Cy Gillette

The sad news that Cy passed away, age 92, came last week. He was a dear friend, mentor and great contributor to our sport. Originally a Detroit boy, he had lived in Honolulu since World War II. Because of sailing, brother Paul (Maui) knew him as well; for at least the past 30 years Cy was widely regarded as the "dean of yachting" in Hawaii. On Thursday I posted a piece about Cy on the Challenger Commission Blog that those of you who knew or knew of him will appreciate.

Below are a couple of group photos with Cy and myself that bring back fond memories....



Maxi Worlds, June, 1987 at Newport, RI. From left the late Ted King (USA), Graeme Hayward (CAN), Goran Petersson (SWE, and now President of the International Sailing Federation), John Bonds (USA), the late Cy Gillette (USA), TFE and Ken Ryan (IRL); this was the first group of judges to "umpire" -- follow in a motorboat and impose a penalty to be taken during the race by a yacht judged to have infringed the rules.



Congressional Cup, March, 1988 at Long Beach, CA. Less than a year after the maxi worlds umpiring had been endorsed by the ISAF (then the International Yacht Racing Union) for development and the '88 Congo Cup was where it was first used on the international match racing circuit. Above is the jury/umpires with '88 Congo Cup winner, Peter Gilmour (AUS, front row, center). I served as Chief Judge and Umpire. Cy (top row, third from the left), always on the cutting edge, was aboard, too, and a key early supporter of umpiring. Likewise Bryan Willis (top row, center with the beard) who chaired the America's Cup jury in 2000 and 2003, and is doing so again for AC 32 here in Valencia. Indeed, how time flies.