January - February 2008

Transcription

1 January - February Commodore s Report: Page 2 Winter club events - Page 3 January 19 & February 8 Holiday cocktail party pictures - Pages 4-5 Santa visits the club - Page 6 A Bill Jesiek story - Page 7 MBYC history revisited - Page 7 Look inside for lots of Christmas party pictures There is still time to send in a new picture for the 2008 Logbook. We re especially looking for pictures from members who have neglected this duty in the past. pictures now to jonbontekoe@gmail.com or to the club office. Or send a glossy to the club. Help us replace dark & fuzzy pictures and get every member in the yearbook. 1

2 COMMODORE S REPORT January 1 st of each year is always a transition point for me as I start looking forward to the coming warm weather and another summer in Macatawa. And after viewing the nearly finalized Social and Sailing calendars for 2008, I guarantee that it will be an active season at the Club. We are adding some new parties to the social line-up and Roger has worked very hard to fill every weekend with racing. Our Holiday Brunch and Cocktail party in mid-december were extremely well attended and I want to thank Marilyn and Chef Jim for making the Club look so great with the holiday decorations. In case you missed it, Dale Koch gets many kudos for being a great Santa at the Brunch. You could hear the kids excitement when Santa showed up on the front lawn with his gift bag, and he did not disappoint them when he sat in his chair to hear their wishes. To start the Social Calendar in 2008, the Club will be open on January 19 th for the Why knot? Party. This is an evening to shake off your winter blahs and reconnect with MBYC friends. Then, on February 8th, Mardi Gras returns to MBYC. Chef Jim is already planning the Cajun menu for that night and the bar staff are perfecting the mixing of authentic Hurricanes. For April, we are in the process of planning a new Spring Fling event to bridge the winter and summer season. A new event for the coming summer that promises to be a lot of fun may cause a run on the local stores for tasseled loafers, knee socks, and regimental ties. If those clues didn t tip you off, it is a Bermuda Shorts-Black Tie Party which was proposed by Bill and Sally Swets. This will happen in July; it will be a great event and will give the men a chance to find out how itchy knee socks are on a warm evening. These events are just a teaser of the coming season and I want to thank the new Social Chair, my wife Lisa, and the Social Committee, Nancy Andreano, Eric and Helen Ash, Michele Dolle, Anne Gamache, Maggie Greydanus, Christian and Monika Krimendahl, Michael Kiss, Gwen Post, Leesa Schram, Coreen Slanec, Kathy Sligh, Dave and Rachel Sligh, Bill and Sally Swets, Coleen Tutton, Puffin Van Dyke, and Anne Van Tol for their efforts. One of my priorities for 2008 is improving communications with members and this Wind Scoop is one of the first changes. While this edition may not look much different than others, it is a marked departure in many other ways. It is produced by a new printer (for us) which also prints your mailing information and the postage. Even though it is printed in color, the costs are very competitive, the printer also sorts the mailing so we achieve much better postage rates, we keep our Club staff out of the mailing business, and we dramatically shorten the production/mailing time so the information is more timely. Overall, our costs should net out to be about the same with color as it was for black and white. We will also make the Windscoop available in digital format (pdf) for those road warriors who want to read it while on the go. Happy New Year and I hope to see you at one of our winter social events, Paul D. Brown, Jr. 2

3 M acatawa Bay Y acht Club MBYC Flag Officers Commodore Paul Brown Vice Commodore Roger Gamache Rear Commodore Bob DeJong Board of Directors Immediate Past Commodore Tovi Kiss Treasurer Larry D Haem Secretary Janet Magennis Director Beth Egge Director Tom Slanec Director John Donnelly Director Mike Hill Director Joel Krissoff Director Mitchell Padnos Director David Sligh, Jr. Judge Advocate JD Stone Management General Manager Marilyn Baker Executive Chef Jim Ruehle Outside Manager Douglas Knapp * * * * Windscoop Editor Jon Bontekoe The Wind Scoop is always looking for articles written by the members. Help us make the Wind Scoop interesting for everyone. your articles and pictures to our editor: jonbontekoe@gmail.com or mail a paper version to the club office. Santa on West dock on Christmas day. Photo by Michelle & Kevin Dolle. 3

4 Christmas Holiday Party well attended with A B D C 4 A Kathy Sligh, Don Bergman, Jean Bergman, Dave Sligh. B Charley DeVries, Liz Krimendahl, Mary DeVries, Ted Simpkins, Phil Wisniewski C Lenore D Haem, Jo Schmidt, Coreen Slanec, Ruth VanSweden. D Dick & Pat Danly. E Dick & June Walker. H Dave & Penny Diephouse K Paul & Lisa Brown E

5 lots of smiles & lots of dressed up sailors. F L-R: Kelly Koch, Cory Koch, Jim Lilly, Peter Julius, Sara Morgan, John Lilly, Sarah Garlough, Mike Hill, Marie Mell, Darren Lance, Colleen Huddas, Chip Vanfassen, Katie Vanfassen. G June Walker, Cleo Venhuizen I Linda Schap, Nicole Wisniewski J Anne Gamache, Nancy Andreano, Maggie Stone L Rod & Annie VanTol Photos by Annie VanTol F I G J H K L 5

6 Looking Aft... a bit of MBYC history The publication Memories of MBYC, recalling 100 years of club history was distributed to members during our centennial celebration in 1999 and to new members as long as the supply lasted. New members now have access to it only through friends, the library or the Holland Museum archives. If anyone has a copy they d be willing to return to the club, it would be most appreciated. Just please don t ever throw one away. The natural beauty of Lake Macatawa with its channel to Lake Michigan has long drawn citizen interest in water sports. Early on the many resorts drew summer folk from Chicago, St. Louis, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and nearby Holland to a golden age of enjoyment. Steamboat excursions from Chicago, South Haven and Saugatuck began by July 4 every year in those days. In 1899 the interurban began running from Grand Rapids, along 8 th St. in Holland six miles to Jenison Park and Macatawa. Continued on Page 7 6 Is that the real Santa? Santa showed up at the club Christmas dinner and on Christmas day. Fortunately the Wind Scoop had photographers on the scene to dispel doubters of the Santa legends. Page 6 top pictures Natalie Brown with Santa. The group photo with Santa includes the Stuursma children and finally Dale Koch made sure his brand new grand child was sitting on Santa s knee. Photos by Paul Brown. On the right we see Santa checking Marie Mell s request to get Recovery in the water soon. Outdoor Photos by Michelle & Kevin Dolle. Spring Skiing Dick and June Walker, Ginny and I spent a week-end skiing at Boyne Mountain. This was in April in the early sixties. The weather was perfect, with much sunshine, moderate temperatures and good snow conditions, all contributing to make the end of the season outing a happy, jovial occasion. To add to the merriment, the lodge invited all skiers staying there to Bloody Marys and Screw Drivers every afternoon at four o clock. The bar was set up outside, in front of the lodge and guests could lounge in the sun and watch the skiers wind up the day coming down Aurora-Victor the largest and most fun runs at Boyne. We joined this group on Saturday, and as we were getting settled, a friend, Big Bill Lowry, a MBYC past commodore, and a friend of his joined the group. He noted that they were returning from Mackinaw City where they had spent a few days commissioning his friend s cottage for the summer and as they were approaching the ski area they could see the runs and skiers and decided to stop and see a ski operation. Neither had visited a ski resort. We invited them to have something from the bar and to join us watching the skiers wind up the day As we were chatting, attention was drawn to a ski instructor who was starting down Aurora, on one ski. This maneuver was just becoming popular and to make it all the way down the hill without taking a Continued on Page 7

7 History continued There was mention of the Macatawa Boat Club in the Holland City News as early as1876, In 1898 the Grand Rapids Democrat reported that the Macatawa Bay Yacht Club met at the Morton House and selected a leased Jenison Park site to locate a clubhouse. It was on the southeast shore about halfway between Macatawa and Jenison Park, affording the best view of all resorts, the small lake and the big lake. The Holland City News reported a $1500 club house would be erected. It will be a two-story structure, 52 x 60 feet, built out in the water on piles. Wide verandas will gird the club house on the first and second stories. The grounds are 250 feet square. A scheme is afoot for building six racing yachts to cost $150 a piece. An article in 1899 stated that it was decided to issue member bonds of $1500 to improve the grounds and construct the buildings by July 1 at a cost now estimated at $3,000. Charles Scates of Chicago was commodore, and this is the year we officially observe as our founding year. A photo of the new club house was published July 9. None of us can recall or imagine the cost of living in those days gone by! By Shirley Weersing, club historian. Spring Skiing - continued spill, was quite a feat. The skier did a beautiful job of making wide turns and short checks and ended up sliding to a stop in front of the party goers, even throwing some snow on the pretty little girls in stretch pants, who cooed and awed and gave off squeaky little comments like, Oh, can you teach me to do that, What talent! As with all these events there is a pause. And Bill Lowry s gravely voice poises the question? How many more lessons will he have to take so he can ski on two skis? I knew Big Bill very well. He was a man of compassion, but pompousness in any dimension irritated him. By Bill Jesiek MBJA Report: Getting sick of winter already? Looking forward to some good times on the water in 2008? Well hopefully we have something just for you(th) and adults too! Can t wait for summer and sailing lessons? Register EARLY! The MBJA link on the MBYC website will be up and running February 1, ready to take your registrations for summer 08 sailing activities at our club. In addition to the usual sailing classes, look for clinics run by some top notch sailing coaches. Lessons begin the week of June 16. Interested in a little more than just LEARNING how to sail and race? How about getting involved in the newly formed West Michigan Intra-city Youth Sailing organization! We will be competing weekly with other sailing clubs in Michigan culminating in a wrap-up regatta at MBYC in August. Are you an adult that has never had the opportunity to learn how to sail or to race small boats? Our new Tuesday & Friday night adult learn to sail & race class is for you. Check out the dates and sessions on the MBYC website after February 1! Do you have a small boat (Laser, 420, JY-15) that you are not using and would consider donating it to the MBJA? Please call or drop a note to Steve Sisson or Marie Mell. We would greatly appreciate any capital donations toward our summer sailing program such as these. Junior racers interested in keeping your racing skills sharp over the next few months? Check out the 420 events: Jan 5-6 Team Race Clinic at Sarasota, FL. Contact Stu Gilfillen (941) Feb Club 420 MidWinters at Jensen Beach, FL. Contact Peter Strong (772) Or the Opti events: Feb Midwinter Team Racing Championships at Clearwater, FL, contact clearwatercommunitysailing.org March Spring Opti-Fest at US Sailing Center, Jensen Beach, FL, contact Looking forward to a great summer on the water! By Marie Mell Florida snowbirds get together for lunch Early in December Shirley Wiersing reported that she and Clark attended a luncheon in Bonita Beach, Florida with a large group of current and former MBYC members who either live in Florida or flee the cold weather of the Michigan winters. Pictured below with Clark Wiersing are Bill & Ginny Jesiek. Bill joined MBYC as a junior member in 1932, won sailing awards, and operated the boat yard to the West of us now known as Eldean Shipyard. Bill loves to write and the Wind Scoop has published several of his stories in the past year, including one in this issue. News and photo submitted by Shirley Wiersing. 7

8 Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat. January - Februay JANUARY 1 New Year s Day WHY knot? pm Limited Menu FEBRUARY 1 2 Strictly Sail - Chicago - Navy Pier - Jan 31-Feb Mardi Gras Party Strictly Sail 6:00-10: Grand Rapids Boat Show Feb GR Windscoop Boat Show Copy Really Due

9 March - April LAKE MICHIGAN LAKE LEVELS Flag Officers Reports: Page 2, 4, & 6 Club Events - March 15 & April 25 A Sailing Story - Page 3 Docks Need A Ladder? - Page 3 Alligators in Holland? - Page 6 Sailing School Registration - Page 7 FEET Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec AVERAGE CHART DATUM Wind Scoop provides a full report with historical data on the 6-year long trend in decreasing water levels. Page 7 Wind Scoop did not have a camera at the Mardi Gras party in February but reports have come to the editor s desk that it was a great party! The next morning the only survivor was Lance Baker s party-bedecked snowman. Check out the MBYC St. Patrick s Day Party March 15 and the new event Spring Fling on April 25. Menu and bar service from 6:00 to 10:00 PM. End the winter blues and get your MBYC social life active again. St. Patrick sday Party March 15, 2008, 6 PM - 10 PM limited menu avaia labl e Featuring your favorite Irish Cocktails & Guinness Stout Sorry, no green beer please rsvp to

10 2 For those of you who are not snowbirds, it is hard to believe that spring is almost here. Though all of the precipitation we ve had this winter is good news for the water level, cabin fever and Seasonal affective disorder has taken hold. Notwithstanding that, your Club is getting geared up for the 2008 season. As we have all been reading (see also Bob Standish s article, (page 7) the water level projected for this summer is not good news for boaters and will likely require us to perform dredging this spring. To provide your Board with an update on water depths, Dave Sligh Jr, Chair of the Docks and Grounds Committee, spent a pleasant day in January out on our docks performing a preliminary check of the depth in our slips. The day he happened to do this was likely one of the worst in January with a negative wind chill, but Dave persevered and we found that the depths in the slips have not had any unexpected changes from last year. As soon as the ice clears and a dinghy can be launched, Dave will check the basins for their depths and we will then have a complete picture of what dredging may be needed. However, we know that the launch area for the drysail boats will require some work as much of it is now dry land, and the west basin has a spot that will likely require attention. MBYC will be hosting the U.S. Junior Women s Single-Handed Championship from August 3-9, This will be the first ever U.S. Sailing National Championship to be held in West Michigan. Fifty young women (ages 13-19) from all over the country will be coming to race in Laser Radials at MBYC. Previous winners of this event include Amanda Clark, who will be representing the U.S. in the 470 at the Beijing Olympics, and Paige Railey, a multiple time Laser Radial World Champion. The 2006 event was held at Houston Yacht Club and the 2007 event at Pleon Yacht Club in Marblehead, Massachusetts. COMMODORE S REPORT The other area that will need investigating is at the end of the east dock. Should we receive our permit from the Corp of Engineers for the dock expansion, it is very likely that some of the Kelly Lake Drain sediment, which builds up in that area, will need to be removed. With regard to our dock expansion request, we are still in the permit review process by the Corps of Engineers. Your Club is extremely well represented in this permit process with Kevin Dolle and Bob DeJong leading our efforts and many other members providing assistance - thank you all. One of my priorities for 2008 is supporting our fleets and sailing programs. One aspect of this is developing better relationships with other area yacht clubs to improve coordination with regatta and clinic schedules and to boost participation at events. This past December I sent out invitations to other area commodores and then had the pleasure of meeting with the leaders of seven other local yacht clubs. There was a consensus with this group that there are many opportunities to work together which can add to the profile and quality of junior and adult sailing in our area. With this collaborative spirit, we hope to positively impact junior sailing this coming season and to build from there. There are plans for this group to meet every few months. For social events, we have had great participation and fun at the recent winter social events. Shortly after you receive this, the Club will be open for a Saint Patrick s Day Party on March 19. Reservations are strongly recommended for this event. In April, we will celebrate the return to warmer temperatures and a new season with the Spring Fling Party. Bring on 2008! Paul Brown Commodore U.S. Junior Women s Single-Handed Championship (Leiter Cup) A two-day clinic will be held prior to the racing. Coaches will include the Sailing Head Coaches of the Naval Academy and the College of Charleston and four collegiate sailing All- Americans. Many MBYC members have already volunteered to be host families for our visitors. Committee members working hard to put on a great event that will showcase MBYC and West Michigan include Nicki Arendshorst, Mike Bremer, Banba Donnelly, John Donnelly, Roger Gamache, Mike Kiss, Tovi Kiss, Dan Mitchell, Doug Petter, Heather Petter, Dave Sligh, Maggie Stone, and Jim Stuursma.

11 M acatawa Bay Y acht Club MBYC Flag Officers Commodore Paul Brown Vice Commodore Roger Gamache Rear Commodore Bob DeJong Board of Directors Immediate Past Commodore Tovi Kiss Treasurer Larry D Haem Secretary Janet Magennis Director Beth Egge Director Tom Slanec Director John Donnelly Director Mike Hill Director Joel Krissoff Director Mitchell Padnos Director David Sligh, Jr. Judge Advocate JD Stone Management General Manager Marilyn Baker Executive Chef Jim Ruehle Outside Manager Douglas Knapp * * * * Windscoop Editor Jon Bontekoe With only a little optimism, our boats will soon be launched and in our slips. The question is not so much, May I come aboard?, but CAN I? As reported throughout the winter, we are at, or at least near, record low lake levels. Some of us recall when we had to raise the sidewalk in the front to help keep the lawn from flooding!! And now, the slip pilings are sticking out of the water like telephone poles above the ground!! Well, almost. Stories from our members... Twenty-plus years ago, the race to the Island from Chicago ended with a fair bit of breeze. Not a lot, but enough for the skinny sterned boats of the day to be unpredictable downwind. The Manitou Passage saw us rolling from rail to rail while flying the full size 1 ½ oz. chute and a blooper. This made for a fast and exciting afternoon and evening, but given the boats of that era, also a stressful workout. Onboard this boat we had a designated cook who took his job with an unusual amount of seriousness. The constant rolling and occasional wipeouts of the afternoon had made him unhappy as he prepared the last supper of the race. His unhappiness was compounded by the fact that he had not been allowed in Chicago to bring on board multiple bags of groceries due to their weight and, thus, he had been pained throughout the race by the limitations which we had imposed on his culinary skills. To him, the dinner he prepared that evening was a gastronomic debacle and cooking on a boat was not something he would willingly do again. After midnight we rounded Can Three at the north end of Gray s Reef Passage and turned east for the Bridge. The breeze was still up, but had gotten puffy as a front rolled through. With the change in heading, we had set a small reaching spinnaker and with everyone packed on the rail, Slipholders, can you climb aboard? Ladders may be necessary. Countdown to the 100 th Chicago to Mackinac Race or, Things that can happen on the way to the Island The Club has adopted a rule that all ladders on the docks shall be uniform for purposes of safety as well as for aesthetics. In order to help that happen, the Club sells dock ladders for about the same as the cost to build them $ Place your orders NOW if you would like to have them installed by time your boats are in the water. You can Marilyn and Doug at cluboffice@mbyc.com. Either send a check for the cost of the ladder, or request that it be added to your next invoice. maintained borderline control. When a puff would hit, the boat speed would climb to 12, then 13 knots and at that point the rudder would stall out and the boat would round up. Those of you who actively race know how much trimming and easing occurs with the spinnaker sheet, and the more puffy it is, the more violent the eases can be and the more urgent the trimming. Well, of course, during one of these ease/trim cycles, we got the mother of all overrides on the spinnaker sheet winch. We tried all the usual prescriptions to get rid of the override without any luck partly due to the fact that the cover of the undersized Kevlar spinnaker sheets had partially melted onto the winch drum from the friction of big eases. As a new puff came on, the talk of cutting the sheet took on a sense of urgency. The spinnaker sheet was as taut as a piano string and it would not take much to cut it even though it was Kevlar. Somehow the bo suns knife which had been strapped to the boomvang had disappeared during the evening and a call was made to the one individual still down below, the cook, to pass up a knife. As the boat headed down the Straights at 12 knots, he was now yelled at very loudly, and likely with some expletives - to hand up a knife. The cook s hand reached out of the hatch with a knife. In the dark, it was grabbed and in one swift move it was brought down on the spinnaker sheet. But; nothing happened. A flashlight came on, and it was discovered we had been given a butter knife! In some small way, the cook had gotten his revenge. Do you have a Mac Race story? For the next three issues of the Windscoop, we will publish one story per issue and the author of the story will receive a $25 dining certificate to the Club. Stories highlighting MBYC boats/crews will receive extra credit! 3

12 Schedule on the Webscoop By the time you re reading this, the 2008 Sailing Schedule will be posted on at the MBYC Webscoop. Additionally, Notice of Race for our various Club events will be posted over the next month, so complete information regarding fees, entry forms, etc. will be available on line. For this year, you will still need to enter club events by paper and snail mail, however the day is close when you ll even be able to enter on line. The 2008 schedule includes a return of JY 15 racing to Friday evenings, with Laser sailing on Thursday evenings. The JY 15 class is developing a multiple fleet format to encourage people of a wide range of ages and abilities to come out for our fun fleet. The MBJA will support this effort by making several JY15s available for charter for the series. Other significant features of the 2008 schedule include an enhanced PHRF schedule and an enhanced Commodore s Cup. Revived in 2007, the 2008 Commodore s Cup promises to be a big weekend at MBYC, with the return of the Great Lakes Farr 40 class, as well as significant participation from the Muskegon, Grand Haven and South Haven / St. Joe offshore fleets. Race Management Opportunities Over the past year, a number of active, competitive members of our various fleets have participated in our race management program. What these sailors have found (to some surprise) is that modern race management can be as interesting, challenging, and rewarding as sailing in an event. Additionally, we ve had a number of people who are quite very new to sailing who find race management a good way to broaden their skills and understanding. Watching sailboat races might be like watching grass grow, but running good races takes understanding, engagement and offers a different, but equally rewarding, way to spend time on the water. We are offering a one-day Race Management orientation seminar on Saturday, March 29 th. Race officers from a number of area clubs will be attending. The seminar is a great way to prepare for the season, but we are always looking for new participants interested in a great day on the water. Contact me at rogerdgamache@aol.com with your interest. Crew Development Opportunity Are you a skipper who would like to find crew? Are you a potential crewperson who s always been a little shy because you re not comfortable with your skills? Wednesday Nite racing VICE COMMODORE S REPORT is starting a little earlier this year. On Wednesday, April 2 nd, 9 th, 16 th and 23 rd, we ll have the opportunity to gather at MBYC and review the North U Speed, Tactics and Boat Handling seminar materials. The folks at North Sails / North U have kindly allowed us to use their seminar materials at no cost. The sessions will be presented in a collaborative, group learning format. Here s a great opportunity to invite your current and prospective crew to get in the Wednesday Nite habit and have some fellowship and learning. See the Webscoop for details. Attention Women Aged We have a unique opportunity at MBYC this summer. The 2008 US Women s Junior Single-Handed Championship will be held at the club in early August. This is an open event so local women sailors will have a unique opportunity to tee it up with our country s best young women sailors. History indicates that participants in this event will be Olympic representatives in the future. This is a great opportunity for young women to focus on skill development with a simple, identifiable goal. There will be lessons and coaching opportunities throughout the summer to help you prepare for the event. If this sounds interesting to you, or someone you know, contact Marie Mell at the MBJA website: mbja.com. Sponsorship for Sailing Events If you ve attended a national or regional sailing event over the past couple of years, you ve likely noticed an increasing trend toward commercial sponsorship. The ubiquitous red Mount Gay hats are a common sight at our club. The Lands End Chicago Mackinac Race and the Jaguar Etchells Winter Series are other examples of this trend in our sport. The economic forces that contribute to the decision to introduce commercial sponsorship to our private club environment include increased competitor expectations (mark set boats improve racing, but that gas is expensive!) and slow growth in participation. Options include increasing racing fees (at a risk of reducing participation) or exploring how partnering with commercial interests can assist us in having high quality, reasonably priced events. Over the next several months, your Board will be considering the possibility of commercial sponsorship of specific aspects of club activities. We ll be considering the appropriate balance between commercial intrusion and additional financial support. If the decision is positive, we ll then be drafting guidelines for what should, and should not, be considered for sponsorship. I d ask that everyone give some thought to this issue and communicate with a board member. Race Committee co-chairman Jack Knoblauch will also be working on this project, and would appreciate your thoughts. Roger Gamache, Vice Commodore

