f;L_Uffi
Clubhouselooking NW acrossthe basin.
By Katherine Stone
Photos courtesy of SarniaYacht Club
we no\ / seethe beginningsof the SarniaYachtClub, founded
in 1930,wherethe I I 5 membersbuilt docksand usedthe old
tennisbuildingfrom the City ParksDepartmentat the end of
LondonRoadin SarniaBayfor theirfirst locationBut by 1932
they u,ere forced to move again, leasing land from the
DominionSalt Companyat the end of ExmouthStreet.The
enterprisingmembersagainbuilt new docksand refurbished
a donatedclubhouse
(Potortatami,
Ottawa,and
he ThreeFiresConfederacy
OjibwaClans)welconredLa Sallein \679 when he
asthe Hub
sailedinb LakeHuron Alreadvestablished
of the GreatLakes,they helpedto createa centerof tradeand
culturewith the Frenchin the villageof "The Rapids"after the
Warof 1812.By 1836the town wasrenamedPortSarniaand
in 1856.With the naturalnealthof abundanttimincorporated
of oil, andthe arrivalof the GreatWesternand
ber,the discovery
Grand'I'runkRailways,Port Sarniagrewto becomethe City of
Sarniaat the beginningof WWI. It u'asnon a significanttransof
port for westerngrainand,with the establishment
shipmer-rt
the PolymerCorporationto manufacturesyntheticrubberdurcentre.
ing \AAVII,it wasnow a majorpetrochemical
Locatedon the easternshoreof Lake Huron, at its most
southernpoint, the Blue Water Bridgelinks Sarniarvith Port
Huron, Michiganand spansthe St Clair Riverrvhichconnects
both idealareasfor rvaterenthuLakeHuron and LakeSt. Clair-,
siasts.Although we're talking SOUTHERN Ontario, it's still
Canada,soyou canbe surethat in I 9 i 0 "Old Man Winter'sbest
effortsdid not deter thesehard water sailorsfrom racingand
attractingfans from both sidesof the u'ater [ice]. Bettingu,as
with rvagerspostedas high as $200."WeII,you
commonplace,
had to havesomethingto do in the winrer!
From the SYCpublication"A Historyof Accomplishment", SYC Basin June ]955 from Sarnia Observer.
t8
Canadian Yachting
J U N E2 O I 5
SYCaerialpicture taken in 2013- with fine view
\ . t t , g c t t ( x )c . ' ' t P l r t . c ' t , * , l t c . rt-hr c S . l t ( i , . t p r r r . r r l c c i c l o f B l u e W a t e r B r i d g e
.
c r l r . t t . r t ' r c ' * I, l r c i rl c r r s ci ,r r r . r h c ' r - r r o \ ( ' l )t rhr. r r L r Pr . i r t , r . r r r r
l - i r l i r ' l l r r r . r rr r t l ) . i r t l r r l u , l r r icrlr 1 9 5 ( r r, i r t h . l , r g I r ' r - r lr. r r s c
I ' r . r r t l r c l r c c l c ' r i(rll' r , c r . r r c ' . [ . ' l ' l r t ' s c r ) ' i t \ i r r r r s < ' i l i ' rr.rsc r c , l l
i r c l L r i r tsi cP . r t a n c lt . s u b s c r i l t ct o a t c . , , , , n " r , , " r ^ , ; , , , r ; ' "
. o t ( l ( ' t ( 'ff( ' ( l i r r c l * , i 1 h r h . L r s , r r l s. l . r c . . r b . r - s h i P' . L r r s u r c , r . . s s . c i a t i r r r s
r ' i t h s i n r i l a r . b . j c c t i v c s . " ' l l ' L r ct ' t h c i r - o r i g r n a l
i r g i r i nb r r i l tt h c c l o c l i lsr n c P
l r r tr r l rt h c b r r i l c l i n qosn \ \ h r r tu i r s t o chirr-Lcr.
rrc'rrb.rs .l thc S\'(l j.inccl r,i,ith.tl'rer e.rthusiastic
b . c . . r . t h c i r ( t , r l u v ' s )l x ' " i l r ( . . 1 l . c i r t i . r ' r I h < '' r i g i r - r i rcl l r r r r b o a t c r s
i n \ \ l i n d s o r a n c l I - o r - r c l o nt o c r c a t L . t h e o r i g i n r r l
t t : r c l r : lci r r c c tl h c n r t o b r ' , " A n l < l L r a r t a
i cn c ls o c i i t lo r s . u r i / . r t i ( ) n ' ' C l a n a c l i i rI )no r r , cSr t J r r a c l r o inn" I c ) 4
1
'l'hcrc
c ' 0 n s r s t i | r0
g l s i r i l o r s ,c ' r r r i s c r s , 0 i r t b O t r r r cl s' r, r r r 0 c i s t sr ..i r c . i n g
n'irsjust onc little l.ritcli;ir.rorclcrto acccssthe lakc. thc
s h c l l s , n d s r ' i r n r . c r sP r i n c i P a l l rI ,o ( ' r c o r r f a g (l,r . a t r . r r c i r ga r - r < l clLrb
haclto carrl' oLltalr cxca'ati,n/clrcdging.Pcrati,rrtu (rp..
