20 sailors along with crew, spouses, and children gathered Friday, April 12th, at the Herreshoff Marine Museum for our Annual Dinner And Meeting. It was a great evening.
Our dining venue was spectacular. The Herreshoff Museum sits on the Bristol Harbor waterfront. It is a collection of old boat manufacturing buildings that includes a large building housing about 25 to 30 sailing and power boats designed and built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company from the 1860’s well into the 20th century
The Hall Of Boats
After strolling about in the Hall Of Boats, we assembled in the America’s Cup Hall Of Fame room with displays of Cup history and 2 walls of photographs of America’s Cup sailors and owners who have had a big impact on the sport. With these (mostly) guys staring down from the walls, it was destined to be a great evening.
And the party began!
Beer And Wine Bar
Leo’s Italian Restaurant in downtown Bristol catered a buffet style dinner…chicken piccata, grilled veggies, salad, eggplant parmesan, sausage and peppers, and 3 cheese pasta. It was absolutely scrumptious.
The conversations flowed. Al and Nita Voskian from Freeport, Maine, enjoyed the SSA dinner as well as time in Bristol. And Walter Hobb came over from Lincoln, RI, joining a large Bristol contingent.
Rob Browne explains to Andrew McKeith supervised by historical Cup figure from wall
Lou and Deb with Herb and Chris in back
Carter presented his annual State Of The Organization summary.
First the SSA, then his picture on the Wall??? My pipe is here somewhere….
Here are the takeaways for 2018 and 2019:
Our statement of purpose guides our spending and planning:
“The Association shall promote interest and participation in the Sea Sprite class of sailing yachts. Activities shall include but are not limited to coordinating racing and cruising, social, cultural, and educational events.”
A subset/amplification of these goals includes promoting a sense of pride in ownership, a sense of family among owners, a commitment to maintaining our aging boats, and a vigorous racing group.
Here is how we worked to reach these goals in 2018 and what we plan for 2019:
The Organization Remains strong. We had 74 paid memberships last year, up from 44, due to the free hat offer. We have a new Forum provider Tapatalk which gives us a capability to embed pictures in a posting directly from our computer with direct picture storage. No more third party hosting. Classifieds are very active. Visits to the website are leveling off at 41,000 a year.
The Budget We have $4500 in the bank, down $200 from last year. We took in $1875 from membership dues, but spent close to $1300 on free hats and $300 to Herreshoff to maintain three SS23’s in their sailing school. Our goal is to cover 7 to 8 years of admin costs including website maintenance if we get to lean years with no dues. We have reached our goal.
2019 Plans Dues continue at $25. No freebies. Admin hit of $600 for 3 year website costs next year. Donations continue to Herreshoff of $350 to maintain 3 SS23’s in their sailing school and free membership in the SSA and free entries in summer SS23 racing. Racing events will be the same as last year…SS2 Regatta late July and ‘Round The Hog in early September.
2018 Awards Carter won the SS23 Regatta and ‘Round The Hog, each by a whisker. Bob Catani won the Wednesday evening race series, and was awarded the Nancy Belle trophy as the best SS23 racer on Narraganset Bay. The Browne Award for the racer exhibiting a high level of sportsmanship on the race course went to John Pagnoni sailing Belligerence. Lou Marino was awarded the Denise Award for outstanding contribution to the organization for his yearly ‘Round The Hog cookouts. He also contributed as liaison to the SS23 fleet for the Wednesday evening race series.
Lou embracing the Denise Trophy
And that, folks, was it. What a night. Lots of fun, stories traded, friendships continued. The organization remains strong.
HAVE A GREAT SUMMER, EVERYONE!!!