Letter from the Commodore
Greetings
It is hard to believe that once again, summer is over, but it is and we
are entering into the fall season. As we look around, we are fast
approaching Frostbite Blue Jay Sailing and I hope that the Lasers will
come out and join in. I hope that if you have a Blue Jay or a Laser in
your backyard or garage, that you will come down and enjoy the family fun
atmosphere and camaraderie that we have enjoyed for so many years during
Fall Frostbiting Series.
I would like to report that the new board members of the 2006 Board of
Governors met for the first time on Monday, September 26th. Their
predecessors were very encouraging to them as to how the board operates
and information was shared as well as documents that will be required for
their new positions. We had a very positive meeting. We were able to
answer some of the questions some of the members had the later part of the
summer such as the usage of the club and how it is supposed to be used.
The board feels that the policy should be revisited in January of 2006. I
do not disagree with that issue. There has certainly been some confusion
as to who, when, and the number of people that can be invited to use the
club. I feel that there should be some up front guidelines better
describing the usage of the facility. We certainly have seen the usage of
the club expand over the years. Club membership must realize that there
are very few halls available to outside concerns within our community.
Over the past two years, the yacht club seems to have become very desired
and sought after by many different civic groups as well as private groups.
We as a board feel that we must meet those demands as well as make sure
that the demands of the membership are met and maintained first before any
other usage.
I am happy to report, as you read further in this newsletter that
sailing and regattas have been strong in September. Off Soundings,
Atlantic Nationals, Hospice, and other regattas have been very well
represented by Niantic Bay in all of these events. Certainly in Hospice we
had the opportunity to receive terrific news coverage about NBYC and it’s
current members who won in the various different categories such as Dan
Perkins, Kelly Stannard in 420 ‘s, Chris Vann, and Theresa Parker
Colantuano in Lasers. At this writing, the Atlantic Class just returned
from Westport, showing that, with the exception of A145, the other boats
were a powerhouse to be reckoned with. Adam Walsh and his recently
purchased A128 won four firsts to win the Atlantic Nationals. Norm Peck
III sailing A137 came in second with winning a first in the sixth race….
Hats off to Brian Carey sailing A147 for his first win at the Atlantic
Nationals in race two. It is a real strong position to have all Niantic
boats winning first place in six national races. We were fortunate to have
twenty-eight boats on the line. This was the first time that all four
classes from Blue Hills, Cold Spring Harbor, Cedar Point Yacht Club, and
Niantic Bay Yacht Club had sailed together in a national race.
I would also like to report on some of the activities we have going on
this fall. Six of our club members who have been enrolled in our sailing
program are members of the East Lyme High School sailing team and will be
sailing at the club during the fall with the school team.
Through the encouragement of the Board of Governors, they will be
sailing during the spring at the yacht club for the first time rather than
over at Wadawanuck where they have held their
spring practice for many years. We have a mutual agreement with East Lyme
High School as to supporting the sailing program and certainly we have
seen some benefits with our members on the sailing team as well as our own
sailing team during the summer exceed to good standings within the junior
sailing program. East Lyme was fortunate to win the Connecticut High
School Sailing Championships this past spring at the Coast Guard Academy.
I hope that they will be able to repeat the same this spring.
The Board has briefly discussed having a New Year’s Eve dinner this
year. We certainly would like to hear some comments from the membership as
to the interest of attending and being involved in a New Year’s Eve
Celebration at the club. A simple steak and potato type dinner cooked
outside BYOB at a very reasonable price with either a band or a DJ could
be provided providing we had adequate interest to do so. If this is of
interest to you, please email me at remq53 @yahoo.com or send me a
note to 9 Haigh Avenue Niantic, Connecticut 06357.
I would also like to report to you that Bill Healy has taken a break
from being Fleet Captain to spend more time with his career at Yale and
more quality time with his family. As we know he has four young girls that
he is encouraging to get in the sailing program. I am happy to inform you
that Rob Wyllie is going to take over as Fleet Captain with Bill still
remaining on the sailing committee and assisting Rob in the direction of
the sailing program and certainly the quality of Bill’s ability to find
instructors and maintaining our 420 and Optimist fleet. This is
encouraging to me and I look forward to Rob taking the reins and
continuing the positive sailing program we have at the club.
A short reminder and you will see it in the newsletter of Docks Out on
October 22 and also following Docks Out will be the awards dinner that
evening at the club. You should make your reservations with Rear Commodore
John Brousseau as to number of people in your party that will be attending
so John can adequately make the evening preparations. We have Junior
Sailing Awards that will be presented that evening as well as the regular
weekend series races awards being presented.
Please make your reservations with John and I look forward to seeing
you there. I hope that you all have an enjoyable fall and we will talk at
the next newsletter.
Sincerely,
Richard E. Morris
Richard E. Morris
Commodore