FEBRUARY 2017
COMMODORE'S COMMENTARY Jeff Olmstead Apparently, I polished up the handle of the big front door well enough that I was sworn in as Commodore for 2017 at the Change of Command dinner last Saturday, Jan. 28th, at The Greek at the Harbor without any dissent. The affair came off well, I thought, the only glitch being the late appearance of the food at the tables. Everyone I talked to thought their meal was excellent, though.
The happiest woman in the room was the new Jr. Staff Commodore Lisa Hopper. She just couldn t stop giving awards to her husband Mike, who won the Yachtsman of the Year and First Mate awards, which are awarded at the discretion of the outgoing Commodore. Mike Hopper also won PBYC s Racing Sailboat of the Year award, presented by Richard Countess. Lisa also awarded Su Countess the Helping Hands award for assisting Lisa with her Commodore duties all year. Patsy Recla won this month s Golden Anchor award for decorating the club at Christmas. Su Countess nominated herself, and won without competition, the Fouled Prop award for leaving Lisa as Commodore for 2017 on the first draft of the program for the C of C dinner. Some people probably thought we were turning into Gambia, where the president recently refused to give up power after losing the election. Jeff Heath won the Blue Ball of Happiness award of $25. His wife Kappy Paulson accepted the award for him and promptly spent it on some frivolity. That will teach Jeff not to miss a club dinner! Thanks to all those who made the dinner happen, and to all those who attended. I m looking forward to next year s dinner already! I peeked at Ken s column before submitting mine (OK, before even starting to write it.) and would like to add to his safety recommendations. January s Latitude 38 magazine shows an idea for drawing and posting on board a diagram showing the location all the safety equipment aboard your boat so it can be referred to quickly in time of need. Even the owner of a boat might not remember where every piece of safety equipment is stored when the stuff hits the fan, or when the rock hits the prop in our case. If you want to be extra diligent, you can assign an emergency task to each crew member life jackets, communications, emergency signals, lookout, etc. so everyone already knows their job when something goes wrong. Don t forget about the Super Bowl party Feb. 5th. Judy is making themed treats of her own clammy chowder for Patriot fans and fried chicken or shrimp and grits for Atlanta, with Boston cream pie and pecan or peach pie for desert. Drink specials, too. Come root for your favorite food! Jeff Olmstead 2017 PBYC Commodore
VIRTUES OF VICE COMMODORE Dorothy Adriansen For a short month, February 2017 has a lot of fun stuff going on. Our Secretary Patsy Recla, Junior Staff Commodore Lisa Hopper, and I are looking forward to starting the month by attending the 28th Annual Women s Sailing Convention in Newport on February 4th. Judy Nolde will be hosting a Super Bowl Party on February 5th where she will have her Clammy Chowder to represent the Patriots and Fried Chicken/Shrimp and Grits for those rooting for Atlanta. Boston Crème Pie or Peach Pie for dessert and of course there will be drink specials. The first racing series of the year for PBYC comes next with the start of our Spring Series on February 11th. Then 2 weeks later, on the 25th we ll have the Spring Series #2 race. Please try to help our Senior Staff Commodore Richard Countess as he comes out of winter hibernation and asks for volunteers at the Finish Line, Committee Boat and serving hungry racers.
Our monthly board and general meetings will be held on February 18th with our Commodore Jeff Olmstead wearing the chef s hat. I m writing this column the day of our Change of Command dinner, which I m looking forward to attending. A sincere pre thank you goes out to all who took their time to find a place and to organize this event. Hope to see you all at the club soon, Dorothy Adriansen Vice Commodore REAR COMMODORE Ken Recla Last month I said we were going to sail to Santa Barbara, well, weather got the better of us as that weekend we had gale force winds, heavy rains, and record high seas decided that was a bit toooo adventurous for us and so we baled. Still want to go and as February looks real busy were gonna plan the trip for one of the first two weekends in March probably 10th & 11th. Saturday the 28th was my first Yacht Club Change of Command and I thought it was an excellent ceremony. Well attended with a nice blend of pomp and frivolity. The new team is now
