As mentioned in a recent Commodore Tabb’s Quarterdeck Column, FBYC is one of 26 "pre-eminent American yacht Club's" invited by the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) to participate in the U.S. Qualifying Series for the next NYYC Invitational Cup. The Qualifying Series will be sailed in Newport, Rhode Island, September 8-13, 2010, and the actual Invitational Cup will be September 10-17, 2011. The Qualifying Series will feature fleet racing in Sonars and J/22s in historic Newport, R.I. – on the same waters that the NYYC conducted the America's Cup from 1958-1983. This will be the only opportunity for domestic yacht clubs to earn a place in the 2011 Invitational Cup. The top three U.S. teams from the Qualifying Series will receive invitations to the Invitational Cup, where they will join the top six teams from 2009: New York, Royal Canadian, Japan Sailing Federation, Nyländska Jaktklubben of Finland; Royal Cork of Ireland and Royal Bermuda, plus at least 10 other international teams, to be invited in the spring of 2011. The ultimate Cup will be sailed in NYYC Swan 42s.

"We wanted to respond to requests for places in our Invitational Cup, an international competition for Corinthian sailors," said NYYC Commodore Elwell. "Creating this new event will give more American clubs the opportunity to share the stage with visitors from overseas. I am pleased we are expanding competitive opportunities for the event."

This is an extraordinary opportunity for FBYC to excel on the national stage, so all reasonable efforts will be exerted to make a competitive showing for the Club within the Corinthian spirit of the event. Travis Weisleder will lead the FBYC campaign and serve as Skipper for training and for the event, with assistance from: Noel Clinard, who will serve as team logistical coordinator and reporter; Lud Kimbrough, who will integrate the campaign into the fabric of FBYC’s Long Range Plan objectives; Frances Kimbrough, who will serve as campaign treasurer; Jay Buhl, who will help coordinate training; and perhaps many others. The funding of the campaign will be provided entirely by the participants and by voluntary donations of generous interested members - which will be solicited and welcomed.

A selection process for the crew will be created under the leadership of Vice Commodore Hinckle and Travis Weisleder. Hopefully, this process will include a training and assimilation regimen in several boats over the course of the Spring and early Summer. It will be vitally important to form a crew for the second “tuning boat”, as well as the final boat crew. For training, crew qualification and tuning, we are seeking the Club’s most competitive skippers and crew, including Juniors, to be involved throughout the training program, and we expect that all involved in the program will want to attend the event in Newport in September. In any event, we encourage people of all ages and abilities to help with this endeavor.

The scheduling of the practices will be done in a manner designed not to disrupt the Club’s normal sailing season. The completed crew list must be submitted to NYYC no later than August 15, 2010, along with information for each competitor on Club Membership, nationality and ISAF classification, which will be carefully reviewed. Eligibility criteria, as provided in the NOR, are:

4.7 Yacht Club Membership: All crew members shall have been year-round full members of the Invited Yacht Club as of September 19, 2009 except as noted in NOR 4.7.1. Seasonal or special memberships would not qualify.
4.7.1 One member of the crew may be the spouse of a member or a member’s child under the age of 25 on the first day of racing.
4.8 Nationality: All crew members shall be U.S. citizens and will need to show their passport or birth certificate.
4.8.1 US SAILING Membership: All crew members shall be current members of US SAILING during the regatta.
4.9 ISAF Classification: All crew members shall have a valid ISAF Sailor Classification of Group 1. Any unclassified sailor shall be deemed to be Group 3 and ineligible to sail.

All persons wishing to participate in the campaign selection process and who meet the eligibility requirements should contact Noel Clinard or Travis Weisleder, if they have not already done so.