AMIDSHIPS:
Scuttlebutt & Race Yarns

News & Coming Events listed first, then Race Yarns  (scroll down or go to click-able list of event dates at bottom of port column).  Reports are loosely based on actual events and people. We tease, embellish and exaggerate, so don't take anything you read here too seriously.  

2018 Season HIGHLIGHTS

This post is a brief summary of our 2018 season.  It accompanies the 2018 sailing awards post that follows, and the “photo version” of the 2018 Season at the top of the Starboard Column (smartphone users will have to click on the "view web version" to see the full blog with port and starboard columns).

Our 57^th season featured very favorable winds for nearly every race, which was a real pleasure.

 

This race featured two torrential rain squalls with accompanying strong winds (no thunder or lightning).  No one capsized and sailors reported really enjoying the challenge.

 

Like this one, we had plenty of well-timed, near-simultaneous starts.

There were crafty maneuvers and strategies, and several protests settled on the water with the offenders taking their penalty 360-degree turns.  All protests were settled on the water. None reached the protest meeting.

Several minor mishaps (above) provided opportunities for “Good-Samaritans” to help in recoveries

Like this one, we also had lots of very close finishes

 

One surprising finish was "won by a hare"

 

We bid a fond adieu to the Jennings family and their fine sailors,  Tom and Andy,  pictured above, who we will miss.

And a "couple" of our best sailors were on injured-reserve for most of the season, but we look forward to their return in 2019.
 

43 different individuals participated in our races as either captain, crew or volunteer.

27 sailors raced, and we welcomed 2 new sailors, Phil Bush and Jeff Cartwright

 17 committee boat volunteers, helped out, many of whom served multiple times.  And we welcomed a new volunteer, Margaret Powers. 

Here is the best way to run a Committee Boat:

Step 1: Start the race by blowing the horn

Step 2:  Enjoy a gourmet lunch while you watch the race from the best vantage point on the lake

Step 3: Watch the finish line and record the elapsed time for each finisher.  On a day with good winds you may have to wait to have dessert during the 2nd race.

Our 2018 roster of sailors and  wonderful volunteers are listed in the  “Port” (left) column.

We averaged 8 boats per race with a high of 11 boats and a low of 4.

We averaged 11 sailors per race and 6 committee boat volunteers per race So on an average race day we had 17 people participating.  That is 1 more than last year in each of the categories mentioned.  

 

Our overall champion was Matt Bartlett (above left).    Matt had plenty of racing experience prior to he and Cindy moving to Grandview Lake several years ago.  Matt also won 1^st place in the Laser Class and won the July 4th "Trophy Race"

John Auld shown above with crew Paul Hass won 1^st place in the International Class

Phil Bush pictured above (amidships) won 1^st place crew and “Rookie of the Year". (The post that follows this one has photos of all those who won awards and some of the fun we had at the final protest meeting of the year.)

The Yacht Club also plays a role in the greater community at Grandview.  We again sponsored the Holiday Breakfasts,  post-race “protest meetings” and Spring Social.

Our hosts make it all happen though.  This year we are grateful to

Donna Mount – Spring Social

Steve and Marisa Willment (again this year!) – Memorial Day Breakfast

Arlene Truex– July 4^th Breakfast

John & Gwen Cord and Bill & Nan Russell - Labor Day Breakfast

By the way, Please consider hosting any of the 2019 breakfasts as we are still in need of volunteers.    Thanks to Margaret Powers for volunteering to host the 2019 Spring Social!

 

Max Henry organized the paddleboard and kayak race again this year.  This time at the Labor Day Breakfast. Matt Bartlett was the first paddleboard and Jason Carroll was the first kayak to finish.

Arlene Truex hosted us for all of our protest meetings and our second annual "sock burning" (above)  Thanks Arlene!
 

There are more photos and comments and stories in the Starboard Column-->
(and yes some duplicate photos).

The 2018 sailing award winners are recognized in the next post.

Thanks to Beth Auld, our Committee Boat Chairperson, Lisa Duret, our Secretary/Treasurer, and Kevin Preuss, our Race Chairman. And thanks to the 50 families that are members of the Yacht Club.

2018 Sailing Season AWARDS

This post about the season's sailing awards accompanies the 2018 season highlights post that proceeds it.

