Photos courtesy of Justin Bush
We had glorious weather for our last race with a decent wind. We were delighted to welcome a new GYC sailor, Rachel Gall, who did a fine job crewing for Tom Schroeder.
This was the last chance for sailors to upset the tight cumulative season standings prior to the awards gathering on September 21. Who will win the championship, 1st place in the various classes, "holiday race" trophies, rookie of the year, and the booby prize? Stay tuned to the blog.
Sailor
Phil Bush's cheering paparazzi followed the race closely. His son Justin,
equipped and skilled with a nice camera, got some great shots shared
below. Thanks Justin, we needed more photos!
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| Three Lasers and the JY-15 rounding a mark. Jim and Laura are closest |
Thanks very much to our volunteers who officiated the race with experienced expertise. Thanks Margaret Powers, Lisa Duret, Nate Schloss and Jim and Mimi Riffle, Well done! Matt Bartlett set a good race course with help from Mark Cassidy. And another fine job of organizing by Kevin Preuss and Beth Auld. Thanks everyone!
The starting line was a challenge. Usually sailors try to start on a starboard tack (wind coming from starboard side) because they have the right of way over the few daring to start on a port tack. But in this race, on a starboard tack, the wind required sailing nearly parallel to the starting line, so a high degree of difficulty. Most sailors reluctantly opted for a port tack which worked out okay for most. Matt was somehow able to start on starboard which gave him the right of way over others, but was not without its own difficulties. During the race we had a couple of calm wind periods to wait out, but overall we were able to have two pretty satisfying races. Those in the west coves had plenty of wind to get back to their docks after the race.
We had a well-attended and fun, relaxing protest meeting at Arlene's. Thanks Arlene!
Now for the photos, then the race results:
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| Tom (left) and Phil Coming at you fast in the mighty Thistle. We'll use photos from the race to have them show you a maneuver or two. Ready? Beginning with a wave to you, the audience, lets begin: |
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| First they tack (change course). By turning, the wind moves the sail and the boom from one side of the boat to the other so the sailors must duck to avoid getting hit in the noggin. Watch that boom Phil! Sailors must also move their weight to the other side of the boat or risk capsizing. Since they are right in the middle of their turn, the wind has come out of one side of the sail (that is why it is slack) and in a moment will fill the other side. |
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| Tack completed, now they are well hiked out. Next they're going to show us just how far they can lean that mighty Thistle... |
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| Far enough to expose one of the Thistle's cheeks! Easy gentlemen...no need to show us how to capsize (result of a "full" moon), then right the boat. We'll save that for another day. |
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| Matt doesn't like to sit too long.... |
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| So sometimes he stands. But there is a catch... |
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| When standing, you can't reach the cam cleat. So instead, you have to hold the main sheet in your teeth between pulls on it. Its a bit of an art. You have to tilt your head at just the right angle. Kind of like eating spaghetti, but much harder on the teeth. |
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| John with a full sail. |
Race Results:
Photos Courtesy of Lisa Duret
The winds were unpredictable—calm one moment, gusty the next, shifting direction unpredictably from north to south, east to west. Typically, these conditions spread the fleet out, but not this time, at least at the finish line. In the first race, with one notable exception, the boats crossed the finish line within a minute of each other, with first and second place finishers separated by just one second. It must have been thrilling to watch from the Committee Boat or from the shore.
Speaking of which, the Committee Boat was in capable hands, with two new volunteers—Rachel Gall and Nate Schloss—joining veterans Lisa Duret, Jim and Mimi Riffle, and Arlene Truex. Thanks to all of you for officiating with precision! Special
thanks to Matt Bartlett and Dianne Fisher for setting up the race, and
of course, to Beth Auld and Kevin Preuss for organizing the race.
The second race was similarly close. Some boats finished only seconds apart, despite one boat getting tangled in another's trailing mainsheet (line for controlling the mainsail) and a few penalty turns being taken.
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| Approaching the first mark - close together with an outlier |
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| After rounding the first mark: What happened? Skill? Wind? Both? |
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| Approaching the finish line |
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| Matt (left) and Laura approach finish line on different tacks |
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| The Mighty Thistle |
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| Heading home after thanking the volunteers |
OH YES! And the spirited post-race protest meeting was again, well attended. Thanks Arlene!
The last race of the season will be Sunday, Sept 15 at 2pm. Come watch!
Race Results:
The forecast was for high heat and very little wind. We’ve been there before; it was a forecast for race cancellation. Sailors were very surprised to hear from nerves-of-steel Race Chair Kevin Preuss that the race was on! And sure enough, by race time we had excellent winds for a great race. Kevin seemed to have been clairvoyant (don’t hold him to that standard though, because cancelling races is always a crapshoot).