13 Winter Sailing: Orange Bowl Regatta, Key West Week, Etchells, NOOD While many of us are coping with a winter marked by negative wind chill readings and large piles of snow, some members have had the opportunity to represent our club in a number of sailing events throughout the South. Anytime we publish a list of member s achievements we run the risk of leaving someone out, so let me say at the outset that this list might not include everyone, and if we ve left you out, drop me a quick call or and I ll happily add you to a future report. Virtually the last sailing event of 2007, the Orange Bowl Regatta, sponsored by Coral Reef Yacht Club in Miami, saw a good showing from MBYC. Morgan Kiss sailed in the Opti Red Fleet. Alex Kiss represented in the Laser 4.7 fleet and Mitchell Kiss competed in the Laser Radial class. Louis Padnos sailed for MBYC in the 420 class. The Orange Bowl is a major junior sailing event that draws sailors from all over the United States and significant participation from South America and Europe. Key West Race Week kicks off the 2008 Big Boat season. This year the event brought together the best sailors from all over the world, including many of the America s Cup crews who are on hiatus while their lawyers figure out who and what will be sailing. Doug DeVos sailed his TP52 Windquest. Mike Hill won kudos for his foredeck mastery on Jim Richardson s Farr 40 Barking Mad winning Boat of the Week honors. Every year MBYC sailors participate in the Etchells Class Jaguar Cup series of 4 separate weekend regattas. This year Jon Easley is promoting inter-club harmony by sailing with Bayview Yacht Club Rear Commodore Bruce Burton. Perennial participant Jeff Padnos is sailing with sons Josh and Sam and J P del Solar Goldsmith. Randall Pitman is a new competitor this year, but didn t let lack of experience get in his way, scoring an impressive 2 nd in fleet at the 80 boat (yes not a typo) Florida State Championship. In other action, Mike Bremer sailed his Ultimate 20 FarFar in the St. Petersburg Yacht Club NOOD regatta. And, participating in a somewhat different manner, our PRO Barbara Gamache was invited to be part of the race management crew for both the Miami Olympic Class Member Rewards Many of our members may not know that our income budget improves significantly with increased booking of banquets and weddings. The Board restricts the use of our facilities for banquets during the sailing season to help reduce the interference with our members use. But before Memorial Day and after Labor Day, we have a very marketable opportunity. During the summer months, we can accommodate birthday parties and rehearsal dinners that only need the Commodore s Room and/or the tent. And on Mondays and Tuesdays all summer long, we can accommodate company picnics and dinners, except of course, on holiday weekends. There is probably no better place in the Holland area at less expense to the hosts. At its last meeting, the Board approved a $25.00 dining credit reward for each successful referral by any of our members to a non-member. If you need any more information to help improve our banquet business, please contact Marilyn Baker at the Club. The glowing testimonials received by our Club for past events substantiate that your friends and business associates will be grateful to you for reminding them of this outstanding facility and its availability for group events. Picture of Louis Padnos and Ben Spector at Orange Bowl Regatta award ceremony hosted by the Coral Reef Yacht Club. Regatta (OCR) and the Yngling World Championships. These events are prestigious and important assignments as they are qualifying events for participation in this summer s Olympic Regatta in China. Ask Barb about calling the line for the last day of the OCR, when her call could have easily changed our Laser Radial representative! That s the news for this month. Please feel add your results by phone ( ) or (rogerdgamache@aol.com). By Roger Gamache Save the Date!! Saturday, June 21 M.B.Y.C. Class s Reunion n (what year did d you join?) & New Member Party 08 If You Joined in the 60 s, the 70 s...or just last year... Mix, Mingle, and Dance Additional details in the May and June Windscoops!! 5

14 For those of you who see the glass half full, you will appreciate that the very serious winter we are having this year should result in improvements in lake levels by the time Spring rolls around. So now you have another reason to smile while you are shoveling your walks and driveways or paying for the extra snowplow bills. For the rest of you, however, do not be concerned, we have included significant funds for dredging. And, as noted in a separate article in this issue, MBYC slip holders should note that ladders may still be necessary to get down to your boats and back up on the dock. So let Marilyn know sooner rather than later if you will require a ladder this summer. Kevin Dolle continues to monitor the Corps of Engineers review of our application for dock expansion permit. Some of our members are attempting to use the political process to encourage bureaucratic movement and we thank them for that. While we remain hopeful that we will receive timely approval, the Board and our General Manager have decided Holland Alligator sighting It was the beginning of the holiday season and as local residents living immediately across the creek from the club, we decided that our view would be enhanced if some holiday lights adorned the super-structure of Recovery the club s race committee boat, stored this winter in the dry sail area. During my surreptitious process of stringing the lights, (yep, I m guilty) as I was leaving the club grounds to retrieve my electrical adaptor, the Ottawa County Sheriff Animal Control officer was arriving at the club. Strange, I thought, for the dog catcher to be out and about at this time of the year. Upon my return to the club I approached the officer and inquired as to his intentions. You wouldn t believe it if I told you was the response. Curiosity prevailed and he related that he was attempting to capture an ALLIGATOR. You ve got to be kidding, I replied, after all it was December with the temp in the high 20 s at the time. A local woman earlier in the day reported being confronted by a 3 to 4 foot Gator at the S. Shore bridge that crosses the creek. Turns out, if this one had been captured (it wasn t), it would have been the fifth Gator caught in the Holland area since the beginning of last year. I also learned that when the temperature drops, the alligator cannot survive, so spring Laser sailing should be safe, at least until another local decides to release their pet Gator into Lake Macatawa. by J.D. Stone 6 REAR COMMODORE S REPORT not to commit slip availability until we know they will be there. We understand the frustration for those on the waiting list, but we really have no better way to predict the approval date. Thanks to the Ann and Roger Gamache and to Linda and Jack Knoblauch for conducting a complete year end inventory for the Nauti Shop. Keep in mind the great inventory of warm MBYC garments as you plan ski trips and shop for gifts. Many of our newer members may not know that the Nauti Shop operates at a very modest markup of our costs of goods sold. It is not intended to be a profit center but it is intended to help make available good quality clothing while promoting the espirit de corps of the Club. So take advantage of this opportunity. The House Committee and Docks and Grounds Committee are busy developing plans to make your spring, summer and fall even more enjoyable. Thanks to each of the committee members for their contributions of time and talent. If you have any suggestions or recommendations for either of these committees, please feel free to call or write any one of them. The Committee members and contact information are listed on our website. So until the weather turns warmer, think Spring. Bob DeJong Rear Comodore

15 Lake Michigan Water Levels approach new lows POINT: Whether you blame the lack of precipitation, global warming, the eroding river bottom at the entrance to the St. Clair River (or you believe there is a conspiracy by the state of New Mexico to somehow pipe Lake Michigan water to that state), there is one inescapable conclusion. Lake Michigan water levels are going down and if the spring and summer of 2008 are anything like the past two years, lake levels will continue to drop this year. That has the potential to dramatically change recreational boating this summer. As of the date of this writing, the Lake Michigan water level is more than six inches lower than this same time last year. This is just six inches above the all time January low level of feet above sea level in 1964 and is almost 22 inches lower than the long term average ( ) according to the Army Corp of Engineers. The low water level will affect boaters all year long, beginning with launching your boat this spring. We are currently tracking 6 inches below last year. If that spread doesn t change, when you launch your boat in May, the lake level will be the same level as in October when you hauled your boat for winter and will be at the lowest May level since the all-time low for May in 1964 (576.6 feet). If you are planning on a trip this summer, maybe stopping by Arcadia, Beaver Island or Elk Rapids? Better think again. Even getting into Leland could be an issue this year. And you better think twice about cutting the corner to get to Anchorage Marine. Of course don t forget your MBYC slip. Will you be able to dock without sliding under the finger pier? When you are docked, will you be able to safely get your family and guests on and off your boat. For all of us sail boaters with deep draft boats, is there enough water under your boat at your slip? We all need to consider these things now before the boating season begins and work out solutions that work for the club and our boats. It looks like summer 2008 with be a challenging year for boaters but a little forward planning and constant awareness should keep unpleasant surprises to a minimum. COUNTERPOINT: No one can dispute that the Lake Michigan water level is quite low but will it really be that bad this year? Maybe not! It would appear there is a water level recovery going on right now. Since December, the difference between the record low water levels and actual levels has steadily increased from just 2.5 inches from the record low in December 2007 to a February MTD difference of 6 inches. And the trend is increasing. Lake Superior, Lake Michigan Huron s largest water source is UP almost 10 inches from this date last year. Add to that West Michigan s record setting snowfall season and things may not be all that bad. In fact, even the Army Corps of Engineers forecasts that Lake Michigan lake levels will continue to improve and exceed 2007 water levels by July. In any event, what you can count on is that lake levels will start out this season lower than last year so plan your boating activities accordingly. For more information from the Army Corps of Engineers on all Great lakes water levels current and historic, check out: greatlakes/hh/greatlakeswaterlevels/ currentconditions/ By Bob Standish Summer Registration now available on-line! Registration is taking place online now for summer youth sailing and adult learn to sail programs! Check out the dates for lessons on our website ( link to MBJA) for upcoming sessions and get your discount for early member registration. Special clinics with guest instructors will be posted soon. Inter-City sailing is becoming a reality! During this summer, we will be starting Inter- City league sailing which will include yacht clubs from the West Michigan Lakeshore area. The directors will be meeting in early March to finalize all the details for this exciting youth opportunity. All levels of sailors will be included. Watch for more details in the April Windscoop! 7

16 8 March Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Laser racing - Spring series Laser racing - Spring series March - April Sat. 7 8 ((1)) Saint Patrick s Day Party 15 Menu: 6:00-10:00 PM Seminar: April North U: Upwind Sail Trim 7:00-8:30pm North U: Starting & Sail Trim 7:00-8:30pm Race Management North U: Mark Windscoop Rounding & Downwind 7:00-8:30pm Copy Really Due Spring Fling North U: Crew Work 7:00-8:30pm Menu: 6:00-10:00 PM

17 May SUMMER S COMING! Flag Officers Reports: Page 2, 8, 10 Coast Guard Auxillary Inspections Page 2 MBJA Reports: Page 3 Optimists in Peru: Page 5 Spring Fling Photos: Page 6 MBYC Directors Minutes: Page 9 Raw Eggs & Snickers: Page 11 MACATAWA BAY YACHT CLUB * 2157 SOUTH SHORE DRIVE * MACATAWA, MI * * FAX

18 Greetings! As the new cover design indicates, summer is almost here. The Club s grounds are looking great thanks to the hard work of our outside manager, Doug Knapp. Laser racing has already begun, Wednesday night racing is about to start, and our Head Chef, Jim Ruhle, is ready in the kitchen. As I write this (week of 4/20), we are still uncertain of our permit requests from the Corps of Engineers. Though they are aware that time is of the essence for construction of the new slips and for dredging, we have not been able to get timely responses. Though we are still vigorously pushing for approval, the window of opportunity for completing these items for this season is closing. The most frustrating aspect is the Corps review process which appears to be a black box with unknown timetables and decision points. Should we receive a positive response, we will do everything we can to get the work done yet this Spring. I have often mentioned in this column the importance of volunteering at the Club and I want to highlight the contribution by of one of our members through volunteering. COMMODORE S REPORT After nearly eight years of service to MBYC, Jack Grates ended his work as the Club s webmaster at the end of As you can guess, when he started as our webmaster the internet was pretty primitive and our website was probably even more so. Jack took advantage of all the software and coding advances over the years and kept our site incredibly up to date in both technology and content. I would doubt that anyone spent more time on Club activities than Jack did during those years and he set the standard for other yacht clubs to try to emulate. Jack, thank you for your contributions! Another member, Bob Standish, has stepped up as our new webmaster. Bob has a lot of energy and ideas which he will be bringing to our website and I sincerely appreciate his desire to not only volunteer, but to take on such a challenge and responsibility for the Club. Thank you, Bob! Finally, don t miss the remaining social events and parties this Spring. You can Treat Your Mother at our annual Mother s Day Brunch on May 11. Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of the season, we will have live music under the tent on Sunday and the Blessing of the Fleet on Monday following the Bill Ash Memorial Breakfast. See you there, Paul Brown USCGA Safety Inspections June 7 The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary will be conducting vessel safety inspections at MBYC on Saturday June 7, 2008 from approx. 10 AM thru 2 PM or later. This is a great service provided to MBYC to assure that you and your vessel are ship shape and ready to safely navigate the waters of the Great Lakes. This is a voluntary safety inspection process, and no fines will be levied for anyone not passing the vessel safety inspection. U.S. Coast Guard vessel safety inspection stickers will be issued to those vessels that pass this safety inspection, which helps assure safe and hassle free boating pleasure. So, get your vessel ready for the inspection, and be on board for your free safety inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. Kevin Dolle 2

19 M acatawa Bay Y acht Club MBYC Flag Officers Commodore Paul Brown Vice Commodore Roger Gamache Rear Commodore Bob DeJong Board of Directors Immediate Past Commodore Tovi Kiss Treasurer Larry D Haem Secretary Janet Magennis Director Beth Egge Director Tom Slanec Director John Donnelly Director Mike Hill Director Joel Krissoff Director Mitchell Padnos Director David Sligh, Jr. Judge Advocate JD Stone Management General Manager Marilyn Baker Executive Chef Jim Ruehle Outside Manager Douglas Knapp * * * * Windscoop Editor Jon Bontekoe Web Scoop Bob Standish Front Cover Photo Do you like the new look of the Wind Scoop s front page? We want to feature a new color photo each month. Commodore Paul Brown took the May picture last summer. We want members to submit great photos for consideration in future issues. Photos should be representative of MBYC s mission of boating and fun - and a minimum size of 5 megapixels. Please your top quality photo entries to editor Jon Bontekoe at address: jonbontekoe@gmail.com (or bring them to the club office). MBJA sponsors Adult Learn to Sail Classes! Are you interested in learning how to sail a JY-15? Is it hard for your friends or your spouse to teach you the finer points of sailing? Do you just want to learn to sail with a friend or make some new ones? Whether you already have a sailing partner or not, we would love to have you join instructor Marc Palma for our 1 st ever adult learn to sail program. The option of club racing on Friday nights is available for the adventurous as well! The format is Tuesday and Friday evenings from 5-6:30pm for two weeks. Cost is just $100 for 4 sessions of instruction and Friday racing. Don t have a boat? We have boats for charter. Registration forms are available in the MBJA link. MBJA Sailing Lessons Update June 16 is coming! Are you ready?! The MBJA has a great season lined up for all ages and levels of sailors. If you haven t checked out the JA website and registered for your sailing adventures this summer, you need to get your spot saved. There are limited spots as well as incentives for you to be registered by the end of May. You may not even recognize the club boats! Special thanks to the Sales and Captain Maintained for their GREAT work on the Whalers, Optis, and 420 s this winter. They look BEAUTIFUL! Our goal as the JA is going to be to keep our boats in a condition we can all be proud of. As well as the regular sailing classes we have four West Michigan Youth Sailing Association regattas lined up. The first one is Thursday June 26 at MBYC for Lasers, 420 s and Opti s. There will be others at Spring Lake, Muskegon and St. Joe and the end of season championships August 17 also to be hosted by MBYC. Have you heard of the Bic O Pen? It s a hot, new racing dinghy for one or two persons (total crew weight up to 190 pounds). The O Pen has become all the rage in Europe, gunning for the Opti s top slot as the dinghy of choice for today s excitement-driven young sailor. On June 24 we will be hosting a demo and a chance to meet with a representative about these exciting new boats Come down to the club and sail one! You will be INTRIGUED! Check out the O Pen Bic website at or footage from the Miami races on and check under open bic. These boats are AWESOME! Looking for a way to support the junior sailing program? MBYC will be hosting a dinner fundraiser and auction Saturday, August 2, with terrific cuisine prepared by our own Chef Jim. We will be looking for donations for this event (college or professional game tickets, catered dinner or boat cruise on your boat for a sunset, business services, a special hobby,... we re open for suggestions!). Please contact Steve Sisson or Marie Mell to become part of our event. We will also need volunteers to help with race committee for the WMYSA regattas. Please contact Marie if you are interested in sharing your time. Welcome SUMMER! Marie Mell 3

20 Bob Standish reports that Lake Michigan went up 6 inches the first 17 days of April and was just 2.4 inches lower than the April 2007 average. (In Bob s chart below, the blue line near the bottom represents 2008 lake level progress to mid-april.) LAKE MICHIGAN LAKE LEVELS FEET Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec AVERAGE CHART DATUM

21 Optimist South American Championships--a lifetime experience The Optimist South American Championship was held this year in Paracas, Peru. Paracas is a small seaside village that is about a 3 hour drive south of Lima. Morgan Kiss qualified for the 15 member team that represented the USA. As regatta trips go this was not only a major International Optimist regatta but it was also a real Indiana Jones type adventure trip. The USA Team was selected at the US Optimist Atlantic Coast Championship held at Norfolk Virginia during October of Immediately after the team selection we got to the task of looking for the best housing available for the regatta. We have traveled to many international regattas and have found the best housing goes fast. While searching we discovered that there was an earthquake during 2007 and the whole town was essentially destroyed by the quake and the resulting tidal wave. The local hotels operators said they hoped to be open in Rumors circulated that the event was going to be moved to an alternate site. Moving the regatta was not to be! The regatta organizers decided to rebuild as best they could. When the sailors arrived they found brand new housing constructed especially for them. This was a monumental feat given the rough and primitive conditions. The carpenters finished just in time with the final nails going in on arrival day! A complete food preparation area to feed 180 kids and 200 supporters, parents, race committee, judges etc. for the 11 day event was also built. It appeared that the whole country of Peru pulled together to make this happen!! Paracas has the reputation of being one of the best sailing sites in the world. A sea breeze develops every day blowing from the same direction only the velocity changes based on how hot the land gets. Paracas is in a very hot and dry desert area. The reported average annual rainfall is 1 mm (0.04 inches) per year. On one day of the regatta people awoke to the ground being slightly damp kind of like dew on the grass in the morning. Everyone seemed very excited about something. It seems that it had not rained for 6 years!! Most of the sailors took a boat tour on the lay day to see the islands that are covered with seals and all kinds of sea birds. The young sailor s favorite animal was the Humboldt Penguin! No one had ever seen so many birds in one place at one time!! We learned this location has the richest and most productive fishery in the world - due to the effects of the Humboldt Current which flows north from Antartica along the western coast of South America. The regatta went off without a hitch. The 180 competitors from 17 countries that participated in this event all had a once in a lifetime experience. In the end Morgan was top American and finished 16 th overall, 3 rd Categoria Feminina (Female Division), and her team race team (TEAM USA 1) finished 2nd in the Copa de las Naciones (Cup of Nations Team Race Championship). Michael Kiss Photos on pages 4-5, Paracas, Peru, by Tovi Kiss 55

22 A April 23 Spring Fling - a big party with great food B C D E 6 A A Steel Drum Band entertained B Staff with Jim & Debbie Howard C Rod Schmidt, Annie VanTol, Jack &Linda Knoblauch, Coreen Slanec D Steve & Janet Magennis, Jo Schmidt E Coreen Slanek, Janet Standish, Tom Slanec F Marie Mell, Darren Lance, Christine Drew, Pat Fox G Bill & Lisa Ruoff, Mike & Karen Nagelkirk F G

23 H Commodore & Lisa Brown with son talk to Rod Schmidt I The Mullin Family H I J K MBJA Cleanup Day M J John & Linda Stevenson and family members K Helen Smith & Betty Miller wait for bar order Party Photos by jb L MBJA cleanup Saturday getting the equipment ready for the season of lessons M Lasers out racing on a cold day Ourdoor photos by Paul Brown L 7

