Hello Racers, As I write it is the eve of the first race of the Inlet series. It promises to be a cold one. Brrrr.
Beyond the Inlet Series, we are back to buoy racing, starting with the Spring Series. Which brings me to the point of this month’s article: We need to start looking for a new buoy tender. The buoy tender is the person who puts our buoys in the water in springtime, ensures that they stay on location all spring and summer, and then retrieves them in the fall. They also put special buoys in the water, for certain races such as tomorrow’s buoy off of Flapjack Point, and the buoy off of Zittle’s Marina for the Maclean Memorial. Finally, this person maintains the buoys by repairing, or replacing as needed, especially over the winter. This includes buying new ground tackle, paint, etc., reimbursed by the Race Program.
As you can see, this is an important and big job. Who, you may ask, has been doing this for us for the past several years? Answer: Clark McPherson! Clark has done an excellent job with this, keeping our racing functioning by providing buoys for us to race around. Clark has had help from Kelly Coon, with his boat out of Boston Harbor, in order to get the buoys to their location. Bill Brosius has also helped with the Star Fleet runabout, and Dave Elliott has been our go-to guy for the Flapjack Point buoy, which was very close to his house.
So, we are looking for a new person to take over this responsibility. Someone who has access to a runabout would be most preferable, and someone with some outdoor space to store the buoys over the winter, about six of them. You would work closely with the Race Chair, ensuring that buoys are in place for each race. Things come up over the course of the year, so sometimes we have to react quickly, in order to keep the racing experience as seamless as possible.
This buoy tender position does not get the limelight of being on the Board, but is equally important as many Board positions. The pay is excellent, as Clark can attest, in the form of satisfaction with having a good racing season. Send your resume, which needs only to include the words "Yes, I will do this," to Clark or myself. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer!! Thanks!!
Happy and safe sailing in the New Year,
Joe Downing, Starlight and Vintage