A LITTLE HISTORY OF THE NORTH AMERICAN STATION OF THE ROYAL SCANDINAVIAN YACHT CLUBS and NYLÄNDSKA JAKTKLUBBEN
ON THE OCCASION OF THE STATION’S 75th ANNIVERSARY 2020
SUBMITTED BY
Contributing Editors: Thomas Chadwick, Lars Colliander, Richard Pendleton
Editor-in- Chief: Nancy Eills
The Beginning
One cold winter evening in late 1944, Count Pehr Sparre, Lars Ekelund and some of their Scandinavian cohorts were sitting in the bar at the New York Yacht Club.
Conversation among those yachtsmen at the bar turned to the question of how to pull international sailing competition out of the doldrums. Of particular interest was how to revive racing between the United States and the Nordic countries and to cement yachting friendships between the two. Lars Ekelund, a popular member of KSSS and the NYYC, brought up the notion of starting an American station of the Royal Swedish Yacht Club. Ekelund had to return to Sweden, but the die was cast. Arrangements were set in motion.
International sailing had been at a standstill during the Second World War, which was soon to end. As 1945 began, the world was opening up, and people were beginning to think of the future. The United Nations was in formation. On June 20, thousands cheered as the ocean liner RMS Queen Mary, which had been used as a troopship during the war, steamed into New York Harbor. The day after Christmas, on the other side of the world, nine yachts gathered in Sydney Harbor for the inaugural 628-mile Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.
While it is not mentioned in history books, 1945 also brought forth the North American Station.
Count Pehr Sparre signed on a handful of Americans and Swedish yachtsmen resident in the United States and established the ethos of the organization. Even at this youthful stage — with only one “home club”— the Station’s mission was clear. First, the North American Station would not become a United States yacht club. As stated in Article II of the Constitution:
1) The objects of this Station are to encourage the art of building, rigging and handling small vessels and interest in seamanship and naval architecture, particularly in connection with the promotion of close ties between North American and Scandinavian yachtsmen.
2) In order to do so, the Station will not seek a large membership, but especially welcome as members those distinguished by their activities in racing, cruising and naval architecture and those who have sailed or are preparing to sail in Scandinavian waters, or who have special interest in Scandinavian yachting.
Most of the early members were eminent ocean racers.
Count Pehr Sparre
To delve into the history of the NAS — to have a sense of why we all gather so happily together today — we must know something about the story of Count Pehr Gustav Ambjorn Sparre (1895 - 1983). He set the tone for the years ahead. Ocean racer, wit, exuberant personality, expert sail handler, captain, he was an individual who found joy and adventure in life. We have a special “skål” to him as the father of our station.
Why do we celebrate races and rendezvous with feasting, drink and robust song? Perhaps it is in the NAS blood. Count Sparre was born 30 miles east of Helsinki, into a family known for its hospitality and good kitchen. His mother, Eva Mannerheim Sparre, published a cookbook, which felicitously includes a recipe for champagne made from black currant leaves. His father, the painter Louis Sparre, illustrated her luncheon menus. (Pehr Sparre inherited the title of Count from his father, a famous artist and designer, whose statue you may find in Stockholm.)
Eva Mannerheim Sparre was close to her brother, Field Marshall Baron Carl Gustav Mannerheim (1867-1951) who also was no slouch in the world of gourmet aficionados. But his worldwide reputation is based on his military genius and historic contributions to Finland. Pehr Sparre’s uncle cut his teeth on adventures far afield, including 9,000 miles on horseback through Asia. (There are 300 biographies of this hero of Finland.) In 1918 he was named Commander of the Finnish Liberation Forces and led the legal (or “White”) government against the Russians in the War of Independence. In 1939, although he was getting older, Mannerheim reluctantly assumed command of the Finnish military against Russia’s much stronger forces during the Winter War. It is no surprise that 14 months later, in 1941, this brilliant commander was called to lead the Finnish defense forces in what is known as the Continuation War. On 4 August 1944 Mannerheim was elected President of Finland and oversaw the Finnish withdrawal from the war. Just months later his nephew and Ekelund were cooking up plans for a North American Station.
