FLEET 50 ANNUAL MEETING
MAMAS ITALIAN RESTAURANT            
February 8, 2003

by Joe Warren

We went public for the first time in about 10 years.  PUBLIC?  Yes, our annual meeting/party was held at a restaurant.  It’s not that we are cheap, or that nobody would have us, you see.  The hospitality of Stuart and Sondra White was difficult to turn down.  For the last 6-7 years our annual meetings/parties have been at their house; for 3 years before that, at the Dillards.  The White’s house can seat 25 comfortably but over the last three years attendance has been much higher.  With Stuart leaving the fleet, this was the time to look elsewhere.

Evans Farm Inn is gone (the site of our last restaurant outing) but Jeff Storck came up with Mama’s.  It was an excellent choice, offering far more room than what Evans Farm had and we got the banquet room to ourselves for the reasonable price of $ 20. We needed room with 54 attendees—16 skippers, about 30 crew and 8 wives and friends.   THAT is a record at least over the last 12 years.  We even had a few more than the memorable February 2000 meeting.  Life members Mike and Carol Arnold, Frank and Betty Gentile, Dave Pyle and other long time members and friends attended that meeting.  If the food at Mamas lacked the variety of our fleet-provided dinners it was good and plentiful.  One BIG surprise was running out of the fleet provided wine before the dinner.  Some folks thought we are just beer drinkers; not so.  A sit-down dinner shows that even fleet 50 folks have taste given the right circumstances.  Judging from the noise level it seemed like a hundred folks were there.  Sadly, no one said they missed Joe Warren’s unique fruit jello. 

2002 RECAP 

We welcomed new skipper Peter McConnell, wife Allison, and baby daughter Ainsley, and new crew Donna Cohen and Diana Kirby.  Nabeel Alsalam reviewed the highlights of the sailing year.  We had 16 fleet boats entered in the Potomac Cup; 15 boats sailed at least one day in both the Spring and Fall series; and, 19 boats sailed over the year.  We ended 2002 with more than 20 active skippers/boats.  Frank Gallagher’s report showed that the fleet’s financial condition is very good.  Higher attendance at the Potomac Cup (especially with Hamptons participating for the first time) generated 25 % more income than 2001.  Our bank balance at the end of 2002 was nearly $3,900.  Thanks to Frank for keeping such detailed records. 

Nabeel thanked those who renewed fleet membership and in PRSA, and reminded everyone how important PRSA membership is.  They bought a new committee boat which just about exhausted the capital fund and have high ongoing expenses due to storage of three boats.  Our membership in PRSA by both owners and crew jumped sharply during the last two years. Fleet 50’s importance to PRSA is recognized with the installment of Nabeel as 2003 Commodore. 

Nabeel also presented the race committee duty report.  The new system in place last year of scheduled duty assignments worked very well.  This system equalizes the number of times a skipper and crew has committee duty.  He thanked those who served.  Fleet 50 got the PRSA award for best committee duty.  Thacher Tiffany got special recognition as the race committee PRO for the Leukemia/President’s Cup Regatta.   

Fleet Awards:

There were many who contributed to the fleet.  For instance, every active skipper contributed some help to planning or running the Potomac Cup.  Some skippers and crew contributed  more.  These people were recognized by the following awards.

Fleet Helper Award: Cathy Bleakly.  Cathy was primarily responsible for organizing and buying food for the Potomac Cup.  She assisted in our cookouts after Sunday racing and later became regular crew for Laurie Duncan.

Best New Skipper: Laurie Duncan.  Began in the Fall series. While learning she sailed conservatively following the fleet, but finished 6th of 10 boats on the last Sunday.

Most Improved: Rick Welch.  2001 was a year of teaser good finishes.  But this year his consistency was much improved and Rick finished 4^th in the fall series.

High Impact Crew (3 winners): 
Russ Roberts.  Russ can be counted on set up the boat and have it in the water before his skipper arrives.  He does much more than mechanically perform his duties with skill; Russ is also fully engaged in the racing.  He is fully involved in deciding where to start, judging the timing to the line and in suggesting the best time to tack. When Nabeel can’t make a race, he has skippered the boat himself.

Jill Williamson.  Her determination to improve the boat and win supercedes that of almost any other crew. She travels to outside venues with skippers outside fleet 50 to improve herself (and Wolf) and gain new insights to go fast!  Her performance makes the middle crew shine.  Her ability and desire to pull the skipper out of a funk remains unparalleled.

