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| Commodore |
It’s the power of the pen, which I now have in my hand with no one to edit my writing (except my wife, of course). Much thanks to Rick Sprowl who helped guide the Club over the last year. He had plenty of good help with his Committee Heads as I also do and want this year. We just finished the annual dreaded budget meeting...the first task facing the new Board with eight newly elected members. As expected, we had to offset an extra $20k tacked onto our lease from the Parks Department just about doubling what we paid in the prior year. We get reappraised every ten years and it appears our little slice of paradise has been found!
Our annual lease now comes to about $150 per membership...interesting to compare that with the price of a comparable Eagle Creek Park pass at $75 (about what we had been paying). Your Board members would be appreciative for any help in negotiating with the Parks Department. We gave it our best shot. Next up, figure out what to do about trailer parking for next season! As for activities during our winter months, don’t forget the ice skating we have when weather permits. And, it’s looking like our Club ski trip is becoming an annual event.
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| Social |
The fall has flown by and winter is upon us already. I don’t know where our sailing season went, but can’t believe it’s behind us already.The final bash at the Rathskeller, downtown Indy, was a great success. The cocktail hour, buffet dinner, and band, Uncle Ju Ju, was most enjoyable and everyone had an entertaining evening. Hats off and a BIG thank you to Cheryl Roberts who planned this year’s events as well as the final bash. Cheryl has done a great job for our Club the past three years as the Social Chair. And another thank you to all of our Club members who have donated their time and talent to host and work all of our Club’s events. I will be planning the upcoming events for next year and will have info on these in the next issue of this newsletter. Just let me know if you would like to host an event or volunteer to work a function. Please E-Mail me at lindajohnson@indy.rr.com if you are interested in volunteering in any way. The Club is planning for another day of snow skiing in February at Perfect North Slopes. Please check out the next issue of Telltales for more details on this event.
Happy Holidays to all and a very Happy New Year!
First of all, many, many thanks to Bob Hickok (pictured right crossing the finish line in the Hornback Regatta) and his assistants Jim Dolder and Mike Gray (pictured below also in the Hornback Regatta) for the past two years of so much Club-oriented hard work. Hope I can come close to their ideas of keeping the Club in such good shape.
I got my initiation with the year-ending work party on Nov 5th. Thanks to those that helped. It only took about three hours to move everything...and then some. Good work all! Work credits will be mailed out soon by Bob Hickok. If you don’t get them, call him at 852-9227 or E-Mail bobbyc12345@aol.com.
Winter storage is still $60 per boat for the whole season. The cutoff date is whenever I get there the first weekend of December. If your boat is there then, you will be charged.
Used boat batteries or hazardous material should not be disposed of in the dumpster!! We found three there last week. We wouldn’t want to lose our trash contract because of carelessness.
And, you can plan on the Club-opening spring work party probably being Saturday, April 22nd at 9am, but don’t quote me on that.
The wait list is 68, so DON’T FORGET FEB 28th!!!!!
Good Job guy !!!!!!!
Team ECSC Sailing—Lake Lemon Report
Like stepping back in time and slowing down when you visit this place.
Tent & Van set-up.. Easy launching... Feet wet ..
Nice club house with only 40 or so members on this lake in Southern Indiana, just East of Bloomington. BYC members pay $400 a year in membership dues and docks are $100 more, but they are in poor shape with less then 10 slips. BYC has a small hoist, rest rooms, showers, and good food. The best part is the Port - Hole Inn 50 yards away and country/blues music.
You can watch all of the racing from the club house yard.
Light winds Saturday & Sunday made for interesting racing for junior sailors EJ & RJ racing on Lasers. Action on the line was very tight bow to bow, mixing it up & down the course. On the last race on Sunday, both juniors are neck to neck and who ever wins this race gets the brass ring. Then...EJ wiped out at the leeward mark. RJ pulls it out and goes for the win.
In the Finn fleet .... Rick (pictured below), Phil, Wayne, with Chuck mid-fleet overall. Evan Williams as mission team leader.
BYC: One of the best clubs to bring the boys and girls down for training and a weekend of fun.
17 boats and 68 young men and woman on the line having fun, in short drag-racing on the water. Sailors are from IU, ND, NW, P, Ohio State, Michigan, Iowa, Kentucky, and Illinois.
It's Wayne's World running the races and Barret Rhoads and Tyler Andrews in the mark boats both days. Fourteen 10-20 minute races over the weekend. Winds from the Northwest 10-18 mph right down the slot.
