Evening star., 1954-10-22
FORE AND AFT
By Malcolm Lomborne, Jr.

BY Molcolm lomborne. Jr.
The YAM is gone. These words
have been uttered many times,
often incredulously by yachtsmen
since Hurricane Hazel beat the
famed Naval Academy ketch Va
marie to death of the Reina
Mercedes dock a week ago today.
Generally the great West In
dian blow was relatively kind to
most pleasure craft on the Ches-
apeake and tributaries as her
center passed west of the bay
and tangled with a eastward
moving cold front somewhere be-
tween here and Richmond. Had
that cold front moved a little
slower and Hazel's center passed
a few miles further east, then
yachting in this area might have
experienced the destruction
wrecked by Hurricane Carol in
New England boating centers
last month.
Ironically, the gift yacht that
first brought modern day yacht
racing to the academy and
launched a new era in bay rae
ing was the major victim of
Hazel. Two other well-known
ocean racing craft, the cutter
Highland Light and the yawl
Royono, weathered the blow at
their moorings on the Severn.
For some reason, Vamarie. which
was moored in the same area,
started to drag. A tug was sent
to the rescue, but in the en-
suing confusion it. too, sank of
the spume-covered seawall.
One report is that VANS
mooring line was wrapped in
the tugs propeller, thus speed
ing her end.
Vadirn Makaroff, the exiled
Russian caviar king. presented
Yam to the academy in the
1g30's after an i1lustrious career
in ocean racing. With that
event, the yacht racing bug was
planted in the midshipmen's
midst. Today the academy's
racing fleet is the largest in
existence.
Hardest hit of the entire bay
area appears to have been the
lower Potomac region, which
offered a long. uninterrupted
sweep Of wind and sea. At
Colonial Beach about IA cruisers
and auxiliaries were sunk, al
though reports indicate none
were destroyed. Some already
have been raised. The docks at
Colonial Yacht Club there were
wiped out in portions and badly
damaged in other sections.
The only local cruiser de-
stroyed so far as checks disclose
was w. c. Burgess 28-foot Sc
dan cruiser, Miss Peggy B. It
happened in a creek near Ma
thias Point. The boat was stored
afloat in a covered dock but still
was lost. Burgess is a member
of Corinthian Yacht Club. which
like most clubs in this area, es-
capped serious damage.
At Old Dominion Boat Club
in Alexandria, the two sunken
cruisers have been raised and
repairs on docks are nearly COM
pleted. Most hands agree it
could have been worse both here
and on the bay.
A new record of 1856 students
has been chalked up by Potomac
River Power Squadron for its
opening classes in plotting.
Courses are now underway once
a week in the Labor Depart
ment cafeteria GAS men, and
women in Washington. Wash
ington-Lee High School GAO
students) Arlington and at Fort
Belvoir, Va. t40 candidates), ac-.
cording to Squadron Command
er Dick Jones.
Meanwhile, squadron officers.
committee chairmen and in
structors will meet tomorrow in
the annual fifth district educa-
t1onal conference at Easton, Md.
It's q brain session devoted
to Improvement of squadron
courses. Miles River Yacht Club
gives dance tomorrow night at
its clubhouse.
/ - -.
The Presidents Cup Regatta
Association is a year-round out
fit. too. The Board of Directors
has scheduled a meeting Tues
day at 4 pm. at 500 Eleventh
street NV. President John Re-
mon will preside.
HkKa hYTNa