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Sasco Beach Club
Rare postcard, Sasco Beach Club postmarked August 17, 1927. View from a private beach near Sasco Beach near the Southport Harbor inlet. McKenzie's Point in the distance.
Wednesday, August 5, 2026
FLASHBACK: August 9, 2010 PYC Laser/420 Regatta
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The fleet of 100+ boats heading out on Monday morning for the 2010 420, Laser/Laser Radial Championships.
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The Regatta 2-3 miles off shore Sasco Beach on Monday morning.
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Seventh Annual Hoyt O. Perry, Jr. Regatta August 2016
Written by E. Packer Wilbur
Sunday, August 7th turned out to be a fine summer day with very indecisive breezes. Our four-foot radio controlled sailboats don’t need much wind but it is useful when it comes with generally consistent pressure and direction. The wind gustedfrom zero to eight knots and often reversed itself completely in a matter of seconds. Upwind starts became downwind. Mark roundings were chaotic.
In the midst of this confusion, Wes Schluter was somehow able to react quickly and correctly and sailed Patriot to a decisive victory. Mary Lou McGuire took second and Hans Linderoth rounded out the medals with third place.
Ward Jennings, one of last year’s winners, was just out of the money this year.
Jan Perry came over with Dave and she presented the trophies to Wes, Mary Lou and Hans.
Rhys Goff brought a Whaler over from the Club and set the marks, based on the wind at the time, with assistance and direction from Wes. Andrew Wilbur seemed to be everywhere, helping skippers and generally ensuring that everything went smoothly. Tim Clark, master regatta organizer, helped with the many details.
Diana Schluter brought her signature brownies which disappeared quickly, vying in popularity with the chocolate dipped strawberries. She and Laura Wilbur formed a no nonsense race committee with orderly starts despite the changing conditions. This year, the recorded one-minutestarting sequence included an earsplitting cannon blast to signal the start.
Ellen and John Levinson hosted our event which was sailed from their gorgeous lawn fronting on the harbor. Their colorful signal flags were flying when we arrived and stretched from the boat house to the water’s edge.
Howard Burr at the helm of the SAFARI in 1956
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| (click on image to enlarge) Howard Burr seen here at the helm of his Chris Craft, the SAFARI off Southport, CT in August of 1956. Photographer unknown. Photograph property and courtesy of Howard Burr Collection/Joe Rainis. |
FLASHBACK: 2009 Pixel & Blue Jay Invitational Regatta - Southport
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Over 50 boats participated in the 2009 Pixel & Blue Jay Invitational Regatta,
south of the Southport Harbor Channel, August 3-4, 2009.
Augustus Jennings House in 1906
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158 Westway Road, Augustus Jennings House
Southport, Connecticut
Description: B/w post card. Printed on front: "Southport 1906. House of Dr George B Prentice." This house was built c1830 by Augustus Jennings at the northwest corner of Pequot Ave & West Main St/ Westway Rd (just west of the Pequot Library property). After Mrs Jennings' death, the building was sold. It was moved to the West Main St/Westway Rd location in 1899. The lamp in the foreground ws one of the Dietz lanterns put up by the Sasquanaug Association in the late 1890's. The house partially visible at the right is #144 Westway Rd. See Packet Oct 1993.
Creator: V. Louise Higgins
Publisher: Pequot Library Association
Date: 1906
Format: Photograph
2009 Long Island Sound Opti Champs at Pequot Yacht Club
2009 Opti Championship Regatta at Pequot Yacht Club August 14-15, 2009
video by Somers Cooper.
