Musing from long time sea sprite owner and SSA member Dick Rath:

I’ve just paid my 2021 dues and am happy to be back aboard.  I sold my last Sea Sprite 23 about 4 or 5 years ago and realized just recently how much I missed the little jewel that I fully restored and had so many delightful days sailing the waters of the Indian River Lagoon and exploring the many small island an creek that are part of the Indian River here on the middle east coast of Florida in the Vero Beach / Sebastian area. 
While my email address has not changed since I was last a member, my address has; it is now: Dick Rath                                                                                                                                                            1145 West Lakeview Drive                                                                                                                                                           Sebastian, FL  32958    

The 23 that I sold was purchased from Jim Krogen, CEO of  Kadey Krogen Yachts.  The builder of the magnificent  Kadey Krogen Trawlers amongst many other sailing and power vessels.  I knew Jim from my 35 year career as  Director of Sales for Lewmar ( as well as Barient when we purchased the company in a deal that included Barlow, the Australian winch maker. I retired from the marine industry in 2003.  The 23 that I bought from Jim attracted me because he had replaced it’s original straight mast with its jumpers with a beautiful custom built tapered mast which truly added to the boats performance going to weather. Jim, who was rarely in the states since his operation was in Costa Rico, kept a condo in North Miami and made a point of being home so he could participate in the incredible social and sailing event known as the Columbus Day Regatta on Biscayne Bay – usually attracting between 350 and 400 sailboats racing down the Bay to Elliot Key and an evening of partying, drinking, and debauchery.  Beyond that, the little Sea Sprite sat at his dock at his Condo awaiting another go at the C.D. Regatta.
I finally sold the boat to a new-to-sailing young fellow who had it trailered up to New York and was to keep in on mooring on Flushing Bay in Queens, NY.   The 23 I had prior to this one was sold to a New Englander who planned on keeping her in Fort Meyers, Florida.  He was a marine photographer who specialized in marine advertising.  His most memorable photo, for me at least, was one that Hinckley used in their first ad for their  “new” 36′ Picnic boat. It showed the boat floating in about 10″ of water off a sandy beach with the owner and his Golden Retriever standing next to the boat and the owner with hisNantucket “reds” roller up to just below his knees.  A very effective ad that showed off the Picnic boats extremely shallow draft made possible with the development of new Hamilton Jet Drive.
My other involvement with the Sea Sprite was between 1965 and 1973 when I managed yacht sales for Port Jefferson Maine on Long Island. We were dealers for the Herm Wiss 23 and later for Sailstar/Bristo’sl version of the boat.  Later in my career at Lewmar one of my salesman was thinking about buying a little sailboat for round-the-buoy racing in Gardiners Bay and I suggested a 23 would be a perfect choice for him.  A week later he visited Clarke Ryder Bristol, RI and ordered a 23 for Spring delivery.  He raced the 23 very successfully for a few years with the Shelter Island Yacht Club.
While at Port Jefferson Marine I sold a 23 to an airline pilot who raced it very successfully in the MORC fleet at the Setauket Yacht Club in Port Jefferson. The Pilots name was Holland (Dutch) Redfield who was soon to be come Pan American Airlines Chief Training Pilot and the first commercial pilot to ever fly a Boeing 747 and trained every 747 pilot at PanAM until his retirement.  He later was the owner of two more Carl Alberg designs: an Alberg-30 and then an  Alberg 37 Yawl, both built in Canada by Whitby Boat Works. He cruised both boat extensively between the Chesapeake, Maine, and Nova Scotia.
Looking forward to being allowed back onto the Sea Sprite website and perhaps being tempted to purchase one of the 23’s listed for sale by fellow member.
Dick RathTime Machines, Ltd.timemachineslimited.com

The SSA BOD met 2 weeks go, and voted to continue dues at $25/year for 2021. You can see the minutes of the meeting in the next post. I expect with a return to normal activities our revenue should equal our expenditures for 2021.

Please pay your dues this year via Paypal. It is easy and saves you the cost of a stamp and the time in sending a check. It is easy for me and is automatic record keeping. Unless you already have a paypal account, pay as a one-time guest with your credit card at the bottom of the page.

Here is the link to the SSA Paypal page:  
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=CCQ3S25B7QZ6Y

Many thanks for your support.

