At Our Helm At Our Helm Commodore Hugh Talman 272-2344 htalman@gotnet.net Vi ce Commodore Tish Buti 273-7819 Calendar June 2.*Fun Race B Spring Awards Banquet 4. PICYA Bridge Marina Yacht Club 6 General Meeting Memorial Park 9-10.*GCYC REGATTA/ Cruise 16 Race #1 Summer Series 18 Jr. Sailing Orientation 24 Jr. Sailing Program July 1. Race #2 Summer Series 2 PICYA Meeting Sequoia Yacht Club 4 4th of July Cruise 8 Friendship Club Day - Cruise 11 General Meeting Memorial Park 15. High Sierra Race #1 22. High Sierra Race #2 28 Race #3 Summer Series Secretary Pat Lund 273-4532 Treasurer Janet Moyette 432-3368 janet@rwf-cpa.com Cruise Director Lynn Buchanan 470-0511 SAILYNN@jps.net Publicity/Member ship Nicolette Talman Port Captain Doug Epperson 273-3551 Race Chairman Jerry Lewis 272-9380 Newsletter Editor Kent Bennett 478-9099 heykb2@yahoo.com 1
GoldCountry yacht club Newsletter a little dinghy 2001 Commodore s Ahoy Mateys, Wow, where does the time go? Here it is June already, and I m halfway through my first year. It s been fun so far, but this month should really be great. I m sure all of you are aware that the 20th Annual Go For The Gold Regatta is June 9-10. Our Regatta Chairman has probably called each and every one of you soliciting your help, and I m sure all of you have volunteered for one thing or another. Thank you in advance for your support. Don t forget that due to the Regatta this month s meeting will be early, June 6th. It is an important meeting, so please attend. Since the weather is here, we are meeting at Memorial Park 6:00 to eat, 7:00 to meet. Feel free to bring something to cook, as the barbecue is ready by 6 p.m. Also, please bring something to share: salad for last names starting with A-L, and dessert for M-Z. We will alternate every meeting. Be there or be square! corner Next I would like to give you an update on the Clubhouse. We are the proud owners of a Nevada County Building Permit and today had our first Building Committee meeting on site. The committee consists of: Doug Epperson, Dale Buchanan, Wayne and Tish Buti, Joe Day, and myself. We re very lucky to have Joe Day as our resident contractor. He s agreed to donate his knowledge, skill and equipment to build our clubhouse. But he can t do it alone we need help from our club members to make his job easier. We scheduled our first work party for Tuesday, May 29th. If you are physically capable (and available) to do manual labor (brush and dirt work), meet us at the building site at 4 p.m. The more, the merrier. We plan to schedule work parties every Tuesday from 4 p.m. to dark. If all goes well, we will be pouring concrete on June 30th. I don t know about you, but I m excited! Since January of this year, eight new members have joined our fine club. They are: Hubert & Jerianne VanDijk; Dirk & Jan Reed; Wayne Robbins & Myrna Bowman; Chuck & Robin Hart. Join me in welcoming them. With these memberships our club is approaching 100 members. (Pretty good for a yacht club in the sticks. ) It s good to get new blood into the club and, hopefully, more and more members involved. We hope to see all of you new members at the next meeting to help us finalize our Regatta plans. Well, I hope all of you had a great Memorial Day weekend. There may be some tales to tell about a cruise to Half Moon Bay at the meeting. Until then Anchors Aweigh, Hugh 2
Bird Droppings by Eaglebeak E a g l e b e a k Ahoy and Avast, ye lads and ladys. After weeks of work, the boat is launched and riding at her buoy. Sounds simple, right? NOT! I finally found out for myself just how much junque you accumulate on your boat -- and now I totally sympathize with the Butis, Buchanans, Samuelsons, Talmans, and all others who transferred stuff from one boat to another. Anyway, I emptied the damn thing out completely -- and filled up one and a half pick up trucks full of stuff -- no wonder I seem to arrive last at the finish line during races! There was everything from a GPS system -- a real MUST on Scotts Flat -- to champagne buckets and deflated fenders. The anchor line had a ripe sorta smell to it, and -- in my desire to have the right emergency equipment aboard, I had about two of everything I thought I needed except none of it fit. I counted one large spotlight (good for illuminating the eastern shore), two flashlights, an emergency road flare, an exotic neon road thing that flashed amber, and 27 bungee cords. There were 56 cassette tapes, and a recorder that didn t work. Two batteries, only one that had a green eye that winked at you, the other had to be given the old heave-ho. Of course, none of the flashlight batteries worked. and flags? Well, Earlene told me two years ago I looked like a used car lot, but what the hell. One has to be prepared to dress ship with stem - to mast toop - to stern pennants, with the Jolly Roger, the cocktail flag, club burgee, etc., etc.,etc., until the flag locker overfloweth. Of course, you need to be prepared with storm gear, all that reefing stuff, and several types of sun shades. (in keeping with the old BS motto of be prepared. Add to that the necessary water bazooka equipment (2), foam spaghetti horses, life vests, cushions, cleaning supplies that would easily take care of the twin World Trade Towers, and you have a formula for riding low in the water. As mentioned in an earlier next page... 3