Count Pehr Sparre came to the United States in the 1930s and supported his epicurean tastes through an importing business. He married three times. He set up an insurance agency in Essex, Connecticut, with a sideline in marine supplies. This must have influenced his predilection for thoroughness when it came to sea voyaging.
In 1955, two NAS members — Former Post Captain Peter Ward and Francis Ballard, who at the time were on summer break from their studies — crewed on Sparre’s Arabella across the Atlantic from Newport to Marstrand. Peter Ward recalled that Sparre “was about the most thorough ‘preparer’ we had ever met or would ever meet.” This thoroughness included “assuring there was a spare part for damn near everything, from the smallest cotter pin to a spare tiller, and, in case the worm gear on the steering quadrant broke, pieces of wood to repair a split plank or fish a broken spar. He had a nickname given him by other sailors: ’Spare Parts’ instead of ‘Pehr Sparre.’”
Sparre might run a tight ship, but on the passage across the Atlantic, his sense of humor enlivened even the stormiest of watches. And one day when there was not enough wind to sail, the crew of Arabella went for a swim in 2,000 feet of water. Ballard recalled that when Sparre saw a steamer churning toward their little craft, “he told us to lower the anchor chain just enough to break the surface” so of course it appeared as if they simply dropped anchor to take a gentlemanly dip in the sea.
Sparre looked forward to participating in the commemoration of the 125th anniversary of the founding of the Kungliga Svenska Segal Sållskapet (The Royal Swedish Yacht Club) and in the 95th Anniversary of the Gotland Runt (the annual race that begins off Sandhamn and rounds Gotland with a checkpoint north of Öland). Arabella made it to the starting line for both events and was victorious.
Everett Dickinson, President of The Dauntless Club wishing Pehr Sparre and Arabella fair winds
In later years Count Pehr Sparre sported a white beard which led a group at the Nyländska Jaktklubben to call him Santa. He was popular there, and the NJK became the second home club.
The Early Years: 1945 -1970
The early affiliation required members of the North American Station to pay dues to the KSSS. When NJK, KNS and KDY joined in the 1960s and GKSS in the mid 1970s, these Home Clubs likewise received their member payments of about $5.00. The arrangement stayed in place until 1981 when, happily, it was discontinued.
The first rendezvous of the NAS was held on July 19,1946, at Price’s Bend near Eaton’s Neck on Long Island Sound. Yachts in attendance were the following:
Gallant, The Flagship
Pluggy Ann, Capt. Hildebrand
Mistress, Comm. Roosevelt
Azura, Comm Lundgren
Bettina II, Capt. Lake
Hotspur, Capt. Loomis
Pennessewasseee, Comm. Earle Smith
Early members, representatives of the elite of ocean yachting, were on fire to start racing across the Atlantic. In the years ahead, other prominent ocean sailors who carried the NAS burgee included the following:
Tore Arneberg, Paul Adams, Harry Anderson, Jim Bishop, Percy Chubb, Frederick Collins, Harvey Conover, Corwith Cramer, Briggs Dalzell, Henry duPont, Pierre duPont, John Eills, Robert Erskine, Clayton Ewing, Glen Foster, Edward Greef, Marvin Green, Sven Hansen, Norris Hoyt, Waldo Johnston, Johan Kahm, Stanley Livingston, Oivind Lorentzen, Alvin Mason, Sheila McCurdy, Henry Morgan, Dan Morrell, Hiro Nakajima, Richard Nye, Richard Pendleton, Ernest Ratsey, Julian Roosevelt, Axel Rosenblad, Alex Salm, Bill Snaith, Rod Stevens, Bob Towbin, Peter Ward, Thomas Watson, Blunt White, Arthur Wullschleger. At least six members completed a circumnavigation: Fred Collins, John and Nancy Eills, Johan Kahm, Dario Segre and William “Scott” Piper, who did it nine times. Dr. Piper and Carleton Mitchell each received the Cruising Club of America’s Blue Water Medal.
