December 15, 1999

On February 5 & 6, 2000, our club will organize its first Mid-Winter Retreat. The purpose of this retreat is to promote education and discussion among members. The retreat will feature a series of seminars covering many topics of interest to members including the weather, the outboard engine and safety. If you might be interested in attending this educational and social gathering of club members, please let us know by returning the attached form or registering on line at www.myc.org.

The Annual Dinner on December 7 was a great success with more than 135 members attending, making it one of the largest dinners ever. It was nice to see so many familiar faces again and in keeping with the festive holiday spirit, the joint was jumping.

Congratulations go to both Pablo Opazo and Stephen Yip who were announced as co-winners of the Commodores Award which recognizes the member who did the most for the club during the season. Among the many things Pablo did this year were spearheading the club’s effort in creating the Blue Water Society and delivering Miss Manhattan to her winter cruising grounds in the British Virgin Islands. Stephen was the moving force behind our club’s sandbagger sailors and succeeded in turning a large group of raw recruits into seasoned sandbaggers. I say "seasoned" not because of the lingering smell which could perhaps come from a dunk in the Hudson (you know the river is amazingly clean nowadays), but because many of our members learned how to sail and race these unique thoroughbreds of the past. 1999 will go down as a very historic and memorable year in the annuals of our club.

Congratulations also go to Richard Amerling, winner of the Sportsmanship Award. The winners of Awards for Outstanding Service were: Joan Lappin, Jon Overton and Lisa Semel for their work with the Education Committee and the new Mentoring Program; Stephanie Dayton and Scot Surbeck for helping with the design of the new clubhouse, Joel Moser for helping with the political winds when our clubhouse experienced difficulty at the old Pier 25 facility, and Paul Olsen for his leadership support of the sandbagger program and for his excellent photography (he actually captured a three picture set of a sandbagger capsizing with the Nord-Deutscher Regatta Verein onboard).

Those attending the Annual Dinner voted unanimously for the proposed slate of Flag Officers for the next two seasons. These will again be: Commodore – Michael Fortenbaugh, Vice Commodore – Peter Cavrell, Rear Commodore – John LaGrassa. I am happy also to announce the appointment of Pablo Opazo as our new Fleet Captain. Previously, Vice Commodore Cavrell had also been handling these duties.

At the dinner, it was announced that our new clubhouse which was built on a barge for Pier 25 but never went to that facility, has been brought to North Cove for the winter. It will serve as the club’s winter office and headquarters until April when it is scheduled to be replaced by our smaller floating pontoon boat. Until then, it is a welcomed addition to North Cove. Members are invited to stop by although the clubhouse is usually only occupied during business hours. Later in January, we hope to open it up as a gathering place for members on a few weekday evenings and perhaps weekends. It could be a good place to watch the America’s Cup Races. Anyone interested in organizing this?

For the 2000 season, our club will have a 6% dues increase. Annual dues will be $890, up from $840 but Skipper privileges will remain the same at $800. While one never wishes to announce a dues increase, one cannot also avoid reality. The cost of dockage at North Cove is now increasing annually at 5% and the cost for winter dockage in Jersey City skyrocketed by 50% this winter. For many years, we have been able to keep dues steady while at the same time offering more service and facilities to members. This has been made possible by the growth of the membership. While the club is still growing, the percentage of growth is slowing down. The last dues increase was two years ago and was also very modest. Therefore, I hope members will understand the necessity of a 6% increase for 2000.

Although you will be paying a small amount more, you now may be able to fly! For those members with frequent flier credit cards, you can pay your dues with them on line at the club website. Another new feature is that you can order club clothing on the website.

Next summer, please reserve the weekend of August 19 & 20 for the first "Manhattan Sailing Club Regatta." For many years, we have been talking about organizing an annual regatta. Now it will finally happen. In addition to our own J/24 fleet (perhaps we should give them the honor of starting first), we will open the regatta up to PHRF boats and other J/24s. Thanks to the efforts of Tim Ryan, our event has been designated part of the J/24 Parkway Series which means that a whole other group of J/24s will participate. The event will also be on the calendar for the PHRF-MA organization which should lead to multi-class PHRF participation. We will need volunteers to help organize this regatta. If you would like to help out, please contact me at mike@myc.org or (212) 786-3323.

It’s still not too late to book a week of vacation on our club flagship "Miss Manhattan." She is stationed in the British Virgin Islands this winter and you can fly down for a week of sailing in the sun. There are still a few weeks left and if you haven’t checked the website recently, please look again because some dates have been moved around. Perhaps that perfect week is just waiting for you. The website address is www.myc.org. Then go to "Cruising on Miss Manhattan" and "British Virgin Islands."

In closing, I just want to say how enjoyable it has been working with the membership to bring all of our sailing programs to life. Over the years, we have experienced quite a lot in our effort to build a great club here in Manhattan. We are not a static organization. It seems there is always a new challenge waiting, a new program to be conceived and developed or a new boat to buy and refurbish. In this holiday season, our club has a lot to be thankful for. With that in mind, I wanted to extend to each and every member my best wishes for a healthy and Happy New Year. There are many things to do and I look forward to working on them with you.

Sincerely, Michael W. Fortenbaugh, Commodore