Bird Droppings E a g l e b e a k...column, I decided to paint the waterline before we put the boat in the water this year -- of course Tim Erskine noted that the trailer (and myself) were beginning to take on the same color as the boat, and that blue stuff is REALLY hard to get off! Both Tim and my friend Fred helped me launch last week, and THIS year, I decided to break out the beer AFTER we got the boat in the water (good decision). Though I had visions of it gracefully sliding off the trailer into the water -- and keep on going until it sunk, it managed to remain afloat, and now, after a toolong hiatus, is rigged for summer fun. I figure it s about five hundred pounds lighter, eager to take on the steady offshore coastal breezes of SFL, and primed for the installation of a Ron Kent style water catapult to fend off invaders. Hope your summer is smooth sailing indeed. Cheers! You re sailing your boat that is leaving from San Francisco and ending in La Paz. To start off with, there were 15 passengers on the boat. At the next port, 7 people get off and 5 people get on. At the next port, 2 people got off and 2 people got on. At the next port, 12 people got on and 16 people got off. At the next port, 5 people got on and 3 people got off. What color are the skipper s eyes? The key to understanding the problem is focusing on the right information. If we assume it is critical to keep track of the number of people getting on and off the boat, we focus on information that turns out to be unessential. It distracts us from the important information. The answer to the problem is found in the first sentence: YOU are sailing your boat, so the color is of course the color of your eyes. 4
Racing Notes Racing Notes By Jerry Lewis Race Series #4 was sailed in the heaviest breezes seen on Scotts Flat Lake in years. It was a nice sunny day with strong breezes andoccasional heavy gusts over 15mph. Everyone survived intact but lots of keels were showing on the upwind legs. Ethan Gicker, Zac and Cameron Lewis manned the Race Committee and did a great job picking courses, flying the proper flags and keeping good times and scores. Racing started late after some barge engine problems (flooded) and waiting 1 1/2 hours for Jeremy and Kent to re-run a broken internal main halyard. As late afternoon approached and the winds increased, we opted to only have two races (averaging the first two scores for the needed third race score). But those the two races were hum dingers! Gold Driver crossed the line three seconds in front of Jerry Lewis Capri 22 (#155) in race one but corrected to second in the 2.4 miles B course. The average speed of the first two boats was more than 5.1 mph, very fast for getting around SFL. Jeff Lund in Brooke took third, with Bob Olshausen finishing fourth in the club s Capri 22 (USN-2). Jeremy and Kent were still in the parking lot for race #1 but managed to get rerigged and out on the lake for race #2. The RC picked a long AA course (twice around windward/leeward) for the second race, but three boats completed it in 48 minutes, again averaging more than 5mph for the 4 mile course! Jeremy and Kent took first in their Capri 22 (#183) with a great inside overlap, room at the mark mark rounding at the final mark after trading places back/ forth with Jerry s Capri for most of the race. And as Gold Driver was approaching the downwind mark, Jerry s Capri 22 turned upwind around the mark on starboard into a gust that rounded-up the Capri and the two boats slapped rigs even though they were 20 feet apart laterally. Fortunately, there was no damage and the intense racing continued to the finish line where these three boats finished within 15 seconds of each other with Gold Driver passing Jerry s Capri on the final upwind beat (three crew definitely helped the Holder 20 on Sunday as the two man crew on the Capri couldn t hold the boat down). The Spring Series Awards will be presented on Saturday, June 2 at Fun Race B at Scotts Flat Lake. The race results were close and hopefully will get even closer as more boats come out for the Summer Series starting June 16th. Race Results are on our website and elsewhere in this newsletter. Fun Race B will involve multiple short races to the windward mark and back (1/4 A course, 1/2 mile distance) with crew and skippers swapping positions. This will give everyone a chance to see what that other person on the boat has to deal with. Should be lots of fun. Come join in. Jerry 5