The fledgling Station was honored in 1947 by the attendance of the participants vying for the Scandinavian Gold Cup at a dinner held in Oyster Bay. The cup was established in March 1919 to commemorate Finland’s independence from Russia and presented to the Scandinavia Yacht Union. In 1947 the American, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish captains and crew competed off Long Island in 6-meters, but after 1955, when they were deemed too expensive, the Gold Cup race requirements were altered to competition in 5.5m yachts.
In 1948 it was not so easy to get Transatlantic races off the ground. One obscure effort that never made it to fruition is notable because of the fact that the undaunted organizers were all members of the NAS: Ernest Ratsey, Roderick Stephens, Jr., Count Pehr Sparre, Carl Hildebrand and Honorary Member Georg Unger Vetlesen.
In 1955 it was a different story when seven yachts from the Station took off on the NAS sponsored Transatlantic Race from Newport to Marstrand to participate in the Gotland Runt and the 125th Jubilee of KSSS. Besides Sparre’s Arabella (the 47‘ketch that young Ward and Ballard had sailed to Sweden) the competition included Paul Adams’s Brigadoon; Pierre S. du Pont III’s Barlovento; Henry B. du Pont’s Cyane; Henry S. Morgan’s Djinn; Walter S. Gubelman’s Windigo, and Daniel S. Morell, Jr.’s Rogue.
The summer of 1956 brought Bill Miller and Corbin Day, now NAS members, from the US to Sweden and eight young sailors, who came by ship from Sweden, to the United States as participants in what became the NAS Junior Exchange Program. The Swedish juniors spent the month of July with Station families; Miller and Day were hosted at KSSS by Henry Wallenberg and raced aboard the Wallenbergs' Refanut. It was a terrific success and evolved into an important arm of the NAS as American teenagers were welcomed into Scandinavian homes and young sailors from the Home Clubs became friends with sailing families in the States.
The 1960s were years that sparkled with enthusiasm and accomplishments in ocean racing through both NAS participation and sponsorship. First came the race to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of GKSS; Post Captain Henry B. du Pont and Paul Adams, the NAS Treasurer-Secretary organized a program for a transatlantic race from Bermuda to Marstrand. This race took place after the CCA Newport-Bermuda finish. Skippers who participated in the 17- boat fleet included Pierre S. du Pont III (Barlovento), Clayton Ewing (Dyna), Richard B. Nye (Carina), Sven Hansen (Anitra), Thomas J. Watson (Palawan), Henry B. du Pont (Cyane), Jacob Isbrandtsen (Windrose). NAS members, of course, also signed on as crew.
About the time that KDY asked the Americans to join in preparations for the Royal Danish Yacht Club’s 100th Jubilee race, in 1966, KDY was talking about setting up its own American station. It was clear, however, that most of the transatlantic yacht owners were members of the NAS, so why not have the NAS be their Station? KNS also soon saw the advantages of being a home club for The NAS.
We note coincidentally that Olympian Britton Chance and maritime author Carleton Mitchell had become NJK members prior to our formal affiliation. Other North American Station members had close association with the Nyländska Jaktklubben in the years ahead. In addition to the famous Carleton Mitchell, honorary members include Paul Adams, Henry H. Anderson, Dr. Britton Chance, Richard Pendleton and Victor F. Sheronas. Another distinction is to receive the NJK badge of merit, the Förtjänst Tecken. This handsome bronze sailing medal depicts a sailing vessel on one side and is a little larger than a silver dollar. In 1999, the same year he became an honorary member, Dick Pendleton was the honored recipient of #38 for his work in running the junior sailing exchange program. Tom Chadwick was the honoree for his sterling contributions to the cruise in 2003 and accepted the Förtjänst Tecken #44. Number 71 was presented in timely fashion to the North American Station for “fifty years of friendship.”
