Concord Yacht Club
On Fort Loudon Lake

"Where Knoxville Sails"

History

Sailing on Fort Loudon Lake began about 1947 under the auspices of the Oak Ridge Power Squadron with a fleet of four or five Sunrays skippered by Oak Ridgers Lockhart, Stevens, McDonald, Nicholson, and Stewart. They launched at Concord Boat Dock, lowering masts to clear the bridge. Several years later moorings were set outside off Concord Park.

The first race is recorded as having taken place on June 19, 1948. The fleet was enlarged by the addition of an aluminum boat, a Snipe, and Gus Angele's Seagull. The first Annual Awards Banquet took place at the historic Park Hotel in Clinton with Charles Asmanes winning the cup for overall high score for the season, and Lockhart the Sunray trophy.

In 1949 the first lady skipper joined the fleet, followed by the Girl Scout Mariners and their Comet under the leadership of Frances Gilliam. Three more fleet members added a Lightning, a scow, and another aluminum craft.

Several Thistle sailors joined the fleet in 1951. During the 1951 sailing season, members of the Snipe fleet in Chattanooga participated in races with our fleet, and the Thistles went to the Atlanta Yacht Club for races. This interclub racing, combined with the limited facilities available, increased our desire for a better location. The Concord Yacht Club was chartered in 1951 as a non-profit Tennessee corporation by Bill Johnson, Reg Gwin, Jones Smellage, Don Hanskutt, and Alfred Sanford, who secured the use of the present site and original quonset hut formerly used as a Seaplane school. CYC is located on property acquired by TVA in association with the Loudon Dam Construction Program. TVA later donated the property to Knox County for recreational use.

The Club burgee was designed by Jones Smellage in 1952 and approved by the charter members. In the early 1970s the design was refined by Hal Frincke and reproduced on membership cards and decals. It now appears in the American Registry of Yachts.

Docks, moorings, and other facilities have since been added by the volunteer efforts of the founders and generations of subsequent members. In 1964 indoor restrooms were constructed, and the porch connecting the restrooms to the quonset hut was covered. The front porch was extended, and the porch with the grill was added in 1969. The restroom building was replaced in 1992.

In 1972, the Bob Brown Memorial Mast was erected in memory of Bob, who served as Commodore from 1962 to 1964. In June 1975, Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 12-9 was chartered with 28 Concord Yacht Club members. It was the second sailing flotilla to be formed in the United States.

The Thistle fleet was chartered in 1951, followed by the Windmill Fleet (1962), Flying Junior Fleet (1963), Flying Dutchman Fleet (1964), Sunfish Fleet (1969), Laser Fleet (1972), Force 5 Fleet (1976), Catalina 22 Fleet (1982), and the Lightning Fleet (1986).

The cruising class was begun by Peder Johansen with his hand-crafted Gypsy double-ender sloop in 1948. The cruising class started active racing as the Auxiliary Fleet in 1970. The rapid growth of the Auxiliary Fleet led to the construction of floating slips in 1977, and a marine railway was added in 1978. More floating slips were added in 1983, providing accommodations for keel boats of various sizes.

The first Thistle regatta, now known as the Annual Admiral Farragut Regatta, was held in 1952. The Dutch Treat for Windmills, Flying Juniors, and Flying Dutchmen began in 1964. The Flying Dutchman Fleet has since been disbanded. Lasers scheduled their first regatta in 1973, and Sunfish in 1974. Force 5's were added to the Laser regatta in 1977. Lightnings had their first regatta in 1987.

Each year new facilities and improvements to the clubhouse, docks, and grounds are made by the working membership.

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