Vol. 26, No. 11 December, 2005

Commodore Kline: “2005 Has Been a Good Year” Those were outgoing Commodore Susan Kline’s opening remarks at the Annual Meeting on Sunday evening, November 20. Commodore Kline’s address summarized the numerous high-lights of the past season, including the harbor dredging, purchase of the new motor launch and the ongoing structural repairs to the Club’s waterfront facilities. Treasurer Jim Wick-ersham reported that PYC is ship-shape finan-cially, with 2005 ending in a tidy surplus. Mem-bership chair Joel Kunkel discussed how the Club’s ranks continue to grow, with 13 new Senior Members added this year and 17 proposed for 2006. Joel also mentioned that a new Corinthian Member program, headed by Ben Kinney, was cre-ated as a result of focus group meetings this past summer. Two new amendments to the Club’s By-Laws were passed at the meeting. The first amend-

Commodore Susan Kline congratulating David Storrs for his out-standing ser-vice to the Club, and left, with the brass cannon re-ceived from incoming Commodore Sprowl in rec-ognition of her service.

Taking Home the Silver The following awards were presented at the Annual Meeting. The Rennell Long Distance Prize for the cruis-ing boat with the best record during the year: William Hubbard. The W.T. Hatch Communication Award given to the member who makes a special contribution to the Pilot or any other Club communication: Arthur Gravanis. The Edward A. Jennings Trophy awarded to the One-Design sailor of the year: shared by Karen Sallick and Suzanne Simmonds. The William B. Cargill Trophy awarded to the member who by enthusiasm or special effort has contributed to the sport of sailing: David O. Smith. The Joseph F. Watkins Memorial Trophy awarded to a member for outstanding service: David Storrs. The Sherwood Cup awarded to Cruising Club Champion: Charles Reynolds.

The Starring Trophy awarded to the winner of the Falkner Island Race: Abhijeet Lele.

(Continued on page 2)

Make Your Reservation Now 255-5740, ext. 40, or pequotyc.com

DECEMBER

3 & 10, Saturday — Facilities Meetings, 9 a.m. 4, Sunday — Junior Christmas Party, 5 to 7 p.m. 11, Sunday — Commodores’ Caper, 6 p.m. 24, 25— Galley closed for Christmas.

Save the Date!

JANUARY 8 — New Year’s Brunch. 13 — Oysters, Clams & Roast Beef Dinner.

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ment clarifies the meaning of Non-Resident Mem-ber to exclude those who maintain a residence within 50 miles of the Club for longer than 30 days from May 15th to September 15th. The second amendment reduces the initiation fee for Corin-thian-to-Senior membership and waives the fee for anyone who has been a Junior Program instructor. Facilities Planning Committee chair Jim Brad-ley gave an informative presentation on the struc-tural repair issues relating to the Junior and Senior clubhouses. Jim’s committee has been working with engineering consultants to address the ma-sonry and support deterioration and to formulate a comprehensive restoration plan for all affected structures. Jim also mentioned that further meet-ings will be held with the membership on two Sat-urdays, December 3 and 10 at 9:00 a.m. to answer questions regarding these matters. At the conclusion of the meeting, new Commo-dore Chuck Sprowl presented Commodore Kline with a brass cannon and thanked her for two years of dedicated stewardship.

Left, Art Gravanis, recipient of the W.T. Hatch Communica-tion Award. Below, William Hubbard being congratulated by outgoing Commodore Susan Kline, and incoming Com-modore Chuck Sprowl looking on.

