School Committee Votes Support For The Cohasset Skippers Sailing Team – Almost There

Sarah Murphy and other organizers and future members of the proposed new sailing team presented their case to the School Committee and Superintendent on January 20 resulting in a unanimous vote to support the team. Next step is to resolve issues raised by the Superintendent on behalf of the Athletic Director. A successful outcome is predicted since there is little or no real responsibility that is left to the school – certainly none financial or liability-related.

The initial request for sanctioning was rejected by the school administration, but their sign-off is necessary to join the Massachusetts Bay League, an organization in Boston that governs the sport and organizes races between high school teams.

There will be a participation fee which will go to pay for a coach and various other expenses, but because of many donations of boats and equipment, the entire budget is less than $10,000. Hull Yacht Club will moor the boats and house the team. Regattas are on weekends, with non-manadatory practices during the week on two days. There are approximately six Cohasset students (incl. some members of the CSC Instructors and Team) who are interested in joining. And clearly, with over 200 children in the CSC Summer Program, this is a sport which defines Cohasset and could grow substantially.

In Memorium: Rear Admiral Tom Burke, a CSC Founder

Thomas Edward Burke, one of the founders of the CSC, passed away on December 30, 2009 at South Shore Hospital from complications of pneumonia. Rear Admiral Burke was 91 years of age and leaves behind his wife of 62 years Mary Rita Gilligan Burke. Tom led a remarkable and distinguished life. He was a decorated Merchant Marine officer of WWII, an avid sportsman, a leading producer for New England Financial for over 50 years and the father of seven children. Rear Admiral Thomas E. Burke was born in the coastal town of Hull, Massachusetts, where from an early age; he showed a natural propensity for life at sea.  In 1947 Admiral Burke married his beloved Rita and in 1949 came ashore to Cohasset where he and Rita raised seven children.  Tom and some of his sailing friends, Herb Towle, Irwin Golden among them, looking for a way for young children in Cohasset to learn to sail, started the Cohasset Sailing Club in 1960 with a small fleet of donated sail boats and the use of a piece of harbor front property owned by the government. The Cohasset Sailing Club is thriving today with over 250 member families and a reputation for turning out the best sailors in the area. Tom was an avid sailor competing in the Newport to Bermuda Race several times. He was also a very active member of the Massachussets Maritime Academy which he belonged to for 60 years. He is perhaps best known there as the voluntary Placement Director. In 1982, Admiral Burke was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by MMA at Commencement. Burke also served the Boston Marine Society as Trustee since 1955 and as President from 1976 to 1979. In 2002, the U.S. Maritime Administration appointed Tom to his present rank, of Rear Admiral, for his many years of service to the industry.   In addition to his wife, Mary Rita, and his sister Alice Draine of Boston, Tom is survived by daughter Joanna of Malibu, CA; son Thomas W. and his wife Gail of Mobile, AL; son-in-law Dr. James Colville (surviving spouse of daughter Maryadele, d.); son Christopher and his wife Marguerite of Lake Bluff, IL; son John and his wife Anne of Houston, TX and 9 grandchildren.  Full obituary and donations in lieu of flowers information are available: http://www.legacy.com/SouthOfBoston-Ledger/DeathNotices.asp?page=lifestory&personid=138141555   The CSC extends its sincere condolences to Tom’s family. The club meant a lot to Rear Admiral Burke and vice versa. He will be missed at our Annual Lobster Fest and upon his frequent visits to the club just to look out over the harbor and to see Cohasset kids sailing.

Next Year is The CSC’s 50th! Help Make it the Best.

It has been 50 years since Herb Towle, Tom Burke, Irwin Golden and other pioneers founded the Cohasset Sailing Club on a tiny point of land, with a few sailboats and a dock.  It’s a special year and it calls for a special celebration (or celebrations). It also shouts “OPPORTUNITY” for fundraising. We’re open to ideas, and the creation of a committee of those who are interested in making the 50th the best year of the club. Can we count you in?   Please give me, Rich Ofsthun,  a call (x9396) or email (cohassetsailingclub@gmail.com) or comment below.

