Dear Friends and Families,

With over 52 inches of snow already fallen, and another couple of months of new snow possible, the time is ripe for thinking of summer.  The reality of frozen sidewalks, ice dams and bitter winds can always be put aside for a moment to imagine sunny days, white sails and a freshening breeze, giving you an endless summer, if only in your mind.

Here at MSA, we've always got summer on our minds no matter how many times we've shoveled our walkways.  Planning for the summer of 2009 began last September, and now you're reading this and getting ready to register for another amazing season.  As usual, we've made some changes that we think you'll love, while maintaining the overall structure of MSA that keeps families coming back year after year.

One of the biggest changes we've made is the structure of our Sea Urchin classes.  This year, we will offer our youngest sailors the opportunity to sail four days in a row, which will greatly enhance their educational experience.  There will be 8 one-week sessions, meeting Monday through Thursday afternoons.  This means we will also be moving our popular Adult class to Friday afternoons.  What a great way to start your weekend!

Hiring is well under way, and as usual, you'll recognize some old faces and be making some new friends among our Instructor ranks.  Year after year, we're always pleasantly surprised at the high level of quality candidates who are looking to work at MSA.  Our priority is always to find instructors who will most effectively teach your sailors while maintaining all the fun and excitement that are synonymous with sailing. 

Thanks to the generous support of all our friends in the MSA community, we have been able to continue with the capital improvement of our sailing fleet, once again adding brand new Optis to the mix.  Overall, MSA currently boasts one of the newest fleets in the Northeast, which helps us keep our students on the cutting edge of the sport.
  
While we still support the U.S. Mail and appreciate that many of you enjoy getting this information in hard copy form, we want to remind you that we went almost 100% online last year with registration and payment of classes, and it was a great success.  If you joined the online revolution last year, you'll find the process even easier this year.  If you bought a stamp instead, check out www.manchestersailing.org and give technology a shot.  You won't be disappointed.

The first of our two-week sessions begins June 29 and the program ends on August 21.  Sign up for one session, sign up for all four, but make sure you sign up soon because classes fill up quickly and waiting lists grow even faster!  As always, we hope the flexibility of our schedules allows you and your family to take advantage of all the opportunities that the summer offers you while still getting some quality time out on the water with us.

As the icicles outside the window continue to drip, we keep our endless summer going by typing this letter, hiring Instructors and dreaming of sails cutting across the horizon.  Want to join us?  The journey starts right here, so get ready!

Sincerely,

Doug Nebel, Program Director
MSA Office (978) 526-8345