I hope you are well, looking forward to warmer weather, and have already received, or will soon receive, your Covid 19 vaccination. Phyllis and I both received our 2nd shot several weeks ago, so while we’re still wearing masks in public places, we feel more comfortable mingling with family and friends than we have in a long time. Now for NAS business:

1. It is my sad duty to inform you that a number of long serving members have died recently. They include:

• Corbin Day
• Diana Russell
• Eva Drakenberg
• Harald Rosengren
• Each of these members has been active in the station. We will miss them and send our condolences to their families.

2. I am excited to announce that, after several years of trying to update the NAS website with only volunteer help, we have hired some outside help and have an attractive, useful, and up to date website. At the bottom of this message you will find instructions for how to log on and set your password. Please do so soon as the new website will be the hub for paying dues, signing up for events, maintaining your member profile (address, phone number, etc.), and news about NAS current events. Of special interest to me, the new website will have a place for each member to upload their photo so that new members and people like me that have trouble with names will have a resource. We also have a place for a photo of your yacht. Please take advantage of both.

The new website would not have been possible without the extraordinary effort of many people. In particular I would like to thank Gale Sherman, Chair of the Website Committee, and Jennifer Bowden, Treasurer, both of whom have put in long hours. In addition to Gale and Jennifer, our Website Committee members include Carolina Säve, David Tunick and Richard West all of whom have worked hard to make the new website attractive and useful. Finally, I want to thank our website developer, Kate Wilson Somers of RisingT. She has been helpful and patient with all of us.

3. I am happy to report that Henrik Roos, our NJK Representative, has agreed to also become our new Secretary, for which I am very thankful.    Henrik has been an active member of the Governing Board and I’m sure he will be an excellent Secretary.  I thank our outgoing Secretary, Richard West, for all of his hard work on behalf of the station since taking on the role in 2019.  Richard remains on the Governing Board and will continue to contribute to the NAS in other ways.

4. I’d like to remind anybody who hasn’t paid their 2021 member dues to please pay now.  If you can’t remember whether you have paid or not, the new website will tell you your dues status under your Account.

5. The Royal Norwegian Yacht Club has reluctantly decided to cancel The Atlantic Round and the Five Club Regatta, which were scheduled to be held in Oslo this summer.  Sadly, that means two years with neither regatta, but it seems the only responsible decision they could make.  Next summer (2022) will be our turn to host both regattas in Newport.

6. More news from KNS: Nils Klippenberg has just been elected as their Commodore to succeed outgoing Commodore KC Agerup.  Congratulations to Nils on his new position and to KC on a job well done.

7. Since we haven’t had an opportunity to get together for over a year, our recruiting of new members has been slow of late.  If you know of good candidates, please talk to them about the NAS and if you would like to propose a new member, please contact Membership Committee Chair, Ove Haxthausen.

8. Speaking of opportunities to get together, if we can’t do it in person, we can do it virtually.  The NAS Speaker Series has now had three good sessions: Juan Corradi’s Norwegian Steam in January, Don’t Give Up the Ship! Organized by David Tunick in February, and The Knarr Mystique, made possible by Doug Adkins just last weekend.  Each of these virtual gatherings has opened the Zoom session a half hour early, creating an opportunity for members to socialize and catch up with old friends.  We have one more scheduled for April 24th at 10am EDT.  Thanks to an introduction from member Henrik Roos, our speaker will be Anders Kurtén, CEO of Baltic Yachts of Finland.  Baltic Yachts builds some of the world’s fastest and lightest superyachts.  One of their recent builds is the 142’ yacht Canova, which won the Sailing Yacht of the Year at the World Superyacht Awards 2020.  We are very fortunate that Dario Segre, NAS member and owner of Canova, has agreed to join us for this session thanks to the good offices of David Tunick.

9. Last, but by no means least, the question arises “when can we get together again?”  While the US is making good progress toward getting the pandemic under control, our Spring Meeting in early June will probably be a bit too early to gather in person.  We plan on a virtual Spring Meeting on the usual date of the first Saturday in June (the 5th).

We feel pretty safe in planning for the Christmas Dinner Dance to be a live event on December 3rd 2021.  This year will be the deferred celebration of our 75th Anniversary and I’m delighted to report that the Home Club Commodores have all made plans to attend.  The combination of our anniversary and our pent-up demand to see each other should make this a very special event.  I’ve already made my hotel reservations, you should too. 

There’s more news to report, but I have rattled on long enough.  Take a look at the new website to keep up with station activities and please plan to join us virtually on April 24th and June 5th and in person on December 3rd.  

Fair Winds,