Twenty Hundred Club members,

Well here we are, mid spring, the taxes are paid (I hope), lawns and house projects are being ignored, boats are going in the water, and we are all prepping for another sailing season.

For those of you who don’t know me I thought I’d provide a little introduction. I’m a lifelong resident of Rhode Island and for the large majority I’ve lived in Wickford. In fact it occurred to me a few years ago that I’ve never lived more than a mile from salt water. I spent most of my youth sailing in Wickford harbor on a sunfish, Hobies, Bluejays and on the bay in a Seasprite. Fast forward thirty some odd years and here I am.

We have a great season planned and the executive board will be working hard to make this a memorable year. Gary Russell has graciously volunteered to return to the board as Vice Commodore and Race Officer. Tom and Lynne Charlton have the Secretary and Treasurer positions under control, and Steve Morris will be taking care of the social activities as Rear Commodore.

Last year we introduced a new fee structure that was very successful and viewed quite favorably by the membership. We are continuing this for this year and I think it made all our jobs easier. By adding a late registration fee we avoided many of the last minute changes to the scratch sheets that have historically been a problem and we will continue this practice of imposing a $30 penalty for registrations received less than seven days prior to a race with a cut off of three days prior to a race.

Our first race of the season, Cuttyhunk, is fast approaching. Steve is busy with the arrangements at the dock for the post race party. We will have the chowder again this year as this seemed to be a big hit. Get to the dock early or you may not get any. The raw bar boat will be tooling around and I think they’ll even have some at the dock for purchase. We will continue the horsd’hoeuvres contest with prizes for the best tasting, most creative, best presentation among others.

Continuing with the race theme I want to bring to everyone’s attention The BOTY competition sponsored by NBYA and GMT Composites. Three of the Twenty Hundred Club races count towards points for this competition, the Cuttyhunk, Block Island and Fall race. For the record only the Newport to Block Island leg of the Block Island race will be reported. Check out the website for more info and good luck.

http://www.nbya.org/BOTY/index.htm

As always, we are constantly looking for volunteers for the race committee boat. This can be great way to still participate in the club activities even if you don’t want to race. The club does provide a small stipend for boat expenses and we’re trying to secure a dock space for the Block Island race. Please contact me or any of the officers if you know of someone or have interest yourself.

Well off for the final cleaning and rig tuning and I want to wish everyone a safe and successful boating season. See you on the water.

John Whaley

Commodore