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NOVEMBER 2016 NEWSLETTER |
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For all these years, when mid-October rolled around, sailing at Manhattan Yacht Club ended for the winter. Not this year! Welcome to the new Frostbite Sailing League on Sunfish dinghies!
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Update from Commodore Fortenbaugh
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 2016 was one of our greatest seasons ever. No question about it. And thank you to all of the Members who made a point of coming up to say how much you love our new facilities and how happy you are with what the Club has done recently. It all feels great and together, we once again have the opportunity to change this harbor for the better. Normally I use this update to talk about recent highlights, but this time I need to do something different - thank my racing team. What an incredible group of dedicated, focused and juiced-up sailors. For the past 6 months, we have been racing every Tuesday evening. We came away with a perfect season, an average of first place. It has never been done before at our Club and now it is a super high bar for future teams to challenge. There are rare times in life when you feel part of something special. The 2016 racing season has been one of these. Thank you to these sailors who made up our regular crew: Luigi Galbiati, Eivind Karlsen, Malcolm Forbes, Matt Winalski and Monty & Will Fortenbaugh. I would also like to thank all the great skippers and crew who participated in the racing programs this year. We had 13 teams race on Tuesday and another 13 teams race on Wednesday. If we grow any new teams over the winter, our racing programs will be sold out again. A great tribute to our Club's unique camaraderie and spirit of friendly competition. Rock on!
- Commodore Michael Fortenbaugh
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The Annual Dinner is Wed, Dec. 7
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The Annual Dinner celebrating the success of the 2016 sailing season will be held on Wednesday, December 7 at the Down Town Association. All Members are invited and encouraged to attend. Tickets are now on sale. This Club tradition begins with a cocktail reception followed by a seated dinner. The Down Town Association is a beautiful private club in Lower Manhattan which is always decorated wonderfully for the holidays. Trophies are presented for the cruising and racing programs. There is normally lots of hilarity as well as a very boisterous crowd. Tickets will sell out soon so buy yours today!
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Club's First Flagpole is Raised!
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To mark the end of our first full season at the new Clubhouse location at Liberty Harbor Marina in Jersey City, our Club's first ever flagpole was erected! It was an historic Fall evening, with a few speeches followed by Members lining up under the pole and all pushing together until the pole was up and secured. Then the United States flag went up first, followed by the Club burgee.
The idea of a Flagpole was only a glimmer when our new Clubhouse facility was built in time for the US Sailing Championship last October. Then over the course of this summer, the glimmer built into a vision which was sent to Members by email. The support from Members was overwhelming and the Flagpole became a reality! It arrived in time for the end of the season and presided over the Club for the final regatta and Decommissioning.
Special thanks to Carlos Tessi who did the legwork of sourcing the pole and keeping the project on track. A huge amount of thanks goes to all the Members listed below who supported the Flagpole vision and made it happen (listed in order of their subscription):
$500 Level:
Scott Curtis,
John LaGrassa,
Jun and Jo Sochi.
$250 Level:
John & Amy Elliott.
Carlos & Silvia Tessi,
Glen Burger,
Paul A. Bondor,
Christopher Gizzi,
Bob Savage.
$100 Level: Luigi Galbiati, Doug Witter, Alex Howarth, Nina Galbiati, Laura Isabella Galbiati, Linda Keefe, Zaralina & Edouard Ruelle, Allan B Larsen, Mac True, Allison and Michael Verost, Eric and Doreen Leitner, Roger Mader, Jaci Daudt, Simon Jones, Deborah Koch and Bill DeFazio, Lynn Sexton and Mike Duran, Malcolm Forbes, Rohit Pandey, Stuart Longley, Le Gourieres, James Burns, Mete Ozeren, Eivind Karlsen, Dan Crabbe, Matthew Winalski, Andrew Zangle, Lloyd Spencer, Bob Finkelstein, Sonya Mesommonta, Hal Dorfman, Bertrand Saliba, Marc X. LoPresti, Peter Abelman, John Carlson, Steven G Rawlings, Paul Gilman, Patty Bryan, Jim Savitsky, Sergio Pulles, Michael Connolly, Jim Cavanaugh, The Zwang Family, Tracy Aron, Levent Kemal Sadikoglu, Bill Leone, Joan E. Lappin, Erik Thygesen, Orlando Ivey.
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New Frostbite League Very Popular!
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Sailing continues through this winter in the new frostbite program on Sunfish dinghies. A group of 10 Members acquired Sunfish dinghies and this initial fleet has been increased by two classic Sunfish. There are now 12 boats in the Fleet. Racing is held on Saturday mornings near the entrance to Morris Canal, just before the Hudson River. There are short courses, dinghy starts and up to 5 races on Saturdays. After sailing, everyone gathers back at the Clubhouse to share stories and food. With cold weather finally arriving, there is also talk of fondue and chili, plus the specialized winter cheese dish known as raclette!
In the very first year of our Club, the winter of 1987-88, members used the J/24s
for frostbite sailing in the Hudson River. But freezing temperatures are not kind on J/24s so they were retired from this use. Then in 1999, the Club organized a second frostbite league on Laser dinghies near the Honorable William Wall and Pier 26. Lasers can be challenging boats to sail in heavier winds and it was an exciting program.
This new frostbite program is by far the best ever. The selection of Sunfish dinghies introduces a new class which is much easier to sail and less likely to capsize. The sails are colorful and vibrant and everyone is gaining knowledge and skill. The quality of the competition increases every weekend. If you are interested in bringing your Sunfish to the Club to begin racing or you would like to be connected with some of the existing owners to see if you can partner with them, call Mindy at 212-786-3323.
