Article and photos by Joe Richmond
On July 18, 2026, the Ken Young Memorial Vintage Regatta was held at Century Park in Vernon Hills, IL. We had 17 sailors and boats in attendance. The regatta was set up to be a fun and enjoyable sail.
Jeff Gros put the marks out early in the morning for our normal course. We had light variable winds and swirling wind. Which made it a little challenging for some of the schooners.
Mid morning we started doing some racing. It was a lot of fun to see so many of Ken’s schooners, Marbleheads, V-36s all sailing at the same start line at once.
After several races, the group took a break for lunch. Lunch was provided by Ken’s wife, Debbie. After lunch several of the boats took to the water for more sail time.
Ken was an avid schooner COLLECTOR, and sailor of the vintage boats. The day of the regatta was perfect. Ken was looking down on us, with a big grin on his face. He saw to it that we had tolerable temperatures, sunshine, shade, and a light breeze. Thank you Ken!
Jeff had arranged to have awards for all that participated. We were all winners. Everyone that had sailed got a hat pin, commemorating the regatta. Plus received an engraved old fashioned tumbler to remember Ken by.
A big thanks to Debbie Young and Jeff Gros for hosting this event. A great tribute to a great man!
