Don Brauer served as the first Commodore for the fledgling break off of the Richland Yacht Club. Tired of the power boat stuff, working on covered docks and the like and wanting to focus more on sailing issues, a new club was formed; the year – 1972. With an original membership of maybe 15 members, the group soon grew to a strong core of 30 or so. People like Dwight Affleck, Morely Paul, Chuck Ficke, Wally Howell, Tom Goulding, Pete King, Don Resch (Flying Scot sailor), Dave Parker and others, were instrumental in the creation of our club. The first big issue was naming the club. Don Brauer recalls pushing for the “Columbia Corinthians” but being outvoted. “You should still change the name” said Don… The club grew as did the Tri-Cities, at one time having a reported 250-350 members (due largely to the heroic efforts of one John Niestlie). You can’t have been a member of this club without recalling Morely Paul waxing nostalgic for those days. Many of these members never saw the water, but the core group remained. People like Dawn Roy, Dave Parker, Rick Ashworth, Ralph Kelley, Dwight Affleck, Al Hopp, Roger McVicker, and Dennis Trimble have kept our club moving forward through the years. Don Brauer remembered this as being the “only place I’ve ever seen that had a race called off by blowing dust.” In thinking back, he felt the biggest shot in the arm for the club was when they moved to Charbonneau. “This really got us going, all sailing on the same patch of water. It really pumped the club up.”
Contact Info
Address:
P.O. Box 1705 Richland, WA 99352
Email: commodore@cbsc.info
Website: www.cbsc.info