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Our Upcoming 30th Anniversary Season |
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2017 will be our Club's 30th Anniversary! We will mark this occasion with a series of incredible sailing events here in New York Harbor augmented by great sailing trips around the world. We hope you will actively participate in this great celebration.
The 30th Anniversary will begin with De Caribbean Regatta at the end of January when Members will sail island to island through the BVIs. Would you rather be sitting in the cold and ice in New York or running barefoot in the sand in the BVIs? https://myc.org/cruising/de-caribbean-regatta/
There will be a new Mid-Winter Dinner in February so that all Members can get together in style. Then the Annual Sailors Ball will take place on Saturday, April 29th. It is the 20th Anniversary celebration of the Sailors Ball. Our 30th Anniversary Season Commissioning Ceremony will be Saturday, May 6.
The big event of the summer will be the International Yacht Club Challenge as we invite yacht clubs from around the world to gather in New York Harbor on August 25-27. This will continue the traditions established by our Club in 1988 when we organized the first Challenge. The 2nd & 3rd Challenges were co-organized with Yacht Club de Monaco in 1989 & 1991. More recently, a series of Challenges have been held under the patronage of Dennis Conner since 2006. For our Club's 30th Anniversary, we look forward to inviting more international yacht clubs and making friends throughout the world.
It is also possible that our Club will host one or more weekends of an international 12 Meter Challenge. 2017 is an America's Cup year with the main event happening in Bermuda in June. After this, the New York Harbor Sailing Foundation plans to launch the second "America II" 12 Meter so that we have a matched pair here in the harbor. These boats may be used for international match races in July & August.
Then if our Club has good fortune, we hope to return to Bermuda in November to continue our relationship with the International One Design class. This will cap the sailing programs of our 30th Anniversary Season and the final event will be the Annual Dinner in December. Of course you should save all of these dates and enter them into your calendar now!
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Race Committees Reach New Heights in 2016!
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This past season, we began to re-energize our Race Committees at the Club. And what a great success it was with the number of RC volunteers growing significantly, not to mention the new and incredible Race Committee gear! Every week, our Club organizes 3 evenings of racing, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday.
Luigi Galbiati led the efforts on Thursday evenings where the committee would sing songs, kiss the Race Committee flag and run up the highest bar bill.
TJ Dalton & John Elliot anchored the Wednesday evening program in the spring and then promoted Patrick Burks to be head in the summer.
Jim McNally & Peter Humphrey handled the Tuesday programs.
By the end of the season, Race Committees had new volunteers and incredible spirit. They were waving the flag and presiding at the evening awards ceremony along with our Race Manager Sebastian head.
The pride of the race committee volunteers was evident in the new SLAM gear. There are polo shirts, jackets, bibs and full weather gear, all looking incredible with the Burgee crossed with the Race Committee flag. Near the end of the season our Club even hosted a Race Management seminar which allowed many of our new volunteers to become certified race officers. With this type of momentum, we can only imagine what our 30th Anniversary will bring!
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De Caribbean Regatta - Jan 28 - Feb 4
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The first event of our 30th Anniversary Season will be De Caribbean Regatta. This will be held in the BVIs from Jan 28 to Feb 4. Eleven boats are already posted on the website. Start planning now for this great social and sailing event.
De Regatta is always in the deepest, darkest part of the winter when we all need the warmth and sunshine. There is no better way to celebrate the Club and get your winter fix of sailing and sunshine than joining De Caribbean Regatta.
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America II Visits Seawanhaka Corinthian YC
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America II has been an important ambassador for sailing in New York Harbor. This past summer, she visited Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club thanks to the connection of Gerry Dolezar who is a member of both our clubs.
SCYC is one of the grand Clubs or the Northeast with a great tradition of amatuer sailing and racing. It is located on Oyster Bay and personifies elegance and beauty. Visiting SCYC is always a special treat for our Members.
Of course the visit is enhanced by sitting around tables in the SCYC bar. The feeling of comfortable and casual elegance makes everyone feel at home and lifts the spirits in more than one way!
The Ambassadorial Trips of America II have been very successful in raising the profile of what is happening in new York Harbor. The trips are also well supported by the America II sailors and have become another method for raising funds to help support and preserve this important piece of American yachting history. If you have a chance to get involved with the America II program next year, consider it carefully an act quickly as t sold out this past summer.
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Upcoming Events |
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| Annual Dinner - December 7 De Caribbean Regatta - January 28 - February 4 MId-Winter Dinner to Honor the Blue Water Society Spring Launching - April 1 20th Annual Sailors Ball - April 29 International Yacht Club Challenge - August 25-27 Monaco Classic Week - September 13-17 Bermuda IOD Regatta - November
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Follow the Club on Facebook |
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 Stay in touch. There are many pictures which get uploaded in real time on our club Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Manhattan-Yacht-Club/210468042307077
If you "Like" this page, then you will get notices when new pictures and videos are posted. See pictures of other Members and friends when they go out sailing! Post your comments and get more involved in a fun and social way.
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Seen at the Club |
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|  Members gather for a group picture before the Bruce Hagan Memorial Regatta.
One of the DE Shaw Corporate Teams is all-women and they make their mark by winning a lot of the races! 
Learning to rig a Sunfish.
La Marina Excursion sailors prepare their boats these next 3 pictures! Thanks to James Sinclair for envisioning these great trips.
Arriving on America II means arriving in style. Not only is she an incredibly beautiful boat, but she also is the epitome of American yachting tradition.
Thank you to Gerry Dolezar for helping to welcome America II and her sailors to SCYC for the second year in a row.
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