24 VICE COMMODORE S REPORT following opportunities. Looking forward As you re reading this the boating season will be accelerating to full speed and the challenge for all of us will be getting as much time on the water as possible in the next 120 days. So to help you get maximum fun this summer, consider the JY 15 Sailing on Friday Nights. The JY 15 is a simple, inexpensive (relatively speaking ) 2 man boat that will be raced in front of the club on Friday nights from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Racing will start at 7:00 pm, conclude by about 8:30, and will include 2-5 races depending upon conditions. The emphasis is on running a number of short races, so everyone has an opportunity to get one right during the evening. This class is making a big effort to provide an opportunity for everyone to get involved. In addition to our traditional awards there will be recognition for the performance of first year sailors, junior teams, family teams (with 2 generations participating) and women s teams. If you don t have a boat, consider chartering one. Thanks to the MBJA and generous contributors, we have at least 3 boats available for a very nominal fee. If you re a little rusty or uncertain of your sailing skills there will be instruction opportunities for teens and adults on Tuesday nights and late afternoon on Fridays, prior to racing. Still not certain that this is for you? Then make sure to come out to the club in time to watch. Our front seawall makes a great place to view all the action, and the gathering in the club afterward is great way to begin the weekend. Wednesday Night Sailing. Most Wednesday nights (check the Webscoop, Windscoop, or Log for a schedule) approximately 20 boats from MBYC participate in the Bayshore Yacht Club series for larger, cruising boats. On a typical night there are a number of opportunities for walk on crew. To take advantage of this opportunity, you need to be at the club by 6:00 pm, dressed appropriately for the weather and wearing deck shoes. Ask around yourself, or seek out myself, Mike Hill or Dave Shipman. We ll be happy to introduce you to skippers and help you get an great introduction to racing bigger boats. Junior Sailing. Our junior sailing program is run cooperatively with the Macatawa Bay Junior Association (MBJA), a 501 c 3 educational institution dedicated to teaching sailing to the Holland community. The MBJA offers a selection of learnto sail lessons for older children and youth throughout the summer using Association owned Optimist dinghies, Lasers and Club 420s. Additionally, there are opportunities to race on Thursday nights throughout the summer. This year we are also offering the opportunity for a travel team experience. Organized by Marie Mell, MBJA Director, there will be opportunities to travel to Saugatuck, St. Joe, South Haven, Reeds Lake and Muskegon to add additional challenge to the racing schedule. This program is a development of several field trips that were organized in the 2007 season, and we anticipate that it will be very popular with our younger sailors. Race Management. We have an opportunity for a number of club members to become involved in our Race Management team. Participating in race management offers you a number of benefits, including time spent on the water with great people, a ring side seat to observe some great racing, and engagement in our sport that is as rewarding as a successful day of racing. To schedule a day to try it out, speak with Jack Knoblauch, Race Committee Chairman. See you at our Club!!! Roger Gamache 8 That's our ship s log since the day the boat was launched now showing 28,000 nautical miles. The earth is 24,900 miles around at the equator. Them's one lot of miles in a sailboat at probably about 6 knots. I wonder how many of them were just going back and forth from Macatawa to Saugatuck. We are now in the BVI's and I can honestly say, I love it. Bill & Judy Stellin (an excerpt from their newsletter)

25 Board of Directors Meeting for March 2008 Abridged Meeting Notes Requests for new memberships, resignations and change in membership status were reviewed and approved. GM Marilyn Baker reported on the hiring process for the Dining Room Manager s position. Treasurer D Haem reviewed the financials to date for Pool bathroom ventilation issues were reviewed and it was recommended that we accept a bid of $2,700 for new ventilation fans. While it was moved to do it, a motion to table was approved, delaying the decision while other options are reviewed. The concept of a shaded area near the pool came to the Directors for clarification, and it was discussed, since it was a high priority from Forward Planning. The Board directed D&G to provide a concept for presentation for the April board meeting, which would provide options. In response to the public comment period, a detailed response was sent to the Army Corps of Engineers our permit request for the slip expansion and dredging. We have asked for a quick response. Concerns communicated to the Corps did not appear to add any new issues. Racing News: On the Course Side We predicted that we d miss someone in last month s summary of sailing activity. So, belated congratulations to Alex Post for his results in the Orange Bowl regatta this winter. Alex is one of a number of young sailors that are developing quickly into formidable competitors. At the other end of the experience spectrum, congratulations also to Jeff Padnos and JP Del Solar Goldsmith for their third place finish in the 2008 Coral Reef Cup. Also of note, Bob Hughes and his Team Heartbreaker won the first race of the recent Farr 40 World Championship. Unfortunately, Bob s performance during the week didn t continue at that level, but even one bullet is a singular achievement in a fleet of that size and quality. Commodore s Cup will be August 2-3, This will be a significant event, with a social schedule to match - still accepting some fleets. Friday night JY-15 racing will include a women s fleet and a family division. The MBJA is coordinating with 4 other regional Clubs to initiate a regional junior regatta program to start this summer. Jack Knoblauch s proposal for sponsorship of sailing events was reviewed. A motion was approved to authorize this concept for the Commodore s Cup. The proposed budget was presented for discussion and and a motion passed to approve the 2008 budget. Significant savings on our postage expense was realized on the recent Windscoop mailing by using 3 rd class for local residents of the Club without impacting timeliness. Anne VanTol will assist in developing policies and rates for potential advertising in the Windscoop. Member Bob Standish will take over webmaster duties this month. The Logbook is nearly ready for publishing. Discussion on the Club s telecom needs for phones, internet and WiFi. While some of us are fortunate to be able to sail in the off season, a number of us can only sit around and talk about sailing, which is exactly what approximately 45 local sailors have done recently. Using material provided by North U, we have just completed a Winter Regatta over the Wednesday nights in April. The presentation was a hit and will be a part of our offerings again in April, Roger Gamache Mac stories from our members: Do you have a Mac Race story? For the next issues of the Windscoop, we will publish one story per issue and the author of the story will receive a $25 dining certificate to the Club. Stories highlighting MBYC boats/crews will receive extra credit! 9

26 10 House Committee TIPS for dining and bar service: The 18% gratuity that is automatically added to your tab is pooled and then divided among servers, bartenders and the dining room manager according to a formula including amount of time worked by each server. However, for extraordinary service, your individual added tips go directly to your server. Smoking Policy: This matter was referred by stockholders to House Committee. For the 2008 season, there will be no smoking permitted at anytime in the dining room. Smoking will be permitted in the bar only after 10 p.m. and then only after all food customers have finished eating. The House Committee will review after the end of this season whether smoking will be prohibited at all times. Children in the bar area: Parents are reminded that children are not permitted to be seated at the bar. The House Committee is exploring whether there can be a designated location for children to place their orders for smoothies, shakes, etc. Because these beverages tend to be significantly more time consuming in their preparation, there will be some occasions when our bar staff will be unable to accommodate these requests such as after Wednesday night racing when the staff is jammed. Crunch Time in the Club: House committee is working with our staff on how we can better provide service to our members in situations when the wait staff is jammed such as on Wednesday nights. We know that some have become frustrated with the wait time, and are supplying their own food and drink when they would prefer to patronize the Club. Stay tuned for further developments. Wine Selection: Marilyn and Lance are upgrading our wine selection for you wine aficionados. Watch for surprisingly good values! Comment Cards: The House Committee will be reviewing your comments on the comment cards. So please provide suggestions on how your experience can be improved, but also let us know when your server deserves to be acknowledged because of extraordinary service. Through your continued input, we can make the Club an even better experience. REAR COMMODORE S REPORT Docks and Grounds Dredging: Your committee continues to wrestle with problems caused by significant dredging requirements caused by our inability to have the weir cleaned out while we await the official blessing of the weir by the Corps of Engineers. Between increased stream deposits and lower lake levels, we anticipate having to use most, if not all, of the dredging funds that have been reserved $20,000. We are asking the Kelly Drain joint drain commissions for financial contribution to this effort, but at the time of this report, we do not have anything confirmed. Pool Shade: Your committee is also exploring options for increasing the availability of shade around the pool. Various options are being considered and explored as to cost, viability and aesthetics. Nauti Shop Begin the season with a shopping trip (or trips!!) to the Nauti Shop. Great selections! (See ad below.) A GOOD WORD Marilyn and her team, Jim and Doug have been working hard to get the Club in shape both inside and outside. When you see how great the Club looks, let them know your appreciation for a job well done. Bob DeJong

27 A Mackinac Story from our members... Raw Eggs and Snickers For years I was regaled with stories from my father about the Mac. He used to say that you could tell a good Mac was about to begin when, as you motored out to the start line, the wind was blowing all the water OUT of the fountain was going to be a good race if his prognosticating was accurate. We were on Rick Kraai s Seira, a G&S 30 for the 87 race, along with Eric Ash (Big E), Rick Beckman (B-max), and a host of others. Both Eric and Rick were big boys back then and proved to be a vital component on the race, not only their skills, but their combined ballast potential. The crew dinner was at a nice steakhouse on Friday before the start, with several doggie bags taken by the boys for emergency rations or midnight snacks during the race. I ll get back to the doggie bags. The start saw approx 30 knots from the south, with waves running 6-8 ft. Quite a spectacle as boats were broaching, crews were sick, masts were lost, and we haven t even started yet. The small kite was set at the start and we were off, charging up the lake in the kind of conditions that keep Mac racers dreaming about next years race for 360 days a year. Chamber of commerce sailing, the kind of sailing that the brochures all promise and yet are rarely delivered on. Being the smallest on the boat I was in charge of making the needed adjustments forward of the companionway as any weight forward would submerge the bow and make life wet and the boat squirrelly. Squirrelly is not good at 10+ knots as the broach that will follow is very likely to break either someone, or something, neither was a good prospect. All day Saturday we surfed and planed towards the Island, Rick driving and Sr trimming the kite. Their constant communication about keeping the boat under the sail was all that kept us upright. We seemed to be doing quite well as we were pacing with some fairly large boats for the first 12 hours. Nightfall was very exciting as the wind and waves remained, but now we were sailing blindly in to the darkness. Because of the rough conditions, we went without an actual meal and subsisted on snickers bars and cokes. All hands on deck as no one was allowed forward to go below, and also because we might need everyone s help in the event of a broach or other issue. In the middle of the night there comes a barely audible growling that continues to grow. We finally realize that its our BIG BOYS, that are sitting at the stern with their legs hanging aft to keep the bow up as we surf, and they are getting hungry. I am dispatched to get some food from below, the request is for a couple of white bags, doggie bags. Returning with a few malt beverages and a couple of bags, the boys tore into the remaining meat on the T-Bones like nothing I had ever seen, grown men gnawing on bones was a sight that has stuck with me. In any case, growling stopped, boat fast, crew happy. The next morning the sail maker on board decided he need some eggs, so the carton of eggbeaters was handed up and he gulped down two or three eggs, raw. I ll stick with snickers thank you very much. Sunday at dusk we have reached the northern part of the lake and can almost smell the fudge that awaits our arrival. We need to gybe for the Grays reef passage and with the wind having built to 35 and the seas running 10+ ft my father decided that I was a bit to small to perform the end for end gybe with the spinnaker pole, he would do it was the plan. Being the helpful son that I am, I decided to help. Everyone was in position and Rick calls for the trip to begin the turn. It was this point that I reached around the mast from behind it, grabbed Sr s life jacket in a death grip and held on for the stuff to hit the fan. As Sr try s to stand to complete the gybe he is somehow stuck to the mast. A bit of screaming, some cursing, and a lot of bouncing ensued before anyone realized that the kid was holding tightly on to his father, preventing completion of the gybe. With some gentle coaxing I was convinced to release my grip so Sr could complete the gybe and we could rocket off again into the darkness. We ended up finishing the race in about 39 hours and actually got a slip on the Island. That was the first time I had gotten a slip, let alone in a thirty foot boat. Hours later we were on the way to Frankfort, by car thankfully, to pick up Jim Stuursma and his boys. That is a story I will let him tell, ask him about Slip Sliding Away sometime... By Dave Sligh New Member Report The MBYC Board has received, and approved several new members over the winter. New members living in Holland are: Dr. Kate Mulder, James & Sarah Klingenberg (and 10 year old Cameron), Eric & Jill Bert (and 1 year old Cameron), James Lilly, and Bill & Michelle Leep. New members Daniel and Ann VanEerden (and 16 year old Charles) reside in Grand Rapids but they summer in Macatawa. Please take a moment to welcome the new faces and invite them to join you for dinner. Membership is our Club s lifeblood and new members are always looking to the Club for fun and involvement. If you know of someone who may be interested in joining, contact our Marilyn for membership materials. Sometimes a little encouragement is all that it takes to move someone from interested to application. 11

28 12 Mother s Day Brunch - Sunday May 11 Club Opens Wednesday May 16 - Regular Hours Sun. Race Events Social Events Private Parties 4 Spring Laser Racing 11 Mother s Day Brunch Spring Laser Racing 18 Spring Laser Racing Melges 24 Muskegon YC Regatta 25 MBYC #1 Music Under The Tent Mon Blessing of Fleet Junior Memorial Day Regatta MBJYC Memorial Day Breakfast M A Y Tues Wed. 7 Bayshore Spring Series Bar & Grill open Regular Club Hours Resume Bayshore S S Bayshore Spring Series Bayshore Spring Series Thurs. Laser Racing Buoy Room Limited Menu Fridays - May 2 & Fri. Bar & Grill Open Bar & Grill Open 16 Windscoop Copy Due JY15 & others Racing JY15 & others Racing Sat. Private Party 3 10 Private Party In Dining Room Bar/Grill Open MBYC #1 MBYC #2 Offshore #1 17 Dining Room Private Party - Bar/Grill Open Melges 24 Muskegon YC Regatta 24 31

29 May

30 2 COMMODORE S REPORT Past Commodore Cathy Getz frequently used a term which, until then, I never really associated with boats or yacht clubs. The word was gitty up; and it nicely fits the current high energy level at your Club. For example, our Spring Fling Party in the end of April was packed and the fantastic Steel Drum Band which played in the dining room had a hard time competing with the party sounds in the bar. The recent Mother s Day Brunch was also extremely well attended and compliments go to our own Chef Jim for preparing a fantastic brunch. Coming up, we have our 2 nd Annual Father s Day Fishing Tournament and Cookout on June 15th. Last year, this was a great time for kids and their dads and, much to my surprise, the fishing was great. Bring your fishing rods (and a fishing license for Dad),- the Club provides the bait,- and join in the fun. The New Member Party is on June 21st and has been expanded to be a Class Reunion for all members. Do you remember what year you joined? Do you remember the other new members that year? The talented Scott Seth will be performing that evening under the tent and it is a perfect excuse to reacquaint yourself with old classmates and to meet our current new members. We wrap up June with the Mini-Rendezvous which is a great excuse to spend the afternoon at anchor with a group of friends and, to extend Cathy s cowboy slang, to bend your elbow for awhile. July will start with the proverbial bang with the Patriotic Picnic on the 4 th and Golf Tournament on the morning of the 5 th. Look for further details at the Club and on the website as the events get closer. OK, gitty up. Paul D. Brown. Jr A Note About Parking.. Though we are lucky to have sufficient parking on our campus most of the time, some of our members are so conditioned to parking in a garage that they prefer the covered parking of our neighbor. In Macatawa, the biggest faux pas one can make is parking in someone else s space without permission. So, unless you are an Eldean s slipholder or have permission from Roger or Herb, please do not park on their property and this includes the Post Office parking lot across the street from MBYC. Front Cover Photo Don Thinschmidt s Tyrant gets serious in the Wednesday night series. Photo provided by Dave Sligh Sr. The Wind Scoop s front page needs entries for future issues. We want to feature a new color photo each month. Photos should be representative of MBYC s mission of boating and fun - and a minimum size of 5 megapixels. Please your top quality photo entries to Commodore Paul Brown or WS editor Jon Bontekoe at jonbontekoe@gmail.com (or bring them to the Club office).

31 M acatawa Bay Y acht Club MBYC Flag Officers Commodore Paul Brown Vice Commodore Roger Gamache Rear Commodore Bob DeJong Board of Directors Immediate Past Commodore Tovi Kiss Treasurer Larry D Haem Secretary Janet Magennis Director Beth Egge Director Tom Slanec Director John Donnelly Director Mike Hill Director Joel Krissoff Director Mitchell Padnos Director David Sligh, Jr. Judge Advocate JD Stone Management General Manager Marilyn Baker Executive Chef Jim Ruehle Outside Manager Douglas Knapp * * * * Windscoop Editor Jon Bontekoe Web Scoop Bob Standish Mac stories from our members: Do you have a Mac Race story? For the next issues of the Windscoop, we will publish one story per issue and the author of the story will receive a $25 dining certificate to the Club. Stories highlighting MBYC boats/crews will receive extra credit! MBJA Sailing Lessons Update JUNE IS HERE! That means that sailing lessons are right around the corner! We have a great season of sailing instruction and racing lined up for kids of all levels as well as adults. All of our programming begins the week of June 16. We welcome new instructors Sam Padnos, Breanna McGann, and Phillip Norris to our program. We re very excited to have them join veteran Ken Kuper in leading our up and coming sailors. We also have a very talented and eager group of helpers ready to assist on shore and water to make learning to sail as non-threatening as possible. ADULTS! Marc Palma is looking forward to being your instructor on Tuesday and Friday nights! Charter JY-15 s are available on a first come, first served basis. Come and join the fun and learn how to sail with friends! Looking for a new sailing buddy? We ll partner you with another student. Remember, the option of JY-15 racing on Friday nights is part of the package during your session! Early registrations for youth and adult lessons have been strong and are starting to fill up. Please take advantage of registering before May 31 to help us allocate our teaching staff appropriately. Interested in a racing clinic? JP DelSolar Goldsmith will be running an Opti clinic July 2 & 3 and a Laser clinic July 31 & August 1. Registration forms are available online at or West Michigan Youth Sailing Association has its first Intra- City regatta at MBYC on Thursday June 26! Registration forms will be available at the sailing school office on June 16. We will be hosting Opti s, Lasers and 420 s from Grand Rapids, South Haven, Muskegon, Spring Lake and St. Joe for an afternoon of excitement. Let s show our support and have a strong participation for our home event! Want to help out financially? We have opportunities for you as well! West Marine will be hosting MBJA Sailing School on Saturday July 26. We will be roasting hot dogs, advertising our sailing school and they will donate a percentage of their sales back to our program. Mark your calendar also for Saturday August 2! We will be having a Chinese Fundraiser Dinner at MBYC with exquisite cuisine prepared by our own Chef Jim and items to bid on that you can t leave without! Don t forget about the O PEN BIC demo day on Tuesday June 24 from noon to 4pm. You don t have to pre-register, just come down to the launching area and do a test run! Check them out at See you on the water! (Marie Mell) 3

32 Memorial Day A B 4 A, B & C Kids bonfire picnic. D Flag officers with Pastor Zell F Lucy Baldwin, Gwen Post, Dick Becker, Dan Baldwin, and Lorie Becker enjoy the music under the tent. E, G, H, I, J,L - Despite chilly winds and fog, many boats lined up for the traditional Blessing of the Fleet. K The kids served breakfast Monday morning. (Photos by JB, Paul Brown, Lucy Baldwn.) C

33 E I F J G H K With the boom of the cannon the fleet was blessed L 5 5

34 MBYC 2008 Racing Schedule 6 JY 15s Friday evening racing begins May 23 Midwest District Championships July 26/27, MYC Lasers Thursday evening racing begins May 29 Fall Series Oct 5/12/19/26 & Nov 2/9/16/23 Cold Turkey Regatta November 29/30 WMYA championships August 6-9, MYC Optimists (see also MBJA events) Thursday evening racing begins June 19 Junior Patriot s Regatta July 4 Junior Labor Day Regatta September 31 WMYA championships August 6-9, MYC MBJA Classes/Events Session #1 June Session #2 June 30-July 11 Session #3 July Session #4 July 28-Aug 8 Bic O pen Demo Day June 24 Regional Youth Regatta June 26, Saugatuck YC Opti Intermediate Race Clinic July 2/3 Regional Youth Regatta July 9, Spring Lake YC (Opti Green Fleet only) Regional Youth Regatta July 25, St. Joseph YC Regional Youth Regatta July 30, Muskegon YC Laser Race Clinic July 31/Aug 1 Regional Youth Championships August 17 Junior Olympic Regatta October 11/12 S2 7.9/Etchells/Melges 24 Series #1 May 24/25 Series #2 May 31/June 1 Series #3 June 21 (no Etchells) Series #4 July 12/13 Series #5 August 2/3 Series #6 August 30/31 (no 7.9s) Note: 7.9s race only on Saturdays S2 7.9 Canadian Championships June 28/29, Sarnia YC One-Design Verve Cup August 9/10 chicagoyachtclub.org PHRF PHRF #1 May 31 PHRF #2 June 21 PHRF Ladies Race July 6 PHRF #3 July 12 Commodore s Cup August 2/3 Vanderleek Hospice Cup August 23 Bayshore YC Wednesday Night racing June 4/11/18, July 9/16/23/30, August 6/13/20/27, September 3/10/17 South Haven Invitational June 7/8 Chicago NOODs June Tripp Memorial June 25 Queen s Cup June 27 Chicago-Mac July 19 Clipper Cup August 8 Offshore Verve Cup August chicagoyachtclub.org Governor s Cup August 30/31, MYC Anchorage Cup September 6 Note: Away events in Italics Schedule subject to change Additional MBYC event info posted at mbyc.com