The early fall nasty weather foiled our ability to enjoy our usual outdoor lakeside venue on Arlene Truex’s patio.  So we held our awards event indoors at Tom and Julia Schroeder’s place.

 

A light moment in the back row.  We can see you over there Laura!

We thanked our  Committee Boat volunteers, event hosts, good Samaritans, and others.  Our esteemed volunteers are listed in the Port (Left) Column.

Tom passes out gifts to volunteers.  Committee Boat chairperson Beth Auld picked out some nice beverage mugs with a sailing theme.

The sailing awards section began with the "special awards" anticipated with amusement by those on the couch below

The "Ghost Sailor award is presented to the sailor(s) who honestly, no kidding, not just saying this, really WANTED to be out there sailing with us, but one thing or another that couldn't be helped kept them away from the race course.  

But they were there in "spirit".  Really! No fooling!

 

Here a pillow case has been draped over the big "Ghost Sailor" award so that no one could see the engraved name of the winner before it is presented.

Champion sailors Jim and Peggy Voelz were unable to sail with us for most of the season and were very much missed all year long.  So there was really no question regarding who would win the award this year.

With the pillow case removed the large and gaudy "Ghost Sailor" award with little plaques of all the past winners attached is displayed by 2018 winners Jim and Peggy Voelz with a little help from Tom (its heavy).

The "Booby Prize" is awarded to a sailor involved in a mishap of some kind - the most unusual, humorous (in retrospect), or grand mayhem of the year. This year it was awarded to Sherri Agnew.  Sherri, who was minding her own business out on the race course suddenly found that the mast from a capsized Y-Flyer landed on her tiller keeping her boat from moving - she was trapped and could not proceed with the race.  We could have awarded the prize to the captain and crew of the capsized Y-Flyer,  John Auld and Paul Hass.  We chose not to for two reasons 1) They had won it twice before in recent years, so that would be redundant, and 2) We could not resist awarding the "attractive" chamber pot trophy to a Sherri, an interior designer,  to see how she might dress it up and display it (though we have an inkling it might not make it out of her garage).

The legendary and attractive chamber pot trophy, now serving as the "Booby Prize",  with a photo of the award winning incident

Then the serious race trophies and awards, won based on points were awarded by Race Chairman Kevin Preuss.

"Trophy Race" trophies were awarded, one for each of the "holiday weekend" races according to tradition (times have changed though, so we avoid having those races on the actual holiday weekends).

Jim Voelz won the Memorial Day Trophy Race.  The trophy is now a "double-decker" monument to history because of the age of the club and the number of past winners.

 

Jim Voelz, left, is presented with the Memorial Day Race trophy by our Race Chairman, Kevin Preuss.  You will be seeing a lot of Kevin as he presents winners with their spoils.

Matt Bartlett won the July 4th race trophy:

Matt Bartlett receives July 4th Trophy.  You are about to see a lot more of Matt also (he had a great season)!

The Labor Day Trophy was won by Laura Garrett:

The stained glass Labor Day trophy was given to the club by Wayne and Arlene Truex. The stand and an engraved plaque was given to the club last year in memory of Wayne by his brothers. 

Then the 1st 2nd and 3rd place trophies and medals for the 3 classes of competition were awarded (Lasers, International, and Crew)

Lets start with the Laser Class:

Matt Barlett (remember him?)  won 1st place in the Laser class

See that 1st place trophy Matt is holding?  Beth Auld painted it.  She has been finding and/or creating our 1st place (and other) sailing awards.  Always something new different and cool!  Nice job Beth!

Laura Garrett (yes, her again!)  won 2nd in the Laser class

Kevin Preuss, our Race Chairman, won 3rd in the Laser class. 

On to the International Class:

John Auld shown below with his able-bodied crew, Paul Hass, won first place in the International Class (they were in a better climate than we were at the time of the awards event).

John (left), Paul (right).  "Paul won a crew award, see Crew Class" below

Tom Schroeder won 2nd in the International class

Ben Cartwright won third in the International Class.

That's Ben hiked out on the right, with Dad, Tom on left.  Tom won a crew award - see "Crew Class" below.

For those sailboats with both a mainsail and a jib, the crew handles the jib and other gear.  A skilled crew makes a huge difference in winning races.  So much so that we have a "Crew Class".    The Crew gets the same number of points as the captain he/she is crewing for in each race.

