- WEEK
OF JUL 25, 2004
COMMODORES REPORT
I finally am able to find some
time to give my long overdue update while I am sitting in a
basement meeting room in the Wyndam hotel in Washington DC,
during an NIH grant review session. As I speak to my
fellow scientists they query me regarding my obvious tan.
Dan do you spend anytime in the lab? You don't that get
that kind of color in fluorescent lights. They just do
not understand the rigors of my other job. I really don't care
and cannot stop thinking about the sun shining on Long Island
Sound.
Speaking of which I have been
thoroughly enjoying my waning months as your commodore.
Recently I spent some time with my executive director of
hospitality, the ever effervescent Lorrie Mastellone, as we
enjoyed a wonderful Sunday afternoon in late June. I was
able to spend not only some time with Lorrie and Lou but also
her brother Kenny and his wife Adrian, who are some of our
newest members. I have implored myself to at least try
to enjoy the Summer and not become too preoccupied with minor
distractions while down at the club. Overall, I am
relatively satisfied with how things have been running and
feel that my need to micromanage is not required
The month of July is always
extremely busy but seems to be more so then even last year.
The junior sailing program is running smoothly, in large part
due to the organizational abilities of our dedicated junior
sailing committee and our head instructor Alicia Martorella.
We once again hosted the opti open regatta. There is no
doubt that after two years this has become our newest regatta.
Thanks to PC Wefer and RC chair Cliff Welden for organizing
this event which well over one hundred boats. Lastly I
need to acknowledge all the work done by Dana Schnipper and
his committee on the outstanding job he did this year on the
Western Districts regatta. Although I know he is
looking to retire after running this regatta for the last
eighteen years , I hope we can all convince him that he is
indispensable. I also wish to acknowledge the efforts on
behalf of our club to the power couple Wayne and Effie-Marie
Smith who donate a tremendous amount of time to helping in all
aspects of these two regattas, particularly in the scoring
department All this work is freely donated and
particularly appreciated in light of the fact they have none
of their own children in junior sailing. Thanks again.
The swim team has had nothing less
then a superb season posting a 4-1 season. The only loss
was to Douglaston and that was only by an unlucky 13 points!
It also happens that many of our older swimmers were absent
that day. Remarkably we beat longtime rivals
Strathmore-Vanderbilt in our own pool! We typically have
a hard time in their pool as it is a bit longer so they have
somewhat of a home advantage. I think this seasons
success underlies the incredible talent of our swimmers and
experience of our outstanding coaching staff.
Our July board meeting was a bit
unusual because we had an open forum to first present the case
for and then get your feedback regarding the purchase of the
third cottage. As most of you know, the yacht club owns
the first two cottages to our East. The third one is now
up for sale. It is the opinion of the long range
planning committee that this represents a once in a lifetime
opportunity to expand our borders with essentially no real
downside. After a rigorous discussion it was apparent
that of the thirty odd members that showed up [we assumed that
if you were not present you were in general favor of the
purchase] that there was only a very negligible [2] dissenting
opinion. Thus we will be moving forward on the purchase.
The important thing is that we will not be assessing the
membership in a significant way. Dues have not been
raised in two years and we will have only a modest increase
this year. We would be increasing our capital assessment
by just $10 per month. The benefits of this purchase may
not seem readily apparent right now but will be critical to
our next phase of expansion, especially if and when the fourth
lot becomes available.
There are a number of projects I
would like to complete prior to impending retirement,
These include a a final master plan for the club and its
properties so that the flag and board for the next few years
will have a guide for future expansion and improvements for
our facilities. I also hope to start after the season
ends, as it would be too disruptive now, a renovation of the
downstairs facilities particularly the bathrooms. Now
that we have experienced almost two years of actually spending
our allocated capital funds on actual capital improvements, we
should continue to build up our infrastructure in a big way.
This weekend we welcome the
participants of the ALIR and culminating in the always well
attended party Sunday afternoon. I look forward to
seeing you then.
[this was originally written 7/25,
sorry for its dated nature, but another issue is coming out
imminently and will detail the swim team finals, ALIR and Jr
sailing results]
RESCHEDULED MYCE/LYCE CUP
The MYCE/ LYCE cup has been
rescheduled for Saturday Sept. 18. All interested teams
should sign up ASAP. The boats will be all worked up to
racing condition and I have no doubt the racing will be tight
this year. I plan on putting together a great crew as
well. Hope anyone interested in participating makes
their voice heard.
CLAMBAKE: OUTSTANDING!
This years clambake was one of the
best in recent memories thanks to the hard work and dedication
of Diane and Mike Johnson. There was a record crowd of
almost two hundred people and the weather cooperated
magnificently: it was cool night, low humidity, hot reggae
band and lots of very happy members. Thanks so much to
all the members who always volunteer and our dedicated staff
who ensured this great time.
