HISTORY OF BILOXI REGATTA

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Biloxi was called “The Seafood Capital of the World.” One reason for this title was the fleet of fishing schooners that annually harvested shrimp and oysters for the local factories to process. But, often lost in the conversation of Biloxi’s historical legacy, is another aspect of the story about the Biloxi fishing schooners and the men who sailed them. These boats and their crews participated in exciting summer races from the 1880s through the late 1930s. These races preceded the harvesting season and gave the sailors and fishermen a chance to unwind and have some fun before their season of hard work began.

Sailing regattas in Biloxi date back to the late 1800s. News articles of small boats racing locally for cash prizes are found sprinkled in newspapers back to at least the 1870s. The local yacht clubs created rules and regulations for racing. The regattas became annual events with plenty of publicity and interest. Small racing sloops, catboats and even sailing skiffs raced in various classes for financial prizes, and perhaps as important, prestige. Men with money and a desire to win contracted with local shipyards to create the next sensation; a racing sloop or catboat that would best all comers in the next regatta. Summers along the Mississippi Gulf Coast became known for the regattas, the fast racing boats and the competition for money and prestige. Everyone wanted to hoist the silver loving cup.

However, in the closing days of the 19th century, working schooners were added to the regatta, creating a different cultural flavor that was as much about the people involved as the boats they sailed. Instead of just wealthy, white clad competitors, the working schooners were sailed by hard-nosed sailors and fishermen who all boasted that their schooner was the best, fastest boat on the coast. These men had pride, knew more about hard work and had dirt under their fingernails. They were rowdy, their language rough, they smelled of oysters and shrimp, tar and grease and cypress and pine. They built and repaired the boats they sailed and knew the value of the sweat upon their brows. They risked their lives daily to provide for their families who often worked in the seafood canneries and prayed to God for His protection from storms and accidents. They eked out a poor living and lived literally hand to mouth. They had little formal education and many could not even write their names. They were among the laborers who made Biloxi’s seafood industry famous.

As early as 1890, the local paper reported a class for working schooners in the Biloxi regatta and in the years following, the schooners made more of an impact each year. By the early 1900s, working schooners were even divided into individual classes based on vessel length One of the most notable working schooners to participate in the early Biloxi regattas was the American Girl, built by Martin Fountain Sr in 1900. In 1901, she won nearly every race in which she participated. There were offers to buy her from owner Jean Trochessett. Wealthy businessmen offered large sums to any boat builder who could build a schooner to beat her in the next regatta. American Girl competed successfully in regattas for well over a decade, until the smaller schooners were out classed by larger, faster boats.

By the 1920s, larger schooners built by Anson Holley and Jackie Jack Covacevich were perennial favorites to win the races. Holley built schooners such as Mary Foster in 1922 and Julia Delacruz in 1924. Covacevich built four identical schooners in 1917 named Anna Eve, I Heidenheim, L. Goldman, and H. E. Gumbel. In contrast to Holley’s traditional clipper bowed schooners, these four Covacevich schooners were designed with a spoon shaped bow. The H. E. Gumbel was a regular winner through the 1920s, while Julia Delacruz ran away with the honors in 1924.

Each year, there was speculation about which boat would win that year’s races, and on race day, Biloxi Yacht Club officials met with the captains and crews. The sailors listened to the rules, knowing they would do little more than pay them lip service during the race. Captains would call upon their own vast storehouses of sailing knowledge to win the race, caring only to make sure they rounded the markers as close as possible and making sure they were always first to round the mark. The schooners had been put in first class condition for the race with fresh paint and new sails. Crews were not supposed to apply grease or something similar to the hull’s bottom and, while no one would ever admit doing it, it was probably done. The crew were told to lay down flat on the deck during the race to cut down on possible wind resistance. Captains watched every detail carefully to assure the best outcome, eager to seize upon any advantage to help their boat win.

Quite often, the captain and crew were as important as the boat in the regattas. Men like Martin Fountain Jr., Bijou Tiblier and Amos Ross were always in high demand come regatta season. A seasoned captain knew the waters he sailed and the weather that he would encounter. His senses guided his decision making during the race. The sound of the wind in the rigging, the heave of the hull in a swell and the feel of the wind on his face would all yield vital information to be considered in deciding how to steer the boat. He also studied his competitors as they sailed nearby. How the other schooners sailed was as important as his own boat’s progress. The race was often a battle of wits between the various captains. Who could take advantage of the elements first and best often decided the race.

As with all good things, the days of the sailing schooner eventually came to an end. The last schooner race was held in 1938. Four schooners raced that year and all of them had been lately altered to carry engines as well as their sails. They had no topmasts and used only their three lower sails. Henry Brasher’s Perfection and Wonder were there, along with Covacevich’s H. E. Gumbel and Martin Fountain Sr.’s Maybelle. The sails were patched, the wood work a bit scarred, and the paint work barely presentable. However, the old ladies still had beautiful lines and made a pretty picture. Technological and economic progress were pushing these boats to extinction, but they still worked their way around the course in fine fashion one last time. fishing schooners.

By the early 1940s, state laws were changed, permitting boats to harvest oysters under motor power, spelling the end of the Biloxi Photos courtesy of Biloxi Public Library, Walter Fountain and Joe Scholtes Collections and Russell Barnes, respectively.

The schooners raced for about 50 years and it would be another half century before two modern replica schooners would race again. With the changing law, the old boats lost their masts and sails, engines and large pilot houses were installed and a wonderful period of Biloxi’s history passed. In the years to come, stories were told by the men who sailed these schooners and historians have written accounts based on newspaper stories as well. Even so, the age of hard working, hard playing men and their beautiful “White Winged Queens” is difficult to recover. But, perhaps if we slow down and take a quiet moment to close our eyes and allow our senses to work, we might still be able to hear the sounds of wind in the sails and waves lapping against the hull, and smell the brackish water along with the cypress and oysters.