Dear Friend of CHARIAD:

I am asked why I am sailboat racing – and racing seriously. I don’t need another trophy. What would I do with it?

Being part of the CHARIAD racing team is my reward. Hard work and a commitment to perform well are part of the story. The sense of accomplishment and the friendships developed over years are an important part of my life experience.

In some ways, my experience with the CHARIAD team has been similar to being on the faculty of a great university. I stand on CHARIAD’s deck and interesting and talented crew with incredible talents and experience come on board. Together, every season we create a high-performance team. Some crew members have been on the boat for many years. Others will be on the team for one season. Everyone is different and contributes in their own way. The character and capabilities of the team are different depending on who is on the boat that day.

I am thinking about this experience because two team members have just sailed their last race of the season and perhaps for a longer time. I want to acknowledge and thank them.

Avery Meyer

Avery has sailed on CHARIAD for about three years. He has been a major contributor mostly at Mast 1.

Avery and Chris Hardy are the two guys on the boat so handsome that I am open about standing near them hoping I will get in a picture taken of them.

valuable chariad crew member Avery

Avery has been a high performance contributor to our success. He has also been a key trainer of other crew members. Avery has been committed to the team and invested his time helping others succeed.

Avery’s girl friend has a Fulbright Scholarship to do a project in Uganda. Their plan is to go to Uganda, but the specifics are unclear because of the travel restrictions. He also has his structural engineering PE exam next week. They have given up their lease with no place to go in January. Yikes! The plan is to not be in Boston, but you know my secrete dream.

Andrew Chester

Andrew has been a regular crew member this season. He is Mike Chester’s son. During a very difficult season, Andrew has been on the boat learning and contributing as much as anyone else.

New chariad crew member Andrew

Andrew is the kind of energetic, committed, and smart team member who is a pleasure to work with. He has just returned to his third year of medical school in Dublin. He took the board test for admittance to a residency program three weeks ago. Andrew then hiked a mountain and went racing on CHARIAD. With the important tasks completed, Andrew left for med school.

We are hoping that Andrew did well enough on the exam to get into a residency program in Boston next year. Fingers crossed.

Avery and Andrew are the faces of the CHARIAD team. They are the reason I go sailboat racing.

The 400 or so Friends of CHARIAD are former crew members and friends of the boat and the crew. You are the CHARIAD community. You are the repository of special experiences and friendships spanning the almost 20 years of CHARIAD’s racing.

Every spring and fall, I ask you to think about who in your world might be a candidate for joining the CHARIAD team. Like the big university, we need renewal every season. We have high expectations. High performance begins with high expectations. Think of Andrew and Avery. Think of Doris Wells, Gabe Mininberg, and Armaan Bhojwani who are new to the team this year and super contributors. Is belonging to the CHARIAD team the right opportunity for someone in your world?

crewing opportunity to race sailboat chariad

I have seen our racing this year as a way to get control of a portion of our lives when so much else has been out of control. We have made something happen that has value to us rather than passively waiting for whatever will happen to happen. We have gotten up on Saturday morning and come together to race a sailboat. Some days, we have been the only boat in the “race.” But we have created meaning for our lives. We have built something beyond ourselves.

I am honored to play a small part in making all this happen. And I thank other members of the CHARIAD team for their participation and their contributions to this life adventure.

Remember – CHARIAD means love.

Be well my friend.

Rick