A milestone: The home clubs now numbered four. At the Annual Meeting in December 1964 the North American Station of the Royal Scandinavian Yacht Clubs and Nyländska Jaktklubben became the Station’s official name. (GKSS became the fifth club in 1977.)
We often use initials for the names of the Home Clubs, which are as follows:
Kongelig Dansk Yachtklub KDY Royal Danish Yacht Club
Kongelig Norsk Seilforening KNS Royal Norwegian Yacht Club
Kungliga Svenska Segel Sällskapet KSSS Royal Swedish Yacht Club
Nyländska Jaktklubben NJK Nyländska Jaktklubben of Finland
Göteborgs Kungliga Segel Sällskap GKSS Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club
In 1966, in a race organized by the North American Station, a record number of 43 yachts headed for the KDY Jubilee celebration in Denmark after the CCA Newport- Bermuda Race. Approximately eleven yachts were owned by members of the NAS. The finish line was off Skagens Rev — the light vessel off Skagen, Denmark. A memorable post-race party was held at the KDY restaurant at the Langelinie Pavillion. The hosts were KDY Commodore Taage Peetz and Post Captain Paul Adams. Each invited fifty guests - 50 Danes and 50 Americans. Formality was the order of the day, but fun ruled, and the interchange was all one could wish for.
Carl Hovgard, Post Captain in 1967, invited NAS members to a rendezvous at his place on Horse Island, Greenwich. Most guests arrived by yacht for a gala buffet luncheon. Be sure to see the complete list of our illustrious past Post Captains in the members’ directory.
It may appear that the NAS confused its navigational direction in 1968 when the Scandinavian-oriented Station sponsored a transatlantic race from Bermuda to Travemünde, Germany. Again it was to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of a yacht club, the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV). NAS gave a reception aboard the reproduction of the famous SY America docked at Travemünde, and all the commodores of the home clubs were in attendance. Commodore Manfred von Schroeder reciprocated with a fabulous lawn party at his residence in Hamburg for all of the Americans sharing in the Jubilee celebration. NAS was represented by Paul Adams (Insigne), Edward R. Greeff (Puffin), Dudley F. Blanchard (Solitaire), Sven Hansen (Anitra), and Jacob Isbrandtsen (Good News).
The North American Station concluded its first 25 years by sponsoring the Transatlantic Race to Kristiansand, Norway. On June 20, 1969 the NAS formed a raft in Brenton Cove, Newport, when some members gathered for its Spring Rendezvous; the following year brought us together on August 28 for a Block Island Rendezvous.
The Middle Years: 1970 -1995
On August 5, 1975 Clayton R. Ewing, Post Captain, let it be known that henceforth ladies would be eligible for membership.
In 1976, Former Post Captain Paul Adams, discussed the concept of a non-profit organization— one that would sponsor a series of races circling the Atlantic — with Lars Colliander, Robert Hubner, Thor Ramsing and Edward Raymond. The result was that they incorporated The Atlantic Round, Inc. and made it a tax-exempt entity. As it happened, the birth of the organization coincided with a waning interest in transatlantic sailing. But the entity was in place for future regattas, as we shall see, and Lars Colliander (Post Captain from 1990-1993) was particularly keen on finding ways to use this tax-exempt entity as a way to further interaction with the Home Clubs.
And in 1978, despite a small number of participants, the first Atlantic Round did take place. It was a salubrious maritime gathering, but it almost resulted in an international incident. The ocean race (different from the TAR regattas of today) ran from Florida to the Azores, on to France and Scandinavia. Boats included the NJK yacht Gefion, sailed by Max Ekholm from Florida. Paul Adams represented NAS on the USS Alliance. His crew included a Whitbread racer and such other friends as Lars Colliander (who participated from Copenhagen to Helsinki and in the Gotland Round where he left to get back to running a business). The crew also included eight midshipmen from the United States Naval Academy one of whom was NAS member David Lane - still ocean sailing in 2020 - as well as the Annapolis coach and an ensign. It was characteristic of Paul Adams to make it possible for young sailors to gain experience.
