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| Commodore |
One good thing to do during the dog days is to pull the boat over to the beach and go after the scum on the hull with a scrub brush. I am not sure how much good it really does, but it always makes me feel better. I also think that hull maintenance is not swimming. Since the kids can not resist throwing rocks in the water, my advice is to wear an old pair of sneakers to avoid stubbing your toes. We know that in normal years the wind in August is fickle. I am not sure that we are having a normal year. For all I know, it may blow like crazy all month. In any case, we avoid scheduling regattas during August, except for the Five-for-Five Labor Day fun regatta that technically takes place on the last day of the month.
I sense that we may be running into a rough patch of water for the Club. Participation in our events is down a bit for some and quite a bit for others. We are encountering increased expenses. Our members are faced with rapid increases in the cost of living particularly for fuel...and the general economy is not the best. That makes it a very bad time to even consider increasing our dues or fees. I believe that we are going to have to look at some belt tightening. Might as well begin with my party. In point of fact, I initiated the Commodore’s Party back in 1988 as a simple cocktail party for the new members. In lieu of the official party, consider a full-moon sail...under the Sturgeon Moon (the Indian name for the August full moon according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac). I bet a raft-up might appear out there on the ocean. Speaking of expenses, as most of you have noticed, the unusual spring rains caused a large landslide in the hillside between the shelter house and the trailer. Interested volunteers have investigated and will be discussing prophylactic steps to prevent further erosion at a Special Meeting of the Board to be held Tuesday, August 5th at the Shelter at 7:00pm. Amounts in the range of $20,000 are being discussed. It is your money and all members are welcome to attend. Members are always welcome at any Board meeting. Elsewhere in the newsletter, I believe you will see that our juniors did extremely well in a recent week-long regatta in Lake Erie. I hope that the Club continues its support of the youth sailing. You know, if you give a person a fish, you feed them for a day. If you teach a person to fish, you feed them for life. If you teach a person to sail, you can keep them in beer for the rest of their life.
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| Social |
 Dog Days of summer are here! August is upon us and the social calendar is half over already! The next calendar event officially is the Labor Day Cookout. At 5pm on Monday, September 1st, ECSC is hosting again another event. Rich and Angie White host this with their crew. Again, the Club supplies the burgers, dogs, and drinks. YOU are asked to bring your favorite side dish to share with everyone. Remember to make it enough to give everyone a chance to taste your specialty. Right: Ed & Fran and crew for the July 4th Pig Roast. The Commodore's event is scheduled for August 16th. Commodore Hollingsworth just announced he is hosting a raftup that evening on the lake rather than the more formal shindig in our shelter. Leave it to Commodore Tim to be a pioneer! I want to thank everyone for coming out for our events and doing such a good job in providing all of the great side dishes. We have had lots of food to go around and get to try lots of great tasting dishes! A BIG “THANK YOU” to all of our event hosts and work crews for putting on our socials. It doesn’t happen without YOU. Remember: if interested in volunteering AND earning work credits for next years’ dues, just give me a call and we will put you to work. Have a great August……….on the water.
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| Harbormaster |
 Greetings to all! I am covering for Rick...he's gone sailing. Anyway, the Club has been hit hard by this year's record rains. We are still in the process of recovering. You may have noticed stacks of debris and rough parking lots. Most have been repaired, and we are getting back to normal. Heavy rains have also created a hillslide near the upper shelter house. This will be a costly repair. If repairs are not made, we stand a chance of damage to our upper shelter house. I have been involved with getting estimates and a "plan" to make repairs. We will have a meeting August 5th at 7:00pm to discuss and hopefully approve a plan to repair the hillslide. Call or E-Mail if you have questions. Above: The undercut in front of C-Dock exposed during low water last fall. Ralph
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| Racing |
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It’s hard to believe, but Racing has completed the Spring Series and has already begun the Fall Series! Make no mistake, some of the best sailing and racing of the year is yet to come---the water is up, the winds are good, and the crews are finely tuned.