Ten Commandments of Boatspeed N O.1 Most boats perform best upwind with a nearly neutral weather helm. At times, the boat will develop weather helm, especially when in point mode, but an excessive tug on the tiller indicates that the boat is badly out of balance. The quick fixes: sail the boat flatter, raise the centerboard, decrease mast rake or flatten the mainsail. No. 2 In most conditions, trim the mainsheet so that the top batten is parallel to the boom, rather than pointing inboard or outboard. To judge this, cover the last 10 inches of the upper batten pocket with black tape. Then sight up the leech from under the boom, trim to the right spot and mark the mainsheet. That said, there are times you can break this rule. When trying to accelerate, develop power in light-to-medium winds or when greatly overpowered in a breeze, the upper batten can be angled outboard 10 to 20 degrees. Conversely, when trying to point extra high in moderate air, it s OK to slightly overtrim the main so that the batten hooks to windward in relation to the boom. No. 3 Figure out what is maximum mast bend, and then strive to attain it in most conditions. Maximum bend is the point at which overbend wrinkles (speed wrinkles, inversion wrinkles, etc.) develop in the lower quarter to lower third of the mainsail. Depending on the boat, you can bend the mast with mainsheet tension, vang tension, backstay tension, rig tension, mast blocks, spreader angle or a combination of all of the above. No. 4 Every boat has its optimal rig tension. Find out what it is and maintain it. Most boats sail best with the rig just tight enough so that the leeward shroud starts to go slack when it s blowing 10 to 12 knots. If the rig is too loose, the jib entry will become quite full. The result is poor pointing ability. Too tight a rig, on the other hand, is sometimes indicated by overbend/inversion wrinkles in the entry of the jib a small scale version of what happens to a mainsail with maximum mast bend. In addition, if the rig is too tight, the entry of the jib will be quite flat and the telltales will break on both sides of the jib at nearly the same time. In short, the jib becomes hard to steer to. No. 5 Sail the boat on its lines. Usually, a boat will not perform when its bow or stern is buried in the water. Besides the obvious drag, this can affect the balance of the boat and the tug on the tiller (e.g. bow down creates weather helm). Instead, position the crew weight so the transom is just kissing the water. The result is a smooth, continued on next page
B oatspeed continued... undisturbed wake. Watch where the top sailors sit and copy them. No. 6 Trim your jib so that, if there were a batten in the middle of the leech, it would be parallel with the centerline of the boat. Put a piece of dark tape on this real or imaginary batten. Only in rare exceptions does a jib ever get trimmed off this position. One time would be for acceleration ease the sheet so the mid-leech stripe is angled 10 degrees outboard from centerline. This trim is for first gear and should match to the mainsheet ease when the main s top batten is also angled outboard for acceleration. will be too big. But they ll never be as long or pronounced as the inversion wrinkles from excessive mast bend or too tight a forestay. Those wrinkles angle from luff to clew. The wrinkles controlled by luff tension are much smaller and lie perpendicular to the luff. No. 9 Every boat has a sweet spot a precise steering angle for optimum performance upwind. Every boat also has a groove, which is the range of acceptable steering angles. It s up to the skipper to learn both. The lower end of this range is for acceleration. At this angle, both jib telltales should be streaming straight aft. The luff of the jib should rarely break, but the leeward telltales should never stall. 