It's common knowledge that former commodore Carl Stenbol met his future wife in Hoofers. Lots of commodores and instructors meet their future mates in Hoofers. From the 75th Anniversary anecdotes:
Stenbol met Dawn at a Hoofer Kickoff late 1980’s, when Carl picked her out of a membership signup line and announced she had won a free cruise on Maria (Hoofer heavy keelboat) for being the 1000th member. It wasn’t even close to the truth but it gained Carl his first date with his future wife. Married August 1992, at their wedding we drank the Union out of Mount Gay Rum. The current instruction program at Hoofers (with paid instructors, instructor training, standard lesson content, reviews) was pretty much all built by Carl – before Carl, instruction was volunteer and haphazard.
A rum fest, wow... wish I could have been there. Alas, I can only imagine what the old days must have been like.
Anyway, it's a cute anecdote, but think about what it says: The first thing Carl ever said to his future wife was a deceit. Of course, we all tell white lies from time to time. I did it myself once, although it was more the trivial variety, e.g. "Didn't I see you at Sammy's party last week..?" Not a terribly clever line, but all I could muster on a hangover, and it worked--it got me a date!
But when you're in a position of authority, then you can really take advantage (more on that in a forthcoming post). Was it an abuse by Stenbol? It was someone taking advantage of his position. The point is, practically no one else in Hoofers would be in a position to do that. Nor is it only white lies that are told in Hoofers. Some people deliberately tell blatant, malicious lies to attack people they don't like.
The second thing Carl did was to start building a stronger caste system in HSC. Paid instruction created a vested interest in hanging on to your job which, in turn, created an incentive to hire your buddies in place of more qualified individuals. No longer was everyone expected to teach others in a club environment. Now it was us (paid "staff") and them (payers). A natural evolution of the elevated status enjoyed by instructors is the incentive to water down the requirements for ratings, at least for insiders. Hence "instructor ratings weekend" and "fast-tracking". HSC instructors pretend to know what they're doing, but many are incompetent (LINK2, LINK3, LINK4, LINK5, LINK6, LINK7, LINK8, LINK9).
Such shenanigans by Stenbol and other club "leaders" highlights the fact that HSC is now a club within the club. That is, the real club consists exclusively of club officers and instructors. The rest of you are just cattle, here to be milked for cash (and sex). This model works, more or less, because so many around the UW are used to paying for instruction.
The easy-ratings-for-instructors policy has had serious repercussions including the death of a passenger in 2015 caused by a skipper who got her rating from her boyfriend after a single lesson. Makes you wonder if it was even a sailing lesson.
Feel free to share more anecdotes, but remember that personal names are strongly discouraged except when discussing state of Wisconsin (e.g. Hoofer) employees or former employees.
In a forthcoming post, we'll look at other commodores and Hoofer employees who used their position to pursue a member of the opposite sex, not always successfully.
Nice summertime anthology of the 'Best of...'. Always enjoy Justin's sailing lesson set to music. It's a timeless classic.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the links as a refresher of things past.
Manny? Do I have to tell you, again? First you get the.....
ReplyDeleteMoooooooo...
ReplyDeleteToxic leakage from Scott Walker's drawers trickled down all over the Club and its acids corroded any semblance of democracy at Hoofers. In its wake an exclusive country club on the Union shore run by white males. Not very original but retro nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteWell matey, I don't know how long we can talk politics here, but you are correct that the KKK was basically founded by Democrats, to oppose Lincoln's freeing of the slaves. Lincoln was of course a Republican, however over time more and more Republicans joined the KKK.
ReplyDeleteThese days the Democratic party is clearly the one that encompasses minorities, whereas Republicans are trying to disenfranchise blacks and other minorities through gerrymandering and other tricks. The current union director is a Republican, whereas the first union director, Porter Butts was a member of the KKK.
The meaning of 'Republican' vs. 'Democrat' has evolved over the years, and today, it is the Republicans who are the defenders of wealth and privilege.
Voter suppression and disenfranchisement of African-Americans is how (fill in party name) Officials roll. Wisconsin is the Poster Child for Gerrymandering. It's about reducing participation. Ring a bell at Hoofer's?
ReplyDeleteWe need a new topic --AGREED! Let's discuss the new marina and how that is working. That would be productive.
Commodore's Cup is here! Please sign-up and make new friends. Many of you need to make new friends. Quite frankly, your old friends leave much to be desired. So sign-up now and make new memories with your new friends.
ReplyDeletePS. Punch and cookies for all.
Sshhhh. Each night this C-Cup week our team (we rock!) will have an ice cold keg or two of beer on a private boat moored on the field. Different kegs each night!
ReplyDeleteBring a non-transparent Nalgene water bottle and we'll keep it topped. If we get hassled we're sailing over to Westport and the party will just be starting.
You know who to ask about 'the boat'. And please remember to drink blue green algal water responsibly.