History of the Jacomo Sailing Club
by Bernie Kuse, C-Scow KC-227
The Jacomo Sailing Club was founded in 1958, a year before Lake Jacomo was completed and
filled. Late in '58, the dam was completed, the gravel roads were almost done, and the anchors
were down in sailboat cove. The drysail lot was planned, as well as the fishing docks at the
south end, but the lake was dry. The scheduled opening was spring of '60.
The founders, a group of 12 men met in Kelly's Bar in Westport, and
planned the formation of the Jacomo Sailing Club. At that time there was no public sailing in
the Kansas City area. (Most of the large public lakes that now surround this area were not even
built yet.--ed.) That winter 120 club members were signed up, the club elected officers, bought
equipment, and waited. The winter and early spring were very wet in Kansas City, and the lake
filled in by April. Although the park would not be fully done until '60, the J.S.C. started its first
season. The names of the founding fathers are found in the list of club officers for the first 10
years, and as the names of the major club awards.
How good of a job did they do? Pretty good: we still have the same marks that they made, the
same bylaws, and a reputation for running good races. The 1970 years were the high water
mark of the club. In 1977, the year that I was Commodore, we had 350 members, and averaged
over 175 racing boats each Sunday. My fleet of Demons had 24 boats and averaged 21 boats in
our best 10 races.
Past J.S.C. members have spread sailboat racing all through the midwest, and were the founding
fathers of the non private lake clubs in the Kansas City area. You can be proud to be a member
of the Jacomo Sailing Club.
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