7 No. 7 Set your jib leads so that your jib luff breaks evenly from top to bottom. When the boat is overpowered, move the lead aft until the top breaks just ahead of the lower and middle telltales. No. 8 Set your jib and main luff tension so that there are always some slight horizontal wrinkles along the luff. In very light winds, completely relax the luff tension so there are slight wrinkles all the way from head to tack. Tighten it gradually as the wind builds, so that in heavy air slight wrinkles appear only in the lower few feet of both sails. If the luff tension is too soft, these wrinkles The center of the groove is the sweet spot, where the boat should be sailed 75 percent of the time. Here you should steer so the weather telltale is slightly stalled. The other end of the groove is the pinching mode, which is used in breezy conditions, especially in flat water. This side of the groove is usually higher than simply letting the weather telltale lift. On most boats you can actually steer so the front of the jib breaks as much as a foot back from the headstay for short periods. No. 10 When in doubt, copy the fast guys! This article was sent to me on the inter-net I do not know who the author was or where it was first published Editor
Spring Series Standings Spring Seri (three thro show Boat/Skipper April 8 - Sun. April 28 1 2 3 4 5 Gicker-Bennett 2 1 1.5 three 1 Lewis 1 three 2 RC RC Sailynn/Buchanan RC RC RC 1 2 Gold Driver/Karr 4 4 4 dns dns Williwaw/Bringolf dns dns dns DNS DNS Smooth/Boothe 3 2 2.5 dns dns Too Cool/Butts dns dns dns 4 4 Brooke/Lund dns dns dns DNS DNS Hola!/Nin dns dns dns 4 3 USN2/Olshausen dns dns dns DNS DNS Myott/Epperson dns dns dns DNS DNS DNS currently = 8 (7 boats = largest fleet to dat Cancelled Race #3 results calculated by averagin Cancelled Race #12 resultscalculated by averagi RC number based on individual s current averag 8
es Standings wouts taken) n as text Spring Series Standings - Sat. May 12 -Sat. May 20 - Sun. 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 TOTAL 1 1 1 1 six 1 three.5 10.5 RC two three 2 1 2 1.5 14.25 2 4 6 6 dns dns dns 31.5 dns 7 5 4 2 3 2.5 35.5 DNS 3 2 3 DNS DNS DNS 55 dns DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 55.5 5 RC RC RC DNS DNS DNS 55.5 DNS 5 7 7 3 6 4.5 56.5 4 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 59 DNS DNS DNS DNS 4 4 4 60 DNS 6 4 5 DNS DNS DNS 63 e); dns = thrown out DNS score g Races 1 & 2 (need three scores each series) ng Races 10 & 11 (need three scores each series) e of ALL counted race scores, including DNSes not thrown out. 9
This and That The Scuttlebutt and Cruiser s Corner will hopefully return next month. The Authors are out to Sea Remember to start saving your STUFF for the GCYC FLEA MARKET BOOTH at the Fairgrounds September 30th 2001 WE NEED YOUR STUFF Just a quick note on the Whiskeytown Regatta before we go to press The Whiskeytown Regatta was held on the 26th and 27th of May. They had approximately 135 boats attended the event. Two LONG races were completed Saturday in mostly strong winds. Sunday s races were also long with a mixture of winds. Club members participating in the regatta were... 1-Kent Bennett and Jeremy Gicker in a Capri 22 2-Jerry Lewis and crew (son Zac and Rick Paulson) in a Capri 22 3-Janet Moyette and her sailing partner Chuck in a Lido Jeremy and Kent took 2nd place over all. Jerry came in 4th place, with a strong finish, beating everyone in the last race. (ask him about the ride home) Janet made a real good showing despite equipment failure A good time was had by all!!!!!! Luke Demarko 10
Minutes General Meeting M i n u t e s Gold Country Yacht Club General Meeting May 9, 2001 Meeting called to order: 7:05 p.m. Officer reports: Commodore: 1. Nice to see the number of people at the meetings and talking with each other. 2. Building permits for the clubhouse have been approved. One more thing from the fire department is needed. The building committee will meet next week and will start scheduling work parties. 3. The first cruise was a success. It was at the Sail Expo at Jack London Square. 4. No one signed up for the adult sailing class. 5. The PICYA delegates are urged to attend the PICYA meetings. 6. Hugh gave Tish our Vice Commodore the award for the charcoal lighting duties. Vice-Commodore: Nothing to report Secretary: Nothing to report Treasurer: 1. Reported on the bank balance Race Chair: 1. Race #2 which was held last Saturday, May 5, 4 boats raced a close race. Pictures were shared of the race. See the website for pictures. 2. There is a race Saturday, May20. This is the end of the spring season. 3. June 2 will be the Fun Race B it is a swap run. 4. There are new PHRN ratings. Cruising Chair: 1. Everyone had a good time at the boat show. If you were there and didn t check in with Lynn please let her know so you can receive cruising points. 2. Next cruise is at Whiskey Town on May 27. Port Captain: 11 1. The barge will be launched this Friday, May 11. More repairs were made and are completed. Next year we will need to look at replacing the pontoon. If at all possible DO NOT BEACH IT. next page...
