Alamitos Bay Yacht Club Volume 87 • Number 3 rat pack ... · of craps and roulette to the...

sou’wester • march 2014 • page 1

Ukelele Lessons ................................ March 5 &19Racing Rules Part 1/Happy Hour ..............March 7RMC/SAC Meetings ................................March 12St. Pat’s Happy Hour ...............................March 14Membership Meeting ...............................March 21Parrot Head Party ...................................March 29Ukelele Lessons .......................................... April 1CISA Clinic ............................................... April 4-8

March 2014 Official Publication of

Alamitos Bay Yacht ClubVolume 87 • Number 3

Jeff Merrill photo

Commodore’s Comments.................................. 2Manager’s Corner .......................................... 2-3Vice Verses ....................................................... 4Rear View ....................................................... 4-5Fleet Captain’s Log ........................................ 5-6Junior Sailing .................................................. 6-7Membership Report ........................................... 8Fleet News ................................................. 10-11

i n s i d ei n s i d ei n s i d ei n s i d ei n s i d e s as as as as a vvvvv e t h e d ae t h e d ae t h e d ae t h e d ae t h e d a t et et et et e...continued page 9

Stephanie Gwinn photos party 2014rat pack

RP3 was all we hoped for! To begin with the second deck was transformed into a 1960’s style Las Vegas nightclub.The black draped walls and back lighting formed the perfect backgroundfor the couch enclosed dance floor and music of the era on one side of

the room while the casino tables and animated gamblers put excitement in theair on the other side. Scattered throughout the room were black draped tablesaccented with martini glasses and flickering candles. This was a very appropriatesetting for the well-dressed participants, many who carried out the theme intuxedoes, swanky dresses, mink stoles and other appropriate looks of the era. Itwas quite a contrast from the usual Hawaiian shirted crowd that usually inhabitsABYC.

And through this group of well-heeled folks came some classy kidspassing trays of outstanding hors d’ oeuvres. Kevin Bauman, his girl friend CaityMulholland and Chelsea Clay did a professional job of serving the group suchfavorites as ceviche served in tiny martini glasses with even tinier forks. Thesehors d’ oeuvres and the buffet were supplied by Gladstones Restaurant; and Imust report I did witness several people returning to said buffet numerous timesfor their new favorite—lobster mac and cheese! Who knew? Additionally for hisfinal dish, Jesus provided us with yummy roast beef sliders. No one went homehungry.

At the bar Reggie was working his magic with an enticing assortment ofmartinis. I know they were popular with the group because Reggie kept yelling back to Dave Meyer to hurry up and “washmore martini glasses!”

Music this year was provided by a new group that proved to be a resounding success. Sam Sorenson and theBrenda Lynn Orchestra got everyone up on their feet and dancing. And if I’m not mistaken I think I saw some familiar

moves learned at recent swing dance lesson going on.Meanwhile, down at the other end of the room, cheers couldbe heard from the many gamblers delighting in the additionof craps and roulette to the blackjack tables of last year. Ihad no clue what I was doing or how the game of craps isplayed, so imagine my shock when I heard, “New shootercoming on,” and realized that the new shooter was me! Imust have done OK because at the end of my turn I gotsome high fives, but nonetheless, I was not a big winner.

Many thanks go to the people who made all this fun andmerriment happen. First of all a big thanks to Sheila whodutifully welcomed all the guests, checked them in, sold“funny money,” and kept track of everything. Also thanks


compasscommodore’s

...continued next page

cornermanager’s

February was another busy month at ABYC and a month marked a lot of fun and somechanges. In the fun category, swing dance lessons as well as the ukulele classes continuedfull board. I was able to attend a ukulele class and had a blast. I’ve been practicing at

home and hope to be able to attend as many classes as possible.We were a host venue for the 85th annual SCYA Mid-Winter’s Regatta. This was our second

edition of a major regatta launched off the beach and race management off the long dock.Everything went smoothly with the help of Latham Bell as Regatta Chair, Steve Kuritz and JimDrury as PROs, both our Port Captain’s Kevin Brown and Dave Myers and an impressive groupof volunteers! I tried my hand at driving Patience. All went well until I tried to bring her in to the

long dock. Well needless to say it didn’t go well and we had a near miss with the dock and the rocks nearby. So Stevebrought her in on the second go round. (It’s like driver’s education – no one related to you should be advising J)

We’ll have one more major regatta before the basin and yard construction is completed. There is a lot going on inthe yard. New cement was poured on the ramp, under the big hoist and a new driveway out to the street from Cat Row. Thenew floating ramp is under-construction and new bolts will be installed in the big and small hoists. Additionally, in preparationfor the new pavement, an additional electrical pole and water faucets have been added to part of the yard. In early March,phase 1 of the pavement project will be completed. Then, we have to wait at least one month prior to the top coat andstriping. Please see Chuck’s report for more details on the yard. The basin is progressing on schedule. The City iscontinuing to work on the electrical and plumbing. Estimated completion is mid-April. Come down and check out theprogress. The new docks are gorgeous and will serve us well for many years to come.

