Greeting from the Prez – October 2010

Well there you have it. Yet another spectacular season is in the books. It seems like just yesterday we were gearing up for the spring clinic, and now here it is, time to think about boat covers, Halloween and football. And what a season it was. We sailed more than 50 races (including Nationals), which assuming about a 0.8 mile four leg course, is more than 160 miles, a lot of it in light air. We also gathered for nine social events (not including the usual post-race porch), and I hesitate to do the math on number of drinks consumed. Let’s see, call it an average of 40 people times two drinks, times nine events – you get the idea. Check with Jim Raisides if you’re interested in the stats. And on the subject of parties, huge thanks to Sloan & Charlie Pendleton for opening their home to us for our Labor Day gettogether. Regrettably, the non-hurricane disrupted that weekend of sailing, which in turn impacted the party turnout. But those 20-25 of us who showed up had a great time. Unfortunately, the evening wasn’t without incident. While cleaning up after the party, Charlie hurt his back lifting the keg. (We’ve since had a heart-to-heart with him about using a glass next time.) Next up is the MRA Awards Banquet on Friday October 22nd at the BYC. And not long after that will be our own Fleet 5 Awards Party on November 6th, which again will be graciously hosted by Bruce Bolen at his home on Risley Road. This is always a great event, and this year we’re planning to spice it up with a few “special? awards. Keep your eye out for the email invite, and please bring your spouses, crews and their spouses.

The season might be over, but your fleet leadership is already scheming away to figure out how to make the 2011 season top 2010 – a tall order indeed. But before we slip into that, allow me to express my appreciation to the folks who have made all this happen. VP Charlie Pendleton has done anything and everything asked of him, including writing a monthly tactics column that has been so widely applauded that Tom Despres keeps swiping them for the Mainsheet. Scorer Rick Smyers put in way more hours than past scorers so we could bring you our weekly Road To The Cup email blast. Webmaster Rick Berliner vey quietly and unceremoniously undertook a complete overhaul of the Fleet web site, and works diligently to keep it current. Treasurer Doug Trees ran the annual registration and does the ongoing work of making sure we have enough money to pay for that fleet bar. And speaking of the bar, Jim Raisides keeps it stocked and trucks it from venue to venue every month, a Herculean task which involves no small amount of time and effort. Secretary Steve Uhl manages our fleet database which is the life blood of any fleet. He has made sure all of our new members and prospects stay informed and generally that fleet communications happen in timely way. He also by the way co-chaired Nationals with Mike Lane, who in my opinion ran the best Nationals ever. And finally, my best friend Christina Pandapas helps in more ways than I can count, from publicizing our events to buying trophies to correcting my grammar. She even drags me out of parties when I’ve had too much fun. (Oh and hey, did I mention that she’s the best crew going?) These people are the ones who make it happen, and it is on their broad shoulders that it’s been my privilege to stand this past season. I thank them, and I encourage you to do the same. By the way, every one of them plans to reenlist for another tour of duty, and we’ll take care of that small formality at the awards party.

You can expect the next newsletter to hit your inbox on January 1st. So with that, thanks for a great season, I’ll see you at the Awards on November 6th .