Club Information
Club history, membership application
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Club History
In the early 1980's, our founders started out as a group of people who loved to sail and were loosely organized as the Brigadoon Yacht Club. But just loving to sail wasn't enough to keep them satisfied. So, under the sponsorship of the Brigadoon Yacht Club, the first Bent Nail Regatta was held on White Bear Lake on August 27, 1983. And that regatta got the juices flowing.
So over the winter of 1983/1984 the Brigadoon Yacht Club changed its' name to the Black Bear Yacht Racing Association and put out an invitation to White Bear sailors that said, "The Black Bear Yacht Racing Association is a non-profit Minnesota corporation formed in the early Spring of 1984 for the purpose of offering the keel boater the opportunity to compete in organized regattas." In early 1984, the White Bear Press ran an article under the headline "New Racing Association To Begin." In that article our first Commodore, Bill Ecklund, was quoted as saying, "The time is right. Though pleasure sailing is what we're mostly interested in, the excitement of testing one boat against another is something that has caught everyone's attention."
The first meeting of the BBYRA was held at the North Oaks Oak Room on Sunday, April 15, 1984. 41 people were present. Officers were elected and the first slate of 3 races was presented to the group. At that meeting, Doris and Don Furlong indicated that they would be interested in joining as Social members. It was also suggested that perhaps others, not interested in racing, might like social memberships. The minutes of that meeting indicated, "This is to be taken under consideration, and realistic dues will be determined." In 1984, 37 boats joined the association.
The emphasis from the very beginning was on having fun. A festive atmosphere was apparent after every race as members exchanged stories of daring and bravado while waiting for race results on the porch of Tally's. On one occasion, Rich Pogue's band played, and everyone danced.
Since then the number of boats and fleets has grown, the race schedule has been expanded, and a formal educational component has been added, but the emphasis on having fun hasn't changed.
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