Many thanks to the Laser fleet and Steven Smith for serving dinner, bussing tables (a special treat) and organizingthe interesting program from the US Coast Guard. Also at the meeting we honored Jesus on his retirement. Jesus hasworked with us for the past 12-years doing a great job in the kitchen. He will be missed. Thank you to all the members thatcontributed to his retirement bonus. He was delighted and surprised by your generosity.

The biggest social event of the year, the Rat Pack Party, was a roaring success! Sue McDannel, Kathy Robinsonand the Social Advisory Committee put together the best Rat Pack yet. The band was terrific. Kathy found them by placingan ad on a music web site. She received 10 responses to her request and listened on-line to narrow down the field, thenspoke to the finalists. I think her choice was great. Food this year was partly catered by Gladstone’s and in-house by Jesusand Kelly. Everything was delicious. The expanded “casino” was a lot of fun. I certainly did my part to donate funds to theJunior Program. Thank you to everyone who donated raffle prizes. The selection was terrific and ranged from a weekendcabin at Lake Tahoe to a Ukulele.

Sadly, our fearless bartender Reggie decided to move on to bigger and better things. I expect we will still him at theclub as he wants to learn how to sail and can’t wait for Dan DeLave to take him for a ride on his F-18! (Maybe we canconvince him to join the club!) So, Kelly is looking for a part-time bar tender. Please let him know if you have anyrecommendations.

Jennifer Kuritz

Change is in the wind. So much going on at ABYC these days...the rebuild of Basin 5, repavingour yard, several projects in and around the club, and of course, the departure of two ofABYC’s wonderful employee’s, Reggie and Jesus.

I’ve been a manager for many years and have seen many employees come andgo. It’s never (for the most part) easy. People grow, people change, and people retire. My job thenext few weeks will be to fill those voids and hopefully embrace the change with new people andinnovative business practices.

You’ll see new faces behind the bar, and some good old standby bartenders will be helpingout as well. You don’t replace a “personality” like Reggie, but I’ll do my best to put a smiling face

behind the bar that will pour you a Reggie style cocktail. Don’t be surprised during some of our larger events if that funloving, soon to be a recognized ACTOR, is back behind the bar for a guest appearance. We Love Ya Reg.

Jesus Espinoza, is simply the kindest, most gentle man I’ve ever met in my life. Hired as a maintenance workerinitially at the club, he soon became our cook. Working both the Galley and the kitchen for large events, Jesus seemedmost at home in his short sleeve white shirt, black sweater vest and perfectly quaffed hair upstairs in the kitchen. Jesuswas a master of Mexican food, and it’s what he felt most comfortable cooking. Over the years, he learned a few new dishesand became comfortable preparing those as well. This past Sunday in a very emotional farewell, he said his goodbyes, andwill set sail for what hopefully, will be a long, relaxing retirement. God Bless you Jesus.


2013/14OFFICERS & DIRECTORS

Commodore Jennifer [email protected]

Vice Commodore Chuck [email protected]

Rear Commodore Latham [email protected]

Jr. Staff Commodore Mike [email protected]

Fleet Captain Steve [email protected]

Secretary Jeff [email protected]

DirectorsJunior Program Dave Michaelis

[email protected] Cindy Heavrin

[email protected] Paul Anctil

[email protected]

Treasurer Nicole Peoples

Junior Commodores Emily Golison

Fleet Surgeon Angela Allbright

Judge Advocate Tom Ramsey

Fleet Chaplain Don Reiman

Port Captain Dave Myers/Kevin Brown

Sou’wester Editor/Layout Sharon Pearson

[email protected]

Weekly Reader Glenn Selvin

[email protected]

ABYC Phone (562) 434-9955

Homepage www.abyc.orgEmail [email protected]

Sou’WSou’WSou’WSou’WSou’Wesesesesestttttererererer DEADLINEDEADLINEDEADLINEDEADLINEDEADLINEMarch 21, 2014 is the deadline

for the April Sou’Wester.

Help us tHelp us tHelp us tHelp us tHelp us to Help yo Help yo Help yo Help yo Help you!ou!ou!ou!ou!Please keep your e-mail address currentwith [email protected] to receive allof the weekly news and events. Thank you.

...from page 2

Filling Jesus’s position will be a little more challenging. Short term, we are going to go back to guest chefs, localrestaurant catering and even open the kitchen to members with food service training. I have my reservations regardingletting just anyone who knows how to cook into the kitchen, but I’ll have a program in place soon. Any ideas regarding thischange in our club culture is greatly appreciated.

Commodore Kuritz and I took a good look at the calendar this past weekend, and as usual, we are slammed...anotherfull year of Regatta’s, clinics, parties, weddings, memorial services etc., etc. The club is going to be in the best shape it’sbeen in, in many, many years come Opening Day. I encourage you to come down, volunteer and be part of this monumentaltransformation to our beloved club.

A shout out to the Social Activity Committee for an outstanding Rat Pack Party. They took the event to a new levelthis year, and hopefully will continue to find a place for this themed party on the calendar for years to come. Great Job!

