Spring Letter
Lauderdale Lakes Sailing Club MC Scow Fleet 55
May 2017
Celebrating our 50th year, 1967-2017
Let’s make it our best season yet.
To save you some time, all of the original information in this news letter is covered in the first two pages. The remainder covers what is always in the Spring Letter and is a little repetitive for all of the long-time members.
Spring Brunch
Our first event of the year is the Spring Brunch at 10:00 AM, Sunday, May 28th at the Lauderdale Community Center, located at N7511 Sterlingworth Drive. Peggy Sorenson has sent out the invitation, and I hope you have already sent her your response. If not, please let her know soonest. Email Peggy at pgsorenson@aol.com or call her at 773-736-2006.
Please follow the instructions on how and to whom the money is paid. Do not send brunch money to the Yacht Club!! Send it by May15th to Peggy Sorenson, 4331 N. Lowell Ave. Chicago, IL 60641. Make the check payable to the LL Sailing Club. It makes it much easier on the volunteers who do all this work, if you do your bit.
We are looking forward to seeing each of you very soon for a great brunch and to swap stories of our winter experiences.
Anniversary Party Time
We are planning what we hope will be our best mid-summer picnic ever on the afternoon of Saturday July 15th 4 PM. The event is scheduled to take place at the Walker Johnson’s Ingleside location right on the channel. The club will provide sandwiches and possibly a couple of surprises for this event. Please email what you plan to bring (to ask for suggestions) to Cathy Jaeger, who is coordinating the event. Her email is Mjaeger7@wi.rr.com
Boats for sale:
http://www.mcscow.org/ is the place to go for used boats, sails etc.
Doug’s boat #1606 is for sale. He bought on last fall in the 2100’s
Peter is looking for a boat lift for an MC is you know of one.
Organization
Many compliments to all the people who make the Club run so smoothly and make the Commodore’s job so easy. The gals that plan and execute the social events; the guys and gals each weekend pulling race committee duty; John’s work on the web that keeps us all informed and gets better every year; and Bill Ingle keeping the books comfortably in the black.
This is all very much appreciated and essential to making this Club the most fun for such good friends.
Officers will serve year to year until someone suggests that we do something different. Anyone can suggest a change at any time.
Chase boats and emergency situations
Carrying your cell phone may make short work of a potentially bad situation. Call the water patrol if anything occurs that may appear to be a threat to someone’s health. The number is 742-4300. Pre-program it.
LLYC and LLSC Annual Dues
When you receive the Yacht Club invoice in the mail, please pay the dues with two checks: Lauderdale Lakes Sailing Club ($40.00) and (separately) Lauderdale Lakes Yacht Club ($40.00). Please mail both of them to: Deborah Loeding, N7377 Cool Hill Dr., Elkhorn, WI. 53121. Please do not send Brunch money to LLYC. Note: If you haven’t paid your dues, you can’t sail. Insurance !!
New Members
Most of our new members come from contact with our current members. We want that to continue. If you know anyone that might be interested in joining in a sailing or non-sailing capacity, invite them to the brunch and pass along this email and give them my name, I'll take it from there. Peter 742 2567.
Sailing Clinic
We have plans to have a sailing clinic but the date may need to be changed and we will discuss details at the Spring Brunch
Race Committee
We need each of our sailors to take a weekend. We will have the sign-up sheet at the brunch. You can beat the crowd by calling or texting Glenn Hansen at (312) 810-7757, or via e-mail at tug3900@gmail.com before the brunch.
Don’t forget, the three LLYC regatta races are reserved for a non-sailor to serve on the Committee Boat so everyone can race in the regatta.
Here is the plan for each Weekend:
• We will set the buoys at 9:00
• RC sailor of the day and his helper pick up the stuff (horns, tally sheet, megaphone, stop watches, wind gage etc) from Peter on Saturday. That way, if you have questions we can discuss. Call first 742-2567 to be sure Peter is home.
• RC to be out on the course by 9:15 and get lined up with the starting mark. Anchor so the line made by you and the starting buoy are perpendicular to the line between the starting buoy and the first mark. If you are not sure, ask one of the guys around you for a second opinion. Peter has an extra big anchor to take if the wind is up and you don’t think your anchor will hold on its own.
• The instruction sheet will give you the details of starting. Generally they are: 5 min horn, 4 min horn, 1 min horn, and then the start horn. For the handicap system, a horn 2 min later and 5 min later.
• After the race, pick up both buoys and return to Peter’s when you return the stuff and hand off the results sheet to him.
• And lastly a big Thanks to Bill Crist for volunteering most weekends to help keeping us safe.
