Sailing At Fishers: A History of the Fishers Island Yacht Club

by John Rousmaniere

Overview

Co-publication with Fishers Island Yacht Club recounts history of recreational boating at Fishers Island, New York with special emphasis on the yacht club which was founded in 1928. Though small, this club has been home to many highly competitive sailors and is closely associated with several noted designs. Classic powerboats are also featured in this social history of the evolution of a boating organization. Illustrated with nearly 200 images from several collections.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780939510931
Publisher:	Applewood Books
Publication date:	08/01/2004
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	10.76(w) x 10.80(h) x 0.85(d)

About the Author

Author, historian, and sailor John Rousmaniere has been sailing on Fishers Island Sound for many years, lives in Stamford, Connecticut and New York and is married to mystery writer Leah Ruth Robinson. He is also the author of Sleek; The Annapolis Book of Seamanship; After the Storm; Fastnet, Force 10; and The Clubhouse at Sea.

Table of Contents

Chapter I	"An Entirely Different Climate" The Trials of Sailing at Fishers, 1614-1900	3
	Early Storms	5
	Shipwrecks at Fishers	6
	"Some Small Bunches of Rocks"	8
	The First Yachts	11
	The Ubiquitous Catboat	14
	The First Fishers Island Yacht Club	16
	"An Ideal Summer Resort"	18
	The First Yachtsman: George Bartlett	20
	Sailing to Fishers Island in the 1890s	22
Chapter II	"It Was a Getaway" Fishers Becomes a Sailing Center, 1900-1938	25
	The Fergusons and Their Boats	26
	A Catboat Class for Hay Harbor	28
	The Fishers Island One Design	30
	Cupid Takes a Back Seat	34
	"A Whole Summer Lay Ahead"	34
	Too Many Wrecks to Name	36
	The Second Yacht Club Is Founded, for Keeps	38
	Changing Harbors	40
	A Fleet of Schooners	43
	Barlovento	46
	The Commuters	49
	"Simple Facilities for Yachtsmen"	53
	Individualists	54
	The Fishers Island Sound 31	56
	The Herreshoff 23	58
	The Bullseyes Have Arrived	60
	The Luders 16	63
	"I Loved the Racing"	65
	Squalls and Other Troubles	67
	"A Boy's Eye View of West Harbor"	68
Chapter III	"There Will Be Yachting" The Challenges of Storm, War, and Revival, 1938-1970	71
	The Quincy Adams 17	74
	The Rhodes 27	79
	His Favorite Place	81
	The War Comes	82
	A Difficult Postwar Revival	83
	The Brown Navy	85
	From the Yard to the Race Course	86
	The New Commuters	88
	A Declaration of Independence	92
	Captain Pete	94
	Barlovento II	96
	Reyn du Pont	98
	Jack Whiticar	100
	The Captains	100
	Ed Hedge	102
	The Launch Boys	103
	Off Soundings and the Parsons Trophy	104
Chapter IV	"The Energy Within the Club" New Generations Sail into a New Century, 1970-2003	107
	Eliot Porter	108
	Bullseye Travels	110
	'Round Island Race	112
	Burgees and Uniforms	113
	Peter Sanger	114
	The Joys of the Cruising Life	115
	Escaping the Doldrums	117
	FIST	120
	Hooked!	121
	The International One Design	123
	"This Is a Team Sport"	126
	Storms and Wrecks	127
	Expansion into the New Century	129
Appendix 1	Officers of Fishers Island Yacht Club	133
Appendix 2	Fishers Teams at Championships	134
Appendix 3	Fishers Boats and Classes	136
	Acknowledgments and Sources	148
	Index	152