Change of Watch at The Cruising Club of America
by John Burnham 8 Apr 13:02 UTC
Incoming Commodore A. Chace Anderson with his wife, Josie © Anderson family
The Cruising Club of America (CCA) installed new flag officers and governors at its annual meeting in March. A. Chace Anderson of Vero Beach, Florida, and Cleveland, Ohio, took the helm as Commodore of the Club, succeeding John "Jay" Gowell, of Jamestown, R.I.
Andrew Kallfelz, of Jamestown, R.I., was elected to take Anderson's place as Vice Commodore.
Well-known for awarding its prestigious Blue Water Medal and staging the biennial Newport Bermuda Race with the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, the CCA has no physical clubhouse and is organized into 15 stations and posts in the U.S., Canada, Bermuda and Europe. It was founded in 1922 for active offshore sailors who have demonstrated their capabilities in command of offshore sailing vessels on ocean voyages of significant duration.
As the incoming Commodore, Anderson paid tribute to his predecessor:
"Jay has made a great contribution to CCA during his two-year term as Commodore," he said. "Not only has he been instrumental in the planning of some wonderful cruises in the Western Isles of Scotland, Maine to Canada and in the Caribbean, he also was the driving force behind the establishment of CCA's 12th station, our first in Western Europe."
In the Caribbean, the Club's international member cruising flotillas over the last two years included events in Antigua, Guadeloupe, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines to Grenada. Member flotillas also took place in the Golfo de California, Mexico, and Bermuda. Domestic cruises were completed in the San Juan Islands in Washington state as well as Chesapeake Bay.
Further refinements of the Newport Bermuda Race were also completed during Gowell's term. Over the years, his service to the CCA has included roles as Vice Commodore and Secretary, and Chair and Vice Chair of the Newport Bermuda Race.
As it normally does, the Club has drawn its new leaders from across the U.S., Canada, and Bermuda. Anderson grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and learned to sail on the shores of Lake Erie. For the last 20 years he has sailed his Hallberg Rassy 43 from its home port in Maine as far north as Newfoundland, as far south as Grenada, and as far east as Ireland and Scotland. He has been married to his sailing partner, Josie, for 45 years and has two daughters, one an artist in Maine, and the other a homemaker in Texas.
Newly elected Secretary Timothy Surgenor is from Dover, Massachusetts; Treasurer Kathleen O' Donnell is from Milton, Massachusetts; Historian Douglas Adkins is from Orcas Island, Washington. The three newly elected Governors are Michael Geagan of Wayne, Pennsylvania; Joseph W. Golberg of Lopez Island, Washington; and Somers Kempe of Warwick, Bermuda.