PAGE 20 • SUMMER 2005 THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SAILING ASSOCIATION
ASA MEMBER PROFILE • BOB MEYER
ASA is always interested in its members! If you have a
great story about how you got into sailing and how you
joined ASA, we’d love to hear it. Send your story to:
American Sailing Association
P.O. Box 12079
Marina Del Rey, CA 90295-3079
or email info@american-sailing.com
America’s Cup, and from watching the events on
television, Meyer thought racing looked interesting. Also,
ASA member, Bob Meyer sailed in the 2003 Figawi race
racing seemed like a good compromise with no
from Hyannis, Mass., to Nantucket over the Memorial Day
weekend.
overnights and only one night a week, so he began racing
Rhodes 19s on Friday nights that summer.
A
SA member Bob Meyer got started on his sailing After that, Meyers was hooked, and over the years he has
career early growing up in the Rochester, NY, area, competed primarily in one-designs (Rhodes 19s, J-22s
sailing with his father. and Etchells), but has also done some offshore point-to-
point events, as well as working in an occasional cruise
“As a young child he took me out sailing on a Sunfish
or recreational daysail. This past year, he and his wife
during a camping trip. I guess the fascination stuck, and
purchased their own boat, a Rhodes 19, which they can
the seeds were planted. A few years later I had the
both daysail with the family and race in a local fleet.
opportunity to take some lessons at summer camp.
However, after that I really wasn’t involved in sailing
Finding ASA
until I moved to Boston after college. In Boston I had a
After spending a great deal of time daysailing, Meyer
few small boats (a Snark, and a Force 5) that each
thought it would be interesting to learn how to sail bigger
lasted about a season.”
boats, as well as go longer distances. Figuring this was
not necessarily something he should try to learn on his
Meyer moved to the Boston area in 1986 after graduating
own, he examined local programs. Impressed with the
from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis., and depth and breadth of topics that the ASA program
currently lives in Arlington, Mass., with his wife of 10 covered (weather, mechanical systems, etc.) in addition
years, Claudia, and two children; Katie, 4, and William, to the sailing-skills portion, he signed up for a program
2, who already wants to drive his dad’s boat. that took him through Advanced Coastal Cruising.
“Interestingly enough, when I met my wife she was “One of my best sailing experiences was the ASA
impressed that I had a sailboat, which at the time was certification cruise,” said Meyer. “It was the first cruise I
the Snark, which, for those of you who are unfamiliar had taken that involved multiple ports and was for an
with a Snark, it is essentially a Styrofoam hull encased extended duration. Our certification cruise was an
in plastic with a lateen rig, which probably weighs all of adventure. We saw everything from pods of humpback
50 pounds. Well, I did little to dissuade her of her whales, to dense fog, and a storm with 40-knot winds.
impressions of my ‘sailboat,’ but she soon found out.” Through it all, we had a terrific time.”
A few years passed, where Meyer didn’t sail, until one
When not working at his job as Vice President of Finance
summer his wife surprised him with a membership to a
for Bright Horizons Family Solutions, which provides
sailing center in Boston, the Community Boating on the
work-site sponsored childcare, Meyer enjoys spending
Charles River. From that point, seven years ago, his
time with his kids and working on his boat.
interest was reawakened and he’s been sailing every
season since. Having taken the time to go through ASA courses at the
Boston Harbor Sailing Club, Meyer expressed how
The race is on
impressed he was with the program.
Like many others, Meyer started out mainly cruising and
daysailing in the Massachusetts Bay area, including
“The course topics, instructors and equipment were all
several overnights. The birth of daughter, Katie, however,
excellent. I feel that the ASA fills an important role in
required less time away from home. It just so happened
sailing education and as a forum for recreational
that this was in the fall of 1999, around the time of the
R
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