Flag Officer Update 

Drew Carlson - Commodore

Regina Shakin - Vice Commodore

Chris Ritchie - Rear Commodore

Spring is Here, Next up – Summer!

March has arrived and our clocks have sprung forward, it is time to start focusing on the summer ahead… and what a summer we have in store!  In this newsletter we will share key dates, a Stage Harbor Wharf and Boathouse update as well as Sailing School, social and racing updates. Hats off to our tireless Board members who, through their committees and working groups have been planning our activities.  David Leary, Chris Beard and the Sailing School Committee have been hard at work; staff have been hired, and the Sailing School schedule has been fine-tuned with exciting new developments.  

A debt of gratitude is owed to the Hoyt family for making their beautiful waterfront cottage on Port Fortune lane available for a SHYC ‘import’ instructors this summer.  The Hoyts have graciously hosted the Commodore’s Ball for years, and we are most appreciative of their ongoing support for SHYC!  In other ‘off season’ news, at the Board’s January meeting we decided to donate our 3 retired 420 sailboats to the Monomoy High School sailing team.  Longtime member and former instructor, Jon Cahoon is the coach at Monomoy.  Check out the Chronicle story here. 

Wharf and Boathouse Project 

We have exciting news on the Wharf and Boathouse front.  Throughout the winter the Wharf Team has had standing meetings with the various professional team members.  Our architect, S+V Design has produced beautiful schematics for the Wharf and Boathouse.  

This opportunity to complete our SHYC campus offers a new chapter in the life of the club. The additional space will provide new ways to enjoy the SHYC community - whether that's sharing a cup of coffee following drop-off, a glass of wine at sunset or a meeting place before heading out to Monomoy. Just imagine tying up your boat by the new wharf as you await another family, perhaps running into the boathouse to fill your cooler with club provided ice or grab a drink or maybe just enjoying the company of friends while you wait. The wharf and boathouse will also play host to regatta and STEM activities along with Fundays and other gatherings!  

Treasurer Jim Shakin reports that the Club enters the Wharf project in strong financial shape with an accumulated cash balance and no debt.  We have started the fundraising process and received early commitments from the Board and past Commodores.

The Wharf Group and Fundraising Team, composed of Kelly Friendly, Kathy Lewis, and Andrew Friendly are planning a number of Awareness Events for the summer, beginning with a kickoff event at SHYC over Memorial Day Weekend.  Additionally, be on the lookout for a special Stage Harbor Wharf and Boathouse newsletter, complete with renderings, schematics and video presentation narrated by our very own 50 year+ member, John Whelan.

Social Calendar Highlights 

Stage Harbor Yacht Club will have something for everyone this summer! All of our members will have the opportunity to socialize at the Club as well as at members’ homes. The dates for all of our social events can be found on the main page of the SHYC web site. 

SHYC will host a Memorial Day gathering on May 26 to jump-start the summer. The first of three Fundays will happen on July 3 quickly followed by the All Member Cocktail Party and Sailing School Auction on July 6. Ladies Night Out will happen on July 10. After a one-year hiatus, the Clam Bake returns on July 20 and our annual Senior Luncheon will be hosted at the Club on July 31. This year’s Commodore’s Ball will occur on August 11. Please mark your calendars so you don’t miss any of the exciting social events at SHYC this summer!  

As always, we are looking for volunteers for our many events. If you have any interest in helping, please reach out to Regina Shakin at [email protected]. We can certainly use the help and would be happy to find a position that best suits your time availability and skill set! 

April 1 is an important benchmark as it is the last day to make address, email, or telephone number changes in the Club’s MemberClicks database.  We will soon head to print with our Calendar and Directory.  If you have changes, please navigate to My Profile to make to update your or family member’s information. 

Same goes for proposing new members!  With the April 1 deadline approaching, why not encourage a friend, neighbor or relative to…

Join the Fun!

The Membership Engagement group has been hard at work improving our admissions process as well as finding better ways to welcome and engage new members.  Do you know a great family that you would like to help join SHYC? Great news: we have updated the application process to make it even more simple and efficient! With sailing school registration in full swing and directory updates due by April 1, we encourage you to help your friends initiate this process as soon as possible.           

Please help us by directing any prospective members to SHYC.com where they can find a link to our online membership application. Here they can also find out information about initiation fees and dues. Proposers and Seconders can also submit their recommendations online via the proposer form link. Prospective members are notified when all of the forms have been submitted. Trude Goodman Tiesi is  available to answer questions families might have by using an email link on our membership information page or directly through her email: [email protected]  We have recently added a number of new families to the Stage Harbor community and would love to continue to grow our membership.

Mark your Calendars…!

Special thanks to Audrey Fenton for coordinating our Important Dates and Calendar.  Be sure to check out shyc.com for updates!

Local and Regional Racing Opportunities Abound

The 2019 Sanctioned Regatta Schedule: 

The 2019 racing and regatta schedule is almost complete. We are waiting for some of the other clubs to finalize their dates. Be sure to check out our online Regatta Schedule for updates.

