January 12, 2022


Annual Meeting 2022 Recap

The 84th year of Storm Trysail Club saw the first-ever Annual Meeting held outside of the Northeast or Annapolis at our Southern Station in  beautiful (and warm!) Miami, FL.  Welcome cocktails on Friday night were held at Biscayne Bay Yacht Club and the meeting and party on Saturday were next door at Coral Reef Yacht Club. We thank both Coral Reef and Biscayne Bay for their hospitality.  Despite the pall of the pandemic, the event was attended by 49 in-person attendees and 84 virtual (Zoom) attendees, making this one of the largest annual meetings ever. (The meeting was recorded in its entirety).

Holding the meeting in Miami was first proposed by Immediate Past Commodore AJ Evans at our Annapolis Annual Meeting in 2020, just before the pandemic began. We carefully monitored the situation and took the appropriate precautions, and are happy to report the meeting was a complete success. “I would like to thank Whitney Kneisley for doing a yeoman’s job in planning and executing a logistically challenging meeting - the distance and the pandemic being complicating factors - and pulling it off. Equally important were Shari Vaughan’s on-the-ground contributions as the newly-appointed Southern Station Captain, and Bruce Harper’s efforts as the liaison to Biscayne Bay Yacht Club” commented Commodore Ed Cesare.

Many attendees made appreciative comments regarding the activity and vitality of the Club and the breadth of its initiatives in Safety, Race Management, Rating Rules, the offshore sailing community in general, and on restarting the Club’s social calendar as the pandemic eases.

Matt Gallagher, Chair of the Membership Committee, reported that the Club is now comprised of a record 1,127 members, and growth over the last several years has been significant. Matt adds “Member Renee Mehl was our first female member, and when Dawn Riley realized that Renee was about to receive her 25-year pin, she challenged all of us to nominate 25 new female members this past year; she called it ‘25 for 25.’  I am incredibly proud to announce that with the group approved just prior to the Annual Meeting, we have exceeded that goal with 29 new women! Bravo Zulu to each of them, and to the members who supported their nominations.” And congratulations to Renee with thanks for her service as a Governor and member of the Nominating Committee.

As part of the Annual Meeting, two new members were brought onto the Board of Governors; Clarke Smith - Station Captain for Marblehead, and Dave Shaeffer in Annapolis.  We want to thank outgoing Governors Ty Anderson and Ross Dierdorff for their service to the Club as their term ends.

Of particular interest to many was the report by Larry Fox of the Rating Rules Committee. Larry and his team are working closely with ORC to improve the accuracy and fairness of this popular rule.  Members are invited to watch Larry’s presentation on the recording and to view the slides detailing their recommendations and rationale here:  https://stormtrysail.org/annual-meeting-2022-recap/.  As it did last winter the Rating Rule Committee will be offering information sessions on the ORC Rule in the coming weeks by Zoom.

Numerous members were presented with their 25 and 50-year pins: 

25-year pins were presented to the following members elected in 1997

  • Charles Allen
  • Christopher Conway
  • Robert Cooper
  • George David
  • Thomas B. Davis
  • John Fisher
  • Ray Fougere
  • Peter Isler
  • William Jenkins
  • William Loe
  • Joe Loughborough
  • Thomas McDonald
  • Gordon Murphy
  • Robert M Myles
  • Charles N. Santry
  • Arthur J. Santry III
  • Rudy Smith
  • Jimmie Sundstrom
  • Robert Taylor
  • James Alex Wadson
  • John Wayt, III
  • Andrew Weiss
  • Peter Cummiskey
  • Renee Mehl

50-year pins were presented to the following members elected in 1972

  • William Baxter
  • Richard T duMoulin
  • Frank Feeley
  • Peter W. Grimm
  • Andrew MacGowan
  • Freeman E. Robinson
  • Peter Rugg
  • Ross C Santy
  • Peter A. Schmitt
  • W. MacLeod Snaith
  • James W. Sykes

Congratulations to Bill Zartler and his crew aboard DEJA VOODOO for winning the Monte-Sano Award for an outstanding racing record. Congratulations also to Rich du Moulin for receiving the Owen C. Torrey Memorial Trophy for outstanding service to the Club.

At the conclusion of the session at Coral Reef, a beautiful club, the group enjoyed a fabulous party with cocktails and food and, as always, a good time was had by all. In proper Storm Trysail fashion, many returned to the event hotel for a rousing after-party.

Next year’s Annual Meeting will return to the Northeast, but the final location and date has not yet been selected.

Vice-Commodore Ray Redniss - who will assume the mantle of Commodore in 2023 - summed up the event: “This was a great way to punctuate a very challenging year. The Club had to overcome many obstacles - extreme weather and COVID-19 chief among them - but we rose to the occasion. The Club’s presence and influence is growing around the country, and internationally. We are on a solid footing and look forward to 2022. Let’s keep up the momentum!”

Photos from the event:

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