Moving Ahead

The GSBYRA officers and delegates have been hard at work to ensure that we have another great season on the Great South Bay. I am honored to have the opportunity to serve this organization. GSBYRA has brought so much for many of us. Our organization’s sustained traditions keep us full of pride and allow our roots to remain intact on the Bay.

This past summer we saw record numbers in junior regattas and some incredible events. We have volunteers such as Steve Kelly who pressed for the 2014 Junior Race Week format, which was enormously successful. We need more of that forward kind of thinking! We also need to move away from things that just don’t work in order to lessen the waste of valuable resources and time for our various clubs.

In addition, past GSBYRA President Doug Shaw discussed building us into a real “brand”. I also believe in that vision. That is why during my tenure as your President I will work to build our brand using all resources available to me, while trying to maintain the traditions that we all hold dear.

Some of the initiatives that we are focusing on for 2015 are: 

• Modernize our marketing of events electronically - key for GSBYRA’s success in networking.

• Implement an online registration system.

• Host regional and/or national events. We all ask each other “why can’t the Bay have events with 100 plus boats, especially since we have one of the best sailing venues around?”  The answer is that “there is no reason we can’t”. 

• Create a uniform sailing instruction platform for junior regattas.

• Create races which foster participation and competitiveness that our adult sailors deserve. This also means abandoning things that just don’t work anymore and giving the clubs autonomy over weekend events.

• Create more awareness regarding our monetary grants to junior sailors.

 
Each one of these items will move our organization forward. Once the delegates help address and approve each of these items to be implemented, we will then trickle that information down to each club. Much of the success and implementation of our forward strategy and systems will be accomplished with the help of the Junior Sailing Instructors.

I am very excited in being able to help the GSBYRA continue in the right direction. I am available at any time to discuss with your club’s members all the positives that GSBYRA brings to the Bay. If anyone has any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you.

Andrew Hemingway