official and firmly ensconced with oars in the water rowing for 2017. On the 29th I attended a Rear Commodore seminar at the Del Rey Yacht Club. It was nice to meet folks from other Clubs and learn a bit about everyone s trials and tribulations we re all facing the same hurdles it would seem. The highlight for me was the Brunch. Wow Even the salads were decadent. Safety: Whenever you re going for a day on the water with people unfamiliar with your boat, a safety brief is worth while to minimize the chance of accident or loss of life. A few things to discuss might include: The intended route/destination Expected weather conditions Life Jacket location Vessel hazard areas Vessel condition particulars Radio use and Monitor Frequencies/channels Fire Extinguisher location First Aid Kit location Other safety equipment locations including spare lines, fenders and boat hooks Man overboard actions and assignments Wishing everyone Fair Winds and Following Seas and hope to see you at all the upcoming club events. Ken See more Change of Command photos here. RACE COMMITTEE
RACE COMMITTEE Richard Countess SPRING SERIES PBYC invites you join us for our Spring Series which will consist of three races with no throw outs. Race dates are February 11, February 25 and March 18. The start signal for the first class is scheduled for 1100 hours on each race day, and the course lengths will vary from 6 to 23 nm. The Sailing Instructions will be available at the Skippers Meeting, which will be held promptly at 0830 hours on each race day. The entry fee for the series is $80 ($70 for USSA members). For individual races the entry fee is $30 ($25 for USSA members). Daily trophies will be presented at the attitude adjustment period following each race; series trophies will be awarded after the last race. Please note that we will be using the recently released Racing Rules of Sailing for 2017 2020. PBYC RACING SAILBOAT OF THE YEAR The PBYC Racing Sailboat of the Year trophy is a large wooden ship s wheel that was donated by Staff Commodore Ron Golding in 1988. This trophy is awarded at the annual Change of Command to the PBYC skipper with the highest number of points for PBYC hosted races. The scoring criteria outlined in the deed of gift specifies that boats may miss only one PBYC hosted event during the year. Boats are awarded 3 points for first in class, 2 points for second in class, 1 point for third in class, and 1 bonus point for first overall. The winner of the PBYC Racing Sailboat of the Year for 2016 is Mike Hopper s MAJIC DRAGON. Previous year winners include: Milt Ingram s CLASS SEA (1988 and 1992), Richard and Susan Countess s SYMPHONY (1989), Allan Vasenius s SEA MONGER (1990 and 1991), Dick and Dotty Massa s LEADING LADY (1993), Joe Graetch s AMERICAN PIE (1994 and 1997), Larry and JoAnn Hansen s SCOOTER (1995 and 1996), Verne Haller s SOMERSET (1998 2001 and 2004), Bill Gibbs s AFTERBURNER (2002, 2003, 2007 2010, and 2014), Joe Vetrano s PACSAIL.COM (2005), John Thawley s XS (2006), and Mike Hopper s MAJIC DRAGON (2001 2013). No boat qualified in 2015. MISCELLANEOUS Last fall I was informed by a harbor patrol officer that we might have problems in 2017 accessing our traditional finish line in the parking lot south west of the National Park Service building. With that in mind, Rear Commodore Ken Recla and I met with the Ventura Port District commissioners at their January board meeting to seek their approval for having access to our traditional finish line for the seven PBYC hosted races in 2017. Fortunately, several of the port commissioners are sailboat racers and they complemented PBYC on running a great racing program. We were informed that there are no plans to develop that parcel of land for at least a year and consequently we would have access to finish boats using our traditional finish line with the understanding that we would coordinate with the Ventura Harbor Patrol. UPCOMING LOCAL RACES Feb 11 PBYC s Spring Series #1
Feb 12 AYC/PCYC s TGIS Winter Series #3 Feb 18/19 CIYC s SCYA Midwinters Regatta (PHRF and J 24) Feb 25 PBYC s Spring Series #2 March 11 AYC s St. Patrick s Day Regatta March 12 AYC/PCYC s TGIS Winter Series #4 March 15 AYC s Wet Wednesday races begin March 18 PBYC s Spring Series #3 SU'S TIDBITS Su Countess I don't have much to say in the way of tidbits this month. Su FEBRUARY BIRTHDAYS 12. Maggie Hood 14. LeeAnn Barrigan 15. Tom Nelson 15. Lisa Hopper 18. Debbie Gibbs 22. Karen Fitzpatrick FEBRUARY CALENDAR 2. Groundhog Day 2. Los Padres Ski Club meeting, evening 4. Women's Sailing Convention 5. SUPER BOWL PARTY 11. Spring Series Race #1 12. Bill Gibbs' Wine Sunday 14. Valentine's Day 15. Opening Day Committee meeting 18. PBYC Board & General Meetings, dinner by Jeff O. 20. Presidents' Day
24. VIM Seminar at PBYC, 6:30pm 25. Spring Series Race #2 MARCH CALENDAR 2. Los Padres Ski Club meeting, evening 12. Begin Daylight Saving 17. St. Patrick's Day 18. Spring Series Race #3 19. Board & General meetings, Corned Beef Lunch by Countess/Adriansen, Sunday, 2pm 24. VIM Seminar, 6:30pm 25. Club Scrub, 10am 26. Club Scrub, 9am CLUB HOST SCHEDULE [PDF]