Rookie Crew Award:  Kris Swanson.  It is rare for someone to jump on a Lightning for the first time, in the spring, and by the end of the season, become a solid member of the team. Kris, was out there every week working on her skills, drinking up everything (except the skipper’s Gatorade/ice tea/lime brew) anyone had to teach her. Her terrific attitude makes her a pleasure to sail with.

Fleet Builder Award:  Joe Warren.  In recognition of his hard work in frequently updating the crew list, working with new skippers, and trying to get new crew out on Wed nights.

Special Hard Core award: Ben Kuykendall.  He sails Lightnings, Lasers, and J-105’s. He also sailed in the Annapolis to Bermuda race. Not only that, he LIVES on a sailboat. For all that and more, Ben Kuykendall is truly Hard Core!

Fleet Championship Awards

(see annual report for racing details)

Fifth place: Jeff Storck, Craig Huzway

Fourth place: Drew Hudson, Sousan Arafeh, Tony Vernon & Eric Ostenfeld

Third place: Nabeel Alsalam, Russ Roberts & Scott Bradford

Fleet Runner Up: Pat McGee, Jill Willamson & Ian MacLeod

Fleet Champion: Frank Gallagher, Skip Hirsh, C.J. Fisher, & Christy Lavigne

Bloody Rudder:  Nabeel Alsalam.  This is a new trophy, created and donated by Jeff Storck, that recognizes the skipper who sailed the best 30 races in the 10 Dixie District invitational regattas.  Nabeel sailed in 8 events.

PRSA Helms Regatta:  Thacher Tiffany.  Given to the skipper who does the best sailing three types of boats—Lightnings, Lasers and Albacores.

Crew Awards

A crew committee started last year giving out awards.  Some observant crew noticed that their skippers made unusual “mistakes” or displayed unusual attributes and decided to take notice of such things.  These awards are based on popularity.

Mr. Hospitality:  Jeff Storck.  It’s no secret that when the wind died or during time between races, you wanted to get near to Jeff’s boat.  He always had a can of cold beer to help pass the time and cool off the perspiring skipper and crew of other boats. His own crew never complained about a shortage of the cold brew. 

Mr. Congeniality:  Joe Warren.  Joe always welcomes new skippers and crew onto the fleet and assists skippers who need crew.  He provides training by taking new crew on his boat; he went out of his way during a race to alert another skipper about a submerged branch nearby. 

Skipper of the Year:  Pat McGee.  He has shown unusual dedication to racing often coming out in poor weather.  He stays after the racing to entertain us with interesting stories about racing and other subjects.  He is enjoyable to be around and promotes the fleet.

Bungle Bucket:  Drew Hudson and crew.  On the day before the Leukemia/presidents Cup Drew Sousan and Tony Vernon were practicing spinnaker raisings and takedowns. They were using the red day mark in the cove.  In rounding the day mark while raising the spinnaker, it snagged the mark.  Since the spinnaker lines had knots at the end, they couldn’t be released, in effect hog-tying the boat.  This happened before an audience.  Gary Jobson was presenting a seminar on racing on the lawn looking toward the cove.  He remarked drolly, “they’re going to need help.”

But Drew had competition.  In front of a limited audience Jeff Storck was sailing above the starting line last Fall in a PRSA race, with about 2 minutes before the Lightning start.  He made an agile jibe but came too close to the committee boat snagging its anchor line.  The winds were enough to push his boat against the committee boat.  “Raise the centerboard and drop the sails.”  But it wasn’t enough.  String Theory’s stern was swinging toward the side of the committee boat.  It looked to the stunned race committed (Lightning sailors trying to fend String Theory off) like another rudder was about to be splintered.  With a few seconds to spare the rudder was removed and while the crew paddled furiously, the boat broke free.  The skipper opted for a safe start, and still managed a second place finish in that race.

Election of Officers:

The slate for 2003 was presented by Nabeel.  The entire slate was voted in by acclimation. 

Joe Warren thanked Nabeel for the tremendous dedication and effort he made over three years as fleet captain. 

            Jeff Storck for Fleet Captain

            Joe Warren for Secretary

            Frank Gallagher for Treasurer

            Drew Hudson for Lt for Racing

            Rick Welch for Potomac Cup Chair and Lt for Wed Series

            Nabeel Alsalam for Lt for Training & webmaster

The new fleet captain got off to a roaring start.  He promptly sold Drew Hudson’s older boat “Fast and Loose” to Denise Maleug.  (P.S. in skippering Rick’s boat last year she demonstrated how skillful she is)  Year 2003 bekons!

Pictures from the party