Spring Social Report

Yacht Club members gathered at Beth and John Auld’s beautiful home and enjoyed each other’s company, the wonderful weather, and a great view.  Thanks again to Beth and John for hosting us, and to Mimi Riffle for updating memberships.

Memorial Day Breakfast Report

Many lot owners and their guests gathered outside the GLOA office for one of the first opportunities of the season to visit with Grandview neighbors.  We observed Memorial Day by reflecting on the price paid by those who served in the military and the price paid by those close to them. We recognized those in attendance who had done so.  Our thanks to the Harrison Township Volunteer Fire Department for providing a tent (and for putting it up and taking it down).   Yacht Club members volunteered to obtain the refreshments and arrange everything.  Thanks to Mimi & Jim Riffle, Arlene Truex, Beth Auld, Lisa Duret, Kevin Preuss, Tom Jennings and Tom and Julia Schroeder for their efforts.

MAY 18TH RACE REPORT

We had four new participants join us for the first race of the season.  Many of our regular sailors were out of town, but we had a good sized fleet. With cool air and water temperatures, it was probably a good thing that it wasn’t windy enough to cause the usual number of capsizes.  It was an exciting race nonetheless because of the close standings of the six boats during the entire race, and the surprises from the variable wind.   Peggy Voelz and the “Portsmouth Yardstick” have the last laugh, and she is probably just now learning about it while reading this report.

Our new participants were:  

·         Chris Braun, who will be racing a Laser this year.  He volunteered on the Committee Boat for this race to see how we do things.  Chris is new to the area, and is an experienced sailor and racer.

·         Ross Kunkler, who crewed for Tom Schroeder.  With plenty of instruction from Tom, Ross is now an experienced crew, but the other skippers will need to correct what Tom taught him!  We hope to have Ross take the helm as soon as possible in a race this year.

·         Maura Leonard, who volunteered for the first time on the Committee Boat after attending the instruction meeting on May 10^th.  Maura is veteran sailor, Riley Leonard’s Mom

·         Nicki Leonard, Riley’s sister, who was in town and helped out on the Committee Boat as well.  We discovered that Nicki has a very competitive spirit, so we hope she’ll “come sail with us” sometime this summer since more than a few of the GYC sailors share that trait.

Kevin Preuss, organized the race in his new role of Race Chairman which we are very grateful to him for taking on.

Riley Leonard set up a good race course with Kevin's assistance.  Thanks gentlemen!

The well-staffed Committee Boat (THANKS! To Chris Braun, Lisa Duret, the Leonard family - Maura, Nicki and Riley, and Arlene Truex) got us off to an excellent and prompt start. 

Jim Voelz was out front immediately and kept it that way, winning the Laser class.  The rest stayed reasonably close behind.  Although they sailed divergent courses, they converged to within inches of one another at each of the three “marks” (turn markers).  So close in fact that it is a little surprising no one tested the limits of their right of way, invoking a protest.   The wind was so variable that Schroeder/Kunkler who were way to port (left, remember?) and aft of (that means behind) the rest of the pack approaching the first mark, were easily able to catch up when the wind shifted, and they counted their blessings.  There was little motor boat traffic so it was easier than usual to read the wind by watching the water.

On the way to the 2nd mark

On the way to the third mark, Lasers skippered by Kevin Preuss and Tom Jennings were off to starboard (yeah, you figured it out – to the right) of the rest of us.   The two boats were overlapped, and since Kevin was leeward (downwind) of Tom,  Kevin had the right of way.  Tom wanted to turn to the port side, but couldn’t because Kevin was there.  Finally, Tom slowed down and went behind Kevin to maneuver himself to the mark.  By the way, regarding the pronunciation of leeward:  An experienced sailor will pronounce it "leward" instead of "lee-ward".

The finish was very exciting with no “instant replay” required since it pretty much all transpired in slow motion.  Jim Voelz finished first followed by Tom Jennings.  Kevin Preuss was doing fine, but got into a position that would have been fine, but with a wind shift, became very unfavorable.  In the last 15 yards he had to tack several times (turn such that the wind comes across the other side of the boat along with the boom– duck!) , putting him at a big disadvantage.  Meanwhile, fairly close to the finish line, Laura Garrett was moving along ahead of both her Mom, Peggy Voelz, and even further ahead of Schroeder/Kunkler, while Kevin was off to her starboard side.  Then the wind died down and shifted just a bit.   Who was going to cross the line first now?  Would it be Peggy or would it be Laura?    

