Greeting from the Prez – May 2004

To all of you who attended our Spring Meeting, thank you! It was nice to see everyone again and get geared up for the season.

First, I’d like to welcome some new members to Fleet 5. Andy Savage and his partner Paul Zymba have bought Jeremy Bloxham’s old boat “Jumbly.” Previously seen racing a J105, Andy and Paul are looking forward to actively racing this year in Fleet 5. Andy’s wife Julie Savage is a long-time crew for Bill and Renee Heffernan. Also joining Fleet 5 this year is local sailmaker Jud Smith. For those of you who don’t know Jud, he has been mainsail trimmer on Stars and Stripes (1995), 2-time Etchells North American champion, IOD World Champion, to name a few accomplishments. It is great to have a sailor of his caliber join our fleet.

At our Spring Meeting, a great suggestion was made to have some informal get-togethers after MRA racing days – we all generally go our separate ways since we’re hauling boats or mooring at various points in the harbor. So, on a few days this year we will plan to rendezvous at a specific place. Stay tuned for more announcements on this soon.

Fleet members were full of ideas at our recent meeting, and we’d like to encourage everyone to pass these ideas along to Tom Despres our social chair or myself. Elsewhere in this newsletter are some ‘survey questions’ that might stimulate some ideas — if they do, you know where to send them.

After many years of hosting a Thursday evening Race Week party, Norm & Carole Cressy are taking a well-deserved break this year. I thank them for hosting for so many years a great and cherished event. We are in the process of planning a new venue for this year’s Thursday Race Week party — keep it on your calendar as we are planning a fun event.

Those of you who registered for MRA racing should have received your MRA Sailing Instructions in the mail. Please note that there are two different course maps. The one with three sailing areas is applicable only for Race Week – normally you should refer to the map with two sailing areas. Please read the Sailing Instructions with care, there are numerous changes this year.

June 12 th is the deadline for submitting your vote or proxy on the proposed technical rules changes. I encourage you to vote. The Nationals Web Site www.rhodes19.org has more information, including ‘intent of the changes’ prose that describes the ‘big picture’ of these changes. The Technical Committee has done good work and I believe that the general direction of these changes is positive. As with any change, however, there may be issues that are of particular concern to you.Please give me a call or email me with any questions whatsoever. I’m happy to provide guidance or answers to specific questions that you may have.

See you on the water!