Trinity River Yacht Club
Est 1996 / Dallas, TX
AMYA Club # 10
AMYA Club #10 est. 1996
TRYC Victorias sailing on White Rock Lake in 1996, Dallas skyline in background
Heading for the start in 2008
Rounding windward at White Rock Cup 2008
The Trinity River Yacht Club (TRYC) was formed in 1996 with the Victoria as the initial class.
In 1996, tens of thousands of Thunder Tiger Victorias had been sold worldwide and even today is still one of the most widely distributed RC sailing kits in the world.
Since the class didn't exist within the American Model Yachting Association , TRYC Club founders, Chris Cafiero, Chuck LeMahieu and Sean Duke set out to find other owners of the boat to form the Class Owners Association (COA) for Victorias.
As one of the first classes to be "internet friendly",the Victoria COA became an official class in AMYA in 1997 with additional registered boats from Chesapeake Model Yacht Club in Maryland, O'Aces Model Yacht Club in Nevada, and Seattle Model Yacht Club in Washington making up the initial number of boats required for admission as an official AMYA class.
Chris Cafiero was the inaugural Victoria Class Secretary and served in that role for several years, working with key people like Don Ginther, Rod Carr, Hal Slentz-Whalen, Tom Causin, A.J. Moritz and Chuck LeMahieu. Their goal was to craft a set of class rules that could help make the Victoria a realistic racing class, and yet allow skippers to innovate and adjust thier small kit boats to make them competitive racers while maintaining a "one design" status.
TRYC member Chris Cafiero is Victoria #01, and Chuck LeMahieu is #03. (#02 was given cermonially to Rod Carr who is also AMYA member #02).
What followed was literally an explosion by AMYA standards of new yachts being registered into the class. The Victoria Class is now one of the largest within the AMYA and continues to grow and enjoy success in its role of entry-level boat. It is a fun, inexpensive class that allows skippers to get on the water racing within a budget.
The White Rock Cup, held annually at White Rock Lake in Dallas, TX at the TRYC home at Corinthian Sailing Club, is considered one of the premiere Victoria regattas in the U.S., attracting top Victoria skippers nationwide.
White Rock Cup Winners
