Dear Friend of CHARIAD:

Time for my annual fall outreach to the Friends community. You can help build the CHARIAD team.

The fall has the best sailing conditions in New England and is the best time for introducing one or two new crew members to the CHARIAD team. And the best new crew members come from recommendations from current and former crew members and our wider Friends community. We usually have room for an extra team member on the boat, and they can see what the CHARIAD experience is like.

If there is someone in your world with some sailing experience who might be interested in joining a highly successful and talented racing crew, make an introduction. I am happy to tell them about our sailing program and the culture of our team.

From time to time, someone will say “let me know if you need help. I might be able to come out.” That is not what I am looking for. We put a lot of effort into training as a team. I am looking for folks who are able to make a commitment to a significant number of races over the season. They need to learn the boat and learn their position on the boat. We have a terrific group of former crew members who know the boat and can fill in from time to time.

At the beginning of the season, we put together a race schedule for the whole season. The schedule is posted in the cloud on a platform called Team Snap. Crew members see the full schedule and can plan their sailing time. They post their availability for the races. Our crew coordinator in consultation with me puts the crew together for each race. That is how we manage the race schedule and everyone’s complicated lives.

Everyone is busy with work and our personal lives. And there are many opportunities and options for how to spend the little free time we have. Folks who become part of the CHARIAD racing program like sailboat racing, but they also want to be part of a team that works hard to do well. They want to have a positive experience with smart and fun team members on the water.

I just returned from almost two weeks in Los Angeles and San Francisco. I have some photo images I will share with you later.

When I am traveling and doing photography, I usually post fun and interesting images on Facebook. Become my Facebook friend and you will see the pics.

No pictures of kids or cats!

I hope you are well.

Rick