SHYC will be hosting our 25^th Opti Regatta scheduled for July 1^st.  What an exciting milestone for the club!  If you have an interest is seeing other sailing events in the region click on the Southern Mass Sailing Association calendar of events (SMSA). We are looking for additional volunteers for fleet captains for the racing season.  If you have a sailor in the program and interested in providing support during the summer regatta events, please reach out to Chris Ritchie at:[email protected]

 

Stage Harbor Sailing School: An Update from The Sailing School President David Leary

 

From its founding, SHSS has emphasized sailing instruction that fosters a lifelong love of sailing in a fun environment.

The Sailing School is in high gear, counting the days until the start of our 2019 summer season! We have spent the winter preparing to ensure that we maintain a dynamic and fun learning environment – keeping our students and the mission always at the forefront. At the conclusion of each summer, we take stock of the program and evaluate it in light of the core guiding principles of our mission: fostering a lifelong love of sailing in a fun and safe environment. 

SHSS believes that the love of sailing is developed through outstanding instruction, deep student engagement in the sport, and time on the water. We recognize that each student approaches sailing differently and our program does not impose a one size fits all approach. We strive to meet our students where they are and to help them be their best. While having fun and making important and enduring friendships, we hope that our students will try new things, take risks, not fear mistakes and work – in their own unique ways – to master the skills necessary to enjoy sailing. Our partnership with families in achieving these goals for each student is essential.

 

Time at the Club and On the Water = Success

There is a saying that “Showing up is 80% of life.” Recognizing that time at the Club and on the water helps our students make important friendships and master the knowledge and skills necessary to enjoy sailing, we have made some great changes for 2019:

 

• Earlier Start to the Day! Our Seamen, Mates, Old Mates and Skippers classes will all start at 9 AM – 30 minutes earlier – to allow our students to have more time at the Club and to give our instructors flexibility in their lesson plans. (Our Hermits will continue to start at 9:30.) 

• Adventure Sail in Every Class! This additional time and key off-season planning will allow our instructors to build adventure sail into every class. Look for BICs, SUPs and Optis in our Seamen, Mates and Old Mates classes – in addition to our traditional Sprites. And look for fun, non-race based instruction techniques in all of our classes; even our Optis for Seamen, Mates and Old Mates classes. The goal is to keep our students smiling and on the water!

• Older Teen Adventure/Leisure Sail Class! We want every student to sail with us through their 18^th birthday and now, in addition to our Skippers and 420 racing classes, we are offering a brand new class for older teens who just want to get out on the water and have fun with their friends. If we haven’t seen you around the Club for a while, this class is for you – we want you back! This class will meet Friday mornings throughout the summer and families can sign up for it on a weekly basis. Check out our online registration materials for more details.

• Investments in our SUPs and BICs! We know our students love using SUPs and BICs and want to make sure we have the right equipment to make that possible. We are investing in additional SUPs and paddles as well as new, easy to use and durable sails for our BICs.

• Weekend Hours! We will continue our successful weekend hours and plan to pilot some SUP outings for adults and older students. Our beautiful campus and extensive equipment are important benefits of membership.

  

It’s All About the People – Our Instructors are our most valuable asset. 

Our instructors count the days until the start of summer and they love coming to work every day. Making sure that we hire and retain the best people is at the center of our planning. We are thrilled that Chris Beard will return for his third summer as our Program Director. Chris, a high school teacher and sailing coach who grew up sailing in Maine, brings a strong sense of direction and calm to our program and does an outstanding job mentoring our staff. He has carefully hired for summer 2019 and we are excited about the depth and range of talent we will bring to our students. Look for more staff spotlights throughout the upcoming spring!

 

We are Here for You – This is Your Club 

Have a question? Wonder how something might be tweaked for your child? Forgotten what classes your child completed last summer? Wonder how our advancement and assessment approach in Shore School might accommodate your child’s learning profile? We are here for you – ask away! My email address is [email protected] and my cell is 202-247-0886; Chris Beard’s email address is [email protected].

 

Parting Advice: Show Up!

SHSS’s registration for summer 2019 is open and available online. Register early to ensure that you will have the complete array of classes desired. We hope that every student will take advantage of our regular morning classes and our more specialized Opti/420/adventure classes. Our Opti classes are about much, much more than racing. They introduce our students to the Opti, instill confidence on the water and give our students those extra hours laughing on the water that bring them together with their peers. And, finally, for our adult students, don’t forget our adult instruction and sailing classes.

I look forward to seeing you soon on the deck of the Club and welcoming your students back for another summer on the waters of Stage Harbor.

 

In celebration of last week’s International Women’s Day – check out this trailer of the new feature film, Maiden, the inspirational story of Tracey Edwards and her all-female crew who entered the Whitbread Round the World Race.

In Closing…

Remember When?