December was very busy and I didn't have time to write a news letter, Jason didn't have time to post it on the web, and, probably, most of you didn't have time to read it. Jason, however, had the best excuse as he spent three weeks honing his sailing skills and tan in the Caribbean.

2006 memberships are now due and I would like to see the NYRA membership grow again this year. We added several new members last year, but to be a healthy, viable club we need to continue to get in new people. Crew are welcome to join as much as the boat owners are. Please support your club and Neuse River racing by becoming a 2006 NYRA member. The membership levels are Patron ($100), Full ($50), and Associate (non voting, $25). Patron members get a link on our web page to their business. Membership applications are downloadable here.

The current Boat of the Year and Winter Series standings have been posted. The spinnaker fleet is very close in both and will most likely come down to the last race, just like we drew it up last year when planning this schedule. There is still plenty of racing left and, with the throw outs still to be considered, the top few boats have no room for error.

At the Dec 17 social we held elections for NYRA officers for 2006. The winners are:

• Commodore -- Lee King
• Vice Commodore -- Larry Gupton
• Treasurer -- Eddy Parker
• Secretary -- Ellen Walden
• Board members -- Gary Peterson, Tinka Talbert, and Eric Rosenbaum

Larry has agreed to be VC, but will not cover the on the water PRO duties. Unless someone steps up to be PRO, we will run the next Winter Series with the crews from the biggest fleet as PRO and will address the other races as needed. If you would like to work with Larry so he can handle all logistics and you handle the on the water PRO duties only, please let us know.

I would like to thank Leigh Pfefferkorn, Tom McKnight and Jay Hood for their help over the past year and I look forward to working with this new board in 2006.

NYRA will be the sponsoring club for NCYRA again this year. Eric Rosenbaum has volunteered to the chair this event. If you would like to help out, please let him know.

Skippers and crew, please provide nominations for the 2005 Crew of the Year award. NYRA doesn't sponsor any solo events so there must be a lot of crew working hard to make sure these boats race as well as they do. This award is selected by the Board but is nominated from the NYRA members. Any NYRA member is eligible and the award reflects an overall contribution to the boat including abilities on the boat, preparation, help with deliveries, etc.

The 2006 schedule is almost complete. In early January the ICRC should be able to finalize the schedule. It will be published on our web site as soon as it is available.

Lee King
NYRA Commodore
lrk30470@yahoo.com