The winds were light in the Baltic, and the crew worked to keep the boat moving over the moonlit sea. Then, out of Estonia, appeared an armed Russian patrol boat, which approached and demanded that the USS Alliance lower sails. It was a tense political period, and the USS Alliance, on her way to Helsinki, did not want to end up in Estonia or Russia.
It should be noted that the only armament aboard the American vessel was a saluting gun. “Hand out the winch handles!” proclaimed Ensign Pruitt. Well, the Americans refused to lower sail and carried on. It was Midsummer’s Eve. In Helsinki — much to the surprise of those aboard the USS Alliance — the American ambassador, his staff, Finnish dignitaries and other folk greeted them. Had the yacht complied with the Russian’s s request, the incident would have resulted, at the least, in “no Olympics” according to the ambassador’s remark.
The Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club, competing on Sverige, was challenger for the America’s Cup twice in these years — first in 1977 and again in 1980. On both occasions the Swedish contingent was invited to the NAS traditional summer party at the Clambake Club in Newport. Guests in 1980 included King Gustaf and Queen Silvia, who had christened the 12-meter competitor. The inimitable Peter Ward was Post Captain at the time, and he and Count Pehr Sparre sat on either side of Queen Silvia. The Queen apologized to Peter Ward when she turned to speak to Sparre, “I hope you don’t mind my back. Pehr Sparre is hard of hearing, and he is the cousin of the old king.” Lars Colliander recalls that “due to the lack of snaps glasses, wine glasses were used for the aquavit! The songs became LOUD.”
In 1981 The Atlantic Round, along with the RORC and RBYC, sponsored a Trans-Atlantic race from Bermuda to Horta and on to Cowes. There also was a 150th Anniversary Jubilee Regatta held in Sandhamn.
What appears to be the earliest of more regular NAS cruises in Scandinavia took place in 1983 from Helsinki to Sandhamn. (Cruises now occur approximately every three years.) Paul Adams invited participants to the christening of Safari, which would lead the fleet on so many delightful NAS cruises in the Scandinavian waters in the years ahead. There was a banquet at Blekholmen with former NJK exchange students as guests. At the final dinner at the KSSS restaurant at Sandhamn, the Swedish junior exchange students were in attendance, and the North American Station presented a silver bowl to the Junior Program of KSSS to be awarded to one of their young sailors each year.
That Revere bowl is especially significant in the history of the NAS because it was decorated with an enamel replica of the Station’s newly designed NAS burgee. Tiffany bowls were presented to KNS for its 100th in 1983; to GKSS for its 125th in 1985; and to NJK for its 125th in 1986.
In 1985, the maturity of the NAS was recognized by the decision to have Station ties produced for the membership!
In 1986 another jubilee took Post Captain Peter Ward and NAS Secretary Lars Colliander to Helsinki for the celebration of NJK’s 125th Anniversary. (In 2011, Allan and Lolly Heyward joined the NJK’s 150th, presenting Commodore Gunilla Antas with a fine plaque to commemorate the occasion.)
Member Audrey Ward remarked on “the tendency of kings to sail.” Indeed, the royalty of the Baltic liked to race, and the Royal Scandinavian Yacht Clubs and Nyländska Jaktklubben showed enthusiasm for the alliance with the North American Station. Louise and Paul Adams, who spent every summer racing and cruising in the Nordic waters, were the crucible for these friendships. During this period, Paul liked to celebrate his birthdays at one of the home clubs every even birthday year. During the 1988 Norway cruise, King Haakon was in attendance to congratulate Paul. Perhaps one might not be surprised that on May 13, 1993, the President of Finland named Paul Adams a Commander of the Order of the White Rose of Finland. Past Commodore Peter Ward was similarly recognized for his good-humored and diligent support and ties of affection to this Scandinavian nation.