35 Requests for a new membership, requests for inactive status and a resignation were reviewed and approved. GM Baker reported that docks and grounds staff and lifeguards had been hired. Treasurer D Haem reviewed the year-to-date financials and noted that income for the year was down primarily due to the Club not renting the proposed four new slips and that we had five un-rented slips. The regional Army Corp of Engineers office is still working on our request for dredging and the slip expansion. Thirteen attended the recent racing seminar, five from MBYC. After testing, three more Club members will be certified local race officers, bringing additional A Mackinac Story from our members... Double Yolk Eggs, An Exploded Spinnaker, and Two Mac Wins Past Commodore Rudy Vredovell (1974) reports that in the middle of a summer celebrating new MBYC dock & slips and the purchase of the land East of the club up to the creek, his 37 Ranger 1-ton sailing vessel Patriot filled out his MBYC summer with a 20-second loss in the Queen s cup and wins in both Mac races. His story follows on right: On Course Side. Racing began in April with Lasers on Lake Mac. Congratulations to Don Bergman, Tracy Brand, Nick Honor, Dave Sligh Jr, Anne Gamache, Mark Bremmer, Mitch Padnos and Mitchell Kiss, for braving the cold water to kick off the season. Speaking of Mitchell Kiss, he and Alex Post were recently observed sailing into the channel in a 25 knot Nor-Wester with 10 swells after having a great ride from Port Sheldon to Holland working on their downwind technique. For safety, they were accompanied by their coach in a RIB. However we can only imagine where this level of skill and enthusiasm will lead Take a moment to congratulate Bill and Lisa Ruoff for their overall win in the second Wednesday Nite series race. Their Dufour 44 Bearly Movin is a stable, comfortable boat that weighs in at the top of their class, so it takes a lot of skill to achieve that type of result. We ll have a lot more to report next month Roger Gamache Board of Directors Meeting for April 2008 Abridged Meeting Notes We left Port Huron for Mackinac Island sailing great with our double-headed rig, leaving all of the one-tonners behind us, despite the fact that our lower shroud s chain plate had been damaged in a storm on the long delivery to the start line. As Patriot approached our rounding mark, the Cove Island Sea Buoy in Georgian Bay, Sunday night, we rounded the wrong mark, not realizing that the Canadian Government had deployed an environmental study buoy with a quick flashing light four miles south of the Cove Island Buoy, which had its normal short-long flashing light. We cleared via radio our rounding to the race committee, as did the other boats. Most of the fleet rounded this wrong mark, but we went back soon after realizing the short-long light was the correct one. Soon after the rounding we were in a tacking duel for over 24 hours fighting for advantage over another one-tonner. On our wounded tack with the damaged chain plate we had to let up, but after tacking onto our strong tack we managed to stay competitive. Approaching the finish line our opponent stalled and we crossed seconds ahead of him only to sadly learn that another one-tonner had finished two hours earlier! How could that be? We protested, convinced that he had rounded the wrong mark and even described the differences of the buoys flashing patterns, but to no avail. Their skipper lied and we were awarded second place. Later that summer Bayview YC held a formal review and because so many boats had made the same rounding mistake and our opponent never admitted his error, we were stuck with insurance coverage through USYRU. Barb Gamache, our PRO, is working toward national certification in race management. US Junior Women s Singlehanded Championship is at our Club in August with participants from around the country. Canada s Cup activity is quiet and we do not yet have an official challenge from RCYC. A revised proposal to initiate sponsorship for regattas was reviewed and approved. An update was provided in the change of our website and hosting company. Update on our WiFi service. The Logbook is almost ready for printing and it is expected that we will have significant savings on printing and postage expenses this year. second place, despite the race captain s acknowledgement that we were correct with our protest. But we knew who had really won. Leaving Mackinac Island for Chicago, we prepared for our second Mac race of the summer, featuring many of the same onetonners. We got off a great start using our powerful double-headed rig in close reaching conditions. We snuck through the Manitou Passage, the Mac Sailors Death Trap, ahead of all the one-tonners, sailing with our No. 1 Genoa that pulled us forward in light winds and rough seas. We celebrated eating a breakfast of fried eggs every one of which had a double yolk. But soon after our breakfast celebration, we spotted our nemesis rounding Gray s Reef, just 1 minute 24 seconds behind us. With 26 miles to the line we knew it would be exciting with another duel to the finish. He d stolen the first Mac race from us but we would not allow it to happen again. Unfortunately we had put up our light-air spinnaker for the downwind run to the Island. But the wind piped up to 30 knots with six-foot seas. Changing sails would give him his chance to pass so we kept it flying until we suddenly heard it explode with a bang, just before the Mac Bridge. All hands scrambled and in no time we had the 1 ½ oz spinnaker flying and it carried us to a first place he never gained on us despite the unplanned sail change. So the summer of 1974 rewarded us with two Mac wins, although history reports only one first and one second. Rudy Vredovell 7

36 J U N E Sun. MBYC #2 South Haven Invitational Father s Day Fishing Tournament & Cookout Chicago NOOD 22 Mini-Rendezvous Mon. Windscoop Copy Due Tues O PEN BIC sailboat demo 24 Wed. Bayshore Summer Series Bayshore Summer Series Bayshore Summer Series Tripp Memorial Thurs. 5 Laser Racing Laser & Junior Racing Laser & Junior Racing Laser & Junior Racing Fri. JY15, etc. Racing Shareholders Meet Past Commodores Luncheon Chicago NOOD JY15 & others Racing 20 JY15 & others Racing 13 Sat. Race Events Social Events Private Parties JY15 & others Racing Queens Cup 6 Coast Guard Aux Inspections South Haven Invitational Chicago NOOD MBYC #3 Offshore #2 Class Reunion New Members Party East greets West MBYC #1

37 Wind Scoop May July 2008 T H E M B Y C N E W S L E T T E R MELGES 24 MBYC s next fleet? In This Issue: Officer ficer Reports... 2, 4, & 10 Past Commodores odores Luncheon MBJA Update... 3 Racing Events June Storm Photos os Melges es 24/S2 7.9 Comparison on... 8 His & Her Macs... 9 Old Goats MACATAWA BAY YACHT CLUB 2157 SOUTH SHORE DRIVE MACATAWA MI FAX: MACATAWA BAY YACHT CLUB 2157 SOUTH SHORE DRIVE MACATAWA, MI (616) FAX (616)

38 I want to thank those members who attended the recent Shareholder s Meeting on June 6. These meetings are a great opportunity for members to get a complete picture on the status and health of the Club. As was reported by the officers at that meeting, both the finances and the physical campus of the Club remain in a strong position and our membership numbers continue to be healthy despite the lackluster economy. At this meeting, I particularly enjoyed the fact that we had a motion from the floor on an issue resulting in a change of the Club s smoking policy. In recent years, this has been a rarity; though I have been told that years ago floor motions and heated discussions were not unusual. In any event, member involvement is a critical part of your Club s success whether it is speaking up at a Shareholder s Meeting or getting involved on a committee. There is a full schedule of events in July at the Club. Over the holiday we have the Patriotic Picnic on Friday the 4 th, and on Past Commodores Luncheon participants: Clark Weersing, Sam Martin. Doug Padnos, Rod Van Tol, Rudy Vedovell, Herb Eldean, Charlie Sligh III, Dave Sligh, Jack Siebers, John Stephenson, Rick Kraai, Kevin Dolle, Tovi Kiss, JD Stone, Cathy Getz, Jack Smith, Phi Ragains John Getz. Photo: Annie VanTol COMMODORE S REPORT the 5 th we have the 2 nd Annual Golf Tournament at 9 AM. Also on the 5 th is the Over 30 Opti Regatta which is as much fun for the spectators as it is a challenge for the adults trying to sail these boats with any sort of grace. On Sunday the 6 th, women take over the PHRF race course for the Ladies Offshore event. On July 12 we have the Bermuda Shorts/Black Tie Party that will feature the steel drum band which had also played at the Club during the Spring Fling party. We host the Catalina Rendezvous July 11-13, and then on the 26 th, it is the junior Pool Olympics/Family Pool Party. Finally, the Club has been sending out an increasing number of updates to members. However, we have current addresses for less than two-thirds of our membership. If you are not receiving these updates, but would like to, send news@mbyc.com a note and you ll be added to the distribution list. July is here, stop by the Club and join the fun. Paul D. Brown, Jr. 2

39 M acatawa Bay Y acht Club MBYC Flag Officers Commodore Paul Brown Vice Commodore Roger Gamache Rear Commodore Bob DeJong Board of Directors Immediate Past Commodore Tovi Kiss Treasurer Larry D Haem Secretary Janet Magennis Director Beth Egge Director Tom Slanec Director John Donnelly Director Mike Hill Director Joel Krissoff Director Mitchell Padnos Director David Sligh, Jr. Judge Advocate JD Stone Management General Manager Marilyn Baker Executive Chef Jim Ruehle Outside Manager Douglas Knapp * * * * Windscoop Editor Jon Bontekoe Web Scoop Bob Standish Front Cover Photo Club Melges 24s battle in light air in the Wednesday night series, June 11. Photo by Jon Bontekoe. The Wind Scoop s front page needs entries for future issues. We want to feature a new color photo each month. Photos should be representative of MBYC s mission of boating and fun - and a minimum size of 5 megapixels. Please your top quality photo entries to Commodore Paul Brown or Wind Scoop editor Jon Bontekoe at jonbontekoe@gmail.com (or bring them to the Club office). MBJA Sailing Lessons Update Hard to believe that we are already into our second session of sailing lessons this summer! The kids (and the staff!) have really been enjoying their time on the water. We still have spots available in 4 th session. Come down and check it out! Don t forget about the adult learn to sail classes Tuesday and Fridays as well. It s not too late to sign up! Independence Day is Friday July 4. Juniors, come out for club racing in your 420. Opti or Laser! We re looking for a great kickoff to the holiday weekend. Do you have marine supplies to purchase for your boat or home? Join us at West Marine Saturday July 26 from A percentage of West Marine sales from that day come back to our program to be used for capital improvements. MANY THANKS to Henri and the rest of her West Marine staff for being part of our future. Have you seen the signs for the MBJA Fundraiser? We ll be hosting a Chinese dinner and auction Saturday August 2. MANY great items have already been suggested and committed for this event. Do you have an idea for this event? Please contact Steve Sisson or Marie Mell We are still looking for donations as well! Our dinner looks to be spectacular (as always!) prepared by Chef Jim and Company. Our goal is to raise $20,000 to establish a yearly boat purchase rotation, a big need as our student base continues to grow. It has also been a number of years since we ve replaced any boats from our Opti and 420 fleets. Are you interested in helping with a youth regatta? Put Sunday August 17 on your calendar for the final event of the West Michigan Youth Sailing Association season. MBYC will be hosting seven yacht clubs from West Michigan and help will be needed in refreshments, race committee, awards, and general assistance. Even if you are available for only 1 or 2 hours, we will have a role for you. Contact Marie if you are available. Thanks for all of your support this summer! See you on the water! Marie Mell Photo of Week #1 class below & Page 5. Photos by Marie Mell 3

40 4 This month, I d like to spend a few moments in consideration of the virtue of hospitality. In raising this issue, I know that I m embarking into treacherous waters, because part of being a private club is that access to our facility (and our society ) is reserved for our members, who pay for that privilege. In that way, the very concept of yacht club entails exclusivity, and that exclusivity entails some restrictions on when and how hospitality is extended. With that clearly stated, I d like to suggest some other factors that we should all keep in mind as we spend time at the club this summer. The first factor that requires a spirit of generous hospitality is our unique position in the community. In the greater scheme of Holland, MBYC provides a unique opportunity for families to become involved with water-oriented activities in a supportive, cooperative environment. One way to look at our current Club is to understand that we have the benefits of this wonderful fellowship and facility because prior generations of people like us had the foresight and passion to invest themselves in our Club and subsequently share it with us. Current members are the beneficiaries of this wonderful legacy and implicit in this benefit would seem to be the responsibility to pass it forward by making sure that we are open and hospitable to anyone who is interested in participating in our unique experience. So, firstly, we need to be hospitable because it is consistent with our origins as a Club. The second factor that requires attractive hospitality is the need to continue to attract new members. At a very high level, I have always thought there was fundamental wisdom to my father s observation that organizations are either growing or dying; there is no stasis. At a very practical level, news about the financial difficulties of many local private clubs (Holland Country Club and the Peninsula Club most recently) highlight the need to have a regular stream of new members. Currently we ve been exceptionally fortunate in this regard, partly because Holland is a retirement destination for active retirees, partly because Macatawa draws summer residents from prosperous urban areas outside our state, and partly because members and staff have been attentive and responsive when people express an initial interest in our club. However, the age profile of our members points to a potential future problem. Despite some great examples of active participation very late in life, the rate of lost members will likely increase in future years, and we will need to increase the number of new members significantly to maintain the stability of the club. What can we do to increase our level of hospitality? I d suggest we consciously adopt a couple of behaviors: VICE COMMODORE S REPORT 1. Introduce yourself to strangers. Hello, I m Roger. How are you today? Follow that up with I haven t met you before, do you have a boat here? or Is there something I can do to help you? We have an open campus. From time to time that creates security issues, but just as often, it can create real opportunities as people come onto our property to investigate what we could offer them. A friendly, helpful first contact will go a long way in developing a lasting interest in the club. 2. Consciously extend hospitality to yachtsmen visiting from all other clubs. Encouraging visits by members of other clubs costs us nothing, and has the potential benefit of promoting consideration of membership. Each club has its own feel, and there s no reason to assume that simply because someone is currently a member of another local club that they are not a legitimate candidate for membership here. I know that there is a latent fear that individuals might take advantage of the opportunity to keyhole membership benefits by abusing guest privileges. However, I believe this risk can be managed on a case-by-case basis, and the overall benefits more than offset the risk. 3. Be on the lookout for people in the other areas of your life who might appreciate an introduction to our Club. I know of several members who had no prior yacht club experience and therefore had no appreciation of how club membership could impact their life. In one particular case, the member actually had a negative, elitist image of yacht clubs, which was only overcome because of the hospitality to them by an observant member. 4. Increase our co-sponsorship community outreach activities. Community sailing lessons and Holland Young Professional Association un-winders are examples of things we currently do to have more presence in the community. However, within our membership there are likely to be a number of other opportunities that could introduce our club to people, and at the same time would have little cost or impact on our current members. The more contact and the higher level of hospitality will inevitably lead to more interest in membership. 5. Longer term, we should re-evaluate the value proposition that membership offers for the year old single or family. We are fortunate that we don t have to address this issue as a unique problem. Rather, we can benchmark what a number of clubs have been doing regarding this issue. However, I believe that timing is critical. The time to address this issue is while our membership is strong, and not wait until declining membership impairs our ability to react. As always, I m sure that you will have some specific feedback about these issues. I look forward to seeing you at our Club and learning about your ideas regarding increasing our hospitality. Roger Gamache

41 On The Course Side Early participation in the Etchell s fleet has been light, due to Randall Pitman and Jeff Padnos preparing for participation in the Etchell s World Championship in Chicago. That being said, Tracy Brand and John Donnelly have been having some spirited match racing! Action in the 7.9 fleet has been led by perennial champions Don & Jean Bergman, with Peter Schwartz consistently nipping at their heels. It s interesting to note that Peter has adopted a youth strategy and has one of our more active junior sailors, Mitchell Kiss, helping with sail trim and tactics. Our junior sailors offer a relatively untapped reserve of experience for our adult fleets. Don t let their age fool you in many cases our juniors have more races under their belt than our senior competitors, and they have all summer to practice! Wednesday night racing continues with the beginning of the Summer Series. Jack VanderLeek Cup Hospice Regatta: -August 23 rd The second annual VanderLeek Cup Hospice Regatta is scheduled for Saturday, August 23 rd. This year s event is sponsored by Macatawa Bay Yacht Club, Anchorage Yacht Club, and Bayshore Yacht Club. Last year, over 30 boats raced in 4 divisions: Spinnaker 1, Spinnaker 2, Jib & Main and, of course, Comfort Cruisers, who will retire to their annual ice cream social after one race. The competitive divisions will remain on the water for several races. There will once again be two courses, a Triangular course for the Comfort Cruisers and a Windward/Leeward course for the other divisions. The NOR is posted on MBYC s website. Captains line up your crew and submit your registration to reserve your spot. Contact Tom Slanec at talaria73@aol.com for questions about the race. Funds raised from the regatta will benefit Hospice of Holland s Tulip Tree Fund. The Tulip Tree Fund provides financial and Linda Knoblauch s Capricious and Ted Etheridge s Drumbeat have shown good results in Spinnaker Division A. Dave Shipman is having early success with Ignatz Spinnaker B. Tom Van Tol s Tom Foolery and Scott VanderLinde s Highland Fling are having fun in the front of the JAM class. Don Thinschmidt s Tyrant, Arendshorst/ Brand/Krissoff/Padnos Sufficient Reason, and Guy Hiestand s Madcap participated in the PHRF section of the recent Chicago Yacht Club NOOD regatta. On the Etchell s course, Jeff Padnos and Bob Hughes (substituting for Randall Pitman) sailed in the NOOD pre-world s regatta. As always, I ve probably missed something just let me know: roger.d.gamache@aol.com. assistance to Hospice patients for expenses not covered by insurance plans. Over $19,000 was raised for Hospice of Holland. Contact Sandy Byrne, Executive Director of Hospice of Holland, at sbyrne@hollandhospice.org for information about Hospice of Holland or to sponsor this year s event. All donations are tax deductible. This year s event promises to be even more fun and exciting. MBYC will combine their end of the summer party with the awards ceremony for the regatta. A delicious tropical buffet is planned and we ll enjoy music from Pete Trappen again. Thanks to Marilyn Baker and Paul Brown for their support! Commodore s Cup: A big event, many visitors and lots of boat classes The 2008 Commodore s Cup is August 2 and 3, and will be a major sailing event for MBYC this year. We plan on two different race circles to accomodate the anticpated fleets: Farr 40, Melges 24, S2 7.9, S2 9.1, Etchells, and at least two PHRF classes. This should be a very exciting weekend at the club, and will provide Holland area sailors with some great competition from all over Lake Michigan! We ll have a number of guest sailors from out of town, so it will be a good opportunity to show off our club and demonstrate our MBYC hospitality! Look for the notice of race and entry form on the website. If you are interested in crewing in this event, log on to the Crew Matching on the mbyc.com message board or contact Jack Knoblauch. For more information, call or Jack Knoblauch. Ladies PHRF Race The Notice of Race and Entry Form are available for the July 6 Ladies Offshore Race at MBYC.com. Want to crew, or need crew? Contact Linda Knoblauch at or lkknobby@comcast.net MBJA Lessons - first day on the water. mm 5

42 Mid June brought some huge storms, a waterfall over the seawalls, damage to Eldean s seawall, and a fathers day fishing tournament for kids and fathers with sunshine and big fish. 6 Clean up in Macatawa is still ongoing after the heavy rain. MBYC had water up to the doors and an Opti regatta could have occurred in the parking lot, but your Club escaped without damage. A big thanks goes to Doug Knapp, our Outside Manager, for such a quick clean up of the Club s grounds after the storm. Our neighbor to the West, Eldeans, had more than their share of excitement and we wish them a speedy dry-out and recovery. Storm photos submitted to the Wind Scoop depicted dramatic cloud and rain fromations, water pouring over the sea walls, and a collapsed wall at Eldean s. Photos by Lance Baker, Lisa Ruoff, and jb.

43 Fathers Day fishing tournament. Sponsors Bill & Sally Swets, Nancy & Larry Andreano planned it all and brought the equipment. Photos by Paul Brown. 7

44 Board of Directors Meeting for May 2008 Abridged Meeting Notes Requests for new membership, requests for inactive status and a resignation were reviewed and approved. GM Baker reported that several new member packets were given out in the last few weeks. New staff and additional servers have been hired. One of the dock staff has begun work. 275 attended the Mother s Day Brunch. Slip rentals are almost full, with only the small slip #1 and the two small slips in the angle of the west dock remain open. The year-end accounting compilation report was reviewed and approved. The Club booked a loss last year due to revenues being down, however expenses were stable. Treasurer D Haem recommended a focus on outside banquet activity. Monthly financials were reviewed and approved. Balance sheet shows stability and outstanding receivables are being contacted, although that is in good shape. An inventory of racing equipment has been done and we are short on yellow tetrahedrons. Commodore s Cup planning is well underway and will involve two racing circles. The regional Army Corps of Engineers is still reviewing our file and a discussion on timing of work assuming an approval. A motion prevailed that if ACE approval is received, we move forward immediately with dock construction, dredging up to the $20,000 budget, and weir cleanup if also approved. Discussion on Bar sales and trends. Wi-fi is now password protected with expanded bandwidth. This required a very small investment for added Club value. The logbook has been printed and will be in the mail this week. We saved significantly on printing and mailing expense and also had increased donations from members. Discussion on the upcoming Shareholder s meeting. Melges 24 & S2-7.9 status report Fleets come and go at our Club, and the newest group of boats which is on the verge of fleet status are the Melges 24s. We have 4 of them now in the drysail area and all of them promise to be regulars on the race course. Introduced in 1993, the boat attracts the best sailors at major events but is also a great boat for club racing both one design and PHRF - and for day sailing. At 1,800 lbs, the low weight of the boat makes it easy to trailer, and in most sailing conditions, the sheet loads are small enough that it is relatively easy for kids to assume a major role in sailing the boat there are no winches on the boat. In any sort of breeze, these boats easily plane downwind. With boats already built, used boats are readily available at prices starting in the low twenties. Typically, a boat will sail with 4 for racing, but it is easy to daysail with 2. There is a very strong class association, with a large number of regattas to choose from during the year. Later in July, this nascent fleet will host a Sail a Melges day. Interested? Contact Jim Stuursma at jstuurs@iserv.net. Other information is available at and at forums.sailinganarchy.com// index.php?showtopic= We would be remiss if we did not also point out the virtues of S2 7.9s which have been part of MBYC fleet activities since the early 80 s. While the 7.9 s have not been built since 1994, there are many used boats available with prices from around $10K up to $20K. The boats are much heavier than a Melges, with a minimum weight of 4,400 pounds, but have a generous interior making cruising a real possibility. The boat s weight adds significantly to the sheet loads when sailing, and the 600 lb daggerboard can be a real work-out to raise. Overall, the boat s displacement gives it more of a yacht feel. When racing there are small speed differences between boats, thus making them very tactical. There are probably a dozen 7.9s on Lake Macatawa and at least six actively race in local events. Most, if not all, are kept in slips, making it easy to get out on the water. 8 In the light-air Bayshore summer series race of June 11, Bergman s S2 7.9 is seen passing two of the MBYC member Melges 24s just after the Melges boats rounded the turning marks set up by the channel buoy in front of the club. The light weight of both classes was apparent in the advantage they both had in light winds. Photo by jb.