Congratulations to all of our Junior Sailors who competed at Junior Bay Week on Lake Erie. This is a grueling week of sailing endurance and personal management that put the months of training by Wayne Myers, Ki Hickok, and all of their assistants to the test. The result was a sweep of trophies by ECSC!! Right: RJ and Hannah at Bay Week. The next big event for our sailors is a Traveller Series regatta August 16th. This regatta is a huge one-day event at ISC together with ECSC as support. The group will be using our RIB and RC Pontoons...and there is a call for volunteers to assist. Please contact Wayne or Tony Hubbard to see how you can help! Many thanks to Tom Moore and his crew for a job well done at the ECSC/Comet Regatta and Beach Party! The Comets brought 8 boats to compete for their Territorial title, while Eagle Creek brought 9 boats to the starting line. Kudos to Steve Jones and his wife Sue, sailing a Precision 23, on their first regatta ever! Despite the sweltering heat, the wind was fantastic. And, because of the heat, the margaritas were flowing at the Tiki Bar while our DJs, EJ & Ki, kept the music going. The Governor’s Cup Regatta will be September 6-7, chaired by Chris Cunningham. The Registration, NOR, and SI will be posted soon, and Chris will be letting us know what kind of fun he has planned! Please try to register as early as possible in order for the committee to be able to plan appropriately for meals and awards.
RC Dates To Remember: FYI---Spring Awards are CANCELLED August 16th, but will be presented at the Final Bash.
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| Ladies' Regatta |
 This note is for the Ladies Regatta on August 24th. Ladies, please join me, Lisa Carpenter ['Master scavenger hunt maker'], for a great time on our lake!! Lots of prizes and even more fun... Hope all you 'Ladies for Sail' can join us!! Bring a snack for your boat babes. Poker and partially naked men are also involved!!! Hope to see you all at 11:00am at the Liar's Table Sunday, August 24th. Right: George ready for the attack at the 1st Ladies' Regatta.
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| Junior Sailing |
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This past weekend, I attended ECSC’s “Beach Party” regatta. The Friday before the regatta happened to be the same day all of the junior sailors were making it back from the Sears, Bemis, and Smythe Quarter-Finals...also known as Junior Bay Week. Talking to the ECSC junior sailors reminded me of the days when I was still young enough to sail in the junior events, and I was also surprised to find out how much had changed!
I sailed Junior Bayweek from ’99 to ’02. During this time period, there were only three fleets to choose from: FJs, Laser full-rigs, and Thistles. Each fleet was competing for the coveted few berths to Semi-Finals. The top two competitors in Bemis and Smythe (FJs and Lasers) moved on to the Semi’s. And, only the first place competitor in Sears (Thistles) moved on. At the time, the format was each fleet raced together for the first day and a half...all of Monday and Tuesday morning. After Tuesday morning, the top six from each fleet were split into the Championship Division and the race for Semi-Finals began. Left: Barret, RJ, and Phil at the ECSC Regatta. For my first two years at Bayweek, I sailed for the Sears cup. Thistles were a boat I had been around since the day I started sailing. So, it was an easy transition from One-Design Thistle racing to racing a Thistle in the junior events. For the first day and a half, each team would sail their boat. After the fleet was split Tuesday afternoon, the top six competitors sailed a round-robin, swapping boats between each race. This format was dropped the year I stopped sailing Sears...due in a large part to the boat we had brought the year before. We figured since we only get to sail our own boat one out of six races, why bring a nice boat? We found out the hard way that in Sears Cup, Quarter finals is the easy part. Sears Cup events can be sailed in any three-man boat. So, for Semi’s, it would be off to Detroit or Rochester to sail J22s...a boat that was completely foreign to us at the time. On top of that, because only one boat from Quarters moved on to Semis, we would have three, maybe four competitors. Only first place would move on from Semis. So, it was a winner-takes-all regatta. Too many times, the races would turn into a match race...and, too many times the local kids who sailed these boats on a regular basis would mop the floor with us. The lesson we learned here: if a serious Sears Cup campaign is being put together, look forward. Find out what the Semi’s are sailed in...and practice in that boat. Find out what Finals are sailed in. Find a way to get some time in that boat. Even the playing field! Don’t give your competitors an advantage by being inexperienced in the boats being used. After two years of Sears and no trip to finals, I decided I'd had enough and grown enough that I could be competitive in a full rig Laser. So, Smythe it was. Lasers allowed two boats to move on to Semi’s, so we would have six to eight Lasers there competing for the two berths to Finals. The thing I loved was no changing of the type of boat. It was Lasers all the way through finals!
