Halt the Phase-Out of the GLP Sea Shell Fleet

Before people sign this, I want you to read something. I have been on the seashell staff for 4 years, and after my first year as head instructor, I had to write a report involving my opinions on this transition. I put a lot of thought into it, considering my memories in seashells and my experiences as an instructor: "The biggest discussion however is the inevitable transition from seashells to inner lagoon optis. Now I understand both sides of this argument. For those opposing the transition, seashells are a massive symbol of Groton Long Point. The boats these kids are sailing this day are the same boats used by their parents; parents who had the same experiences in these same boats. With the seashells being used, the program feels like a timeless program. It doesn’t matter the decade you’re growing up in or whats happening in the world, you are experiencing a program that has been using the same utilities and methods for years and years. It’s a tradition. It makes the members of the Groton Long Point yacht club feel like they are part of something special, something unique, something that can be found nowhere else in the world (besides some place in California? I don’t even know). However, there are some unavoidable and massive flaws with the seashells. To put it simplest, they are terrible. Every moderately windy day, the staff had to consider not if a boat was going to break, but how many were going to run into an issue, and how big those damages were going to be. Whenever an instructor needed to handle a flipped boat, there was a constant fear of snapping a rotten mast step or boat frame. These damages were frequent and also largely expensive. Another big debate against switching out seashells is the money loss it would cause a large number of families in the community. These multi-thousand dollar boats and boat rentals will instantly become nothing. Families who may have just bought a seashell a couple years prior would now have to invest in an entirely differ

Don't ruin tradition.

An honored tradition deserves a vote by all.

This should be a community decision. Many GLP sailors developed their love of sailing while sailing seashells. It is a valued standing family tradition for so many.

This is a community and what the community wants should override the desire of a few individual who have run for office only to abuse the power I trusted with them and make decisions not representative of the community. Put it for community vote when the community as a whole is present, don't manipulate the system by calling meetings and voting on issues when you know no one is there to object. The management of the GLP Yacht Club is disingenuous and should be removed if they don't understand or care what the community wants, not their agebda. I would go further in this ditribution for support against this play and recommend that if they do not put this up for community vote that we hit them where it hurts most, in their pocket book. Let's all band together in this effort and boycott the yacht club programs either as a whole or at least the sailing program they claim to be helping. Let them look at their Optis sitting unused on the shore. Let them make financial ends meet with the community support they so carelessly ignore.

Put the decision to a vote. This is too historical and important to leave in the hands of the oligarchy.

Dear Yacht Club Board Members, I have heard both sides of this issue and attended the Yacht Club meeting this morning. I applaud the Board members' attempt to improve the sailing program but believe that your efforts are misplaced. The Seashell classes do not race against other clubs; they are meant to introduce children to the fun of sailing, teach the fundamentals of racing, and hopefully get them interested enough to want to move up to the Opti and 420 classes, classes which do compete against other clubs. Overall, I think these goals are being met with the current seashell boat. Where I believe the sailing program lags is at the opti and 420 levels; not enough kids are participating, and they traditionally haven't been very competitive against other clubs. I have two suggestions: 1. li9ke the other competitive clubs in the area, hire proven race instructors even if it means going off the point for talent. Kids with basic skills that have graduated from our program are fine to teach seashells, but are not skilled or in many cases mature enough to teach racing; 2. start all opti and 420 classes at 2:00 PM when the sea breeze kicks in and the sun isn't directly overhead. It's no fun to sit out there for hours in the hot sun waiting for the breeze to fill in. As to the argument that many of the seashells are unsafe, it would be very reasonable for the club to set and enforce a basic standard of safety (i.e. a boat can't leak, or the mast must be adequately attached, or the boat cannot be delaminating) and notify the members well in advance of this new standard along with suggested boat repair people so they can have their boat ready for the season. Optis, while made of fiberglass, also require regular maintenance, but also require higher skill levels to do so than are needed for seashells. As an aside, there are a number of well maintained seashells that are over 25 years old, and I wonder how a 25 year old opti will look? As to the issue of purchasing n

This is ridiculous! The Sea Shell is a perfectly good boat and is a part of Groton Long Point. Why switch to a flimsy plastic copy of a less well-designed boat from the same era? Kids learn how to sail in Sea Shells. All this is teaching them is how to spend money they don't have on things they don't need.

Sea Shell classes B,C and D are 2 kids to a boat. Sea Shells are designed for that. Opti's are a 1 kid boat. you will lose lots of glp kids from the sailing lessons if you do this. why would you want to do something that causes fewer kids to learn to sail? Let the community vote on it.

We should all have a chance to vote on this. The seashells are what makes GLP timeless why are we taking away that best quality about this place?

This is a tradition that must be preserved!

There is something special about Sea Shells and I'd hate to see these phased out. Beyond their sentiment, they provide a natural transition through the ranks and different sailing vessels. Within the Sea Shells program, the path of starting in "C-Class" with a captian & crew, to "A-Class" where you get to solo-captain a boat, is incredible. Furthermore, this perfect transition continues when you move from Sea Shells, to Opti's, to Blue Jays/420's, to eventually A-boats or something even larger. While Optis definitely have apparent benefits, namely a more modern vessel to learn on, these don't seem to outweigh the benefits the Sea Shell program provides, compounded by my nostalgic draw to them.

Seashells is a staple of the GLP experience as both a child and a community member. Please don't take this away!

#KeepSeaShellsAfloat Although I just turned 27, and I won't be sailing sea shells anytime soon... this fleet of boats is knit part of our community's fabric. These boats were my introduction to the sailing world, as they were for most of my friends, and I'd love for my kids to learn the same. I am one for progress and change, but at the end of the day, are these little guys really is anyone's way? Maybe drop the minimum age for optis, so families have the option to but a "Level C"-er straight into optis? This absolutely should have been discussed more publicly, and it would be a tragedy to see such a lasting treasure eliminated from the Point.

I never would have learned how to sail had it not been for the venerable Sea Shell fleet in the calm confines of the lagoon. . Like A-boats, East Dock and Point Spa ice cream, Sea Shells are an admired part of GLP summer tradition. I support keeping them afloat for many generations to come.

As a previous Seashell sailor and Seashell instructor, it would be a sad day in GLP to see this tradition end. Not every kid wants to be an Olympic sailor, but every kid who leaves the Seashell program leaves with new knowledge and lifelong memories. We have the Optis, and we have the Seashells, there's no need to eliminate one for the other!

As this decision impacts both the entire beginner sailing community and those residents who treasure the history of Sea Shells sailing on the Inner Lagoon whose opinions deserve to be heard.

The replacement of the Sea Shell fleet should definitely be discussed in front of the entire sailing GLP community before being implemented. Let's keep this wonderful tradition in place!

A wider discussion of the transition to Optis and elimination of the Sea Shell fleet is warranted.

The decision that was made behind closed doors (obviously for fear of the outrage that it would incite) to phase out Sea Shells is like Putin's autocracy. Last I checked we live in a democracy! For shame! Who made this career ending decision?