45 A Mackinac Story from our members... Lighter moments on the Chicago to Mackinac Race In 1989 Carol and Jack Kunze raced from Chicago to Mackinac on different boats, whose owners and crews were great friends, and had a long history of racing with and against each other in many regattas. Carol raced on the Santa Cruz 50, Clark Kent, and Jack on the Farr 40, Saucy. While both programs enjoyed a good deal of success, they had a somewhat different approach. Clark Kent was always pushed to the max by its knowledgeable owners and crew, but with excellent food, and plenty of libations for crew and friends on the island. In contrast, the owner of Saucy often said...if it doesn t make the boat go faster, there s no reason to have it aboard. That difference always provided plenty of fodder for good natured pre and post-race chiding between the teams. Is it true that Saucy once raced to Mackinac with a big bowl of pasta and one fork? In the 80 s, boats were assigned a time to call in their position to the Coast Guard Cutter on Sunday afternoon. To accomplish this, the scratch sheet contained a diagram of Lake Michigan divided into grids of 10 miles by 10 miles, each identified by a letter and a number, i.e. H-22. Each boat had a person below on the radio carefully monitoring the call in locations of their competitors and reporting it to the crew on deck. This Sunday afternoon entertainment was referred to as the Oh S t Report. Leading up to the Sunday call-in both boats were doing well. So as to not alert the competition of their true location, the decision was made on Saucy to fudge their call in their position and report one grid farther back than their true location. Saucy s navigator, Lou, was a very conscientious sort and this task fell on him. After several failed attempts to call in, it was apparent that the Coast Guard Cutter was out of Saucy s radio s range. The Saucy crew knew their friends on Clark Kent were in the vicinity, and they decided to request that Clark Kent forward Saucy s position to the Coast Guard. When Lou got Clark Kent on the radio, he requested...to report to the Coast Guard that Saucy was in grid H-22. The quick response from Clark Kent was...that s not possible. Lou then asked... why are you unable to do so? The response from their friends on Clark Kent, (which was certainly heard by the Coast Guard and all the boats in the area), was... because we know where you are! Amid howls of laughter aboard Clark Kent, Lou dropped the microphone and turned as red as a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar! Clark Kent did finally agree to call in the correct Saucy position. To this day when we all get together, there are jokes made regarding the minimalist D cell batteries that the crew on Saucy used to power their VHF radio! In the 1993 race, Carol and Jack raced on the Santa Cruz 52, Clark Kent, in the PHRF 1 section with the GL 70 s and other boats. The race was a bit of a drag race, and Clark Kent moved up the lake well utilizing its new asymmetrical spinnaker. After listening to the call-in reports, it seemed certain that Clark Kent would flag in the race. Imagine the surprise when the Clark Kent crew received results on the island and learned that they were in a second place tie with the GL70 Cynosure. Somehow, a tie after 333 miles did not rest well with the crew. What to do? Never at a loss, the Clark Kent crew moved on to the Pink Pony, sought out the crew of Cynosure, and challenged them to a tie-breaker competition. Space was cleared in the Pony (doable when only the biggest boats are in), and a contest of Rocks, Paper, Scissors ensued. After a couple of tie rounds, Clark Kent s paper covered Cynosure s rock, and the Clark Kent team stood alone in second place! Spouses of Commodores attending their luncheon: Annie VanTol, Shirley Weersing, Kathy Ragains, Kathy Sligh, SuzyVedovell, Helen Smith, Maggie Stone, Nicki Arendshorst, Nancy Padnos, Marilyn Sligh, Linda Brand, Jeani Martin, Michelle Dolle, Linda Stephenson, Michael Kiss. Photo: AVT We continue to chuckle about these stories, and hope you ve had a chuckle too! by Carol and Jack Kunze 9

46 REAR COMMODORE S REPORT 10 This report will summarize the report given at the June 6 Stockholders Meeting for those who were not able to be present. HOUSE COMMITTEE With leadership by Rod Van Tol, the House Committee is continuing to work with Jim and Marilyn on menu and pricing issues. Those in the industry know that food supply costs have increased hugely over the past year. Some of our main entrees have increased as much as fifty percent in costs! The joint effort has resulted in menu prices that are very modestly, if any, higher than last year. Persistent efforts to find the right dining room manager have been unsuccessful. The search continues. Let Rod or Marilyn know if you have any strong leads. By motion of the shareholders at the meeting, the main clubhouse will be smoke free effective January 1, The Junior Yacht Club facility is smoke free effective immediately. Wednesday night racers confirm that Chef Jim has been successful in finding a way to feed the crush of post-race diners with creative buffet offerings and still maintain good quality and reasonable prices. House Committee is working on more and better wine selections to enhance your dining pleasure. (See Rod s article in this issue.) Members are encouraged to provide reactions and/or suggestions by comment card or directly to members of the Committee. Our House bottom line is currently ahead of last year primarily because of increased banquets and private parties. Members are reminded of the $25.00 gift certificate for helping to promote such an event. Marilyn makes every reasonable effort to schedule such events so as to minimize, if not eliminate, any conflict with the use of our facilities by our members. We have added a new $ commercial line-freezer to replace the $50.00 used freezer that had quit serving its purpose. The new freezer will help to minimize trips into the walk-in freezer thereby improving efficiency of our food line and helping to maintain the coldness of the walk-ins. DOCKS AND GROUNDS Does anyone not yet know that Kevin Dolle s multi-year exercise of patience and persistence has finally resulted in four new docks? Thank you, Kevin, for all your work on this. The east T-dock by the hoists will be permanently fixed by Clearwater this year rather than band aided temporarily. Besides rebuilding the deteriorating dock, it will be lowered to match the west T- dock to help make it more functional for our day sailors. The slip list is posted. If you know of anyone who was reluctant to join MBYC because the list was too long, look again! For the WiFi ers around the Club thank you to Windscoop Editor Jon Bontekoe who doubles as WiFi technician. For almost no cost, he took a crippled router with intermittent levels of service and made it really sing. Under Dave Sligh Jr. s leadership, Docks and Grounds Committee continues to explore longer term solutions to shade around the pool area. On an interim basis, we have replaced all of the pool umbrellas since many had broken and were no longer functional. Speaking of the pool, this year we were presented with higher than budgeted expenses for maintenance. Because of EPA issues regarding paint, and because of deterioration of handrails, the Club incurred about $ of expense to get up and running this year. We expect to be back to normal next year. When funds allow, the swimming pool bathrooms will have improved exhaust systems. Saunas and steam rooms are nice but not when one is just looking for a restroom facility. In the meanwhile, parents are encouraged to remind their kids that there is no real thrill in leaving the hot showers running after everyone leaves. Watch for modifications to the trophy case area to accommodate the Canada s Cup! NAUTI SHOP If you have not recently reviewed the awesome MBYC gear selected by Anne Gamache and Linda Knoblauch, do yourself a favor. For those looking for late Father s Day (or even Mother s Day?) presents, or early Fourth of July gifts, they have just the solution for you! The Nauti-Shop is not, nor is it intended to be, a profit center. The articles are priced to make these great MBYC items available to members, guests and friends at about break-even prices. It seems that every year, the quality of selection is higher than the year before. Check it out. Please remember that the Board, its Committees and the Bridge are here to help make MBYC a better place for you to be. Let us know how we can help do that. Bob De Jong

47 MBYC members inducted into Island Goats Sailing Society The strong sailing heritage of MBYC was again evident on April 26 th when three of the twenty-six new members inducted by the Island Goats Sailing Society (IGSS) were current MBYC members. The occasion was the Annual Spring Dinner of the IGSS held at Chicago Yacht Club s Belmont Station. The newest MBYC inductees were Carol Anderson Kunze, Jeff Sale, and Dan Van Dyke. These three bring the total number of active Goats at MBYC to seventeen. Thus MBYC continues to have the largest representation in the IGSS of any yacht club outside the City of Chicago. In 2000 the IGSS began presenting Goat Head plaques to area yacht clubs, and on October 18 th of that year the very first plaque was presented to MBYC. The plaque lists all past and present MBYC members of the IGSS and is on permanent display in the Commodore s Room near the front entrance of the club. The IGSS dinner was attended by over 200 members, family and friends, whose black tie attire provided quite a contrast from their usual sailing wear. A traditional part of the evening s entertainment includes the new inductees telling one of their favorite stories while racing in the Chicago to Mackinac Race. If you weren t able to attend the evening and bump into Carol, Jeff or Dan around the club, ask them to share their story with you. While there are more women joining the ranks of big boat sailors every year, Carol Kunze and her husband Jack are only the third couple in the history of the IGSS. They are preceded by Anne & Birger Juell and Kay & Bob Chatain. In 1979 Anne Juell became the first women inducted into the IGSS. Anne grew up in Grand Rapids, and vividly remembers sailing out of MBYC. Anne s father, Hugh Schaddelee was a past Commodore of MBYC, and Anne is a past Commodore of the IGSS. Some of our members will remember seeing Hilaria, her family s magnificent yawl, tied up at MBYC. In 1959 the IGSS was founded for sailors who have raced in the Chicago to Mackinac race 25 times or more and currently has almost 300 members. In addition to the Spring Dinner, the IGSS hosts three other annual events: a Pre-Race Party at Columbia YC on the Eve of the Chicago to Mackinac race, a Post-Race Party on Mackinac Island after the race, and a Holiday Party in early December at Chicago YC. If you ve raced in the Chicago to Mackinac Island Yacht Race 25 or more times and would like to join your fellow MBYC members in one of the most exclusive sailing fraternities in the world, contact member Jack Kunze. by Jack Kunze Dock construction finally approved by Army Corp and underway Clearwater Marine, the contractor hired by the Club for the docks project, began work immediately, building the dock expansion in the east basin. If all goes to plan, we will be walking on the new docks before you get this Wind Scoop. We ll have four new large slips when completed. jb 11

48 July 4 th Holiday Planner July 4: Junior Patriots Regatta (11 AM) Patriotic Picnic (6 PM) MBJYC Ice Cream Social (6:30 PM) Van Andel Fireworks (10 PM) July 5: Golf Tournament (9 AM) Over 30 Opti Regatta (11 AM) July 6: Ladies Offshore Race 12 Sun. Race Events Social Events Private Parties Ladies Offshore MBYC #4 6 Catalina Rendezvous MBJYC Bowling Party Harbor Springs Regatta Mon J U L Y Tues. Windscoop Copy Due Wed. Bayshore Summer Series Bayshore Summer Series Bayshore Summer Series Bayshore Summer Series Thurs. 3 Laser Racing JY15, etc. Racing Laser & Junior Racing Laser & Junior Racing Laser & Junior Racing Laser & Junior Racing July Fri. JY15 & others Racing JY15 & others Racing JY15 & others Racing Sat. 5 July 4 MBJYC 4 Over 30 Ice Cream Optis MBYC Golf Tournament 11 MBYC #4 12 Offshore #3 Bermuda Shorts Black Tie Party Picnic Junior Patriots Regatta (Opti, JY,Laser, etc.) Catalina Rendezvous-->13 August 1 Chicago MAC Harbor Springs Family Pool Party August 2 Commodore s Cup MBJA Fundraiser Dinner

49 May MACATAWA BAY YACHT CLUB 2157 SOUTH SHORE DRIVE MACATAWA MI FAX:

50 COMMODORE S REPORT August is here and as you read through this month s Windscoop, you will see how incredibly busy your Club will be this month especially for our racing activities. Juniors, PHRF, and our one-design fleets have an event nearly every week as we countdown to Labor Day. Much of my racing this year has been of the spectating type watching our MBJA sailors participate in the newly created regional sailing circuit which has held events at MBYC and other area clubs. Let me tell you, it has been incredibly fun to watch these events due to the enthusiasm and camaraderie that these kids exhibit and it gives me great confidence in the future of racing at MBYC. Though a completely separate legal entity from MBYC, the MBJA deserves significant credit for the success of our Club. It keeps a tangible focus on sailing and racing; it brings a daily level of energy and activity; and helps us to be a better family and child-friendly club. It has a 20+ year history of teaching sailing to our juniors and has achieved incredible success on a financial shoestring. The operating expenses are basically covered by lesson fees and the occasional equipment requirements have been supported by cash donations. There is also a small group of regular boosters who have generously supported the MBJA with various in-kind assistance and equipment donations. But because of the intensive use that the MBJA boats receive - it is not enough. Many boats need to be replaced for the 09 season and then a program for rotating in new replacement boats has to be instituted to maintain the program quality we all expect. As I hope that you already know, the MBJA is hosting a fundraiser at MBYC on August 2 nd. With a bit of luck, this newsletter has arrived in your mailbox prior to the 2 nd and you are inspired to attend their event and support local junior sailing. If you can t attend, please consider opening your checkbook and sending them a contribution. Next summer, when you see those kids learning to sail (and having a blast) in improved equipment, it will give you a feeling even better than the knowledge that that the MBJA is a registered 501(c)(3) organization, with all donations tax deductible. Lastly, don t forget to make your reservations for this year s Commodore s Ball, on August 16th. The Social Committee has arranged an encore performance of last year s band, The Soulz of Rythym (they will nearly blow the roof off the Club with just their brass section), featuring our own Dr. John, and Chef Jim always creates the most fantastic dinner of the season. I hope to see you there, Paul D. Brown, Jr. 2 Please plan to participate in one of our most unique social events of the year. A lot of our most memorable club lore comes from past Rendevous, and you won t want to miss history in the making with this year s event. So mark your calendar for Sunday, September 7 th. Recovery will depart MBYC at 14:15 (2:15 pm) and proceed to Pine Creek Bay to take position as the center boat in the raft. We d expect that the actual festivities will begin at 15:00 (3:00 pm). We ll conclude the raft at 18:00 (6:00 pm). In the unlikely event of inclement weather, the event will take place under the tent at MBYC. The Rendevous is a do it yourself event and there are a couple of different ways to Voulez vous Rendevous? participate. Boat owners typically will bring hors d oeuvres and libations for themselves their crew for the day, and drop in guests. Members and guest not bringing their own boat are welcome to ride on Recovery. Once the raft has formed, club members and crews socialize from boat-to-boat sharing fellowship, food, and fun. To add some spice to the event, and help focus our creativity, there will be a special award for best in show for the event. Sponsors Dick and Pat Danly and Roger and Anne Gamache look forward to seeing you there! For additional information or clarifications, please call Roger Gamache at rg Front Cover Photo The photo shows Capricious, close hauled during the women s PHRF race. Story and pictures on on pages 8 & 9. Photo by Grant Cheney. The Wind Scoop s front page needs entries for future issues. We want to feature a new color photo each month. Please your top quality sailing photo entries to Commodore Paul Brown or Wind Scoop editor Jon Bontekoe at jonbontekoe@gmail.com (or bring them to the Club office). Pictures opposite: O Pen Bic test sail day at MBYC. Sails with 1 or 2 crew. jb

51 M acatawa Bay Y acht Club MBYC Flag Officers Commodore Paul Brown Vice Commodore Roger Gamache Rear Commodore Bob DeJong Board of Directors Immediate Past Commodore Tovi Kiss Treasurer Larry D Haem Secretary Janet Magennis Director Beth Egge Director Tom Slanec Director John Donnelly Director Mike Hill Director Joel Krissoff Director Mitchell Padnos Director David Sligh, Jr. Judge Advocate JD Stone Management General Manager Marilyn Baker Executive Chef Jim Ruehle Outside Manager Douglas Knapp * * * * Windscoop Editor Jon Bontekoe Web Scoop Bob Standish MBJA Sailing Lessons Update As you are reading this, we are nearing the end of the 2008 summer sailing season! We have had lots of great sunny days, good learning and good times on the water, teaching over 130 students (including 15 from the Holland Boys & Girls Club) about the adventures and joy of sailing. If you were lucky enough to get your Windscoop before August 2, I hope that you are planning on joining us for the MBJA Fundraiser Dinner and Auction Saturday August 2 held at MBYC. Dinner cost is $30 per person and all proceeds go toward capital improvements to our fleet. We are in GREAT need of Opti s for our beginning sailors. Another need is for updating our 420 s. On the horizon, we are looking to build a fleet of O Pen Bics. We already have commitments from a handful of people to purchase their own family s boat and are looking to add 1-2 club boats for the 2009 season. Did you miss our fundraiser? Please consider a tax-deductable donation to the MBJA. Our wish list is available for specific needs. Corporate sponsorships are definitely available as well. Please contact Marie Mell or Steve Sisson if you are interested. Thursday night Opti races continue through August and are open to any junior sailor. If you don t have your own boat, don t let that stop you! We will loan you a club boat. We are looking into a partnership with the Macatawa Tennis Club for next summer. In the meantime, please check out the notice boards around the club for information on youth tennis lessons. The information is current through August 22. On Sunday August 17, the WMYSA Championship Regatta will be hosted by our club. If you are interested in helping with race committee, registration or post-race hospitality, please contact Marie. This looks to be a very spirited, competitive event for our junior sailors! Come join the fun and support our club! Looking ahead to fall, MBYC will be hosting the Junior Olympics on October 11 & 12. What a great way to continue to develop your sailing skills before packing away your boat for winter regattas in Florida! Check your class association website for upcoming holiday events. It s been a great summer and plenty left to enjoy! See you on the water! Marie Mell Looking for something new on he MBYC dining menu? Chef Jim has prepared some exciting new salads (above). Reasonably priced. 3

52 Line squalls. We ve had a number of them this year. In fact, the last Windscoop had some great pictures of one of the early squall lines approaching the club from the Northwest. Squall lines are, in an odd way, quite beautiful. However, as experienced mariners, we know that they need to be anticipated and handled with a high degree of respect. As the storm approaches we shorten sail, get our foul weather gear, and secure ports, hatches and loose gear. It s always hard to estimate how much wind will be in the initial face wall of the squall line, but experience has taught us that it s much better to be prepared for more, than be caught unprepared. Managing our club this year has been a little bit like sailing through a series of line squalls. General economic conditions, local economic events, and the shifting nature of club member s lives and interests have made efficient management of the club a greater challenge than ever before. Your club manager, flag officers, and board members have been attentive to these squall lines, and, unlike a number of other clubs, our club is in good shape, and still on course. But it s also clear that the storms aren t over yet. So we continue to proceed carefully, with an eye toward reducing our exposure to financial risk, while at the same time, continuing to pursue our mission. VICE COMMODORE S REPORT As part of the crew, members have an important role in helping us through our current challenge. One specific way to help is to, whenever possible, provide the club with advanced notification (reservation) that you re going to visit the dining room. This is particularly important for special events at the club, because we try to reduce waste by purchasing only the amount of supplies necessary for the event. Interestingly, our recent 4 th of July event was a great event, with over 200 people served, however, 24 hours before the event we had approximately 80 reservations. Good thing Jim knows our membership!! Another way that the membership will be able to help is active participation in the life of the club. Many of my recent conversations with members have focused on the delivery of value from the club to the member. This point of view focuses on the customer s (member s) relationship to a vendor (club). And while certainly valid, I believe that the strength of our club comes from the fact that our relationship with our club is different and much more reciprocal. As a member, we are both customer and vendor, because it is our club. Member involvement will help our club stay focused on what is important to members, and allow us to strengthen our position despite economic squalls. I am looking forward to having opportunities for each of our members to expand their participation in our club going forward. See you at our club! Roger Gamache 4 On The Course Side There s a lot of new activity in our junior sailing program. In addition to our normal junior event schedule, Steve Sisson and Marie Mell have championed the formation of the West Michigan Youth Sailing Association, including Muskegon Yacht Club, Grand Rapids Yacht Club, Spring Lake Yacht Club, Saugatuck Yacht Club and St. Joseph Yacht Club. The purpose of the Association is to provide an opportunity for our juniors to experience the challenges of sailing in different venues, while keeping the complexity of a road trip reasonable. Early leaders for Team Macatawa include some of our youngest sailors: Graham Post, Jacob and Zachary Pettinga, Matthew Greydanus, Alex Brown, and Anthony Norris. Congratulations to our newest champions! Every year the Queen s Cup is one of the high points of the big boat racing schedule. This year MBYC was well represented in the winner s circle, accounting for 3 of the top 10 positions (tied with Milwaukee Yacht Club for the most boats in the top 10). Congratulations to Tom Slanec and the crew of Talaria for winning the Mitena Cup for the best MBYC corrected finish time, scoring a 5 th overall and 1 st in Division 10. Rod Vantol s Relentless was 8 th overall and 1 st in Division 7. Dave Verdier s veteran campaigner Retriever was 10 th Overall, and 1 st in Division 5. Alun Wilson, Shek O, and Tom Vantol Tom Foolery were 2 nd in their respective divisions. Also participating were Doug Petter Willie J, Lisa and Bill Ruoff Bearly Movin, Ryan DeVos Alpha One, and Guy Hiestand Madcap. As this is being written, feverish last minute preparations are taking place for the 100 th Anniversary Chicago Yacht Club Mackinac Race. MBYC will be represented by 9 boats. By the time you re reading this you will already know the outcome. But we ll try to have some behind the scenes stories for our next issue. As always, if I ve missed something, please let me know at rogerdgamache@aol.com.