In my last year of eligibility for Bayweek, I did finally make it to Finals. A second place at Bayweek and first in Semi-Finals had me heading out to Virginia for Finals. Finals consist of twenty competitors, each of us sailing stock boats that are new and supplied by the organizing authority. Heading into the event, of course, I was nervous. It was my last year...I had finally made it! My nervousness was reflected in my sailing. Seven light-air races...three of those I was OCS and restarting. This left me stumbling to an overall ninth-place finish. Right: Our 2008 Bay Week juniors (L-R): EJ, Erika, Austin, RJ, Kat, Hannah, Becca, and John. With the changes in format that Quarter and Semi-Finals have undergone since I last sailed, I feel the kids who qualify for Finals will go into the regatta much more prepared. A six-boat championship fleet at Quarter-Finals and a six boat fleet at Semi-Finals is not good preparation for the twenty boat, cutthroat fleet, that will be encountered at Finals. With ten boats now in the championship fleet at Bay Week and fifteen to twenty boats at Semi-Finals, the fleet-racing mentality remains all the way through the qualifying process. I want to congratulate Wayne and the entire 2008 ECSC Junior Sailing Team on a job well done this year. Best of luck to the junior sailors of the future!
Editor's Note: Barret is now doing business in the sailing industry with another ex-junior sailor, Jason Hubbard. Check it out at: www.ntsails.com
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| Yachting Club of America |
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We are pleased to announce that Eagle Creek Sailing Club has recently become registered with the Yachting Club of America.
“So what?” you might ask. Well, the YCA publishes the annual “Register of American Yacht Clubs,” which is the authoritative reference used by most Yacht clubs to determine reciprocity. So, because ECSC has joined this organization, and because you are a valued ECSC member, you are now able to receive reciprocal privileges at over 700 yacht clubs around the world...including some of the most prestigious! Right: Steve Earnhart cruising. So, when you’re travelling with or without your boat, you should check the list to see if there is a reciprocal yacht club you might visit on your journey. If you happen to be sailing at some exotic port, the local Yacht club often offers dockage and shore facilities preferable to those available at public marinas. Even if you’re not travelling by water, we all know that yacht clubs can be a cool place to just hang out and meet other like-minded sailors. Each club has varying reciprocity guidelines, so it's always a good idea to call ahead. For example, the venerable Chicago Yacht Club limits reciprocity privileges to once per calendar month and excludes holidays and special events. And, you can only dock a boat there for three consecutive nights. It is an exceptional place to visit for dinner or a drink while in the Windy city...otherwise only be accessible to members who have paid many thousands of dollars to join. Obviously, this makes your modest annual membership dues at ECSC an even greater value than they currently are!! To view the online register, visit www.ycaol.com and go to the “Members Only” section. Our club’s user ID is: club1040 and password is: y100446c. We also have membership cards for all ECSC members which can be used to verify your membership while traveling to other clubs. Note that we did not get registered in time for inclusion in this year’s printed guide, so if a reciprocal club questions your membership, tell them they need to check the online version (we are listed on page 182-6 “Late Additions” in the online guide). The reciprocity cards will be given to our Membership chair...contact Pete for one! We hope you enjoy this new and valuable benefit of membership, and would welcome any feedback you might share with other members as you go forth into the world as an ambassador of Eagle Creek Sailing Club!
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| Sailboats, Inc. |
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Several times each year, we get invited to attend dealer meetings put on
by sailboat manufacturers or boating industry suppliers. We find these
meeting very informative and beneficial to attend. This is not only for our
personal education, but it benefits you too because we are more prepared to
answer your questions and help you with your individual problems.
