Randy Walker was born into racing. His family had competed in the Tahoe Yacht Club regattas since their inception and his father, Bob Walker, was commodore of the TYC in 1939 and 1940.

The younger walk will give a free talk Aug. 17 at 4:30pm a the Tahoe Maritime Museum in Homewood.

At 14 years old Walker started promoting the TYC boat races around the lake. A few years after this early start, he became a long time announcer for the regattas. For five years, Walker headed up the Club’s Trophy Committee and also served as commodore.

He was instrumental in making the TYC more family oriented and he started the Tahoe Yacht Club Junior Outboard races in 1954. These were races in which children as young as 7 and up to 21 years of age could compete in different classes of boats. Walker provided everything for these races, from the awards to the buoys and everything else necessary for the course. The junior races lasted until 1984.