January 98 - Volume 28 Number 1
Last updated: January 17, 1998 @ 14:59 CST
Details in Vice Commodore's Report
January Membership Meeting
Jnauary 20, 1998 - 7:30 p.m.
First Christian Church - 1835 Walnut - Carrollton, TX
See Programs
COMMODORE'S REPORT - Ray Pryor
VICE COMMODORE'S REPORT - Ed Kremer
TWENTY-FIVE JIVE - Brad Chilcote
RACING - Steve Hanes
17/21/22/23/24 FLEET REPORT - Larry Featherston
26 FLEET NEWS - Lee Howard
PROGRAMS - Dennis Starkey
ASSOCIATE FLEET & SOCIAL CHAIRMAN - Debbie Miller
1998 OFFICERS and BOARD OF DIRECTORS
1998 CALENDAR OF EVENTS
DOOR PRIZE!
THE SALE MAKER (Classified Ads)
COMMODORE'S REPORT
The new Board has met once already and will have met again before this article is published. The planned activities for 1998 are based on the tried and true activities of the past few years, although there may be a surprise on the social calendar (don't peek, it isn't set in stone yet)! Another change from last year is that it is our turn to host the Lavon Challenge.
By the time you read this, 1998 will be in full swing; the holidays will be past and the next holiday will be three long, cold months away. The credit card bills and the taxmen will be circling and closing in without mercy. What can you do? Well, I'm going to the Dallas Boat Show, and I'm going for free! There's nothing like the new gel coat smell, crinkling sail sounds, and stainless steel shine to revive an old salt.
What's the secret? Just call our new Vice Commodore Ed Kremer and volunteer to help sign up students for our Spring Sailing Class, and as a bonus you get into the Boat Show for free.
While reading the December 1997 issue of "Telltales," I noticed that they covered the Bay View Charity Regatta, and some club members got some press coverage. Les Liggett placed third in the B fleet (spinnaker) in his (ahem!) Merit 25, and Gus Gusler placed third in C fleet (main and jib) in his Venture 21. Congratulations!
The 1997-2000 Racing Rules have a few changes effective 1/1/98. The changes will be published in a later issue closer to the Spring Racing Series.
Zeno's Arrow captained by Mike Dunn has now been underway since February 1997. The 26X has sailed from Seattle up to Alaska and trailed over the Rockies to the mouth of the Mackenzie River on the Arctic Circle. They headed up (southward) to the Mackenzie watershed (they had 30 knot winds blowing up the river) and then they motored down Missouri and the Mississippi, and Mike is currently in Fort Myers, Florida. The trip plan is Key West, The Bahamas, Turks, Hispanola, Port-of-Spain, and Trinidad. Next he plans to sail/motor up the Orinoco River and portage over to the Amazon River. Then he will trailer south and west to Pacific and end up at Cape Horn. Definitely a different way to see America. Cape Horn is a strange place to end a journey. I did notice "Antarctica" in his past studies and noticed a little South Pole speculation in the message bulletin board; I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens. Burr!
VICE COMMODORE'S REPORT
The Boat Show is upon us again. Ten years ago I attended the Boat Show for the first time. Three years earlier, I had my first sailing experience. I was in Grand Lake, Colorado on vacation. My brother-in-law's brother lived in Denver and brought his 14' "Flying Jr." to the house and placed it at our lakefront pier. He stated that I might enjoy using it while on vacation. I had never sailed, but he showed me a book on sailing and I made a video tape of him rigging the boat and bending on the sails. There was no demonstration sail, however. I studied the book that night and repeatedly watched the home video. The next day, I knew all I was likely to learn about sailing without actually getting in a boat. I raised the sails and paddled the boat out into the lake until the wind caught it. As I felt the power of the wind in the sails and the boat accelerated away from the dock, I was at once alarmed and delighted. After a short but hair-raising sail, I managed to return to the dock. Back to the book, I was then better able to understand the instruction, after having made so many mistakes. I returned to the boat day after day during that vacation, already completely besotted by sailing.
The next summer, I again had use of the boat and was more confident. That led to my first capsize while sailing with my wife and 2 of my children. Grand Lake is in a valley surrounded by mountains, and wind shifts are sudden and unpredictable. A sudden puff from an unexpected direction left us all in the water. Stephen, then about 5 years old, became tangled in the rigging of the upturned craft but was safe in the air pocket under the hull. We required an assist from a passing power boat (Oh shame!) who picked up our children and transported them to shore. The rudder fell off and sank, so the boat could not be sailed home. We righted it, but in the process of being towed home we capsized again. We experienced, first hand, the numbing fatigue of hypothermia from the cold mountain lake water.
