Cyril Kollock Reflects on His Grandfathers’s 110 Sailing Days

After sharing our Good Jibes podcast “Milly Biller on Lifelong 110 Sailing” last month, we were contacted by Cyril Kollock who, after enjoying the podcast, happened upon a photo of his grandfather aboard a 110. Cyril wrote, “Great podcast with Millie, this pic just popped up at my mom’s house. My grandfather sailing a 110 in ‘53. Thanks to your podcast I made the 110 connection.” And although his grandfather owned the 110 before Cyril came along, the youngster did get to sail with his grandfather aboard his next boat, the Shields. Cyril sent us a few beautiful old photos of his family sailing in the 1930s, ’50s, and ’80s.

“They [Ocean City Yacht Club] had a fleet of around 15. The only fleet south of NY. NY had several fleets, as did Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. [There were a] few in the Great Lakes and a lot on the West Coast. S.F. and San Diego with the largest fleets. By the late ’60s my grandfather, Dave Kollock, had moved to bigger boat (Shields).”

Cyril’s grandfather Dave was from Philadelphia. Cyril remembers sailing with him a few times aboard his Shields in the Ocean City, New Jersey, area, when he was very young.

Cyril reconnected with sailing around two years ago, right as things were starting to move a little after the COVID shutdowns. “I went out a few times with a friend, I was hooked and wanted more. I found Modern Sailing and after my 101, I loved learning and continued to my current certification of Bareboat 104.”

“Sailing has really transformed my life, it’s a great way to spend time with friends and family. Chartering from Modern Sailing has allowed me to share the experience and the feeling of getting back to the dock after a day out, [it] is fantastic. That and the Bay Area racing community have both been keeping me busy. You really see the Bay from a different perspective and time has a way of pausing when you are out.”