Category Archives: News

News items related to fleet activity.

Summer Series Week #5 – August 9, 2022

Ahoy fellow sailors,

Week 5 is here! The weather looks pretty good, mid 70s partly cloudy with no rain, wind is predicted to be NNW / N about 6mph dialing down later in the evening. still a ways out though so who knows. 

 Race committee will be Jerry Mohney thanks guys! 

IMPORTANT NOTE: If we race Tuesday, we are trying to get a friend of new sailor Cameron Dick, to get some drone footage of the race starts. The intent is to use stills from the drone for a new multi-year trophy base. We want to have as many boats as possible on the starts, so weather permitting, come out and be part of ALCA history!

After sailing (or in the event of a cancellation) this week we will be gathering at Jerry and Lori Mohneys for pizza provided by the fleet. BYOB beverages and a small dish if you want. 

The address is 2812 East Shore Dr  https://goo.gl/maps/idrwpwrP8CvcQcAc9

parking can be tight for those of us with boats so park along the road and please don’t block anyone’s driveway. 

NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS is quickly approaching. Hobie 16 North American Championship 2022 – International Hobie Class Association

Registration fees are going up on August 15th from $395 to $450. Sign up now! We currently have 32 boats registered, but our target is 50–

Fair Winds Walter (Wall-E) Elsner ALCA Fleet 519 Secretary  CRAM H-16 Fleet Captain

Summer Series Week #4 – August 2, 2022

Welcome to week 4! 

Well here’s August, weather for Tuesday night looks to be in the mid 80s and sunny, wind looks to be light around 5-13 MPH and out of the South ish. However, that may change between now and then. Stay tuned here and on Facebook for any cancellations. I’m hoping for the forecast to build!!! so do your wind dance!  Win Larsen will be providing committee boat and serving as RC this week. Thanks in advance guys we couldn’t do what we do without people volunteering their time and boats!

After sailing (or in the event of a cancellation) we will be meeting at Jac’s Cekola’s Portage  https://jacscekolaspizza.com/ I would encourage people with boats to park either in the back or to the north (by Habitat or Colonial Kitchen)

7640 S Westnedge Ave, Portage, MI 49002 

2022 Hobie 16 North American Championships are coming up! September 11-16 This will be a high profile HOBIE event right in our own backyard! normally you would need to travel 10+ hours for an event of this caliper!  Hobie 16 North American Championship 2022 – International Hobie Class Association

IF any of you have questions about the event please reach out!!! —

Fair Winds Walter (Wall-E) Elsner ALCA Fleet 519 Secretary  CRAM H-16 Fleet Captain

Summer Series Week #3 – July 26, 2022

Ahoy,
Welcome to week 3! 
Weather for Tuesday night looks to be in the upper 70s partly cloudy, wind looks to be light around 4-6 MPH and out of the South. However, that may change between now and then. Stay tuned here and on Facebook for any cancellations. I’m hoping for the forecast to build!!! So do your wind dance! 
Win Larsen will be providing committee boat and serving as RC this week and next. Thanks in advance guys we couldn’t do what we do without people volunteering their time and boats!

After sailing (or in the event of a cancellation) we will be meeting at Jac’s Cekola’s Portage  https://jacscekolaspizza.com/ I would encourage people with boats to park either in the back or to the north (by Habitat or Colonial Kitchen)7640 S Westnedge Ave, Portage, MI 49002 https://goo.gl/maps/Fe9YfKVtfKPeeiKJA

PLEASE REGISTER FOR 2022 Hobie 16 North American Championships – Coming up September 11-16, This will be a high profile HOBIE event right in our own backyard! Normally you would need to travel 10+ hours for an event of this caliper!  Hobie 16 North American Championship 2022 – International Hobie Class Association

IF any of you have questions about the event please reach out!!! 

