ROAD TO THE CUP – HOLIDAY EDITION
DECEMBER 2021
Dear Santa,
It’s me again. Before
I start droning on about how good I’ve been (though I have), and all of the
stuff I’m going to ask you for (a lot), I have something I need to say.
Our entire fleet is shaken and profoundly saddened by the
unspeakable act perpetrated on Lindsay Smith, who we regard as one of
our own. Our hearts are broken, not just
for the horrible injuries she sustained, but also for her whole family, for
whom the pain of this nightmare must be overwhelming. We are heartened to hear that Lindsay is
recovering quickly, but also suspect full healing will take time. We wish them all a full recovery, and want
them to know that Fleet 5 stands with them, and is willing to help in any way
we can.
* * *
So Santa, what a year – again. When will this cursed pandemic be done? I’ve had just about enough, as I’m sure you
have too. Hopefully, you got your
booster and have managed to stay healthy.
I got mine, and have so far managed to avoid contracting the dreaded little
beast (fingers crossed), but unmasked daily gym visits, holiday parties and
going to the grocery store are increasingly feeling like banging a corner. It could work out, but it’s not a great
strategy and there is plenty that can go wrong.
And don’t even get me started about the Genesis concert at TD Garden,
because if that wasn’t a super-spreader event, I don’t know what is.
I’m incredibly thankful for all of the stuff I’m lucky
enough to have, the things I get to do, and the wonderful friends I get to do
them with. And hey, before I forget, the
missus and I were really excited to win our 6th Race Week, so thanks
for any help you gave us there. It’s
been 15 year since the last one so it really meant a lot. So many friends were excited for us, and that
also meant a lot. I know that you aren’t
responsible for all of that, but hey, you’ve become kind of therapist to me,
and I somehow feel better after unburdening myself to you.
Anyway, as I hope you know, I’ve been good again this
year. I suppose that’s probably more for
you and my wife to judge (not necessarily in that order), but I think I check
all the big boxes. The good news is that
I really have everything I want, so no need to wrap anything for me. But to the extent I have any pull with you,
I’d like to ask you for a few things for my friends, if that’s okay. Don’t feel obliged to get to all of it, and
if you can do only one, please make it the one I already mentioned. Beyond that, here we go.
For starters, you may or may not have heard that my pal Elise
Nash is in a family way. While
that’s awesome news, with a 3-year old, a business, a fleet to run and a
pathological inability to say no, I think she’s going to need a little
help. Wondering if you could spare an
elf or two, at least for a year.
And speaking of people who do a lot, my friend Joe Fava
has, after multiple years of incredible service to sailing, just stepped down as
chair of the CYC sailing committee. That
promises to leave him time to actually do more sailing himself, which is awesome. Problem is, his sailing partner Elise Nash
looks like she may be otherwise occupied for a while. So if you would, please find Joe a crew for
the summer. He deserves it.
Our Nationals Regatta was a huge success this year, and we
owe it all to the hard work of a few people, including Elise, Peter
Sorlien, Tom Dailey, Christina Pandapas, Jocelyn Cook,
Mark Rubin, Dave Rubin, Stefan Thibodeaux, Timmy Dittrich
and Steve Uhl. I was thinking
maybe you could give them each a few of those nationals hats, which were
finally delivered a month after the event ended. Also, I hear our friend and PRO Tommy
Tompkins could use a little merriment, so maybe drop him off a bottle of
Christmas cheer, if you know what I mean, and let him know we’re thinking about
him.
I can’t talk about Nationals and not thank two key people
who really made it go. RC Chair Mark
Toso was a rock, as was CYC GM Dave Titus. Both of these guys were always there, and we
owe them so much for letting us lean on them.
Maybe get them each a few days off with nothing to do so they can unwind
and enjoy the holidays like everybody else.
There are a bunch of people who devoted substantial time to
keeping our fleet bus rolling last year.
