Volume 13, Number 1 The Official Newsletter of The Sailing Club, Inc. Spring/Summer 2004 http://www.thesailingclub.org Annual Meeting This past spring the Club s Annual Meeting was held for the first time at the Somerset Hills Hotel in Warren, NJ, through the great efforts of Cecile McKenzie and the rest of the Social Committee Carolyn Farnsworth, Mary Ann Gordon and Clara Matejka. Trip displays, some showing some significant creative talent were in the hallway outside the dining room, where folks met up before and after the meeting to catch up As we do every year, the business of the Club is reviewed, from trip planning, financial status and our charter company relationships. Following this, Commodore Steward announced the new Board of Trustees for the coming year. Serving as our new Treasurer is Cliff Rimpo, and our new Charter Liaison is Laura Laughlin. New Members-at-Large are Julie Conway, Jeff Hamer, and Jane Schumann. Continuing to serve in their current capacity are Commodore Dave Steward, Vice Commodore Jon Stufflebeem, Membership Secretary Tom Davies, Past Commodore Cecile McKenzie, Members-At Large Joe Brozek, Steve Krakauer, Clara Matejka, Vic Oburg, Lillian Parsons, Doal Sanderson and Larry Sherwood, who retires from four years as Charter Liaison.. In announcing the election results, Commodore Dave Steward also thanked the outgoing board members for their service. They are: Treasurer Gerry Van Tassel and Members at Large: Jack Buckley, Tilly-Jo Emerson and Mary Ann Gordon. The remainder of the evening was spent hearing about the upcoming trips, catching up with who s been doing what and generally having a good time. Training Trifecta By Jon Stufflebeem This year the Club offered up a training trifecta, linking the land class and the On-Water Training as a series, in conjunction with a predicted log rally on the Memorial Day trip. The material in the classroom would be based on the sailing area for the predicted log rally, where crews would predict their time over a set course and compare their actual time to their predicted time. The seamanship and navigation class on April 17, 2004 at the Raritan Yacht Club filled the room. Members of various skill levels participated and the event was very successful. Organized by Rob Chichester, the class was taught by Joe Brozek and Julio Menendez. after reviewing the rules for the exercise, eight teams, began plotting courses, determining the distance to be sailed and estimating the time required for the trip. Four legs were plotted. During each leg an "actual" fix was supplied and the teams were asked to revise their estimated time of arrival at the next mark and at the end of the course. The On The Water Training weekend was held from April 30-May 2, 2004. The winds for the weekend were generally over 20 knots and we got in some really good sailing as well as practice under power. As the four boats to be used were chartered out of Rock Hall, the group had a fourhour sail on Friday to Fairlee Creek in order to be ready for the weekend warriors. As usual, the In This Issue Training Trifecta 1 Annual Meeting 1 To Infinity, and Beyond 2 Commodore s Column 3 CPR/First Aid 4 Club Calendar Back Page (Continued on page 2)
To Infinity, and Beyond Well, beyond the current season, anyway. It s time to look behind the curtain and see what s being thought about for next year s events. As our 2004 Sailing Season is in full swing, it is time to begin planning where we will go and what we will do in the 2005 season. There has been a link on the Club's website for suggestions and recommendations to be submitted for a while now. Here is what has been suggested so far. January-February 2005 One or two land classes at the RYC. Topics could include: Rules of the Road (inland and ocean), Safety Equipment (flares, whistles, horns and such), use of the GPS, Dead Reckoning Hands On, Routine Rigging, Emergency Rigging, Towing in the Event of Breakdown, Rafting Theory, Knots and Cleats, whatever. A suggestion has been received that we schedule two Saturday classes at RYC in the winter. The ones the last two years have been well received. What are your thoughts? What would you like to see covered? March - April Red Cross Certification for CPR and Basic Adult First Aid. Skippers and Mates must have current certification in both; all members are urged to get qualified. One or two On The Water hands on exercises. These would have two purposes: to let the skippers and mates loosen up and practice maneuvering under power, MOB recovery, docking, practice for unforeseen events, whatever. The second purpose would be to have hands on practice for those who are not Skippers or Mates but who want to learn more about driving a