A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CHAPMAN REGATTA AND TROPHY The Chapman Regatta was started in 1950 as an annual race of the Mississippi Coast Yachting Association. Henry B. Chapman of Bay-Waveland Yacht Club and Wallace Chapman of Biloxi Yacht Club donated a perpetual trophy in memory of their father, Will J. Chapman and brothers Will W. and Alfred W. who were sailing enthusiasts on the Mississippi Coast for many years. The Chapman Regatta is believed to be the oldest consecutively sailed interclub Team Racing contest in the United States and the second oldest consecutively sailed team race of any kind in the United States. This regatta involves a significant number of sailing enthusiasts from one end of the Mississippi Coast to the other, and it annually attracts many of the best sailors on the Coast. The Chapman Regatta team race was started by Wallace Chapman of Biloxi YC and Henry Chapman of Bay-Waveland YC, as a 4-boat race between the then 4 clubs of the Mississippi Coast Yachting Association, Bay-Waveland, Pass Christian, Gulfport and Biloxi, and was conducted that way for 10 years. One race was sailed at the Bay, a couple of weeks later one at the Pass, then a short time later one at Gulfport and the final one at Biloxi. Then in 1960, Leo Seal transformed the event into a “Bonanza Regatta”, as he put it, getting all 4 clubs to bring all six of their Fish Boats to the host club, which would rotate from west to east as it does today. This was a roaring success from the start, and the event was conducted this way until 1969 when the Fish Boat was replaced by the Flying Scot as the GYA interclub boat. The Trophy is a sterling silver punchbowl, 9” diameter and 4 ¾” high on 3 square mahogany tiers.

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