DATES TO REMEMBER

July

Greetings to All,

It’s hard to believe we are into July and almost midway through our 2023 summer season. 

Eighteen Gold Star teens will be arriving on Sunday the 30th with many special events planned for them. Four club members have volunteered their boats and time to bring the teens out sailing, many for the first time. In addition, the teens will be sailing J22s, going to the beach, having a ride on a USCG vessel and attending a baseball game. Finally, there will be a cookout at the club with the Mayor, Flag and Coast Guard in attendance. Please stop by and say hi.

On Tuesday July 25, 2023 at 7pm, the flag will be hosting an informal gathering “ask the flag” with all NYC members. Members may ask any and all questions concerning the overall operation of the club. Hope to see you there.

Hoping for clear skies and sunshine!

Bob and Rosalie

SUSTAINABILITY: A COMMUNITY BENEFIT

Our Club includes sustainability and environmental stewardship as important planks of our strategic and community benefit plans. Many of the actions we take with regard to marina and club operations consider sustainability. The Club was the first and only yacht club in Rhode Island to receive an award for its environmental stewardship.

The Flag and board are reinforcing these initiatives with a new sustainability plan. It reflects our own practices and the best practices of other yacht clubs and sustainability-focused organizations. 

This plan includes a vision, goals, potential operating and capital investments and implementation steps.  The plan is an invitation for more ideas to consider. Please take the time to review it here.

Stay tuned for more details as elements of this plan progress and please don’t hesitate to reach out with additional ideas or feedback. Your engagement is critical to ensuring that this plan is a success.

Chris Long, Rear Commodore

JUNIOR SAILING

Junior Sailing got off to a wet start this year but the weather doesn’t stop the kids and the staff from having fun.

The director and five instructors spent a week getting the fleet ready for the summer sailing season for the 31 kids who showed up the first day ready to have fun and get on the water. First order of business is to pass a swim test, which is a requirement in order to participate in the program.

Our instructors from Ireland are having fun with the kids and the kids have been interested in learning more about Ireland.

On another note, as in years past, we are organizing a couple of “Big Boat” sails in August, where members volunteer to take some of the kids and instructors out for an afternoon sail on bigger boats. If you have a sailboat and would like to participate, contact Al Sgambato for more details at 401-230-8804.  Members who have participated in the past often had as much or more fun as the kids. 

Michael Barszcz Chair, Junior Sailing  

SAVE THE DATE!

The Newport Yacht Golf Tournament will be held on Sunday September 24, 2023.  

We have room for 10 foursomes starting at 11am.

Please email Edith Morin at emorin5@cox.net to register.

STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE

At the NYC board meeting in June, a motion was made to commence with the final evaluation and implementation of the NYC strategic plan. The original thought process was to make the plan available to the membership for additional input for a period of 30 days followed by a separate group of plan implementation volunteers. However, the BOD felt that since we have the previous plans as a baseline and a significant number of members who provided additional input that dovetails into the previously developed plans, that we should move forward to get some things accomplished as soon as possible. The Commodore provided further input that as an alternative to a separate committee, the current BOD chairs should be the driver of the final study and implementation. I would expect the work to begin shortly as the action Item list is being finalized and divided by the respective chairpersons. However, since our committees are quite limited in size we welcome any and all volunteers who wish to assist as we move ahead with the future vision of our club. I have already heard from a number of you but look forward to anyone else who wishes to participate.

Steve Dolan, Vice Commodore

vicecommodore@newportyachtclub.org

OFFSHORE COMMITTEE

The Awards event for the 2023 Bermuda One-Two was held Saturday 24 June. It’s wonderful to see the participants show up (about 70 people) whether they received trophies or not, and even those that were not able to finish.

Having finished the 2023 Bermuda One-Two, we are now planning for the 2025 Bermuda One-Two.  The singlehanded leg start will be Friday 6 June 2025 and the doublehanded leg start will be 19 June 2025.

Registrations are coming in for the New England Solo/Twin race scheduled for 28 July.

Roy Guay Chair, Offshore Committee

FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT

Financial performance is summarized in the table below. The chairs continue to manage their committee responsibilities and we are ahead of budget (January through June) by $94,628. Good news!