Commodore, Executive Board and Committee Chairs

About The Commodore

The spotlight shines next on Eifion James: a member since 2008. Together with his wife Maite and son Brân, this senior IT Director has called Hull home for 26 years. Growing up in Aberaeron on the west coast of Wales, his summers were spent on a small boat with his brothers stocking the freezer with mackerel. When he was a teenager the Aberaeron Yacht Club bought a fleet of Toppers, and over the three summers before he left for college, they played around and tried to race in the local regattas. His only success came in a gale when they raced the toppers, and it was so rough none of the lasers or 420s went out.

His first boat, a Rhodes 19 was a surprise birthday present from his wife Maite. It came with the name, “Country Rhodes”, and there was no reason to change it especially when Joe O’Neil and Charlie O'Connor serenade them with the John Denver song every time they pass by on a Thursday night. The Rhodes was a fun introduction to sailing for his wife and son. The boat collection grew when they added Sunday Cove, named after their favorite camping spot in Umbagog Lake State Park. This remote and pristine mile-long cove with a small island in the back is a place they go back to each year. The boat and the island are their two favorite places to be, so the name fits perfectly.

If you ask Eifion for his best trip on the boat, he will tell you there are too many great ones to mention; but last year they moored the boat in Gloucester Harbor and felt secluded midweek in the busy Harbor. The convenient launch service allowed them to explore the town, enjoy the restaurants, East Point to visit the Audubon Sanctuary, and walk out the breakwater to the light at the end. We do know a helicopter was filming that day for Wicked Tuna but no word yet on if we can see Eifion and Maite swimming on the show. 

When he is not on his boats you might see him on his road bike enjoying the Cohasset and Scituate coastline. When the weather does not permit, he bikes in the basement and catches up on sports or news podcasts. To prepare for the season he lives by lists, backdating them from the boat’s launch date and allowing extra time for the inevitable unknowns. A lover of books, Eifion keeps both fiction and non-fiction books going; If you can catch up with him on the porch this spring, ask him about his takeaways from Joshua Slocum’s "Sailing Around The World".

2025 Executive Board & Committees

Executive Board

  • Commodore: Eifion James
  • Vice Commodore: Chad Wolfe
  • Rear Commodore: Chris Hanks
  • Past Commodore: Malee Nuesse
  • Secretary: Andy Kurtz
  • Treasurer: Alden Wells
  • Member-at-Large: Katherine Steen
  • Member-at-Large: Michael Broomhead
  • Member-at-Large: Sarah McKenna

Please use the Contact Us page to contact a member of the Executive Board.

Membership Committee

  • Co-Chairs: Sally Chisholm / Charlie Wasson
  • Members: Joanne Pearson, Nan Doyle, Chandelle Schulte, Paula Fleck
  • Executive Board Liaison: Eifion James

House Committee

  • Chair: Jason Hibbard / Dennis Foley
  • Members: Jim Fitzgerald, Butch Ustach, Katherine Steen, Eoin Gibson, Kerry Hnath.
  • Executive Board Liaison: Katherine Steen

Senior Racing Committee

  • Chair: Dan Sullivan
  • Members: Joe Berkeley, Bill Bradford, Bob Foley, Tom Craig, Tod Riedel, John O’Neil, Jason Frady.
  • Executive Board Liaison: Andy Kurtz

Junior Sailing Committee

  • Chair: Nancy O'Connor
  • Members: Ed Zalewski, Geoff Roth, Emma Eriksson Broomhead, Marc Bucklen, David Clinton, Lorna Newman, Mike O’Brien.
  • Executive Board Liaison: Chad Wolfe

 Cruising Committee

  • Chair: John Maichle
  • Members: Jim Skrabak, Bob Paul, Tim Joost, Fannie Joost, Barry LaBonte.
  • Executive Board Liaison: Malee Nuesse

Social Committee

  • Chair: Dennis Zaia / Brenda Goodell
  • Members: Laurie Wells, Neil Buchleitner, Dennis Zaia, Anita Parillo Shine, Leslie Zella, Mary Johnson, Sharon Haggerty, Janice MacDonald.
  • Executive Board Liaison: Eifion James

Bar Committee

  • Chair: Eddie Liao
  • Members: Cyndi Haley, Heather Mahoney McDonnell, Laurie McDowell
  • Bar Manager: Jason Frady.
  • Executive Board Liaison: Alden Wells

 Rental Committee

  • Chair: Heather Mahoney McDonnell
  • Members: Laurie Wells, Sharon Haggerty, Emma Eriksson Broomhead.
  • Executive Board Liaison: Sarah McKenna

Hoist & Float Committee

  • Chair: Chris Hanks 
  • Members: Josh Roth, David McGrath, John Alexander, Scott Klein, Grant Sayian.
  • Executive Board Liaison: Chris Hanks

Boat Committee

  • Co-Chairs: Joe Berkley / Dave McGrath
  • Members: Harry Chisholm, PJ Johnson, Mike Broomhead, CJ Steen, Ed Zalewski, Tom Craig, Matt Tanner.
  • Executive Board Liaison: Eifion James

Planning Committee

  • Chair: Andy Kurtz
  • Members: Bill Bradford, Brian Stanley, Steve Clancy, Dave Clinton, Peter Mahoney, Alden Wells.
  • Executive Board Liaison: Chad Wolfe

 Nominating Committee

  • Chair: Chad Wolfe
  • Members: Bob Phal, Ryan Gibbons, Jack Shapiro.
  • Executive Board Liaison: Chris Hanks

Great Chase Committee

  • Chair: Mary Roche
  • Members: Dave Curry, Jim Fitzgerald, Bill Bradford, Kevin Logue, Jason Frady, Dave Clinton.
  • Executive Board Liaison: Andy Kurtz

Communications Committee

  • Co-Chairs: Laurie McDowell / Laura Scott
  • Members: Marie Rocket, Tod Riedel, Guy duPlessis, Sarah McKenna
  • Executive Board Liaison: Malee Nuesse.

    Please use the Contact Us page to contact any member of the above Committees.