Commodore Kline: “2005 Has Been a Good Year” (Continued from page 1)

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Chuck Sprowl – Commodore Chuck and his wife Suzanne have lived in Southport since 1976 and have been PYC mem-bers since 1979. They have a daughter, Ashley, who currently resides in Atlanta. Chuck’s PYC Board experience is extensive, having held the of-fices of Secretary, House Chair and Treasurer (two terms) before joining the Commodore ranks in 2001. His aging, but well-cared-for Ericson 35, Hiri, is parked in a slip in front of the Senior Clubhouse. Chuck is President and founder of Sprowl & Associates, Inc., Advertising and the Riggs/Allen Re-port, a multiple listing service for the M&A community. John Watkins – Vice Commodore John grew up in Fairfield and sailed in the Pe-quot Junior Program, racing Blue Jays and Light-nings. In 1979, he joined Pequot as a Corinthian member just prior to marrying Ann, and they were both active frostbiters for many seasons (until children arrived). Over the years, they have sailed many cruis-ing boat races together and enjoy sailing Ideal 18s when they get the chance. Most of their time on the water is now spent sailing Grace with their three sons (John, Tom and David), who are all ac-tive participants in the Junior Program. Tom is currently the Rear Commodore of the Junior Club and John was Treasurer last year. Having served the Club on numerous committees and as a Governor, Membership Chair and Treasurer, John was de-lighted when asked to be Rear Commodore two years ago. In his words, “Pequot is truly an oasis after a long week at work and a great place for families to come together. It has served our family well for four generations.”

Bruce Kueffner – Rear Commodore Bruce started sailing Blue Jays in the Pequot Junior Program. Bruce’s daughter Elizabeth also sailed Blue Jays and Lasers in the junior pro-gram and currently works in Manhattan. Bruce has lived overseas and sailed in the South Pacific, in-cluding a cruise from Ja-pan to Guam. As a Senior member, Bruce has been actively involved in Club cruises and races. He has been a member of the Cruising Committee, Membership Chairman, and most recently served as a Governor. He is Sys-tems Manager for Ti-SALES, Inc., a waterworks distributor, serving the New England water utili-ties. Joel Kunkel, M.D. – Governor, Harbor Joel was born and raised in Bridgeport. He has owned and sailed a 16’ Hobie Cat, a Thistle in which he raced at PYC, and a 9’ Dyer Dhow in which he participated in the Frostbite program. He currently owns Alacrity, a 1987 Tartan 34, in which he races and cruises with the Pequot fleet. Joel has been a Club member since 1992 and has served as Fleet Surgeon and a member of the One-design and Frostbite Committees. He has also pre-sented a number of seminars on CPR, first aid and medical emergencies at sea. Joel continues to serve as Governor, completes his 2-year term as Mem-bership Chair and takes over the Harbor Commit-tee. Formerly the Senior Attending Physician in Emergency Medicine at Bridgeport Hospital, Joel is currently Presi-dent of Med-Now, P.C., Urgent Care Cen-ter in Stratford, and an active volunteer in Trumbull were he re-sides with his wife Susan. They have four children and six grand-children.

Meet Your New Board

Maren Hood – Governor Maren has been sailing since she was nine, starting on Snipes in Wisconsin, then racing with husband Tom in Wisconsin and the Midwest for 13 years. At Pequot Maren has sailed This-tles and Ideals, and Dyers in the Frostbit-ing program. She chaired the Junior Pro-gram for five years, continuing today as an advisor. She has been on the JSA of LIS board for 3 years, cur-rently in the role of Secretary, as well as a member of the Ideal 18 Committee. This will be her 6th and final year as Governor. Maren and Tom have three sons, who are sail-ors as well. They own Beguine, a Sabre 452, and enjoy cruising with the Pequot fleet. Frank Scholan – Governor Frank has lived in Fairfield since 1960. He practiced pediatrics for forty years, twenty-five of those years with fellow Club member, Bill Kueff-ner, at the Tide Mill in Southport. He now serves as School Medical Advisor to the town of Fairfield and Town Physician for Fair-field. He is co-chairman of the Town Emergency Manage-ment Committee. He sails Curragh II, a J28, with his wife and first mate, Gail. Elizabeth Souther Tarbell (Lili) – Governor Lili was born and raised in southern New Hampshire, in the coastal town of New Castle-by-the-Sea. She grew up sailing a Herreshoff Fisher’s Island 31 named Kestrel. Kestrel was in her fam-ily more than 28 years and, for the last three, was owned by Lili. Lili could not keep Kestrel as she pursued a career as an investment banker in NYC and completed her MBA at NYU. But she placed Kestrel well — with the President (at that time)