-[-1.'re
a cha'.cl that uoLrlcl,llo*, the
ol'r,ncr.nbcrs'bc,atr';
l)assage
lirst b.ats to ('ntcrra'rclpassti'.Lrgh ti-rcreu.char-rr-rcl
cliclso rn
a bJi'rclirgs.o\\'storlr ir larc octobcr! llcing r-es.urcel'ul
mer-nbcrs, thet' scroungcrl,borrrxl,ecl,
anclacccPtcclclonatcclrnaterial
*0.ffi"e"
tirat rr.ulcl .ftcr rrrri'c r-rnann.trncccl,
so ro cluestions*erc
t
t i,
,rskccl,to con.rplc.tc
ne'n,doclis ancl bLrrlclings
fbr r.ncmbcrsin
o'{
R
lc)i8. I'hc trove \\,asue]l uortl-r it, as rncrnbcrshipr.runrbcrs
fi
shot u1.rto 2-10.LfJbrtsu,oukl continue lor irr.rother
.10ycar.sto
bLriJdLrpthe ..rtl'r shore t. st.p tl're.coustirrI harbour e'trance
siltrnganclIake sLrrgcs,
'I'hrough
all this tirne tlrcr-er,r,as
nevcr irn oftcral clubhouse
Ilenrbers rarseclthe rcleaagair-r
in 197-l ancl pourccla -{0 r 60
'lb
coucr-cteslab.
apPe.rserne'bers that di(ln't *,ant a b,rlclir-rg
*ith a'illi.n cl.llar'ie*,of Lake Huron, they lsfer-r.clto it ils
the shelter".Fiye vearslater r,r'ithmore rooms, a kitchen, bar
ancllounge,rhe "shelter"finallv had ro be called a clubhouse!
From the beginning,the Sea Scoutsrvorkedin conlnnctron
Jr Sarlorscarrying placardsof particpatingnationsat l9g5
uith SYC to off'er r,outlr sailing trainlng programs. Ilv the earlv
S o l r n gW o r l d C h a m p i o n s h r p s
d
rr*
= = + . t : . + ? =+ * E ; += t ' 3 . rf*l * t € i g =* _* +
t9
Cowan
s{*
C*'i$*,,ria*
E
Stayon
Course
GrouP
CowanInsurance
marine
provides
excePtional
gets
that
coverage
Youout
fun
having
and
onthewater
you're
knowing
Protected.
i !_:1
.,.,
1
Takeadvantageof a
solution
comprehensive
thatincludes:
!
E
&f, 4}{*F
-
Coveragefor the agreed
valueof your boat
I
-
-
requirements
surveY
Flexible
foryourconvenience
options
navigation
Extended
triPs
southern
for
available
l
towingforwhen
Emergency
youneedsomehelP
GPSmembersreceivea
ratediscount
15o/o
20
Canadian Yachting
1984 SYC boats at BaY Finn Achorage
1950sthe club was readyto starttheir
with 5 newprams.'fhiswas
own program
followed by Blue Ja1's'470s' Albacores'
O p t i m i s t s ,A b b o t t A l l s a n d F l Y i n g
Juniors.SYC receivedthe Jack Sutton
Awardin 1990and 1991for havingthe
best DRYA (Detroit River Yachting
Association)Junior Sailing Program
Quite a nice accomplishmentfor the
"Do-it-Yourselfers."