Another benefit often overlooked, is that relationships are established with people, face to face, that can be called upon later. One example is when Greg and Charlie attended the Tohatsu Outboard motor school last year. Not only did we learn something, we both came away with people that we can call, not only at Tohatsu, but at other dealers who can help when there's an issue that has not been encountered before. Right: One of the summer sailing camp weeks. Next week, Eileen and Charlie are heading to Toronto to attend RS SAILING (www.rssailing.com) dealer meeting to learn about this line of sailboats that Sailboats, Inc. will begin selling this fall. These are FAST - HIGH PERFORMANCE - FUN boats that are top sellers in Europe. When we go to these type of meetings together, we find it necessary to close the shop for a few days while we are away. It may sound like fun to get away to Toronto for a couple of days to test sail a complete new line of boats, but the drive to and from, pulling an empty trailer there only to bring it back full of boats, all in three days, is a lot of work. Therefore, when you stop and find the shop closed because of a dealer meeting, boat show, or other marine industry meeting, remember that we are working hard for better sailing for you. The 2009 model boats start shipping in August. So far, every manufacturer has told us there will be a price increase for the new models. We have only a few prior year models left at the lower prices. So, if you are thinking of buying (or trading) for something new...now might be the time!! Editor's Note: A call before making the drive to SI to see if they're open, just might be in order!
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| Bailer's Tips & More |
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Well, you know, I have to admit I have been so caught in myself my syndicated advice column, that my ego dulled my senses. While I was basking in my own self-love, there was trouble brewing right under my nose....or more accurately, my hull - which, come to think of it, is under my nose. So nose, just leave trouble brewing under my nose (scratch hull).
It seems my long lost, recently found, very distant, relative Tailer is back creating havoc and while my back was turned, he jumped onboard my boat and had the audacity to tell me that I did not know nuthin' and that he knew more about sailing, offerin' tips, and specially pirates that I ever did knowed. Well, I guess he does not know how I saved the Club from pirates, so I proceeded to tell him...and before I could finish, he grabbed me by my blue blazer's lapels, looked me in the eye, and asked me where was Black Beard borned? I calmly replied Bath, North Carolina...the son of Landowner James Beard. I had forgotten Tailer had a bit of a temper and the next thing I know, we are wrestling around the boat, then the dock, into the water, up onto the beach, onto the gravel, up the shelter house steps, down the access drive, before Trouble (everyone's friend, protector, and official "Director of Pandemonium") stepped between us, barked an indignant bark which stopped the fight. We shook hands and agreed to not agree (thanks Trouble). I suppose the moral of the story (or tip) is that you should get along with your neighbor even if he is a distant relative who don't know nuthin'! I fear we have not seen the last of the pirates after all, because I fear my distant cousin has revenge in mind...and he may enlist help from some old friends! I, of course, will turn the other cheek - aka, Moon the Rascal! Sail on, Sail on.... The Bailer
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| Membership |
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Please welcome our newest member into the Club: Martin Devine and daughter Zoe, from Fishers - sailing a MacGregor 25. Membership Count 237
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| Safety & Education |
 Junior Bay Week 2008
Bring Home the Gold!!
Eight of our juniors made the "short" trip to Lake Eire this year onto the small island (Put-In-Bay on Middle Bass Island) and showed the ECSC flag.! Five of them brought back top awards to our little pond:
Laser Radial (14 boats): Above: Our Bay Week juniors (L-R): Erika, John, EJ, Austin, RJ, Hannah, Becca, and Kat. Laser Full Rig (18 boats): 2nd - Hannah Fisher 4th - RJ Graef
Laser Full Rig (Silver Fleet - 8 boats):
Backus Cup (Laser Radial - 7 boats): Additionally, Austin Greaf won two races and finished 8th over all in the Radial Fleet.