of the Herreshoff Mu-seum in Bristol, RI. Lili is married, and has two daughters, Sophia (2) and Isabella (6). Currently, Lili is the founding principal of liliLojik, LLC and is en-gaged in the launch of its first product, vivapop. She lives in Greenwich, CT and is a former Frostbiting Program Chair. Ted von Rosenvinge – Governor Ted learned to sail in the junior program at An-nisquam Yacht Club in Gloucester, MA. His off-shore sailing experience includes nine passages to Bermuda. He owns Freedom, a Beneteau First 36.7, and cruises and races with the Pequot fleet. Since joining the Club in 1997 he has taught the PYC junior 14 to18 year-olds coastal navigation each summer and been a member of the Cruising and Junior Program Committees. Ted lives in Ridgefield with wife Margo and youngest daughter Robin (14) who sails in the Jun-ior Program. Daughter Laurel is a freshman at Georgia Tech and oldest daughter Marta (formerly with Sail Magazine) is married and lives in Chicago. Ted is President of GeoDesign, Inc. He enjoys writing songs, recording and per-forming with his re-cently reunited 1970’s Boston rock and roll band. George Hebner – Governor George has been playing with boats since he learned to swim. After learning to row and fish from a beat-up wooden skiff, George went on to build a Windmill sailboat, a Chamberlain Gunning Dory and a number of kayaks which he still uses today. Raised in Baltimore and Nuremberg, Ger-many, George returned to the US to study engi-neering at Johns Hopkins. While stationed in Pa-nama during the Korean War, he and a friend bought a sailing dugout canoe from the San Blas

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Indians on which they lived and fished until George returned home to earn a business degree from Loyola College. Settling first in New Jersey and then Connecti-cut, George enjoyed fishing in the Sound and crewing on Atlantics and Solings. For the last 10 years he has owned Pegasus, an Is-land Packet 27 on which he has enjoyed cruising, particularly since becoming a mem-ber of PYC. George is the founder of a distri-bution company, Sound Electronics, and All American North, a company specializing in com-munications for radio and mobile telephone. He is currently active in both businesses with his son. Jim Harman – Secretary Jim grew up in Rowayton and sailed Blue Jays and Lightnings with the Junior Program at Nor-walk Yacht Club. After many years of limiting himself to boats he could carry on top of his car, he and his wife Barbara started sailing Ideal 18s as Pequot SAMs. They joined the Eclipse syndicate in 1996 and since then have been active with the Cruising Fleet. Their children Charlie and Amelia were both members of the Junior Program, with Charlie serving as Junior Commodore. Jim has also been an active member of the Race Committee for the junior regat-tas, handling scor-ing for the Opti Rumble, the Blue Jay Invitational, and the 2004 JSA Laser and 420 champion-ships. Jim is a Sen-ior Product Man-ager for Pitney Bowes. Abhijeet Lele – Treasurer Abhijeet grew up cruising on Chesapeake Bay. He started racing on Thistles at Nyack Boat Club in 1990, frostbiting at PYC in 1992 and rac-