We are very grateful for Beth Auld, Bob Orben and Lisa Duret officiating the races, and doing an outstanding job of it on a windy day. Jim and Mimi Riffle looked after capsized sailors, and there were several. Thanks to Laura Garrett and Jim Voelz for setting up the course and modifying it as the wind picked up and shifted as they did so. We are always grateful to Kevin Preuss and Beth Auld for organizing our races.
With the good but unpredictable wind the races were exciting. Suddenly strong winds at the first and third marks surprised many. There were a couple of booby-prize-worthy instances of, well, we’ll just call it boat-to-boat contact. In the final leg of the second race, it was difficult to get through the finish line without tacking a time or two. Wind shifts while approaching the finish line were a bane to some sailors and a boon to others, especially in the second race.
We had another big showing for a fun after race gathering at Arlene’s. Thanks Arlene!
Race Results :
We were delighted to welcome two new sailors to the Grandview Yacht Club; Lily Garrett (fourth generation Voelz sailing dynasty) who crewed for Laura Garrett, and Nick Kotterman who crewed for Tom Cartwright. We hope they return often and captain their own boats soon!
We are thankful for our safety boat volunteers Jim Riffle and Lisa Duret, Catey Hale for setting up the race course, and Kevin Preuss and Beth Auld for organizing the race. Also, for our gourmet Committee Boat crew of Jack and Sandi Miller, Steve and Gretchen Fisher, and Harry and Sandy Meshberger. They took the wind’s effects in stride with a delay in starting of the first race because of two overturned sailboats, and the need to re-anchor the Committee Boat. They managed to do a superb job of officiating the races while dining on turkey pesto pinwheels, hummus dip with fresh veggies, fresh fruit salad, chips and for dessert, chocolate/toffee ice cream bars. Lately they have been assisting the blog editor with headlines for the races they officiate. This time with the description of the range of winds experienced during the race as seen above. With the exception of the “blah” period, winds and weather were ideal for racing with highs in the seventies low humidity and sunshine.
We had a big showing for the after race gathering at Arlene’s. Thanks Arlene!
Race Results :
We’ll take fast winds even with gusts whenever we can get them. We had them for the second race day in a row and sailors were delighted. The two races were fast lasting only 9-10 minutes each.
Thanks to our experienced Committee Boat volunteers Beth Auld, Margaret Powers and Bob Orben for their fine work officiating, Jim Riffle for manning the safety boat, and John Gall for setting up the race course. As always we appreciate Beth Auld and Kevin Preuss organizing the race. Thanks also to Arlene Truex for hosting the “protest meeting” after the race.
Race Results:
We had two fast races after a slow start to the season. A good and gusty wind had boats hiked out to the max from time to time. The Gourmet Division of the GYC Volunteer Corps had an enjoyable if somewhat rushed lunch.
Our thanks to Committee Boat volunteers Jack and Sandi Miller, Steve and Gretchen Fisher and Harry and Sandy Meshberger for officiating the race. They started with an “Alphabet Lunch” – Asparagus, BLT Wraps, Chips and then were “in irons” (for landlubber readers, that means “stuck”) on “C” food. As in: A sailor went to CCC to C what he could CCC, but all that he could CCC was the bottom of the deep blue CCC. That would be Corn, Cookies, Cherries and Crudites.
Thanks also to Lance and Bianca Snider for setting up the course which was well designed for the wind out of the north. And of course to Kevin Preuss and Beth Auld for superior organization. We had an enjoyable protest-free protest meeting afterward. Thanks Arlene.
Sailors and volunteers gathered after the June 23rd race for our twice weather-delayed sock burning ritual, celebrating Summer’s arrival. Many participants read poems they have composed about sailing or their stinky socks. This year, we also invited an artificial intelligence app to compose a poem, which it did within one second of entering the context for the poem and hitting “enter.”
First, the poetry of participants:
The sails are white, the water is blue,
So what do we do?
We gather the tiller, rudder, and a life vest or two
And head for the dock, just me and you.
For summer is here and racing begins,
Time to test our skills and the fickle wind.
Maybe, just maybe we will bring home a win!
- A.T.
There once was a club for sailing.
Some sailed while others were bailing.
On a nice windy day,
The Lasers, “Y”, and “J”,
All enjoy themselves without failing.
- J.S.
Through the winter my socks kept me warm.
So sorry to send them to the fire and harm.
But to extinguish the odor we must say goodbye
To my smelly socks as flames rise high.
- T.S.
There was an old "salt", a peg-leg cripple;
Telling stories to laughter and sniffle!
One tale made people shudder
And hold tight to each other!
'Twas a tale of the race of Bartlett & Riffle!
- M.B
Our sailing sock pairs were all burning!
For summer sail races we’re yearning!
Kevin, Matt, and Laura are tryin’;
Tom, Catey, and Dianne keep flyin’.
But it’s Jim Voelz from whom we’re all learning.
- M.B.
