This regatta was born when a group of friends met to decide how to pay back “Don Eddie,” as they dearly called him, for all the sailing lessons he gave them throughout his lifetime and for all his contributions to Ponce’s sailing community. At the meeting someone suggested an annual regatta in his memory and they all agreed.
A little bit of history…in the 1950s a wooden sailboat called Noranda appeared in the Ponce Yacht & Fishing Club and started winning most regattas against the local sailboats. Most of the Ponce area sailors learned what they know today from Don Eddie, who was an excellent teacher while sailing aboard Noranda. Don Eddie gave strong emphasis to the safety rules above all and even taught sailing and navigation to the local Sea Scouts troop.
He owned other sailboats after Noranda such as Somar I & II to name a few and also raced on “Chalanas” with some of his friends including Mr. Bob Fisher.
Don Eddie also raised a family of well known sailors such as Eddito, Dr. Gerrie, Ronnie, Robbie, Ramos Martin and his grandson, Robbie Ramos. It would take many pages to cover Don Eddie’s entire sailing history and the sailing heritage he left behind. Hopefully someone will decide to write them for the rest of us to enjoy, learn and remember the good old days.
Naming a regatta after Don Eddie was the least the Ponce sailors could do to honor such a great man, awesome sailor and dedicated teacher.
The Don Eddie Ramos Casellas Annual Cup started in 2000, and has been raced since, as the closing regatta for the Ponce Yacht & Fishing Club sailing season.
On November 10 the Ponce Yacht & Fishing Club hosted the 7th annual Don Eddie Ramos Casellas Annual Cup. This year 20 local sailboats participated and were divided into four classes. The non-spinnaker classes raced long distance courses and the spinnaker classed raced windward leeward courses.
(I would like to give special thanks to my friend and fellow sailor, Mr. Ramón “Chin” Cordero Santiago, for sharing great information and stories about Don Eddie.)
For complete results and/or additional information please visit http://www.sailboatspecs.com or contact the Ponce Yacht & Fishing Club at 787-842-9003 or via email at [email protected].
Capt. Tony Miró is a life-long sailor, photographer and web developer who lives in Puerto Rico with his family. He enjoys sailing aboard his Hunter 376 ¡Nada Mas! www.sailboatspecs.com
Results by Class
KISS
1 GRAMMA MIA
2 CORTO CIRCUITO
3 MIGDY
Jib & Main
1 ADELANTE
2 JULEPE
3 EL TANGO
J/24
1 ANCHOR HEART
2 COLIBRI
3 SAUDADES
IC-24
1 ORION
2 WILDCALL
3 CATIMBA
