Breed of Champions

On the 20s waning years a group of german imigrants who have constructed weekend houses at the shores of Guarapiranga reservoir in São Paulo decided to build sailing boats. Watching the sailing boats at the oposite shore they unceremoniously "invaded" a SAILING CLUB (british imigrants club founded in 1917) regatta with their boats. The disturbed and flabbergasted british sailors required the german to establish a club or association in order to allow them to compete.

The challenge was thrown and on July 8th, 1930 the friends
Herrmann Paulsen
Willy Schulze
Ludwig Schwedes
Ernesto Steen
Karl Dickoré
Hans Klarenbach
Georg Münch

gathered in a restaurant, founded the
 
"Deutscher Segel-Club SãoPaulo"

or German Sailing Club, which the main building was constructed in an area leased from the citys eletric power supplier LIGHT & POWER COMPANY, south-neighboring the SAILING CLUB.

A few months after its official foundation the DSC obtained a 10 contos de réis ($) loan from the BRAHMA brewery in order to build a small chalet and a bar for the associates. The financial support was negotiated by Robert Kutschat, BRAHMA´s director in São Paulo. The contract established that BRAHMA should have the selling exclusivity of all beverages . Taking into account the amount of beer, draft-beer and soft-drinks consumed by the associates in the first years (this information is documented), one can observe that BRAHMA has made a very profitable investment in helping the new club.

The first winn between the sailing-clubs happened in 1933 during the first "Guarapiranga Racing Cup". It was only the begining in a long series of winnings of that traditional race. Between 1933 and 1935 the DSC has won 8 out of 9 disputed regattas, taking home the transitory cup created by Bert Greenwood (SAILING CLUB comodore and one of the most sailing enthusiasts at that time).

During the late thirties Brazil was ruled by a dictator named Getulio Vargas. In that time an intolerant nationalist movement was growing here and in Europe. That movement treated the foreign imigrants as some kind of menace. In that scenario it would be only a matter of time for the imigrants clubs and associations to be discriminated. In April 18, 1938, the Law number 383 separated the brazilian associations from the foreign ones. In August of the same year , after a gathering of its founder-associates, a decision was made to change the name to

Yacht Club Santo Amaro
or YCSA ,as it is often known.

Translated by Antonio Carlos Arantes De Biasi from the original "Soparando as Velas" © by Ernst Reibel.

The main purpose for the existence of the YACHT CLUB SANTO AMARO is to promote, drive and spur the practice of sport sailing. With such a goal in mind, the YCSA organized and founded a Sailing School for children and young future athletes. The Club has also a small Flotilla which comprises the younger sailors, with ages varying from 5 to 13. Its named "FLOTILHA DA GAROA" . ("Drizzle flotilla") and all saylors trained at the
"YCSA Sailing School". During all these years the name of the Club has been always associated with a considerable saga of champions. The CHAMPIONS page sumarizes all the winnings of the YCSA´s associates.