Dear Members of The North American Station,
The Atlantic Round we held in Newport mid-September was a great success. We were worried for a while because of an initially slow response from our membership, but when I sent out an email blast while sailing in Scandinavia this summer, a considerable number of you wrote back and attended. That so many cared mattered to our small, but extraordinary organization (small by constitutional mandate). Under the leadership of Garry Fischer and George Hinman, along with a large committee of truly dedicated volunteers, it turned out to be a wonderful weekend with competitive racing and wonderful social events, nearly all of it in ideal weather. Now more than a month later, our guests from all five Home Clubs have continued corresponding to thank and praise us, a credit to the NAS and its membership.
CALENDAR and GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:
1. December 3rd Christmas Dinner Dance & Annual Meeting: The dinner this year is taking place in its usual splendid setting, the New York Yacht Club. New York is busy and exciting during the Christmas season; if you’re coming from out of town, now is the time to book your room. Even prior to this first announcement 20+ early reservations have come in. If you want to be sure of a seat at a table, please fill out the enclosed yellow form, email, or call dinner Chair, Jennifer Bowden [email protected], 917-405-4305.
The Governors encourage members to attend the Annual Meeting, preceding the dinner, at 1600. After six years I am heading into my last year as Post Captain, and in December 2012 you will elect someone new. A bylaw affecting how the NAS makes the change will be discussed at the meeting and is enclosed for your consideration. If there is anything you would like to see on the agenda, please advise Secretary Dave Brown or me: [email protected], 401-847-0051; David Tunick [email protected], 212-570-0090.
2. Finnish Archipelago Cruise 2011: July 2-14, 2011. We have a real hit on our hands with our next cruise, which will take us from Mariehamn on Åland eastward through the Finnish Archipelago to Helsinki. We can accommodate a maximum of 20 boats, and with more than seven months to go we already have eighteen boats committed and roughly 80 people. On the mothership LOYAL, the 1877 brigantine that was so successful on the Norway cruise in 2008, there is only one cabin remaining available and one berth left free in the common room. Depending on interest, there may be an optional two-day side trip after the cruise to various sites and the world famous opera festival Savonlinnan in the lake district north of Helsinki. This is a crossed burgee cruise with the New York Yacht Club. For more information please contact Cruise Chairman Lars Colliander: [email protected], 914-231-9297, 3 Blueberry Hill, Irvington, NY 10533 or Fleet Captain David Tunick: [email protected], 212-570-0090.
The NAS sponsors a cruise in Scandinavian waters every three years.
3. New Membership Directory: You received your new membership directory in the late spring. We want to keep email addresses and mailing addresses up-to-date. If your entry needs correction, please advise Secretary Dave Brown by return of the enclosed form to 81 Morrison Avenue, Middletown, RI 02842; or email [email protected].
The plan is to publish an updated directory every two years. The next one will be issued in 2012.
4. The Atlantic Round, 2011: To be hosted by The Royal Danish Yacht Club (KDY) in Copenhagen, probably Aug. 31-Sept. 3, 2011, dates to be confirmed. If you are interested in participating, please contact Atlantic Round Chairman: David Tunick, [email protected], 212-570-0090.
To refresh your memory, The Atlantic Round is an annual regatta for adults, which the NAS hosts every third year. In the intervening two years the Home Clubs take turns hosting.
The NAS Atlantic Round Committee has established a schedule that calls for the regatta to take place in Newport every sixth year. In the in-between third year, when it again is our turn to host, we look for an alternative venue. In 2007 The Atlantic Round was in New York-Oyster Bay/Seawanhaka; in 2010, it was Newport; places under discussion for 2013 are Stamford, Boston, and the Chesapeake; in 2015 we return to Newport; and so on.
5. Junior Program:
A. Junior Exchange: Co-chairs Angelica Barrows and MaryPat Whitmyer report that in 2010 we brought in one terrifically energetic junior sailor from KSSS, who taught sailing in Newport. We had another junior who badly wanted to come from NJK, but we were not able to find a host family with a time slot that worked. We sent three ecstatic, enthusiastic kids to the Five Club Regatta in Marstrand, hosted by GKSS. You can read all about it in the next Hälsningar, the club newsletter.
Angelica and MaryPat are now recruiting US juniors 15-17 years old to go to Scandinavia next summer and are looking for families to host Scandinavian kids who go through a rigorous application process to come here. The kids in both directions have an experience they never forget and make lifelong friends. If you have access to a junior sailing program in your area and would like the enriching experience yourself of having a young Nordic sailor in your home or on your boat while racing or cruising, please contact Angelica or MaryPat: [email protected], 401-847-4450, 178 Green End Avenue, Middletown, RI 02842; [email protected], 203-274-5868, 72 Fernwood Drive, Stamford, CT 06903.
Applications to go to Scandinavia close on March 1st.