ing in Ideals at Pequot from the start of the pro-gram. Aboard Romulus, his 1995 J-120 sloop, Abhijeet captured the 2005 Commodore’s Cup, winning the Falkner Island and Cross Sound races this past September. He and his wife Karen have lived in Southport since the summer of 2001. Karen was a single member before she and Abhijeet were married in 1992. She just re-ceived her PhD in Molecular Biology from Columbia in October. They have no kids yet. Abhijeet is a Gen-eral Partner and Di-rector of EGS Health-care Capital Partners, a venture capital firm based in Rowayton. He received an MA in molecular biology from Cambridge University and an MBA with distinction from Cornell Uni-versity. Jonathan Thomson – Fleet Captain Jonathan, his wife Diana and their two sons Matthew (14) and James (12) have lived in Fair-field since 2000. Originally from England, Jona-than and Diana lived in a number of countries before settling in Connecticut. Jonathan has been sailing for as long as he can remember. His first boat, an 11’, double-chined, gaff-rigged Gull has, on rare occasions, been seen in the har-bor. He was introduced to “big boat” sailing when his father bought a 27’ bilge-keeled Mac-wester, which al-though it sailed like a bathtub, provided a great means to explore the waters of the Irish Sea and the Scottish Hebrides. He also sailed ex-tensively in the English Channel and chartered yachts in (then) Yugoslavia and Greece. The Thomson family now sails Indigo, a C&C 35 MK III, and fre-quently participate in Wednesday night racing, overnights and Club cruises. Page 5

Nancy Foote – One-Design Nancy and her husband Peter have been mem-bers of PYC since 1994. Nancy grew up racing Lightnings in Michigan with her family. She raced for the Duke University sailing team, con-tinuing to sail when she moved to New York after college. Peter is an avid golfer who enjoys the oc-casional pleasure sail. Nancy is a past chairman of the Ideal 18 pro-gram and was an elected Board member for six years. Their son, Christopher, is a member of the PYC Junior Yacht Club, and, happily, loves both sailing and golf. Norman Marsilius – House Norman is a native of Fairfield and has been a member of PYC since 1992. He has owned and raced a Thistle, sailed the Ideals, and crewed on several cruising boats at PYC and elsewhere. He is the owner of an Olson 911 S, Essence, and has participated in Club and regional races and the an-nual Club cruise. Presently, Norman is restoring a small wooden boat and is a volunteer instructor for the Penfield Power Squadron’s safe boating course. He has served on the Pilot, Membership and Cruis-ing Committees. Work-ing in the field of archi-tecture for twenty years, Norman is currently do-ing residential projects from an office in Fair-field. Kimberly Smith – Editor, Pequot Pilot Kimberly Smith is a lifelong resident of the Southport area, minus a few years in Switzerland and Nantucket. She was a SAM and Corinthian at Pequot before becoming a Senior member. Her sailing experience includes organizing the Provi-dence College Sailing Team, racing J24s, crewing

for many mid-week races off Noroton and Stam-ford, and sailing on Nevis for a few years. Kim-berly sailed the Ideal 18s, dabbled in team racing and presently enjoys crewing on Wednesday nights. She has served on race committee in New-port, working with Peter Reggio, chair of Amer-ica’s Cup Race Committee, and been on the Pilot Commit-tee at PYC. Kimberly has just returned from Nan-tucket, after run-ning an inn on the island for six months. John Randolph – Race John began his racing experience as a land-locked sailor on Lake Michigan in Flying Scots, Ensigns, and Solings. He was an active member in Pequot’s former Thistle fleet and PRO for numer-ous Junior Regatta Blue Jay and Optimist events over the nine years his daughter Catherine par-ticipated in the Junior Pro-gram. His early US Power Squadron training has given him the back-ground to contribute to regatta safety plans, ad-vise and author racing in-structions, and deliver a season of navigation in-struction for Pequot’s Juniors. He has shared his computer skills to improve race management and reporting at PYC. John is employed by Pfizer, New London as a quality consultant to the Global Research & Development operation. Fred Feuerhake – Membership Fred has been sailing for 31 years and has owned 11 cruising boats. He raced extensively during the 10-year period of 1975-1985, and won the Around Long Island race in 1981. He sailed