THE JOHNSON'S WELCOME NEW
ARRIVAL
Congratulations to Diane and Mike
Johnson on the birth of their first child Olivia Marie.
Their bundle of joy was delivered by stork in a spinnaker on
August 16 at 6:43AM. She weighed in at 7lbs 8oz and is
21 inches long. I saw some of the pictures and she is
indeed beautiful, taking after her mother. We hope to
see the three of you all soon down at the club.
FLEET SURGEON SCHULMAN TAKES
SECOND IN NEWPORT-BERMUDA RACE
Once again the clubs' outstanding
grand prix racer Norm "Doc" Schulman took a
spectacular second place in the prestigious Newport to Bermuda
Race on board his maxi racer "Charlie V". Norm
brings fame and recognition to our club in big boat
racing and we are thankful for his commitment to sailing.
To honor Norm on his tremendous accomplishments the club held
a cocktail party to celebrate. This was organized by our
cruising chair Matt Doherty on August 9. Thanks go
out to all who participated with Norm from our club, in
particular Mark and Sue Disanti who serve as the afterguard
and soothsayer. Also to Harvey Bass and Karen Doherty
for help in sailing back from Bermuda. Once again
congratulations!
CORINTHIAN TROPHY PRESENTED TO
PC FRED BAUERSCHMIDT
The following text comes from the
speech that club counsel Donna-Lynn Darling gave on
commissioning day. Due to technical difficulties
portions of the sppech were not heard clearly. Therefore
below is the text in its entirety:
Commissioning
Day Saturday May 15, 2004
Robert
W. Pearsall Corinthian Trophy Presentation
In the 1950's and 1960's Sea Cliff Yacht Club was
privileged to have among its ranks an excellent seaman and
skipper who exhibited the characteristics of corinthianism to
the extent that his lifelong friend Ralph Longo donated a
trophy to this club in memory of his dear friend who passed on
before his time.
Robert W. Pearsall was a capable seaman, a skilled
helmsman a gentleman and a good friend to those here among us
today who knew him. The
citation on the award given in his memory reads:
“Corinthianism in yachting is that
attribute which represents participation for sport as distinct
from gain and which involves the aquirement of nautical
experience through the love of sport rather than through
necessity or the hope of gain.”
The deed of gift for this trophy does not require that
it be given every year. The
present holder of the trophy, sometimes in consultation with
past recipients, decides to whom the trophy will be awarded.
This year’s recipient epitomizes the qualities of
corinthianism in his generosity of spirit in devoting endless
hours to our club in a manner that sets an example we can all
aspire to.
A native of Queens, this year’s recipient graduated
from Martin Van Buren High School and went on to attend Queens
College. He
served in the United States Army during the Vietnam War and
was stationed in Thailand as an Aide de camp to General Ott.
He returned from the service and on a small initial
investment he has built a premier architectural woodworking
company of which he has been president for thirty two years.
His company this year was awarded the Peirpont Morgan
Library Project edging out many other firms for this landmark
project. An
example of his skill and generosity sits in the Club’s
lobby, the magnificent glass cabinet that graces our entryway.
His service to the club is unparalleled in recent
memory. In the
late l980's he donated the cabinetry for our Regatta Room and
worked tirelessly on the room’s completion.
Members since l987, this year’s recipient and his
lovely wife of thirty years have served on numerous service
and action committees at the club.
He is a past governor and officer of this club and
served as its commodore from l995 through l997.
His illustrious history as a sailor began at the age of
seven when he purchased his first sailboat with his communion
money. Of course,
the boat was styrofoam and the sails were
plastic, so he was not able to achieve the results he does
these
days.
His first boat after this was Seeker, a 27 foot Ericson.
Since then he has ably skippered a 35 foot Endeavor
Sandcastle and his present boat Scaramouche which he has
sailed in the Copenhagen Cup, the Stamford Denmark Friendship
Race and which has sailed in six ALIRs coming in first on two
occasions.
He has been co-chair of the ALIR committee for five
years. In l999,
he realized his dream by sailing Scaramouche to Bermuda in the
Marion Bermuda Race and was second to cross the line, the
first celestial boat and third overall on corrected time.
It gives me great pleasure to present the Robert W.
Pearsall Corinthian Trophy to Past Commodore Fred Bauerschmidt.
UPCOMING
EVENTS:
Monday, September 6; Commodores Cup Sunfish regatta
Sept 18 MYCE/LYCE Cup and awards ceremony to follow
Sat. Sept. 3rd Annual Snapper Derby
August 28 Moonlighter Race
Sat. Oct 9 Commodores Ball w/ Triangle
Restaurant Operations
Check website due to
changes at the end of this month. Also see recent
mailing
Launch Hours:
Check www.seacliffyc.org
due to changes at the end of this month |