The 1986 NAS cruise, called the Baltic Round, went from Kiel to Helsinki to Copenhagen. In 1988 the Sweden/Norway/Denmark cruise started and ended in Marstrand, and King Olav joined the group to celebrate Paul Adams’s 75th birthday in Hanko, Norway. Fifteen yachts participated in the June 1990 cruise from Kalmar to Saltsjöbaden.
The Wards invited all of the Junior Exchange sailors and their hosts to a picnic at their home in Noroton, CT in 1989 — a welcoming gesture they and many other members would repeat in the coming decades. Luncheons continued at the Clambake Club in Newport; there was a crayfish party at the Adamses’ house in Darien; Charlie Stone hosted a rendezvous at his Darien house; in Maine seven yachts enjoyed a rendezvous at Burnt Coat Harbor, Swan’s Island; in 1994 another friendly Maine rendezvous brought six yachts to Buckle Harbor. And on July 27, 1994, there was a merry raft and lunch in Newport Harbor where Shere Khan C, Post Captain Johan Kahm’s chartered yacht, was anchored.
Meanwhile, in Oslo in October 1992, four sailors representing the NAS in the Inter-Nordic 5 Club Races were Glen Foster, Paul Adams, Tor Arneberg and Lars Colliander.
May 1991 signaled the move toward a change in the concept of the Atlantic Round regatta when Paul Adams held a meeting at the NYYC. At this meeting plans for an annual regatta that included NAS and all the Home Clubs were formulated. Funding for the regatta could be channeled through The Atlantic Round -- with tax exempt contributions. The first Atlantic Round Regatta as we know it, after some clever scheduling maneuvers with Home Clubs, overseen by Post Captain Lars Colliander, was successfully held at the Stamford and Noroton Yacht Clubs on September 13-19, 1993. The second Atlantic Round was in Saltsjöbaden.
The Atlantic Round, or “TAR,” would become a major event for the NAS — held in the United States approximately every third year and hosted by one of the Home Clubs in the off years.
Awards
Several important NAS awards were established during these middle years. The first, however, had appeared in 1962. It is The Blunt White Trophy given for meritorious service and outstanding seamanship; its first recipient was Norris D. Hoyt in 1962. Past Post Captain G.W. Blunt White whom it honors was known as one of the world’s foremost yachtsman at the time of his death at age 66 in the Bahamas.
In 1972 the Post Captains’ Award was first presented to Carina, the yacht - not the owner - for outstanding ocean racing or cruising. (The Carina’s owner was Richard Nye.) The handsome trophy is a silver Viking ship set in a teak base.
In 1984, the Pehr Sparre Award was established by his family to recognize a member who personifies Sparre’s “ideals, standards and sense of humor.” (It should be no surprise that Peter Ward was the first to be so honored. Subsequent honorees are listed in the Directory.)
Paul Adams was the first recipient, in 1988, of the award that carries his name and recognized his adept organization of many cruises and for other services to the NAS. Originally it was up to Paul to designate the winners of The Paul W. Adams Award who followed him.
The winner of the Atlantic Round Regatta was the recipient of the eponymous Trophy, donated in 1993 by Former Post Captain Paul Adams (when he was 80) whose funny story about its origins can be found in the members’ directory. Suffice to say it was rather ugly. Louise Adams suggested that it should be presented filled with flowers in the winner’s national colors. The original trophy has disappeared but has kindly been replaced by KSSS.
The Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club established The Adams Cup in 1993 in honor of Paul Adams for all his support and for his interest in helping young sailors. It goes to the helmsman of the winning boat in races of The Atlantic Round Regatta.
Stephen P. Swope was Post Captain from 1998 — 2004. The trophy that honors him is awarded to the winning team of the team race component of The Atlantic Round. Its donors were Susan Swope and Lawrence and Anne Glenn who expressed their desire to foster camaraderie and fellowship among sailors participating in the event. The award is thus most appropriately named.