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Laura and Peggy, Schroeder/Kunkler, who were windward (upwind of), were getting the slight wind first, blocking it from Laura and Peggy.  It wasn’t much wind mind you, so Schroeder/Kunkler were moving about as slowly and stealthily as an alligator approaching its prey, unnoticed.  Not having the right of way (because they were windward not leeward as you learned earlier), they had to sneak past Laura and Peggy and crossed the finish line first!   Then Ross did something that showed he is new to Grandview sailing.   Did you read last year’s blog?  If so, put the pieces of this situation together:  a) they had just crossed the finish line before the others unexpectedly  b) therefore they were very pleased with themselves and their sudden good fortune and c) there wasn’t much wind at that moment.   Yes, you guessed it; Ross became celebratory and initiated a “high five” with Tom.  They were lucky; the “high-five syndrome” wind gust did not strike them and capsize them.  But now Ross is aware of the dangers of “high five syndrome”.  

Meanwhile, Kevin Preuss managed to get across the finish line, but the Laura/Peggy drama remained unresolved. Laura mentioned that it was her birthday and she ought to win, so some “happy birthdays!” were shouted from various quarters.  Nevertheless, the wind moved Peggy’s boat forward first to victory. 

In the International Class, Peggy gets the last laugh on Schroeder/Kunkler because after the “Portsmouth Yardstick” (see port column for details) handicap for the boat type is applied to the elapsed time, Peggy beat them.  So did Laura.  So on a handicapped basis it was Peggy Voelz 1^st, Laura Garrett 2^nd, and Tom Schroeder/Ross Kunkler 3^rd.

And in the Laser Class, it was Jim Voelz 1st, Tom Jennings 2^nd, and Kevin Preuss 3^rd. 

Although we don’t handicap the Lasers for scoring purposes, if we did,  the overall results of all the boats on a handicapped basis would have been as follows:  Jim Voelz 1^st, Tom Jennings 2^nd, Peggy Voelz 3^rd, Laura Garret 4^th, Tom Schroeder/Ross Kunkler 5^th and Kevin Preuss 6^th.

The sailors chose not to have a 2nd race due to low wind.

Wayne and Arlene Truex hosted the first Protest Meeting of the year.  We enjoyed the views from the upper deck.  We did a more thorough job of welcoming our new participants and had fun re-living the race.  Thanks Wayne and Arlene!

The next race is scheduled for June 1^st and will be considered the Memorial Day Trophy Race (these days we avoid racing on holiday weekends).   We need Committee Boat volunteers to assist Tom Schroeder, so please contact Tom or our Committee Boat chairperson, Beth Auld if you would like to help out.  We don't like to post email addresses on the blog because they invite spam.  But you can phone Tom at 873-1637 using the Indy area code.

In the meantime, see you at the Memorial Day Breakfast and/or the Spring Social.

Sailor's Meeting Report - May 10th.

Thanks very much to Kevin Preuss and Lisa Duret for hosting our refresher course on Committee Boat, race set-up, and race procedures this past Saturday at their beautiful home.

New Participants:

We were pleased to welcome a new Committee Boat volunteer, Maura Leonard (Riley’s mom), and two sailors new to GYC, Chris Braun and Ross Kunkler.

Chris will crew/volunteer at first, and then race his Laser.  Ross plans on volunteering and crewing for a while, and then sail his sailboat in the International class.   Please welcome Maura, Chris and Ross when you have an opportunity.

Changes/Preparing for first Race:

Sailors will be getting their first race notice from Race Chairman Kevin Preuss for the race this coming Sunday, May 18^th.  As usual, you are asked to notify Kevin of your plans to sail (or not).

In the meantime, we have sent out our a) race set-up, b) racing,  and c)  Committee Boat procedures (just Committee Boat procedures for non-sailing volunteers).  These are available in .pdf format to anyone who requests them. 

Maybe re-read these after uncovering your sailboat and evicting the hornets that are in the process of establishing a colony there.

PLEASE NOTE: 2 KEY CHANGES FOR 2014:

1. We will no longer be using a starting flag.  The starting horn will be the only “start” signal.  This will make committee boat duties for our wonderful volunteers more streamlined, avoid confusion for sailors, and be more consistent with the way other sailing clubs operate.  We will however, continue to use both a flag and a horn for the “five minute warning”.   Once sailors see or hear that we are within 5 minutes to start, it this their responsibility to stay in earshot of the Committee Boat to hear the starting horn.

2.     Sailors are asked to serve on the Committee Boat on the same day they are responsible for setting up the race course, or to recruit a substitute who can lift an anchor/drive a pontoon boat, and willing to learn how to start and time races.  This is to provide additional help for our non-sailing volunteers.  If you sail with us regularly,  and have not been assigned a date for race set-up, please volunteer to help someone on the schedule set up since it is really a 2-person job (and a good chance to learn how).  Contact Race Chairman, Kevin Preuss  to sign up for a date.  Also, consider volunteering to help on the Committee Boat by contacting Committee Boat Chair, Beth Auld, and signing up.

After a long and brutal winter, we are looking  forward to seeing you on the water, at the “Protest Meeting” at the Truex’s, at the Memorial Day breakfast and/or at the Spring Social on May 30^th!