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the Newport to Ber-muda race aboard Edwin Gaynor’s Emily, and has numerous Block Island and Vine-yard races to his credit. He owns Rambunc-tious, a Bristol 41.1, and races and cruises with the Pequot fleet. Fred has been a mem-ber of the Cruising Committee and has served as Fleet Captain. He and his wife Missy have two sons, Tyler and Morgan, who began sailing by overnighting on the family boat when they were three months old, and continue today as members of the Junior Pro-gram. Fred is employed by Terex Corp, a manu-facturer of heavy construction equipment in Westport. Dan Nash – Frostbiting Dan is from Newport, RI where he spent time cruising a family-owned boat and raced Snipes, J24s and sailboards. Prior to coming to Pequot, Dan also spent a number of years racing big boats at Stamford YC, where he participated in various regattas, including NYYC race week and the Vineyard Race. Dan is an active sailor in the Ideal 18 and Frostbiting programs. He and his wife Karen along with their children Victoria, Cameron, Everett and Tyler live in Southport and enjoy spending time on the water, either on their Mako or participat-ing in Ideal 18 family sailing. Dan works for MBIA in Armonk, NY. Nancy Marcantonio – Entertainment Nancy Marcantonio began her career as a fash-ion journalist. As Creative Director for a major women’s fashion magazine, her experience in-cluded extensive coverage of the European, American, and Asian design markets. A hiatus allowed her to raise two little girls, journey from Moscow to Malta as a travel writer, and study in-terior decoration at Parson’s and Christie’s. Now

running a busy interior de-sign business, she confesses to her willingness to drop everything for a chance to go sailing. An active mem-ber of the Ideal 18 Commit-tee, chairwoman of Ladies’ Sailing, and a member of the Entertainment Commit-tee, Nancy believes that sailing has become her metaphor for life…it’s ever so much fun, lots of hard work, lots to learn, and thrilling if you can figure it all out! Pam Toner – Junior Program Pam hails from Topsfield, MA and moved to Fairfield in 1991. She learned to sail in Solings at the Boston Sailing Center after college and raced on a C&C 36 in Marblehead, MA. Living in New York City, Pam raced J-24’s at the Manhattan Yacht Club where she met her husband, Steve. In 2001, after two years of sailing as a Frostbite/Ideal 18 SAM, they be-came members. They have 2 daughters ages 11 and 13 who both sail in the Junior Program. Pam continues as Junior Pro-gram Chair for a second year. She is a former Frostbiting Chair.

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Other Positions

Fleet Surgeon - Dante Brittis Measurer - Hewitt Gaynor Chaplain - Nicholas Porter Historian - Ginny Arndt

The Pilot Wants You The Pilot is always looking to add members to our staff. If interested, please contact Kimberly Smith at kimberlysmith55@yahoo.com or (203) 216-2761, or leave a note in the Pilot mailbox behind the counter in the Senior Clubhouse.

Pequot Pilot ISSN 1078-1943 Pequot Yacht Club, Southport, CT 06890 Kimberly Smith, editor. Ginny Arndt, Ann Cathcart, Charles R. Sprowl Jr., Commodore Tom DeLong, Art Gravanis, Norman Marsilius, John W. Watkins, Vice Commodore Gibney Patterson, committee. W. Bruce Kueffner, Rear Commodore Wendy Macbeth, editorial assistant and production. Photo Credits: Jeff Engborg, Wendy Macbeth, Kimberly Smith, Web site address: pequotyc.com Chuck Sprowl, and other unknown heroes and heroines. Administrative email: admin@pequotyc.com

Clockwise, from upper left. Outgoing Secre-tary Ed Holahan and past Commodore Hop Perry, incoming Pilot Editor Kim Smith and past Commodore Steve Galpin, Bill Kueffner and Dan Caruso, new Entertainment Chair Nancy Marcantonio and Governor Joel Kunkel, Past Commodore Bob Larsen addressing the gathering.

Faces from the Annual Meeting