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Up Close and Personal<br />
Vice Commodore Kevin McNeil<br />
Jobson<br />
You seem very committed to this area. What<br />
is special about <strong>Annapolis</strong> for you?<br />
McNeil I’ve grown up here and it's my home. The<br />
Chesapeake Bay is very special. It’s a beautiful<br />
piece of water. I never get tired of going to<br />
Oxford. I’ve never grown tired of the regattas.<br />
It’s very well located, north and south. We can<br />
get to either Florida or New England to go<br />
sailing in a short period of time. It’s a very<br />
well located place on a beautiful body of water.<br />
Jobson So if you were talking to a young person, 20,<br />
just got out of college, why would you suggest<br />
to them that they should come to the area and<br />
join the <strong>Annapolis</strong> <strong>Yacht</strong> <strong>Club</strong>?<br />
McNeil This <strong>Club</strong> offers a great community. The job<br />
markets in Washington and Baltimore are<br />
good and <strong>Annapolis</strong> is a beautiful, centralized<br />
place to live. The <strong>Club</strong> offers them a community<br />
where they could raise their family. It’s a good,<br />
safe haven; a preferred community.<br />
Jobson<br />
When you were a young person sailing in Spa<br />
Creek did you ever envision you would be<br />
running up the flags at <strong>Annapolis</strong> <strong>Yacht</strong> <strong>Club</strong>?<br />
McNeil I can tell you it was definitely not on my bucket<br />
list. I got involved about seven years ago when I<br />
was asked to be on the Board. Then they asked<br />
me to move up and come into the flag chain.<br />
I felt like I could contribute something to the<br />
operation and that’s why I did it. I think I can<br />
help and I think it is going well. We have a<br />
great facility. We have a great membership. I<br />
think the diversity of the <strong>Club</strong> is its strength.<br />
It's important to recognize that we’re stronger<br />
as one than we are as the pieces. It's possible<br />
for everyone to get what they want out of the<br />
<strong>Club</strong>. We’re here for everybody, it’s just not for<br />
one group’s focus.<br />
Jobson<br />
It seems to serve lots of different constituents<br />
well. The cruising crowd, the racing crowd, the<br />
dinner crowd, the card playing crowd, the kids.<br />
McNeil Exactly. You have to give Bill Patterson<br />
a great pat on the back, along with a lot of<br />
other people but I know early in the going,<br />
Bill Patterson was very active in that cruising<br />
group and has grown now to be a tremendous<br />
group of people who share common interests.<br />
They play a large role at our <strong>Club</strong>.<br />
Jobson<br />
If you were to look into a crystal ball where<br />
would you like to see <strong>Annapolis</strong> <strong>Yacht</strong> <strong>Club</strong><br />
10 or 15 years from now?<br />
McNeil I think the <strong>Club</strong> has tremendous potential to<br />
continue its growth. I was a child here and I see<br />
the family program moving ahead. I like the<br />
concept of a multi generational membership<br />
dynamic where our kids can enjoy what we’ve<br />
enjoyed. I’ve gotten tremendous satisfaction<br />
out of sailing. It has helped me both personally<br />
and within my business. A strong support<br />
structure and family structure is one of the<br />
best things we can offer our community.<br />
26 AYC BEACON VOLUME 3, NO. 2
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