News, Series Racing

Summer Series Week #10 – September 10, 2019

Tuesday (9/10) marks our last night of Tuesday racing in the Summer Series, and a re-emergence of summer weather, with temps in the mid 80’s, sunshine, humid, with a slight chance of thunderstorms.  Winds predicted at 15 – 25 mph from the southwest for the day, and specifically, SW winds at 12 mph at 6 pm.  Time to get out and enjoy!  Jeff Daane will be our Race Chair, on his pontoon boat.  We meet at Brewster’s afterwards, as usual.  

Save the date for the 2019 Year End Banquet – 5:30 pm on Saturday Oct 19th.  We are in the process of firming up plans for the venue and will have the info out soon.

News, Series Racing

Summer Series Week #9 – September 3, 2019

Hard to believe it’s September  already!  Tuesday is week 9 and Race Chair is Jeff Daane with his pontoon boat.  The forecast for tomorrow is a high of 81, with a 55% chance of strong  thunderstorms, with SSW winds at  15 to 25 mph gusting to around 30 mph.  Well see how accurate these forecasts are when tomorrow arrives! 


Save the date:  Saturday Oct 19th for our year end party – site TBD.
Otherwise, Dave and I just got home from Michigan City where we sailed in a Fleet 126 one day regatta.  Very little wind, but tons  of fun!  3 races, all beach starts – CRAZY!  Then we all gathered at Shoreline Brewery for dinner, drinks and socializing.  This was the last race for this year, but there most certainly will be on the calendar for next year!
Stay tuned for what’s going on with Tuesday’s weather!

News, Series Racing

Summer Series Week #8 – August 27, 2019

Dear Mother Nature:  please make the rain stop and give us good sailing weather!  
That’s what we all need to be hoping for Tuesday, as we plan to sail week 8 in the summer series.  the forecast does predict that the rain will stop, and we’ll have sunny skies by race time, with temps in the mid 70s, with winds out of the west around 10 mph.  Race committee boat is Win Larsen’s pontoon, with Dave Dunlap as race chair.  
This week’s help planned help topic as Rules at Marks, please see  your email.  Also, if there are any questions about the two prior topics, please come to Brewster’s with your questions.

Events, News, Series Racing

Summer Series Week #6 – August 13, 2019

Wow, Week 6 is happening! – can’t believe the summer is just zipping along!  Andy Lenczycki is our RC for a night of partly cloudy skies, 78 degrees and NNW winds of around 9 mph. 

This week, we are starting an informal education series, in which there will be an attachment included with each weekly e-mail, followed up by discussion after sailing at Brewster’s.  This will take place even if we’re cancelled, so all you new sailors, take note, read the material, and hopefully you’ll be able to participate on Tuesdays.  It’s also a great review for all of us seasoned folks as we head to the Hobie World’s in Captiva this November.  This week’s topic is “Signals and Marks” and “Definitions & Right of Way Rules“.  This is a progressive series – so this first topic is important to know in order to fully understand the next two topics.  Thanks to Jerry Mohney for starting this up and to Julie for providing the material.  


Also, a reminder that the next one day regatta for Hobie Fleet 126 is coming up this next Saturday, August 17th at Washington Beach in Michigan City, IN.  Weather looks pleasant, so there’s fun just waiting to be had!  Hope to see you there!

Another save the date – for all of us Hobie World Competitors (gotta love the sound of that!):  Tuesday September 17th – the first Tuesday we don’t sail- Lori Mohney is gathering us together at their place for a discussion of important things we’ll need to know to compete in the event.  Please create room in your schedules to attend!

Events, News, Series Racing

Summer Series Week #5 – Aug 6, 2019

What a Pontoon Float party Sunday!  We had sun, fun, drinks, snacks, floating, and if that weren’t enough, mother nature brought us a powerful rainstorm with significant wind and some lightening.  It started as we were headed in, and increased to heavy horizontal rain as we were getting to shelter.  After the rain passed, we made our way over to Lori and Jerry’s for dinner and door prizes. 

