The last time Tom Atkinson, Vance Harrison, John Rhodes, Bill Whidden and John Yingling were in a boat together, Richard Nixon was president.
The last time they were together on land, it was George H.W. Bush.
This week, the 5 former Westporters — friends since junior high — will compete at the Atlantic Class National Championshps.
Right here at Cedar Point.
Cedar Point Yacht Club (Photo copyright Stephen R. Cloutier)
The quintet’s friendship predates even the club’s move to Saugatuck Shores’ Bluff Point. When they took their first sailing lessons, CPYC — established elsewhere, in 1887 — was still building its current facility, on landfill at Saugatuck Island.
It was a great time to grow up. The boys — 4 classmates at Long Lots Junior High School, plus Whidden at Bedford Junior High — regularly sailed across Long Island Sound in 12-foot Blue Jays.
“They let 6 or 10 boats loose, and hoped we’d make it,” Atkinson says.
They built bonfires, slept on the beach, and had experiences like the 4 boys in “Stand by Me” (if Stephen King’s story and movie had been set inland).
Cedar point Yacht Club clubhouse.
Like “Stand by Me” too, they soon scattered. Atkinson was the only one to attend Staples High. The others headed to Deerfield, Kent and Tabor.
“Our parents thought Staples was filled with drugs,” one explains. “Actually, all the drugs were in boarding schools.”
Their lives took separate paths. Rhodes graduated from the University of North Carolina; became national and international news editor at the New York Daily News; took a buyout and spent 12 yaears at the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel; took another buyout, and taught English and critical thinking in a Florida high school. He retired in 2020.
After 5 1/2 years in the Navy, Atkinson graduated from Columbia Business School. He spent his career with Pratt & Whitney. Living in Essex, he is the only one of the 5 still in Connecticut.
Harrison graduated from Cornell University. He worked for a Chicago progressive rock radio station for 10 years. He moved to Oklahoma 37 years ago, where he first ran a radio group, and now heads up a radio trade association.
Whidden graduated from Colby College. He worked on a 38-foot sailing boat; joined forces with Hoyle Schweitzer, co-inventor of the Windsurfer; then i 1981 opened a sailmaking company in Maui. He pivoted to financial services in the Pacific Northwest’s Columbia Gorge.
Yingling went to Tufts, then earned a master’s in engineering at Rochester.
Four of them still sail; Yingling and Anderson also compete. Harrison — who calls himself “the best sailor of all of us” — has not been on a boat in 50 years. “I peaked at 14,” he jokes.
They kept “a little bit in touch, mainly through Christmas cards. But until last Friday, the last time they’d been together in one place was in 1991, when Whidden got married in Newport, Rhode Island.
From left: John Yingling, Bill Whidden, Vance Harrison, John Rhodes, Tom Atkinson, at Bill’s 1991 wedding.
The idea to enter the Atlantic Nationals came from Harrison. He’d wanted to get back in a boat for years, but — in land-locked Oklahoma — did not know how.
The other 4 quickly said: “Count me in!”
Planning began in mid-February. They found a boat in Madison, Connecticut. They gathered there last Friday, set it up to be towed to Westport, and followed it here.
They spent the first several hours talking, and catching up. They were relieved to find everyone in good physical — and mental — shape.
On Monday, they began practicing. The Nationals start tomorrow (Thursday), and continue through Saturday.
In addition to a great reunion and experience, this will be a return to their sailing roots. As teenagers, all 5 crewed on adult Cedar Point races.
So is this just a “Big Chill”-type get-together? After all this time apart, what do the 5 old friends/new teammates hope to accomplish?
Harrison’s original goal was just not to lose.
As he got caught up in the planning, it became “finish mid-fleet.”
Now, he says, he wants to make the top 10.
The others are not so sure.
“If we win,” Rhodes says, “we’ll definitely annoy everyone who invested a lot more time than us.”
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The Whiddens moved to Minuteman Hill and Tom was my classmate (Staples ‘66). My grandfather, William Bradley Kellogg, was one of the founders and one of the early commodores when Cedar Point came into being down at Compo. My dad, Don Kellogg raced Stars with “T” Kantor, John’s dad.
Good luck Guys!
The sailing son of Thistle skipper Orvis Casper Yingling another fixture at CP Y C on the 60s. Good Success John and company
Great story..Bill, Vance and I were at Saugatuck School together. I lived on Keyser Rd. Bill was on Minuteman and Vance was on Imperial Ave. Looks like they will have some wind. Good luck guys!!
Good to see the band getting back together. We all taught sailing together at Longshore back in the cabana days when the program was run by the Recreation Commission. We had 2 beaten up wooden Atlantics (#17 and #80) in the teaching fleet. These guys may be rusty and modest, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see them in the top 10. Best of luck.
Yo John…so good to hear from you! We were trying to track you down to join us for a reunion BBQ at the club on Tuesday. Love to hear from.
Well, I can say with certainty that the four Long Lots grads won a championship together when LBJ was president—that is, though, in soccer. I still have some vivid memories of Long Lots’ upset over our Coleytown Colts squad, which featured two future college Senior Bowl players—Tim Hunter and Steve McCoy—on the front line. (And Tim played professionally.)
But, perhaps I should be thankful to their parents for having sent them off to boarding school. It might well have opened the door for me to play soccer at Staples.🙂
Good luck in the Nationals.
Finally, just curious: did any of you go on to play soccer in college? Thanks.
Dan. I hope you post the results. It would be fun to follow. Good luck to them !
Check in here for results:
https://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu/50267
Should be a great regatta! Sail fast!
Bill Whidden’s sister, Susie, was my classmate growing up and we were in Brownies and Girl Scouts together. Our birthdays were 1 day apart so I remember a few times in our youth having birthday parties together.
I remember those guys. They were a couple of years younger, but all five were spirited, enthusiastic, and had a sense of humor. Good bunch. Also remember some of their dads and siblings. CPYC junior sailing program was a great experience and the end of season overnight sail to Eaton’s Neck and the accompanying mischief was a great way to end the summer (too bad it had to end). Best of luck guys in the Atlantic championship.
Having gone to Staples at about the same time I’m pretty sure all the drugs weren’t in private schools.
Please do post a follow up! I used to love to see the Atlantic Class sail out of the old yacht club. They are magnificent! If mt memory serves me #99 was close to the entrance from the Sound.
That crew has some serious sailing skills and experience. Knew Bill and John from LSS. Bill’s brother, Rick, an accomplished sailor, was my elementary school classmate. Remembering the Whiddens’ home and mowing yards in the summer with Rick. After I moved away, loved watching brother, Tom, tactician on Stars and Stripes, from Down Under.
It appears that they earned a sixth in the Atlantic Nationals. Cheers to your experience and abilities.