|
|
With the water levels coming up and the boats moving back to PYC it is time to go sailing! Participating in sailboat racing is not only a fun and challenging experience but will also help you develop your sailing skills. This year’s racing schedule is filled with many opportunities to do that. Whether on a keel boat, multi-hull or centered board boat in the series or fun races there is ample opportunity this year to enjoy the thrill of racing. The schedule for this year is posted to the web site for your reference. Our first race this year will be a fun race Called the “Dam Pursuit”. The race will be held on Memorial Day weekend. Our series racing will begin in June.
As with nearly everything at PYC, things don’t just happen without great volunteers. In the case of the racing we need the Committee boat manned for each of the races. You do not need to be a racer to help out on the Committee boat. It is a lot of fun and you can learn a lot. So check out the schedule, pick a race and I will see you out on the water.
For any question contact Pat Allen at allenhouse4@gmail.com.
Sailin’ Sisters met in early January at Kansas City Sailing for a good refresher on sail controls and trim. Thank you to Bruce Liese for leading such a great discussion. Our next meeting will be February 16th at 3:00 when we will talk about navigation – something important to all sailors. Please note that our March meeting has been moved from the 9th to the 2nd to accommodate the PYC general membership meeting. (See related article.)
Something new for Sailin’ Sisters has begun. In an effort to see more women out on the water and introduce them to racing, we are holding meetings to learn about circling the buoys. We held our first meeting on January 19th at my house in Leawood. Rear Commodore Pat Allen spoke briefly about PYC’s Racing Program and encouraged women to participate next season in both the Fun and Series Races.
Thirteen women then set about telling of their sailing and raceing experiences. I have to tell you, there are some pretty funny stories out there and some mighty determined women sailors! It was a great way to get to know these wonderful women and their sailing backgrounds. I am really looking forward to learning with them at future meetings and sailing together next Summer. Our next meeting will be on Sunday, February 17th at 3:00 in Leawood. We will be using the book, Getting Started In Sailboat Racing, by Cort and Stearns as our guide to learn the basics and understand the rules. Please read Chapters 1-4 before the next meeting if possible.
Remember that all of these meetings – both for Sailin’ and Racin’ Sisters – are open to all women sailors of all experience levels. We encourage you to attend! You’ll find a great group of supportive women interested in helping each other sail more and sail better. Please contact me if you have questions or wish to get involved.
Joan Allen
Sailin’ and Racin’ Sisters
Allenhouse4@sbcglobal.net
We had such a great time this year learning to sail and race She Worthy, PYC’s little pink Santana 20, that the next logical phase is spreading the joy! In addition to our winter Sailin’ Sisters seminars (see related article), we want to hold racing seminars to encourage more women to get out there on the race course and give it a try! NO, we are not experts but we have the desire and drive to do better. We are looking for women who want to sail and race as part of a rotating team on She Worthy or – even better – to take your own boat out and give racing a try.
So ask yourself, “What would it take to make me get out there to go around the orange buoys? What’s holding me back?” We will address your concerns at our race sessions. So in addition to the regular winter sailing seminars for women, we will hold separate sessions for the specific purpose of learning, understanding and applying the racing rules of sailing and ways to improve boat speed. I guarantee, there is no better way to improve your sailing skills more quickly than being involved in racing.
Robby Robinson, author of The International Marine Book of Sailing states, “The joy of sailing increases when you sail well, and nothing spotlights what it takes to sail well more effectively than racing.” Robinson also says, “…every time I hoist a sail to cruise, my racing experience is there to draw on.”
Women make great team members and if we put some effort into learning the sailing race rules, we can have an awesome time together out on the water. We can put the study time in now over the long winter (and have fun while we are at it) and then be ready to hit the water in the spring for some practice. Our first meeting will be on January 19th at 3:00 in Kansas City (location to be determined).
Give me a shout if you are even just a little bit curious. No one is asking you to commit to spending every summer weekend slaving away as crew. We just want to encourage you to come learn a bit about making a sailboat go efficiently and understand a few rules. Come talk sailing with us! It should be fun an informative! Please let us know you are game by commenting below or email me at allenhouse4@sbcglobal.net.
Joan Allen
allenhouse4@sbcglobal
Sailin’ Sisters
There are four captains planning to race Ultimate 20s (U20s) during the 2013 PYC sailing season with a few more still thinking about it. The four captains are Mike Barr, Arnold Feinberg, Mike Jacobson, and Bill Mendel. This is the first time in years that PYC will have a one-design keel boat class. This is great news and I’d like to encourage more to join!
Now is the time to find a U20 for next year. The Ultimate 20 is a 20’10″ high-performance keelboat. It carries 306 square feet of fully battened mainsail and roller furling jib, and flies a 452 square foot asymmetrical spinnaker. The U20 travels easily with a fully retractable keel and a lightweight of 1300 pounds. Because the keel retracts, the low water at the end of this year did not really affect launching. It only requires a crew of three. In many conditions, two will work. There are no winches!
The cost of a U20 is about $20,000 used and just under $40,000 new. You can learn more about the U20 at its class web site: www.u20class.org. Or contact Bill Mendel at kcmendel@aol.com or 816-365-2279. Other potential one-design fleets are Santana 20s and J24s. There are already four or five J24s committed.