On returning to home, still too dumb to know what I was doing, I began to buy boats (three within a year). The first was a 12 foot inflatable dinghy with a sail rig, the mighty Sea Eagle. It did not and still does not sail well, but I play with it nearly every summer in Grand Lake as it is slightly better than no boat at all. I then bought an 18 foot Chrysler Buccaneer. It had old rigging so I looked in the phone book and found, would you believe "The Rigg Shop". Perfect! Wilma Liggett gave me directions and said it would be worth the long trip. She was right. She and Robert sold me new lines and set the boat up in proper order. It sailed great, but I soon realized that it was too small to be safe for me and my small children due to the risk of capsize. Kathy wanted no more of that after our last experience in Grand Lake. She is a very sensible woman, and her enthusiasm for sailing with me was waning rapidly.
That brings me back to the Boat Show. February of 1987 found me there looking at the brand new MacGregor 26. Gus got the first one, but my order was not far behind. This boat, at least, was unlikely to try to sail upside down, or so I told Kathy. With it came a "free" membership to the V/MYC. Through exposure to the club members and their various cruises and races, I finally began to really learn how to sail. I continued to have adventures, but in time became reasonably competent and safe on a sail- boat. Kathy actually enjoys sailing again and is becoming quite a "salt" herself.
I hope everyone who is able, will sign up for some time at the V/MYC booth at the Boat Show. My phone number is at the top of the page if you wish to volunteer. Perhaps another dangerous/ignorant novice sailor can be taught the fun and necessary skills of sailing. It can make all the difference.
It is a privilege to be your new Vice Commodore. The club has given much more to me than I will ever be able to repay in this position, and I am looking forward to another great year in the V/MYC.
TWENTY-FIVE JIVE
Oh-oh, I forgot that one of the qualifications for Fleet Captain was the ability to author the monthly article for our newsletter (is it too late to decline?). But then I considered the members who make up this fleet, and figured that the sailing experience (and stories) that each of you have should be enough to write an epic novel! So send me your input and I’ll see that its published! You can e-mail me at bradc@computek.net, send it snail mail, or provide it to me at one our meetings. Call me to share what’s going on in your and your family’s life, or anything else related to sailing or our club that you’d like to see in this column. I’ll do my best to keep everyone informed.
At the start of our year, we have 23 members in our fleet. I’ve had the opportunity to learn most of what I know about sailing from one of our members (our Editor), have enjoyed racing (and being taught a few more lessons) with a few more of our members, and have gone cruising with yet a few more. I own one of our fleet member’s first Venture 25 boats, and hope someday to again prove her reputation on the race course. But there are also several of you whom I barely know. By the end of this year, I would like to know much more about every one of you – and would like for each of us to know everyone in our fleet. Who’s been sailing the longest? Where are some of the more exotic and/or faraway places we’ve sailed? What are some of our best racing stories? Where have some of our best cruises been? What are some of the better "lessons learned" that we could share with others? Where would we like to go sailing (who knows, maybe there are a few of us with the same dreams)? What do we like best about our club? Where can we offer to improve our club? The list is endless.
Just heard on the street (actually, it was from an issue of Practical Sailor, Dec 1997): For all-rope halyards, the best buy for small boat racers, after testing 33 lines from six rope makers, is New England Ropes’ Sta-Set. The lines were tested for abrasion while also considering strength, weight, stretch and price. For sheets that are easy on the hands, New England’s Regatta Braid was preferred over any of the "soft spun" double braids which are more susceptible to abrasion. According to the article, West Marine offers New England Rope products. I bet we can get them through The Rigg Shop as well!
I’ll be missing our first couple of meetings this year, since I am taking a Piloting course on Tuesday evenings through the month of February. This, along with the other courses I’m taking from the United States Power Squadron, will hopefully enable my "dream": to retire on a sailboat cruising the eastern seaboard, Caribbean, Great Lakes, and maybe even take a trip through the Panama to experience the western seaboard and Alaska. However, between now and our next meeting, I’ll be contacting each of you to find out how I may best serve you as Fleet Captain, and maybe get some ideas for the next few Venturing issues.
DON’T FORGET TO SIGN UP FOR THE WINTER BOAT SHOW!
I’ve been to the last three shows, and can’t say enough about how much fun it is to share the joys of sailing with other guests, provide information about our club and the sailing lessons, and see a first-class boat show for free either before or after my volunteered time. Keep warm and think (or fink) sailing!RACING
Happy New Year! With the new year, I have a new hat to wear. Yes, I agreed to be the 1998 Racing Chairman and am looking forward to the upcoming race season. This year's racing activities begin again with the race at the Bachelor Cruise in March, and continue through the last day of October for the end of the Fall Race Series. That's 8 month's of racing, so let’s all come out and have an exciting and safe season.
To get the year rolling, I have scheduled a Race Committee meeting for Tuesday, February 10th, at 7:30 p.m. at my home. Each Fleet Captain should plan now to attend and/or send a representative from their fleet to comprise the Race Committee. While I anticipate using much the same format that was used in 1997, I do have some proposed changes to the rules and the process to help the season be successful.
