J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Districts Southern New England District SNE District 2014 Annual Meeting - Thurs 3 April

Happy New Year all J/30 sailors,

Will this Winter never end??? Well, one way to get going in the right direction is to start thinking about sailing again. The Calendar says it will start getting warmer soon, so let's help it along. I want to take this opportunity to invite you to our annual J/30 Class, Southern New England District meeting 6:30pm on April 3rd at the North Sails loft in Portsmouth RI. The loft has generously agreed to open their doors for us to hold the meeting, and may be giving us some insight into new sail material or techniques trickling down to us from the grand prix circuits. Plus there that video of last year's North Americans that they recorded. Doors will be open at 6:30 and the meeting will start at 7:00. Feel free to bring crew. They deserve to be as informed and excited about the new season as you are.

At the meeting we will go over the usual class business, election of District Officers (Looking for volunteers) as well as the 2014 race schedule and cruising opportunities for our district.

J/30 SNE Region Open Regatta

Two years ago we introduced the SNE Regional Regatta in Newport which was an incredible success with 14 boats participating. At that time we wanted to hold this regatta on all years when the North Americans are NOT being hosted by our district. This is one of those years. The regatta will be held at and run by the Bristol YC on July 19 and 20. Join us at the April meeting and get all the details of that regatta, as well as those for the North Americans being held at Cedar Point YC in Connecticut in September. You have a great opportunity for a lot of high level racing between the two regattas.

Let us know
Give some thought about racing in the Regional Regatta and get back to me with what you think your level of participation will be with it. Hopefully by seeing how well the planning has started, knowing the great experiences of past regattas at this location you would be inclined to participate in the regatta with your boat and crew. OR you can provide your boat as a loaner for others who would otherwise not race. In this way, you usually can race with them and learn an enormous amount about racing J/30's if you are new to the boat or to racing in general.

We will be providing food (probably pizza) and beverages at the meeting. Feel free to bring your crew to and Please RSVP with the number of people who will be attending so we can make sure we have enough food and drink.

I'm looking forward to seeing you at the annual meeting and starting the ball rolling into another successful racing season in 2014.

Wishing you a safe and successful new year,
Mark Rotsky
J/30 Class Southern New England District Governor

Mark - I'll be there. I'll post an update if any of the Rhapsody crew decide to attend.

Andrew Urban and Mary Saluto will attend too.

Mark...I'm in. I'll try to get one or two of my crew to join me.

Bob Rude

Waltzing Matilda will attend the SNE meeting on April 3. We will have three in attendance, including myself.

See you then!
Bill Veno

Falcon will be there with at least 2 crew

Blitz is in with 3 (including myself)

Kevin Dakan
Blitz 122

Our 2014 annual spring kick off meeting was held on April 3rd at the North Sail loft in Portsmouth, RI and hosted by Henry Little. In attendance were the following sailors:

Kathy Rotsky-Nemesis
Mark Rotsky-Nemesis
Chris Tate-Blitz (357)
Bob Rude-Mmmmm
Ted Brandley-Mmmmm
Chet Ortivoh-Mmmmm
Richard Murphy-Azimuth
Mary Anne Murphy-Azimuth
David Greenhalgh-Good News
John Cavanaugh-Good news
Charlie Stoddard-Falcon
Skip Neville-Falcon
Bill Kneller-Rhapsody
Bill Saltonstall-Arbella
Tinker Saltonstall-Arbella
Bob Kinsman-Blitz(122)
Kevin Dakon-Blitz(122)
Chris Levy-Blitz (122)
Steve Adkins-Karinosa

The presentation is attached.

The meeting started with everyone reporting on their spring boat preparation status, which ranged from barely looking at the boat to almost ready to launch.

The Treasurers report was given by Bill Kneller, followed by the Board of Governor's report given by Mark Rotsky.

Charlie Stoddard then presented the racing schedule for the district, highlighted by the Regionals Regatta in July at Bristol YC, and the North Americans in September at Cedar Point YC in Ct.

Regional elections were held and despite numerous requests for new names in the hat, the same slate of officers was elected;
SNE District Governor - Mark Rotsky
Treasurer - John Howell
Secretary - Kathy Rotsky
Measurer - Charlie Stoddard

The meeting concluded with an open question and answer session which evolved to an excellent brainstorming session covering a number of maintenance issues that boat owners brought up.

A very nice raffle gift provided by Henry
Little, time to wander around the loft drooling on sails, and an abundance of pizza and beverages rounded out a successful meeting and started some juices flowing towards the start of the sailing season.

Respectfully submitted,
Kathy Rotsky