Down wind sailing action with many booms in the water at the leeward mark, some are up side down and stuck in the mud. But overall, sunny and fun days of sailing.
We had dinner in Bloomington on the square. All ways a nice place to eat and take in the Bloomington night air. The racers had a large gathering in a barn outside of town after the dinner.
Jason Hubbard raced for IU Sailing team and finished mid fleet. John Storer and IUPUI crew were also on hand to help out loading the FJ's.
Wayne's World RC staff this year were: Rick Graef, Tony Hubbard, Dr. Bob McCoun, Nick Marson and trouble shooter Chris Murray.
IUPUI put on a good regatta and kept things under control. I didn't stay for the awards, but I hear the girls won the boat race ~ tipped-cup event.
Thanks Guys..... see you next year...
My hat is off to you guys - Team ECSC Sailing...2005
Job well done !!!!
Note: Picture (right) has EJ at the helm of Tom Moore's S-2 in the Hornback Regatta.
Quotes
There are so many other members who have helped this year ...Thank You
" Wayne's World "
Day After Thanksgiving Race, ECSC Nov. 25th
US Sailing Center Miami ~ Jan. 21 - 26, 2006 ~ OCR
Spring Racing at ISC April 2006
Week End Warrior, ECSC ~ May 2006
Junior's Open Water Time ~ May & June 2006
Junior Sailing week ~ June 2006
"See you on the water or the ice”
Have a teenager that will be just staying home and playing the video games this summer? Let us help .... Junior program open to ages 13 - 18, m/f…
Ages 13 - 18
New Classes Forming in
January & February
Contact:
Wayne Myers
We have really enjoyed our first year chairing the racing program and we can’t thank everyone enough for their advice and help (whether solicited or not!) as we learned the lines (ha ha, sailing joke). We would like to send out a special thanks to all of those members who ran Race Committee on Wednesdays and Sundays, to those who took on the monumental task of running the regattas and to everyone who volunteered their time and expertise to the Club as a whole. We are lucky to have such a great group of members who are dedicated to the Club, the racing program, and the lake.
Above pic is Rich Fox in his Catalina 22 holding off Tom Moore in his S-2 in the Hornback Regatta.
If you were unfortunate enough to miss this year’s Final Bash, well, you missed a great party...thanks to the hard work of Cheryl Roberts! Mike and I handed out racing awards – if you didn’t pick yours up that night, we put them in the Racing Shed. To give a quick recap – Ralph Merriman won the Sailor of the Year Award. Congratulations, Ralph! You deserved it! The other results from the fall racing series have been posted on the website, so be sure to check it out. Everyone did a great job this year, and we had great participation at our races. Keep it up!
Thanks again to all of the racers who helped us out along the way this year. We really appreciate it and we couldn’t have done it without you!
Have a wonderful winter, and we will see you at the annual winter race meetings to be held this year at my office (Service Plus, 158 Vista Parkway in Avon). 7pm on the third Wednesday of January, February, and March!
Pictured right is Bruce Cameron receiving from last year's winner, Bob Hickok, the winner's "trophy"...a several year old Turkey Sandwich to be kept frozen!
SAILBOAT RACING IS FUN…when you know the rules
Cory Chandler of Indianapolis, sailing a Santana 21.
Harold and Carla Hebert of Plainfield, sailing an O’Day 22.
The 2006 Annual Dues and Fees Statement will be mailed on Monday, January 16, 2006. If you do not receive your Statement by January 23rd, please call me at 317-815-8599. The Statement will be mailed to the last known address for you in our Membership Database. If your address has changed, get it to me before January 1, 2006.
Pictured right is Rich in the Hornback Regatta.
If Florida is too far for you, then join us the week of August 6, 2006 as we return to the Door County Peninsula (Green Bay) for the annual Catalina 22 Great Lakes Cruise. The number of slips is limited, so reservations will be made in January.
If you are interested in racing, we have very active Class racing in the region with weekend trips to Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia on the calendar for 2006. Eagle Creek may be added to the calendar if scheduling permits. Our Class regattas usually attract 10 to 15 boats for some very good one-design racing.
For information please contact Rich Fox.