53 West Michigan Youth Sailing Association Update A Opti Regatta participants and winners show off their ribbons. Sailed on a foggy day and visited by the Wilfred Sykes. Photos by Mary Bontekoe. A MBYC youth sailors show off ribbons won in the Spring Lake Green Fleet Regatta. As of mid-july with two WMYSA regattas under our belts, MYJA is in first place, followed by St. Joe. The first regatta of the summer series was held June 26 at MBYC. Mac Bay finished first by a margin of 27 points. Opti s, lasers, and 420 s were scored in this event. The second regatta was held at Spring Lake and was a Green Fleet (new to racing) Opti s only regatta. Of the top 10 places, MBJA took 6 of the spots! WAY TO GO MAC BAY! Our Green Fleet has been very popular so far this summer, with many kids who just started in our Learn to Sail or Race classes joining in and catching RACING FEVER! There were 17 green fleeters in the June 26 regatta. OUTSTANDING! We will be traveling to St. Joe Friday July 25 and to Muskegon Wednesday July 30 for intra-club regattas. The culminating event will be Sunday August 17, hosted by MBYC. Watch the Green Fleet Opti s from the front lawn or follow us out to Lake Michigan for the Opti Red/White/ Blue, Laser and 420 courses! Races will start at 10:30am. The awards ceremony will be at approximately 4:30pm. If you are interested in helping out with race committee, hospitality or safety, please contact Marie. The kids have all been very appreciative of our efforts to get the WMYSA league started this summer they would love your support that day as we hope to win the first ever WMYSA Championship! by Marie Mell 5

54 6 Unofficial ficial Chicago Mac Results (as of press time) Just as the Windscoop is going to press, Chicago Yacht Club has published the unofficial results for this race between men and women versus the elements weather (dramatic and numerous velocity and direction wind changes, bouts of rain and fog) and reports of Exodus revisited the plague of the flies!! Blog reports reflected unusually thankful hearts of racers for visiting bats and birds who came to feast on the attack of the insects. Congratulations to MBYC s boats: Doug and Dick DeVos Windquest 3 rd of 9 in Turbo Sec. Don Thinschmidt Tyrant 4 th of 21 boats Sec. 1 (27 seconds from 3 rd ) Robert Hughes Heartbreaker 7 th of 25 boats Sec. 2 Krissof, Arendshorst et al Sufficient Reason 2 nd of 21 boats Sec. 3 Dave Verdier Retriever 10 th of 21 boats Sec 6 Lisa and Bill Ruoffs Bearly Movin 12 th of 21 boats Sec 6 Guy Hiestead Mad Cap 13 th of 25 boats Sec 7 Phil Ragain Rapparee 15 th of 23 boats Sec 8 Annie and Rod Van Tol Relentless 17 th of 23 boats Sec 8 Tom Van Tol Tomfoolery 7 th of 17 boats Sec 10 (Note: Many unnamed club members sailed on these and other boats.) Tom Slanec chartered and competed on Northern Spy and Commodore Brown competed on Ragged Edge both boats prevailing over the elements. Thank all of you racing MBYC members for upholding the reputation of MBYC s competitive racing!! Congratulations also to our sister club, Chicago Yacht Club, for another well run, successful event celebrating the 100 th running of the longest fresh water race in the world. The shore crews, racer wannabes, and other spectators enthusiastically watched this historic race compliments of itrack.com. For the first time in the history of the race, all boats were required to carry transponders so race progress could be monitored from start to finish. Webcams at Mackinac Island provided continuous snapshots of the finish line area and the docking areas of the race boats. It was almost as good as being there.well, not quite, but at least there were no flies in the bleachers!! Bob DeJong

55 7 July 4 Independence Day July 4 events pictured here include the golf tournament (Doug Slade won with 4 shots to the green), the picnic and ice cream social for MBJYC, an Opti Regatta for the Over-30 crowd, and a jet flyover in the morning. Photos by many club amateur photographers - for which WS is very grateful.

56 MBYC Ladies PHRF Regatta Debut Many Great Sailors - Great Comp 8 MBYC hosted its first Women s PHRF Regatta Sunday, July 6, 2008 with four entries. Many of MBYC s most competitive women sailors and boats participated. Over a dozen spectator boats went along for the ride on what turned out to be a beautiful blue-sky day with light winds for two races. Fluky winds forced cancellation of the third race. The four boats racing were: Marie Mell s Hot for Teacher which took first, Jean Bergman s Second Wind in second place, Linda Knoblauch s Capricious in third. Annie VanTol captained Tomfoolery, the Catalina 320 owned by Tom VanTol and Laura Zuidema. Some of the teams designed special team names, T-shirts, and even a battle flag to celebrate A The start of race one. B Tomfoolery flies a spinnaker C Hot for Teacher crew hikes out for the upwind leg D Cleavage Creek ST shows off their pink T-shirts and battle flag. the event. Tomfoolery s crew named themselves the Cleavage Creek Sailing Team and, with permission of Cleavage Creek Winery, added a fund raiser into the fun. The team raised $1500 for Gilda s Club Lake Shore, a support group for families and patients with cancer. MBYC race committee chair, Jack Knoblauch expressed a hope that we can continue this new tradition with more boats and more participants. He regrets the lack of any JAM entries into the hoped-for JAM division. Jack would love to see more ladies involved in MBYC bigboat racing programs. jb E Second Wind s crew named themselves Winch Wenches. F Hot for Teacher s winning crew: Janet Lugers, Christina Norris, Marie Mell, Heather Petter, Lexi Petter. G Capricious crew flies the bright red B C spinnaker H Bergman s crew shows off Winch Wenches nickname Photos JD Stone, Grant Cheney, Jon Bontekoe.

57 9 D A -4 Boats - titive Fun E F H J G

58 10 East Greets West: another food feast The annual East dock greets West dock gathering has developed into a gourmet hors d oeuvres appetizer contest and was a big hit again. Lots of participants in the contest with light hearted judging made for a fun night for all. We had some excitement with windy weather in the beginning, but stuck it out and everything cleared up making it a beautiful evening. The judges, Pat Walker & Doug & Nancy Slade, did a great job taste testing and filling their bellies with all of the interesting delicacies brought from the docks. The 2008 winners were: Bob Nepsted & Paula Mutrynowski s Asparagus Wraps for first; Mike & Karen Nagelkirk s Goat Cheese Apple Tart for second; Shipman & Taylor s Sausage & Pumpernickel for third. Most Creative prize to Bill & Lisa Ruoff s Burgee Radishes & Dip. We topped off the evening with celebrity bartenders Eric Ash & Ted Simpkins with their entertaining martini bar they gave Tom Cruise a run for his money! Thanks to everyone for participating & helping out! By Kathy Sligh A B C A Judges Dave & Nancy Slade test the food with Pat Walker. Rachel Sligh looks on. B Paul Brown awards the prizes. C Lisa Ruoff received the silly nose award for creativity. D Karin Eisermann & Michelle Dolle registered each incoming plate. E Mike Nagelkirk opens his prize for second place. Photos by Kathy Sligh D E

59 F K L Slip holders July 4 pot-luck breakfast G M H Dock pot-luck breakfast. F Schoenherrs, VanTols, Ruoffs in the sun at a picnic table. G Rod & Jo Schmidt and kids and granddaughter Laurel. J Slighs and Andreanos K Laurie Honor, Nancy Andreano, Larry D Haem cooking up sausage. L Mary Bontrekoe & Tom Slanec enjoy eggs for breakfast. M Jon Bontekoe is required yearly to produce his Buttermilk Blueberry Pancakes Photos by Mary Bontekoe. J 11

60 12 New Members party becomes a Class reunion A D B E C A New members Nancy & Steve Steketee with Ann Stuursma. B Jorie & Past Commodore Rob Sligh Jr &? C Lisa Ruoff, Coreen Slanek, Bill Ruoff, Kris Magennis, Steve Magennis, Lenore D Haem party with joy. F

61 H G Class Reunion: A new party followed the new members welcome this year as many members joined the fun for hors d oeuvres. It was called a Class Reunion, and it came complete with lots of people, class pictures from past years and lots of socializing. The pictures show it. G Roger & Kristen Kennedy, Pam Koch, Bill & Judy Stellin. H New member Ann VanEerden, Evonne Kok, MaryJo DeJong, Kathy Sligh enjoy the party. Photos by Annie VanTol Board of Directors Meeting for June 2008 Abridged Meeting Notes Requests for new membership, requests for inactive status and a resignation were reviewed and approved. GM Baker reported on how the Club has fared through the recent storms. The GM requested approval to have the Club sell meat for grilling, it was referred to House for a quick review. Treasurer s report was presented and approved. Discussion on bar and dining revenue, pool expenses, and slip rentals. Rear Commodore DeJong reported on the dock expansion work and dredging. A motion was presented to spend $1,700 on a new small commercial freezer for the kitchen which was seconded and approved. Discussion on maintenance on the parking lot and drysail area paving to maximize their usable life. Vice Commodore Gamache reported on the MBJA, inshore racing issues, and electrical issues with Recovery. Commodore Brown reported on feedback he had received at the June Shareholder s Meeting. Discussion on upcoming social events. K D New members Jean & John Adams, Kathryn Muilder & William Rowe Jr. E New members James & Sarah Klingenberg, Bill & Michelle Leep. F Paul & Lisa Brown welcome new members Jill & Eric Bert. J Pat Fox & Christine Drew attended the party K Liz Krimendahl and Tom Slanec sample the hors d oeuvres. J Don t Forget to make your Reservations for: The Commodores Ball August 16, 2008 Music By The Soulz of Rythym In an encore performance. $30.00 (for reservations made by August 12 (+ Tax & tip) $40.00) after. Call the club office at or: cluboffice@mbyc.com to make your reservation. 13

62 A B D Mini Rendezvous C 14 F Mini Rendevous: a Raft-off A Tom Stanley & Dave Sligh B Kathy Sligh with grandchild. Paul Brown attended too. C Nick & Laurie Honor D Tom Honor and Tom DeRoseau F Marta & Tom Stanley tie up thei little boat Photos by Karin Eisermann US Sailing Youth Championship Regatta Features MYBC sailors The US Sailing Youth Championship was hosted by San Francisco Yacht Club in Belvedere, California on the North shore of the bay; however the racing site took place nearly 1 hour east of the club on the Berkley Circle which is directly east and downwind of the Golden Gate Bridge. Held the last week in June, there were 4 classes of boats involved: Club 420s, Lasers, Laser Radials and the 29ers. Louis Padnos was skipper on a Club 420(see cover) placing 7 th of 36 boats, and Mitchell Kiss sailed a Laser Radial. The host club established two complete race courses as the 29er s sailed on their own course. Each day when the weather is essentially clear, the land begins to heat up about 11:00 am and the breeze begins to build, drawing wind and waves from the direction of the bridge. During the event the afternoon races were in breezes between 20 and 25 knots with gusts to 32. The combination of cold air (58 degrees), cold water (57 degrees), strong winds, ebb and flow tides, and the famous SF Bay chop made for exciting and exhausting sailing. The Laser Radials really had it the toughest as they were the last section to start each race. Sometimes as a result of general recalls in the fleets before them, they could wait as long as 1 hour after their finish before starting again. For all the participants it was the waiting between races that caused the cold and weariness to set in. All fleets, after an incredible day on the water, had a four mile beat back to the yacht club that involved being escorted across the busy freighter channel. Overall for each section it was a fabulous experience to have the chance to sail under such exciting yet challenging conditions against some of the top young sailors in the country. Mitch Padnos Photos to right.

63 Black Tie Bermuda Shorts Party A B C D Black Tie/Bermuda Shorts Lots of fun was had by everyone at the July 12 Party. Many members came sporting great outfits (tropical with a touch of wacky formality). They enjoyed plenty of rum drinks and the music of the "Traveling Strykers" high school steel drum band! A MBYC s Flag officers B The Posts and friends. C Jacqueline Tutton & Peggy Greydanus. D Paul & Lisa Brown and a few of ttheir friend. Photos by Kathy Sligh and Lisa Brown. Left Mitchell Kiss (41) races Laser with Golden Gate Bridge as backdrop. Just above: Louis Padnos 420 hits a wave on San Francisco Bay Photos by Tovi Kiss 15

64 Social Calendar: August 2 MBJA Fundraiser August 10 Family Carnival August 10 MBJYC Scavenger Hunt August 16 Commodores Ball August 22 Shareholders Meeting A U G U S T Sun. Race Events Social Events Private Parties 3 US Junior Womens Single August 3-9 Commodore s Cup 10 Family Carnival MBJYC Scavenger Hunt 17 West Michigan Youth Sailing Assoc Regatta 24 Governor s Cup MYC MBYC #6 31 Mon. US JWS Wind Scoop Copy Due Tues. US JWS Wed. US JWS Bayshore Summer WMYA regatta Aug 6-9 Bayshore Summer Series Bayshore Summer Series Thurs US JWS Lasers & Junior Racing WMYA Lasers & Junior Racing Lasers & Junior Racing Bayshore Fall Series 6 Laser Racing Fri. JY15 Racing Shareholders Meeting Sat. MBYC #5 JY15 Racing Commodore s Cup MBJA Fundraiser Dinner JY15 Ra;cing US JWS 8 9 Clipper Cup CYC Verve One US JWS WMYA Design Aug 8-10 WMYA JY15 Racing CYC Offshore Verve Aug JY15 Racing Kollen Park Race 2 16 Commodore s Ball 23 VanderLeek/Hospice Regatta MBYC #6 Governor s Cup MYC

65 May MACATAWA BAY YACHT CLUB 2157 SOUTH SHORE DRIVE MACATAWA MI FAX:

66 and what we need to work on. COMMODORE S REPORT As my tenure as Commodore is drawing to a close, I want to relate a few of my impressions of being a flag officer at our Club. I am sure that each past Commodore has had their own unique experiences during their time in the hole which shaped their thoughts on what the Club does well participation in our sailing events OK? Is a declining crew pool OK? Well, you get the idea, and these are the just the tip of the iceberg of questions that could be posed. Tactical planning for the Club is not dissimilar to sailboat racing. Just as if we are looking up the race course to determine the favored side to improve our results, the Club needs to be more thoughtful on where we want to be in, say, five years. Even if we ignored this engineering of our future, I don t doubt that the Club would remain a vibrant, successful club. But the one question that needs to be asked is: What can we do to retain the core values of the Club s mission and maintain our tradition of active and healthy sailboat racing programs? 2 I had always understood that my responsibilities the first two years as rear and vice would primarily entail the nuts and bolts of day-to-day matters at the Club - which was true and, fortunately, a lot of fun. As I started my Commodore year I was thinking that some of the year could be devoted to more long range tactical planning, but in reality, the day-to-day tasks seemed to take an even bigger bite out of my waking hours. Working with members and club staff on a range of garden variety issues has been a very positive experience. However, as the season draws to a close, I feel that the tactical items for the Club are in need of more attention. While we do a fantastic job in the planning and executing of diverse and tangible tasks such as this summer s USJWC regatta or the multi-year dock rebuild project, we have not invested much time in the bigger picture of the future of our Club s health. Maybe it s because the trajectory that the Club has followed for so many years has stayed close enough to our ideal baseline that we accept it as OK. But is declining Planning is underway for MBYC to host the 420 National Championship Regatta August 13-16, From a housing perspective the 420 sailors are mostly self-sufficient but MBYC organizers thought it might be a good time for club members that are interested in renting cottages or know of cottages for rent to pass that information on to Mitch Padnos for posting on the Club 420 web-site. The committee is sure there are many 420 families that would enjoy a Macatawa vacation in addition to the racing. An ad-hoc Committee was recently formed to tackle this question. Michael Hill, who spent his formative years in the MBJA program and is a current Club board member has volunteered to Chair the group. The group plans to perform the legwork of cataloging the Club s challenges and to outline some actionable steps which the Club could undertake. It is planning to survey the general membership as well. If there is a membership consensus on specific areas of concern, then we need to use whatever tools at our disposal to help keep us on our desired course. The first two weeks of August was a great example of what our Club does so well and that is the hosting and running of regattas. The Commodore s Cup, the Leiter Cup, and the oneday West Michigan Youth Sailing Association Season Championship were all well organized and efficiently run, and for me, it was great satisfaction to see your Club fully energized and running on all cylinders. Paul D. Brown, Jr. A few months back, there was a notice in the Windscoop that parking in someone else s parking spot in Macatawa was a major faux pax. Well, one other activity needs to go on this list of no-no s and that is using the member information contained in the Logbook for commercial purposes such as marketing solicitations. Please do not do this! MBYC changes to fall hours after Labor Day - Wed & Fri Evenings 6:00-10:00 PM Additional Special Hours: Saturdays, Sept 6 & 20 Buoy Room Open - 1:00-9:00 PM Limited menu

67 M acatawa Bay Y acht Club MBYC Flag Officers Commodore Paul Brown Vice Commodore Roger Gamache Rear Commodore Bob DeJong Board of Directors Immediate Past Commodore Tovi Kiss Treasurer Larry D Haem Secretary Janet Magennis Director Beth Egge Director Tom Slanec Director John Donnelly Director Mike Hill Director Joel Krissoff Director Mitchell Padnos Director David Sligh, Jr. Judge Advocate JD Stone Management General Manager Marilyn Baker Executive Chef Jim Ruehle Outside Manager Douglas Knapp * * * * Windscoop Editor Jon Bontekoe Web Scoop Bob Standish Front Cover Photo This week s photo of Laser racing, was taken by professional photographer Tim Wilkes during the National Leiter Cup Regatta last month held at MBYC. The Wind Scoop s front page needs entries for future issues. Wind Scoop editor Jon Bontekoe will be out of town for a month in September and will not be editing the October Wind Scoop. Please all articles and pictures for the October Wind Scoop to Commodore Paul Brown at: LISAPAUL@aol.com. MBJA Sailing Lessons Update The summer sailing season is over and what a great summer it was! We had over 100 kids in our learn-to-sail and race classes as well as many repeaters. MBJA also had a number of kids catch the RACING BUG by participating in the new West Michigan Youth Sailing Association, as well as in Thursday night Opti and Laser club racing. Our fundraiser dinner on August 2 netted enough donations to purchase SIX NEW OPTI s for our program! Many of our optis are more than 10 years old. Typically sailing programs replace their boats after a maximum of five years. We are WAY overdue in upgrading our program. Having great working equipment not only is easier to work with, it also helps instill pride in the program to the kids. They become more responsible for the equipment, which then translates into deeper successes. THANK YOU to everyone who supported our program this summer!!! It s not too late to donate to this fund if you are interested! No donation is too big or too small! Speaking of WMYSA, OUR club brought home the FIRST PLACE team trophy on Sunday August 17! MBYC hosted this Championship event on Lake Macatawa and Lake Michigan. After the scores were totaled, we had more points than any other club participating in each of the four events (420, Laser Radial, Opti Red/ White/Blue and Opti Green fleet (beginning racers). MBYC won each of the five regattas this summer. Not only do we have some great sailors, but we have more kids participating in our program than other clubs do. Check out the BEAUTIFUL crystal sailboat trophy in the trophy case inside the club! (Thanks to Roger Gamache for his research and selection of some very beautiful, classy trophies.) Looking ahead to the fall, we will be hosting the Junior Olympic Regatta on October 11 & 12. Information and entry forms are already posted on the MBYC website in the Racer s Corner. We will be looking for volunteers to assist with race committee and safety on the water. We expect to have 50+ youth on the water for this event. Even though the power boat traffic will be less at that time, the potential for quickly changing weather and water conditions is a concern. The more helping boats we have on the water, the safer and better experience it is for the kids. A 6 foot sailboat is no match for a 30 foot power boat in ANY type of conditions, let alone when the water is less than 60 degrees. We have been very lucky in the past with an absence of accidents. My goal for the JO is to have a designated safety power boat for every five sailboats competing. Please contact Marie or Steve Sisson if you are available to help (or to let us borrow your boat!) Congratulations to all of our sailors for their efforts and successes this summer! Thank you also to their parents who were the backbone of getting kids to where they needed and wanted to be. High Fives to everyone who gave of their time to help us on land and on water with regattas. You are all much appreciated! We are very excited to have many events for you to compete in next summer! Watch upcoming Wind Scoops for information. Interested in doing some out-of-state racing this winter? Check your class website for coming events. See you on the water! Marie Mell 3

68 Reprint of the Vice Commodore s Report to the Stockholders: I am submitting my report in writing because I am participating in the J22 World Championship Regatta at Rochester (NY) Yacht Club. My participation in this event fulfills a commitment made some time before assuming my duties as commodore, and provides an opportunity to observe how a club of approximately our size manages an event with 109 registered boats and over 350 competitors. As the commodore charged with supervision of our sailing program, my report will focus on activities that have taken place during this year and the initial planning that has taken place for the 2009 season. VICE COMMODORE S REPORT for donating a week of time to this event. Finally, we should especially recognize regatta chairman John Donnelly and his regatta committee for their 12 months of organizational work, which covered everything from arranging transportation, boats, housing, meals, entertainment, and emergency medical care for this event. Macatawa Bay Junior Association (MBJA). Please congratulate Marie Mell on a really outstanding first year as the executive director of our community sailing program. In addition to running introductory, intermediate and advanced sailing instruction, Marie is spark plug of the founders of the West Michigan Youth Sailing Association (WMYSA). WMYSA is a group of western Michigan junior sailing programs that have collaborated to provide an opportunity for introductory and intermediate juniors to get the experience of participating in regattas at other clubs. Participation in this program has grown all year, and because of Marie s involvement, MBYC is a leader in the Association. 4 General Observation. MBYC is blessed with a cadre of highly skilled, highly committed sailors who regularly compete at a national and international level. Viewed from that vantage point, our sailing program is strong, highly active, and compares favorably with many significantly larger clubs. However, if you look past that group of sailors and look at the level of participation in our local events, you begin to get a significantly different impression of the health of sailing at MBYC. Locally, 2008 was marked by lower participation in a number of fleets. And, even in fleets that were numerically stable, there was generally more difficulty recruiting and retaining participants. Participation in local events forms the base for our sailing program, and is a good indication of the future health of our club. Having noted this trend, the Board, with leadership from Mike Hill, is discussing ways to strengthen our base by making our sailing program attractive to a wider number of sailors for the next season. Everyone is invited to participate in this discussion and the programs that will result from our discussions. Commodore s Cup. 29 boats in 7 classes completed our recent Commodore s Cup, sponsored by Quantum Sails. Racing took place on two separate courses. Regatta Chairman Jack Knoblauch received well-deserved compliments for a well executed event. We hope that the ongoing quality of this event will draw higher levels of local and regional participation next year. US Junior Women s Singlehanded Championship. 47 young women were our guests for a week while participating in their US Sailing National Championship. Completing an event of this importance required augmenting our local race committee with nationally certified race officers. Special thanks goes to Terry Bischhoff, John Strassman, and Lenore and Paul Bader for assisting us in making this a memorable event. Additionally, please thank our local race committee of Barbara Gamache, Doug Slade, Dave Sligh Sr., Jack and Linda Knoblauch, and Tom Slanec Canada s Cup. The Cup has been on display at the Club during this summer. In April of this year, Chairman of the MBYC Canada s Cup committee, Past Commodore David Sligh Sr., issued an Invitation to Challenge in 2009 to the appropriate representatives of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club. They have acknowledged receipt of the Invitation, but at this date have not made a response. Commodore Sligh continues to seek a commitment for the next match. Sincere Thanks to All Volunteers!!! Inshore Race Committee: Jack Knoblauch, Linda Knoblauch, Jean Bergman, Kurt Sale, Amy Sale, Mike Stewart, Jan Stewart. Offshore Race Committee: Barb Gamache, Jack Knoblauch, Linda Knoblauch, Dave Sligh Sr., Tom Honor, Tom Slanec, Dale Koch, Pam Koch. Protest Committee: Dave Sligh Jr., Eric Ash. Trophy Committee: Tom Slanec, Coreen Slanec. Events Remaining in Hospice / Vanderleek Regatta Saturday, August 23 rd. Labor Day Junior Regatta and Awards, Monday, September 1 st. Anchorage Cup, Saturday, September 6 th. JY15 Fall Series Sundays in September, Laser Fall Series Sundays in October. Awards Dinner / Change of Watch, Saturday, October 18 th. Coming in Here s a summary of what s on tap at this time. In August we will sponsor the 420 Class National Championship. This will be a week of racing by youth sailors, including a clinic, team racing, and fleet racing for the national championship. This is a unique opportunity for our youth to compete in an open event against the best youth sailors in the country. Additionally, we are repeating our very popular Dry Land Regatta educational series on Wednesday nights in April, as well as a Rules Seminar (note that the Racing Rules of Sailing will change effective ), and a repeat of the US SAILING Race Officer seminar. Watch for further details.

