Greeting from the Prez – September 2010

In the words of the late great Red Sox play-by-play man Ned Martin – “Mercy!” I write to you from my home office on Saturday morning, where I’d typically be checking the forecast before racing. But this weekend, thankfully, we have a break. And it came none-too-soon as it affords me a few minutes to catch my breath, reintroduce myself to my kids and reflect on Nationals. I really don’t know where to start. Never have so many done so much and done it so well. Mike Lane and Steve Uhl assembled and led an astonishingly energetic, dedicated and talented team. This group worked together in what struck me as a well-choreographed ballet. The words friendly, helpful and welcoming all come to mind. I hesitate to name names for fear I’ll leave someone out, but here goes. Maura Power was everywhere doing everything. JP Zonnenberg and Nick Cann ran registrations. John Casler was roving ambassador and sold shirts. Pete Kaznoski ran the parking lot during measurement and haul-out, and secured the largest cask sponsorship we took in. Jerry Blouin measured (and measured and measured). I won’t even try to mention the names of the multitudes who helped with that – there are just too many. Nancy Blouin handled housing and raffle sales. Doug Trees, Shan McAdoo and Kenny Harvey measured about 5000 sails (or so it must have seemed). Charlie Pendleton, with a lot of help, brought in the sponsorship items and auction items which helped us to pay for everything. Jim & Vonda Raisides opened their home to us in what was simply the nicest regatta party I’ve ever attended. Renee Heffernan managed the trophies, and on and on.

And how about that CYC! Commodore Martin Ray and the Executive Committee made sure we were well treated. GM Dave Titus and Dock master Jack Carney both came through in a major way. We also shouldn’t forget the EYC, who opened their waterfront to us for a measuring day in July. Oh, and let’s also not forget the astonishing job done by Joe Whipple, Tommy Tompkins and the RC in ridiculously difficult conditions. I don’t remember one leg of the six races where they didn’t have to move a mark – not one! As we crossed the finish on one race, Tommy quipped to me that he’d picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue. Amen. So many people, so many moving parts, such a well managed event. Give yourselves a hand.

Congratulations to Bill & Renee Heffernan and Julie Savage. This was no walk in the park. With 45 boats and truly whacky conditions, they sailed through it and managed to be the last standing. It shouldn’t go unnoticed that in six races, six different boats earned bullets – no one dominated. And in an event that included ranked sailors, college All Americans and even the captain of the Harvard sailing team, one of our own brought home the prize. In fact, Fleet five collected the top six spots and nine of the top 10. That’s outstanding.

So we now find ourselves in the 7th inning of our short season. Coming up next is the two day Labor Day Regatta, which constitutes MRA Series 4, the final MRA series of the season. After that will be three consecutive Saturdays of the Fall Series, and then we’re done. Where has the time gone? Thanks in advance to Sloan & Charlie Pendleton, who will be opening their home to us for our traditional Labor Day Party after racing on Saturday September 4th. One more thought for today. I got a call from someone asking if he needed to keep the lead in his boat, now that Nationals is over. Are you kidding me? The answer, of course, is yes. We’re all obligated to sail legal boats all the time. And since everyone worked so hard to get their boats compliant, let’s all try to keep them there. If you have questions on that, just email Jerry.