed by a speaker. The dinner was held in a private room of a popular restaurant located in the 9th and Shipley Street Parking facility in Wilmington.

In one of the early years, Tom Keith, a friend of the Simon family, gave the mid winter program. Tom had sailed around the world on the Brigantine Yankee with Captain Irving Johnson, and he narrated a film made of the 18-month cruise. Much later in 2005 at a Mid Winter Rendezvous at the Corinthian Yacht Club, the Speaker was Tom Wade, who presented a program on the lighthouses in the Chesapeake Bay. As Lisa and I talked with him before lunch, we began to realize that we had known each other in Menlo Park, California when we all lived there in the 1970’s and early 1980’s. Shortly after we moved east, Tom and his wife moved to Frederick, Maryland, where had become involved in the U.S. Lighthouse Society. What a small world!

Elk River Yacht Club Memories

Christopher F. Simon, Commodore 1967

Bill Worthington had a cottage on Town Point on the Bohemia River and was interested in organizing a sail boat racing program. He contacted the board of the ERYC to see if the club had any interest in sponsoring races. Bill was concerned that the yacht club had become a social organization and might not be interested in racing. As Commodore, I assured him that the club was interested in racing and encouraged him to join the club, organize the races, and that we would support him. Bill brought in many new sailing members, and the Elk River Yacht Club became a “sailing club” once again, thanks to Bill.

He developed a handicap system for the different types of boats in the races. For many years until Bill sold the cottage in 2005, the sailors met at the Worthington’s cottage and launched their boats off his beach. After the races, the sailors gathered on his lawn for a picnic lunch. In gratitude for all Bill’s work revitalizing the ERYC sailing program and as Commodore in 1971, the Elk River Yacht Club Board gave Bill a Lifetime Membership, the only member to date to receive this honor.

On another occasion I remember that there was some consternation when a club member wanted to hold the sail boat races in the Bohemia River rather than the traditional course on the Elk River. When the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal was only wide enough for one-way ship traffic, northbound freighters anchored in Piney Creek Cove off Oldfield Point, waiting for the southbound ships to come through. The Corps of Army Engineers kept the anchorage area in the cove dredged, and it was deep enough for sailing. However, once the canal was widened to allow two boats pass in it, there was no need for a deep anchorage. Consequently, Piney Creek Cove filled in with silt, making it too shallow at low tide in some places for boats with fixed keels to sail. Hence, the decision was made to move the race course to the mouth of the Bohemia River where it flows into the Elk. Races continue to be held there today.

Star Sailboat Owners

Listed under Elk River Yacht Club
in the 1930 Log of the
International Star Class Yacht Racing Association

Number of boats in 1930 Log           1 - 696

Listed under Elk River Yacht Club
in the 1935 Log of the
International Star Class Yacht Racing Association

Number of boats in 1935 Log           1 – 1,142

Listed under Elk River Yacht Club
in the 1952 Log of the
International Star Class Yacht Racing Association

S          Smith, Port Washington, NY
PN       Parkman, Brooklyn, NY
O         Owner
ON      Conrad Olson, Connecticut

For more information, visit www.starclass.org

Penguin Sailboat Owners

Listed under Elk River Yacht Club
in the 1958 Log of the
International Penguin Class Dinghy Association