It’s inevitable, there will more changes at ABYC, and change is good (right Chuck?) and we, as a collective groupwill work through it, embrace it and make it a new part of the ABYC culture.

This March I make my 20th pilgrimage to Spring Training Baseball in Scottsdale/Phoenix Arizona. It’s my way toclear my head, watch some ball and just hang out with some buddies. When I get back, it’s time to dive back into what willbe my eighth year, this coming August, as your Club Manager. Thanks for the incredible memories. I look forward to many,many more.

Kelly

Start planning now...June 27th to June 29th

managerm o r e



viewrear

versesvice

Months and months of hard work and planning are finallystarting to show physical signs

of something happening and gettingdone with the yard basin project. Ifyou have been down to the club lately,then you have seen the new hoistplatforms with the nice non-skidmaterial built right in to the surface.

The new concrete pad under the hoist was dug up and pouredwith extra reinforcement to take the load off the trailered boats.It looks so good, nice and smooth and flat! The concrete rampwas also poured at the same time with excellent results-WOWno more cracks!

We also poured a concrete pad that will take the loadoff the fence so the casters do not tear up the asphalt. Thegate was made 20 plus years ago, and each side weighs about 500 pounds so it was wearing a groove into the asphaltcausing damage. Now, we will not have that problem as it will last for many years, and will not be a trip hazard! If you havebeen around you have seen the large trenches that were dug up for the additional utilities that we added. We will have 3new water locations that will net us 6 more hose connections, and we added in one more power outlet toward the west endof the yard.

By the time that you read this article the trench will be complete and the yard will have been dense packed inpreparation for the asphalt petro mat application. If the weather cooperates, we will have the petro mat down and completedby the 7th of March. Then, the plan is to move the boats back to the yard and let the asphalt cure for about 30 days. This isdone so the asphalt can cure prior to applying the sealer coat or “slurry” application, and by doing this will provide the mostdurability possible. Once we move the boats back to the east yard (April 9/10) for this process, we will need somevolunteers to help so please reach out to me and I will get you on the list. I am going to knock on some wood right aboutnow, because this process has gone very smooth so far. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the weather holds, and that thefinal sign off for the basin and yard reaches the target date of mid April.

I have said this many times, as well as at the general meeting, that this is a very exciting time for ABYC and itsmembers as we will have a brand new basin, new yard and parking area, new concrete and floating ramp, and new hoistwings! WOW what better way to bring down a buddy or neighbor and show off this great place we call our second home,ABYC.

Spring Spruce up is right around the corner (April) and we are developing a plan to get some more projectscompleted so we can look our best for the Opening Day celebrations. If you can help out and are handy at painting,cleaning, or with hand tools, let me know and I will get you on the list.

Remember ABYC is THE place to BE…Chuck Clay

Hello ABYC Family and Friends,Wow! This has been a short but busy month!Swing dancing and ukulele lessons are still keeping

the beat at the greatest of the west coast sailing clubs! Theyard and basin are still under construction – BUT NOT FORLONG! This has not stopped the members from coming downand using the club! What a great family we are!

Social updates…The First Annual Port Luff Starboard tournament was

great fun! About 60 adventurous souls descended upon the club to shoot some diceand pass some chips to the port or starboard or throw them in the luff pot. 10 tables ofsix players ranging in age from 12 to ? (My parents taught me not to tell the ages ofmy seniors) played out the first round. The winners of each table moved on to thecenter ring table for the championship round. Once again the six championship players represented all age groups thatare part of ABYC. This round turned out to be a double header. There was no winner in the first round! Bobbie Peterson


...from page 4

...continued page 6

rear viewm o r e

ended up as the smooth roller, earning the title of the first ever PLS Club Champion!During the presentation of the new perpetual trophy Bobbie said “This is the first trophyI have my name on”. Bobbie you ROCK! And that is not a violation of RRS 42!

Next on the docket was SCYA Mid Winters! Once again we had a great turnouteven though we had no hoists or ramp! About 45 volunteers helped to run the racing! Iwould like to thank each and every one of you that volunteered in advance or stepped upwhen the last minute call came! (The Flu was a thinning issue with staffing!) Without thevolunteers, racing does not happen at ABYC!

Last but certainly not least the Rat Pack Party! Over eighty members and guestsshowed up dressed to the nines! The band was great! The food was awesome and thecasino games and raffle prizes were a blast! The real Rat Pack would have had a greattime! Thanks to the members of the Social Committee for putting it all together. A specialthanks goes out to Kelly and his family for putting together the ambiance of a night outon the town!

Look ahead to the Parrot Head Party!Sail on Garth…Latham Bell

Stephanie Gwinn photos

logfleet captain’s

Lasers Wanted for ABYC Junior Racing ProgramAllie has generated a great deal of interest in a racing program for Lasers and LaserRadials starting with our Laser clinic back in January. With the success of that clinic, Allie

wants to conduct another Laser Clinic next month (watch for details). The ABYC Laser & RadialRacing Program can grow; however, the program needs access to additional Lasers for interestedsailors to use and or charter. We see a good number of Lasers in various states of readiness inthe ABYC boatyard.