Just when you thought one design would never happen we are looking at 3 possible fleets!
Bill Mendel S/V Fast Lane
 I think it is safe to say that all the Perry Yacht Club folks who made the effort to travel to Stockton for this year’s Governor’s Cup Regatta are happy they did! Along with a few diehard spectators from PYC, two Santana 20s (She Worthy and Heela Monster), three Ultimate 20s (Fast Lane, Viva la Vida, and the Denney/ Feinberg’s yet to be named 20), and a San Juan 20 (Double Trouble) made up six of the twenty entrants in the regatta. Perry Yacht Club was well represented taking a trophy in each of the fleets. Fast Lane took fourth in the spinnaker fleet. Heela Monster took second in the Santana fleet. And not only did Double Trouble take first in the jib and main fleet, they also took home the Governor’s Cup! Congratulations to Neal and Nancy Barkley!
Saturday held lots of sunshine and winds from the north with three upwind-downwind races with an offset at the windward mark. Winds were steady but strong which made flying spinnakers fast and exciting. Sunday had much lighter winds from the East for the two upwind-downwind races. After the final race, we got quite a chuckle out of the “What a Day for Sailing” song played for each boat as they crossed the finish line.
There were several things that made us smile… the fabulous wind and crisp Fall weather, the gorgeous lake, the wonderful facilities, the well-run races, the great communication by the race committee, the competition, the beautiful boats, and the friendly folks at Stockton who organized this fun event. To see lots of great pictures, go to CedarRepublican.com.
It was great being able to stay the entire weekend right there at the Orleans Trail Marina. Being able to walk over to the restaurant to grab a meal or drink, stay at the hotel or fiddle on the boat without having to drive anywhere was convenient. It was super having the registration, dinner and awards in the hotel because after racing, I was too pooped to move very far!
As a beginner racer, I especially liked the friendly communication between the RC and the boats. I loved being able to ask a question if needed, the repetition of instructions and the countdowns. The races were just the right length, the right number and well laid out.
Having low water at Perry seems to have given us the unexpected silver lining of the Stockton regatta. Had we had plenty of water at Perry, we probably would have been content to stay at home and sail. As it is, we were forced to look elsewhere for an opportunity to race in a regatta of larger proportions. We are so glad we did and feel confident that we are now on a new trend of traveling annually to the LS Governor’s Cup.
Organizing and event like this takes a lot of work by a huge team of folks. We had a wonderful time and thanks to everyone who put in the effort to make this such a success. Thank you to all the spectators, participants, Orleans Trail Marina and Lake Stockton Yacht Club! We look forward to sailing with you again next year!
9/30/2012 – Editor’s note: I just got some additional pictures from Lee Cline. Thanks Lee!
Now that Commodore’s Cup weekend is but another great PYC memory it’s time to find more wonderful Fall sailing opportunities, and we think we’ve found one. Stockton Yacht Club is holding their annual Governor’s Cup Regatta the weekend of September 21-23 and it’s not to late to register.
For those who have never been to Lake Stockton, you are in for a treat. Beautiful hillsides, trees and, best of all, lots of CLEAR lake water! With low water at most of the region’s lakes, this year Stockton looks to have greater than usual participation since they still have good lake levels.
There are already a few PYC boats and observers planning to travel the mere two hours south from Kansas City to enjoy the weekend festivities. Please go to www.StocktonYachtClub.com to register for sailing and/or festivities. Options for accommodations range from lovely tent camping sites to cabins and hotel rooms.
Thanks to donations from Dave Neubert, Sailin’ Sisters is madly mounting spinnaker hardware on She Worthy so we can be competitive with the others of the Santana 20 fleet planning to be there – some from Weatherby Lake and some from Oklahoma City. I know there are others from PYC planning to join in. We can make a great showing from Perry Yacht Club, make new sailor friends and invite them to our regattas next year!
Please RSVP in the comment box below. We need to know how many people plan to participate. It should be a great time!
Saturday of Labor Day weekend was a windy one! Thanks to all the racers who took the time to help out their fellow capsized racers. They needed your help getting righted and (some) back on their boats.
Congratulations to Ricardo Oben for his win in the races on Saturday. Even though it was a fun race, there was some serious manuevering as racers had to do 360 turns on each leg of the course and throw the committee boat a drink. This requires some great boat handling skills.
And of course Ricardo did his 360′s and threw the drinks.
No one is particularly happy about the drought or the low water situation. And no one is happy about the necessary changes we had to make over Labor Day weekend, when Commodore’s Cup is traditionally scheduled.
But in the grand tradition of PYC we’re still planning a wonderful event for club members and others that wish to visit PYC over Labor Day weekend. Please show your love for sailing and PYC by joining your PYC friends over that weekend. And please remember that we still aim to raise funds for our Junior Sailing program and we’ll take donations throughout the weekend.
So here’s the schedule:
Friday evening, August 31 – Bring your own brats/buns and side dishes to share. We will get a few grills going around 6:30 p.m. Beer and condiments will be provided by PYC.