There are significant leftovers – brats, some salads and lots of cookies – so we’ve been invited back over after sailing Tuesday night (8/6/19).  There are soft drinks, but otherwise, it’s BYO adult beverages.  Tuesday’s forecast is for temps in the 80s, partly sunny, with a 20% chance of rain, west winds around 7mph.  Race chair is Dave Dunlap on Julie and Andy’s pontoon. 

Next, there has been some discussion about two topics, so for clarification, I’m quoting from the by-laws, 1) Minimum weight:  Hobie class rules state that minimum weight for skipper and crew is 285 lbs.  Therefore to be scored as a 2 person boat, you need to meet this weight requirement, or carry weight.  

(A)           Rules – All races and regattas shall be conducted in accordance with the IYRU, US Sailing and the Hobie Class Association Rules as published by the International Hobie Class Association.  Questions concerning minimum weight and whether a person or persons meet the requirements as prescribed in the Hobie Class Rules will be settled by the use of a Fleet scale calibrated by a known weight.

2)  The start finish line – can you go through it as you sail the course (not starting or finishing) and does it depend on what course is being sailed (upwind vs downwind finish)?  No and no.  Amendment (III) Amendments

(I)              ALCA, by the majority vote of total votes cast, can amend IYRU, US Sailing, and the Hobie Class Association Rules as published by the International Hobie Class Association

(II)            The Barging Buoy is an extension of the Committee Boat

(III)         The Start/Finish line is an obstruction at all times and cannot be crossed unless starting or finishing.

(IV)         Shorten course will be determined by the Committee Boat personnel.  Boats will sail designated course until passing between Committee Boat and Finishing Mark, or between gates as designated.

Hope this clears up any confusion – there’s lots more racing rules that need to be followed on our Tuesday nights, please show up after racing and ask questions.  Rule book summaries have been provided to some of the new sailors in the past few years, good idea if we all review them from time to time!

Events, News

Pontoon Float Party – Sunday, Aug 4, 2019

We are meeting on the lake around 2pm for fun, drinks, and snacks, then moving over to Lori and Jerry Mohney’s at 2812 East Shore Dr., where the fleet will provide brats and nonalcoholic beverages.  If you do not have a pontoon or are not a lake resident, and would like to get in on the afternoon fun, please let me know, and we’ll get you on a boat for the floating part of the party.  BYO adult beverages for the floating and the dinner, a snack for the float and either a light salad or light dessert for dinner.  All RSVPs will be eligible for the raffle at the dinner (we still have those prizes from the spring meeting.  You can either RSVP to this  email, or to your invite on Facebook (thank you to those who have already responded!).  

Events, News, Series Racing

Summer series week #3 – July 23, 2019

Tuesday looks great with sunny skies and temps in the 70’s and winds out of the northwest at 10-15 mph at start time.  Dave Stiemsma is the RC, and it’s his pontoon boat for committee boat.  Our PRO will be absent for the night, so any questions should be directed to Dave at (269)760-2698.  We will be meeting at Brewster’s after sailing tomorrow night, and there will be stories to tell about the Fleet 126 Michigan City one day regatta some of us attended this past weekend.  Turtle Soup Anyone?   

Dates to remember:

  • July 27 – July 28:  Pere Marquette Regatta  CRAM/HCANA Hobie Event
  • Aug 4: ALCA Float Party
  • Aug 17:  Fleet 126 Race 3, Michigan City
  • Sept 1:   Fleet 126 Race 4, Michigan City.
  • Resister for Muskegon July 27th and 28th! Last day for pre-registration is Tuesdayt (July 23rd)  at midnight!  We have at rough guess 13 Hobie 16s that should be in attendance!
  • Manistee on August 10th and 11th
  • Port Sanilac August 24th and 25th  
  • CSYC September 7th and 8th
  • Caseville II on September 28th and 29th in place of Tawas this year