If you have a Laser in the boatyard, backyard or garage and would like to give it a newhome, please let Allie know. We will gladly accept donations, but please feel free to make us an

offer to purchase.Growing our Laser racing program can lead to additional members and generation of revenue with charter fees

from racers who want to race at ABYC but cannot bring their boat.Please contact Allie if you have a Laser you wish to part with: [email protected] are grateful for your consideration


(junior sailing)the bay clogger

...from page 5fleet captainm o r e

boardjunior

As we track progress of the Fix-up Fundraiser using the Beaufort Wind Speed Scale, I can report we’re just a bitover a Light Breeze, but hoping for increased velocity soon.

Calm $ 500 Light Air $ 750Light Breeze $1000 Gentle Breeze $1250Moderate Breeze $1500 Fresh Breeze $1750Strong Breeze $2000 Near Gale $2250Gale $2500 Strong Gale $2750Storm $3000 Violet Storm $3500Hurricane $4000

Fix-up Fundraiser funds will be used to repair and refurbish our fleet of whalers and ABYC owned sailboats in orderto ensure we have the equipment necessary, and in condition, to run our Junior and –coming soon- Adult sailing programs.

Please make your checks out to; Alamitos Bay Yacht Club, mark your check: Fix-up Fundraiser and send yourcheck to the attention of Jenny LaForce in the ABYC office. For those who wish, we will publish your name and amountgiven in the Sou’Wester. If you wish to give for a specific boat, part or project, please let us know with your contribution.

Thank You!Stephen Smith

Fix-up Fundraiser Update

This past month has been extremely busy for our junior sailors. Practice paid off forour Long Beach Polytechnic High School Team. They cleaned house at theirevent in San Francisco, winning their division by over 20 points! Our sabotsailors have been on the water getting a taste of the beautiful afternoon breeze

and keeping their boats upright and fast while our laser sailors have been exploringthe outside harbor and learning new groovy moves downwind. We have alsointroduced Demo Days to the spring program. Some of our sailors have had theopportunity to jump out on the water and experience a new boat…the 29er. Look forteam ABYC to get more involved in some fast boat in the near future.

Summer is just around the corner and we are getting everything ready to go. The coaching staff is almost full andsignups are getting underway. It’s a new and exciting program this year. We have a great lineup up coaches with lots oftalent and great personalities and our sailors will enjoy some new classes and activities. Get ready for some fun in the sunhere at ABYC! All information is on our website including our summer promo video! Check it out at www.abycjrprogram.com.

See you all on the water!Allie

The spring starts to heat up with junior board and other junior activities. On March 9 the juniors host a beach cleanupat ABYC from 10:00am to noon. Please bring your friends down around 9:30am for donuts and two hours of worthwhilecommunity service helping keep our beaches clean. The Junior Fleet hosts the April 18th General Meeting so bring

the whole family for a relaxing evening at the club. Our guest speaker will be Willie McBride from Santa Barbara who is themain force behind the 29er presence on the West Coast. Spring Spruce Up is April 26-27. Any juniors not racing the highschool PCCs should come on down to the club to help put it back to together after all the basin work. The Juniors will behosting a vintage bake sale or two at the bigger regattas, so please contact the junior board if you would like to contributea homemade baked good or work a shift. Finally, our very successful Sail Recycling continues. Simply drop off your oldsails of any material, in any condition (but dry please) to the collection bin in the junior room. Our recycled sail items are forsale in the ABYC Boutique, at General Meetings and other events.

Jenn Golison


perspectivejunior

Level 1 TrainingOn the weekend of January 17th through 20th, about ten juniors from all over the country joined in the ABYC juniorroom in high hopes of receiving their Level 1 Training certificate from US Sailing. The course spanned about nine

hours each of the four days and much of the time was spent in a classroom listening to the teacher lecture about coachingtechniques and tactics. The attendees were all expected to finish reading four coaching textbooks and then were tested onthe material during the span of the class. The training we received on the proper techniques used for coaching was veryeducational and beneficial to anyone with anticipation of coaching beginners the basics of sailing. The ages of the attendeesranged from about 15 to 20 years. We became very good friends throughout the course of the weekend because we spentso much time together and grew to be a team by the end. In order to pass the course, each applicant was required todemonstrate his or her ability to give multiple educational lectures about a particular aspect of sailing like sail trim or dockingand that made the sport sound attractive to new sailors. If the applicant failed to do so, they failed the course and would besent home, so we determined that the best way to get through it with minimal stress and anxiety would be to stick togetherand become a team to help each other out whenever possible. This course not only confirmed the premise that we were allgood coaches but also, indirectly, instituted the teamwork and preparedness that would prove to be so vital in showing howgreat the sport of sailing really is to hopeful beginners hopping into the boat for the first time. (Oh, and no one in the coursefailed.)29er Demo Day

The director of the Junior Program at Alamitos Bay Yacht Club, Allie Blecher got a few experienced sailors togetherand out on the water on her 29er to attempt to get more interested in sailing the boat. A big thanks to Riley Gibbs for takingthe helm all afternoon and expertly demonstrating the correct tactics for sailing a 29er. We all enjoyed the day very muchand expect a longer day on the water next time because more sailors are showing up. This gives each sailor more time topractice and hopefully get good enough to sail a regatta in the boat in the near future. There are still more 29er days comingup so contact Allie if you are interested.

