1997-2008
The Dry Pants Model Yacht Club was conceived at a major boat show in 1997. A few active sailors saw Greg Worth’s booth selling CR-914s and thought this might be a great addition to the Essex Yacht Club fleet in Essex, Ct. The club started with 10 – 15 boats based on old rosters that have been handed down. The Club’s first adventure was to race the boats in front of the club. This was less than perfect due to the strong current in the Connecticut River. They spent more time retrieving than sailing.
The club then tried the cove behind the club, but found the average 3 feet of tide dropped the water level to less than the draft of a CR-914 at low tide. Scheduling was made difficult by Mother Nature. Finally, the Club moved to Sunset Pond in Essex and raced Sunday mornings from 1030-1200. The timing was scheduled around frost-biting. For those in more moderate climates, frostbiting is racing small boats like Blue Jays, Dyer Dows and IC dinghies during the Fall, Winter and Spring in New England. The starts for frostbiting were 130PM so this allowed for enough time to race the models, then run to the club, launch your boat and make the starting line on time. The Dry Pants Yacht Club maintained this schedule until 2005.
By moving away from the Yacht Club property to Sunset Pond, the DPMYC stimulated interest in model sailing among both non-EYC members and those visiting the town on weekends. This venue lasted until 2006 when a decision was made to move the Club to a larger pond in Deep River. By this time the club was almost completely non-members of EYC and those that were members were not founders.
The move to Deep River was critical to keeping the Club alive. The new site offered much better sailing conditions and extended periods of breeze into the evening. Adding a Tuesday evening race schedule to the calendar doubled the amount of racing for the club and has been very successful.
The changing membership away from the formal yacht club was never intentional. Sometimes things just happen! Within our membership, a group grew that enjoyed traveling to regattas around the country. Since 2002, the DPMYC has become a very visible and successful model sailing club. Visiting other clubs also provided insight into how others were hosting and organizing their events. This group of sailors became the new foundation of the Club.
In the early Fall of 2006, Larchmont Yacht Club was scheduled to host the “Spring Invitational Regatta” and the NCR. Their Commodore and chief organizer, Button Padin, was informed by both of his daughters that they planned on getting married in the same year. Buttons panicked and asked Chuck Luscomb, a DPMYC member, if we would be interested in hosting the two events. We accepted and changed overnight from a non-registered AMYA club to a registered club. Both regattas were well-done and attended by more than 30 boats from across the country.
2007 ended with interest in adding a second class to the DPMYC fleet. The 2008 season saw the addition of eleven EC-12s, ten of the owners also sailing CR-914s. This added Wednesday evening sailing for the EC-12s.
2009-Present
Since its inception at the Essex Yacht Club the Dry Pants Model Yacht Club has grown steadily and remains very active. People are constantly driving into the park and are excited to see the sail boats flitting about the pond.
After moving to Deep River the sailing at Plattwood Park Pond has taken off and the park lends itself to wonderful sailing. There is ample parking with easy access off Route 80, restrooms available and two docks for launching boats.
We continue to sail the CR-914 and have also added the popular DragonFlite 95 to the fleet for the Plattwood Series held on Sundays. We sail all year, as long as the water is not solid!
Wednesday is our “fun” sailing day with the CR-914’s from 10:30 until 12pm and the DF 95’s from 12:15 until 1:30 and then “any” boat after 1:30. On Sunday the hours are the same. The club hosts regional regattas for all to come and enjoy.
The Club Today
DPMYC is one of the top three clubs in the country with the highest percentage of active racers competing in club sponsored events. This is an excellent sign of club health. Most importantly, we encourage by-standers to sail our boats and like to encourage new owners to improve their competitive sailing skills and understanding of racing rules. Helping everyone to become better is a club priority. Come join us!