69 WMYSA Championship Regatta Winners In the WMYSA Regatta August 17 the Top MBYC racers in each category were: Laser Radial - 2nd Lexi Petter, 6th Armaand Dandavanti 420-1st-Phillip Kampf & Ryan Tutton, 2nd-Pete Dahl & Jamie Stewart, 7th-Zack & Gus Dellacqua Opti RWB - 1st Alex Brown, 2nd Andrew Petter, 3rd Matthew Greydanus Opti Green - 1st Barys Swets, 2nd Caroline Sisson, 3rd Casey Tutton WMYSA Optis negotiate a chaotic start line and celebrate their ribbons. Photos by Marie Mell & jb. 5

70 Commodore s Cup A 6 The 2008 Commodore s Cup kicked off a busy week of race activity around MBYC on August 2, with Farr 40, S2 9.1, 110, and Melges 24 One Design fleets joining two PHRF fleets and the local S2 7.9 fleet for racing on two separate race courses on Lake Michigan. Saturday s weather provided a solid knot breeze along with lumpy seas, and competitors were able to complete 3 races (4 for the Farr 40s) with exilerating downwind surfing and quick times around the course. On Sunday, the wind failed to come in, and races were canceled for the day. Results were scored on Saturday s races. Competition was tight in the two PHRF classes, with the small boats exhibiting great boat handling to win both classes: Bob Harvey from MYC took first in his Express 27 in the PHRF 2 fleet, and Eric Landman from MYC took first in PHRF 1 on his SR 33. MBYC boats Capricious and Sufficient Reason duked it out for second in PHRF 1, which was won on a tie breaker by Capricious, driven by Linda Knoblauch. The S2 9.1 class was dominated by the Timmer family from MYC, and the Melges 24 fleet of two was won by newcomer Eric Ash on Hot Tuna. Helmut Jahn from CYC on Flash Gordon was the winner of the Farr 40 class, and the 110 winner was John Huff. Results and more pictures are on the web.

71 A Shillelagh (Bob Malone) B Second Wind (Don Bergman) C Sufficient Reason (Krissoff, etc.) Photos by Bob DeJong & Doug Slade Good friends talk sailing at the clubjb Club 420 Nationals feature Padnos & Kiss sailors B The 2008 North Americans Nationals for the 420 was represented by Louis Padnos and the Kiss girls in Jamestown, New York at the Chautauqua Lake Yacht Club.While it is an inland lake some 40 miles from Lake Erie, its weather is influenced by Lake Erie, and due to the surrounding hills, 30 degree wind shifts were common. Both Morgan and Alex Kiss along with Louis Padnos and his crew Ben Spector suffered difficult times on the race course on different days. On the 1st day prior to the last race the Kiss s were in the process of resetting their shroud pins when they were hit by a young racer from Erie, Pennsylvania.. The collision caused the mast to jump out of the mast step and go through the bottom of the boat before the mast finally went over the side. The girls were able to seek redress for that race and through the kindness of the Annapolis Yacht Club they were able to charter their extra boat for use the next morning, thereby never missing a race. Louis and Ben suffered their worst day of racing on the 2nd day when the air went to the 3 to 6 knot range with tremendous shifts throughout the course. The RC worked extremely hard under these conditions, even abandoning one race due to a huge shift while the fleet was already three quarters of the way up the weather leg. Both Macatawa teams overcame their problems and set a strong pace on the remaining two days of the regatta. Louis and Ben took second place overall and nearly overtook Steph Hudson of Chicago, who ultimately finished 1st with a four point margin. Morgan and Alex Kiss finished 13 th in the 83 boat fleet. In August 2009 MBYC with be hosting this 420 Regatta. Mitch Padnos C On the Course side... Clipper Cup - Cross Lake Michigan in Wild weather The Clipper Cup, sponsored by the Harbot Towne YC In Muskegon and the Port Washington (Wisconsin) YC and sailed across the lake from Muskegon to Port Washington, featured a big 2nd place finish by Bill & Lisa Ruoff s Bearly Movin in the main division of 30 boats. Alun Wilson s Sheko took 4th and Relentless, sailed by Rod & Annie VanTol, placed 7th. The race featured great winds and waves. Long distance sailors VanTols and Ruoffs ended their post Chicago- Mac-race cruise to the North Channel in time to participate in this last longdistance race of the 2009 season. Verve Cup - Chicago Regatta - Features MBYC boats The Verve Cup held in Chicago August featured some great results for MBYC boats. Madcap of Guy Hiestand took a 3rd in PHRF 6. Bob Hughes Heartbreaker took 2nd in the Farr 40s. Ryan DeVos Alpha One took 3rd in PHRF 2. Tyrant of Don Thinschmidt placed 7th in PHRF 1. 7

72 8 Commodores Ball 2008

73 Commodores Ball: The story is in the pictures. Great food, band, friends, service, theme, organization. It s all there. Special thanks to photographers Annie VanTol, Karin Eisermann, Ed Kita, and Jon Bontekoe for hundreds of pictures submitted. 9

74 10 Like you, I am sure, I find it difficult to believe that we are at the doorstep of Labor Day Weekend. It seems only a few weeks ago that we were celebrating Memorial Day. Has anyone reported a stolen summer? As fast as it has flown by us, however, it has been a good summer. The new docks have been completed, the T-dock has been reconstructed, and the sinking launch ramp has a new float to make launching our smaller one-design fleets less slippery! Docks and Grounds Committee continues to implement projects that fit within budget. With encouragement from Forward Planning, our shopping list includes one or two outside heaters as we prepare for cooler fall days and evenings under the tent, and as we anticipate cooler spring days in Requests for two new active memberships, three new junior memberships, three resignations, and one change in status were reviewed and approved. GM Baker reported that a dining room manager had been hired and provided results for the Fourth of July picnic and the Bermuda Shorts/Black Tie Party. She noted that Catalina Rendezvous went well and participants enjoyed their time at MBYC. The Treasurer reported on his efforts to contact members whose dues were overdue. After discussion, five members were terminated. Discussion on the current financials with concern over the drop in drysail area revenue. Discussion on Dining and Bar revenue. Wage expenses appear to be well controlled. Monthly financials were approved. RC DeJong reported that the MBJA floating docks had been temporarily moved for the dredging and the T-Dock repair. Nauti-shop sales are strong. Discussion on Life Guard issues and maintenance items. VC Gamache reported on race committee issues for the upcoming Leiter REAR COMMODORE S REPORT (The Saturday morning brain trust will undoubtedly be able to solve the world s problems more comfortably with this addition.) For those who store your boats on trailers, please remember that our facilities are available to accommodate outside storage. If you need any information about our competitive rates, just check with Marilyn. For those who plan Christmas shopping when you are still enjoying the warmth of summer, don t forget to visit the Nauti Shop before returning to your winter locations. We received a new shipment in early August, so if you have not looked recently, do yourself a favor check it out. For those of who have ideas and suggestions on how your Board and Bridge can help make 2009 even better than 2008, please let us know. Happy fall sailing! Bob DeJong Board of Directors Meeting Abridged Minutes for July 2008 Cup and Commodore s Cup. Reported that Quantum Sails had signed up as primary sponsor for Commodore s Cup. Discussion on inshore racing participation. MBJA enrollment is good for each session but capacity and quality of boats needs attention that may be addressed with a successful MBJA fundraiser. We need to encourage attendance and donations. Fall Rendezvous will be held on Sunday, September 7 th. Commodore Brown reported on solicitations by two groups (Say Yes to Sunday and the Vintage Boat Show) for funding. After discussion, there was no support for funding either request. Discussion on financial and demographic strategic issues for the Club and the process review these issues. The Macatawa Tennis Club will work cooperatively with the MBJA to offer tennis lessons to MBJA students. MBYC will provide trophies this year for the WMYA championship which we will host August 17. Nominating Committee has a slate of nominees prepared for the August Shareholder meeting. Family Fun Day with Lisa Brown teaching kids how to throw tennis balls to dunk their friends. Photos by Mary Bontekoe

75 Leiter Cup - US Junior Women s National Regatta Leiter Cup Photo coverage (above) by Doug Slade, Morning Fog over MBYC by Mary McKinney Schmidt 11

76 12 Labor Day Weekend Activities Saturday, August 30 MBYC Offshore Racing # PM The Last Days of Summer Bash w/ music under the tent! Sunday, August AM - Labor Day Weekend Junior Regatta After Racing - The When and How of Junior Winter Regattas 8 ish - MBJYC HOBO Bonfire at Dusk! Monday, September 1 8:30-10:30 am - MBJYC Labor Day Breakfast 11 ish MBJYC Officer Elections 1 pm Year end Junior Sailing Awards & Ice Cream Party! Sun. S E P T E M B E R Mon. MBJYC Breakfast. MBJYC officer elections & Ice Cream Party Junior Labor Day Regatta & Award Ceremony Rendezvous JY15, etc. Racing JY15, etc. Racing JY15, etc. Racing JY15, etc. Racing Windscoop Copy Due Tues Wed. Bayshore Fall Series Bayshore Fall Series Bayshore Fall Series Thurs Fri Sat Race Events Social Events Private Parties 6 Anchorage Cup Buoy Room Open 1:00-9:00 PM Limited menu Buoy Room Open 1:00-9:00 PM Limited menu Bayshore Frostbite/awards

77 Wind Scoop T H E M B Y C N E W S L E T T E R October In This Issue: Officer Reports... 2 & 4 MBJA Update... 3 VanderLeek Cup Report... 5 Anchorage Cup... 5 Party Reports... 7 October Calendar... 8 MACATAWA BAY YACHT CLUB 2157 SOUTH SHORE DRIVE MACATAWA, MI (616) FAX (616)

78 COMMODORE S REPORT Wow it is incredible how fast a year can go! I was warned by past-commodores that this would happen. Furthermore, it seems much less than three years ago that I wrote my first Windscoop article as the incoming Rear Commodore. As I review these years, I am struck by how many changes have occurred at our Club. The upgrades to our infrastructure, to our services and to our on- and off- thewater activities have been pretty dramatic. Largely, all of this is due to the hard work of our volunteers. I have written many times that our Club is a volunteerdriven organization and this year again showed me the quality and commitment of our members in running our Club. I want to thank the following individuals for their involvement on duties or committees for which I was responsible this year: Judge Advocate: JD Stone LMSRF Delegates: Guy Hiestand and Don Thinschmidt. Chief of Protocol: Dick Danly Finance Committee: Larry D Haem (Chairp), John Donnelly and Larry Andreano Forward Planning Committee: Tom Slanec (Chair), Jon Bontekoe, MaryJo DeJong, Mike DePree, Michael Kiss, Jeff Padnos, Lisa Ruoff, Bill Swets, and Merrill Tutton. Membership Committee Chair: Michael Hill Communications Committee: Jon Bontekoe (Wind Scoop) and Bob Standish (Web Scoop) Nominating Committee: Kevin Dolle (Chair), Tovi Kiss, Dave Sligh Sr., Doug Padnos, and Clark Weersing Social Committee: Lisa Brown (Chair), Nancy Andreano, Eric and Helen Ash, Michele Dolle, Anne Gamache, Maggie Greydanus, Christian and Monika Krimendahl, Michael Kiss, Gwen Post, Leesa Schram, Coreen Slanec, Kathy Sligh, Dave and Rachel Sligh, Bill and Sally Swets, Coleen Tutton, Puffin Van Dyke, Anne Van Tol, and Penny Diephouse Historical Committee: Shirley Weersing (Chair), Nate Bryant, and Seymour Padnos I also want to thank this year s Board of Directors, as well as Vice Commodore Roger Gamache and Rear Commodore Bob DeJong for their support and hard work this past year as well as all the recent pastcommodores for their tireless patience with all of the questions I posed to them. For the coming year, the following individuals were approved at the August Shareholder s meeting for the vacant Board position and for the 08/09 Officer positions: Lisa Ruoff: Boardmember Larry D Haem: Treasurer Michael Hill: Secretary John Donnelly: Rear Commodore Bob DeJong: Vice Commodore Roger Gamache: Commodore Since John Donnelly will become a Flag Officer, the remaining one year of his Board term will be filled by a vote at the October Board Meeting. We are extremely fortunate to have members such as these who are able to not only fit in the time commitment that is required but are extremely capable and talented in keeping our Club financially healthy and on the track of our mission. Finally, I want to thank our members for their support over the year. I rarely stopped by the Club during the season without a word of appreciation from someone and, in many ways, it always made my day. Thank you all for a great year. Paul D. Brown, Jr. Scenes from the Labor Day Junior Awards: 2 Mitchell Kiss accepting the Travis Aiken Award (left); Graham Post, winner of the 2008 Commodore s Award for Good Sportsmanship (center); Alex Brown, winner of the Clark Weersing Trophy.

79 Macatawa Bay Yacht Club MBYC Flag Officers Commodore Paul Brown Vice Commodore Roger Gamache Rear Commodore Bob DeJong Board of Directors Immediate Past Commodore Tovi Kiss Treasurer Larry D Haem Secretary Janet Magennis Director Beth Egge Director Tom Slanec Director John Donnelly Director Mike Hill Director Joel Krissoff Director Mitchell Padnos Director David Sligh, Jr. Judge Advocate JD Stone Management General Manager Executive Chef Outside Manager Marilyn Baker Jim Ruehle Douglas Knapp WindScoop Editor Jon Bontekoe WebScoop Editor Bob Standish MBJA Report It is hard to believe that we are just days away from one of the biggest junior events of the season the Junior Olympic Regatta on the weekend of October 11 and 12. This is the 5 th year that MBYC has hosted this event, which draws juniors from all areas of Michigan as well as Indiana and Illinois. There will be Green Fleet (novice) Opti sailors in Lake Mac and, weather permitting, Red/White/Blue division Optis, Laser and Laser Radial and Club and High School 420 s on Lake Michigan. I have been asked many times why this is called a Junior Olympic regatta, as in Are the competitors participating in a US Olympic trial? or Is this a sanctioned Olympic event? So I took the opportunity to find the answer for all of us. The answer is yes, in a fundamental sort of way. Each regatta shares a common goal: to promote the enjoyment of sailing and development of skills to young sailors as well as provide an Olympic pathway for talented junior sailors. Events mix Olympic-style competition with elements of learning and fun for all levels--from beginning racers to those with Olympic aspirations. Each sport s governing body is affiliated with the Olympics under such national governing bodies as the AAU to be a training opportunity for all athletes. There have been a total of 21 such events in the continental US and Hawaii scheduled for We are very proud to be part of the success of junior sailing in the USA and doing our part to promote and develop the best sailors in the Midwest and beyond. Come out and support our Club s youth and see some great sailing. I trust that you will be impressed with their skill as well as their sportsmanship. Congratulations to Graham Post and Mitchell Kiss, who received well deserved honors on Labor Day with the MBYC Commodore s Award for Good Sportsmanship and Travis Aiken (sailing accomplishments) trophies respectively for the 2008 season. See you on the water! Marie Mell s This month s cover is of Madcap, owned by MBYC member Guy Hiestand during this year s Commodore s Cup. Photo taken by Rear Commodore Bob DeJong. Have a great photo showing the fun at MBYC? Pleas photos and article submittals to jonbontekoe@gmail.co The 2008 Junior Award Winners! 3

80 VICE COMMODORE S REPORT As you are reading this, it is highly likely that the focus and rhythm of your life has moved from our Club and back to the normal activities of life. The pool is drained and the furniture is stored away. Looking around our harbor there are a number of boats that have already migrated to their winter moorings, missing out on the great conditions we ve had over the last couple of weeks. And, everywhere I look I see people picking up for the inevitable change in season ahead. So with the end of the season confronting us, I thought it would be good to look back one last time, and then look ahead to the coming 2009 season. Looking back, 2008 had a number of highlights: Completion of our dock project. The monsoon. The Catalina Rendezvous. The East meets West party. Founding (and first year s winner) of the West Michigan Youth Sailing Association. The Commodore s Ball. The Commodore s Cup. The US Junior Women s Single Handed Championship (with water spouts!). The 100 th Chicago Mackinac Race. The Vanderleek Regatta and the funding generously provided for Hospice. I m sure that we all have shared and individual memories to sustain us during the dry time ahead. Looking forward, we continue to have some opportunities to enjoy our Club during the final part of the year. Friday Nights in the Bouy Room will continue through October 31 st. If past years are any indication, this is a great opportunity to stay connected. Lasers will be racing Sunday afternoons in October. Additionally, we have the Awards Dinner and Change of Watch on Saturday, October 18 th ; The Junior Yacht Club Halloween Party on Friday, October 24 th ; the Holiday Brunch on Sunday, December 14 th ; and the traditional Holiday Cocktail Party on Friday, December 19 th. Looking ahead to 2009, plan to take part in some or all of the following: The 2 nd annual Dry Land Regatta (racing workshops) on Wednesday nights in April. Laser Spring series will begin mid-april (drysuits encouraged!). In addition to our regular sailing season offerings, we have committed to host the 2009 Club 420 North American Championships. This event continues our support of local opportunities for national-level youth sailing. The 2008 event included approximately 80 teams from all over the United States. Planning for the 2009 social season has begun, and all your old favorites are being scheduled with an eye toward increasing coordination between the various aspects of our Club programs. A final request All members will shortly receive a request to update your member information by snail mail. Please complete this task promptly!!! The update request is the first step in the production of our 2009 Logbook. Accurate information in the Logbook is the beginning of your participation in the life of our Club. Personally, because I didn t update my in the 2008 Logbook, I missed all of Commodore Brown s blasts. Note that even flag rank offers no immunity from this mundane, but critical task. Don t be left out update ASAP!!! Roger Gamache IM WILKES PHOTOGRAPHY WT 4 Member Scoop? The next Windscoop will feature a new, as yet unnamed, column for news about our members. Items such as introducing new members, announcements for the birth of children or grandchildren, change of addresses, sailing trips or other out-of-the-way travel will be included. Long time club member and professional writer Melanie Aves will do the organizing and final edits, but please be considerate of Melanie s time and submit items in complete sentences!! Send your story to news@mbyc.com Another great shot om August of the Leiter Cup by Tim Wilkes

81 VanderLeek Cup Hospice Regatta - August 23rd In contrast to last year s VanderLeek Cup Hospice Regatta, this year s racers were treated to ideal sailing conditions. 20 boats came out to race in 15 to 20 knot Southwesterly breezes. All fleets were started on time and the fun meter quickly jumped into green. The two spinnaker divisions and the Jib and Main division completed two races. The Comfort Cruisers raced two laps around a 3 mile triangular course. Awards were presented following the Pig Roast Buffet. The top three boats in each division were: Spinnaker 1: 1. Capricious Jack and Linda Knoblauch 2. Drumbeat Ted Etheridge 3. Sufficient Reason Tracy Brand and Mitch Padnos Spinnaker 2: 1. Ol Blue Eyes Peter Schwarz 2. Gone Mad Merrill Tutton 3. Hot Tamale Jeff VanderVeen Jib & Main: 1. Quiet Refuge Rod Leonard 2. Constant Craving Robert Nepstad 3. Nancy Anne Pat Nowak Comfort Cruisers: 1. Talaria Tom Slanec 2. Bearly Movin Lisa and Bill Ruoff 3. Serenata Robert DeJong This year overall winner of the Spinnaker Division, Peter Schwarz and the crew of Ol Blue Eyes, will be invited to compete in the Hospice Regattas National Championship in The details for that event are not yet available. As always on outstanding job was done by Barb Gamache and her race committee on Recovery. A special thanks also to David Sligh, mark set boat and Jack Knoblauch, registration and scoring. Thank-you too to all the skippers, individuals and businesses that, despite a struggling economy, donated over $15,000 to Hospice of Holland s Tulip Tree Fund. We are looking forward to and already planning next year s event. We want to continue to make this a FUN regatta dedicated to a wonderful cause. T.S. All VanderLeek photos courtesy of Annie McFarland 5

