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	 October 1996	—y	THE JIB SHEET			► PAGE 13
				
Chapman Brothers Donate Peperual Trophy in Honor of Father and Uncles
The Chapman Regatta is an annual race of the clubs of the Mississippi Coast Yachting Association. Henry B. Chapman and Wallace Chapman donated a perpetual trophy in memory of their father, Will J. Chapman and brothers Will W. and Alfred W., sailing enthusiasts on the Mississippi Coast for many years.
Will W. can be remembered by old-time coast yachtsmen as a charter member of the original Bay-Waveland Yacht Club in 1896, who first sailed an old split sail skiff and later the renowned racing vessel “Virginia” which was a model catboat, 23 feet in length with a 49 foot mast, a 28 ft. boom and a 23 ft. gaff, and carried a spinnaker. When she was in racing shape, she carried 1,500 pounds of lead inside with a 12 man crew and twenty 75 pound sand bags. Brother Will built and sailed the 18 ft. open sloop “Coquille” which had the distinction of going undefeated throughout the hectic race week up and down the Mississippi Coast between Biloxi and New Orleans. Brother Alfred is probably best remembered for the Biloxi cat that he built and raced after World War I which went by the name of the “Hindu”.
The Chapman Memorial Trophy is awarded to the coast club that wins the regatta and that club is considered the coast champion for that year. Competition for the trophy, a sterling silver punch bowl, began in 1950 between the then 4 Mississippi coast yacht clubs, Bay-Waveland, Pass Christian, Gulfport, and Biloxi. Annually, 4 races were sailed in the Fish class, a 21ft. Gaff rigged, 1 ton sloop. One race was sailed at each of the 4 clubs over the summer. Then, beginning in 1960, the event became a team race, with each of the 4 clubs pooling its 6 Fish Class sloops, resulting in a 24 boat event, the largest single class annual event on the coast. This was accomplished as a direct result of the efforts of J.W. Terrell of PCYC, Tommy Kemp and Dr. Eldon Bolton of BYC and Leo Seal Jr. of BWYC.
In 1969 the transition was made to fiberglass Flying Scots, a 19 ft. marconi-rigged, centerboard, sloop that carried a spinnaker, since then with the admission of Singing River YC of Pascagoula, and Long Beach and Ocean Springs Yacht Clubs, the event escalated to a 7 club, 28 boat event. Each club provided 4 Scots, 16 Skippers (4 for each race) and 2 crew members per boat. Sailed in accordance with IYRU Team Racing Rules, the event provides an excitingly different format of competition than simply trying to get a single boat around a triangle the fastest The object in team racing is to amass the best team score in each race and in the series. This results in highly aggressive tactics, sacrificing individual position for overall team score improvement, one-on-one competition and some serious rules application.
The event, emblematic of the Mississippi Coast Yachting Association Championship, is the oldest, continuously sailed interclub team race in the U.S. Competitors include several North American champions and U.S. Sailing champions as well as a number of Olympic finalists.
The regatta rotates from west to east, taking 7 years to complete a “cycle”. Each host club must invite each other club to provide a race committee member, resulting in expertise being made available to the clubs that need it and training being provided by those with the knowledge to do so. unofficial records show the following past winners:
Bay-Waveland Yacht Club	23 wins
Biloxi Yacht Club	13 wins
Pass Christian Yacht Club	8 wins
Gulfport Yacht Club	4 wins
Lester “Monk” Smith
The “ Monk Smith” Regatta is held yearly and is a well attended regatta including several classes of boats in attendance. This year the Monk Smith regatta was held in September in conjunction with the Centennial Regatta. The “ Monk Smith” regatta was named after Lester “ Monk” Smith, an avid sailor that enjoyed merrymaking as well as sailing.
Monk enjoyed going to regattas and often did quite well for the club. He was the Fleet captain for the 1st Lipton regatta eliminations. He was also part of a musical group called the” 6 &7/8th”.”
Members remember Monk in the later years after he could no longer sail, he would go to the end of the pier in his wheelchair and watch what he loved to do for so many years.
Rondinella Rezatta
The Rondinella is a yearly regatta held at Bay-Waveland Yacht Club for a One Design class.
The Rondinella Trophy was donated by J.W. Clark. He donated a ships wheel that was from one of his boats. We believe that the name of that particular boat was the Rondinella, hence the name. The Class of boat has changed over the years, but currently the Sunfish is the boat that vies for the trophy and it is the Sunfish Fleet 51 champion that wins the trophy for the year.
Presents Chapman Trophy ... fV
Nolfle Alfoaso,. left* commodore aI the New Orleans (Yacht Club and Tice president of the Gulf Yfcchtinf Is shown presenting the Chapman memorial trophy to Dr. Eldon Boltoa, second from right, of the Biloxi Yacht Club Sunday at Pass Christian following Bfloxl't victory tn the 34 Fish Class slooj regatta. Henry Chapman, second from left, and Wallac* Chapman, right, dooon ol the trophy, look oo
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Bay Waveland Yacht Club Jib-Sheet-Oct-1996---Centennial-Issue-(09)
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