I apologize for this newsletter being late. Life has been insanely busy for the last month and I have been remiss in my newsletter duties. Where are my priorities? As a reminder, this is the NYRA newsletter, not just the Commodore's letter. Any contributions of pictures or articles are welcome. Surely there are NYRA members that have more, or at least more eloquent, things to say than I have.

Since my last letter we have raced the twice rescheduled First Citizens Cup, the even-more-casual-than-usual Parrothead, and the Dragon's Breath Regatta. The First Citizens Cup had a good turnout and much better conditions than the previous two tries. In the spinnaker fleet, Beneteau 36.7s dominated with a 1,2,3,4 finish and a very tough spin B fleet was led by Devil Dog. I am obligated to mention that the Echo crew beat the BEG crew in the post race foosball show down. However, the fat lady hasn't sung yet on the foosball table and I look forward to another game. Any other crews are welcome to join the fray also.

The Parrothead ended up being a 2 boat water balloon fight between Brown Eyed Girl and Frequent Flyer. With superior fire power (bigger sling shot and more balloons) I have to give BEG the edge in this "race"

Finally, ODC did a great job putting on the Dragon's Breath Regatta. Over 40 boats raced in this ICRC event. NYRA was well represented in the spinnaker divisions but, as usual, we lost out in the cruising class. At a minimum we should be able to get enough SJ21's to have a class and score some extra points there. The racing was very competitive and the food was excellent. The post race activities, for the more adventurous, and tone deaf, involved Karaoke at the Oriental Steamer where Billy Wood and Laura Lloyd did much of the singing. The BEG crew was, once again, right in the middle of the party. Just seems they stay on the edge of trouble.

Looking forward, the race management seminar is on Aug 27 at the Fairfield Community Center and everyone is strongly encouraged to attend. Getting more people trained for RC work is a priority that we must resolve or the racing on the Neuse will surely suffer. The next BOTY event is the FYC Oar race over Labor Day weekend. I regret to say that at this point it does not look like we will have a Women's Race this year. If that changes, I will let you know.