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
dry sail 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. By Bernie Kuse, C-Scow KC-227.
