C36/375 International Association

***** SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT *****
 

Please welcome our C36/375IA commodore-elect Leslie “Les” Troyer. Les will officially take over as Commodore on January 1, 2020. Most of you know Les as our pre-MKII C36 Tech Editor. A recent vote within our C36/375IA’s website forums was unanimous in favor of Les! Congratulations!

A brief bio of our new Commodore::

Leslie Troyer’s sailing experience began in grade school, sailing in El Toro’s, International 14s, as well as his father’s Santana 27. His seamanship experience includes working four years on charter and commercial salmon fishing boats. A 1983 Catalina 22 pop-top was his very first Catalina, which he purchased off the floor of the Seattle Boat Show.

Leslie met his Bride of 33 years while sailing his Catalina 22 on the Snake River, and honeymooned on a 39’ Moorings bareboat charter sailing the British Virgin Islands. He purchased his current boat Mahalo, a 1983 Catalina 36 MK1 hull #94, in April of 2016 and is currently sailing out of Everett, Washington.

Leslie retired from the Boeing Company after 20 years as an IT Engineer, and now enjoys cruising the Pacific Northwest Islands.

Our C36/375IA has been fortunate to have Leslie as our C36/375IA pre-MK2 C36 Tech Editor for the past 2-1/2 years, where he shares his seemingly boundless knowledge assisting members with online technical help via our IA website forums as well as our Facebook group. Les regularly contributes detailed technical articles to the quarterly Mainsheet magazine as well.

Les will officially assume his new position on January 1, 2020, and is working closely with our current Commodore Laura Olsen transitioning into his new position.

***** Outgoing Commodore Laura Olsen *****

Commodore from Feb 2013 - Jan 2020

A very special acknowledgment and thank you goes to our outgoing commodore, Laura Olsen, who over the past six years (Feb 2014 - Jan 2020) has tirelessly guided our International Association through some trying and difficult transitions, not to mention her day-to-day leadership duties coordinating with her volunteer staff! Laura’s compassion for her position as commodore, her unselfish devotion to her position is acknowledged and appreciated.

Laura’s sailing gene pool runs deep in her Norwegian and Spanish bloodlines. She loves to sail! Her first taste of sailing was on the San Francisco Bay in California (of course she was then hooked for life). Her boss at the time had a Catalina 22 with a group of racing pals and introduced Laura to sailing (it must have been great to have a boss that sails!).

Over the years, Laura has been proud to have owned a Boston Whaler Harpoon 5.2, a Buccaneer 240 (her so-called “Clorox-bottle-with-sails”), and lastly her current 1989 MK I Catalina 36 named Miramar, a reflection of her and her spouse’s Spanish and Latin roots, which she purchased in 2008.

Laura fell in love with the lines of the Catalina 36 long before becoming an owner. She often caught sight of them on the Chesapeake Bay, each time saying “check out that nice boat!”

Laura’s home port is Old Bay Marina, Edgemere, Maryland, which is near Baltimore and Annapolis. She confesses she is Miramar’s captain (and mechanic, grunt, etc), whereas her Admiral of 41 years is also known as her “sheet-man and forever mate”! As a US Coast Guard Master Mariner, her boat rules are: 1) there is only one captain, and 2) all other questions see rule #1!

When not sailing or working, Laura enjoys snow skiing and fly-fishing, and is even considering a part-time job with Sea Tow! Her profession is Manager of Environmental Health and Safety for Frederick County Public Schools, a position she has held for the past 18 years! She holds a BS degree in Chemistry.

As commodore, Laura never lost sight of the numerous energetic volunteers filling our Association’s positions that made our C36/375IA function on a day-to-day basis. Her leadership has been legendary and unwavering.

***** ACKNOWLEDGMENT of our PRIOR OFFICERS *****

As outgoing Commodore, Laura extends a special thank you and acknowledgment to the following prior commodores, vice commodores, membership officers, website stars, etc:

Commodores: Tom Sokoloski (aka “Soko”), Chic Lasser, Sean McGuckin, Duane Ising.
Membership Officers: Gary Bain, and Hal Baker. Laura has also held this position.
Website superstars Nick Tonkin (the Superman of our website); past web crew Bud Street, Sue Griesbach, Alex Lynch, and Don Winchell.
Facebook Administrator: Steven Jones
Mainsheet Editor: Lauren Nicholson
Treasurers: Mark Villano and Bill Harvey.
Jib Sheet editors: Chic Lasser, Duane Ising, Steven Jones (for those of you who do not remember or know of our JibSheet publication, search our website ”jibsheet” for past editions).
Other volunteer positions including Ship’s Store, Technical, etc: Ralph Johnson, Steve Frost, Larry Brandt, Phil Rojas, and Jeff Blyth.

With tremendous gratitude, Laura wishes to extend a thank you to our incoming commodore Les Troyer, and membership officer Cyndi VanHerpe!