Brian MacLean

Prior to the start, Blue is slowly sailing down the starting line with sails flapping. Yellow is on to leewardand tacks from port to Starboard. Blue’s boom makes contact with Yellow in position 5. Blue protests. Who isright?

quizracing rules

Answer on page 12

Blue

Yellow


reportmembership

Ukulele classes continue to have a great turnout with over 30 ukulele players showing up on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdaysof the month from 6:30 until 8:30p.m. The cost is $5.00 per session. Every lesson starts with basic beginninginstruction which means you can start as a new beginning player at any time. Invite a guest and come have some

fun!The “Membership Drive” is still going strong, but your chance to WIN $250 ABYC BUCKS will end at the next

general membership meeting. Yes the ABYC Bucks are back, and there are 2 ways for ABYC members to win. Do youknow someone that qualifies as a Regular Memberand is interested in joining ABYC? Have them fillout an ABYC Membership Inquiry Form and turn it inbefore March 21, and you will be eligible for thedrawing for $250 ABYC BUCKS. If you sponsor aRegular Member by March 21 you will get 3 chancesin the drawing for $250 ABYC BUCKS. (Note: ABYCBucks limited use for food, beverages, merchandiseonly.)

The discounted initiation fee of $500 forregular members remains in effect through openingday, and now is a great opportunity to invite potentialnew members to ABYC and join in some of the funactivities on the calendar. Speaking of fun be sureand come to the Parrot Head Party on March 29th.Dana Bell is putting together a Jimmy Buffet styletransom (tailgate) party and contests, along with alive band playing Margaritaville music. Don’t missthe fun, sign up early and call Dana if you have anyquestions on the contests.

The board of directors has approved thefollowing 6 members for posting: John McKenney, Regular, sponsor Chuck Clay; Stephen Mueller, Regular, sponsor ChuckClay; Jamie Reid, Regular, sponsor Ed Spotskey; Cameron Puckey, Regular, sponsor Pease Glaser; Michael Sabourin,Junior, sponsor Steve George; D’amy Steward, Junior, sponsor Steven Smith; Adam Rosales, Junior, sponsor David Michaelis.

Congratulations to Chris Cranner, Donald “Kim” McRae, Dariusz (Derek) Buczynski, and Charles (Chuck) R.Johnston, all Regular Members, who were approved at the February board meeting. Welcome!

At the February general membership meeting we issued burgees to the following members: Scott Palmer, MichaelLamb, Brett and Abby Allred, Pamela Ratzlaff, Suzanne & Tom Dobson (and Thomas Dobson), Jennie and Kevin McCarthy,and Derek Buczynski. To all the new members a warm welcome to ABYC!

If you have a candidate for membership that would like a tour of the club or want to get started in the membershipapplication process, contact Membership Chairman Dana Bell at [email protected] or Cindy Heavrin [email protected].

Cindy Heavrin

Michael Lamb - Regular, Scott Palmer - Yachting, Brett Allred & Abby Yocom -Regular, Pam Ratzlaff - Regular, Jennie McCarthy - Regular, Suzanne Dobson withson Thomas - Regular and Derek Buczynski - Regular

Celebrate Bea Hart’s 100th BirthdaySunday, March 30, 2014

3-6 PM – Open HouseAlamitos Bay Yacht Club

7201 E. Ocean BlvdPlease reply to: daughter, Patty Williams

909-798-5533 ORGrand-Daughter, Sherry Martin

[email protected] –Please put “B.B Hart” in subject line.

No gifts – No cards – Please bring yourfavorite memory of B.B. on a three by five

card.Thank You

New South Wales, AustraliaJeff Newsome and Michelle Eatough Take 5th inthe Gran Master division, Hobie 16 Worlds.

Long time multihull sailors and ABYC clubmembers Jeff and Michelle competed against 55 of thebest Gran Master sailors in the world.

Congratulations Jeff and Michelle, we are veryproud of you!!

jervis baydateline


Our local college sailing team continues to ‘finish on top’ as their team tank tops proudlyproclaim. The CSULB Sailing Team finished with strong first place finishes in the South 3 &4 Regatta in mid-February. Hosted by the UC Irvine Sailing Team, CSULB Sailing beat out

several top schools such as USC, UCLA, UCSB, UCSD and others to finish ‘on top’. Lacking acoach, the sailing team is completely student run and organized and continues to sail fast for ourLong Beach community.