I'm looking for a lot of help with this year's racing. First, I would like to identify someone as Associate Race Chairman to assist with the Race Series. There are several races that I already know I will be unable to attend and would like to have someone willing to fill in on those dates and generally assist with the racing throughout the year. If you are interested, please contact me before the Race Committee meeting.
We also have several special events that I would like to see continued this year that I am asking for two or three volunteers to step forward and manage. These events are the Lavon Challenge which we are responsible to host in 1998, the Venture/MacGregor Regionals which I would like to see brought back and promoted this year, and the annual New Skippers' Class and Race to teach the general rules and tips of racing to help new racers have a successful race season and further grow the race program within our club. Again, if you would be willing to chair any of these events, please contact me and plan to attend the Race Committee meeting.
The tentative schedule of this year's race activities include:
|
3/14 |
Bachelor Cruise |
|
3/27 |
New Skippers’ Class |
|
3/28 |
New Skippers’ Race |
|
4/4 |
Spring Series - Race 1 & 2 |
|
4/18 |
Spring Series - Race 3 & 4 |
|
5/2 |
Spring Series - Race 5 & 6 |
|
5/16 |
Spring Series - Race 7 & 8 |
|
5/??? |
Venture/MacGregor Regionals |
|
6/6 |
Summer Night Series - Race 1 |
|
6/20 |
Summer Night Series - Race 2 |
|
7/11 |
Summer Night Series - Race 3 |
|
7/25 |
Summer Night Series - Race 4 |
|
8/8 |
Summer Night Series - Race 5 |
|
8/22 |
Summer Night Series - Race 6 |
|
9/19 |
Fall Series - Race 1 & 2 |
|
10/3 |
Fall Series - Race 3 & 4 |
|
10/10 |
Lavon Challenge |
|
10/17 |
Fall Series - Race 5 & 6 |
|
10/31 |
Fall Series - Race 7 & 8 |
On a closing note: The ISAF 1997-2000 Rules of Racing have had some revisions made effective 1/1/98. These changes which were approved at the November 1997 ISAF meeting are available on our website. For those without access to the Internet, I will reproduce the rules which affect us in next month's Venturing.
Until then, enjoy your winter boat projects as you prepare for the upcoming season!
V/VMYC Web Site Update:
To facilitate communications with club members throughout the year, all members names will be listed by fleet on our website along with their city, boat type, boat name, phone number (if permission granted) and a link to their Internet email address (if they have one). These changes were approved at the January Board Meeting. This year's application form included in this newsletter has been modified for each member to indicate permission to list their phone number and to provide their email address.
Having this information available to members via the Internet (over half our members have Internet email) will be a benefit throughout the year as new members join the club after the directory is printed in March.
17/21/22/23/24 FLEET REPORT
MANY FLEETS WE ARE
Well, here we are again, ready to start a new year! The future looks bright for our yacht club with a new skipper at the helm. The calendar is full of lots of things to do, and if you don’t try just a little bit of it, well then you just might miss out on some of the fun and excitement — ‘cause if one wants, the fun is there to be had.
The lights are about to be taken off the boat (Christmas lights) if it quits raining for more than thirty minutes, and the darn wind isn’t blowing so hard. How hard has it been blowing, you ask. Well, when I put my Christmas lights up on the boat, they all had different colors every once in a while. Now they are all clear, and my neighbor’s house has polka dots everywhere. He asked me if my lights had a tendency to fade, and of course I answered him honestly. I said no, but they do blink in a fashionable type of motif. Must have been a flock of "Loons" flying by or something. Guess I’ll have a new non-color scheme next year for the holidays.
Of course we are always looking for new members all of the time to join in on the festivities. I drove up to Lake Lavon on January 2nd to buy my launch permit, and I spotted a Venture 17 being readied for launch. I just had to go and check it out. There were two young men rigging this boat out and I had forgotten what a virgin 17 used to look like. I was quickly reminded as one guy got out of the truck and stood the mast with one hand and the other guy pushed in the fore-stay pin from the ground, and they still had about a foot of slack to go. I really don’t know how the mast stood up without dipping in the water from time to time, but they were satisfied and would take no advise. So I gritted my teeth and said have a nice sail. Hope they made it back to shore O.K.
Anyway boys and girls, here we go, and hang on to them new VMYC hats, ‘cause the fun is just beginning. And remember, if you float it, they Will come — the boat, that is.
From the Fleet Captain of Many Fleets, Cappy Larry
26 FLEET NEWS
I will start my first news article by saying that I am really looking forward to representing the 26 Fleet for 1998 and feel it will be a great year for our club. New activities that were discussed at the first Board Meeting indicate that there are going to be some different and interesting things going on this year that we can all look forward to.