The Board of Directors of the Sea Sprite Association met on February 18, 2021 to review the organizational financial statement for 2020, the 2020 events and achievement, and to plan for 2021. The minutes of the meeting are as follows. Please address any concerns to Carter Hall, Commodore, SSA, at seaspriteassociation@gmail.com.

SSA BOD MEETING 2021

February 18, 2021 via Zoom

Meeting was called to order via Zoom at 5:00 pm. In attendance were Hall, Radeka, Sollitto, Goff. Absent were Catani, Menillo.

Old Business

1. SSA 2020 Financial Balance Sheet

Balance in account $5355.11. Account grew by $778 in spite of continued support of HMM of $375. The cost overrun for racing was only about $72 and there was no money spent covering the Annual Dinner or Hog Cookout. We now have roughly 10 years of operating expense. There were no abnormal operating expenses. 

2. Organization

Membership steady at 53. Forum use light but continues slow growth. Web visits continue slow decline (see table). Tapatalk forum great format and easy to use. 

Covid limited activities. Dom (new Racing Fleet Captain) ran a great racing season with 7 boats registered. Drinks at his condo on the water afterwards great hit. No April dinner. SSR fun, 7 boats, pizza on porch. Hog also fun but no gathering at Lou’s.

3. Herreshoff

Carter rehabbed Grayling before covid shut HMM down. 20 hours a week for 3 months. No instructors in SSR, but Lou and Carter borrowed HMM SS23’s to race. $350 donated to upkeep SS23’s and free membership. 

New Business

1. Mission Statement Review.

Our mission is…”to increase sea sprite sailing participation by promoting fellowship and family, by encouraging pride and responsibility in ownership of the vessels, and by helping with technical and maintenance issues”. Nothing to add.

2. Activities for 2021.

Covid continues to impact gathering plans. The annual meeting and dinner is postponed until September. If we can gather in compliance with Covid guidelines, we will do so. Wednesday night racing will continue. Date for the mid-summer Sea Sprite Regatta is July 24th. Gatherings around racing will depend upon meeting Covid guidelines.

3. Dues.

Possible structures were considered (new members payment only, etc.). We will continue asking that members continue yearly dues payments at $25. 

4. Class emblem.

Discussion held regarding class emblem and its source. Circled SS  was original SS23 class design. With his new Luder designed group of SS28’s, 30’s, and 34’s, he developed a new logo for the new class he built, the Twin Sails With Following Seas. It was decided to continue using the Circled SS logo for the SS23 class, and the TSWFS for the SS-28’s, 30’s, and 34’s.

5. SSA reorganization.

Paul Sollitto will review our current organization bylaws with plans to consider term limits for board members, how board members and officers are chosen (consider forming a nominating committee), size of board (currently 6 plus the Coordinator), adding a treasurer as class officer, etc. Such changes will allow the SSA to go forward with stability, participation, and periodic infusion of new enthusiasm. The BOD will review bylaw changes and present changes to the SSA membership at the annual meeting in September for approval.

6. BOD new member

It was voted to include Bob Rude as an interim BOD member. He is currently an owner and racer of a SS23 in Bristol. Previously he campaigned an ensign and spent 2 year stints as treasure, vice-, and commodore of the national ensign organization. He will provide much helpful organizational insights for the SSA.

7. Pennant

Pennant approved with simple triangle design with SS in a circle logo. Dejan has been in contact with a provider willing to take orders directly. He will contact her to see if she still can provide the product (perhaps offering both logos), obtain an order sheet design from her, and send the resulting form and plan to Carter. He will list the pennant as an offering in the Ship’s Store on the website and will post the news on the website home page.

8. Awards

Dom Messerli was voted the recipient of the Denise Award given for contribution to the SSA organization. Dom took over as Racing Fleet Commodore in Bristol and did a magnificent job holding the fleet together in tough times. The fleet raced every Wednesday evening and became close. Dom hosted post race gatherings at his waterfront condo.

Bob Rude was awarded the Browne Award for exceptional sportsmanship on the race course. He was, as always, generous in spirit, courteous, and gracious on the course. In addition, unable to race for a large part of the season, he loaded his SS23 Apsaras to Mark and Kathy Rotsky who kept the fleet on their toes.

Meeting was adjourned at 6:40 pm.

Respectfully submitted,                                            

Carter Hall