Annapolis Yacht Club Returns To Free Entry Fee For Summer OD

From the Annapolis Yacht Club: Jack Lynch is no ordinary member at Annapolis Yacht Club. He is a member of several committees, including Race and History & Artifacts. When it comes to the traditions and customs associated with the sport of sailing, Lynch knows what he is talking about.

Annapolis Yacht Club is returning to a past, oft-unrealized tradition to celebrate the halfway point of its sailing season and its place in sailing history. The club’s annual Summer One Design Regatta, slated for July 22, will be free of entry fees to all participants, a tradition that has not been practiced since the 1980s.

“Racing is AYC’s heritage,” Lynch said. “This is part of our club’s contribution to the sport.” The four invited classes — J/22, J/70, J/80, and Alerion 28 — will compete on the same course, and skippers and crew are invited to the AYC Sailing Center afterward for an awards presentation and regatta party.

Prior to the 1980s, yacht clubs throughout the sport invited competitors to race in their regattas free of charge. That practice disappeared over the past three decades, but AYC leadership hopes waiving entry fees for the 2017 Summer One Design Regatta will bring some added excitement to this year’s field of competitors.

John White, a member of the club’s Sailing Committee, said the decision to waive the OD regatta’s entry fee simply increases the fervor which annually surrounds the event.

“With the (2 p.m.) afternoon start to take advantage of, typical favorable breezes, and a return to a traditional free-of-charge entry” White said, “we look forward to this being one of the best attended One Design regattas.”

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