A Short Hisotry of the Commodore's Regatta
The Cape Fear Yacht Club's Commodore's Regatta has been sailed on the 4th of July as part of the North Carolina Fourth of July Festival in Southport continuously, in one form or another, since 1994. Prior to that time impromptu races were sporadically held as part of the festival. The 1994 race was organized by Mark Tallon, Rick Johnstone and Hank Grupe. The post race party was a picnic at Southport Marina where the organizers sold $60 memberships in a new organization to be called the Cape Fear Yacht Club. More than 20 members signed up that night.
The 1996 race was the first called the Commodore's Regatta. In the next year, 1997, it was renamed the Commodore Grupe Regatta in honor of the club's first commodore, but in 1998 the name reverted to the Commodore's Regatta at Hank Grupe's request.
From the beginning the race has been sailed on the parade day, which is generally the 4th, through 2005. In more recent years the Commodore's Regatta has occurred on days preceding the parade day in an effort by the Festival organizers to spread out events of the multi-day festival. Also, in recent years, interest in sailboat racing had waned in the local area so the club sponsored a Parade of Boats, both sail and power, in place of an actual race. With the resurgence of racing interest the Commodore's Regatta resumed in 2010 as a invitational sailboat race.
Submitted by: Jerry Gable CFYC Historian
