By Jamie Taylor
30 years ago at age 14 year my first Interclub Cruise was aboard J. Boyd Bert’s C&C 33 Diablo. I can remember my father waking me up at 3:30 in the morning and the excitement of my first Interclub. The race started in Erie on a gray and overcast morning with about 10-15 knots of wind. It was a downwind start and halfway down the bay the blooper was put up and the sheet handed to me. Another first, never flew a blooper before; none-the-less never heard of one before!
There are many firsts on the Interclub. The first crossing of Long Point, the first flying jibe broach (and hanging on for dear life), the first thrill of victory and the first humbling dead last. Over the years I have joked with new crewmembers about their first “virgin” Interclub. Then thinking about my first cruise, I start to envy the “virgin” as they experience the Interclub Cruise for the first time. I will no longer make light of this, I’ll just sit back, watch and enjoy their first Interclub Cruise.
A special thanks to G. Gib Loesel for pulling together these wonderful Interclub Cruise stories for all to enjoy!