In November, the team appointed its new officers, President Jen Mislinki, Treasurer Jason Sinclair, Club Manager Sean Orzolek, Secretary Joan Boyle, Equipment Manager, Andrew Cebulski, and Regatta Manager and Alumni Relations Chair, Ann Mercurio (myself). Although we have some great shoes to fill, we are excited to assume our new roles on the team. Former President, Drew Bergan continues to offer us guidance so that the transition to new leadership runs smoothly.

    We would like to congratulate perhaps our most enthusiastic, and most certainly our most musical teammate, Tyler Drown, who graduated in December. Tyler was formerly our team's alumni correspondent, and I must admit that he is a tough act to follow! Over the five years Tyler has studied and sailed at Drexel, he has been able to bring to the team not only knowledge of nautical sorts, but also fantastic tales of his travels abroad. On the water, he skippered with an innate understanding of wind and water, and started many a Beach Boys sing-a-long from his boat. Offshore, he devoted tremendous time and effort to organizing and maintaining communication with our alumni, fans and parents. His most recent online newsletters can be viewed here. Tyler, who has been a huge influence and a great member of this team since 2004 (even though he proudly dons Drexel Sailing gear marked from seasons in 2003!), will be greatly missed. We all wish him the best of luck with his future travels (next stop: the middle eastern city of Amman, Jordan!), and we look forward to seeing him as a guest at our alumni functions.

    We are proud to announce that we will be awarding former sailing coach Bob DiFilippo with the Sandra Drayer award. Tyler Drown recently reported:

    On February 13th, The Sandra Drayer award will be presented to past sailing coach Bob DiFilippo. This is the first annual award in recognition of an individual who has made a significant impact to the Sailing Club through outstanding contribution as a student officer, success as a club competitor or leadership as a club coach or adviser. For a decade, Bob DiFilippo dedicated an inordinate amount of his time and effort as coach and taught scores of Drexel University students how to sail. Dozens of alumni owe their continued involvement in the sailing community to the skills Coach Bob taught both on and off the water. He was directly responsible for transforming many sailors—coming into our program with no or little sailing experience—into competitive and life-long racers. Additionally, Coach Bob is a committed humanitarian, volunteering his time to help build infrastructure in the refugee settlements of Rwanda with Engineers Without Borders. The Drexel Sailing Team is extremely pleased to be able recognize Coach Bob's great contribution to our team, our school, and our sport. We would like to extend a warm welcome to all of you to attend this exciting event! The award ceremony will take place during the February 13th Men's basketball game. The game begins at 12 noon, and tickets are to be provided by the Drexel Athletics Department. It would be a great honor for us if you would attend! Kindly R.S.V.P. through email (jmislinski@drexelsailing.com).

    The team has been working hard this winter, exercising at nightly conditioning sessions. We are motivated to stay in great shape in order to prepare for a successful spring season. Sailing practices at the Corinthian Yacht Club of Philadelphia are to resume in March, and The Drexel Open is scheduled for the last weekend of the season, on May 8th and 9th. This will be the first spring season for our freshmen sailors, and the last for six for our senior sailors who will be graduating in June. It grieves the team to bid farewell to so many sailors and friends, and we are expecting future seasons to be challenging without their experience and team spirit. The team officers, however, are planning for the recruitment of more young sailors, and we look forward to seeing new faces for the upcoming seasons.