. . . Nautical Page

The boathouse was the center of activities in the life of these members. Many of them are remembered in anecdotes through these pages and in the pictures presented near the bottom of this page.

The yachting activities which originated in Miramar Yacht Club's boathouse produced brilliant pages in the history of our Republican Cuba.

During the 1930s and the 1940s we developed a fleet of sailing boats called "Seis Metros" (Six Meters) and "Las Estrellas" (The Stars), as well as the first sailing boats or cruisers, so that our outstanding yachtists -- such as Isaias Quintana, Joe Kates and the brothers Pipo y Chupi Muņoz Bustamante -- could compete in those regattas.

During the mid-forties the regattas evolved into the Snipe class type for small sailing boats and, thanks to the enthusiasm and auspices of our unforgettable Commodore Manolo Rasco, the Sailing Cruiser Type (Cruceros de Vela) was also developed, and some of these vessels became quite famous, vessels like "The Anaqui", "El Bicho Malo", "El Robert Edwards" and Rasco's "El Bellatriz".

Our dedicated yachtists represented our Club and also our country Cuba in numerous occasions, in famous national and international regattas, obtaining big triumphs. Many of us remember the display cabinets full of trophies. Silver Cup Trophies with inscriptions such as "El Bellatriz", "El Ciclon" owned by Remigio Hernadorena, who also built it, or "El Criollo" also owned by Remigio and then bought and finished by Rasco in 1955. We had trophies from the San Petersburg -Havana regatta exhibited in our trophy room, old and new trophies won by the efforts of the such "yatistas" as Mente and Carlos Inclan, Jorge Mantilla, Gonzalo Melendez, Rafael Alvarez Barquin, Manolin rasco, Armando Gordillo, Amauri Betancourt, Gonzalo y Saul Diaz, Angel Naya Sr., the unforgettable Escoto and many others. We would also like to mention "los pinos nuevos" -- the new kids -- such as Paquito Calvet and Tony (El Chiflido) Botet.

And we cannot forget the owners of the motor yachts, the marlin fishermen and those who owned speedboats we called "zapaticos".

While many Club members owned boats because of their love of sailing or fishing or racing, other members owned boats just for the hell of it. If they had a family, it was to take them out cruising in those glorious days that we had in Cuba. If they had no family, a boat offered the perfect vehicle to take out a young lady, without chaperone, and romance her.

Actually, you did not have to own a boat. The Club had a big fleet of all kinds of boats available for the free use of its members.

All these boats, private or owned by the Club, were dependent on the boathouse. The original boathouse was built in 1926, at the same time the Old Club was built, and was all wood. This old boathouse was retained for several years after the construction of the new Club, and was replaced later by a new one made of concrete in 1956. The new boathouse had the latest state-of-the-art facilities for housing and servicing large and small boats, including docks, repair facilities, carpentry and paint shops, equipment for the construction of new boats, ramps and electrical lifts. It even had a beautiful air conditioned main salon with a unique ocean view, and many reunions and events were celebrated there.

We cannot talk about the boathouse without mentioning the very competent staff of old sailors who worked for the Club and maintained the fleet of boats in top shape with painstaking cleanliness (please see the Employees page). We remember how many of us were rescued by these dedicated heroes, on the many occasions we were carried away by our laziness or misbehavior.

Snipe Trophies Presentation, 1955
Banter in Front of the Old Boathouse, 1954
The Bellatriz Crew, 1950 (Winner Havana - St. Petersburg Race)
MYC's Team at the Snipes World Championship, 1949 (Larchmont, NY)
Several Photos of the Boathouse (Facilities Page)

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© 2000, 2001 MYC. Last revision February 25, 2001.