Becca Hallstead led in one race, had two 5th places, and finished 11th overall in the Radial Fleet. She will be a force to deal with in the coming years. Katlynne Petrucci had two 8th place finishes in the Radial Fleet. In the first six races out of the fifteen total in the Radial Fleet, John & Erika traded first and second places. John was very fast and came from behind many times. “O” by the way, this was John’s 3rd regatta this year on a Laser. We will hear many good things about this 13 year old in the future. His older sister, Hannah, won the 2006 Junior Bay Week in the Radial class. She chose to sail in the full rig class this year with the boys. Right: Becca's father Phil using the main mode of transportation on the island at Bay Week. RJ sailed quite well, but kept falling out of the boat. On the 3rd day, John and Erika were over the line early. John made his way back up to 1st while Erika finished 6th in that race...probably costing her that 2nd place overall finish in her class. In the last race on the radial course of the week, ECSC finished 1st, 2nd, and 3rd (Erika, John, and Austin)...what a race to watch! Hannah & RJ made the cut to go to the U.S. Junior Semi-Championships at Cowan Lake, Ohio (more on this championship later). Erika stayed at Put-In-Bay Friday to race in the Backus Cup - which is a ladder up to the Rider Cup Championship for junior women. With six more races in the bag, she sailed to a 3-way tie for 1st and ended up 3rd through the tie-breaker process.
The Thursday Night Awards Banquet was cool...with our ECSC name being called many times. Also the team was dressed up well for this formal event.
Many thanks to the ECSC Team support parents: * Jason, hope your hand heals very soon! Note: Ki jumped into the water two times to right CFJ boats...when the other safety boats didn’t! Good job, Ki!!
Above: Parent "coaches" Phil, Andy, and Rick on the Hubbard's Integrity. I’m very proud of this year's team. They trained hard and behaved well on & off the race courses. My hat is off to them for a job very well done. Also, many thanks to all of the members who support Junior Racing at our Club with their money and time. You made this happen!
Wayne Myers
Have Openings For Two More Junior Sailors
Contact Wayne or Ki at the Club or alarmco at netdirect (dot net).
Junior Sailing Calendar
ECSC Wayne’s World
Lake Lemon Regatta
Above: Erika at Bay Week. If you or your junior would like to travel to one of these regattas, please call or talk to us. The Club will supply the boats and some funding is there.
Something To Think About
A1. Six
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| More On Junior Sailing |
 Just a couple notes...sorry all the pictures in the recent newsletters have been oriented toward junior sailing. With two kids in the current junior sailing program, that's basically been my life for the past few years and hence the only pictures I've been taking. If you have good (or even not so good) pictures of adult sailing/regattas, please send them in. Right: Hannah at Bay Week. On a bragging note for Midwest Junior Sailing...as noted above by ex-Junior Barret Rhoads, there's a definite feeder system to US Sailing's National Junior Championships that just finished in Chicago July 30th. For the Midwest, it starts with the I-LYA Bay Week at Put-In-Bay. Please note, our Club has oriented itself for Laser sailing for juniors right now. Maybe in the future we will branch out to 420s or Thistles...but right now, we're Laser sailors! Of the 18 Full-Rig Lasers at Bay Week, the top 5 moved on to the Semi-Finals held at Cowan Lake, Ohio. As noted by Wayne earlier, ECSC had two juniors in that top 5 (Hannah Fisher and RJ Graef at 2nd and 4th). At Cowan, RJ and Hannah finished 5th & 7th out of 12 boats. But, only two sailors moved on from Cowan to the National Championships in Chicago. Those two were the winner at Bay Week and a Chicago-area sailor (Tim Zacher and EJ O'Mara).
Of the 10 districts represented at the Championships in Chicago (20 Lasers), our two from Cowan won 1st and 2nd!!! Again, EJ O'Mara and Tim Zacher. Please note, although Tim Zacher sails out of Vermilion, Ohio, he attends school in Indiana (Culver). Wayne, better start looking to Culver for recruiting!!! Right: John & Austin at Bay Week. Why all this?? We not only sail locally against the top two junior sailors in the country, but I also wonder just how the rest of the contenders at Cowan would have faired if they could have gone on to Chicago. Could RJ and Hannah have maintained their placing and finished 5th and 7th in the Nation?? We'll never know, but two years ago when I started to get involved in this junior racing thing, I never would have thought I would be talking about National Championships and Eagle Creek Sailing Club in the same sentence! And, there's always next year! Editor's Note: Maybe we can get Tyler Andrews to write an article on his junior sailing experiences. Didn't Tyler (and/or Jason) compete in these championship regattas as well as Barret??
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2008 Social Calendar, Click Here.
2008 Racing Calendar, Click Here.
2008 Overall Club Calendar, Click Here.
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| Eagle Creek Sail Club ECSC Home Page |
