USSCA President's Corner

 

 October 2025

 

Greetings Sailors!

 

This past month the USSCA Foundation (USSCAF) applied for and received designation as an IRS 501c(3). This enables donations made to the Foundation to provide education and training to ISCA (Sunfish) sailors to be tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. USSCA supporters may make donations online through the following link:  USSCA Foundation 

 

Purpose:

The USSCAF, in alignment with USSCA, will focus on supporting education for Sunfish (ISCA) sailors to foster their enjoyment of the sport of sailing and to advance amateur athletics. This may include seminars, education on the water and the development of resources on various topics. In addition, the Foundation may provide grants to individual athletes to advance their education and sponsor individuals attending events such as, but not limited to: the Pan Am Games, the Sunfish (ISCA) World’s Regatta; and qualifying events for the ISCA Worlds.  

 

USSCA Foundation Board Members:

The board members for the USSCA Foundation were proposed by the USSCA Nominating Committee and were voted in by the USSCA board. USSCAF board members will serve a two-year term up to a maximum of 3 terms (6 years).  The USSCA Nomination Committee Chair and the USSCA Foundation Nomination Committee Chair will identify and propose future board members. The USSCA Foundation Board of Directors will review and confirm future nominees at their annual meeting.

The Board consists of 5 members, 2 from the USSCA board, 2 USSCA class members and one non-class member. The inaugural board for the USSCA Foundation is below.

 

 

Hal Gilreath – President and Treasurer USSCA Foundation
                        Board member and Treasurer USSCA

Hal is a former Member and Chair of the US Naval Academy Fales Committee, Chair of the Varsity Sailing Advisory Board at Jacksonville University and is a member of the Board of Trustees for the US Naval Academy Sailing Foundation. He was an intercollegiate All-American sailor while an undergraduate at the US Naval Academy. He brings a depth of experience from his professional career as an Executive in Healthcare IT.

 

 

 Connie Miller – Board Member USSCA Foundation
                           Board Member USSCA 

Connie has served on the USSCA board for almost 30 years having been Youth Chair, Master’s Chair and she is now the Mid-Atlantic Regional Representative. She has deep experience as an educator and has been sailing since she was 7.

 

 

 Chris Friend – Board Member USSCA Foundation
                            Member USSCA 

Chris has been a member of the Sunfish class since 1979. As the first New England representative of USSCA he participated in writing the original USSCA by-laws. He is currently on the Board of Directors of Pontchartrain Yacht Club in Mandeville, Louisiana, as the Race Committee chair and is a US Sailing certified race official. Chris recently retired after 46 years working as a software developer and electrical engineer. He received his BS in engineering and applied science from Yale and MS from the University of Rhode Island in electrical engineering. 

 

 

 Mark Buruchian – Board Member USSCA Foundation
                                Member USSCA 

Mark has been actively engaged in community sailing for over 30 years, has served on the Board of Directors of the Highland Lake Sailing Club and served as a Board Member of the Sailing Association of the New Jersey Lakes (SANJL) for over 25 years. Mark is a risk management professional with 40 years’ experience in the banking and financial services industry.  He worked for 25 years as a federal regulator at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency; is a series 7 registered financial advisor and was a branch manager, private banking officer and trust officer at several financial institutions.  

 

 

 Holly Chapman – USSCA Foundation Secretary
                               Non-Member of USSCA

Holly has been a member of Lake Bluff Yacht Club for over 30 years and has served on its board multiple times.  She has also been involved in the planning and execution of two Women’s North American Championships, a Youth Worlds, three North American Championships, and a number of regional regattas. Holly has not been a member of the Sunfish Class since the mid 2000’s. However, her husband, Rich Chapman, is deeply involved in the class, and she is very aware of class activities. Holly retired 3 years ago after teaching middle school math for 28 years. She was department chairperson for 10 years, served on many school committees and ran several after-school activities such as math team and origami club. She received her bachelor’s degree in social work from East Carolina University and her Master of Arts in teaching from National Louis University. 

 

 

How to learn more about the Foundation and to support USSCA education and training.

Access the USSCA Foundation tab on the ISCA Website – USSCA Foundation. This is where you can learn more about the Foundation and can make a tax-deductible donation. Donations support the mission of the Foundation and provide benefit to ISCA sailors of all levels across all interests.

             

Susan Mallows

President USSCA

ussca.president@sunfishclass.org