Sailors from the sailboat design and racing communities, along with friends and family, got together at the Shellbacks to recognize the life and achievements of George Cuthbertson, the boating design master of C&C Yachts.

Rob Mazza led a stream of speakers telling anecdotes and reminiscences about George and his role in boat design.

Further details on George can be found on his Shellbacks memorial page.

Video of the tributes can be found at the links below.

John Summers, museum professional, educator, author and maritime historian, spoke on the delights and joys to be found in pleasure boats in his talk.

John used humor and fascinating images to connect our desires and obsessions with pleasure boats to many other similar pleasures, covering at the same time a broad range of marine history.

Zak Nesbitt of Brigantine tall ship renown shared tales of the Golden Age of Piracy. Zak tied the history of piracy by drawing out the political and mercantile connections of these sailors.

Shellbacks learned the difference between a pirate, a privateer, and a buccaneer - and you can too, by watching the videos linked below.

Gail Fraser, Associate Professor in Environmental Studies, York University, spoke about the Double Crested Cormorant and protected areas in the Great Lakes.

Gail offered insights shaped by her research interests on this bird, often maligned by sailors. Shellbacks learned that the cormorant, often seen as an invasive bird, is in fact a native species on the rebound.

Gail's talk (linked below recording as long as the camera batteries lasted) took us from the historical accounts, through twentieth century research, and up to details on the cormorant colonies at Tommy Thompson Park. Much of the management effort there aims to minimize damage caused by the cormorants nesting in trees, by encouraging nesting on the ground. Recent years have been very successful in this regard.

​More details can be found here, and in the video presentation below.

Sally & Noel Lien told the Shellback Club of their sailing adventures from Dingle Ireland to New Ross and Dianne Leggatt tells tales of Dublin, Then and Now, after she left them at Dingle.