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| Commodore |
We just celebrated our 37th year of existence this week…and amongst our bylaws is a rule that Commodoreship is a one-year stint. Only twice has a member served as Commodore for a 2nd term (Jim Reeder in the early 80s and Nick Mates in the mid 90s). Hence, we have 34 Past Commodores sailing around as a great source for advice when needed. Our founding fathers seemed to have decent wisdom in their setting up of our leadership structure. But…as you know, it’s not just the gavel that passes on. Looks like we once again have a great slate set for election to our Board and replacement of outgoing officers. Our Club continues its successful formula! Of course, it helps to be located on the best lake for sailing in the Midwest…no powerboats allowed! Our hats go off to whoever it was in the late ‘60s who pushed that concept.
Foremost, this Club is structured to accommodate the numerous membership desires. Our 500+ total members are probably quite diverse in their recreational wants. I’m thinking we do a decent job of satisfying all this diversity….and actually; this is the time of year to bring up even more potential improvements for our Club….budgeting for next year. Remember, it just takes a comment to any Board member to help us continue to improve!
With this experienced crew at his side, it’s going to be really interesting to watch the direction he’s hoping to take the Club. Bob brings great history from not only the “other side” of our Lake, but also from visiting numerous other sailing clubs on his racing ventures. Combined with his wife, Lady Janet, I suspect they’ll easily mingle with almost all of the diversity of our Club. Hang on to your hats……. Left: Bob with Lady Janet & crew
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| Social |
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As the saying goes “When the frost is on the pumpkin” so goes our summer! The first days of fall are here and the chill is in the air. Our sailing time is growing shorter and we need to enjoy as much sailing time as we possibly can.
On Saturday, October 7th, a lot of racers will be sailing in the Hornback Regatta. That Saturday evening, all Club members are invited to attend the Hornback Chili Cook Off. Pat & Rich Killen have volunteered to chair this event and will have us taste testing the best chili in the Midwest! All Club members are invited to bring a pot of their best chili to taste. If you will be racing, please plan on participating also. Everyone attending will vote for their favorites and awards will be given to the top three! So……everyone come on out if you race that day or not! For non-chili lovers, there will be some burgers and dogs grilling for you! This event starts at 5:30pm Saturday, Oct 7th!
Above: Linda & Greg Pat indicated there will be two new award categories this year: Most Unusual Chili and Chili with the Best Presentation! Not too sure how the latter will be judged, but I suspect however it's done...it'll be interesting! And, just as last year, EJ the DJ will be providing the tunes....both during the Chili Cookoff and afterwards to help the Racers celebrate their season-end regatta! The last social event of 2006 is our Club’s final party of the year. Whether we have raced, cruised, dined, or have just come out and enjoyed the great scenery our Club has provided us, we have all shared in some fun times this year at ECSC. This is a great time for all of us to gather and remember the good times we have enjoyed over the past year. This final social event of '06 will include a host bar, dinner buffet, and band with a dance floor. The evening will also include racing awards for the year...and voting for new board members. See you on the water.....
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| Harbormaster |
MANY THANKS to everyone who spent their time raking, hauling, chain sawing, sawing, hammering, painting, splittin’, etc. And, we now have plenty of firewood for ice skating.
Trailers
Above: Bob & Bill splitting logs from fallen trees. Also, remember that the Car Corral is OFF LIMITS for trailers until after the Hornback Regatta. This includes both inside and outside the ropes. We will also mark “No Parking” areas with orange spray paint.
Winter Storage
Left: Bill getting ready to move more trailers
Slip Waiting List
Power Sprayer
Water Level
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| Ship's Store |
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The famous Chili Cook-Off is the last time the Ship's Store will be open this year. Remember, We have sweatshirts for those frosty late fall sails. This will also be the last time Malcolm and I act as Ship's Store proprietors. We are turning over the reins for next year. Hope to see you all there.
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| Safety & Education |
What are our goals for the 2007-2009 seasons?