The next one is haiku which although brief, adds a difficulty factor to meet the prescribed formula for haiku: A haiku is a short, unrhymed poem that adheres to a specific three-line, seventeen-syllable format.
Adieu my old socks,
You served me well in Winter.
Ahoy there, Summer.
- L.D.
Now poetry from artificial Intelligence:
As winter fades and springtime mocks,
We gather here with smelly socks.
In colors bright and hues that scare,
We fling them high into the air.
The stench of feet from days of yore,
No match for wind and waves' sweet roar.
We cast them now into the flame,
With laughter loud, we play the game.
O socks, once worn with boots and shoes,
Your time has come, you’ve paid your dues.
No longer trapped in winter's grip,
We send you off on this last trip.
To summer skies and sailing dreams,
To sunshine bright and sparkling streams.
We bid farewell to wool and thread,
And welcome warmth and seas ahead.
So burn, dear socks, in fiery blaze,
And mark the end of chilly days.
With every puff of smoky air,
We celebrate the joys we share.
Goodbye, old friends, you’ve served us well,
In stormy weather, rain, and swell.
But now it’s time for summer’s call,
For sailing fun and thrills for all!
- Chat GPT (composed it in one second). Next year we will ask it to compose haiku.
Not to worry sailors, we will not be allowing AI-controlled sailboats.
Welcome new sailor, George Devidze! George crewed for Tom Schroeder, and was a quick study. We hope he will be racing with us frequently.
The race was nearly cancelled given the rain coming down at the 1:00pm go/no-go decision deadline, and participants were wary. But Race Chairman Kevin's decision turned out to be a good one because shortly after 1pm the skies cleared and we had a very good wind for sailing.
Thanks to John Auld and whoever helped him set up the excellent race course in the rain. We appreciate the bravery of our Committee Boat and Safety Boat volunteers Cindy Bartlett, Bob Orben, Jim Riffle and Arlene Truex who fully expected to get wet but stayed dry and did a great job of conducting the race. And thanks to Beth Auld and Kevin Preuss for organizing everything.
The start of both races were excellent with no laggard boats. The races were speedy given the wind, but relatively uneventful. Race Results are below.
We gathered at Arlene's for our "protest meeting" and annual "sock burning" which was smokeless this year given the wet lead-up to the race. See separate post with sailing and sock related poetry that was read amid lots of other banter. Thanks Arlene for hosting us!
Race Results:
Our first race of the season, the “Memorial Day Trophy Race,” was won by Matt Bartlett, who had reason to suspect he might have been snookered.
A big thank you to our stalwart volunteers: Captain Jack Miller, First Mate Sandy, and their fearless crew, Steve and Gretchen Fisher. They flawlessly conducted the single race and dined on chicken pesto pinwheels, cantaloupe, and lemon-coconut bars. Although they had to huddle beneath the canopy a time or two, they had plenty of time to enjoy their meal before having to record the sailors' lengthy finishing times on the damp race sheet. Thanks also to Kevin Preuss, assisted by Tom Schroeder, for setting up a short course for a low-wind forecast with only a 15% chance of rain. It proved not short enough though.
You guessed it—it was a challenging sailing day weather-wise. However, the race day had many positive aspects:
• The Memorial Day Trophy was won.
• The Millers and Fishers were able to dine out on the water as planned.
• We did not bake in hot weather.
• We heard sailors' tales about topics such as an assessment of Miami, a guardian angel in the Caribbean, near misses while supposedly moored, getting “buzzed” by helicopters, construction happiness, and other interesting topics.
• Five sailboats in the fleet appear to be ship-shape after successfully completing their maiden voyages of the season.
• We enjoyed the camaraderie of the race and post-race, regardless of the conditions.
The start was a slow-motion yawner. The boats inched along, finally rounded the first mark and made it about halfway to the second. Then, the mere 15% chance of rain materialized in a big way, but without any wind. For quite a while, we were motionless. The few waves twirled the boats in random directions. Matt had managed to advance a fair distance ahead of the rest, and wasn't far from the second mark. The rest of the sailors, in close proximity, made the decision that the race would not include the third mark given the lack of wind and any forward progress. We shouted the decision to Matt, but unfortunately the committee boat was out of hearing range. Matt slowly rounded the second mark and set his course to the finish line.
As Matt finished, the volunteers on the committee boat indicated he hadn't finished because he failed to round the third mark. For a split second, Matt wondered if the other sailors had successfully played a prank on him.
We had an enjoyable protest meeting (thanks, Arlene), but decided to have the sock burning after the next race on June 23rd. So it’s not too late to search the sock drawer and compose a poem if you wish.
Our sock burning must wait a spell,
Till clearer skies and breezes swell.
So give them weeks, a little more,
To craft their poems by the shore.
For when the fire's flames are high,
Their words will sail into the sky.
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Our next race is June 23