My slipmate, Ralph Merriman, in a Merit 25, won the Governor’s Cup and did so in fine fashion. A couple of days before the race, I power-washed my bottom and dropped her back in the water. Ralph spent an entire hot afternoon with an electric sander on his boat bottom. They removed all unnecessary “clutter” from belowdecks and, I think his mate, Wayne Meyers,, skipped breakfast and got a haircut. Any thing to lessen the weight…
We did some of that stuff but still had plenty of creature comforts aboard. One of our most exciting moments came when we lost our topping lift halyard to the top of its travel...just above the spreaders. With no topping lift to hold the spinnaker pole, we substituted the jib halyard for it. So we lowered the jib, attached the halyard to the pole and raised the spinnaker. It helped. We had to douse the spinnaker a bit early in order to get the jib back up.
We finished last.
Pictured below and above right: Jim & Carol in the Hornback Regatta.
We finished last again.
But, we had one moment of almost glory. After a start (2nd race?) on starboard, we cleared the committee boat the tacked to port sailing in clear air. We sailed until we were about to run into land and tacked back, now on starboard. We were on a collision course with Ralph and nearing the windward mark. He had to tack to avoid us. Wow! We don’t usually get to see the fast guys this close halfway down the lake. A few tacks later Ralph regained his lead and we rounded about 3rd or so. Fun while it lasted. Later we found out that Ralph and Wayne were just as surprised as we were.
The Hornback was won by the swift Bob Hickok in his Hobie. In that race, the slow guys start first (slow by PERF number, that is). We got to sail with nice people like Jim and Bonnie Wolfinger and watched Bob zip by us all about halfway through the race.
At the Chili Cookoff, I dumped a small container of “Salza Ranchera” into my chili entry...it didn’t even receive an honorable mention. Man, that stuff was hot!
The friendship and laughter shared that evening (and at the Governor’s Cup on the lake) always sooth the sore muscles and disappointment of not being closer to the front. But as Bruce Cameron put it: “When we race, my number one concern is safety. Second is having fun. And thirdly, if we win anything, that is just icing on the cake.” He’s right, of course.
If you are interested in racing next year, please come to the meetings on rules, etc. this winter. You just might have some fun, also! We plan to be there.
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Above: Chuck & John in the Hornback!
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| Eagle Creek Sail Club ECSC Home Page |
Hi folks, it’s time for a new Harbormaster again and this time it’s me, Bill Harrington. For those who don’t know me, I’ve been in the Club several years and have held various volunteer positions, but never Harbormaster...should be interesting.
Seriously, the best place on the Northwest Side, for Marion County residents (give them your zipcode), is run by the city at Trader’s Point Tox Drop...located at 7400 N. Lafayette Road between the DOT salt barn and Farm Bureau Co-Op They’re open the first and third Saturday of each month between 9am and 2pm. They accept all Hazardous Waste. Any questions call them at 327-4869.
Hornback Regatta
Flying Junior Racing
IUPUI ~ ECSC - Last Call Regatta
CALENDAR
As we wrap up the 2005 racing season, which officially ended with the Day After Thanksgiving Race (a race only for the hardiest of sailors...results below), Mike and I are already looking forward to the 2006 racing season. We are planning a lot of fun things to do with the racing program, and we will spend the winter dreaming of warm, windy days on Eagle Creek.
Please welcome our new members to the Club.
You are invited to sail the emerald blue waters of the Florida panhandle with approximately 25 Catalina 22 sailors from across the country for the 8th annual Catalina 22 Northern Gulf Coast Cruise in May 2006. This is a weeklong cruise that features great camaraderie, lots of sailing, and plenty of sun and fun. The Cruise sails from Destin, Florida to Wolf Bay, Alabama and back. You may have read about this cruise in the August 2005 issue of SAIL magazine.
The Governor’s Cup featured a lot of boats with lively crews. Two J-24s from Brookville joined us and a couple of others from Brookville sailed Bruce Cameron’s Coalpile. It was refreshing to have some “new guys’ join us. They also are a fun group of folks.
But between races, my intrepid crew of my real first mate, Carol, and the fun and capable Nan Schultze were determined to retrieve that halyard. They used the boat hook and the hook end of a bungee cord duct-taped to the boat hook. It wasn’t long enough. They used a cooler to stand on and tried it again. Still not long enough. Then they used two coolers, one on top of the other, and it still wasn’t long enough. Then they retrieved an umbrella and taped it to the boat hook with the bungee cord hook. They used both coolers again and it worked! I was one very nervous skipper throughout their inventive adventure. 
