2026 DCYRA President's Message
Planning for the 2026 Deep Creek Lake sailing season started last September as the newly elected Board of Directors met to plan the events, establish budgets, debate priorities and evaluate the health of the organization. The racing association remains in great health from a participation as well as financial perspective. There are no guarantees going forward, so the Board continues to monitor participation and set aside money for future capital expenditures to ensure the long-term viability of the organization.
The number of Directors on the DCYRA Board was reduced at the annual meeting last year from twenty to ten. I am tremendously thankful for the service of those Board members as well as the numerous Committee Chairs that do the hard work of achieving our goals of delivering a quality sailing program, promoting the program and helping to develop sailor’s skills. We also need your support by helping with race committee and safety patrol. Please review the schedule indicating who has responsibility for these roles each week and make sure to be ready when it’s your turn. We appreciate your service.
From the perspective of schedule we have great news. The 2026 sailing season will have two additional weekends of sailing as compared to 2025. I wish I could tell you it is due to innovative scheduling by the team, but it’s really due to the way Memorial Day and Labor Day fall this year. Nonetheless, we’ll take it and look forward to a few more days on the water. Otherwise, the sailing program will be similar to previous years with the traditional Steiding Cup Race on May 23 at noon followed by the Commodores Cup Regatta. There will be a Competitor’s Meeting on Saturday, May 23 at 10 am at DCLSA. This is not a mandatory meeting but attendance is encouraged.
The Women’s/Junior’s Regatta is scheduled for August 1-2 to make it easier for newer sailors and juniors to participate. The regatta committee is focused on getting more boats on the water for this event, especially juniors. We ask that everyone help us with this recruitment process to continue to find ways to get more folks actively engaged in the racing program. We hope to have a separate course again for junior ILCA and Tera sailors, which is one of the few opportunities for our youth to race on a course separate from the Flying Scots. So, let’s make the best of this opportunity.
See you on the water!
Greg Shafer
DCYRA President
The number of Directors on the DCYRA Board was reduced at the annual meeting last year from twenty to ten. I am tremendously thankful for the service of those Board members as well as the numerous Committee Chairs that do the hard work of achieving our goals of delivering a quality sailing program, promoting the program and helping to develop sailor’s skills. We also need your support by helping with race committee and safety patrol. Please review the schedule indicating who has responsibility for these roles each week and make sure to be ready when it’s your turn. We appreciate your service.
From the perspective of schedule we have great news. The 2026 sailing season will have two additional weekends of sailing as compared to 2025. I wish I could tell you it is due to innovative scheduling by the team, but it’s really due to the way Memorial Day and Labor Day fall this year. Nonetheless, we’ll take it and look forward to a few more days on the water. Otherwise, the sailing program will be similar to previous years with the traditional Steiding Cup Race on May 23 at noon followed by the Commodores Cup Regatta. There will be a Competitor’s Meeting on Saturday, May 23 at 10 am at DCLSA. This is not a mandatory meeting but attendance is encouraged.
The Women’s/Junior’s Regatta is scheduled for August 1-2 to make it easier for newer sailors and juniors to participate. The regatta committee is focused on getting more boats on the water for this event, especially juniors. We ask that everyone help us with this recruitment process to continue to find ways to get more folks actively engaged in the racing program. We hope to have a separate course again for junior ILCA and Tera sailors, which is one of the few opportunities for our youth to race on a course separate from the Flying Scots. So, let’s make the best of this opportunity.
See you on the water!
Greg Shafer
DCYRA President