B. Five Club Regatta: To be hosted by The Royal Norwegian Yacht Club in August, specific dates to be announced. If you have a junior in your family or local club who you think would make a first-class ambassador, please contact Angelica or MaryPat. Good kids are more important in this exchange than champion sailors.
6. Website: Our website www.northamericanstation.org crashed two years ago. It is up and running again, but it is skeletal. We need someone to gather and post information. It is an Internet age, and the website has become fairly vital as a means of making information accessible, like our membership proposal forms, cruise information, and junior exchange applications. Do you have a few hours a week? We can train you if you have the willingness and time. Contact me or Website Chairman James Tunick [email protected].
7. Hälsningar: The club newsletter, issued twice a year. Editor Nancy Eills solicits your articles. What is your favorite anchorage? Where did you sail last summer? Any good pictures? Do you know any NAS historical anecdotes? Tell and share with your fellow members through the newsletter. [email protected], 212-489- 9118, 2 Columbus Avenue, New York, NY 10023-6921.
8. Last Voyages: If you are aware of any NAS members who have passed away in the last year, please advise our Secretary Dave Brown so that the proper announcement can be made at the Annual Meeting. [email protected], 401-847-0051, 81 Morrison Avenue, Middletown, RI 02842.
9. Archives and History Committee: Chairman Tom Chadwick is accumulating documents pertinent to the Station’s 60+ years. He encourages members to send material to him: Tom Chadwick, [email protected], 401- 826-1360, 25 Ethel Street, West Warwick, RI 02893.
10. New Members: Posted for your consideration are:
Candidate Proposer Seconder
Thomas K. & Ingrid M. Flynn Davis S. Margold George R. Hinman, Jr. Newport, RI
Michael Geagan Thacher Brown David P. Tunick Wayne, PA
Edward W. Kane Joseph C. Hoopes, Jr. Ross E. Sherbrooke Concord, MA
Thomas O. & Patti Meyer Annika Kahm Emile de Neree Stamford, CT
Raymond Nord Annika Kahm Emile de Neree Stamford, CT
William “Scott” Piper III, MD C. Tanner Rose, Jr. David P. Tunick Coconut Grove, FL
Michael W. Spicer Nils Westberg Harald Rosengren Barrington, RI
If you have comments on any of the above candidates, positive or negative, we welcome them. All comments are confidential within the Membership Committee. Please contact any one of the committee members before the Dec. 4th annual meeting:
Nicholas R. Orem, Chairman, [email protected], 978-255-1309, 27 Green Street, Newbury, MA 01951 Jennifer P. Bowden, [email protected], 917-405-4305, 3 East 66th Street, New York, NY 10065 W. Thacher Brown, [email protected], 610-687-2688, 435 Beaumont Road, Devon, PA 19333 John Eills, [email protected], 212-489-9118, 2 Columbus Avenue, New York, NY 10023
Allan M. Heyward, Jr., [email protected], 804-282-1760, 416 Maple Avenue, Richmond, VA 23226
Kindly propose qualified new members to the membership committee as early in the year as possible. If any questions, ask Membership Chairman Nick Orem (co-ordinates above). Note that the application form is on our website www.northamericanstation.com. We are especially keen on adding people to our roster who are actively engaged in yachting in Scandinavia. There are experienced sailors out there doing it who are unaware of the North American Station.
11. Finances: The end of the year is approaching, and while every aspect of the NAS could use your help from general funds to Junior Exchange, we remind you that The Atlantic Round is tax-deductible under the provisions of the Federal tax code, Section 501(c)(3). Contributions, always welcome, should be sent to Treasurer Palmer Sparkman, Jr., 7 Tory Hole Road, Darien, CT 06820. If any questions, [email protected], 203-722-8673.
12. Annual Family Clambake & Spring Meeting, Saturday June 4, 2011: Shippan Point, Stamford, Conn.
13. Club Store: We have clothing, belts, caps, etc., and burgees in various sizes, as well as neckties and bowties in either blue or burgundy with the NAS burgee, and blazer patches with the NAS burgee. An especially popular item is the burgee lapel pin, available for $10. Go to www.northamericanstation.com (click on Club Store), call 800-847-4327, or contact Secretary Dave Brown: [email protected], 401-847-0051, 81 Morrison Avenue, Middletown, RI 02842.
I wish all NAS members, their families, and friends a very happy holiday season and a healthy, great year ahead. I hope in 2011 that you get to sail, motor, or just float somewhere on a boat, especially if you have the chance to enjoy the unique beauty of the fjords, islands, coastline, and harbors of Scandinavia. Whether or not you are fortunate enough to be on the water in the coming year, keep in mind the ancient Phoenician proverb that is our motto:
“THE GODS DO NOT DEDUCT FROM MAN'S ALLOTTED SPAN THOSE HOURS SPENT IN SAILING."