The Early Days ~Vaughan Williams

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When I started writing this article, I realized the string of events leading up to the early days of the club are more complicated than I had anticipated. We need an accurate account of the informal events that led up to the SPSC’s formation. There are several other club members that were at Shell Point forty years ago who have been integrally involved in making the SPSC what it is today.  Perhaps they can also contribute their memories of the early days to make sure we get an accurate history of events. If they could contribute it would fill some gaps.

As I see it, the start of the sailboard club was in the making more than ten years before it was formalized.

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In the late 1970’s, Shell Point had a large sailing community, folks who went to Shell Point because of its proximity to Tallahassee. I came upon Shell Point in 1978 to sail catamarans, and I soon met a fun-loving group of sailors. Hobie Fleet 43 was the dominant beach club in Shell Point back then. ABYC was also well established but catered to larger monohull sailing. There was also an informal subgroup of sailors, including much of Fleet 43, that referred to themselves as the Mad Dogs. This name originated from an annual 'round Dog Island race. We sailed competitively and enjoyed many festive events. The clubhouse of sorts was Ken's Tavern on Tennessee Street in Tallahassee where the beach crew met up on Wednesdays and Fridays for Happy Hour. I believe these activities are the spirit and seed of what eventually started the SPSC.

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One of our current members was a partner in a small business called Sailors Choice located on the old Fields lot in Shell Point (near where we gather now). In 1979, this member was at an event in Tampa where they purchased twelve new, original Windsurfers. They brought them back and sold them at the Point. Sailors Choice also bought a simulator for training and rented both sailboards and catamarans.

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Over the next year, I started to see more sailors participating in windsurfing. At first, I didn’t think much of it, but then I saw that most of the catamaran sailors were acquiring their own sailboards. The catamarans needed at least two people to set up, but the windsurfers were simpler and could be roof-topped.  I held out for a while, but I finally decided to get on the bandwagon and give this growing sport with the primitive triangular sail a try. In the beginning, it was a struggle. None of my sailing experience helped and in fact probably worked against me. There was no rudder. Tacking meant walking around the mast. In a gybe, the boom crosses around the bow and not the stern. The mast leaned into the wind and not away. Feet and legs had to be used in a coordinated effort. Learning was tough, but I was hooked and took every chance I could to head to Shell Point to windsurf.

In 1982, a roommate and I bought a mobile home in the Village to use on weekends as we were spending so much time in Shell Point. The Hobie racing events in Fort Walton and Panama City soon began to lose participation, becoming more profit-oriented with fewer amenities (little to no beer and poor food choices). While these Hobie events began to fail, it is worth noting that the long running Stephen C Smith regatta, aided by ABYC, maintained then and continues to maintain the original all around sailing experience.

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In the following years, local catamaran sailing also declined while windsurfing participation was on the rise. In the mid 80's, another current club member bought a dozen boards and resold them.  Windsurfing had made the scene, but something was missing. There was not a widespread racing program in place for windsurfing. Since my roommate and I had experience with organizing social events in town, we started holding some sailboard races in Shell Point with a cookout and a keg back at the Village clubhouse or singlewide trailer at day's end. Back then, there were only three or four choices of beer, so everyone was happy. The Rum & Root Beer and Endless Summer races evolved from these events.

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In time, several other forward-thinking windsurfers wanted to formalize a club in order to hold more events. These events became an annual ritual such as the Key West trips and the Wind Ceremony. On one of my first dates with my wife, I introduced her to the first SPSC Wind Ceremony. It was in March of 1991. Our Swami made his first appearance at that first Wind Ceremony, providing a magnificent and entertaining spectacle. My wife-to-be had much to adapt to....

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Around that time, I began to pursue my career in earnest, and I no longer had time for the coast--until retirement a year and a half ago. Coming back to Shell Point after all these years, I am impressed with the level of energy and organization the members and cadre of characters have put into the SPSC. And I’m also happy to see so many of the original people from the early days of the club are still together.

So, what happened in the 30 years I missed ?