Westhampton Yacht Squadron Selects Next Commodore

Westhampton Yacht Squadron named Aram Terchunian its newest commodore last week.

Terchunian has been a part of the club for 15 years, and most recently served as vice commodore under previous Commodore John Sheehan. He was interested in the position because “the best part about being involved in a volunteer organization is to serve. The commodore is the ultimate service to the club.”

To become commodore, one must serve on the club’s Board of Directors, and then be elected as secretary, rear commodore, and vice commodore before being eligible to serve as commodore. According to Terchunian, “the process of succession preserves a sense of tradition, while continually promoting new people and generating fresh ideas.”

Former Commodore Sheehan said the work of the commodore includes running the day-to-day of the club, which includes responding to a “barrage of emails,” he said. The commodore works on the development of the sailing program as well as other activities and programming. They work closely with the club manager, who is in charge of the staff and general operations.

The biggest accomplishment during his tenure was the club’s handling of the pandemic, Sheehan said. The yacht squadron continued its traditional Friday night dinners, and despite limited social programming was able to continue sailing camp, regattas, and private tennis and swim lessons. Sheehan said to his knowledge, there were no COVID-19 cases among the membership, which was a major victory for the club’s reopening efforts.

“Last year, I probably would have been walking around with a big cloud over my head,” Sheehan said. “We went from a feeling of malaise, to just sheer joy and optimism, for the sheer fact that we could open up and allow our members to enjoy the facilities.”

As the last commodore, Sheehan was on the nominating committee that helped select the flag officers that will work with Terchunian. Nominees were voted on by membership after being presented by the committee with the input of Terchunian, as the new commodore. Sheehan said Terchunian is very well equipped to take on the position with his new group.

“He’s been a longtime member and has been involved in the club in many different ways over the last few years,” Sheehan said. “He served as my vice commodore, so he’s been a flag officer for like six years. So, at that point, they can usually get a good feel for the day-to-day operations of the club and what’s required to keep the club running and keep our membership happy.”

For his term, Terchunian hopes to improve the sailing program and keep up their recent success, in addition to bringing back swimming and tennis, for both of which the yacht squadron competes against other clubs. COVID permitting, he also wants to bring back social events.

“We have a strong social commitment that includes Friday night dinners and Saturday events such as Lobster night and luaus sponsored by various club members,” Terchunian said. “We have been strictly adhering the COVID requirements, so we hope that as things become safer in that regard, we can ramp up to our usual frequency of social events.”

After everything that’s happened this past year, Terchunian’s mantra for his term as commodore is simple: “Be ready for anything, because it’s likely to happen.”