Above: 2006 Sailing Camp
Did we reach our goals this year? This past year we were able to have a one week sailing camp for the junior sailors with over 27 kids attending and the camp was run by older juniors who have their US Instructors Certification. We also saw our Junior Bay week participation increase by 50% with one junior girl winning the Laser radial division of 21 boats. Two of our junior sailors finished 3rd and 4th places overall in the I-IYA traveling series (3rd place was just 1 point out of 2nd place). These finishes along with our past wins at major events continues to put our ECSC sailing program on top. Our Junior Sailors are learning the art of teaching sailing to our members and would-be sailors at our club. This will pay us back tenfold over the coming years.
What do we need for next year? Above: Setting up during Sailing Camp
Something to Think About
ECSC Junior & Master Team Calendar
Louisville Right: Our S&E shed with Club Lasers on our beach 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…
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| Lake Lemon Regatta |
It took some prodding and a very last minute decision because I was not looking forward to two nights of camping once again….in the RAIN! But, we made the decision to go, then had to do some convincing of our son…who had already started making other weekend plans. Besides, we had to go…we were hauling the triple trailer and had the rigging for another Laser that Wayne had towed down on his double.So, we picked up Cody McCoun on the way to the Club, hooked up the triple, and off we went! Wayne had arranged through Phil Tate (currently teaching sailing at the IU Sailing Club…just a harbor away from the Bloomington Yacht Club on Lake Lemon) for Erika and Cody to sail a Laser II in this regatta. As expected, we ran across heavy rain with thunder on the 1.5-hour trip to the BYC. Luckily, there was a break during which we setup the tents. Yeah! Saturday morning came fairly quickly…and dryly! Our tents bravely held back the sometimes heavy rain. But, the sky wasn’t exactly as brave. After race delay after delay, around 3pm, Katie and I finally succumbed to the kids’ “requests” and drove into Bloomington to checkout the campus…including pizza at Mother Bears. Right: Cody with their Laser II Turns out, there was a break in the rain and one race was run while we were gone….Wayne and Chuck Andrews sailing their Finns being the only ECSC sailors to make it (along with only two other sailors in his class of 10 boats!). There were three fleets at BYC….typical A and B along with about ten Y-Flyers! Apparently, this was the last regatta of the Y-Flyer summer race series and almost all of the sailors in the Midwest area of this design were on hand. Ever seen a Y-Flyer? It’s a rather unique looking boat! We returned to the BYC just in time for the regatta evening meal….after filling on pizza on campus trying to act like students! That evening wasn’t too eventful if described by the kids. They watched a movie in the van and “checked out” relatively early. Katie loved chatting with the Y-Flyer sailors…well into the night. Kids! Clueless! Well….I’ll have a admire Erika and Cody, though. They setup their tent under the clubhouse overhang…quite dry to start Sunday morning! Kids! Too clever!
Apparently, Wayne’s been to this regatta for over 20 years now. Although EJ and RJ made it last year, it was the first year for Erika, Cody, and Katie. The BYC is a nice cozy yacht club with decent facilities and a great lake. Being so close to us and located near IU, I suspect we’ll be doing this regatta for years to come….and maybe even drag a few more juniors with us next year! Above: Cody & Erika at the BYC |
| Membership |
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Please welcome our new members to the Club: Grant & Tammy Thompson, and their young sailors Destiny and Forest, sailing a Hunter 23.5.
Attention New Members! As our Club begins to wrap up for the season, here is some very important information that you are going to need to know to maintain your Membership status going into 2007: 1. Address – if your address has changed, notify the Membership Chair (me) with your new address. Otherwise, your 2007 Annual Dues and Fees Statement may be delivered to your old address. Membership E-Mail address is ecsc_membership@yahoo.com, or you may leave a message at 317-815-8599. 2. Winter Storage – if your boat is on Club property on or after December 1, 2006, you may be invoiced for 2006-07 Winter Storage in the amount of $60. This will be included in your 2007 Annual Dues and Fees Statement.
