Treasurer

I was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec. I learned to sail in the late 1970s at Community Boating on the Charles River in Boston. In 1980, when I moved to Northern Virginia, I bought a Day Sailer and sailed with family, mostly on the Potomac River. My desire to race my Day Sailer led me to discover Day Sailer Fleet One at SSA in 2021. My wife Anne and I have three children; my son crews for me in the Day Sailer. I am also a member of the Wanderlusters Sailing Club, a small all-volunteer club that has two boats (a Catalina 27 and a Hunter 30). The club is a ‘learn how to sail’ club with the opportunity to become club captains for club boat usage. After short stints in the restaurant and solar industries, in 1981, I became the Chief Financial Officer of Fauquier Health System, a 501 C (3) organization. As CFO, I oversaw many aspects of the organization, growing from a single hospital in Warrenton, Virginia, which expanded to include owning and operating a nursing home, an assisted living facility, and physician practices and joint ventures. I am experienced in both ‘not for profit’ and well as ‘for-profit’ environments. I have served as SSA’s treasurer for a year and bring my knowledge and experience to managing and strengthening the club’s balance sheet and supporting the many exciting projects the club has and will continue to undertake. I would endeavor to build on the existing 10-year capital expenditure projection, seeking input from many key individuals, to help guide SSA’s long-term capital expenditure plan.

Secretary

I began competitive sailing in an Optimist at age 10. I graduated to the Byte, then Laser, 420s, 29er, Penguin, and currently the Snipe. I have also crewed on J/22, J/24, and J/70 class boats. Sailing has allowed me to travel, create lasting friendships, learn new skills, and support various club communities. I have shared my experiences through teaching basic and advanced courses through the Southern Maryland Sailing Association (SMSA) and supporting Special Olympics. I used to travel from Solomons to SSA to participate in the summer Laser program and have now returned to be part of the Snipe fleet. With that early history with the club and my current participation in both Snipe sailing and events, I feel I can be of value in representing the club. I am interested in where the club is going and I can bring the perspective of my peers forward to the Board to ensure the continued growth of youth sailing at SSA. I served on the SSA Board this past year as a member-at-large.

SSA Fleet Captain

I discovered the joy of one-design racing in El Toros and Albacores at the Washington Sailing Marina. I also raced CBYRA, A2N, and A2B on my Dad’s big boats in Annapolis. After a successful college racing career at Boston University in the early 1980s, I stepped away from racing for nearly 30 years. It wasn’t until a Boston University Alumni Regatta in 2017 that I decided to jump back into sailing. I joined SSA that summer, and I sail the Day Sailer and the ILCA 6. I was the Fleet Captain for the SSA Day Sailer fleet and still serve on the National Day Sailer Board as Vice President. I was part of the working group for SSA’s new First Street basin, and served on the Finance Committee for the past 4 years. I’m a competitive guy who loves summer sailing in Annapolis, TESOD, Wednesday night J105, 

Thursday J70, Friday EYC Beer Can and I am excited to bring a little more fun back to SSA regattas. For me that fun this year will be crewing for my daughter Morgan (a new member) on our Day Sailer, Bluebird. Personally, I’m most proud of the fact that I’m the father of four grown daughters and two granddaughters, all who enjoy sailing on our family’s 1973 Bristol 40 Yawl, Cricket. I retired last year after a 41-year career in the advertising business. Today, I am Vice President/Partner at Port Annapolis Marina; I divide my time between Annapolis and Anna Maria Island, Florida.

Member at Large

member-at-large. As a child of Kiwi parents, I actually don’t remember learning to sail, we just sailed. I ‘won’ my first trophy ‘crewing’ with my folks in their Day Sailer Hinemoa on Mobile Bay in 1963. My responsibility was to bail, as the wind and waves were up and a Day Sailer, well, is a bit of a bathub. Flash forward to 2019, Galveston Bay, skippering my Day Sailer Kanaka and bailing away again as we capsized going downwind…and then thankful for safety boat (those didn’t exist in 1963) with a modern submersible pump. So all ready to go next race! Sailing is always sailing, winds and waves and currents are not controllable, the challenge is figuring out a course forward to a goal, and being safe, having fun, and embracing all the improvements along the way. Sailing has been so integral to my life that giving back just seems easy and the right action for me. I hope to help SSA balance the old with the new, continue to grow youngsters into sailors for life, and cement our reputation as the premier one-design racing club (and not just on the Bay!). I have served on the Board for several years, including stepping back on midway through 2024 to fill a vacancy.

Member at Large

I am an active sailor currently involved in several sailing classes including the J/22, Snipe, and Laser (frostbite). I started sailing in big boats, but have actively campaigned various one designs since the early 1990s in keelboats—J/22, J/24, Star, and Soling classes—and in dinghies—Laser, I-14, 505s, and now Snipes. I came to sailing later in life in my 20s but while at University of Maryland, found an unused fleet of Laser 2s here at SSA and rebuilt the sailing program and sailing team there. I was first a member at SSA as a student over 21 in the mid- to late 1990s, and again later in life after a brief hiatus from sailing while I focused on my new career and family, rejoining as a voting member in 2010. I came back to SSA to teach my two kids to race and spend more quality time with them by joining SSA and the Snipe fleet. Since rejoining SSA, I have been active with the Snipe fleet helping to grow the fleet through new members and to increase our participation levels at fleet events. I have also previously served on the SSA Board of Governors, serving in several roles. My primary reasons for serving on the Board are to help maintain the services that make our club special while looking for opportunities to improve our programs to run more efficiently and effectively or expand what we can do through new program development.

Member at Large

I am a 28-year veteran of SSA. In 1996, I began racing Optis out of SSA and continued through the junior program where I ultimately was a skipper on the Club 420 travel/race team. I attended the Key School and participated in high school sailing, where my practices were run out of SSA. After high school, I attended Tufts University and was on the varsity sailing team for my four years of college. Every summer while in college, I came back to SSA to coach novice and racing sailors. Since moving back in the area after law school, I have owned a J/80, a 505, and now a Viper 640 that I campaign up and down the East Coast. I am very much looking forward to working with the club and its members to continue the growth of the junior program and SSA’s reputation for excellent one-design racing.