Greetings RYC
As another season draws to a close, I hope you’ve made memories that will brighten the off-season. Spring will be here before we know it, bringing its own busy energy — just in time for your "to-do" list.
At RYC, every committee is hard at work for the Club. The Race Committee is already planning for 2026 in coordination with GMORA, the Gulf of Maine Ocean Racing Association. Membership is gearing up for our January campaign. Activities has a full calendar — Please join in! Finance is entering a new chapter, Waterfront is moving toward closure of the '25 season as it looks ahead to needs for 2026, our Scholarship Regatta is in year-round planning, Facilities is actively engaged, and our Flag Officers are involved across the board. It’s a busy time, and volunteers are always welcome.
Thursday, October 16th we held our monthly Excomm meeting, where I reflected on my first term as Commodore in 2022. It’s a unique opportunity to serve as Commodore again and connect the events of the past four years. I look forward to sharing more as Excomm continues working together to help RYC grow. Following is how things looked to me when I first started in this position:
Nov 2022 Commodore Report T.Woodworth
Dear RYC –
Your new Commodore –Timothy Here!
The Change of Watch became official at the Annual Meeting on 10/1/22. It was a really fun event with great participation. Best advice from a Past Commodore from that night “You’ll be OK”. Thanks Aaron.
2022 has been a productive and yet tentative year for the club. We ran the traditional set of programs and are pleased with the turn-out with the exception of the Tuesday Night Race program where there were few boats on the line. And yet, there’s exciting news below about a new One Design Etchell race fleet in development. The only other Etchell fleet in Maine is hosted by the Portland Yacht Club.
There is also a big development in our Web presence just starting with a committee of 9 members providing excellent guidance towards a modern well designed system. Just so you know, we will be building a Members login area with membership management and payment processing online sometime soon. This is a big benefit to the Membership Committee’s workload and RYC Member transactions with the Club. Stay tuned for more information as we move into 2023.
We have a new Activities Chair, Jane Risley, who’s planning a lot more to come. Welcome Jane! Volunteers are needed to join Jane’s Activities Committee. Holiday party coming right up.
Speaking of Volunteers… Thank you to all who spend their free time to make RYC feel like home. We are building for the future and have a grand history to stand upon. It has been this way since 1928. We need help in various committees and will be reaching out with opportunities. Last Spring a group refreshed the Club Meeting Room to great acclaim. This Spring another Building Work Party will be on the schedule and needing help.
I want to thank Greggus Yahr for his tireless work as Commodore and all ExComm and volunteers who keep the lights on, ensure the Launch serves the harbor and run a vibrant Sailing Program.
So a bit more about me? I have been sailing the local waters for 2 decades on my Sabre 28 - Voyageur. Keeping active with the local sail race circuit as well keeps me very busy. Kids are grown and away. My Partner, Karin, and I live in West Rockport. We enjoy being home and spending time with family as well as gardening, putting things by and cooking for the fun of it.
Finally, RYC is keeping up with the times with AI creeping into our operations. The writing and coding of this Newsletter have been enhanced with AI. We are looking at using AI in our monthly Excomm and committee meetings as well.
Tim Woodworth
Commodore
2017 Eggemoggin Reach RegattaBoats Winterized
A big shout out and "Thank You!" to all the members who helped frame and wrap our Launch and Race Committee boats for the winter: Russ Moser, Tim Woodworth, Bruce Krause, Mark Stetler, Tom Higbee, John Majkut, and Ken von Felton. The team used Grey REACT Sustainable Shrink Wrap in an effort to minimize our environmental impact. This was a test for the shrink wrap team, and you can expect to hear more about it in the future. (Our vendor, Port Harbor Marine, has made the same switch for the 150 boats they cover in their West Rockport yard.)
REACT Sustainable Shrink Wrap films are Mr. Shrinkwrap's responsible end-of-life film solution. This product contains a catalyst that activates the degradation process once in an anaerobic (oxygen-free) environment, such as a landfill. As the shrink wrap breaks down, it releases biogas about 20 times faster than does conventional plastic. In landfills equipped with gas-capture technology, this biogas is converted into clean, renewable, and sustainable energy, such as electricity.
Launch Drivers
The Launch drivers would like to express their thanks to RYC members for their generosity in providing the drivers a very nice gratuity for the season. Most of the team gathered for an end-of-season lunch and to share stories. We all hope to see you again next year!
Left to right – Bob Skirbe, Ken von Felton, Bob Bernstine, David Allwood, Kyle Swan (absent Todd Williams, Carlos Jimenez)
Launch Course
Last weekend 10 mariners took the Boatwise course at the RYC clubhouse, including Commodore Tim Woodworth and member Hank Garfield (2010). Now it's time to fill out a lot of paperwork, take CPR, get fingerprinted and photoed and apply for their Limited Master credential so they can drive our Launch next year. We look forward to seeing Tim and Hank at the wheel of GinnieT.
Finance
The newly formed Finance Committee held our first meeting with Jeff Merz (Vice Comm), David Mokler, Randy Picklemann, and Ken von Felton (Treasurer). The goal of the Committee is to have more sets of eyes on the books, to give support, and to improve our financial processes. Its next big task is to start budgeting for 2026. More to come on that in future newsletters.
Ken von Felton
Tim Woodworth shrinkwrapping
John Majkut with the heat gun
John Majkut
RV Mary Jane on the move
Russ taking a shift
Framework build
Framework work crew (Ken von Felton, Mark Stetler and Tim Woodworth)
Framework buildDo not despair! RYC's year isn't over yet, with two more social activities planned for members in 2025.
