I currently serve as a Race Committee Chair and Principle Race Officer for evening races along with other special events.  I joined the Club in 2001 and found myself wanting to get more involved, so I started to tag along with the race committee.  Turns out it’s a fun gig!  Not only do you get to watch the races, but you're on the inside, determining the course, scoring the finishers and hanging out with the racers afterwards.  Still, the best is being with some of the best people you can imagine, and what could be better than that?

The good ole' days. when we were on an Aquasport named "High Society" and to start a race, we fired a canon. Can you imagine, firing a canon while the boat's moving up and down? To indicate course, we had a blackboard and put the number on the blackboard (just like they indicate boxing rounds) and we had to hold flags by hand. Those were the good ole' days. Now we're on the Willy Wall with all the modern contraptions there is to be had. These are now the good ole' days...

What could be more fun than playing with multicolored flags and loud horns?!! Answer: doing it every Tuesday evening while watching the awesome MSC racers. I joined the Race Committee because racing was a mystery that I wanted to learn more about. My RC “jobs” are to raise the flags to signal the start of the race and to blow the horn when racers cross the finish line.  During the off-season, you’ll find me climbing a rock wall, biking, cross-country skiing or cooking/baking. During the season, I hope to have the opportunity to sail with you!!

I joined the race committee in 2007.  Bob had joined the year before and he encouraged me to join.  It is a great way to meet people.  I started out the first year mostly doing the flags and sometimes the horn.  Since this, I have done the horn at the beginning of the races and at the end I call the finish and do the horn.  There is a lot to learn about the rules of racing and I hope to study and understand more of the rules by the 2012 race year.

People are attracted to Manhattan for many possible reasons—cosmopolitan life, the arts, healthcare, commerce, education and research, history, etc.; not everyone thinks of sailing!  I sailed in NY Harbor beginning in the mid-90s and love it; and in small ways I return my affection, such as by volunteering on race committee since 2010.  I usually am scorekeeper, but also we switch off or multi-task depending on the needs of the particular race.  It’s fun to see another side of this sport, and how we adapt to the sailing conditions in the harbor.  I’m a certified sailor with US Sailing and ASA.