Winter, what winter?  As I write this missive, the temperature is 75 degrees in Columbia, so it’s hard to say that it’s too cold to sail.  But regardless of the temperature, there’s a cyclicality to our sport and this is the slow time of the year.  But that’s a great time to clean the boat up, check your sails and go to the SAYRA Convention!  

We had a fantastic time in Hilton Head the last week of January seeing old friends, celebrating awards and hearing about new ideas.  Blair Overman from US Sailing gave a great overview of the Seibel Sailing Program, which hopefully will inspire some SAYRA clubs or Community Sailing Programs to apply for this program.  Greg Fisher spent a fascinating few hours telling us about his experiences with the US Sailing team and ways to integrate some of the lessons he’s learned over the years into our club agendas.  Congratulations also to all the sailors and volunteers who were honored for their achievements.  The list is long so I won’t detail everyone here, but it was a deserving group of honorees!Continued...