From the Masthead

 G’day Mates
 
Welcome to the Utah Sailing Associations’ 50th Anniversary 2009 Sailing Season!
 We’ve come a long way baby!
 
Here’s some background for those new to the club. (just in case you’re asked this on Jeopardy)
 
The Association began in 1959 by a sailor named Cal Warren, who held the first race at Wanship Reservoir, now known as Rockport. As the story goes, the fleet consisted of a hodge podge of several brands of boats, the Finn, Newport, Scows and others, Cal raced a 19 foot Lightning. The regatta was going fine, when dark ominous looking clouds rolled in over the mountains, the wind suddenly and violently whipped up and roared down the lake, sails flapped wildly, the rigging howled and like dominoes the fleet of boats toppled over, pitching captains and crews into the water. Boats scattered and drifted down the lake. It turned out to be a real mess!  Undeterred, Cal and the rest of the sailors had been bitten with the racing bug!
 
Soon afterward the group began to grow and expand, importing 13 or 14 Flying Dutchman Sailboats to the area. The regattas continued at Wanship reservoir, as well as spring and summer weekday evening regattas taking place at the Great Salt Lake Saltair Marina.

Cal passed away unexpectedly a few years afterward. The Cal Warren Memorial Trophy then was established in 1964. The tribute to Cal was a traveling trophy, that would be awarded by the Commodore to the sailor who was most dedicated to further the cause of the Utah Sailing Association. 
 
Seven years later from the clubs inception, on March 4th, 1966 the Utah Sailing Association made it official and registered with the state as a non-profit corporation. This registration included the bylaws, and the Affidavit of Articles of the Utah Sailing Association.
The USA would later travel to other bodies of water to race, including Quail Creek Reservoir in southern Utah for the “IceBreaker regatta”. The race circuit included multiple regattas at Yuba, Great Salt Lake, Willard, Bear Lake, Strawberry, Rockport, Fremont and finishing off the season at Deer Creek for the “Sail Off” in late September.
 
As the club continued to grow it included several other types of centerboard boats, the Thistle, 505, Coronado, Force 5, and Laser.  Later on as catamarans became popular, the club included membership to Hobie, NACRA, Prindle, Solcat, Shark and G-cat, sailors. Today we continue to this tradition as a conglomerate club of multiple types of boats and brands, welcoming all sailors who enjoy wind-driven craft.
 
We invite you join the USA and Sail with us in this special commemorative year!
Happy 50th Anniversary USA!
 
Sincerely,
Brett Bingham
USA Social Chair
801-815-2521       

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