And today the GYA marks its 100th anniversary with the 2021 season kickoff of its regatta series being hosted by the St. Andrews Yacht Club on Bunkers Cove Road.
It marks the first time in two years for the regatta here, with 2019 being wiped out locally by Hurricane Michael damage and the GYA s entire 2020 season succumbing to the pandemic. It s significant because everything was canceled last year, people were afraid to travel across state lines, worried they couldn t get back home and the virus, and before that we had the hurricane and so much was damaged and destroyed (at the yacht club), said Jimmy Ruthven of Panama City, who is also commodore of the GYA this year. Everybody is trying to get back to our state of normalcy in life and this is a big move in that direction.