The Recent Years: 1995 - 2020
The 50th Anniversary year of the North American Station included another Maine rendezvous of six yachts at Buckle Harbor, with several similar small gatherings in the next few years.
At the same time there were new connections and activities on the horizon. The third Atlantic Round was held in 1995 at Riverside Yacht Club from September 10 - 14.
That December the Annual Meeting of the NAS was held at the New York Yacht Club, where it is now a yearly occasion followed by the Station’s Christmas Gala. In memory of Sparre and all the early aquavit and herring and smoked fish lovers, Lars and several other purists try to maintain the proper Scandinavian menu! It remains the merriest of gatherings where members and guests welcome new members, receive trophies and awards, sing lusty snaps drinking songs with enthusiasm if not perfect pitch, and dance into the night. The St. Lucia choir of seven young women in white, bearing candles into the darkened room and singing a seasonal collection of Swedish melodies, bring tears to many an eye.
During the last two weeks of July 1996 the NAS explored the eastern cruising coast of Finland. On one island “crucified fish” was featured on the picnic menu; the man in charge of grilling the “traditional specialty” when asked about it remarked, “Ah, I don’t know — I’ve never cooked it before.” On that and future Baltic cruises American and Scandinavian friends sat on the rocks well into moon time as they talked softly and made friends in the land of the midnight sun.
Two years later Paul Adams’s 85th Birthday Anniversary Cruise in 1998 ran from Stockholm into Lake Mälaren to Mariefred, through the Södertätälje Canal and up the Swedish east coast. The birthday plans changed after Paul’s Safari encountered a very hard rock at the entrance to Nynäsviken. The Adamses finished the cruise aboard Hans Drakenberg’s Anahita and celebrated his birthday at the Drakenberg island home.
In that same year The Atlantic Round was held in the United States at Newport as it would be in 2001, 2004 and 2010. In 2007 it was held at Seawanhaka Yacht Club, Oyster Bay, NY and in 2015 at Stamford Yacht Club, Stamford, CT.
It was a clear day on September 11, 2001. Atlantic Round races were being held at the New York Yacht Club in Newport. “That morning,” recalls Tom Chadwick, “we were racing in Newport Harbor, when the news came that the Twin Towers in New York had been hit. There was not much we could do about the situation, so the Committee decided to continue with the schedule. Later that afternoon, sitting on the lawn of the NYYC with the fantastic view of Newport Harbor and Narraganset Bay beyond, it was hard to imagine the chaos in New York. We also learned that Peter Ward was in his office in Rockefeller Center and saw the second plane hit. At the end of the scheduled events, members in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York provided housing to our visitors for the week or so it took to reschedule air travel back to Scandinavia. Many lasting friendships were established.”
In 2006, Hans Drakenberg of KSSS again came to the aid of the Americans when he joined our four-person crew sailing in DS37 match races at the GKSS. The other three crew members were Post Captain David Tunick, Douglas Ward and Stephen Corsano. In 2007 the fifteenth Atlantic Round came to Long Island Sound where the Glenns cooked up a feast of delights at the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club and the Manhattan Yacht Club in New York. In 2015 Stamford Yacht Club was the home base for the Atlantic Round, a lively mixture of good racing and activities for the participants and their families. The creators of this camaraderie were Hiro and Yuko Nakajima, the latest in a long list of generous members.
While conviviality and heavy racing motivate the five Home Clubs and the North American Station to attend The Atlantic Round, TAR also has been a major event each year because it is when the Home Clubs’ Commodores gather to hold their official annual meeting of the yacht clubs. It represents a continuation of friendship and a time to cement plans for further interaction.
The first issue of the NAS newsletter HÄLSNINGAR was mailed to NAS members in 2006. Nancy Eills produced it irregularly for several years.
In 2006, after much discussion about modernization, we approved a major revision of the North American Station’s Constitution and By-Laws. David P. Tunick was NAS Post Captain (2005- 2011) during this time, followed by David C. Brown (2011-2014) and Ernest L. Godshalk (2014-20). Again in 2017-18, Post Captain Godshalk and the Board oversaw the most recent edit.
