The members of Fleet 27 fervently gathered for their first official meeting of the 2007 season. Ravenous and parched, we descended upon our venerated treasurer’s home and indulged in a sumptuous spread of lasagna, chicken casserole, fondue, and Mt. Gay. The dinnertime conversation revealed some life-changes for the HOTties from Hooked on Tonics—one is pregnant, one is engaged, and one is buying a house. We heard sea stories from Ralph, new owner of a four-digit hull, who raced with the big boys & girls in Florida over the winter. And we commiserated with a couple of the fleet’s newbies who proudly sail the more seasoned hulls and are in various stages of boat-repairing, including keel-fairing, bottom-painting, and gelcoating. 
Once satiated, we got down to business and made a few official decisions. First, the boats go in the water May 12 and our spring series begins May 15. Our weekend series consists of four scored regattas: PYC’s Pilot and PHRF races, Handy Boat’s MS Regatta, and either the E22 class’s New England Championships in Burlington, VT, or a PYC fall series race held the same weekend. Our 2008 worlds-qualifier race is the PHRF race in July. And we intend to host a class-sanctioned regatta in September 2008.
We made a couple other critical decisions, like where to go drinking every Tuesday night (alternating between PYC and Handy’s) and what color our snazzy fleet-branded hats should be.
We’re ready to sail.