Saturday, October 25 from 4:30 to 6:30 pm, plan to head down to the Club with your favorite Fall dish to share for the Harvest Potluck and slide show. I’ve heard from lots of folks about the dishes they plan to bring, and my mouth is watering – I can’t wait to try them all! There will be electricity available for crock pots. If you can’t make anything, feel free to bring a pie from Beth’s or a bag of chips and some dip. All are welcome, and I hope we can share some of our favorite memories from the summer.
Carole and Mark Stetler will be hosting our annual Holiday Party at their lovely home in Rockland on Saturday, December 6. Stay tuned for more.
Over the winter, I hope we can get together for a game night or two, and come April 25 we’ll start off the boating season with our Spring Clean Up. That begins a busy summer season. The following are planned events for 2026:
-Spring Fling: May 2
-Nautical Yard Sale: May 23
-Solstice Race after-party: June 20
-Pursuit to the Graves and social event: July 19
-Scholarship Race and after-party: August 15
-Progressive Boat Party: TBD
-Annual Meeting: September 19
-Harvest Potluck: October 24
I also hope to start a tradition of social hours at the Club throughout the sailing season, likely on Wednesdays.
I am open to any further suggestions for activities and welcome volunteers. We always have a good time!
See you soon.
Liz vonFelten
Social
The 2025 season was a modest one for member meet-ups. Heidi and I participated in one on June 6th in Pulpit Harbor with two other member boats. Several of our boats went to the Sweet Chariot Festival on Swan's Island, and a couple to the Eggemoggin Reach Regatta. Those are all I know about, but I hope there were some others. Ginny Travers and/or Russ and Julie Moser might have headed up a few, as well. Heidi and I had several others, but they were with non-member cruising friends from our passage-making days.
The Classics
For next year, we will still promote the classic meet-ups, including:
Themed Meet-Ups
Beyond these classic opportunities, there was interest expressed for themed meet-ups. To that end, I will contact several of the Nature/Historical/Cultural groups in the area over the off-season for tours/walks/talks/presentations to see what kinds of opportunities may be on their calendars that might be of interest to the membership at places such as Holbrook Island Sanctuary, Wooden Boat School, etc.
Multi-Day Cruise
But my real hope is to pull together a multi-day cruise. I tried to arrange one this season since there was clearly interest expressed in the spring questionnaire and again at the Cruise planning meeting on July 8th, but there was not enough lead time to make it happen. To better approach that, I am preparing a letter to the membership to send out soon, while good times on the water are still fresh in our minds to get folks thinking about participating in a multi-day cruise next year. It could be a mid-week cruise or a week-to-10-day event.
To figure all that out, I will set up a cruise planning meeting for sometime early in the spring, preferably in-person at the Club, to get some real energy going. I would be happy to have some ideas from more seasoned RYC members as to when/how might be best to have that meeting, and what style (remote or in person – if Club, evening, pizza, pot luck?). For all these possibilities, we will work around currently scheduled events, like the Solstice Race, the Scholarship Race, and other Club events, so I look forward to seeing the other committees’ calendars.
Dennis Jud
Cruise
Shout-out to Turtley Awesome!
Hot off the presses, Turtley Awesome, captained by Jeff Dinse took 1st place in Division 1 for the PenBay region in the Gulf of Maine’s Ocean Racing Association (GMORA) 2025 Season Series. This competition includes over a dozen GMORA-participating clubs and events during the 2025 racing season. As anyone who has raced with Jeff knows, you are often chasing his boat, no matter what the race! Congratulations to Jeff and crew!
Save the dates!
While our boats are safely tucked away on the hard for the winter and we begin to contemplate our off-season projects, now's the time to pencil in dates for the 2026 season!
As we look ahead to the 2026 racing season, the Race Committee will be considering a number of topics to enhance the racing experience at RYC:
As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions, suggestions, or concerns.
Laura Shields-Haas
Race
🍂 October 25th (Saturday) — Harvest Potluck
🕓 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM
Celebrate the season with hearty fall dishes, friends, and good cheer at the clubhouse.
⸻
🎄 December 6th (Saturday) — RYC Holiday Party
🕓 4:00 PM – Late
Share some Holiday Cheer with Club members — Fellowship, sea stories and a Yankee Swap! ($20max) More details to come.
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The Coast Guard is requesting additional public input on proposed changes to Northeast Aids to Navigation (ATON). This is an important second chance for mariners to speak up before final decisions are made.
If you use these buoys, please consider sending an email before November 15. In your feedback, be sure to include:
Submit comments by email to:
D01-SMB-DPWPublicComments@uscg.mil
Additional resources:
Your action truly makes a difference. Thanks to public feedback, over half of the buoys originally proposed for discontinuation have already been saved. Let’s make sure our local buoys remain in place!
Dennis Jud
Ed and Jean Kee are selling their sailboat. Coolabah is a 1984 Swan 42 designed by Ron Holland. She is on the hard at JEM in Rockland. Coolabah has a carbon fiber mast and spinnaker pole, a large inventory of sails and spare parts, and a custom cover by Fairclough. We plan to list the boat with a broker in early 2026, but would consider any reasonable offer before then. Contact Edward Kee at +1 (202) 415-0197 or edk@edwardkee.com
Edward Kee
Check out our latest blog
 Night Navigation: Red Light, Blue Tape and Black Eye PatchesAsk an audience of cruisers to identify the optimal light for night-time navigation, and most will answer that red is best. The question comes up from time to time in nautical Facebook discussions, and red is the answer endorsed overwhelmingly by commenters discussing how best to preserve “night vision.” (continued) |
Russ Moser - Communications