June 3, 2006 marked the occasion of the first of spring meetings held at our hospitable Post Captain David Tunick’s house in Stamford, CT. The NAS meeting begins with nice cold aquavit and discussion of business matters and proceeds to a clambake on the lawn. Long may the NAS burgee wave on Shippan Point!
David singlehandedly sailed his beautiful yacht Night Watch from Connecticut to the Land of the Midnight Sun in 2001 and has returned every summer to enjoy the waters of our Home Clubs. In 2008, David was the guest of KNS in Oslo for its 125th Jubilee and was seated next to Queen Sonja at the gala dinner for 560 guests. In recent years he on Night Watch and Post Captain Ernie Godshalk on Golden Eye have focused on the harbors and by-ways of Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland as possible stops for the NAS regattas in those waters. These have included a 2005 Stockholm Archipelago Cruise on the occasion of KSSS’s 175th Anniversary, a Norwegian Fjord Cruise (2008), a Finnish Cruise from Mariehamn to Helsinki (2011), a Danish Cruise (2014), a Swedish west coast cruise (2017), and second Stockholm Archipelago Cruise (2019). These recent NAS cruises have been popular with members of the Cruising Club of America, and the event of 2019, co-sponsored by KSSS, was a tour de force with approximately 250 people in 50 boats. Participants marveled at the wonders of the Scandinavian summer; the cruise began with dinner at the museum housing the Vasa on the island of Djurgården, in Stockholm’s waters. KSSS Commodore Patrik Salén marshalled his club’s resources in support and was elected an Honorary Member of The NAS.
The number of Junior Exchange participants has varied since Bill Miller, Corbin Day and those eight young Swedes walked down a gangplank in 1956, yet the program has always been a much-appreciated work-in-progress by hosting families and visitors. Several leaders of Junior Exchange have been
awarded the NAS’s Blunt White, Pehr Sparre or Paul W. Adams Awards for their outstanding service – their names are listed in the Directory.
In 2003 the North American Station was invited to participate, for the first time, in the Five Club Regatta held at KSSS. We also sent young sailors to Oslo in 2005 and Helsinki in 2006. This event bolsters NAS’s aim to promote closer ties between North America and Scandinavia through sailing. Member David Gurney received the Paul W. Adams Award in 2007 for his efforts to revive our involvement in this regatta. His determination paid off when the NAS sponsored the Five Club Regatta for the first time in 2009. With David Brown’s local knowledge of Newport to aid the arrangements, housing and feeding were arranged for approximately thirty young sailors, and It was a whopping success; the affiliation continues. We remain grateful to the late Post Captain Stephen Swope who initiated NAS involvement and led the efforts to make it part of our activities.
Proof that it was beneficial to admit women is Jennifer Bowden, the current NAS Treasurer. Her wintertime arrangements for NAS outings included attendance at a special tour of the Munch exhibit; an Ibsen play — Enemy of the People; a revival of a musical —Song of Norway; private art tours of which some were conducted by David Tunick; and a concert of Finnish composer Rautavaara at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
We salute Audrey Ward, Allan Heyward, Angelica Barrows who continues to invigorate the Junior Programs, Bill Miller who went to Sweden as a kid on the early exchange program (and reminisced about it at the 2019 annual meeting), Larry and Anne Glenn, Lauretta Bruno, Nick Orem, Harald and Barbara Rosengren, Nicholas Brown, the late Frederick Collins, the late Oivind Lorentzen, Michael Geagan, the late Cynthia Crimmins — they and so many not named herein represent the spirit of the NAS.
We do not forget our current Historian Thomas Chadwick. He was also our past historian, called back to the archival front lines in 2014 when all the NAS records were inadvertently destroyed. He has reconstructed the archives. He has served as Secretary, Treasurer, and Governor as well as re-creator of our history. He is inclined to groan if one volunteers to contribute old smorgasbord menus to the NAS archives.