This Issue: Treasure Found! Volunteers Needed Bath Tub Boats and MORE!... February 2016 THE BEACON 1

COMMODORE’S REPORT By Kelly Cantley Kashima

Opening Day is coming! On March 13th at 9:00 am we will open our old club for the last time. Jen Kitchen has volunteered to help organize opening day so please let her know what you can bring. I for one am looking forward to Mike Priest's Irish coffee and I won't single out my fa- vorite deviled eggs because I love them all! Our race and hospitality reputation get stronger each year because of the efforts of our members. It doesn't matter what fleet I'm racing in or where the venue is, when I tell people that I belong to South Coast Corinthian I always get a great response and compliments for the club. Speaking of the old club, The developer has promised to give us 60 days notice to move out, so as soon as we hear we will let the membership know. Jen Kitchen could use some help packing our stuff up as well in anticipation of the move. Also, we have a stack of Club of America reciprocal courtesy cards. If you're traveling and want to visit some other clubs pick one up (or email me) to get the user ID and password. I'll leave them at the club in the usual spot.

See you on the balcony!

Jr STAFF COMMODORE’S REPORT By Trevor Bazely

There has been little change in the club relocation timing and we will be able to hold our last opening day at our termite held club for the last time. I have invited the developer to come to our opening day so he can see what our club is like and he has said he would love to come so please make him welcome. However, there have been also been some good football games and some blow outs too so hope we have a good super bowl - pot luck , squares and all! Matt Kreke gave me a copy of Chasing Shackleton a documentary of a group of English guys who built a replica of the lifeboat he used to sail from Elephant Island to South Georgia island some 800 miles away in the Southern ocean through the roughest waters in the world. They made it. Then three of them with Tom Crean, the Irish explorer, walked 25 miles through blizzards over mountains never before explored. They walked along glaciers with hand-fashioned crampons [which were basical- ly screws pushed through the outer edge of their shoes] and made it to the whaling station for help. They then returned some two years later to Elephant Island and rescued the remainder of the crew - one of the most incredible rescue missions ever done. [Picture at right] I was in Ireland for the end of the Volvo 70’s round the world race and had to do one of my bucket list items. That was to go to the South Pole Inn in Annascaul which is where Tom Crean retired after all his artic trips. I had lunch there; it was great. FebruaryJanuary 2016 2016 THE BEACON 23

A NOTE FROM THE YARD… AT HOME IN A BATHTUB...

By Port Captain Steve Miller chain. My introduction to be- The long low building that was home to the Beetle Cat gan at a young age in a bath- shop stood just at the edge of our summer community. At tub; literally and figuratively. about 12, while at sailing camp with the New Bedford Yacht There was, of course, the Club, I was taken to visit the shop and see just how a Beetle traditional flotilla of bathtub Cat gets made. I will always remember the smells of that place battleships and sailing vessels but most of all, the mold that is used to make up the ribs of that barely stayed afloat in the boat (which apparently is still in use today.) the mayhem of bath-time, as I would say the Beetle Cat was like the Volkswagen of the yellow duck bobbed along ; bulletproof, great to learn in, and with a minimum of in its indifference. moving parts. As luck would have it, my uncle was an avid There was also my sailor and decided it was prudent to have one sized boat for cousin's full scale each of the age groups, all of which I got to spend countless called Catso II, a Beetle Cat hours on as I too aged. built in South Dartmouth, So there was Catso II the Beetle Cat for us young- Massachusetts by the Concor- sters, Esmeralda, the for my older cousins, and dia Company. By full scale I mean all of 12' 4" and shaped not Godwina, a 39' Hood designed for the adults. I'm not unlike, that's right, a bathtub. sure which of these great boats I spent the most time in, but From a distance someone sailing by in a Beetle Cat the memories of cruising the coast of Maine on Godwina are has the distinct appearance of being out to sea for an after- emblazoned the deepest; up there in the top ten of all-time noon bath. The belly of the boats sit six feet across, half of its favorite memories that I would give anything to relive. I miss length, with the centerboard up, the boat draws all of six inch- those days and those people more with each passing year. es (and handles worse than a bathtub would). With its minimal Since I'm not so sure a Beetle Cat would be at home freeboard, it squats low on the water and its broad flat bottom in Pacific waters and I haven't mustered up the kind of capital makes for easy beaching or negotiation of the shoals of a to purchase and store one back east to use for two weeks of brackish marsh. the year, a few years back I decided I would purchase a model My cousin and I spent many Saturdays in our forma- to sit on my desk instead. tive years attempting to race against the numerous other Bee- After over two seasons of research including talking to tle Cats that made up this one design fleet in Padanaram Har- the then owner of the Beetle Cat line, Charlie York, (who insist- bor, home of the New Bedford Yacht Club. ed that no one had or should have a model kit because it I had come up with the notion, as children are prone would be copyright infringement, though Hasbro had ap- to do, that the Beetle Cats were named for their unique scarab- proached him with a generous offer) through a series of phone like shape when flipped over, but it turned out they were so threads to distant yacht clubs and marinas, I found a quiet, named because the original designer and builder of the Beetle pleasant man that spends summers fishing on the lower Cape Cat Boat was the Beetle Family of New Bedford and the boat and, in his spare time, loves to build scale model boats. was a catboat. I not only commissioned Tony Sarcia to build me a scale model As most sailors already know, a catboat traditionally of the beloved Catso II, but eventually he also did masterful has its mast stepped far forward to accommodate its single, work on a Rhodes 19 and, the pride of my desktop fleet, a almost square shaped sail plan which is a gaff rigged design. Concordia Yawl, all of which surround me with small scale re- Unlike the traditional sloop rig, with a mast and boom that cre- minders of some of the greatest times of my youth. ate a triangular sail, a catboat includes an upper gaff or smaller A few years boom which, when raised aloft allows for a square-ish sail and, ago my cousin much more surface area; hence the name - “the Beetle Cat sent me an Boat”. envelope. In it For a big fat tub of a boat like the Beetle Cat, this was a note large sail area is necessary. By today's standards, the boat is a explaining that tank, even though the beautifully molded wood framework is she had come covered with a painted canvas on deck and a fairly thin layer of across the orig- plywood on the hull, the thing weighs in at a hefty 450 pounds, inal order form a veritable ton for its length. and receipt for Catso II and To any kid who spent summers on the shores and on since I was the waters of Buzzards Bay, the Beetle Cat was the first one- now the only design fleet you encountered on your way up the sailing food (Continued on page 8) February 2016 THE BEACON 3