Above: Rich getting an award for the 5 For 5 Regatta 3. Annual Dues – your 2007 Annual Dues and Fees will be due no later than February 28, 2007. A statement will be mailed to you by mid-January. If you do not receive a Statement by February 1, 2007, please call the Membership Chair. 4. Wet-Slip Wait List - if your dues payment is postmarked after February 28th and you are on the wet-slip wait list, you will forfeit your position and your name will be put back on the list per the date your 2007 payment is received by the Membership Committee. For your status on the Wet-Slip Wait List, please contact the Harbormaster (also posted in this version of the Telltales). 5. Winter Parking – please make sure your boat and trailer have the round ECSC sticker on the port side. Otherwise, your boat and trailer may be tagged as “abandoned” and removed from Club property. I have placed several dozen red and white round stickers in the Race Bulletin Board. Membership Count: 263
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| IUPUI |
The fall collegiate sailing season has started and IUPUI is working hard to get back into the swing of things. After successfully recruiting a few new members through bringing a boat to campus for the student activities fair, we have started Sunday practices to train and prepare for our regattas. The IUPUI Last Call Regatta will be held at Eagle Creek on Saturday and Sunday, October 21st and 22nd. Club members are welcome (and encouraged) to come out and support the teams. Attending will be Indiana University, Purdue University, Bowling Green State, Northwestern, Ohio Wesleyan, Iowa State, and University of Chicago. Right: Leann, IUPUI Commodore IUPUI Sailing is also holding a fundraiser on October 8th all day at the Club. We are doing a "bottom of the boat / full boat wash" for members who will be taking their boats out of the water for the winter. For the bottom of the boat, we are asking for donations of $30-40 to clean off the slime accumulated over the year. For a full boat wash, we are asking for donations of $90-100 to clean the entire boat, top to bottom. Thank you in advance to all members for allowing us to hold this fundraiser. We will also be grilling food at the same time, if you'd like to join us for a burger or dog! Hope to see you at the fundraiser and regatta! Remember, you were once cash-starved college students yourselves! Take a well-deserved seat, grab a burger, kick back, and watch us do your dirty work for you!!
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| Tag Article |
It was the summer of 1980. We were newly married, gas prices were high ($1.50 per gallon or higher), and the temps in Kansas City that summer were record highs. We were used to spending the summer waterskiing with my folks...now three hours away. I hit upon the idea that sailing would get us onto the water and avoid the gas prices. So, one day I came home with an 11' Snark Sunflower on top of the car. My wife was very excited, especially since we didn’t even own a dresser for our clothes yet.That summer we sailed at a small city park. We officially had the sailing bug! We handled that 11 footer pretty well. By boatshow time, we were all ready to move up to a 14 foot Force Five in time for the next summer season. We sold the Snark and bought the Force Five. We were flying now! We did some racing with it but had a lot of down sides. The pocket sail could not be lowered when you docked...you just might wipe out several people at the dock if they weren’t paying attention. Getting wet in October wasn’t a lot of fun either. So, we sold that boat and moved up to a 22' Catalina. My wife knew we had made it to the big boats — we had a porta-potty! We became obsessed with sailing. All vacations had to be near water and sailboats.
We moved here in 1997 and after almost 6 years without a sailboat, I stopped at Sailboats Inc. and chatted with Tom Moore. He told me about the Eagle Creek Sailing Club and soon after, we were members. I purchased a 22' Capri, Wind Dancer, for us to daysail, but really became enthused about racing. Picked up a SunFish for the children to sail, but not enough interest. Wind Dancer and I never really got along. It’s not the same sailing a Capri 22 on Eagle Creek as it had been sailing one a couple of times in San Diego. Since I needed something faster, we traded in the Capri for an S-2, 7.9, which we have named Quiet Chaos (pictured twice). We have a great crew of friends (the guys in the yellow shirts) and enjoy the Wednesday night racing!
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| Yelling at Your Wife |
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My wife Denise and I have been married for 14 years and we have raced our Catalina 22 together for 10 of those years. During the course of those 10 years I have learned several valuable lessons that now help us to enjoy racing as a couple and avoid putting our marriage at risk. I share a few tips for those husbands whose wives may be new to racing, or who are interested in starting to race together as a couple.
Right: Rich solo sailing As our sailing skills improved over time and we found ourselves sailing with most of the fleet, instead of way behind the fleet, I found it helpful to explain the basic racing rules to Denise. Not too long ago, whenever I had to give right-of-way to another boat, Denise would say “They can’t do that to us!” My reply was “Yes, they can.” This past winter, I took two sailboat bookends, placed then onto the coffee table in our living room, and explained the basic rules of sailboat racing to her. When done, Denise now has a greater appreciation for the strategy and tactics that are involved with sailboat racing. She now has the ability to let me know ahead of time when we might run into a rules conflict with another boat. The North “U” Tactics book was a great resource for these basic rules.