Up next for the Beach is the Harbor Cup Regatta in two weeks. Hosted by the Los AngelesYacht Club and the Cal Maritime Academy, the Harbor Cup is unique in that it’s sailed in Catalina 37s, the very same boatsthat are sailed in the prestigious Congressional Cup Regatta! Most college regatta’s are sailed in small thirteen feet longCFJ’s, so the Catalina 37s are quite a big difference in size for our college sailors. Wish the 49ers luck as they put their skillsto the test!

After that, the team is off toHawaii in mid-April to compete in thePCCSC Coed Championships!

If you’d like more info on theCSULB Sailing Team, feel free to ‘like’them on Facebook. Their page is fullof photos of their adventures on thecollege circuit.

Go Beach!Mark Ryan

sailingbeach

to all the guys that helped set up including Jon Robinson and Bill McDannel and theABYC staff. A huge thanks to Chuck Clay who though no longer officially SAC lesioncontinues to help us out. And thank you to Elaine Wood for creating the beautifulflower arrangements and Stephanie Gwinn for taking photos.

Thanks also to all of the generous people who donated raffle prizes for thecasino—we really had some good ones this year. Thank you Sherry Chavez, Jonand Kathy Robinson, Leslie and Steve Bunting, Jennifer and Steve Kuritz, Michelleand Casey Miller, John Gresham, Heather Meyers, Vicki Vaught, Jenny la Force,Lori Von Skyhock, Trish Clay, Ruth and Steve Shock, and Olga and Chris Reed.Thanks also to these businesses: Naples Locker, Viento Y Agua, Ramazzotti Wines,ABYC, Arthur Hopkins Ukulele.

And finally none of this would have happened without the tireless efforts ofmy co-chair Kathy Robinson. And it never would have begun if Kelly Whitlow hadn’tcome up with the concept 3 years ago. Wow, this sounds like an academy awardsacceptance speech. It must be about that time of the year!

Sue McDannelMore photos are on our FaceBook page: ABYC is the place to be. Check it out.

rat packm o r e ...from page 1


Laser and Radial Racing Clinic Our ABYC Junior Program Director, Allie Blecher, assisted by Jorge Suarez, Chuck Tripp, Vann Wilson and Rodion Mazin conducted a Laser/Radial Racing Clinic at ABYC on a warm

and sunny January Saturday.Nineteen sailors began the day outside the Quarterdeck where Jorge had brought his Laser onto the patio for a

rigging demonstration. Jorge, showed how to set-up a modernLaser assisted by Vann and Chuck who recounted manyanecdotes of personal experiences and the consequences ofstop-knots left untied, drain plugs unsecured and more, to theamusement of the audience. Following the rigging demo, Jorgeconducted a chalk-talk on the basics of boat handling and sailset before everyone adjourned to the parking lot to transporttheir boats to the beach for rigging and launching.

Once everyone launched, we were coached on the waterby Allie, Chuck, Jorge, Vann and Rodion. Allie set a start lineand using the whistle starting sequence, conducted some racesto fixed marks in the Bay. Though we wanted to sail in the ocean,light breezes dictated we stay in the Bay.

Following the races, Allie sent everyone back to the beachfor a lunch break and additional classroom time with Chuck.After the second chalk-talk, everyone re-launched with the intentof conducting a race out down channel to the ocean for additionalcoaching. It was slow going as light wind and the incoming tidemade progress difficult. With the realization the wind was notcooperating, everyone returned to the beach and eventually backto the Quarterdeck were Allie conducted a de-briefing alongwith additional advice and tips on the day.

Turn out for the day was gratifying with a mix of new ABYCmembers; Jennie McCarthy, who sailed her Sunfish and Pamela

Ratzlaff, as well as several adult & junior ABYC members and guests from several other local clubs. Interest shown by theparticipants has encouraged us to plan another race clinic later, perhaps when we can count on a bit more breeze.

February Membership MeetingWe enjoyed a good turn-out of members

and guests for the February MembershipMeeting. Jesus, Roberto and Kelly put togethera Chinese dinner sans chopsticks, thankgoodness, while Reggie and Tory took care of abusy bar. Following a touching farewell to Jesus,Jennifer conducted a brief Membership Meetingwith Chuck Clay giving us an update on the boatramp and boatyard repaving project.

Our guest speaker was LieutenantCommander Juan Hernandez, Command CenterChief of the Sector Los Angeles-Long BeachCommand Center U.S. Coast Guard.Commander Hernandez was accompanied byABYC member, Laser racer and Coast GuardOperation Specialist Second Class, RodionMazin who was largely responsible for arrangingto have our Coast Guard guests. Rodion and Commander Hernandez were joined by fellow Coast Guard members; SeanCuller, Food Service Specialist, Johnathan O’Connor, Maritime Law Enforcement Specialist and Recruiter, Jennifer Butler,Boatswain’s Mate and Recruiter, as well as Darrell Hannon representing the Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Commander Hernandez’ talk focused on the Coast Guard mission -especially the LA-Long Beach area- as well asboating safety advice. He received numerous questions from an appreciative audience.

