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Celebrating <strong>Annapolis</strong> <strong>Yacht</strong> <strong>Club</strong><br />
Terry Hutchinson<br />
As I read Gary’s inaugural article in the <strong>Beacon</strong>, I<br />
could not help but think my AYC story is not<br />
nearly as good. I do not have a great story of a<br />
prominent member of our sailing community encouraging<br />
me to join AYC. Unlike Gary, when I joined, I was<br />
not triumphantly coming back to town having just won<br />
the America’s Cup. Unfortunately, my endeavors in that<br />
arena left me three races shy.<br />
My story is one of simplicity. My wife Shelley and I<br />
had just moved back to <strong>Annapolis</strong> in the fall of 1996. I<br />
had taken a sales position working for Larry Leonard and<br />
was really looking forward to living back at “home.” For<br />
several months, Shell and I would go to Friday night happy<br />
hours with the then dating Chris Scanlon and Dave<br />
Gendell. It became somewhat of a routine those Fridays<br />
and, after some encouragement from Dave and then<br />
Commodore Libby, I applied for a junior membership.<br />
I can remember my interview with John White as<br />
if it was yesterday. John asked me, “Why do you want<br />
to join AYC?” I jokingly said, “I don’t but all my friends<br />
are getting tired of buying us drinks at happy hour and<br />
so I figured if I was going to hang out here at the club,<br />
it would be best to be a member.” That was the spring<br />
of 1997 and I guess my honesty with the Membership<br />
Committee saw me fit to be a member.<br />
The story, however, from here gets a little better. Being<br />
a member of the <strong>Annapolis</strong> <strong>Yacht</strong> <strong>Club</strong> has been a<br />
privilege. I have been so fortunate as a professional sailor<br />
to see and experience sailing and racing on an international<br />
level. But I know when I enter an event and put<br />
“<strong>Annapolis</strong> <strong>Yacht</strong> <strong>Club</strong>” on that I am representing more<br />
than myself. The community of AYC is something that<br />
until you are removed from it, you don’t realize how much<br />
you miss it. Having spent the better part of a decade out<br />
of the Chesapeake, I have two stories that always make<br />
me smile when I think about the people of AYC.<br />
The 2002 Governor’s Cup with Commodore Gordon,<br />
son Ian, and the team aboard Gaucho is the first.<br />
The usual suspects were in attendance: Matt Beck, Bill<br />
Cook, Andrew Scott, and Tom Weaver, to name a few.<br />
The night was shaping up to be a lot of fun. On top of<br />
the team that Peter put together, we had a wager going<br />
with an incredibly cocky Ramrod crew who had chartered<br />
a 1D 48. Convinced they were going to beat us<br />
to St. Mary’s, I am not sure what was better—the filet<br />
mignon and twice baked potatoes Peter had served us or<br />
crossing tacks with Roddy going up the St. Mary’s River<br />
Terry Hutchinson accepting the 2008 Rolex <strong>Yacht</strong>sman of the<br />
Year award at the New York <strong>Yacht</strong> <strong>Club</strong> in Manhattan.<br />
Photo courtesy of Dan Nerney/Rolex<br />
knowing they owed us the better part of an hour on time!<br />
Needless to say, the rivalry among teams is something<br />
you see be it a Wednesday night race or a Governor’s<br />
Cup.<br />
The second (of a lot of moments) came in 2007 when<br />
Commodore Chambers wrote me an email after we lost<br />
to Alinghi in the 32nd America’s Cup. I knew that people<br />
at home were watching mostly through email and<br />
phone calls. But I was very moved at the personal note<br />
Commodore Chambers wrote to me recognizing what<br />
we had accomplished and the manner in which our team<br />
had gone about business. When I talked with Bill upon<br />
returning to race Wednesday nights with the Mirage<br />
team, he reiterated the points of his note. My only response<br />
was that I had been raised right and taught well<br />
by the sailing fraternity in <strong>Annapolis</strong>. For me, AYC is<br />
the heart of that fraternity.<br />
As my children begin to understand sailing and<br />
what it means for them, it is great to have the <strong>Annapolis</strong><br />
<strong>Yacht</strong> <strong>Club</strong> as home. In the last two years, I have witnessed<br />
the transformation of the junior program and I<br />
know how fortunate Elias, Katherine, and Aden are to<br />
have the support of Jay Kehoe and the club. It is great to<br />
see that fraternity is growing and the heart of sailing in<br />
<strong>Annapolis</strong> is strong.<br />
VOLUME 1, NO. 2<br />
AYC BEACON<br />
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