boat and managing the crew. It might include, in addition to basic maneuvering under power, course planning, tacking, jibing, going from point to point, boat handling basic and intermediate (Continued on page 5) 2 Training Trifecta (Continued from page 1) crews were grouped according to their experience. Two boats primarily concentrated on basic skills and two boats went through the basic skill routines before heading out into the Chesapeake to practice more advanced skills, particularly in MOB recovery and heaving to, both of which would be required events in the forthcoming rally. Over the Memorial Day Weekend the seamanship and navigation rally was held out of Annapolis. Three boats chartered from Let s Go Cruising participated in a land class and practice sail for the first day, then left port for a 30 mile predicted log course, without the use of electronic navigation devices. When the course was set it was assumed that the wind would come from the northwest, but it ended up coming strong from the south, requiring a long beat to windward on the first leg. Although the first waypoint was announced at the dock, the second wasn t revealed until after a timed MOB pick up after the first waypoint was achieved. After the second waypoint was achieved the boats participated in a timed anchoring under sail exercise. Following that was a raft-up in a beautiful cove with an extensive debriefing and a great party. Monday, Memorial Day, was rainy and foggy with predictions of high wind gusts and hail. In light of this, it was decided to end the trip that morning. All in all the members had a lot of fun, many members got to do things they had not done before when on Club trips. There was general consensus that "we should do it again". The Official Newsletter of The Sailing Club, Inc. 19 Budd Lake Hts. Rd., Budd Lake, NJ 07828 Steven Krakauer, Editor The Sailing Club Board Officers Commodore Dave Steward Vice-Commodore Jon Stufflebeem Membership Secretary Tom Davies Treasurer Cliff Rimpo Charter Liaison Laura Lauglin Past Commodore Cecile McKenzie Members at Large Joe Brozek, Julie Conway, Jeff Hamer, Steve Krakauer Clara Matejka, Vic Oburg, Lillian Parsons, Doal Sanderson Jane Schumann and Larry Sherwood. Please send all newsletter submissions to: Steve Krakauer, 11 Clark Court, Basking Ridge, NJ 07920 email: news@thesailingclub.org
Commodore s Comments By Dave Steward Commodore's Corner The 2004 sailing season is underway and several Club trips are already ancient history at this writing. While I am not the most unbiased person about the Seamanship & Navigation Rally conducted over the Memorial Day weekend, all who participated stated eagerly that a lot was learned and the forum was something worth repeating. Without the aid of electronics, we all learned how busy one can be in establishing a "fix," translating the fixes into a lat/lon on the chart, determining the course made good and calling for a course correction if necessary. It was amusing to watch at first while it took some almost the entire 30 minutes to do this. Complaints bellowed from below as to the need for more time, all the while the boats were traveling at 5 to 6 knots in a gusty 20 + knots of breeze. So, for those of you into speed, distance and time, just calculate how far one can go in 20 to 30 minutes at 5 knots after taking a LOP. So, you say we aren't where we think we are? At least on my boat, I discourage dawdling and requested the fixes be established within 5 minutes. At the end of the day, the crew was very close. We finished the first day after establishing fixes with different crew every 30 minutes, retrieving a fender during a "surprise" MOB, and anchoring under sail. All three boats dropped a hook that evening rather late with crew both physically and mentally drained from the exercise. However, the energy after the day's activities kept all chatting about the day into the wee hours. Our second day of the Rally was postponed due to predicted thunderstorms and potentially 70 knots of wind - so what's a second reef for, anyway? On the way back to Annapolis, the boats practiced some dead reckoning. So, what did we learn from all of this? Crew communication is most important! Planning the course once each boat received the first waypoint was not arrived at, or agreed to, by all crew members as easily as one may think. Having an alternative plan is important if things don't go as planned. Manually "fixing" one's position can be trying on a heeling and yawing vessel. Verifying one's estimate of position is also important, and communicating the fix accurately is also important (We could not find 385 degrees on our handheld compass). Knowing your heading and next course correction (a tack or gibe), and when this is to occur is really important should you desire to go to the appointed place. Expect the unexpected. And do it all safely! Fair winds, Dave 3
