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Mason's Island Yacht
Club
History
Cyrus Henry "Harry" Loutrel came to the island in 1921.
From the start, he took an active part in island life. On May 2,
1928, he called a meeting at the Essex Club in Newark for the
adoption of a Constitution and By-laws for the Club. The
incorporators were: Henry Allen, W. Ellery Allyn, H. Schuyler Horn,
C.H. Loutrel, Herbert M. Stoops and Charles A. Van Winkle. The first
officers and trustees
were:
Commodore
C.H. Loutrel
Vice-Commodore Thomas B.
Enders
Rear-Commodore Walter H.
Lathrop
Secretary
H. Schuyler
Horn
Treasurer
C.A. Van Winkle
Other Trustees were Henry Allen, W.E. Allyn
and Herbert M. Stoops
Active membership then included both
residents and non-residents. It was provided that an officer of the
Mason's Island Company should be one of the trustees. One vote
called for the issue of $15,000 in bonds at 5% interest, never fully
subscribed. Other votes were for building a clubhouse not to exceed
$7,000 with tennis courts not to exceed $1,000 and a dock not to
exceed $500. One of the old Fish Works piers formed part of the
dock. The Company donated two tracts of land, one for the club
building and the other for tennis courts. It took only another
$2,000 appropriation to finish the clubhouse.
The building
had a large high-ceilinged room with a great stone fireplace, seldom
used except for cigarette butts, a dining room facing the water, a
kitchen and locker rooms. On the second floor was a room for the
help, and two rooms to rent. One of the early occupants was the
newly married Warren Clarks, Mary and "Red." The employees' main
duties were keeping house and running the restaurant. It was
expected that family and friends would teach the children how to
sail, swim and play tennis.
As might have been expected, the
restaurant always ran a deficit, in spite of several lunches and
teas. Harry Loutrel usually made up the difference. There was a
dance every Saturday night. Beginning in 1934, Francis Fain and his
band provided the music. He still plays at the present club on
special occasions. As also might be expected, there was soon
agitation for the club to have a liquor license. It was finally
resolved to keep it a family club with no license.
A Mason's
Island One-design sloop was proposed. It turned out to be a
first-class twenty-seven foot open cockpit day sailer. Five were
built, for Ralph Halsey, Harry Loutrel, Alex Murray, Jr., Herb
Stoops and Charlie Van Winkle.
This class was joined by 18
Foot Cape Cod Knockabouts, numbering about a dozen. For the "speed
freaks," several members bought 16 Foot Sea Sleds built at West
Mystic, which were powered by 16 Horse Johnson outboard motors. All
classes raced on Saturdays, and some in the middle of the
week.
One of the annual events was "Racing Starts," to
provide competition among all of the sailboats. It has been
continued ever since. Another race was designed to teach young
children how to handle boats properly. It started with all of the
boats tied to the dock with sails furled. At the starting gun, the
crew jumped into the boats, raised the sails, cast off, and headed
for the first mark. At another gun signal, a member of the crew
leaped overboard, was rescued, and the boat proceeded on its way. At
the finish, the boats had to be properly tied to the dock, sails
furled, lines coiled and crews ashore, all to the satisfaction of
the committee, before the winner was announced.
The original
local family members and bondholders in 1927
were:
Henry
C.
Allen
Elizabeth I.
Gill
Edward
Ryan
Gurdon S.
Allyn Philip
Z.
Hankey
Y.E.
Soderberg
Louis
M.
Allyn
Rowland
Haynes
Charles K.
Stillman
Louis P.
Allyn
H. Schuyler
Horn
Herbert M.
Stoops
W. Ellery
Allyn
James W.
Lathrop Arthur
W. Van
Winkle
Kenneth
Bates
Walter H.
Lathrop Charles
Van
Winkle
Clifford
H. Belden Cyrus H.
Loutrel
Charles A. Van
Winkle
Murray P.
Bewley Charles P.
Maxson Stirling
Van Winkle
Edward
E. Bradley Herman E.
Myers
Theodore Van
Winkle
G. Fred
Brown Lloyd
R.
Moore
Charles E.
Wheeler
Harry C.
Cornwall Alexander Murray,
Jr. G.W. Blunt
White
John C.
Debrot William
R.
Palmer John
P. Wilbur
Thomas
B. Enders Franklin G.
Post
Warren H.
Young
Garrett
Price
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