82 Anchorage Cup 2008 Only two boats made it to the Holland finish line in this year s Anchorage Cup. Don Thinschmidt, on "Tyrant" caught "Windancer" at the finish after being several minutes behind at the Gate at Port Sheldon. Tyrant won their Division and Overall. The remainder of the fleet finished at Port Sheldon. Overall, MBYC boats won three separate divisions and 16 MBYC boats competed in this year s fleet of 77. (left) Tyrant showing her light air potency near the finish; (above) Tyrant and Windancer near the Finish at Holland; (above) The Bergmans and the Sale boys at the awards party (with Trophy for First Place in Spinnaker Division 6) Board of Directors Meeting - Abridged Minutes for August 2008 The Board s minutes from the July meeting were reviewed and approved as corrected. A motion was approved to accept two new members and the change of membership status for one member. The Secretary encouraged support for the Say Yes to Sunday campaign for November 4 th as if approved by voters will likely positively impact Sunday bar and dining revenue. The Commodores Ball was a sellout with 137 attending. July transient boat tra c has been strong. Discussion on the need for a signin sheet for reciprocal club guests. Discussion on marketing to other Lake Michigan YCs to encourage transient tra c. The treasurer discussed the anticipated deficit for 2008 and despite some bright spots and strong membership numbers, we cannot control a poor economy. Members are spending very carefully and we must develop the strategies for riding out the economic downturn while providing good value to the membership. A motion prevailed to accept the Treasurer s report. Rear Commodore DeJong reported that dredging was complete for 2008 and that there are a minor number of things for the docks project on the punch list, which are being addressed. A discussion on the paving issues for the Club s parking lots. Vice Commodore Gamache reported on the Leiter Cup which had 47 participants and the Commodore s Cup which had a larger fleet this year and great conditions. Commodore Brown reported on strategic issues which will need to be addressed on our finances, membership and member participation. Board Member Hill agreed to chair an ad-hoc committee on these issues. Discussion on recommendations from the forward Planning Committee. Discussion on the upcoming Shareholder Meeting with an approved motion to request shareholders to approve the final accounting for the dock rebuild project. 6

83 THE R ENDEZVOUS ~ S EPTEMBER 7 TH WHINE PARTY 2008 The Annual nual WHINE PARTY was an absolutely splendid time to end the season. For those of you who could not attend, I m telling you: you missed a good time despite the weather being extremely uncooperative, it rained and rained and rained you get the picture. We still had around 40 bottles of wine to sample and a great amount of delicious Hors d Oeuvre to choose from. Congratulations to the four lucky winners (Cotter and Joanne Tharin, Ed Kita and Kathy Cusimano, Tom and Marta Stanley, and Bob and Mary Jo DeJong) who each received a cork trivet, handmade and signed by Doug Slade. KE 7

84 MACATAWA BAY YACHT CLUB 2157 South Shore Drive Macatawa, MI Forwarding and Return Postage Guaranteed Don t forget... October 18 - Aw ards Dinner and Change of Watch This is the evening to celebrate another great season of sailboat racing at MBYC and to welcome the 2009 Flag Officers.This is a celebration for everyone! Cocktails at 6 PM, Dinner at 7 PM. Reservations Required, $17.95 pp. October 24 - Halloween Party All of the little MBYC Goblins will be in their scariest costumes for the annual children s Halloween Party. $5 buffet dinner for kids. Buoy room menu available for adults. December 14 - MBYC Holiday Brunch December 19 - MBYC Holiday Cocktail Party Don t Forget - MBYC is available for your Holiday Parties and the Nauti Shop is a great place to shop for Holiday Gifts O c t o b e r Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Buoy Room Open 6-9 PM 4 Laser Racing Buoy Room Open 6-9 PM MBJA Junior Olympics 11 MBJA Junior Olympics Columbus Day Windscoop Copy Due Buoy Room Open 6-9 PM 18 Awards Dinner and Change of Watch 6 PM Laser Racing Kid s Halloween Party 6:30-8:30PM 25 Laser Racing Buoy Room Open 6-9 PM Halloween Race Events Social Events Private Parties

85 May 2008 T H E M B Y C N E W S L E T T E Rwww.mbyc.com November - December 2008 w w w. m b y c.com MACATAWA MACATAWA BAY YACHT BAY CLUB YACHT 2157 CLUB SOUTH 2157 SHORE SOUTH DRIVE SHORE MACATAWA DRIVE MACATAWA, MI MI FAX:

86 2 Well, after a 24 month warm-up, here s my first pitch in the majors, as your new starting pitcher (make that Commodore). I m aware that members look to this inaugural essay to set the tone for the year. I m also aware that I am following on the heels of a number of great leaders, who have all contributed to the current strength and vitality of our Club. So, with the advice (and implied warning) from one senior member who stopped me recently to share Just don t screw it up, I thought it would be useful to share my view of the issues and opportunities that face us in the coming year. A friend of mine once observed that all issues (he preferred to call them opportunities), can be divided into three groups. Group one are things that we can control. Group two are things that we can t control, but can influence. And, group three are things that we cannot control and cannot influence. Applying this concept to our Club, let s start with group three, things outside of our control and influence. The weather is one aspect of our club life that clearly fits into group three. The impact of weather on the club was clearly demonstrated last June, when an extraordinary cold and wet stretch of weather meant a very slow start for activity at the club. General economic conditions are another group three issue. Participation in club activities generally fall into the nice but not essential category in people s economic life. A general economic decline will inevitably reduce the level of activity of current members and the number of potential new members. The best strategy for group three issues is to recognize that they exist, and make sure that we have a plan in place to prudently manage their effects. Planning requires good communication. So your Board will continue to improve our communication to members during the coming year. In return, we need timely communication from you, the members, regarding your level of participation in the coming season. Timely return of slip contracts, membership commitments, dry sail contracts, and use of the dining room reservation system can help us plan effectively. Group two issues are things we can influence, but cannot control. Members choices of one-design classes fall into this category. Recently a member expressed dismay that it appears that one of our premier racing classes may cease operation, while at the same time, a new fleet with approximately the same cost and similar appeal is about to be initiated by a group of members. His solution to the problem was that you (by COMMODORE S REPORT inference the Commodores and Board) should do something to stop this! Clearly, we are not in a position to control member s choices regarding boat purchases. But we can influence those choices by making sure that we provide adequate support and leadership for the classes that we currently have at the club. Years of sailing a variety of classes and types of boats have led me to conclude there is no perfect boat. They all have strengths and weaknesses. However, there clearly are fun classes at specific clubs. Those are the classes that help their members improve their skills by providing sufficient opportunities to sail, along with educational and social opportunities that encourage engagement. They are the classes that are open to newcomers and who seek out inactive members to help keep their boats active in the class. In the next year the Board will be focused on influencing the vitality of our sailing program. So what things do we directly control? Simply put, we can control the quality of the member experience. With regard to physical assets, are the facilities functional, well kept, and attractive? With regard to member services, are we delivering the right services at the right times and doing so effectively and consistently? With regard to the social interaction that leads to the feeling of membership, do we have the appropriate opportunities to promote a feeling of active engagement for all members of the club? Do we have strategies that make us attractive to new comers seeking a way to become a part of our unique club experience? Over the next several months your Board of Directors will be systematically reviewing our club operations to make sure that we re getting the best bang for the buck going forward. In closing, I m sure as you were reading this you had a thought about an issue (or opportunity) that should be a part of our review. Please consider sharing your thoughts with me at: rogerdgamache@aol.com. See you at our Club! Roger Gamache Front Cover Photo This month s photo was taken by Tom VanTol on one of the final Wednesday night racing evenings of the Fall season. The Wind Scoop s front page needs entries for future issues. Please your quality photos to Wind Scoop editor Jon Bontekoe at: jonbontekoe@gmail.com

87 M acatawa Bay MBYC hosts 107 sailors in Junior Olympics Y acht Club MBYC Flag Officers Commodore Roger Gamache Vice Commodore Bob DeJong Rear Commodore John Donnelly Board of Directors Immediate Past Commodore Paul Brown Treasurer Larry D Haem Secretary Michael Hill Director Beth Egge Director Tom Slanec Director Lisa Ruoff Director Joel Krissoff Director Mitchell Padnos Director David Sligh, Jr. Judge Advocate JD Stone Management General Manager Marilyn Baker Executive Chef Jim Ruehle Outside Manager Douglas Knapp * * * * Windscoop Editor Jon Bontekoe Web Scoop Bob Standish Reminder: Be sure to send in your MBYC Membership profile sheets soon. The information you supply directly affects the 2009 printing of the Logbook. Please pay particular attention to boat information (where we list too many boats no longer in the fleet), Junior Yacht Club names and their ages, and outdated pictures. These pages have the most errors and we d like to clean them up. Find a new picture you d like printed or additional items to correct? Just it all to Logbook editor Jon Bontekoe: jonbontekoe@gmail.com. Top: Junior Olympic Laser sailors at the start. Bottom: Optis at the mark. JO photos by Doug Slade & Ron Sisson. The weekend of October 11 & 12, our club hosted the Junior Olympic regatta. Thanks to some summer-like weather as well as a reputation for putting on a solid, competitive event, we had our highest participant number yet for this annual event 107 sailors! Competitors came from our club as well as from Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and the Detroit and Traverse City areas. The biggest fleet was in the 420 class where we had 20 total boats. MANY, many thanks to all of the volunteers that made the regatta a smashing success. Special kudos to Barb Gamache for being the Principal Race Officer (PRO) for the Laser and 420 course, Roger Gamache, the PRO for the Opti Red/White/Blue course, Shari McDonald for heading up the Opti Green fleet, Darren Lance for his work directing the safety boats for each course, Michael Kiss for his computer work on results, Steve and Lauri Sisson for organizing the racing food and MBYC Chef Jim for the outstanding dinners. Thanks also to Eldean Shipyard, West Marine, Vanguard, Zhik for their corporate support. Shortly, our friends in Florida will be hosting many junior regattas during long school holiday vacation breaks. Check your class websites for events. Parents not able to get you there? We have a few club families that would love to help keep your racing fever alive. Please contact Marie at the MBJA voice mail ( ) and she will put you in touch with them. Another option is to check out sailorships on the US Sailing website for scholarship opportunities. Still looking for an opportunity to make a donation toward replacing the old Opti fleet? It s not too late to send a donation to: MBJA, PO Box 189, Macatawa, MI Thanks to everyone for your ongoing support of our junior sailing program! See you on the water! Marie Mell 3

88 4 The leaves are still on the trees, but the everincreasing brilliant colors suggest it won t be long and the trees will be as bare as our slips. And while most of us have tucked our boats away for winter s hibernation, Friday night s in October have still produced considerable activity in the Buoy Room and dining room. Friendships among our Club members are warmer than the outside temperatures. How often don t we hear, It just feels good being here. I join Commodore Gamache in acknowledging Past Commodore Paul Brown for his contribution to our Club. His goal of enhancing communications within the Club has been achieved: with Bontekoe s editorship, the Wind Scoop is more colorful than ever, and under Bob Standish direction, the Webscoop keeps us current on activities and photographs as well as providing great links to sailing related information. Stand-in for John Donnelly, Bob DeJong, Roger Gamache, Paul Brown display their new flags. VICE COMMODORE S REPORT Jack & Linda Knoblauch, and Don Bergman receive their awards. Photos by Anne Gamache. And Commodore Brown s periodic e-flyers were helpful in reminding us of upcoming events. Thanks, Paul, for your years of service. And, thanks to John Donnelly for coming on board the Bridge as our new Rear-Commodore. Because of John s superior experience in sailing and racing activities, we have agreed that we will utilize his expertise in those areas. So Commodore Donnelly and I will switch traditional roles: I will continue with the traditional Rear-Commodore responsibilities and John will spend his first two years as Sailing and Racing Commodore. Once again, I invite each of you to let us know how we can better meet your hopes and expectations on how Macatawa Bay Yacht Club can be a better place for you and your family. It is apparent to me already that your new bridge will continue the team work that makes this job such a great opportunity. To those of you, who have winter escapes planned to warmer places like Arizona and Florida, enjoy your other community and be safe. For those of you who weather Michigan winters with brief respites, travel safely and enjoy. We look forward to seeing all of you next Spring and, hopefully, sooner. Bob DeJong Sligh Sr., Dolles honored Three members received special recognition during the recent Awards Dinner and Change of Watch. The Peg Jones Sportsmanship Award was awarded to Commodore David Sligh Sr. for his enthusiastic support of our race management program during the 2008 season. This award memorializes Peg Jones who served MBYC in a number of capacities over the years and gave a high level of personal commitment to the race committee until declining health limited her participation. This is the second time Commodore Sligh has earned this award. The Nathan Bryant Service Award was presented to Kevin and Michelle Dolle. The Bryant Award is presented from time to time at the sole discretion of the Flag Officers to recognize a high level of personal commitment to the Club. The award was presented with particular appreciation for Kevin s multi-year commitment to completion of our recent dock project and Michelle s contributions to our social programs.

89 LASER SPRING SERIES 1 SPRING SERIES 2 SPRING SERIES 3 SUMMER SERIES 1 SUMMER SERIES 2 SUMMER SERIES 3 SEASON 1 SEASON 2 SEASON 3 JY 15 SEASON 1 SEASON 2 SEASON 3 Dave Sligh Jr. JP del Solar Goldsmith Tracy Brand Steve Sisson Phillip Norris Michael Kiss Dave Sligh Jr. Tyler Sale JP del Solar Goldsmith Louis Padnos Phillip Norris WMYSA Championship Tyler Sale Regatta Winners 110 SEASON CHAMPION Double Trouble - Willis Vandenberg S2 7.9 SEASON 1 SEASON 2 SEASON 3 ETCHELLS PHRF SEASON 1 SEASON 2 SEASON 3 MBYC Member Sailing Awards Second Wind - D & J Bergman Ol Blue Eyes - Peter Schwartz Smac d - Scott Derby No awards this year Capricious - Jack Knoblauch Tenacity - English Quiet Refuge - Leonard COMMODORE S CUP CC 1OA CC 2OA Trim - Harvey Ticklish - Landman VANDERLEEK CUP Spin 1 Capricious - Jack Knoblauch Spin 2 & 1ST overall Ole Blue Eyes - Jib & Main Comfort Cruisers OFFSHORE Peter Schwartz Quiet Refuge Talaria - Tom Slanec 1ST MBYC CHIGAGO - MAC Sufficient Reason - Arendshorst, Brand, Krissoff, Padnos 1ST MBYC QUEENS Talaria - Tom Slanec 1ST MBYC LMSRF Madcap - Guy Hiestand BRYANT AWARD PEG JONES SPORTSMANSHIP David Sligh Sr. Kevin & Michell Dolle Special Recognition for a Clean Sweep to Don & Jean Bergman for winning MBYC Season, Bayshore Season, and Bayshore OA Gold Cup winners. Prepared for the Awards Dinner of October 18, First place finishes only are noted. Statistics gathered from fleet captains by Roger Gamache Michelle & Kevin Dolle and Dave Sligh receive their special awards. 5

90 I have enjoyed being active and racing sailboats at MBYC since the 1960s. I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of a team that wants to ensure that MBYC continues to be one of the few premier yacht clubs in the Great Lakes region. My travels have taken me in recent years to a number of yacht clubs across the country, and our venue and facilities compare favorably with much of what I have seen. Nevertheless your flag officers and board believe there are many opportunities for improvement and our mission will be to build a stronger MBYC every year. Roger and Bob have requested that I focus on building our racing program over the next two years. We share a belief that a key measure of the health of any yacht club is the breadth and depth of its racing activity. An active racing program brings energy and enthusiasm to a yacht club. I have heard from many members that this is what they want at MBYC and this will always be a top priority for me. REAR COMMODORE S REPORT racing community. We hosted our first US Sailing National Championship this year and in 2009 will host the 420 NAs and also (hopefully) the Great Lakes Laser Regional championship. Our local sailors have competed successfully in the last twelve months in venues ranging from Europe to South America to Florida, Toronto, and California. The area where our sailing program is most in need of a boost is our local race activity. This has always been the core of the MBYC race program and it is a surprise, given the strengths in the abovementioned areas, that our local race activity has slipped. Participation in many of our local fleets is down: JY15, Etchells, and Laser all have fewer boats out. The flag officers and board are committed to work with members to rebuild local race activity. A starting point is to have active fleet captains. Fleet captains are needed to build the race schedule, send out blasts to fleet members about race events, and to be an overall cheerleader for the fleet. We have had succeesful fleet captains in the past - Mike Kiss (Lasers), Doug Slade (JY15), and Tracy Brand (Etchells) come to mind. There is no question there is a connection between our declining race participation and, in some cases, a recent lack of fleet captains. An active racing program will have many elements: a strong sailing school/junior program, a full local race calendar, having an active and deep race committee to support our race program, being a venue for regional and national sailing championships, and finally, having a cadre of local sailors who travel to and compete in national and international championships. My focus will be working with our members to make progress in each of these areas. A quick survey of the above areas shows that there is much our club can take pride in. We have an active junior program. Our race committee led by Barb Gamache has growing respect in the national A high priority for me is to identify 2009 fleet captains for each of our fleets. We need champions who want to see their fleet grow. I am happy to report that in 2009 Paul Brown will be Opti fleet captain and Don Bergman will be S2 7.9 fleet captain - thanks, guys! Next priority is finding leaders for JY 15 and Lasers. I look forward to sharing progress in building our race program in future letters. Please your thoughts/suggestions to me. Thanks! John Donnelly jdonnelly977@yahoo.com 6 Board adopts slip fee increase after extensive debate and 3-year hold One of the more lively board discussions occurred recently through a flurry of premeeting exchanges followed up by a similarly lively exchange at the October Board meeting. The topic: slip fee increases for Former members of the Board know that no agenda items generate more lively discussions than dues increases and slip fee increases. In large part, the discussion results from the Board s perennial efforts to match income to expenses all in an effort to hold down increases in either slip rates or dues. As a consequence, our Club s economics find us stretching our year-end funds to avoid having to go to our line of credit before beginning the receipt of the next year s dues and slip fees. This year, after discussions with our general manager, the Rear Commodore proposed to the Board that we increase our slip fees by $4.00 per foot. This represented a 5.6 % increase from our current rate. Because we have maintained our current rate for three years; the annual average increase would have been a 1.87% increase for each of the last three years. Slip holders on the Board expressed concern that the significant increase could be difficult to swallow in these uncertain economic times. Non-slip holders felt that the resulting proposed rate was still very favorable when compared to comparable commercial marinas. Slip holders challenged the comparability, and noted that most marinas have held their rates for three or more years, and are proposing to maintain those rates into I can report that the debate was very animated, but most importantly, it was civil and respectful. Each speaker was heard. Points made were acknowledged. It was noted for example, by slip holders, that this would be the fifth increase in slip rates in the last nine years while there have been only two dues increases. With the new increase, slip rates will have increased an average of 2.37 % (continued page 7)

91 Member News... by Melanie Aves All the MEMBER NEWS that s fit to print! MBYC member Melanie Aves edits a new Wind Scoop feature highlighting news and good gossip about our membership. But she needs your help! She wants to know about births, weddings, transitions, highlights regarding new members, fantistic travel on boats or by other means and whatever might interest us all. Please send your suggestions directly to Melanie at writeaway.mta@gmail.com or to Jon at jonbontekoe@gmail.com for forwarding. If you could earn mileage credits for sea travel, Jon and Mary Bontekoe would be rolling in free tickets. This MBYC couple embarked on a 12,000 mile adventure on the high seas in Seattle, on September 14, after traveling from Chicago cross country via Amtrak. They traveled aboard The Pearl, a huge, fully booked Panamax (sized to get through the Panama Canal lock system) ship carrying 2400 paying passengers and a crew of The featured cruising targets were Alaska and the Panama Canal. The ship would make its final passage of the season to Alaska before a repositioning cruise to Miami, its home port for winter cruises to destinations in the Caribbean. A new vessel, The Pearl was built in 2006, and is equipped with multiple pools, hot tubs, 10 restaurants, a casino, piano bar, huge theatre, duty free shops and Slip fees continued... in the last nine years, while dues will have increased 1.48 % over the same time. (These small average annual increases demonstrate the joint effort of our Manager and the Board to hold down the costs of Club membership.) Slip holders also argued that slip revenue is substantially greater than the cost of maintaining the docks even with our recent re-construction and additions. While slips have lasted for more than twenty years, their cost is paid off in about four or five years. At the conclusion, and with the recommendation of the full Bridge, the multiple outdoor decks placed for sun lovers and shade lovers. The Bontekoes preferred shade, and on sea days during the trip north they enjoyed reading in the forward lounge from which they could view whales, dolphins, and sea lions. In Alaska the trip made its way along the Inside Passage, where the passengers could see and hear the sounds of glaciers Board unanimously supported a compromised recommendation of $3.00 per foot. This represents a 4.2% increase and will generate nearly $ additional income. All of our members can be assured that every perspective was heard; every viewpoint was well represented, and in the end, the Board reached a consensus. As our new Commodore Gamache expressed after the meeting, this was our Board working at its best: strongly exchanging viewpoints and coming together with an outcome which we could each accept. It is a pleasure to work with such a Board. Board report by Bob DeJong Continued... calving huge chunks of ice, allowing rivers to flow out of them. It was awesome! said Jon. The glaciers made the trip worthwhile. Back in Seattle, all but 24 passengers left the ship. A whole new batch of travelers boarded, and the Bontekoes were joined by two old friends to complete the 19 day cruise to Miami. The 6200 mile trip began with 4 days at sea, followed by stops at ports along the Pacific Mexican Riviera, including Cabo San Lucas, Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta and Huatulco. After 2 more sea days the ship began its daytime transit of the Panama Canal. The Pearl is built to Panamax standards. At 965 feet long and 106 feet wide it is the maximum size to fit in the locks. Clearance on the sides is not more than 10 inches! The required daytime transit is scheduled at least one year in advance, and the huge ship is manned by two special pilots and accompanied by 2 tugboats for safety, along with many local line handlers. The Norwegian Cruise Lines, owner of The Pearl, pays about $350,000 for the privilege of the passage. Each lock takes about an hour from start to finish, with three on the Pacific side to raise the ship up about 80 feet and three on the Atlantic side to return it to sea level. Gatun Lake, an artificial reservoir, connects the two lock systems and takes 2-3 hours to transit. Yes, it was fascinating and worth the price of admission! said Bontekoe. After leaving the Canal, the remaining week of the cruise up the coast to Miami featured stops at Cartagena, Columbia, and the islands of Aruba and Curacao, where the Bontekoes hit the beaches. Traveling at a cruising speed of 19 to 20 knots, The Pearl, completed the planned journey, arriving in Miami, where the Bontekoes caught a plane back to Chicago. Talk about TRIPPIN! Photo of the Bontekoe s on the ship at the Grand Pacific Glacier, Glacier Bay, Alaska. The ship came within 1/4 mile of the Glacier allowing passengers to hear and see frequent calving. 7