Fair Winds
Walter (Wall-E) ElsnerALCA Fleet 519 Secretary  CRAM H-16 Fleet Captain

Summer Series Week #2 – July 19, 2022

Ahoy Sailors, 
Tuesday: is looking like mid 80s partly cloudy 0% chance of rain with winds forecasted 8-10 mph sustained gusting 15 mph out of the SW so should be a great night for racing. 
Our race committee will be Steve Chapman on their pontoon. Thanks in advance!

Michigan City Regatta 7/15 - 7/17/22
Michigan City Regatta 7/15 – 7/17/22

This past weekend in Michigan City with Fleet 126 – Hobie Class Division 10 and CRAM was a blast!  We all got a bunch of good practice in for NACs.  We had 12 Hobie 16s registered all of which sailed 2up… we had sailors from Alabama, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, and of course Michigan. Including a few of us from ALCA! Michael Estes even came down for his first big water race and crewed for Dave Stiemsma! 

Michael Estes & Dave Stiemsma
Michael Estes & Dave Stiemsma

 PLEASE REGISTER FOR 2022 Hobie 16 North American Championships. They are coming up September 11-16! This will be a high profile HOBIE event right in our own backyard! Normally you would need to travel 10+ hours for an event of this caliber!  Hobie 16 North American Championship 2022 – International Hobie Class Association

IF any of you have questions about the event please reach out!!! 

Fair Winds
Walter (Wall-E) Elsner ALCA Fleet 519 Secretary CRAM H-16 Fleet Captain

Summer Series Week #1 – July 12, 2022

Hello all, 
THIS WEEK:
This week we will have the Chapman’s providing RC Boat and Dave Dunlap serving as race chair. Thank you in advance. 
The weather Tuesday is looking good! Forecasted temps in the upper 70s, sunny with winds predicted to drop off as the night goes but, 8-12 MPH sustained; Gusting 13-17 MPH. Should make for a beautiful night. 
After sailing:(or in the event of a cancellation) we will be meeting at Jac’s Cekola’s Portage  https://jacscekolaspizza.com/ I would encourage people with boats to park either in the back or to the north (by Habitat or Colonial Kitchen)7640 S Westnedge Ave, Portage, MI 49002 https://goo.gl/maps/Fe9YfKVtfKPeeiKJAHope everyone had a good holiday and week off! I know I missed sailing.. 

UPCOMING EVENTS:
2022 Hobie 16 North American Championships are coming up September 11-16. This will be a high profile HOBIE event right in our own backyard! Normally you would need to travel 10+ hours for an event of this caliber!  Hobie 16 North American Championship 2022 – International Hobie Class Association.
ALSO;  CRAM is hosting a regatta in Michigan City, Indiana this weekend! July 16-17 It will be great practice at the same venue as 2022Hobie 16 North American Championships!!! Register before 23:59, Jul 12th to receive the preregistration discount ($10) and get that HOME TURF ADVANTAGE for NACs!!!  CRAM Sailing – MIchigan City Regatta

IF any of you have questions about either of these events please reach out!!! 

Fair Winds
Walter (Wall-E) ElsnerALCA Fleet 519 Secretary  CRAM H-16 Fleet Captain

Spring Series Week #7 – June 28, 2022

NOTE: This is the LAST week of the Spring Series. The Summer Series begins July 12, 2022.

Ahoy hoy, 
Well the final week of our spring season is upon us. Weather is looking good! Temps forecasted in around 80 F Winds predicted to be SW 6-9 MPH guesting 11 MPH 
Committee boat will be the Lenczycki Pontoon with Andy as Race chair. Thanks in advance! 

This week’s After Sailing results will be at Cattail’s, the Lenczycki Lake House – 9833 Woodlawn Drive. The fleet will provide the meat, taco shells, taco fixings and Mac & cheese.

9833 Woodlawn Dr.
9833 Woodlawn Dr.


Please bring either a salad or dessert to share and any adult beverage if you want more than water or lemonade.
Parking along Woodlawn or Bayside or you can leave your boat and walk from the landing, they are about 25 lots south and have left their red Christmas lights up on the garage and are just across the street from the Woodlawn SailFlow monitoring station.


