Our club recently captured the attention of two sailing magazines – Sailing World and Good Old Boat. Bob Naylor met Good Old Boat editor and owner Michael Robertson last December while pitching the Birthday Regatta to the Tucson Sailing Club. As a result of that meeting, Michael donated hats and several magazine subscriptions to the event auction. We all know it would be a challenge for anyone to say no to Bob’s pitch for fundraising. Thanks Bob and Michael!
In Good Old Boat’s article, “Lonely in Lockdown, and Finding the Light(s)” July/August issue, we are mentioned in a photo caption and easily recognized by our AYC logo.
“In fact, beyond Lake Powell—the pandemic notwithstanding—sailing is alive and well in the desert state of Arizona. The Arizona Yacht Club has been around since 1958 and Phoenix members are active, sailing on giant Lake Pleasant.”
Good Old Boat
If you are not familiar with the Good Old Boat magazine they are worth a look. Their magazine subscription is available in electronic and print formats and their monthly newsletter, “Dogwatch” is really affordable – it’s free. Since they are committed to sailors having “quality reading to enjoy during this time” they are offering FREE DOWNLOADS to some of their monthly subscription issues, including July/August.
Arizona YC’s Spirit Animal: The Birthday Regatta
In the Summer 2020 issue of Sailing World, the article “Seek Your Club’s Animal Spirit: Some regattas are greater than the sum of their parts.” begins by asking these questions, “Does your outfit have an event that defines you? That inspires its members? That embodies pride and spirit? That brings volunteers with bells on?” Each of the yacht clubs interviewed for this piece named that one special regatta everyone admires, supports, and looks forward to. Metaphorically speaking, most will agree that AYC’s animal spirit is most noticeable and active during our annual Birthday Regatta.
Commodore Rob Gibbs was interviewed by Sailing World to talk about our animal spirit. Here is an excerpt of what they wrote, “Arizona YC, with its annual Birthday Regatta set for mid-winter, faces less-immediate pressure, and the world is likely to change several times before then. Even so, the thought that comes to mind for Commodore Rob Gibbs is that it would be “emotionally devastating” if a continuing pandemic shuts down their spirit center this winter. We’d try to move to a different date, not cancel. “We’re supposed to be there at the lake, gathered with 250 families. It’s supposed to happen. That has meaning. Some of these people travel a distance to camp out and play games with their friends. We put up a big tent as a rallying place, and the Birthday Regatta is the one occasion when our paper club has a physical location.”
The photos used in the article were taken by our guest speaker and photographer, Onne Van Der Wal.
