Dear CYC Friends,

It is with pleasure that I reach out with my first newsletter to you.  Warmer weather is on the way, and we're looking forward to seeing you this summer on Cuttyhunk! Preparations are underway for CYC's 2011 season.

We are writing to say that the 2011 CYC membership and sailing school registration is now available online. At your convenience, but before June 1 (the deadline for inclusion in this year's CYC Directory), you can sign up as new or renewing members, register your children for sailing class, and/or make a tax-deductible donation to the CYC. 

Looking ahead to the Summer, we are excited about the terrific group of instructors we've hired - all former CYC sailors, and we return four instructors from last year's staff.  We are pleased to announce that Ellis Lehner will be returning as Head Instructor. Darya Blout has accepted our offer to be Second Instructor. They will be joined by returning Third Instructors Paul Frazel and Rachel Schenck, with Tom Hulley rounding out the crew. Again this year, we expect several current and former A Groupers to help out as Junior Instructors at peak times, a continuation of a fine tradition and a great way for them to hone their teaching skills.

I would also like to announce that Emily Anderson, Sasha Garfield, Rud Mason and Jill (Saumsiegle) Strzinek were elected to the CYC Board of Governors at the Annual Meeting in August.  Both Emily and Rud are returning for a second term.  The Governors are an important source of guidance, advice and oversight, and we appreciate the efforts of this group. 

We want to thank our outgoing governors, Will Monast, Grant Schenck and Cathy Broderick.  Both Will and Grant have made numerous contributions to the club, bringing critical skills, experience and good old fashioned labor to the table.  The club is better for their many efforts.  Cathy, who has served the club in many ways, most recently as our wildly successful Boutique Manager, has been elected Vice Commodore.  I am thrilled the club will continue to benefit from her many skills and tireless energy!

 

Emily Anderson has graciously volunteered to take up the reins of the Boutique.  She has a number of exciting ideas for the upcoming summer season, so look for those hours of operation which will be posted down at the clubhouse.  As is true for many aspects of our program, volunteers are CRITICAL to the success of our Boutique.  Please consider volunteering a few hours of your time to staff the Boutique. 

 

Finally I'd like to acknowledge one last time the extraordinary job done by my predecessor, Alison Granger.  As many of you know, Alison served the club in various capacities over the better part of a decade.  She has set the bar high, as have those who came before her.  I know I speak for the rest of us when I say she has our respect and thanks.

 

 

To be a member of the Cuttyhunk Yacht Club for 2011, register your children for sailing classes, and/or make a tax-deductible donation to the CYC, simply click on the "RENEW YOUR CYC MEMBERSHIP" link below, and follow the instructions. Please note that you must enter the electronic registration page via the link below, as the home page of the CYC website does not provide a link.

A word about security: CYC will not have access to your credit card information. Any credit card payments you make will be processed by PayPal, an EBay company that is a nationally-recognized leader in secure electronic payment processing. Also, your personal information which you supply to us for publication in the CYC directory will be transmitted and received over the Internet via a secure link to a password-protected CYC database. Finally, for privacy reasons, the medical release forms which are required before your child can attend sailing class must be completed, signed, and sent to our Treasurer via US mail.

We understand that a few of our members may simply not be comfortable using the electronic payment approach. If you are among them, you may mail your check to CYC Treasurer, Marc Buckley, 1 Reed Court, Chestertown MD 21620. One of the information buttons on the renewal page also shows this address.

To ensure that your family is listed in the 2011 Directory, please join CYC and pay your dues before June 1. Our annual membership dues are $75.  We invite those aged 21-30 to join as Associate Members at the reduced annual dues rate of $30. 

To encourage early registration, we are offering a discounted class fee of $60 per week for registrations made before June 1st.  The normal rate of $70 per week will be charged for registrations from June 1st to June 26th.  After the start of the season, June 27th, the registration fee will be charged at the rate of $80 per child per week.  Please keep in mind that we have class size limits for safety reasons - once a class week sells out, unfortunately we will not be able to take additional sailors - this is possible any week, but particularly a risk in July!

If you are planning to bring a guest student, please plan ahead! Each student, whether they are the child of a member or a guest of a member family, must be registered online by their parent or guardian. A fully-completed health form, signed by the guest student's parent or guardian, must be received by the CYC prior to the child's enrollment in class.

 

WE WILL NOT BE ACCEPTING WALK-UP ENROLLMENTS.  Thanks for your understanding.

The CYC Board of Governors will consider a request for a waiver of sailing registration fees by a member family for reasons of serious economic hardship. Any fee waiver request should be addressed to the Commodore, who will then present the matter to the Governors for consideration.

More than 60% of our members have graciously joined each year without enrolling a student, and have thereby provided crucial support for the program. Collectively these memberships allow us to ensure a successful program for the island. We do not assume that you will join every year, and are truly grateful when you do.

 

Our eight week season begins June 27th and ends Friday August 19th. For more 2011 season details, please click on the season schedule link above.

Save The Date! Work Weekend will take place on June 18-19, and we welcome everyone to join us to prepare the Clubhouse and fleet for the summer. It's always a fun and productive occasion! There are many more pictures, like this one, of enthusiastic volunteers having fun during Work Weekend 2010. You can see them by clicking on the link below.

WORK WEEKEND 2010 PICTURES

Celebrate! (Tam Baumgarten, July 24, 2010)
Winner (tie) of the 2010 CYC Photo Contest

Five boats downwind (Annie Hinson, July 26, 2010)
Winner (tie) of the 2010 CYC Photo Contest

Sunrise over the CYC dock on a hazy day (Hal Granger, July 7, 2010)
Third place in the 2010 CYC Photo Contest

It's tax time, and we have made every effort to promptly acknowledge all monetary and goods donations received by the CYC during 2010. Many of these acknowledgments were sent via email. If you did not receive written thanks from us, or believe that you have misplaced the receipt we sent, please let us know via the Contact Us page on the CYC website, and we will respond with a copy as swiftly as possible.

In closing, we have many members to thank for their assistance last year. As you all know, Cuttyhunk Yacht Club is a volunteer-managed organization rich in the tradition of teaching children how to sail in a safe and fun way on the waters of Buzzards Bay. We have many members who volunteer at Work Weekends, in the Boutique, as coordinators of sailing events, at the July and August parties, and in the off-season, to manage the Club's business aspects or keep a watchful eye on the Clubhouse and docks. Each of these individuals help to ensure that Cuttyhunk's children will have the opportunity to enjoy sailing and the lifelong friendships made at CYC just as so many of us have over the years. If you shared your time with us during the year, we greatly appreciate your efforts.

Stay tuned for our regular Spring Newsletter with more exciting information about the upcoming season. If you have news you would like to share in that Newsletter, please email it to us by May 1 via the Contact Us page on CYC's website at http://www.cuttyhunkyachtclub.org/contactus.html.

See you all on the island, and thanks for your support!

Cordially, 
David L. Frothingham 
Commodore
Cuttyhunk Yacht Club