RE Log Spring 2018

and all of the sudden he’d come up with this brilliant thing.” With Anderson’s support behind it, the Pagoda survived. The board refused to demolish it. Three years later, in 1973, the Pagoda was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A passion for sailing Anderson quietly supported RE’s sailing program through the decades as he gained fame in the world of competitive amateur sailing. He served as executive director of the North American Yacht Racing Union (now US Sailing); race committee chair for the America’s Cup; chair of the American Sail Training Association; a vice president of the International Sailing Federation (now World Sailing); and commodore at various yacht clubs. He spent 50 years on the advisory board for the Naval Academy and has been a heavy supporter of Yale’s sailing program. “He evolved into being the grandfa- ther of amateur sailing organization,” said Thomas Otto III ’54 . “A lot of his ventures were just because he wanted to. He put a lot of his time and organizational capability, as well as his financial support, behind amateur sailing to carry it forward as a sport, to support it and its history.” As amateur sailing grew internationally, RE’s sailing program saw a dip in interest as parents pushed for more traditional, bigger sports: football, soccer, tennis, etc. “By the time the ’70s rolled around, sailing was really de-emphasized,” Buermann said. “Sailing was really a distant stepchild to the sports that parents were inter- ested in…. But Harry grew up as a winter student on the bay, so he always had that attachment and viewed the bay as a tremendous resource for the school.” Anderson supported the program with his presence, votes, financial resources “Sailing was really a distant stepchild to the sports that parents were interested in…. But Harry grew up as a winter student on the bay, so he always had that attachment and viewed the bay as a tremendous resource for the school.” – Eric Buermann ’69 12 Ransom Everglades LOG SPRING 2018