Above: Rich pointing higher When you come off the race course, hang out for a few hours, enjoy the camaraderie, and make some new friends with the other Catalina 22 owners. Introduce your wife to the other sailors. The camaraderie that Denise and I have experienced in Region 4 during the past several years has been the one most important thing that has kept Denise interested in racing year after year. She has made new friends who do not necessarily judge her based on her sailing skills, or lack there of. There is nothing worse than bringing your wife to her first regattas only to have her sit in the truck because she has nobody to talk to after the racing is over. I hope these few tips may help you enjoy racing with your wife for many years to come!
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| Sailboats, Inc. |
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Article One from Charlie, Greg, and Eileen at Sailboats, Inc., this one from Eileen.
I found the article above in the August 2006 Mainsheet, the Catalina owners magazine. I asked Rich Fox for permission to reprint it in our Telltales. Please read Rich’s article above and then come back to finish reading my article. Right: Eileen and crew Phil racing in the Governor's Cup OK, in this frame of thinking I have offered to host two free classes here at Sailboats, Inc. This will start what we hope will be a series of classes held here over the winter. We want Greg to do a class on outboard motor maintenance, and Charlie will do some classes on tactics and boring stuff like winning all the time. The two classes I want to do will focus on better communication skills between the bow person and the helmsperson. This often means wife and husband...or at least female and male...but really any combination of people. My main issues are being safe and having fun...all while making sail changes, jibing, and mark roundings easily. Spinnaker work is challenging, but it doesn’t have to cause major stress or arguments if everyone on the boat is working together. Put these dates on your calendar:
Class A
Class B You may/should come to both classes! Each class will be one hour...with time to socialize afterwards. Obligatory Note: We will be offering a gift registry, so browse our Ship's Store and many supplier catalogs. We will keep a Wish List for anyone who wants ideas for the holidays, birthdays, or maybe for being "just" a nice skipper or crew after coming to my classes! The Wish List will be a regular feature from now on. We hope to see you here!!
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| Learning To Sail |
One of my greatest joys in life has been learning to sail. Of course this happens every time I go out on the water…there seems to always be something to learn out there. Second to that is the joy I experience as I watch my children learn to sail. As a parent or grandparent, who hasn’t wanted to share the sport of sailing with their offspring? Wind in your hair, water slapping at your bow, sun on your face; not to mention the life lessons that go along with being a sailor. Right: Katie on a Club Laser This summer, our family embarked on a journey that took us to eight different sailing clubs, 10 regattas, and 20 nights of camping. Why you ask? Because after 14 years of dragging our kids to the boat, behind the boat (on the water), and to the Club, they have finally gotten hooked on sailing. How did this happen? Junior sailing camp, Wayne Myers, Rick Graef, Tyler Andrews, Ki Hickock, Jason Hubbard, et. al. are all the reason. To them, I want to give a heartfelt thanks. They did what we couldn’t do.
What we experienced through the summer was an amazing transformation. Kids who originally hated to go to the Club, couldn’t wait for the weekend to come. They started to show a sense of responsibility toward the boats they sailed and teamwork to get them ready to go to these regattas. Other life skills we saw emerging were organization (one too many times arriving at a Club without the proper equipment), patience (waiting for race results, race delays, and wind), focus (6 hours on the water racing with 1½ hour each race requires long periods of focus), and follow through (oops, forgot to finish rigging my boat before leaving the dock!).
With at least six Junior Sailing Team members, three of them girls, we plan to make quite a splash in the Junior Racing circuit. Wayne is planning to have two weeks of Junior Sailing Camp this next summer, so I expect the team may grow. With that will come a need for equipment. So watch for our Junior Team Members learning about another life skill...called fundraising! Right: Cody & Erika hiking on Dr. Bob's Highlander Below: Getting their just awards from Wayne in the 5 for 5 Regatta
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| Wet-Slip Wait List |
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2006 Social Calendar, Click Here.