So, for our Crew Class:

Phil Bush won first place and also "Rookie of the Year".   This was the first year he ever set foot in a sailboat.  After one race he was hooked and sailed enthusiastically all season, crewing for Tom Schroeder and also for John Auld. 

Phil's 1st place/Rookie of the Year trophy is a framed photo of his first race (photo is below)

 

That's Phil front right (notice how well he has trimmed the jib).

Paul Hass won 2nd place in the crew class crewing for John Auld (see photo in International Class above)

Tom Cartwright won 3rd place in the crew class crewing for son Ben (see photo in International Class above).

and Finally,

OUR OVERALL 2017 SEASON CHAMPION,

MATT BARTLETT

Matt accumulated nearly one-third more points than the next-closest competitor!

We are expecting another great season in 2019.  Come sail with us!

JUST LIKE SUMMER: October 7th Race Report

Photos courtesy of Bernice Rains and Julia Schroeder

Eighty-five degrees and sunny.  Many of our regulars were traveling, but we had enough sailors and volunteers to make it a good race.  We welcomed back Sarah Cartwright, crewing for Tom Cartwright, and Jim Voelz who couldn’t resist taking his last chance at a race in 2018. Lance and Bianca couldn’t resist the weather either, and Matt and Cindy Bartlett made a special effort to drive back from fun times up north just in time for racing/volunteering.  No-longer-a-rookie, Phil Bush has been taking the tiller prior to the races and did so again, crewing for Tom Schroeder.

The JY-15 casts quite a reflection

We appreciate Margaret Powers providing her help and her boat along with fellow volunteers Bob Orben, Cindy Bartlett, Bernice Rains, and Jim Riffle (safety boat).  All knew we were originally short of volunteers for this race and helped us out.  Thanks again.  Thanks also to Tom Cartwright and Tom Schroeder for setting up a course appropriate to the wind, and to Arlene for hosting us on her patio after the race.

THE START...
 

Jim and Matt prepare for start

Cartwrights (L) and Schroeder/Bush (R) approach the starting line

The starting horn has blown. Jim in foreground, Cartwrights in middle, then Matt.  Watch what happens next.

The three boats converge, and another, #2515, the Sniders, were also in the mix and now can be seen.

Things get a little close for comfort.  Matt sails off to port and avoids the fray.

And here comes Schroeder/Bush, also avoiding the traffic jam.

FROM THE FINISH OF THE FIRST RACE

Matt (foreground) crosses the finish line just ahead of Schroeder/Bush.  Are each of those sails perfectly trimmed or what!  Well done!

More like a July race, the wind was so-so, but good enough.  Like our August race the wind was steady during the warm-up time prior to the start of the race, but then became on and off at various parts of the race course.   Depending on their location, sometimes just several yards apart, some boats were favored, others were not.  So there was some see-sawing among those finding themselves race leaders vs. laggards at any particular point.   Though spread out during most of the race, a nearly simultaneous finish of all the boats in the second race provided a good punctuation mark to the season, and a chorus of “thank you” s to our volunteers.

 FINISH OF SECOND RACE
 

L to R: Lance/Biana Snider, Tom Schroeder/Phil Bush,  Jim Riffle in the safety boat, Jim Voelz, Matt Bartlett, and the Committee Boat (finish line).  The four boats approach the finish line with the 2 on the left gaining on the 2 Lasers on the right.  The four finished in near unison.  The final finish of the 2018 season

Race Results

First Race

Laser Class:  Jim Voelz 1^st, Matt Bartlett 2^nd,

International Class: Tom/Sarah Cartwright 1^st, Tom Schroeder/Phil Bush 2^nd, Lance/Bianca Snider 3^rd

Overall on Handicapped Basis (not for scoring) Jim Voelz 1^st, Tom/Sarah Cartwright 2^nd, Matt Bartlett 3^rd, Schroeder/Bush 4^th, Lance/Bianca 5^th

Second Race

Laser Class: Matt Bartlett 1^st, Jim Voelz 2^nd,

International Class: Tom Schroeder/Phil Bush 1st, Lance/Bianca Snider 2nd

Overall on Handicapped Basis (not for scoring) Matt Bartlett 1^st, Jim Voelz 2^nd, Schroeder/Bush 3rd, Lance/Bianca 4^th