Al Grikis
has agreed to help me out on contacting the fleet members each month to gather news and pass along information on activities and other items. Al is also a good source of ideas on what to do to a 26 to make it more enjoyable and easier to sail. He has added many extras to Ma'Alish and is always ready to fill anyone in on how different things have worked out.Al
and I hope to be able to facilitate communication among the fleet so that we can all learn from each other. You can help us out by letting us know of anything that may be of interest to other 26 captains, such as modifications made to your boat, new lakes tried out or other boating experiences and what is happening in your family. A quick phone call or e-mail would be very much appreciated so that we can include information in fleet reports or telephone contacts.One of the things that I hope everyone is taking advantage of is the club homepage on the internet. Steve Hanes has done a great job in designing the site and keeping it updated with useful and interesting information. If you haven't checked it in the last couple of months, a look at the pictures and the accompanying story of the trip to DeGray Lake in Arkansas by the Hanes’ and McKenzies’ in September is fascinating. Some of the pictures are really beautiful.
And speaking of the internet, I was interested in reading the inputs made recently on the MacVenture site about the MacGregor 26. A sailor who owned a 17-ft. Venture for quite awhile was interested in moving to a larger boat, but wrote in to say he wasn't sure the 26 Mac would be a good choice based on all the problems that seemed to be discussed over the site. He had read about weather helm, modifications made to rudders and bowsprits, backing plates added and all the other things people had done. It didn't take long before 26 owners were sending lengthy messages bragging about their boats and basically saying that although they enjoyed tinkering to make improvements, the Mac 26 was the best boat of its type you can find. It was good to hear so many positive things said about our boat.
Well, here's to a great '98 for the 26 Fleet. Keep in touch.
PROGRAMS
January - Book Swap
Bring your sailing magazines, books or videos, and trade, sell, or pass them on.
Clean out your closets and score some fresh reading material for yourself.
February - Chartering
Club members discuss experiences from their own charters,
what to expect, what to bring, etc.
Don’t miss this meeting if you ever plan to charter.
ASSOCIATE FLEET & SOCIAL CHAIRMAN
Well, instead of sailing the area lakes lately, we are floating our cars and yards in water. The bright side of all this rain is there will be plenty of water in Lake Lavon for sailing this spring. If not, El Nino is at fault again!! Yea!
OOPS - Hi, this is Debbie Miller, your new Associate Fleet Captain and Social Chair. It looks as if I’ve got my work cut out for me wearing multiple hats.
The Associate Fleet is dwindling in size. What I would like to see is the fleet membership increasing. Therefore, if you are a regular crew member on one of the boats during the race season, why don’t you become a club member also? It’s only $25.00 a year per family. The best thing about it is you become a part of the V/MYC family. You get a newsletter of activities each month. You have a voice to make your concerns heard. Why not become an active member, participate in the monthly functions, meet a great group of people, and last but not least, maybe volunteer to hold a position with the Board? The Board does hear us. We are part of the family. In the five years since I’ve joined, it's been nothing but fun, fun, fun, and more fun. Don’t be shy. Ask to crew. Join the club.
As for our Social Calendar for 1998, I am working diligently on the Christmas Banquet. As of this date, we have a hold on the patio area at the Holiday Inn - not the same room that we have had the last two years.
At the January club meeting, I will have a sign-up sheet for those of you who would like to bring snacks to share with everyone at this year’s meetings.
In March we will have a Covered Dish Pot Luck. The theme will be "St. Patrick’s Day." We will need soups, salads, bread, and deserts.
At this time I would like to thank Jennie Taylor, Carol McKenzie, and Charlotte Pryor for helping with January snacks.
Our condolences go out to Steve Hanes and family in their loss of Steve’s grandmother.
God, grant this family strength from us to them in this painful time.
DOOR PRIZE!!!
$10.00
How would you like to have an extra
$10.00 or MORE???!!!
At each membership meeting,
all members' names will be placed in a hat,
and one will be selected to win the prize.
But, You must be present to win!!!
If the member drawn is not present, $10.00 will be added to
the pot and left to accumulate meeting after meeting
until we have a winner!!!
Lee and Dale Howard
were the lucky winners at the December Banquet
and were present to collect their $10.00 prize.
Classified Ads are FREE to members. To place an ad, call the Venturing Editors. (972) 271-5073
FOR SALE:
1996 MacGregor 26X with TrailerFOR SALE:
1992 MacGregor 26 with Swing KeelFOR SALE:
1985 MacGregor 25FOR SALE:
1976 Venture 222ADS WANTED:
Do you have sailing related products for sale or trade? Do you have a sail to sell? Do you need crew? Do you want to crew? Are you a member? If so, you can advertise right here for free!
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© Copyright 1998 Steven J. Hanes, All Rights Reserved