Newsletter
May 2004

From the Bridge…

…a word (or two) from the Commodore

It appears that winter has moved on and we can finally focus on something important…sailing. Personally, I've had sailing on my mind since I backed my boats and trailers into their parking spaces last fall. It is only now that I am able to turn those thoughts and dreams into actions.

Truth be told, I've actually had my boat in the water since March, but it wasn't until mid-April that I was able to gather up a crew (family and friends), raise the sails, and test my skills against a strong Spring wind. As it turns out, while attempting to demonstrate to our guests (the Williams family, who have been learning to sail on Sunfish in the little lake) that a 24-foot sailboat was much more stable than a 14-foot Sunfish, I was able to learn a few things:

1. With the right amount of wind, and the fat guy (me) sitting to leeward, a 24-foot sailboat can be knocked down on Lake Saint Louis.
2. The lake water in April is not nearly as cold as I had imagined, which I discovered as I fell overboard during our knockdown.
3. No one on my boat remembered anything from the man overboard drills that we had practiced over the years.
4. The entire Williams family, especially young sailors Tara and Alex, are pretty good sports and have no qualms about trying to tip the boat over the next time we get a windy day.

I hope that your sailing season is filled with as much wind, and excitement, as you want. So far, mine is off to a perfect start.

Before we move on to the business of the Sailing Club, I would like to make one personal observation. Don Allebach passed away this week, and the Sailing Club, as well as the community, will certainly miss him. He was a great supporter of the club, and was always willing to step up when we needed help. He was a strong proponent of our youth sailing initiatives, and bonded well with our young sailors, which was quite a feat given the differences in their ages. He was especially nice to my family and me. We send our prayers out to Joan and the entire Allebach family.

Some Modest Proposals

As many of you know, I have spent most of my time in the Sailing Club working to extend our reach into families and young sailors in the community. That will continue to be my focus in 2004. This is not to say that we won't have anything for the more mature among us, but now that we've completed a few years of creating young sailors, we need to move those kids from being sailors to Sailing Club members. With that in mind, I will be setting up a Jr. Sailing Club within our club. This Jr. Club will have it's own officers (all junior sailors), and will be largely run by the kids. We will provide all the support and advice they need, but the kids need to feel that the club is theirs, and that the events are theirs. I know that my kids have always been good sports about coming to our parties and regattas, but I doubt that they ever felt that these were their parties. I am hoping that this "club within a club" will address that issue.

Additionally, we will continue to provide sailing lessons in Sunfish on the little lake. These will be one-day sessions on Saturday mornings from 9:00-11:00am. We will limit the lessons to 6 sailors per session, and there will be a $10 fee. The proceeds will go to support our junior sailors. You'll find the schedule on the next page. The schedule is largely based on my own availability. If you would like to help on these or any other days, please let me know as soon as possible so that I can publish our schedule and let the CA know when we will be on the lake. As in the past, we will continue to offer private lessons as needed.

As for racing, I have tentatively scheduled three Sunfish regattas, and one cabin boat regatta. I expect to have additional cabin boat regattas once the race committee meets. I also expect to continue the informal evening racing that was so successful last year.

Our social calendar will probably mimic our race calendar, as we will probably have our parties following our regattas. In one instance, the racing will follow the regatta, as I have scheduled what I am calling our "Moonlight Madness" event. On Saturday, July 31, we will have an evening party followed by racing to the light of a full moon. For those so inclined, we will then have a sleep out on the boats. This should be a fun event so I encourage all you cabin boat owners to get those batteries charged and light bulbs changed in time to join us.

The first social event you'll need to place on your calendars will be the Welcome Aboard Party on Saturday, May 22. We have reserved Windjammer Point for this party. This year I am proposing something a little different, however.

I would like all cabin boat owners to sail (or motor) to Windjammer for this event. Rather than sitting under the pavilion for the entire evening, I would like everyone to take an evening sail. This will provide an excellent opportunity for new or prospective members to get their feet wet (metaphorically, we hope) and for members and new/prospective members to get some one-on-one time to meet and make friends in the club.

Of course, current members are both welcome and encouraged to attend this party, and we will certainly find room for everyone onboard one of the boats. Look for something in the mail soon with details. In the meantime, please let me know if I can count on your boat to be one of the host boats for this event. Drop me an email to pearsonbuell@centurytel.net or call me at 625-2154.

Tentative Schedule

Lessons (at the CA Clubhouse beach):

• Saturday, June 5, 9-11am
• Saturday, June 19, 9-11am
• Saturday, July 17, 9-11am
• Saturday, July 31, 9-11am
• Saturday, August 14, 9-11am
• Saturday, August 21, 9-11am

Sunfish Regattas (held on the little lake):

• Sunday, June 6, Noon
• Sunday, July 25, Noon
• Saturday, August 21, 1:00pm

Cabin Regattas:

• Saturday, July 31 at approximately 8:30pm

Social Events:

• Welcome Aboard Party - Saturday, May 22, Windjammer Point
• Moonlight Madness Party - Saturday, July 31, Windjammer Point

The Last Word

It is true that my recent unintended dip was not my first. I would have claimed that to be the case had not some incriminating evidence surfaced that would prove to you that I am, in fact, all wet.

Membership

Included with this month's newsletter is the membership registration form. Please complete this form and return it to me as soon as possible so I can make sure you remain on our mailing list. Also, please complete and return the volunteer list on the back of the registration form. We'll need all hands on deck to make this another great sailing season!

Smooth sailing!

Pearson Buell
Commodore