2006 Racing Calendar, Click Here.
2006 Overall Club Calendar, Click Here.
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| Eagle Creek Sail Club ECSC Home Page |
Next year starts this November! Our current Vice Commodore, Bob Hickok, will take over the reigns at the Bash. He’s been enjoying this last year watching Club dealings and formulating his plan to continue our Club growth. Luckily, almost all of his slate of Committee Heads are continuing on from this year. 
Coming up in the next few weeks are a couple of great social events I wouldn’t want any of you to miss. 
Club Closing Work Party
What did we spent our money on this year?
Laserlips
Sunday turned out almost exactly what any sailor would hope for. Warm sun, good strong wind, and an RC to setup a race course! Three races were run. Unfortunately, with missing the first race, our kids didn’t finish too well…EJ in 7th and Erika/Cody in 8th. Wayne took the honors in the fleet followed by Chuck in 3rd place and Phil Tate in 4th.
I have placed a few dozen red and white round stickers in the Race Bulletin Board. If you need a sticker for the port side of your boat or trailer, please take one and note your membership number on the sticker.
I decided to get some professional training and went to a sailing school on Lake Michigan. We loved the Catalina so much we sold it and bought a brand new 25' Catalina the next year! By now we had moved up to a good size lake in Kansas...Lake Perry. We had a great time staying over on the sailboat every weekend, and racing the Hunter 25.5’s when they didn’t know it. We made a lot of great friends at the marina. We had our first child in 1986; he was sailing at 4 weeks old. We decided we needed more room if we were going to live on the sailboat every weekend...so we sold the Catalina 25 and bought a brand new 30' Catalina. We named her FINALLY. I guess my wife thought this would be the last boat! We moved her to the big waters of the Ozarks...sailing on beautiful Lake Stockton. We enjoyed her right up to 1991 when my wife informed me we were expecting twins and she was not going to chase twins around a sailboat! Sooo, we had to sell the boat. 
Yelling is an instant racing killer and can quickly ruin the entire race weekend for you and your wife. If you and your wife are new to racing, take the time to let her know what sheet to adjust, where to sit after tacking, or explain to her how to prepare the whisker pole before you actually need it done. Taking a little extra time to explain things ahead of time will help minimize the need for yelling. If something does not go as planned, then observe, learn, move on, and talk about it later in the day. Every time we go to a regatta, I always try to teach Denise one new thing about sailboat racing. If your wife is also new to racing, take the time to teach her something new about racing. Whether it is the application of a rule or how the boat is rigged, it is important to share it with her. In the long term, your wife may have a greater appreciation for the sport of sailboat racing and enjoy racing with you more often.
For many races, a porta-potti is a very bad thing to have on board due to the extra weight. For many couples who are new to racing, my advise is to invest in a porta-potti, not a bucket! If the additional weight is an issue, then lose 10-15 pounds yourself! Your wife will probably appreciate both. Remember…..regattas are often done on hot sunny summer days and often require the consumption of cool beverages for several hours at a time. In between those races there usually is not time to go back to shore to use the bathroom. Porta-potties are not that bad. Several years ago we were doing a downwind leg while I was in the cockpit and Denise was using the porta-potti. Other nearby boats were asking what we were doing to make our boat move so fast. I replied, “Denise is on the porta-potti!” while I pointed my hand down towards the cabin. Denise was embarrassed. In this one case, a porta-potti actually helped our racing. When we agreed to purchase our new Sport, Denise insisted on a porta-potti as part of the deal. I agreed in order to keep her happy. We now refer to the porta-potti on the Sport as the Sporta-potti!
Rick once told me that kids hate being on boats with their parents. But if you put them on a small dinghy and make them in charge of their destiny, they will thrive on the challenge. So we did. A week of Junior Sailing Camp and a Junior Regatta at Hoover Sailing Club in June was all it took. After that, we seemed to be swept along in the current of Junior Regattas that occur all summer. The Travelers Series, Laser Regattas, ECSC Regattas, if it had kids sailing in it, we were there. And, not because of Evan and my desire to sleep on the ground and live out of the back of our van (oh how seventies, shown above), but because they were hooked on the sport of sailing. 
Now as winter approaches, we look back on the summer with fond family memories and look forward to the coming sailing season with great anticipation. Plans are in the works for another summer of sailing, more specifically sailboat racing. And it looks like I will be managing the girls racing team...something that will be new to ECSC.