In addition to Elise, they include, Steve Uhl, Stefan
Thibodeaux, Larry Ehrhardt, Dave Reynolds, Nat Taylor and Martha
Martini. I’m humbled that they were
willing to devote their time so that the rest of us could have fun. Pretty special, right? Honestly, I’m not sure what to get them, but
we have a bunch of 1st place nationals glasses left, so what do you
think about giving them each one of those?
I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask you to get a little something
for all of the fine folks of MRA. Our
friends Sinan Kunt, Susie Schneider, Judy Adam, Joe
Guglielmo, Mike Lane and a bunch of others worked tirelessly all year long to
build our season, and we owe them so much.
I can’t imagine the hours these guys contribute, all so that we can
play. And by the way, we don’t always
make it easy on them. They deserve
better than our constant whining about what we don’t like. How about giving them each an extra dollop of
patience to help them deal with the fickle likes of us and our one design
brethren.
I can’t talk about MRA without mentioning my old friend Jim
Whipple, who as you know, we lost this year. He was a prince of a man who contributed so
much, and we really miss him. Obviously,
we can’t get him anything, but perhaps you could let his family know how much
he meant to us.
And we can’t forget the legions of race committee volunteers. Oh my God, those guys are heroes. People like David Graham, Rick
Hamill, Susie Schneider, Joe Whipple, Karen Tenenbaum,
Ken & Judy Adam, Chris Lubeck, Dan Himes, Barbara
Hallawell, – so many people from all three clubs – I can’t possibly name
them all, but they go out every week and run races just for us. That’s amazing. I hope you can put a little something in each
of their stockings.
One final thing Santa – and this one is kind of for me but
also for all of my friends too. We have
a bunch of awesome younger sailors in our orbit who I know would enjoy racing
with us. Can you help us get the word
out to them. Sure, I can understand they might be apprehensive about coming out and getting
their butts kicked by a bunch of old folks like me (kidding!!), but honestly,
we’d love for them to join us, so please let them know.
Along the same lines, there a bunch of our Fleet members who
we don’t see very much. I know – demanding
jobs, young kids, spousal hall pass, blah blah blah. Sure it’s not always easy, but we’re only
talking about 16 days of the year. I can
only imagine how incredible our racing would be if Matt Hooks & Rob
Pascal were out there every weekend.
Same for Jeff Shoreman & Dave Reynolds – wouldn’t it be great
if we saw them more? Or how about our
new friends Adam Roberts & Parker
Dwyer, who you might recall came
out and kicked butt in Race Week. Oh,
and let’s not forget Jeremy &
Katie Bloxhom, whose boat has to be
ready by now. If not, please spare them
an elf or two to make sure 2022 is the year they finally get back out there. Please let all of them know we expect to see
more of them this year.
Thanks Santa, I know it’s a long list, but so many people do
so very much around here, and it’s important to me that each of them knows how
much I appreciate them. Fly safe, and
talk to you again next year.
* * *
Donations for Lindsay – Fleet 5 has made a donation on Fleet members’
behalf to help support Lindsay Smith during her
convalescence. They are setting up a way
to help if you’d like to do more, and we’ll provide the details as soon as they
are available. In the meantime, Kenny
Harvey and Jay Watt have been tag-teaming on an informal fundraising
effort, selling Fast Mermaid stickers (the Etchells Lindsay raced on last summer)
to help out until a more formal fundraising effort is organized. To purchase stickers, please reach out to Kenny
via Facebook or email (kenny@harveyrigging.com” style=”color:rgb(5,99,193)”>kenny@harveyrigging.com), or stop by and
purchase one from Jay & Casey Watt at Mud Puddle Toys.
Congratulations to Matt & Brooke Hooks who
welcomed their second son Wyatt Lockett Hooks on November 18th, weighing
in at 7lbs, 6 oz. Might be time to start
buying Optis.
Winter Party – Fleet 5 will host its winter party in late
January or February. Details are
forthcoming. Keep an eye out for the
invite.
Happy holidays. -k