Leroy Grant

Biography:

From 1904-1908 Leroy attended Royal Military College, returning to the city in 1920, where he lived for the next 50 years.

Taught to sail by his grandmother Susan in Newport RI, Leroy did much to foster sailing at both the Kingston Yacht Club and RMC, where he was associate professor of engineering. He helped introduce sailing as an intercollegiate sport, and the Grant Trophy was awarded annually to the intercollegiate champion.

“Leary” was president of the Lake Yacht Racing Association in 1934-1935. Sailing the Portsmouth-built sloop Tramp Royal, he won the Freeman Cup (1945 and 1946), the Baldwin Cup (1945), The Sodus Bay Cup (1949), and the Lake Ontario Trophy (1954). He had to give up sailing at the age of 84 after falling and breaking a hip on dry land.

Commodore of Kingston Yacht Club in 1931 and honoured as a life member in 1971, Lt. Col. Grant, in conjunction with George Cuthbertson, developed a rating system, the Lake Ontario Rule, that allows sailing vessels of different classes and sizes to compete on a common basis. He wrote the History of the Lake Yacht Racing Association, 1884-1962.

A veteran of both World Wars, Leroy later served as a city councilor. In recognition of his life as a soldier, engineer, professor, historic conservationalist, and sailor Leroy Grant Drive was named for him.