Laser rigging demonstration on the patio

the fleetshails from

Vann explaining the finer points of rudder and tiler set-up


the fleetshails from

KEEL BOAT FLEET ON WATCH

Thanks to Judy Mathias for, once again, arranging the “Armchair Cruise.” The evening started out with thevery exclusive Friday $5 dinner at ABYC. Then on to the Long Beach Playhouse for the play ‘Death Trap’.The play received mixed reviews.The next Keel Boat Fleet meeting that was scheduled for March 14 has been canceled because of a

conflict with the ABYC Saint Patrick’s Friday night affair.The Keel Boat Fleet will have their last meeting before the summer break on May 9.

This is always a fun meeting with a bar be cue on the patio and the fleet providing saladand chips. More on the May meeting as the time grows near.

See you there,George

The Fleet to Be In!

With the Basin 5 rebuild project sailing along, three Cal 20’s went on a road trip over two bridges andfar away to Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club for the Midwinter Regatta. Travel boats included ourFleet Captain Steve George’s DragonFly 42, Matthew Rustigan’s Horton, and Jeff Ives’ Bravura.

While CBYC also hosted a large group of Mercury’s which pulled competitors from the Cal 20 class, therewere still 8 boats along with 20 Mercurys out on Hurricane Gulch for the fun. Cal 20s were first to start in 5

of 7 races, and it seemed a good combination of fleets. CBYC’s race committee did an excellent job with square lines,perfect distances to the marks, and a nice variety of 1, 2, and 3 lap races. Breeze was mostly in the 4 to 10 knot range, but2 person hiking did occur during Race 3 out of 4 on Saturday. The water was smooth with hardly ever a motor boat waveand this made for some really fine sailing. In the end, Steve George and crew took 5th overall, while Matt Rustigan wasbringing it on Day 2 to move up nice for a 3rd. Jeff Ives and Phil Soma sailed consistent on Sunday to log straight bullets and1st overall.

The CBYC hospitality was excellent. Rear Commodore and former Cal 20 National Measurer Bill Schopp sailingSluggo offered quite a bit of knowledge regarding hull stiffness to us ‘out-of-towners’. Thank you to Bill, Mike Burch,CBYC’s race committee, and front desk crew for a super fun regatta and weekend. Also thank you for allowing the threeABYC boats to continue our stay in their yard during the basin rebuild.

Jeff Ives

...from page 10

In addition to our ABYC staff, I wish to thank Bob Anderson, Kevin Taugher, Lars Rosenblad, Bruce Johnston,Michael Kramer, Theresa Cornwell, Pamela Ratzlaff and Jorge Suarez who helped with serving and bussing tables thatnight and of course Rodion for his and his fellow Coast Guard guests for their service to the U.S.A.Laser Masters Midwinter Regatta at ABYC

Laser Masters turned out the largest fleet for the ABYC hosted classes of the SCYA Midwinters Regatta. Laserracers from as far away as Park City UT, Portland OR and San Diego came to race on the weekend before the CaliforniaLaser Masters regatta at Mission Bay YC. It seems having the two Masters events back to back was a good idea which Ihope we will repeat next February. I also think a nice full-color ad in the latest issue of The Laser Sailor magazine helpedwith promotion.

Racing on Saturday offered something for everyone as we had two races in light winds followed by almost tworaces with enough breeze to work the hiking muscles as the breeze ebbed toward the end of race four and completely diedas we headed back to the beach, requiring much paddling and sculling. Regardless of the conditions, Keith Davids ofMission Bay YC swept the regatta with six first place finishes, dropping a second place finish and adding his twelve ApprenticeMaster (ages 35-44) Handicap points. Actually Keith was tied on points with Bill Symes from the Willamette Sailing Club,who as the eldest racer competing had no points added to his score; however, by the tie breaking rule, Keith took the title.Now how great is this when Keith, a Navy Seal, competes, albeit by handicap, with a guy eligible for Medicare? ABYCracers finishing in order where; Vann Wilson in third place, Sanjai Kohli in fifth, Ed Feo, Sumeet Patel, your author, JorgeSuarez and Bruce Johnston.

As mentioned before, Mission Bay YC hosted the California Laser Masters Regatta the weekend following theMasters Midwinters at ABYC. Our ABYC regatta must have proven a good feeder for the San Diego event as 27 LaserMasters competed. Proving his performance at ABYC was no fluke, Keith Davids won this regatta as well. Vann andSanjai were in the top ten followed by Jorge.

Steven Smith, ABYC Laser Fleet Co-Captain


PRSRT STDU. S. Postage

PAIDLong Beach, CAPermit No. 685

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTEDAlamitos Bay Yacht Club7201 East Ocean BoulevardLong Beach, California 90803

Drink of the MonthDave Myers

“The Lucky Charm”

2 oz. Pinot Grigio, 4 cucumber chunks,5 mint leaves, ¾ oz. lime juice

¾ oz. simple syrup, 1 oz. soda water,sprig of mint and cucumber for garnish

Blue has infringed rule 11 and will be penalized. At the moment Yellow reaches a close-hauled in position4, Blue must begin to take avoiding action in a seamanlike manner to keep clear in accordance with rule 15. Rule11 protects Blue briefly after Yellow acquires right of way in position 4, but rule 11 expects Blue to take immediateavoiding action, something that Blue makes no attempt to do here.RULE 11 ON THE SAME TACK, OVERLAPPED

When boats are on the same tack and overlapped, a windward boat shall keep clear of a leeward boat.RULE 15 ACQUIRING RIGHT OF WAY

When a boat acquires right of way, she shall initially give the other boat room to keep clear, unless she acquiresright of way because of the other boat’s actions.

