Volume 30, Issue 11 DECEMBER 2016 SAVE THE DATES! DEC 11th SUS Holiday Party, The Waters Edge at Giovanni s, 6:00 p.m. JAN 15th SUS Meetup, Sedona Taphouse, Mamaroneck, NY, 4:00-7:00 p.m. JAN 19th A Year In Pictures, Ponus Yacht Club JAN 29th SUS Mid-Winter Brunch, Long Ridge Tavern, Stamford, 11:00 a.m. (Photo: 2016 Ice Sailing, Lake Baikal, Russia - Editorial Credit: Katvic/Shutterstock.com)
SINGLES UNDER SAIL, INC. PRESIDENT: BOARD OF DIRECTORS COMMODORE: VICE COMMODORE: SECRETARY: TREASURER: MEMBERSHIP: EDUCATION: PROGRAMS: PUBLIC RELATIONS SPECIAL EVENTS: SAILING EVENTS: SKIPPERS: NEWSLETTER: Rick Takatsch Peter Luciano Teresa Nilla J oanna Romersa Chip Munk Leisa Bell susmembership@gmail.com Virginia Cameron Tom Zagaroli Terry Cotterall-Lagana Joy Sherman Marie Cunliffe Cherie Flavin Lynda Cesiro Mike Smith Melissa C. Donovan melissacdonovan@gmail.com Check out SUS at www.singlesundersail.org 2016 SINGLES UNDER SAIL, INC. COMMODORE S REPORT By: Peter Luciano MOVING FAST ON THE WATER The earth s surface is covered with about seventy percent water and using the water as a means of transportation and life support has been evolving since its origination. Life on our planet would be non-existent without water. Life started in the water and it is a major source of oxygen, food, transportation and pleasure. I will leave the subjects of oxygen and food to others and focus on moving fast on the water. From the days of the Vikings, the early Egyptians and the early Hawaiian people, man has ventured on boats to seek fortunes and new horizons. How modern navigation equipment, sail and boat designs got started, I am not sure, but the three cultures I mentioned above come to mind. Today we have instruments that tell us within feet of where we are (GPS), sails that will move a boat at seventy miles an hour (FOILS), and boats that are safer and lighter than ever imaginable (Carbon Fiber). Transportation on the water and the ability to move cargo fast has been evolving for a long time. Clipper ships like the Cutty Sark, great whaling ships like the Morgan, and passenger ships like the Queen Mary, have been instrumental in transforming the art of moving on the water. The Americas Cup has played a key role in advancing sailboat and sail design. Water ballast, cantilevered and wing keels, carbon fiber hulls and sail trim are some that come to mind. Moving a sailboat fast on the water is a combination of many things including skill, daring, and staying in front of technology. From ocean racing, the Americas Cup, down to club racing or just two boats meeting on the Sound, it s all about going faster than the other boat. Some of our club members have crossed oceans, some have done well in club races, but almost all have met another sailboat on the water and gotten that competitive urge to stay in front or just to go faster. It is a joy to meet a fellow sailor going in the same direction and focus on speed. Going faster in this situation takes into consideration sail trim and tactics. It becomes a challenge between both crews and the two boats. The crew gets involved and you can see the competitive instinct take over. Sails are trimmed and the race is on. Once started there can be only one winner. Front covering is very important. Front covering is the art of watching the boat behind you, tacking or jibing to stay in the same wind as your opponent and giving him/her your bad air (the disturbed are trailing behind your boat). A few weeks ago with a crew of five from the club, La Buona Vita and her crew in heavy air did just that. We stayed in front of a very competitive opponent who we met just east of City Island. We passed them and raced for about three miles, staying in front. All on both boats enjoyed the fun, as it should be, but La Buona Vita and her crew sailed home with smiles on their faces. As the season closes, let me leave you with a thought. Be it getting to a new island, moving passengers or cargo or racing, there is always the challenge of getting there faster. Enjoy the holidays and I look forward to meeting you on the sound next year! Capt. Peter A. Luciano 2
