And the Nominees are…
2020-2021 Slate of Nominees for the SSA Board of Governors
The following slate of nominees to the 2020-2021 Board of Governors is presented by the Nominating Committee (per the SSA policies and procedures, Part V). Each of the following qualified voting members is proposed by the 2020 Nominating Committee and has accepted placement on the slate for the position indicated. In finalizing this year’s slate, the Nominating Committee considered input from each nominee initially by written responses to the nominee questionnaire followed by a Zoom interview. All voting members are encouraged to participate in the forthcoming annual Zoom meeting and vote accordingly for the proposed slate of Board of Governors.
Commodore – Eric Johnson
Vice Commodore – Robin Richards
Rear Commodore – Bruce Empey
Fleet Captain – Tom Shaw
Secretary – Mike Colbert
Treasurer – Howard Vickery
Member at Large – Bill Krafft
Member at Large – Chris Young
Past Commodore – Jonathan Phillips
This year’s Nominating Committee, as appointed by Commodore Phillips, consisted of the following individuals:
Mark Hasslinger – Committee Chair, markhasslinger@verizon.net
Dorian Haldenman – spidervmd@gmail.com
Joan Hurban – jghurban@gmail.com
Dave Schoene – drschoene@verizon.net
Matt White – mattw@white64.com
The following descriptions provide a brief background on each of the nominees:
Commodore - Eric Johnson:
I am honored to be nominated to serve as the next Commodore of SSA. Serving on the Board of Governors has been a rewarding opportunity to contribute to a club that has been an important part of my sailing life.
2020 has been a particularly challenging year for SSA and for society as a whole, but the dedication, flexibility, and volunteer spirit of our members made it a far more successful year than anyone would have anticipated in the spring. For 2021, we will likely need to continue to modify our programs to meet the challenges of the pandemic, while also focusing on financial and capital improvement projects that will ensure the long-term health of the club. Despite these challenges, we cannot lose sight of our goal to ensure that SSA remains the premier venue for one-design racing on the Chesapeake Bay.
I was first elected to the Board of Governors in 2016, and have served as Fleet Captain, Rear Commodore, and Vice Commodore. Prior to that, I served on the Sailing Committee, the Standing Race Committee, and the Long-Range Planning Committee.
After my first time on a sailboat, on a Sunfish shortly after my high school graduation, I was hooked for life. I then learned to sail in college on a small lake near Indiana University, and competed on the fledgling intercollegiate sailing team there. After finishing graduate school at the University of Michigan, I moved to northern New Jersey and spent most weekends crewing on keelboats on Long Island Sound. I bought my first Laser (#29967) around 1990 and have been active in the class ever since. After relocating to DC in 1993, I raced Lasers on the Potomac and keelboats on the Bay. Since joining SSA in 2004, I have been most active in the Laser fleet, but am always interested in trying out other classes. While I am a small-boat sailor at heart, I also race on a J-105 and a Swan 42, and did several thousand miles of offshore racing in the early 2000s. In my professional life, I work in regulatory affairs for GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines in Rockville, MD.
Vice Commodore – Robin Richards
I am honored to be nominated to serve again on Severn Sailing Association’s Board of Governors. I certainly have enjoyed being a member of SSA these past 7 years and participating on BoG as member-at-large and then Rear Commodore and being the Board liason for the Membership Committee, participating on the Long Range Planning Committee in 2016, and representing Day Sailer Fleet 1 on the Sailing Committee. Certainly, positioning SSA to be safe for sailing during COVID-19 was and continues to be a challenge – and has resulted in tapping into expertise a sailing club and its governance wouldn’t have thought necessary. I am very proud of the way the SSA staff, Board, Committees, working groups, and numerous volunteers have stepped up in some many ways to allow sailing, junior programs, and racing to occur. I know we will continue to adapt so that sailing is safe and enjoyable and a tid bit less shoreside social (until vaccine) in 2021. The Board will need to continue to be aware of our finances, consider staffing model, and encourage creativity in our offerings for sailing in 2021. I hope we are able to host the planned 3 national championships, SSAilstice (aka Open House), and dabble in developing adult training programs in 2021. As a Board member, I would like to continue to contribute to selling our “value added” to retain and recruit membership and continue to assure SSA’s sustainability.
Rear Commodore – Bruce Empey
While I have been a member for less than ten years, my parents joined SSA in the 1950’s and many of our family legends and my earliest memories focus on SSA of the ‘60’s and ‘70’s. Actually, my father held the post of Rear Commodore sometime in the late 1960’s or early 70’s (our records were largely lost in the fire which took out our original Senior Clubhouse). I am a product of SSA’s Junior Program. Additionally, I have raced all over the world in informal, Regional, National, and World- level events – both in dinghies and offshore. I hope that this history informs my perspective as I look at matters under consideration by the Board.