1979 Ground-breaking for the Clubhouse

Many thanks,

The Commodore

On the Waterfront: Thanks to Volunteer Dockworkers

A sizeable crowd of volunteer dockworkers showed up for work On the Waterfront Saturday morning.  It took longer than I thought it would take (I’m often overly optimistic) but all of the volunteers were so good they ‘Coulda been contendah’s’ for union work on the docks, so we were done before lunchtime and in time for Miller-Time. Many thanks to all!

It wasn’t without a little drama – we called-in Brian Kimla for his chain saw and we almost took out Mary Whitley’s SUV – that’ll teach her to park there or take a joyride with Kit while there’s important work to be done (ha ha) - I went looking for them: “Stella, Stelllllla!” I shouted but to no avail (oh wait, wrong Brando movie, sorry), so Dave worked daintily around it.  

 Special thanks to our annual Crane Operators – Dave we really appreciate all of your help AND your very favorable pricing. Mr. Litchfield and Fran – great to see you twice a year.

Scottt Coughlin built some very effective stands for the Capris and Chuck Peterson led the crew like the old salt he is.

Also, you’ve probably seen our recently shrink-wrapped launches on Main Street. Thanks to member Noel Collins for the storage and Tom and Thomas Lamaire of MTCFish who donated their valuable services to the club. And thanks to Chris and Jeannie Demurias who are storing our 420s at their home all winter.

Our Contendahs:

Chuck Peterson

Scott Coughlin

TJ O’Brien

John DeWaal

Dave Coletta

Jim Porter

Tim Salerno

Tom Shipp

Peter Vitello

Peter Burnett

Ron Mavilla

Bill Blaze

Rick Erler

Mark Richardson

Kit Coffey

Mary Whitley

Anne Rowland

Brian Kimla

Kevin O’Connor

Bob Deutsch

Ward McElhinney

Bob Cuningham

Glenn Ogrodnick

Blake Martini

Alex Adkins

James Lucas

Ed Curran

Jack McCarthy

Believe it or not, there may have been more that I’m missing – sorry to you with whom I didn’t touch base - nevertheless it was  a great crew, and it made the work easier and more fun.  Again, thank you all.  Have a great winter, see you in the Spring.   Your Commodore, Rich Ofsthun

Cohasset HS (regional) Sailing Team Meeting was held 10/27

A new Hull-Cohasset-South Shore Charter Public School Sailing Team gets ready to set sail next Spring.
An informational meeting was held on Tuesday night, 10/27 at the Hull Yacht Club. There are about 7 Cohasset students who are ready to step up as sailors on the team! We will be the largest contingent. 

For more information:

Sarah Murphy, sarah.murphy@comcast.net
781-383-3487
781-775-7995

Details on the new Cohasset HS Regional Sailing Team

Exciting News!
 
A new Hull-Cohasset-South Shore Charter Public School Sailing Team gets ready to set sail next Spring.
 
Sail Nantasket, a non-profit foundation dedicated to encouraging the sport of sailing and promoting public participation in sailing-related programs, has generously offered their support to establish a regional sailing team. The rest is up to prospective team parents and students. Parental involvement and community support are essential in establishing a team. And your Cohasset Sailing Club wants to do all it can to help support the team.
 
Formore information:

Sarah Murphy, sarah.murphy@comcast.net
781-383-3487
781-775-7995

Other Links
Sail Nantasket
http://www.sailnantasket.org
Hull Yacht Club
http://www.hullyc.org
Gloucester launches Sailing Team http://www.gloucestertimes.com/punews/local_story_105225455.html
Mass Bay League – 30 local HS teams
http://www.massbayleague.org
Interscholastic Sailing Association
http://www.highschollsailingusa.org
Cohasset High School Sailing Team wins championship – 1976, 1978, 1979
http://www.massbaysailing.org/page/3822

Cohasset Sailing Club – Summer 2009 DVDs Now available!

