Henry duPont, Director, President. Henry has been an avid competitive sailor since 1960 and raced in many near shore and offshore regattas. He is US Sailing Certified Sailing Instructor, and a US Sailing Certified Race Official. Henry was Chairman of the International Windsurfing Class Association (District 7) and the owner / operator of a Windsurfing sailing school on Block Island from 1980 to 1995. Currently he is the race chairman of the Thursday Night Sailing Series, the PHRF racing fleet on Block Island. He is a founding Board member of the Committee for the Great Salt Pond, a non-profit educational institution on Block Island since 1986.

George Davis, Director. George started sailing on Lake Hefner in Oklahoma City, where he spent several decades working as a petroleum geologist. At the Oklahoma City Boat Club, George actively raced his IC-24 in their Wednesday Night Series and in local and out of state regattas. On Block Island, he has participated in many regattas as a watch captain on a Tripp 26 and is an active competitor crewing on a Raven 24 and skippering a Colgate 26 in the BICS Thursday Night Racing series. George is a Charter Member of Block Island Community Sailing and is always one of the first to volunteer to help launching or hauling any of the boats in our fleet. He is a Board Member of several Island non-profit organizations including the Block Island Maritime Institute (BIMI) and the Committee for The Great Salt Pond (CGSP), and also serves on the Town of New Shoreham Shellfish Commission.

John Doolittle, Director. John is a lifelong sailor starting as a youth sailing everything from prams to Bluejays, Thistles and Lightnings. He served in US Navy during Vietnam conflict aboard a PBR (River Patrol Boat) and in the Amphibious Fleet. John has owned and maintained numerous sail and power boats and was the former Commodore of UConn Sailing. In addition to being a long time BICS fleet maintenance volunteer, John has offered his support as a volunteer at the Museum of Yachting in Newport, the Herreshoff Museum in Bristol, and for the Block Island Maritime Institute.

Jake Fiechter, Director. Jake has enjoyed sailing after first taking sailing lessons in 1955. He was a member of the J World Annapolis 2000 Racing Team and a supporter of community sailing and youth sailing programs on Block Island. A member of the Board of Overseers of the Friends of Harvard & Radcliffe Rowing and a former trustee of Charles River School in Dover, Massachusetts, Mr. Fiechter was a private equity investment analyst for a Boston family office, after nearly three decades as a commercial banker following his service in the U. S. Navy.

James Gallacher, Director. James has been racing sailboats since he was 8 years old and has won two Soverel 33 National Championships aboard his boat “Celeritas” and is also part of the successful Storm racing program: winner of multiple North American Championships. He has extensive experience building racing teams and also volunteers for race committee duties. He has been an advisor for the past three years for the Block Island Thursday Night Sailing Yacht Racing Association and is a US Sailing Certified Race Official. James owns a marketing company, JLG Design, which focuses on b2b communications for large asset leasing companies.

Ted Merritt, Director and Secretary. Ted holds a 100-ton Master’s license, a PADI dive certificate, a Boat Surveyor certification, a US sailing instructor certificate, and has competed in and won numerous offshore and onshore Sailing races. He has owned a wide variety of boats and has also chartered sailboats worldwide. He is retired from being a Superintendent of Public schools for 30 years and an architect for six years. He has served on the Board of numerous nonprofit organizations including the Block Island Maritime Institute.

Alan Skinner, Director. Alan has been sailing since his first adventure sailing a Blue Jay from New London to Fishers Island at age 15. Since then he has owned seven sailboats including a Sunfish, two Eli sailing dingys, a Twin Keel Vivacity, an Ericson 30, an Ericson 36 and currently a Catalina 375 which he cruises on with his wife and family. He has served as Commodore of the Duck Island Yacht Club, captained a 84 foot DeFever commercial fishing boat, and participated in many deliveries to and from the Bahamas and other Islands in the Caribbean. Alan has raced in the PHRF Class in Connecticut and Rhode Island for twenty-five years and currently crews on a Tripp 26 out of Block Island. He holds a Captains License and has completed most of the Safety at Sea courses sponsored by the US Sailing Association. Alan has been an active volunteer for BICS for the last five years, working on many projects for our fleet of sailboats and enjoys the camaraderie of the other volunteers and BICS sailing club members he has worked and sailed with.

Ray Torrey, Director. Ray has been an active sailor for 55 years and after having learned to sail in the South China Sea, he has owned several boats and crewed and chartered sailing vessels onshore and off. He is currently Commodore of Block Island Yacht Club which supports numerous community sailing programs including educational sailing trips for the Block Island School students, and local sailing events like the annual BIYC around the Island Race, and Block Island Race Week 2018. Ray is a retired airline Captain for American Airlines. He served on numerous community boards and commissions including six years as Second Warden, for the Town of New Shoreham.

Chuck Townsend, Director. Chuck has had a lifelong involvement in sailing, competitively and recreationally, having competitively campaigned everything from Hobie Cat 16’s as a youth, to TP52’s internationally as an adult. Former Chairman, Biscayne Bay Yacht Racing Association, Former Commodore, Norwalk Yacht Club, Former Commodore New York Yacht Club, Board Director for two America’s Cup Campaigns, Founder and Chairman, Classic Yacht Owners Association, and Chairman, IYRS School of Technology and Trades, Newport, Rhode Island.