FLASHBACK: The 57th Annual Pequot Invitational Regatta - July 31-August 2, 2011 in Southport
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| (click on images to enlarge) Nearly 100 junior sailors compete in Pixels in the 57th Annual Pequot Invitational Regatta (July 31-August 2) off Southport Harbor on Monday. |
Sunday, July 26, 2026
Happy Birthday Howard Burr
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| (click on image to enlarge) Howard Burr would have been 126 years old today. One of Howard Burr's favorite motto's was this: "Don't regret growing old. It's a privilege denied to many." He also was quoted saying: "I hate hot weather..I was born on July 26, 1900. And I'll tell you what my mother told me: 'It was a hot, humid day and I was glad to get rid of you.'" -- Howard Burr |
Tuesday, July 14, 2026
FLASHBACK: Pequot Library Book Sale one hour long documentary from 1993
VIDEO NOTES BY the documenter finleymeboy:
In the summer of 1993 I had a video camera and time on my hands (there was a recession then, too, come to think) and I decided to chronicle the Pequot Library Booksale, a unique event in Southport, CT that draws thousands from all over the region and beyond (Martha Stewart dropped in to promote it one year). The "sale" happens in July, but is a remarkable process that goes on all year, accumulating mass as it goes. I was pretty close to it and the people involved, having worked as a volunteer for years (This is my homage to them). What comes across in this video, if you watch the entire hour, is the peculiar attraction, passion and hunger people have for books, and in this event, a unique ecology of books in which the culture gets circulated from one hand to another, a lot among people who would otherwise not have access to it, and then somehow the whole thing replenishes itself to come back another year. Think about this as people tell you nowadays that books are going away, like newspapers, and this might be of more poignant historical value than I thought. A lot of the good people in this film are gone, but the sale goes on (it goes on now as I speak) as it has for over 50 years, and hopefully will continue long after printed books are "dead."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5s4ZBZArNo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5s4ZBZArNo
Pequot Library Summer Book Sale July 24-28th
Pequot Library’s Summer Book Sale is one of New England’s biggest and best, attracting readers from all over with an incredible selection of over 100,000 items across 50+ categories. For five days, our Great Lawn, parking lot, auditorium, and historic Reading Room are transformed into a browser’s paradise.
Admission is free. Every purchase you make directly supports Pequot Library’s programs, exhibitions, and services, benefiting more than 56,000 adults and children each year. We raise approximately 20% of our annual operating budget from fundraisers such as our book sales. Come for the bargains, stay for the experience—it’s a summer tradition you won’t want to miss! Check back closer to the date for exact times www.pequotlibrary.org Click here to volunteer. All Book Sale volunteers (along with donors who give $250+ annually) are invited to our Preview Party at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 22. Be the very first to browse the treasures before the crowds. Enjoy light refreshments, mingle with fellow book lovers, and kick off the sale in literary style. |
Tuesday, July 7, 2026
Southport Harbor in 1954
A glimpse of Southport Harbor in 1954.
Courtesy of Codge Bullard Collection.
FLASHBACK: AERIAL VIDEO - Opti Rumble 2014 in the waters off Sasco Beach in Southport
Opti Rumble 2014 at Pequot Yacht Club
Southport CT July 12th, 2014
AERIAL VIDEO
AERIAL VIDEO
video by David Curtis
FLASHBACK: Optimists heading in on the eve of the 2011 Opti Rumble
 At Ye Yacht Yard Southport, CT |
| The Optimist is a small, single-handed sailing dinghy intended for use by children up to the age of 15. Nowadays boats are usually made of fiber reinforced plastic, although wooden boats are still built. It is one of the most popular sailing dinghies in the world, with over 130,000 boats officially registered with the class and many more built but never registered. The Optimist is recognized as an International Class by the International Sailing Federation. The Optimist was designed in 1947 by American Clark Mills. The Soap-box Derby program is sponsored by Optimist International service club to encourage father/son construction of gravity powered cars for down-hill competition. Clearwater has no hills so Mills designed a simple pram that could be built from a single sheet of plywood, and donated the plan to the Optimists. The design was slightly modified and introduced to Europe by the Dane, Axel Damsgaard, and spread outwards across Europe from Scandinavia. The design was standardized in 1960 and became a strict one-design in 1995. The International Optimist is sailed in over 100 countries by over 160,000 skippers and it is only one of two yachts approved by the International Sailing Federation exclusively for sailors under 16. At the Beijing Olympics, 85% of medal winning skippers were former Optimist dinghy sailors. The Optimist was designed in 1947 by American Clark Mills. |
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