Minutes General Meeting M i n u t e s Publicity & Membership Chair: 1. Nothing to report Newsletter Editor: Not Attended Committee Reports: 1. Regatta June 9 & 10. Need help in a few areas parking attendant, dinner help was able to get some volunteers. Everyone needs to bring hors-d oeuvres. 2. Building Projects are ready to get going. Old Business: 1. None New Business: 1. Lynn Buchanan stated that she & Dale have a tow vehicle for sale the Suburban call if interested. 2. Don Samuelson announced with the nice weather the Wednesday night BBQ will begin next week on May 16 beginning 6:00-6:30 3. Jeff Lund & Wayne Buti have talked about having Sunfish races on Wednesday nights before the BBQ. 4. Wayne Buti stated that the club boat is on the lake and can be used also on Wednesday nights for a $10 donation. 5. Wayne Buti said the dinghy dock needs to be moved Don Samuelson said it will be taken care of. 6. Jeff Lund shared the accident which happened during the Konocti Cup race and discussed safety while on the water. Announcements: 1. Hugh announced that the club meetings will be held at the park through the summer. Reminder that 1 2 the alphabet brings desserts to share and the other 1 2 brings salads. 2. The next meeting will be 1 week earlier on June 6. 3. The Jr. Sailing Program will be held in June Raffle prize: Doug & Freda Epperson Adjournment: 7:50 p.m. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 12
M e m b e r s PHONE NUMBERS Anderson, Michael &Lori Gordon 530-265-3549 Bennett, Kent & Pabby 530-478-9099 Boothe, Mitch & Lori 530-268-6570 Bringolf, Mike & Jeannie 530-272-4109 Buchanan, Dale & Lynn 530-470-0511 Buti, Wayne & Tish 530-273-7819 Buti, Christopher & Beth 415-642-0708 Butts, Paul & Susan 530-432-7512 Carter, Rebecca 530-470-9180 Chaussee, Carlis & Becky 775-626-2679 Day, Joe & Melinda 530-265-2070 Eagle, Don & Barbara 530-268-1431 Ells, Stephen & Laurie 530-269-2550 Epperson, Doug & Freda 530-273-3551 Erskine, Tim & Carol 530-320-0072 Feldman, Don & Judy Lagen 530-432-9468 Fellows, Gordon & Karen 281-353-0167 Gicker, Jeremy & Carri 530-477-7853 Guinaugh, Ed & Lori Goodfield 530-265-3642 Hare, Donald B. & Debby Matheny 916-774-6610 Hart,Chuck & Robin 530-271-7121 Hiatt, David & Ina Grace 530-346-8374 Karr, Barry & Earlene Tankersley 530-432-9448 Kent, Ron & Marcia Harper-Kent 530-272-8199 Lewis, Jerry & Susan 530-272-9380 Lund, Jeffrey & Pat 530-273-4532 May, Bob& Kathy 530-478-1084 Montgomery, Ron & Joanne 530-272-1915 Moran, Les & Lee 530-477-5506 Morgan, Mike 530-274-8907 Moyette, Janet 530-432-3368 Nin G.Frank Lisa 530-477-1591 Olshausen, Bob & Elizabeth 530-478-9833 Owens, Carsten & Carol 530-268-3531 Pennock, Richard & Pat 530-272-9338 Pfalmer, Greg & Pam 530-273-2606 Reed, Dirk& Jan 530-478-1411 Robbins, Wayne & Myrna Bowman 530-477-2945 Ross, Sandra 530-432-5343,415-383-6130 Samuelson, Don & JoLynn 530-272-8035 Stellby, Kent & Kris 808-875-7843 Talman, Hugh & Nicolette 530-272-2344 Teichert, Bob & Alice 530-273-3009 VanDijk, Hubert & Jerianne 530-273-5129 Walker, Robert & Lily 530-265-0376 Whitlock, Charles & Susan 530-478-0743 Wight, Don & Sioux 530-272-4647 Winer, Melvin & Bebe 530-272-8281 Woods, Raymond & Donna 530-272-5484 13
The Next General Meeting June 6th At MEMORIAL Park 6:00 pm to eat 7:00 pm to meet Coals will be hot at 6:00 pm Bring something to barbecue June 9th and 10th At Scott s Flat Lake Gold Country Yacht Club Regatta Come join the Fun All material in this newsletter has been written and or gathered by Kent Bennett the news editor of the Gold Country Yacht Club, and the publication of this material in this newsletter is at his discretion and is his responsibility alone and not that of the Gold Country Yacht Club. Permission to re-print photos and stories, have been granted where noted. Every attempts has been made as to not to infringe on any copy right laws. This Newsletter is for a non-profit club, The Gold Country Yacht Club a Non-Profit Organization. 14