Paul White
Sailor of the Week: May 20-26
Paul White sailed in the inaugural Mid America Cup (MAC) circuit Y-Flyer regatta in the spring of 1975. Thirty-four years later, the 72-year-old has yet to miss a MAC Y-Flyer event. Side-by-side with his wife Kay, aboard their two-person Y-Flyer, Paul aims to finish his 200th consecutive MAC regatta this weekend at the Grand Maumelle Sailing Club’s Hawg Regatta in Little Rock, Ark. All indicators point to Paul continuing this milestone beyond 200. He has no plans on breaking that streak any time soon. Kay hasn’t missed many MAC Y-Flyer regattas either. In fact, Kay and Paul sailed the first 100 MAC regattas together, including 183 total.
Paul has served in a number of leadership positions in sailing throughout his career. He was a civilian engineer for the Navy before retiring 11 years ago. Paul has been on the board of directors for the Indianapolis Sailing Club (ISC) since 1972, including a stint as commodore in 1984. During his time at the ISC he spent time as the harbor master, safety director, membership chairman, social chairman, racing chairman, Y-Flyer Fleet Captain, and chairman of the motor and boats committee. For the Y-Flyer National Class, he has served as the secretary & treasurer since 1990. Paul has been a contributor to race management as a US SAILING certified race officer and will be the principal race officer for the 2009 Y-Flyer National Regatta in June.
He bought his first Y-Flyer on Thanksgiving in 1973, a very fitting time for Paul to get started with his Y-Flyer expeditions, as Paul and Kay have certainly given back to the sport they love. They have been recognized on many occasions for their contributions to sailing by the ISC, Y-Flyer Class, and US SAILING. On four occasions, Paul has received the ISC “Service Award” and Kay received the award twice. He received the “Presidents Award” from the Y-Flyer Class twice, including once together with Kay. In November of 2008, Paul was the recipient of the “Gardiner Trophy” at the US SAILING One-Design Symposium in Atlanta, which recognizes distinguished service and leadership in the promotion of one-design sailing and class organization.
“My sailing activities, on and off the water, have almost always been Kay and me together,” said Paul. “We talk, eat, sleep, and live Y-Flyers, and the Indianapolis Sailing Club.”