Spring Series catamaran racing is scheduled to begin Tuesday, May 3, 2021. Currently, weather is scheduled to be 60 degrees with a chance of showers. Watch our Facebook page for the latest updates or cancellations. We will do results afterwards via Zoom meeting. The link to the Zoom Results meeting is: ALCA 5-4-21 Results Zoom Meeting. We will plan on starting the meeting at 8:00 PM. If we cancel racing for the night, there will be no results meeting.
Category Archives: News
News items related to fleet activity.
2021 OFFICERS mEETING hELD 3/12/21
Greetings ALCA and Friends!
The 2021 officers met by ZOOM last week to start planning the 2021 sailing season. The first scheduled race is planned to be May 4th, which is the first Tuesday in May. We still have yet to define the Spring and Summer sailing seasons, and for this we will need your input! 2020 Members, pay attention to your email which will have a survey to respond to.
There will be no Spring kick-off this year. Hopefully with the increase in COVID-19 vaccinations and a decline in infections, we will be able to meet sometime this summer! At least for the Spring Series, we will not be gathering after racing, rather Andy Lenczycki, our Statistician, will have a ZOOM meeting for the results.
Next, the officers are planning a tuning/get ready to race day – probably the weekend prior to the start of racing. The details have not been ironed out yet, so stay tuned.
See attached for our ALCA-membership-form-May-2016, available as a PDF or Word doc. If you’d like to join now (highly suggested), print, complete the form and mail or drop off to Faith Akert. Please, if you have any questions about the fee structure, do not hesitate to ask. Ideally, the officers would appreciate all boats on the water to be active members of the fleet to streamline scoring.
Lastly, we are in need of a fleet Secretary. I am willing to serve as Commodore and Secretary, however, this is a lot of work! This year is a good opportunity for someone new to step in and fill this position, taking over partial responsibilities and learn. The duties of the secretary as written in the ALCA by-laws are:
Secretary – The Secretary shall keep accurate minutes of meetings and take all correspondence. The Secretary shall also be responsible for updating the by-laws and for working with the Principle Race Officer to ensure that the racing guidelines are up to date.
Please reply to me if any of you are interested and we could get started!
Happy Spring!Kathy RubinoCommodore ALCA Fleet 519 (& Secretary for the time being)
2021 Fleet Officers Meet – 3/15/21
The 2021 ALCA Fleet officers met via Zoom to begin our planning for the upcoming sailing season. Stay tuned to this website and our Facebook posts to see what’s coming for the year.
summer series Week #10 – September 8, 2020
Hope everyone had a nice Labor Day Weekend, it was certainly a nice day on the water until the wind died!! Saw several boats out and noticed a FB post of our Long Lake boats out too!!
Our last night of racing could be interesting – 64° 55% chance of Scattered Thunderstorms, NE winds at 12 mph be sure to watch our Facebook page and your email for updates.
The Committee Boat for this week is Jim Seifert and Steve Weatherford,
If everyone would please sail past the Committee Boat and let them know who the skipper is!!! This is especially important if you are new or if there was a boat/sail change from previously.
Be sure to wear your life jackets and enjoy racing!!
I have another commitment for Tuesday night so Andy will be starting the Zoom Results Meeting at 9:00 (assuming we race). If you do not already have the Zoom app, be sure to down load it and join our results meeting – here is the link if you did not already receive the invite. If we get off the water sooner, like two weeks ago, give him about 30 minutes and he will start the Zoom early:
Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 271 408 3610
Keith Mortlock ran into one of our first fleet members, Jack Matthews, who lives on Gourdeneck Lake and has an older Hobie 16 that would be good for parts. Message Keith Mortlock for contact information.
While Michigan’s numbers are relatively low, we remind all racers to follow the social distancing and safe sailing guidelines, and remind everyone to sail safe.
I think that wraps up the messages for this week. The officers plan to meet in the next few weeks and will have updates.
summer series week #9 – September 1, 2020
Happy Last Day of August (1st day of September), 2020! Hard to believe we only have two more weeks…was it pretty today or what?? Enjoy these last days of summer before they are gone!
The weather forecast for Tuesday looks a little on the rainy side so be sure to watch your email and our Facebook page for updates. At last week’s results gathering, Steve Weatherford and Jim Seifert volunteered to by our last (2) committee boats of the season – thank you!
If everyone would please sail past the Committee Boat and let them know who the skipper is (especially if you want timely, accurate results)!!! This is especially important if you are new or if there was a boat/sail change from previously.
We plan to start the Zoom Results at 9:00 PM, so if you do not already have the Zoom app, be sure to down load it and join our results meeting – here is the link if you did not already receive the invite. If we get off the water sooner, like last week with only one race, give me about 30 minutes to help Chad tear down our boat and I will start the Zoom early:
Julie Lenczycki is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: ALCA Week #9 Sailing Results
Time: Sep 1, 2020 09:00 PM America/Detroit
summer series week #8 – August 25. 2020
Hope everyone is staying cool today….it’s hot, hot, hot!
The forecast for Tuesday looks awesome…Sunny, 83 degrees and a NNW wind at 5-10 but with a 50% chance of rain…watch the weather!
