ECSA Commodore’s Trophy
The ECSA Commodore’s Trophy was established in 2006 to recognize outstanding contributions to Sailing in our area by an ECSA member. The Deed for this trophy is:
The ECSA Commodore’s Trophy is to be awarded from time to time at the discretion of the ECSA Commodore with the approval of the ECSA Officers and Board of Directors to any ECSA member (club or individual) that has made a significant contribution to the Eastern Connection Sailing Association community. The Trophy is not awarded for excellence in sailing competition. It is expected that this award will not be presented annually; rather it is to be awarded only when there is a deserving recipient.
The perpetual trophy shall be displayed at the recipient’s home or home club until it shall be required for presentation to the next winner. A suitable keeper will be provided to be the permanent possession of each winner.
2024 – Anne C. Longo
Anne C. Longo (Annie) is the 2024 Eastern Connecticut Sailing Association Commodore’s Trophy Recipient.
Annie is a dedicated sailor and instructor. She began teaching sailing at ECSA clubs in 2014, where she proved to be an excellent instructor, racking up awards from ECSA and US Sailing. Perhaps more importantly, she received countless accolades from her coworkers, her students’ parents, and her students, many of whom said she was the best instructor they’d ever had. In 2019, Annie approached the region’s junior program chairs and challenged us all to clean up our act at junior regattas. A tradition was born to run “clean” regattas, which help sailors improve their environmental footprint. Three years later, Annie was appointed ECSA junior chair and used her position to dramatically improve the program. During her tenure, junior membership rose from 189 to 321, junior regatta entries rose from 350 to 640, and ECSA instructor clinic participation grew a whopping 300 percent. Beyond the numbers, Annie improved communication by introducing email newsletters and establishing groups for juniors on leading social media platforms, where she responded to questions, complaints, and comments in a friendly, positive way. Annie also got instructors from different programs to work together to great success: As a group, they planned inter-club events, shared coach boats at regattas, and swapped helpful tips and information.
As Annie steps down from her ECSA responsibilities, she continues to impress by helping the organization, and her successor, as much as her time will allow. We sincerely appreciate Annie’s considerable contributions to junior sailing and trust that her efforts will keep us headed in the right direction for decades to come. We are hopeful that she will rejoin us as her schedule allows.
2020 – Katie Bradford
Past Commodore Katie Bradford has served ECSA’s members for 30 years! In fact, her time actually goes back much further – Katie recently told a story about when she was 12 she would help her aunt Stu Sylvestri (Who ECSA’s Best Race Management trophy is named after) by licking stamps in the back of Stu’s car on the way to an ECSA meeting!
So, Katie has decided 30 years on the Board is enough. We don’t agree with her but we could not talk her out of it. Katie was our Commodore in 1998 and 1999. Katie has served as Secretary for 15 years – that’s a lot of notes! And she served as a Board of Director for many years as well.
Katie’s passion for our sailing community always shines with her enthusiasm and common sense. Katie has made significant contributions to the sailing community. For example, in addition to ECSA contributions, she was a co-founder of New London Community Boating, which provided free sailing lessons to New London’s kids. Katie was also a Mudhead Commodore. And, of course we all applaud her success in building Custom Marine Canvas.
2019 – Judy Gibbs
We should all be thankful that 30 years ago our Vice Commodore Judy Gibbs caught the racing bug. Judy spent a lot of years competing on the ECSA race course before moving on to volunteering countless hours on race committees.
Judy was on the ECSA Board in the 1990’s and returned for the past 9 years AGAIN serving this association. Judy has contributed so much to our Circuit – especially being an advocate for proper Race Management. Judy is a Certified Race Officer and has faithfully organized race management training for our region.
Among the many other things Judy has brought to the table has been searching for and purchasing the awards for this dinner. Every year the awards are different and unique. This year, Judy took Bob Hubbard under her wing. I don’t think Bob knew what he signed up for!
In addition to contributing to ECSA, Judy was a co-founder of New London Community Boating, which provided free sailing lessons to New London’s kids. Judy has also ran regional and national championships, served as Thames YC Commodore, Off Soundings RC, Block Island Race Week RC and spent many years on the Hospice Regatta committee.
Judy is leaving the board at this time so she and Bob can enjoy travelling the country. We are going to miss you at our board meetings but I am certain we’ll still see Judy serving on Race Committees.
Past recipients:
In 2006 it was awarded to Niantic Bay Yacht Club for hosting a successful 375 boat Opti New England
Championship.
In 2009 to Steve Purdy for his exceptional contributions to race management.
In 2010 to Lincoln Schoenberger for his service to the PHRF Handicapping Council.
In 2012 to Bob Cashman for his contributions to the ECSA board and handicap council.
In 2013 to Bruce Kuryla for his exceptional service to the ECSA board, handicap council and winning
performance in national competition.
In 2016 to Paul Risseeuw for his unprecedented support of Junior Sailing and service to ECSA as Junior Chair for 24 years as well as Commodore
In 2018 to Brandon Flack for his significant contributions to our sailing community