Get your copy of the Cohasset Sailing Club’s “Summer 2009″ DVD! Packed with 20 minutes worth of pictures from the first days of the season all the way to Fun Day, it’s a great way to see the sailing season from a whole new perspective!

Suggested donations of $15 are appreciated!

To order, please email John T. DeWaal at jtdewaal@comcast.net.

Thanks for a Great Season

It was a great season of sailing at the Cohasset Sailing Club.

Despite the rains of early summer Junior Training held forth, thanks to a cadre of terrific instructors. We had a full fleet of motorized and sail boats that stayed fully operational all year. The Annual Launch Party and Lobsterfest was a huge success. We broke membership and Junior Program records,  and Great White sharks didn’t come to the Bay State until Labor Day.  While we tried but failed to open up for the holiday weekend, we extended the free-sailing season this year, and vow to figure it out for next year because some of our best weather waits for September.  Most of all we had a lot of fun while we taught almost 250 Cohasset children and adults the joys of sailing.

Dockslips and Kayk berths will remain operational until approximately mid-October, when we’ll pull the docks. And of course the grounds are available for your use, too. In fact Cohasset’s Elder Affairs group will be using the club this Thursday for its annual end-of-summer picnic.

Thanks to all of our staff and volunteers who helped to make this season great. The list is long, and their accomplishments many. And thanks to you, our loyal members, for being a part of it all.

End of Season Awards

Herb Towle Award: Senior Instructor Ryan Crough

Porter Series: 1st Place - Emily Malone and Anne Rowland

 Race Team

• Excellence: Danielle Sookiasian and Brianne Crough
• Most Improved: Andrew Burnett 

 Sailor I

• Most Improved: Marina Longo
• Excellence: Thomas Durkin

Sailor II

• Most Improved: Olivia Wilson
• Excellence: Emma Humphrey

Sailor III

• Most Improved: Grace Lucier
• Excellence: Andrew Dubro

Mate I

• Most Improved: Adam Game
• Excellence: Olivia Arnold

Mate II

• Most Improved: Jesse Rietkerk
• Excellence: Margery Wilson

Skipper

• Most Improved: Annie McElgunn
• Excellence: Jake Johnson

Captain

• Most Improved: Hamish Redfield
• Excellence: Zach Coggins

Waaser Cup

• 1st Place: Sean Mavilia, Owen Gideon-Murphy, Dan Axelson

Congdon Cup

• 1st Place: Zach Coggins, Hamish Redfield, Jack O’Brien

Stanton Series

• 1st Place - Christian Cunnie and Mrs. Cunnie
• 2nd Place - Adam Benson and Mr. Benson

We’ll see you next summer!

FUN DAY WAS A BLAST

All I saw were smiling faces, and there were a lot of them: at least 170, maybe 200 – And that doesn’t include our very fun Instructors or the many parent-volunteers who stepped around all of the wet towels and backpacks to get lunch ready and served. (“You don’t LOOK like the lunch room lady…”)

Thank you to all of our very well behaved children (No, really…was there an incident I didn’t hear of? I don’t think so.), Instructors and Volunteers:

Debbie Johnson and Linda O’Brien – Co-Chairs

 

and the following donated either water, coolers with ice, watermelon and/or their time…

 Jeff “The Grillmaster” Johnson

Maria Kennedy

Wendy Kennedy

Susan Donohue

Karin Cunnie

Molly Adams

Mary Jo Blackington

Marlena Alex

Liliane Wenner

Kelly Kelley

Sally Sisson

Bronnie Nelson

Tracy Thomas

Logan Bernstein

Andrea Martone

 

We’ll add our thanks to those of Deb and Linda  – Thanks, Everyone!

Check Out Last Week’s Cohasset Mariner

“Picture This” – page 2 – Features Caroline McElhinny and Sarah Mavilia of the CSC Staff

You can Learn some amazing things about these two, including:

They were both born on August 3rd at 8:47 PM…3 years apart.

Believe It Or Not!

 

AND 

Mariner Sports Section

is not to be missed - 

A full Page 21 features photos of “Cohasset Cruisers”