Soon one unexPectedevent after
anotherseemedto anive on the club's
doorstep Following a series of rent
SYC was ableto purchasethe
increases,
propertyin 1987.Then, afterbeinghammeredby a seriesof rvinterstorms'flooding from high lake levels,and then the
of 1987:a long-termprojectof
Bhz-zard
raisingthe seawallswas startedin 1988,
so the memberscould enjoyfeeiingdry
when theyboardedtheir boats.Addedto
this werea new bubblingsystem& a spile
Taz racing in basin.Tazesare a Junlor
sailingboat (a young ir. regatta is run In
the basin while Sailfesttakes place out
in the lake).
within the Club, and by a debenturefrom
the Port
Sailboatracing becamea going concernby 1959.Joiningforceswith
in
North
program
Huron Club, th.y .o-rponroi"d ih. first internationalracing
"chief"
a
acquired
having
America Now enterinro the picture,Bill Abbott,a.k.a the
to
add
in
Canada
reputarionfor buildingqualityboats,built the firstAbbott Folkboat
the folkto rhe growingfleet af SyC. ttt" fleet finally convincedhim to heim one of
he won
himself,
bort. ii u .lrrf, ,u." and much to the disbeliefof the fleet as well as
g
Road on River
Old TennisBuildingat foot of London
'a,fJ()io
bv F.loy Bdli
E
I
t
5l
E
I
I
t
g
q
:
"racingthing"bccamcthe start
theracelFlcwassmittcnanclthc
of sailingchaul'rions'
'Ihc
of
" thc Abbottclynasty
ltll.r"
Soling
Abbott's,".,,n.1 llrocluctionLoat r''as the
thatt'car Ilc
u'ercproclucecl
Dlugsarrivcdin 1967ani 6 btlats
riife' Joannc'
his
u'ith
u'ho
Jr'
i",,1 tr'.t"a ovcrthc hclmto 13illy
r\tlanta
in
Joannc
in the 1996olvmpic.
^".t Br.a lloston,sailccl
ancl
Soling
a
in
rvasthc first rvomanto sail in the Olympics
"lt talicsa \\'oman
n'itl'r
ncaringher t-shirtcmblazonecl
".1,,y..tmiclc'lleman's
job " In thc 1930sSYCn'asnot cliffcrcnt
t
;;';;
'ssport \\/omengair.recl
;h; ,.y othcr ch-rb,assailingrvasa man
u'enton
at SYCby tl'tclatc 1960s'anclsei'eral
trfi .".lt
i*
".rnip
ln raccmtlnagcment'
comPetent
'u"lnn.ling
to
". become
Volr-rntecrs,
conficlentn,ith their riice ofTiciiilsand
Boston at 1996 Atlanta Olympic
all over Bill Jr,,Joanne Abbott, Brad
from
Solings
inviting
rcgatta
major
first
their
hostccl
SYC
'fhe
tlas Games OPeningCeremonY'
racingprogrzrm
SYC/PHYCI
the GreatLakcsin 1971
boatsBr' 19U5
sornel'15registered
in full swing,no$rattractrng
the \\orld
hosting
of
,fr"1.t"f, thly coulclhandlcthe challenge
sailinternational
the
on
Snt*g Cttu*pionshipsPuttingSarnta
ot'et'
conntrics
12
from
ir; r;g", they hostJdI17 competitors
event'
successful
thi: l0-dayextrcmely
Sailing's
'lheir
signaturee\/entrsnor'r'Sailfest'partof Ontalio
2000'
Since
sailors
forYouth
GrandPrlrbevelopmcntRegatt:is
PRO
and
Abbott
Jim
of Joanne
.,ta"t ,f-i"original.hoi'n-tu'-tihlp
Association)
Yachting
I(ern, Sailfestrvon a clYA (canaciian
rcgattair.r2005'
an,ardfor the bestmanagecl
siveupgrades.
the 400 krn NlackinacRacetrom -'
of
starl
the
1925,
of the jolls are
Since
fnir-tr.,ty mcmbcrs'clnb, u'hcrc a mirjoritv
SYC'
of
north
jtLst
5
miles
starts
Islancl
Nrlackinac
to
Huron
senscof commuPort
a rvonclerful
hascreatccl
thc highlightof an* t u th" rn.ll-,b"t,,
clefinitel-r'
is
it
im'olvecl,
sailors
3,000
o.,.,
Club =
\Virh
niruurihi, spccialplacecalledSrirniaYacht
theseasonforLakeHuronandLakeNiichigansailboats
trainingPrograms'
Sarnranot only has greatracingand sail
\i'a1iri-:t
al il11'
the rtorld'sfinest iari1ia
to
br;;h" best cruisinglocationseverlNext
Ecji,ve."c.if N i!;V ll'4:
Hulon' the thrill of l2:{-a F;r!'t 5t , Frcint
wildernesscruisingareasof northernLake
=19-7)32'4119
harboursand anchoringin drstantlocations
wv'",'; :;rr l*t''*chtci t;L::c;t
"""tag "*.-illar adrenaline
rush'
is an unparalleled
J U N E2 0 1 5
22
C a n a d i a nY a c h t i n g
I