From the Helm
Welcome 2026! Thank you to all who helped with setup for the Annual Meeting, specifically Dave Brown for sponsoring dinner and leading the volunteer effort. 2025 was a strong year for WRYC. We saw numerous fun filled and energetic social events, another successful Junior Sailing Program, the inaugural Bob James Memorial Keelboat regatta (first keel boat regatta at WRYC in many decades), and the 61st Annual Virginia Governor’s Cup.
This year, along with the continuation of the events we saw in 2025, we will add a second keelboat regatta, the Harry Sindle Memorial Keelboat regatta in the fall, as well as hosting two national fleet regattas. The Fireball Nationals will be held in conjunction with the 62nd Annual Governor’s Cup Regatta and the Albacore Nationals will be held as a stand alone event in October. Our keelboat, Tranquility Base is actively undergoing offseason maintenance up at Mobjack Bay Marina on the North River and Fleet Captain John Dudley is planning for another active sailing season. The fleet committee team will be placing some new mooring tackle this year as well.
Huge thank you to Samantha and Matt Preddy who have stepped up to take on the role of Junior Sailing Camp Directors! Thank you to Bill and Layne Brown for leading the effort over the past several years. Along with taking on Junior Sailing, Samantha has agreed to serve on the Board of Directors this year as well!
Welcome to the Board as well Brian Beach who will be assuming the reigns as Buildings and Grounds Chair from Jim Woodward. Thank you Jim for your years of tireless behind the scenes efforts taking care of the grounds.
Thanks to the US Albacore Association (USAA) sailors from the Potomac River Sailing Association and the West River Sailing Association we plan to host several Albacore dinghy clinics this year. The clinics will range from rigging to basic sailing and then on to basic and advanced racing skills and tactics. We are very grateful to all the USAA members that always show such fantastic support to our fleet. There will be some world class sailors leading these events, including the 2025 Albacore World Champion, Barney Harris.
Just before the Annual Meeting a survey was sent out regarding upgrades to our playground. Thanks to all that responded both the the survey and with questions/comments. The Board will move forward with plans to upgrade the playground equipment later this year based upon the input from the membership.
Congratulations to all who received awards for the 2025 Season. We have a couple of awards yet to make their way to the recipients, so more to follow on this topic in a future Telltale.
With all the activity planned for this year, from socials to regattas to work around the grounds, we are going to need everyone’s help. Remember, WRYC runs on volunteers! Please consider where you can pitch in to lend a hand. Reach out to the Board or committee chair and help make this year the most successful WRYC season to date. If you have any quesitons or comments don’t hesitate to reach out to me at Commodore@WRYC.org
Finally, thank you to our newest Past Commodore, Harry Taylor. It was an absolute pleasure to work alongside Harry the past couple of years. His leadership and strategic vision have placed the club in a great position to continue our strong legacy of social activity and the advancement of Corinthian sailing.
Best Regards,
Scott Titus, Commodore