CPR/First Aid Story and Photos by Vic Oburg Members of The Sailing Club completed the requirements of the American Red Cross CPR and First Aid Courses on March 6 at the Environmental Education Center in Basking Ridge. There were 22 club members who completed the Adult CPR to maintain their certification for the next year, while 11 of them also upgraded their First Aid requirements for the next three years. These courses are given annually in early March at a nominal cost for all members who wish to be certified in First Aid and/or CPR. The cost is to cover the American Red Cross fees while the club supports the facility rental and refreshments. Seamanship and Navigation Class April 17, 2004 Photos by Joe Brozek The Sailing Club, Inc. has renewed its partnership with the BoatU.S. Cooperating Group Program. Because of this partnership, current Sailing Club members in 2004 can receive 50% off BoatU.S. dues when you join or renew with them. Regular BoatU.S. dues are $19.00, but through this arrangement you pay only $9.50. A few of the benefits to you through this program are: Discounts on fuel, overnight slips, or repairs at over 600 marinas. On-the-water towing, with a choice of service levels through TowBoatU.S. A full year's subscription to BoatU.S. magazine. A catalogue with member rewards and special discounts on equipment. Boat insurance. If you are interested in renewing or becoming a new member with BoatU.S., be sure to refer to our Group Number: GA82513S 4
To Infinity, and Beyond (Continued from page 2) skills, sail trim, hands on MOB drill for regular crew (more than pointing?), all the things you might want to learn to make your sailing adventures more enjoyable and safer. Suggestions have come in from OWT and Rally participants that a Skipper and a Mate be staff for these exercises as the Skipper alone has too much to do. Do you agree? What are your thoughts? Are there enough of you to ask our skippers and mates to team up to help crew members advance their skills? I thought that this year's On The Water exercise and the predicted log rally were very popular - especially with people who got to learn new things. Our Skippers and Mates have been very generous with their time - but to expand the scope of this program it will take a response from you to show them your interest. May Shall we have another iteration of the Seamanship & Navigation ally? Without GPS as it was this year? Maybe one day without and one day with? Please let me have your thoughts about what we should schedule. Is Memorial Day, OK? If so should we run from Saturday to Tuesday to avoid the Monday traffic? June A two day Introduction to Sailing/Introduction to the Club Trip. Every time we do this we get a number of new people who "try us out". We believe that this is a good way to get to know one another, and the Club. July No suggestions yet. Maybe a small boat day in Barnegat or New York Harbor? September A full week trip in the Channel Islands out of Vancouver, British Columbia. We are looking at chartering 40-44' boats, cruising from island to island with one day on the hook in Nanaimo, BC for provisioning and sightseeing. Please let me know if you like the idea. October We would like to propose another fall October trip to the Chesapeake. It is popular again this year as it has been over the years. Anyone interested in leading this trip? January, February, 2006 A full week trip to the Caribbean. Research is only beginning on this one. Please let me know what you think, where you would want to go. The Club has not sponsored a Caribbean Cruise for some years and maybe this is the season for it. Appeal for Input Now is the time for you to let your Officers and Trustees know where you would like to go and what you would like to do. As always this is a good time to let us know that you might be available as a Trip Leader or an Assistant Trip Leader. These are just ideas. Our trips depend on finding people who would be willing to help the Club pull trips together and run them, please let me know if you can help. Please let me hear from you! Jon Stufflebeem Vice Commodore The Sailing Club, Inc. jonsailor@earthlink.net August No Suggestions yet. Continued in next column 5
Trip Schedule for 2004 Dates May 29-31 June 26-27 July 26-30 September 13-18 October 22-25 November 6-13 Location Annapolis Maryland Two-Day Intro Chesapeake Burlington, VT Lake Champlain Schooner Victory Chimes Maine Rock Hall, MD Chesapeake Bay Punta Gorda Gulf Coast, Florida c/o Krakauer 11 Clark Court Basking Ridge, NJ 07920