I feel that SSA is a unique institution within our sport, and service to the membership includes
maintaining that position of leadership consistent with our By-Laws. This relates to conduct of our races, our race committees and judges, our fleet and shoreside infrastructure, new member recruitment, and our Junior Program. Each member should feel they have an understanding of the Club’s administration and a voice in decisions, and we should all understand and feel good about how our dues and other fees are being managed and spent. I try to be accessible for input and feedback from fellow members.
I have served on the Facilities and Junior Committees, and liaised with Standing Race Committee, Finance Committee, and Membership Committee. According to our By-Laws “The Rear Commodore shall have such duties as are assigned by the Board of Governors”, so this post tends to be a sort of utility infielder for whatever jobs don’t fall directly on one of our Committees, and having already worked with many of our volunteers and Committees should be a good start.
I race a Laser and cruise the Bay on my 30-foot powerboat. I live in Annapolis and work nearby in a non-marine industry.
Fleet Captain – Tom Shaw
I have been a member of SSA on and off since 1995 (with a few years off when my daughters were very young). Growing up, I sailed and raced out of the Coconut Grove Sailing Club in Miami and the Bay Head Yacht Club in New Jersey. Over the years I’ve raced everything from Prams to Whitbread 60s. At SSA, I started racing a Laser and eventually moved into a Day Sailer so my wife and daughters could sail as well. I’m also the Day Sailer fleet treasurer. I still occasionally race my vintage Laser, lately in TESODs. Outside of the club, I do some ocean racing, such as the Annapolis to Newport race, Bermuda races, and the Fastnet race last summer.
I moved back to Annapolis in January so I’m more available to help out with club activities than in the past when I lived in Northern Virginia. (That hour-long drive back to NoVa after a full day on the water was a killer). SSA has an admirable reputation for well-run races and I’d like to help continue that tradition. I look forward to helping the club get through these crazy times, and building on previous efforts to keep the club on a solid foundation. In particular, I’d like to help the club strengthen its financial picture, grow its membership, and improve the member experience, both on and off the water.
Secretary – Mike Colbert
I began sailing in the early 1970’s on Lightnings in Kansas and on Optimists on the island of Rhodes, Greece. When my family moved to the Washington area in the mid seventies, my father purchased a Ranger 28 that he kept in Solomons Island, Md. We were members of SMSA and raced actively. Eventually, my father moved the boat to Annapolis. While we did not race the boat much I participated in junior events at SSA in the early 1980’s and crewed actively on a number of boats. After finishing school at Va Tech in 1990, I joined SSA as a J/24, Laser, and Soling sailor. I became the J/24 fleet captain and ultimately served on the Board as an at-large member. I enjoyed my time on the board and was proud to serve. When my first child was born in 1997, I found it difficult to find time to sail and volunteer so I decided to take time off of sailing to raise my children. When my youngest daughter graduated from high school in 2019, I purchased a Laser and began racing again. I immediately rejoined SSA and am thrilled that the club is as active and vibrant as ever. Many of my friends and sailing rivals are still sailing at the club and at our events and it feels as though I was never gone.
I graduated from Virginia Tech with BSEE and MSEE degrees in 1989 and 1990 respectively. I founded an electronics engineering firm, Smart Logic, Inc. in 1998 and have been actively running it since then.
My goal as a member of the Board is to actively participate in the decision making and problem solving that will keep SSA the outstanding, member driven organization that it has always been. SSA has been part of my life off and on for nearly forty years and I hope to give back to a club that has meant so much to me.
Treasurer – Howard Vickery
I am privileged to have had the opportunity to serve this year as the Club secretary. Although I have been a member of the Club since 1984, I was a stranger to the inner workings of the Club until I joined the Board last fall. This was due in large part to living in Connecticut for close to thirty years. I remained a non- resident of the Club for all these years, but came down every year for the Fall and Spring Soling Bowl. One glorious spring day in Annapolis convinced me that I wanted to live in Annapolis when I retired. Mary and I spent two years house-hunting, purchased a home in Annapolis in 2013, and transitioned to Maryland. For a couple of years, I commuted to New York from Annapolis on Tuesday morning and returned Thursday night. I fully retired from the practice of law on January 15, 2020.