Saturday, September 1 – A Fun Race is scheduled at 11:30 a.m. The Skipper’s Meeting is at 9:30 a.m. We’re requesting a $10 donation per boat (to raise money for the Junior Sailing program). The club has several Sunfish, a couple of 420′s, and a few Hobie Catamarans that can be used for the race. Or bring your own boat down from Rock Creek, Perry Marina or hop the pink boat (if you’re man enough), as long as Joan, Amy, or Shelley are with you. Come on out all you regular racers, see what you can do on a Sunfish or Catamaran or launch your own boat (if possible). Rules will be provided at the Skipper’s Meeting. Awards will be presented that night.
Let me know if you want to participate in the Funnest Race of the Century at tilford81@aol.com. If you haven’t been “certified” to sail club boats (Sunfish, 420′s, or Catamarans), you must do so by meeting with Jim North, Pat Allen or Ricardo Oben prior to sailing. It is strongly recommended that you do this on Friday since Ricardo won’t be available on Saturday to check people out on the Catamarans.
Our Silent Auction will start Saturday afternoon. If you have a donation for the silent auction, notify Brandi Wells at trinitysmom.bw@gmail.com. And don’t forget that there will be original paintings, originating at PYC, for sail as part of the fund raising events.
Saturday night, September 1 – We need RSVPs for the Saturday night dinner/banquet by Monday August 27. These are necessary for ordering food and drink. You can either go to the previous article about Commodore’s Cup or respond below. And please let us know how many adults and children will be attending. Another way to make reservations is to drop me a note at tilford81@aol.com. The cost for the dinner/banquet is $15 for Adults, $5 for Kids. Those who only plan to drink beer are asked to make a generous donation (you decide how much) to the Junior Sailing program that evening. There will also be a live auction and DJ later that night.
Sunday, September 2 – Pancake Breakfast 8:00 a.m. – Donation to benefit Junior Sailing.
Just a few reminders:
No camping until Wednesday August 29th noon. This gives Gina and Gregg time to clean up the campground.
PYC refrigerators and freezers will be cleaned out and food thrown out Thursday August 30th. Our PYC cooks need the space. Please take your stuff home.
The kitchen will be closed Saturday, September 1 and Sunday, September 2 until noon. Please plan accordingly.
Again, Commodore’s Cup is our only fund raiser for our Junior Sailing Program. It provides funds to purchase new boats for our kids to learn sailing. This is going to be a tough year with the low water situation, so do come out over the weekend and enjoy yourself and participate in the live and silent auctions and fun race on Saturday.
Due to the severe drought and low water in the Perry Yacht Club harbor, Commodore’s Cup as we know it has been modified. There will be no scheduled races over Labor Day weekend but sailing, social, and fund-raising events are still planned.
We intend to have a fun-filled weekend complete with the banquet and DJ on Saturday night and a pancake breakfast on Sunday morning. The banquet will be prepared by the newly-formed world-famous Perry Yacht Club Culinary Institute (PYCCI). Pay only $15 per adult ($5 per child) and you’ll be fed like royalty (beverages included). Breakfast on Sunday morning will be a bargain at $??.?? (donations encouraged).
Very important: In order for the Saturday night banquet to be a success we really need an accurate head count for the purpose of planning the meal. Please indicate, in the “Leave a Reply” box below, the number of adults and children you plan to bring to the banquet. Again, the cost of the meal and beverages is $15 per adult and $5 per child, collected prior to dinner on Saturday night.
We will have a silent auction and live auction on Saturday. There will also be fine art paintings for sale, actually painted at PYC last month for the Commodore’s Cup.
If you have any items you would like to donate items to our silent auction please contact Brandi Wells at trinitysmom.bw@gmail.com or even better, bring them to the Patriotic Party this Saturday night.
Please watch your email and PYCnews.com for further information regarding low water in the harbor and Commodore’s Cup weekend. We appreciate your support this year and hope you will continue to support our junior sailors by participating in Labor Day activities and donating auction items.
Feel free to contact me with any questions.
Terri Tilford
tilford81@aol.com
Commodore’s Cup Co-Chair
 On Sunday morning after Sailin’ Sisters recovered from the first round of pillagin’, we were ready for more! The piratin’ continued out on the wacky racecourse set in some pretty stiff winds. Timing didn’t matter as five boats took part in what we hope will become an annual event. Boats were to grab a pennant (pirate duct tape) off the windward mark then make a 360 degree turn on each leg of the course.
But the best part was that as they went past the committee boat, they were to toss a beverage to the race committee. Unfortunately for them, this also brought them within squirt gun range! Also unfortunately for the committee, we didn’t count on return fire in the form of water balloons from Captain Morgan’s crew!
Congratulations to Bret Overholtzer for following most of the rules (honestly, we didn’t watch the whole time but I’m guessing there might have been some pirate-line behavior going on), for single handing his boat through the entire race, and for winning the race by means of random drawing!
A big thank you to the race committee and to all the participants for taking part, demonstrating excellent boat handling skills (no boats were scraped in the execution of this event), and for being such good sports! Let’s do it again next year! Arrrrrr!
|
Recent Comments