Here is a brief history of the schooner Royal Savage and a list of the past commodores of the Royal Savage Yacht Club

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The Schooner Royal Savage

The name of the club "Royal Savage" is steeped in the history of Lake Champlain.  The Royal Savage, captained by Benedict Arnold, was the first American flagship.

The Royal Savage was a two masted schooner.  She displaced 70 tons and had a beam of 15 feet.  She carried a complement of 45 men, 8 four pound guns and 4 six pound guns.    She was first damaged and sunk by American forces under Richard Montgomery during the siege of St. Johns (St. Jean Iberville), Quebec in the fall of 1775.  Raised and repaired after the capture of that fort on November 2nd, she, with the small schooner Liberty and the sloop Enterprise (ex-HMS George III), formed the nucleus of the American Lake Champlain squadron.  That squadron, under Benedict Arnold, denied the British the use of the lake during the fall of 1776 and thus contributed to Burgoyne's defeat at Saratoga.

In June of 1776, the American force, pushed from Canada, fell back to Crown Point, Skenesborough,  and Fort Ticonderoga.  There, Arnold pressed his force to complete a shipbuilding program before the British completed their squadron.  In late August, ten of his ships were finished and he moved north with Royal Savage as his flagship.  Into September, he scouted the lake shore.  On the 23rd he moved his fleet into an anchorage at Valcour Island, separated from the western shore by a half-mile channel, to await the remainder of his squadron, and the British.  With the arrival of the galley Congress, Arnold shifted his headquarters to that boat and continued to wait.

On October 11th, the north wind carried the British past the island.  American ships, including Royal Savage, appeared; fired on the enemy, and beat back into the southern entrance to the channel where the remainder of Arnold's force was positioned to meet the enemy, beat him, if possible, but at all cost to delay him.

Coming in from the south, the British force was handicapped by the wind.  Arnold's planning and the British acceptance of the bait had given the Americans a chance to carry out their mission.

Royal Savage, however, ran aground on returning to the American line and, undefendable, was abandoned.  Despite attempts to reboard her, she was taken by the British and burned.

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RSYC Commodores:

  1    1981    Roy Thorpe        
  2    1982    Paul Delisle
  3    1983    Cliff Thacher
  4    1984    George Curtis
  5    1985    AlanTaylor
  6    1986    Bob Daniels
  7    1987    Bernie Giese
  8    1988    Steven Pareks
  9    1989    Ray Hastings
10    1990    Jack Condon
11    1991    Gene Raymond
12    1992    Peggie Lavigne
13    1993    John West
14    1994    Neal Fox
15    1995    Tom Benz
16    1996    Tom Riley
17    1997    Jack Bacon
18    1998    Paul Lundburg
19    1999    Doug Purdy
20    2000    Mike Morrissette
21    2001    Craig Lewis
22    2002    Harold Field
23    2003    Alan Gotlieb
24    2004    Linda Raymond
25    2005    John McGuire
26    2006    Mindy Donnelly
27    2007    Peter Brownell
28    2008    Mary Harvey-Bandish

Commodore's Cup Award Winners

1981 "Cliff Thacher"
1982  Roy Thorpe
1983  Carolyn Curtis & Jen Taylor
1984  Paul Belise
1985  Pricilla Thacher
1986  Alan & Nancy Martin
1987  Jim Dignon & George Curtis
1988  Peggy Lavigne
1989  Bernie Giese
1990  Del Thompson
1991  Stevan Parks
1992  Bob Leavitt
1993  Gene & Linda Raymond
1994 Tom Benz
1995  Bob Leavitt
1996  Henry Geerkin
1997  Scott Fitzsimons
1998  John & Minda Donnelly
1999  Darla Morissette
2000  Gene & Linda Raymond
2001  Alan Gotlieb & Diane Bertoni
2002  Alan & Nancy Martin
2003  Linda & Peter Brownell
2004  John & Mindy Donnelly
2005  Craig & Donna Lewis
2006  Pauline Grey
2007  Jeff Tobrocke