If everyone would please sail past the Committee Boat and let them know who the skipper is!!! This is especially important if you are new or if there was a boat/sail change from previously.
We need a Race Chair for our last two weeks, otherwise there will be no racing. Please let Jerry or myself know if you can provide a pontoon boat and be the chair before noon on Tuesday.
We plan to start the Zoom Results tonight at 9:30, so if you do not already have the Zoom app, be sure to down load it and join our results meeting tonight – here is the link if you did not already receive the invite:
Julie Lenczycki is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: ALCA Results – Week #8
Time: Aug 25, 2020 09:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
If you’re a registered member, you were emailed the Meeting ID that you will need to enter the meeting, otherwise contact Julie Lenczycki.
Summer Series Week #7 – August 18, 2020
WOW, only four weeks left!!
The forecast for Tuesday looks awesome…Sunny, 75 degrees and a NNW wind at 10. Don’t forget your wind jackets and booties, it might get cold.
Rumor has it that this week’s Race Chair – Steve Chapman, to mix things up, may run an upwind finish course. For those newer skippers, if you see the start/finish line ABOVE the gates or inside the course, remember this:
After completing the first leg of the course, a boat shall not cross the starting line. A boat shall not cross the finishing line until she is completing the last leg of the course and finishes. If you sail through a start-finish line by mistake (you are not starting or finishing), you can back out the way you came and go around either end of the starting line to correct your error, it is referred to as unwinding in the rule book. My point simply was to not be complacent in your sailing but be aware of different types of race courses, start/finish line locations and conditions.
We plan to start the Zoom Results at 9:30 so if you do not already have the Zoom app, be sure to down load it and join our results meeting tonight – here is the link if you did not already receive the invite:
Julie Lenczycki is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: ALCA Zoom Result’s Meeting
Time: Aug 18, 2020 09:30 PM America/Detroit
Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2714083610?pwd=M3pHWHFnc2cvdXo1UklpS3RPRkhGdz09 Meeting ID: 271 408 3610
All fleet members were emailed the login (above) along with the password to enter the meeting.
Summer series Week #6 – August 11, 2020
Welcome to Week #6 ALCA Sailors! Got too busy watching the sky last night…wasn’t it incredible!!!
Our forecast for Tuesday looks really nice…Sunny, 81 degrees and 5-10 NW winds with only a 50% humidity index
The sun sets by 8:48 pm so if you do not already have the Zoom app, be sure to down load it and join our results meeting tonight – The link was emailed to all current members:
Julie Lenczycki is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting, to announce tonight’s racing results, and to allow for a short discussion regarding racing, rules, tactics for the night.
Topic: ALCA Tuesday Results Zoom
Time: Aug 11, 2020 09:15 PM America/Detroit
While Michigan’s numbers are relatively low, we remind all racers to follow the social distancing and safe sailing guidelines, and remind everyone to sail safe.
I think that wraps up the messages for this week. Be sure to wear your life jackets and enjoy racing!!
Summer Series Week #5 – August 4, 2020
Greetings ALCA Sailors! WOW…20 boats last week!! We are at the half way point and you better get your heavy weight crews for Tuesday night because the forecast looks….WINDY!!
Our across the street neighbor and neighborhood Little Free Library Tramontane now has a weather station and you can see it on sailflow – https://www.sailflow.com/spot/518196
While Michigan’s numbers are realatively low, we remind all racers to follow the social distancing and safe sailing guidelines, and remind everyone to sail safe.
The Officers met late last week to develop some Race Chair Guidelines for duties while on the Committee Boat, please review the two emailed documents and provide any feedback.
We are set for the next two weeks with the Lenczycki pontoon as Committee Boat, but will need boats/race chairs for our last four weeks. If you can supply your pontoon and serve as race chair for a two week commitment, please let me know by next Sunday, August 9.
We are looking to see if there is an interest in doing a Zoom meeting the night of sailing to hear results and see everyone’s smiling faces or talk about the races that night. It would most likely start at 9:15 pm and run for an hour or less. Let me know if there is an interest and I will set it up for next week.
I think that wraps up the messages for this week. Be sure to dress warm and wear your life jackets! Enjoy the wind!!
And don’t forget your DRAIN PLUGS!
Summer Series Week #4 – July 28, 2020
Good evening ALCA Sailors!!
What a night last week was…the wind died just as the horn blew for the first race…sad face! Thanks to everyone who paid their memberships, everyone is all set for being scored!
It is a turn off the air and open up the windows kind of evening…and Tuesday looks to be a nice evening for racing, somebody was good and got their wish with this forecast:
Sunny skies with temps around 83, West winds at 10-12 mph.
Please be sure to sail past and alert the Committee Boat with your sail number, skipper and crew so we do not have any hiccups with scoring. We have a few new members that may not know this and a friendly reminder to those of us in the silver fleet as well.
In the event that we do not sail, be sure to stay tuned to our Facebook or website and email for racing details around 5-5:30.
Since we are not gathering after sailing and to see the results of racing – be sure to check out the updated ALCA website, Andy tries to have that updated by the next day – http://www.austinlakecatamaran.com/?page_id=150