[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 86 (Friday, June 24, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1355]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    CONGRATULATING BOSTON YACHT CLUB

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN F. TIERNEY

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 24, 2005

  Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the Boston Yacht Club 
(BYC) of Marblehead, Massachusetts, which this year is celebrating the 
100th anniversary of the Marblehead-to-Halifax Ocean Race.
  The race began in 1905 as an informal competition among sailors from 
the Boston, Eastern and New York Yacht Clubs. In 1939, the Boston Yacht 
Club joined with the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron to formalize this 
biennial event.
  The race is run on alternate years from the Newport Bermuda Race, as 
one of the preeminent ocean races of the North Atlantic. The course 
runs 360 nautical miles from Marblehead through the Gulf of Maine, 
across the Bay of Fundy and up to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
  There are few sailing sights as thrilling as the Marblehead-to-
Halifax Ocean Race, which traditionally begins the second week in July. 
More than 100 spectator boats look on as over 100 racing yachts 
maneuver for starting position. The race committee is assisted by 
dozens of official boats and by both the United States and Canadian 
Coast Guard.
  The Boston Yacht Club was founded in 1866, and at one time operated 
from five different locations in Massachusetts and one in Maine. Today 
the club operates from a single station in Marblehead, with 400 yachts 
flying the BYC burgee.
  It is appropriate that the House recognize the Boston Yacht Club for 
continuing the tradition of the Marblehead-to-Halifax Ocean Race, which 
is part of the rich seafaring history of Marblehead.
  In closing, I would like to acknowledge that many Boston Yacht Club 
members are running the race in memory of their comrade Paul Simon of 
Marblehead, who had intended to race this year, but was tragically 
killed with his wife Sanda in an automobile accident last March.

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