William TAIT

TAIT, William Woolman "Bill" Captain of the classic yawl, Sinisterre, Bill was well known in sailboat racing circles. He died November 23, 2020 at age 76. He grew up in Rancocas, NJ, a friendly Quaker village. He was an Eagle Scout. Bill caught sailing fever at an early age. During college, he landed a summer job sailing a 42-foot ocean racing sloop to Europe. After graduating from George School in Pennsylvania, Bill came to Tampa and earned a degree in chemistry from University of South Florida. He joined the Davis Island Yacht Club and continued racing sailboats. In 1983, he purchased and personally restored Sinisterre, a 40-foot mahogany yawl designed by Sparkman & Stephens. He sailed 13 times in the Regatta del Sol al Sol from St. Petersburg to Isla Mujeres, Mexico, placing first and second on some races. In 1998, Sinisterre won the St. Petersburg to Havana, Cuba race, non-spinnaker division. In 2003, Bill went to Portsmouth, England to be awarded the World Challenge Cup for the Sparkman & Stephens vessel winning a major ocean race by the greatest margin over the second-place boat. Professionally, Bill worked in water resource planning, became a general contractor and a marine surveyor. He met his wife, Carol Meyers, during a sailboat race in 1993, and they became inseparable. Like many seafarers, Bill was a colorful raconteur, a splendid cook, and a cordial host. He is dearly loved by his family and friends. These lines from the poem "Sea Fever" by John Masefield will always remind us of him: "I must go down to the sea again, for the call of the running tide, is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied. And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover, and a quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over." He is survived by his wife, Carol; his son, Bill Shanks; daughter, Lorri Ballejos; grandchildren, Kylie, James and Jaz; his sister, Betsey Puth and her husband, John; nephew, David Puth and his wife, Leslie, and their children, Aydan, Colin and Kira; his nephew, Jonathan Puth and his wife, Mira, and their children, Asher and Annika; cousins, Nancy Ward and Mary Beth Tait. Due to the pandemic, a memorial service will be announced at a later date.