Support the MC Scow Association
It's time to sign up for MCSA, if you haven't done so yet. You can sign up on the www.mcscow.org class website. The site is also a good resource for information about MC Scow sailing, used boats, tuning guide, and links to other related sites. It is this organization that is responsible for getting Melges to update the MC to the new “swamp-free” design. Thanks to those who support it each year.
Schedule
The Yacht Club mailing includes a "2017 Events" card to hang on the wall. It includes the dates of all of our events (repeated below), as well as those of the Yacht Club.
Races are in Green Lake unless noted. We have two regular races plus the Harry S Truman race that are not in Green Lake. This gives residents of Mill and Middle lakes an opportunity to watch some racing, which they enjoy and it provides our sport some visibility.
All races start at 10:00 AM. If you expect to do well, come early enough to sail the course at least once, if you want to do twice as well, sail it twice.
Tr ophies
Our Sailing Club (LLSC) provides lots of opportunities to win some gold. Our summer series includes all races except the Harry S Truman.
The top 4 places at the end of the series are presented with a trophy to keep.
Next is the Yacht Club Regatta Series. The LLSC is part of the LLYC and they sponsor a three race series each season. The winners of the series, 1st through 4th place winners, are presented trophies provided by the Yacht Club.
The Beiswanger cup, Melges Trophy, Bud Wiser Cup, the Bradley Cup, the Rojo Cup, the LLYC-Walsh Trophy, the Cartland Cup, and the Harry S Truman Trophy are single race trophies presented to the winners of each of these races. These are traveling trophies; the winners hold them for one year.
In addition to all of the above, if you win a race, but do not finish in the top four spots of either series, and do not win a traveling trophy, you will receive a 1st place trophy for your win.
Starting & Handicap System
First Race of the Season:
• The first horn will be a 5 minute warning gun.
• The second horn is the 4 minute warning in case you were not ready at the 5 minute horn
• The third horn is the 1 minute before start horn
• The fourth is the start horn
All subsequent Races:
• After the Start Horn, there will be another horn 2 minutes later. This for the sailors who have finished in the top three places of a previous race. These sailors will start 2 minutes after the Start horn for the balance of the season unless they again finish in the top 3 places. When this happens, they then start at a horn that goes off 5 minutes after the Start horn.
We will not be using Flags, so keep your ears open.
If you go over the line early, the race committee will notify you and you will have to restart.
Web Page: www.lauderdalesailingclub.com
John Hamilton continues to do a swell job with the LLSC web site. Help him out by sending in photos and news items for posting on the site. If you have any suggestions, we are open to almost anything.
Focus for 2017: Don’t over heel the boat. It’s slow and hard on the back. Protect you back if you want to sail into your 80’s. That means use the sail and rudder to maintain your angle of heel, not your back. The only time I might heel it up is when approaching a mark that I can’t make otherwise. Then I heel it way up to point higher. I give up a lot of speed but save a tack. Better planning away from that mark will get you there properly healed and faster.
That's all for now - any subject not addressed here can be addressed at the brunch if you send me an email. The email is great to get everything on the table before the brunch, so we can get most of it resolved before the meeting and simply wrap things up there.
I’m excited to get back to sailing. The warm weather sort of comes and goes this time of year, but I expect it will be very nice by race day. Try to make some time for a tune up before the first race, you’ll be glad you did.
Peter
742-2567 or pvk1655@gmail.com
2017 LLSC EVENTS CALENDAR
Races are scheduled for every Sunday from June 4 to September 10. Unless noted below, races begin at 10:00 a.m. in Green Lake.
May 28 Spring Brunch
June 4 Beisswanger Cup
June 11 Club Race
June 18 Buddy Melges Trophy
June 25 Bud Weiser Trophy
July 2 Bradley Trophy (Middle Lake)
July 9 Ro Jo Trophy (Mill Lake) and Mid-Summer Picnic
July 16 Club Race
July 23 LLYC Regatta (1st race)
July 24 Sailing Clinic (Details at the Brunch)
July 30 Club Race
August 6 LLYC Regatta (2nd race)
August 13 Walsh Trophy
August 20 LLYC Regatta (3rd race)
August 27 Ladies Appreciation Trophy
Sept. 3 Cartland Cup (Labor Day Weekend)
Sept. 10 Harry S. Truman Race (all 3 lakes) & Awards Picnic
2017 Club Officers
Commodore: Peter Van Kampen
Vice Commodore: Glenn Hansen
Treasurer: Bill Ingle
Social Chairpersons: Peg Sorenson, Cathy Jaeger, To be named
Race Committee Chairs: Peter & Jack
Committee Boat Sailor/Helper of the Week: (Sign up at the Brunch!) RC Chase Boat: (Committee Boat and others when available)
Web Site GURU: John Hamilton