Fair Winds
Walter (Wall-E) ElsnerALCA Fleet 519 Secretary CRAM H-16 Fleet Captain

Spring Series Week #6 – June 21, 2022

Ahoy Sailors, 
Week 6 already (next week is the last week of Spring series)! 
Another Tuesday in the mid 90s – STAY HYDRATED!  Winds predicted SW 10-14 gusting 24-26 MPH
Committee boat will be the Lenczycki Pontoon with Andy as Race chair. Thanks in advance!  He is planning on taking pictures of boats & crews from the committee boat with a nice 400mm lense, so be there.

ALSO, attached to the email that went out to all current fleet members, is the ALCA Standard Sailing Instructions. These are general rules we’ve been sailing to, but now are formally posting them. New exceptions are the race time limits and provision that sailors must start within 5 minutes of the race start. Also new is the time to have protest documentation submitted to PRO.

Also note last week’s first race had 5 DSQs (disqualified). We ran a course 6 both races which has an upwind finish. In these scenarios you are only allowed to cross the start/finish line when starting or finishing; the rest of the time the start/finish line is to be treated as an obstruction. The other issue was all (single) marks are to be rounded to PORT unless there is a gate, in which case you enter between the two marks and exit to the outside side of either gate mark… Please review the SSI and US Sailing Rules for further clarification. 
After sailing (or in the event of a cancellation) we will be meeting at Jac’s Cekola’s Portage  https://jacscekolaspizza.com/  I would encourage people with boats to park either in the back or to the north (by Habitat or Colonial Kitchen)7640 S Westnedge Ave, Portage, MI 49002 https://goo.gl/maps/Fe9YfKVtfKPeeiKJA

Fair Winds
Walter (Wall-E) Elsner ALCA Fleet 519 Secretary  CRAM H-16 Fleet Captain

Spring Series Week #5 – June 14, 2022

Hello All,
Welcome to week 5 (only 2 weeks left in Spring series after this week)! 
Get ready it’s gonna be a hot one…. forecast says high 90s near record highs light cloud cover. STAY HYDRATED! Winds predicted SSE 6-10 MPH pretty light.
Committee boat will be the Lenczycki Pontoon with Julie as Race chair. Thanks in advance! 

ALSO, all current members were emailed the ALCA Standard Sailing Instructions. These are general rules we’ve been sailing to but now are formally posting them. Except the time limits and to start within 5 minutes is new. Also new is the time to have protest documentation submitted to PRO.
Also note that the document will reside on our website education page.
After sailing (or in the event of a cancellation) we will be meeting at Jac’s Cekola’s Portage  https://jacscekolaspizza.com/ I would encourage people with boats to park either in the back or to the north (by Habitat or Colonial Kitchen)7640 S Westnedge Ave, Portage, MI 49002 https://goo.gl/maps/Fe9YfKVtfKPeeiKJA


Fair Winds
Walter (Wall-E) ElsnerALCA Fleet 519 Secretary

Spring Series Week #4 – June 7, 2022

Ahoy-hoy, 
Well even though today may be rainy and gross out Tuesday night is looking pretty good as far as the weather gurus can predict anyway…  Looking like High 60s sunny Winds  NW 11-12 MPH Gusting 15-16 mph Should make for a pretty good night out there!
Julie Lenczycki is Race Chair on their pontoon, Thanks in advance Julie! 
As always remember to check in with RC before racing and inform them of any crew changes. 
If you have not yet registered please get with Faith or one of the other officers. 
After sailing (or in the event of a cancellation) we will be meeting at Jac’s Cekola’s Portage  https://jacscekolaspizza.com/ I would encourage people with boats to park either in the back or to the north (by Habitat or Colonial Kitchen) 7640 S Westnedge Ave, Portage, MI 49002 https://goo.gl/maps/Fe9YfKVtfKPeeiKJA

Fair Winds
Walter (Wall-E) Elsner ALCA Fleet 519 Secretary  CRAM H-16 Fleet Captain