This year has been a learning experience. As Secretary, I have been in an ideal position to keep tabs of all the things going on at SSA. I quickly discovered that my legal experience came in handy. Among other things, I found myself re-drafting the Club’s waiver and release forms to take Covid-19 into account and to develop a one-and-done waiver. I also did a deep dive into yacht club insurance to find a new carrier to provide comprehensive maritime and liability insurance at a lower cost. I have focused on understanding the finances of the Club, including the junior program and long-range planning. Like other board members, I was fully involved in the development of the FY 2021 budget.
I have a personal interest in finance and the markets. This comes with the territory if you want to retire without a pension in this day and age. When I was a student at the University of Chicago Law School, I took accounting and corporate finance courses at the business school across the Midway. I also completed courses in personal, corporate, and international taxation during and after law school. I have spent years litigating high level securities and financial cases in New York City. The best accounting experts that money could buy tutored me on generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS) when I was a lead lawyer in a successful class action against the accounting firm that botched the audit of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities.
SSA occupies a special niche in the sailing world as a club dedicated to the joys of small boat racing. I have spent many happy days sailing at SSA and have acquired lifelong friends. My fervent wish is for the Club to survive and flourish in perpetuity. To do this, SSA needs to attract new members and remain affordable, particularly for young sailors with families. This will require keeping dues and storage fees in check. At the same time, we must plan for the future and set aside reserve funds each year to maintain the property and facilities. Next year, there will be important financial decisions to be made even if COVID-19 fades away – among other things, we will have to refinance the balloon payment on the clubhouse, decide what do to with the cottage, update the reserve study, determine the timing of the replacement of the First Street pier, and hire a dockmaster. I look forward to tackling these issues if I am elected Treasurer. I am counting on the help of a strong finance committee composed of members who have worked in finance and related areas.
This has not been a good year for sailing, but I hope that 2021 will be a banner year for SSA. I eagerly anticipate competing in the Soling North Americans at the Club and taking my Sonar on the road to sail in championships in New England. I will also welcome the restoration of social life and drinking beer with friends on the Clubhouse deck.
Member at Large – Bill Krafft
I grew up sailing Penguins and Thistles on the Potomac, frequenting SSA for their invitational regattas. After a long hiatus from sailing, I moved to Eastport and joined SSA in 2016. This past year I have had the pleasure of sailing not only my own Thistle out of SSA, but also crewing on many classes of boats including a Benateau 40.7, Benateau One Ton, Sabre 38, Far 37, J30, and J22. I participated in over 30 days of racing. In addition, this past spring I received my D-Qualification in the Navy, allowing me to volunteer in the Navy’s OSTS program - a tier 1, high risk, leadership training program. In June, I sailed with a group of midshipmen to Stamford, CT and back. I graduated from Virginia Tech as a Mechanical Engineer in 1982 and started my own construction company in 1984, which I ran for 15 years. I am currently Director of Project Management for Tricon Construction, a subcontractor firm specializing in interior drywall contracting. This past year I served as Fleet Captain for Thistle Fleet #34 here at SSA. I look forward to serving on the Board and will use my time and energy to ensure that our members continue to enjoy the services that make SSA a great place to race. I will strive to work with my fellow board members and the membership to maintain SSA as a model sailing club in our community.
I am interested in continuing facilities improvement this year with the beam repairs to the north side of the club house. This past summer I managed to successfully complete the Navy’s Varsity Offshore Sail Training (VOST) as a coach and volunteered during the 3rd block to train the Midshipmen racing tactics on their donated boats.
Member at Large – Chris Young
I grew up in Annapolis and have been sailing since a boy—keel boats, wind surfing, and one designs. I joined SSA in 2012 to race Lasers. This was my introduction to racing and I’ve been active in the Laser Radial fleet since then. I enjoy competing year-round and particularly love frostbite sailing. My wife and I live in Annapolis and have two daughters – one in college and the other recently graduated. I work in Washington, DC as an attorney in the areas of banking and consumer financial law. I am committed to the future of SSA and again look forward to working with the Board.
Past Commodore – Jonathan Phillips
I returned to SSA in 2012 after a twenty-year hiatus from the club and Annapolis. A product of the junior program (70s), I spent my early years racing Turtles and 420s, and crewing on just about everything—Comets, Snipes, Day Sailors, you name it. From my mid-teens through early thirties, I competed nationally and internationally, primarily in the Laser and 505. Since rejoining SSA, I’ve returned to the Laser and also crew on a Thistle.
I have served on the board for six years, first as a Member at Large (liaison to the facilities committee) then Rear Commodore (liaison to junior committee), then Vice Commodore (liaison to the junior committee and standing race committee), and finally as Commodore for the past 2 years.
I live in "outer" Eastport with my wife, Bethany, and our little dog, Maisie. I work as a historian and educator. Currently, I am the Dean of Academics at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College in Quantico, Virginia.