THE NORTH AMERICAN STATION

OF THE ROYAL SCANDINAVIAN YACHT CLUBS

AND NYLÄNDSKA JAKTKLUBBEN

est. 1945

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  • Kate Somers
  • December 1, 2020
  • 8:01 pm
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Post Captain’s Letter December 2020
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Dear Members of The North American Station, 

The NAS Annual Meeting took place two weeks ago and I was honored to be elected to be your new  Post Captain. For the past six years, Ernie Godshalk has done a great job of keeping the club a vibrant  place that engages its members both on and off the water. Ernie leaves a strong and steady  membership, a legacy of two very successful cruises, exceptionally strong relations with the Home Clubs,  and a 2019 Christmas Dinner Dance that was the best ever.  

While we’re all anxious to get back to face to face meeting, Zoom has some advantages. Our Annual  Meeting was attended by about 83 people, probably the best turnout since I’ve been involved with the  NAS. Some of the key events that took place during the meeting: 

We recognized members of the NAS who have died since the 2019 Annual Meeting, they were: o Henry Hill Anderson Jr. 

  • Cynthia Crump Crimmins 
  • Nicholas Bayard Dill Jr. 
  • Oivind Lorentzen Jr. 
  • Nigel Savage MacEwan 
  • William Scott Piper III 

The bell on the Blunt White Trophy was rung once for each member, with eight bells at the  conclusion. 

Secretary Richard West reported that the club now has 267 members. 

Treasurer Jennifer Bowden reported that the pandemic has had the perverse effect of limiting  our expenses (no regattas and no Christmas Dinner Dance) so our cash position is stronger than  it has been in some time, but keep those dues and donations coming, we’ll need every bit to  support the Five Club Regatta and the Christmas Dinner Dance over the next few years. 

We were fortunate to have the participation of the following home club commodores:

  • Robert Casselbrant GKSS 
  • Carl Erik Kjæjrsgaard KDY 
  • Patric Salén KSSS 
  • Mats Welin NJK 

All reported that, though regattas had to be curtailed or canceled, their members had a very  active summer on the water – boats turn out to be an ideal place for social distancing. 

KC Agerup, Commodore of KNS could not join us because he was in Singapore. Angelica  Barrows, put on the spot with little notice, did an admirable job of delivering a positive report  for KNS. 

We welcomed the following new members who joined the club during 2020:

  • Amanda Balasubramanian Toronto, Canada 
  • Pernilla Frisk Greenwich CT
  • Peter Hansen Stamford CT 
  • Johanna Moffitt Norwalk CT 
  • Maria Møller Kobenhavn Denmark 
  • Magnus & Maria René Boston MA 
  • Per & Anne Charlotte Säve Stockholm Sweden 
  • Richard Waterman Barrington RI 

David Tunick, Awards Committee Chairman, delivered an enthusiastic encomium for Ernie and  his years of service as Post Captain. Ernie received the Blunt White Trophy (for the 2nd time!)  and his much loved boat Golden Eye received the Post Captain’s Award. Dave Brown and Hiro  Nakajima also received heartfelt praise and awards for their years of service as NAS Governors. • We elected Gale Sherman as a new member of the Governing Board. 

• The final piece of official business was the   election of a new Post Captain. Ernie   handed me the Post Captain’s vingle (the   silver cup in his hand) and with some   reluctance gave up his horned helmet. I’m  not very fond of hats, particularly hats with  horns, so look closely, this may be the last   time you see me with that helmet. 

The last year has been a tough one for all of us. Being shut up inside, isolated from family and friends is  no fun. But, as I gaze at 2021 and beyond, the future looks bright. First up will be a new NAS Directory,  which Secretary Richard West has been beavering away on for many weeks. We hope to have it in the  mail before the new year. Included in the same envelope will be A Little History of The North American  

Station of the Royal Scandinavian Yacht Clubs and Nyländska Jaktklubben on the Occasion of the  Station’s 75th Anniversary, written by Tom Chadwick, Lars Colliander, Nancy Eills and Dick Peldleton. I  think you will find it charming and entertaining. Sadly, Dick Pendleton died shortly after the annual  meeting. By all reports he was a wonderful guy who especially liked to introduce young people to  sailing. We will miss him. 

In January, our own Juan Corradi, will be the first in what I hope will become an NAS Speaker Series.  Juan will present Norwegian Steam, the story of the Norwegian sailors who comprised the crews of  many of the America’s Cup defenders in the first half of the 20th century. The presentation will take place via Zoom at 10am on Saturday 23 January 2021. We’re having it in the morning on a Saturday so  that our Norwegian friends from KNS can participate. We’ll send a reminder and a Zoom link in early  January. 

The second Speaker Series event will be a seminar arranged by David Tunick. Entitled "Don’t Give Up  the Ship!," this will be a zoom presentation at 9:00 AM on Saturday 20 February 2021 led by famed  ocean sailor Rich duMoulin with a panel of five skippers, all of whom have experienced sudden disasters  at sea - fire, flood, sinking, dismasting, and abandoning ship. The focus will be damage control. A crossed  burgee event with the CCA and the Storm Trysail Club. 

We hope to have a third Speaker Series event on March 20th. NAS member Doug Adkins has kindly  offered to twist the arms of some sailors from San Francisco to talk about the Knarr Series. Knarrs are  30’ keel boats built originally in Norway shortly after WWII. Active racing fleets operate today in  Copenhagen, Bergen, Oslo and San Francisco and the International Knarr Championship has rotated  between these venues annually for more than fifty years. The IKC is unique among sporting events in  that the competitors swap boats before each race and cannot race their own yacht, so a sailor could  easily suffer the indignity of being beaten by his or her own boat. I’m told they also have lots of fun and  snaps may be involved. 

I’m afraid this letter has gone on a bit too long, before I wrap up, just a few points:

  • 2021 dues notices will be sent in early January. Please respect the time and effort our Treasurer  has to spend on dues follow-up and pay yours promptly. Jennifer still has a short list of unpaid  dues for 2020. If you are on that list, please pay. Our longtime Webmaster, Michael Geagan, has resigned due to the increased demands of his  day job. He leaves with good feelings on both sides and we owe him a debt of gratitude for the  many hours he has put in behind the scenes. 
  • We have formed a new Website Committee with Gale Sherman as Chair. We would really like  help from a member who has some experience in web design. If you can help, please contact  Gale at [email protected]. 
  • Michael Geagan’s departure leaves an opening on the Governing Board. I’m delighted to say  that Chace Anderson has accepted my appointment to fill the opening. 
  • The Atlantic Round and the Five Club Regatta will be held in Norway at KNS in 2021. We will  take our turn hosting in Newport in 2022. 
  • Our first domestic cruise in many years will take place in the summer of 2023. Cruise Chairman  Chace Anderson has planned a cruise itinerary that will start in Newport and sail to Nantucket  with stops at some of the east coast’s most interesting and historic harbors. We expect a good  showing from our Scandinavian friends, so it should be lots of fun. 
  • NAS burgees are now available from The Sailbag Lady, Madison, CT. You can contact her at 203  245-8238 or [email protected]. Other NAS paraphernalia (belts, ties, etc.) can be purchased  from Team One Newport at the NAS Club Store https://www.team1newport.com/NAS Accessories/products/1094/. 

Enjoy the “Great Conjunction” of Jupiter and Saturn tonight. Phyllis and I wish you all a joyful holiday  and a happy new year. 

Sincerely, 

Nicholas R. Orem, Post Captain