Mark Townsend, Race Management

rules quizanswer to racing

Easter BrunchApril 20th!

Details next month

Parrot HeadTailgate PartyMarch 29th -

see flyer

regatta 2014midwinter

A weekend for winners at SCYA MidwintersWho would bet against a U.S. Navy Seal, an Olympic silver medalist or a veteran sailor who has won four worldchampionships in three different kinds of boats?Respectively, Keith Davids of San Diego and hometown sailors Pease Glaser and Howard Hamlin all came through

in Alamitos Bay Yacht Club’s corner of the Southern California Yachting Association’s 85th Midwinter Regatta Saturday andSunday.

Davids, 45, dominated the Laser Masters with six first places and a throwout second in seven races amongcompetitors age 35 and older, although at the end it wasn’t a sure thing.

Because of the quirk of the class—the younger you are the more you’re handicapped in the scoring—Davids’ 12Masters points added to his six left him tied with Bill Symes, a 66-year-old Great Grand Master from Oregon’s Willamette

Yacht Club who was handicap-free after outsailing everyone elsewith two seconds, three thirds and a fifth.Davids was awarded the top prize on the tiebreaker of his six first

places.“At first I wasn’t going to sail the last race because I didn’t think I

had to,” he said. “It’s a good thing I did.”Glaser, who won silver with JJ Isler-Fetter on a 470 dinghy at the

Sydney, Australia, Games in 2000, was a Day 2 replacement forScott Miller’s wife Patty on his Formula 18 catamaran because thelatter had another commitment.Miller, from San Diego’s Mission Bay YC was tied for first with

ABYC’s Alex and Bill Westland after Day 1, but two firsts and asecond Sunday with Glaser clinched it going away.“I think Scotty would have won without me,” Glaser said. “I didn’t

really want to drive…”“But I wanted her to sit in the back,” Miller said. “I was down in

Australia where we had two capsizes in 10 days, and I was tired.”But it wasn’t a particularly difficult day. With a gentle breeze of 5 to

7 knots from the southeast, there was little serious hiking and nocatamaran hulls flying.

Hamlin, with Andy Zinn as crew, won the 505 dinghies with four firsts and three seconds (one discarded) for aneight-point margin over old buddy Mike Martin, with crew Ben Benjamin, and Mike Holt and crew Rob Woelfel of Santa CruzYC. Martin won the second-place tiebreaker with a first and two seconds to Woelfel’s first and one second.

Now Hamlin, a former world champion in the class, as well as in the International 14s on these waters in 2006, willbe off this week with Martin as part of a three-man crew trying for his third JJ Giltinan title—the 18-foot Skiff class’s worldtitle.

“It won’t be easy,” Hamlin warned. “We’re gonna have a big pack in front of us.”ABYC’s John Gresham came painfully close to interrupting Stu Robertson’s often stormy domination of the Lido

14s, but after losing the lead around the last mark of the last race Robertson was able to break away from Gresham’s coverand cross the finish line at the opposite end a boat length in front for a two-point victory. Gresham would have won atiebreaker if he had held onto the lead.

There were 64 entries in eight classes but no keelboats due to lack of launching facilities during reconstruction ofBasin 5 at ABYC. Other boats launched from the beach adjacent to the club.

Racing was in the Long Beach outer harbor inside the breakwater, except for Lido 14s inside Alamitos Bay.MEDIA CONTACTRich Roberts, [email protected]

With normal breeze skewed to southeast, fleets found downtown Long Beach as their downwind target Sunday

Rich Roberts photos

Davids, a Navy Seal, cruises to victory in Lasers Masters class


midwinter regattam o r e ...from previous page

14s charge the starting line

Stu Robertson (r.) passed John Gresham after this last markto win Lido 14s

Spinnakers can be a handful

Stephanie Gwinn photo

Alamitos Bay Yacht Club

“MARCHARITAVILLE”

Got the Basin blues? Wanna dance and party?

Ready for a Parrot Head Party?!

Join us for a Transom (tailgate) Party

and Cheeseburgers in Paradise Picnic!

Saturday, March, 29 4:00 p.m.

$19/Adults; $10/Under 12 Marcharitaville Concert featuring the locally world-famous band

FLYER

Prizes for Best Transom Party, Best Picnic Table

and Best Marcharitaville Hat!

RSVP by March 22 to 562.434.9955 or [email protected]

NO SQUAWKING AFTER 3/22 PRICE IS $10 BUCKS MORE AT THE DOOR

mailto:[email protected]

Alamitos Bay Yacht Club Volume 87 • Number 3 rat pack ... · of craps and roulette to the...

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