SUS Holiday Party WHEN Sunday, December 11, 2016 6:00 pm 9:30 pm WHERE 2748 Boston Post Road. Darien (click here for directions) Dinner and Dancing to the music of A Night Out With Art & Vito SUS Members $55, Guests $60 Reservation and payment required by December 4th Email: cherieflavin@hotmail.com or (203) 838-0835 SINGLES UNDER SAIL, INC. PRESIDENT S REPORT By: Rick Takatsch Another great year of sailing and comradery comes to an end. Some of this year s highlights were the creation of our new and improved website which gave us an interactive club calendar that allows us to sign up on skippers boats for day sails and twilight sails. We also now have the ability to see upcoming events at a glance and all of our club documents are easily accessed in the Doc Box section. Other highlights were our social events like Meet the Skippers, Castoff Party, July 4 th party at Echo Bay Yacht Club, and of course, the events that we re all here for, our sailing events. We kicked off the season with a Memorial Day Sailaway and continued with nine more sailaways throughout the season, ending with a great raft-up by Oyster Bay. We also had two great Club cruises this year. The first was a Westerly Cruise to New York Harbor and points south. The Westerly Cruise started off at the EBYC Dinner/Dance and continued to New York Harbor with July 4 th fireworks. The second Club cruise went east to Mystic Seaport, which gave everyone on the cruise a rare opportunity to tour The Vault at the Mystic Seaport Museum. The Vault holds over 90% of all the artifacts in the Museum s collection and the public rarely sees these gems. Upcoming events are the Grand Holiday Party happening on December 11th. Please see announcement for further details. Our annual Year in Pictures meeting will be on Thursday, January 19th at Ponus YC. Donna Wade will be organizing this event (watch your email for details), and our annual Sunday Brunch will once again be at the historic Long Ridge Tavern in Stamford on January 29th. As you can see, we are a Club that loves to do things together 12 months out of the year. Speaking of which, we would like to resurrect a tradition within the club of having social gatherings at member s homes. Please contact me or one of our Special Events Directors if you would consider opening your home to a Club event. I would like to thank our outgoing and re-elected Board Members for doing a great job of keeping SUS running like a well-oiled machine. Outgoing, Ginny Cameron-Membership, Melissa Donovan- Newsletter, Terry Lagana-Programs and Marie Cunliffe-Special Events. Re-elected, Peter Luciano-Commodore, Chip Munk- Treasurer and Joanna Romersa-Secretary. Congratulations to our newly elected Board Members. Aija Klebers-Special Events, Rick Keen-Programs and Tony Reyes- Membership. I look forward to working with them to keep us moving in a positive direction. We have a late entry for Newsletter Director that needs to be approved at the January Board meeting before I announce it here. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all. Rick 3
You re Invited to A YEAR IN PICTURES! Ponus Yacht Club Thursday, January 19th 7:30 pm Contact Donna Wade to submit pictures or reserve your time to shine! dwade444@aol.com Happy! SUS Meetup Sunday, January 15th, 2017 4 to 7 pm At Sedona Taphouse s New Location 640 East Boston Post Road, Mamaroneck, NY 914-341-1511 This year Sedona is offering a happy hour menu to us at their new location: ALL Drafts, House Wine, Handcrafted Martinis & Cocktails, Flatbreads, Sliders & Tacos Only $5 You can view their full menu at www.sedonataphouse.com Serious food and over 500 craft beers. Life is too short to drink bad beer! No need to rsvp, just meet us at the bar. Tables have been reserved for us in the bar area. SUS Meetup members welcome! Questions? Email Joanna at jromersa@yahoo.com 4
SUS Mid-Winter Brunch Long Ridge Tavern, Stamford, CT January 29, 2017, 11:00 a.m. Once again we ll enjoy the New England charm, private room and the varied brunch menu at Long Ridge Tavern, Stamford. If you aren t sailing in the Caribbean, or riding out the winter in Florida THIS IS THE PLACE TO BE. More details will be shared in January, but be sure to add it to your calendar now! 5
DOUBLE TREE 789 Connecticut Ave. Norwalk, CT (203) 853-3477 OUR USUAL HAUNTS PONUS YACHT CLUB 41 Bateman Way Stamford, CT (203) 323-7157 FLOTILLA 72 Lametta Center Calf Pasture Beach Norwalk, CT (203) 838-1200 Singles Under Sail, Inc. c/o Melissa C. Donovan 9 Hubbell Mountain Rd. Sherman, CT 06784 www.singlesundersail.org FIRST CLASS MAIL 6