A RARE TREASURE…SCCYC HISTORY FREE SPIRT—EARLY SPRING IN A LETTER BY JEN KITCHEN CLEANING BY PETER BEALE was from Harold Adams, Last year's gearbox problems returned. The real problem turned Commodore in 1945 (my out to be that the 36-year-old engine’s vibration mounts had favorite photo of all of disintegrated internally. So while sailing in a storm at the end of them), to Commodore November the engine moved resulting in a cracked gearbox case Kellock in 1997. In the and broken prop shaft. At least I had the experience from last year, so getting the gear box out with my regular sailing partner tube it said to use caution, Bob, was not so difficult. Once out, Trevor was able to rebuild there was a photo inside. the gears into a new housing and install new mounts. Due to Perhaps that is the photo the Christmas break the new prop shaft was not available until that is on the wall? mid January but lifting the boat out for the shaft gave me a chance to clean up and polish the topsides and get a coat of anti Anyways, it is a charming -foul onto the bottom. I had not realized how bad the topsides letter with some back- were as one does not notice them in the slip. ground on the Beacon (formally called the “Dribbles from the Bilge I started going through the Pump”). documents and supplies in the office and have al- [This historical letter has ready come across some- been re-typed and posted thing really amazing. I …see Letter… continued on found a cardboard tube page 5] sent by airmail from the Philippines to SCCYC. It [Free Spirt Before Cleaning……..Free Spirt After Cleaning]

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!!! A FEW MORE PARTICULARS...BY JEN KITCHEN

I have started cleaning out the office and other storage areas in preparation for the impending move. I NEED HELP. There are a bunch of tools and other supplies that I don’t know what to do with. If someone who knows them better could go through them and filter out what is worth keeping that would be a Nautical Trivia… great help. I will be at the club the first Sunday of every month around noonish to work on this. In case you wondered... I will have packing and labeling supplies on hand so things may be boxed up in a coherent man- The Definition of ner. If you have any project in particular you would like to help with or take charge of, please let "Bootlegger” me know (Bruce, thank you for caring for all the burgees!). Other examples are: packing up the This is a modern term with race locker, the photos of Commodore’s past, trophies (which are already cataloged), the kitchen, the bar, etc. an old origin. Bootleggers got their name from smug- Nothing that is in active use will be packed until we have a move date- everything will remain glers in King George the where it is for races, opening days and other club events and atmosphere in general. The broken Third’s reign. The nick- filing cabinet is almost empty (except the tools I don’t know what to do with). WHO CAN REMOVE name derived from the THE FILING CABINET? It is broken and needs to be thrown out and will not fit in my Prius J smuggler’s custom of hid- ing packages of valuables Contact me at [email protected] if you can help. If we chip away at it together it should be in there huge sea-boots easy work. when dodging his majes- ty’s coastguardsmen Thanks!

February 2016 THE BEACON 4 Match Racing Academy At LBYC— By Lara Jaques

Over the last 3 weekends I audited the Match Racing Academy leasing them with a 3 minute warning. Each team had the at Long Beach Yacht Club. My experience with match racing chance for 3 dial-up practice drills under Kirk’s guidance before was zero and my head is still swimming with all the new infor- rotating out to watch the next two teams. Kirk kept up a run- mation. The first Friday evening International Umpire Kirk ning “umpire talk” on his boat so the skippers would know what Brown explained the basics of the starting box, and the timing the umpires are thinking while following the boats around the and the strategy of the start sequence. Everything changes race course. when there are only two boats vying for control of each other The following Friday Liz Baylis led the chalk talk. She with the ultimate goal of winning the start. Someone compared is a Match Racing world champion and founder of Women’s it to playing that three-dimensional chess game that the Enter- International Match Racing. (See WIMRA.org) Liz is an excel- prise crew plays in the old Star Trek television series. lent teacher and everyone was happy to stay late to hear her The next morning we met for more questions and dis- presentation and have the chance to ask questions. I could tell cussion of strategy (while waiting for the wind to fill in) before she is an expert in thinking steps ahead - the thing successful heading down to the 2 Solings docked in front of LBYC. With 6 chess players and match racers need to be good at. The big teams takeaway I got from Liz is match racing is about reacting to what the other boat is doing and always thinking ahead to what is going to happen next. Boat handling, boat speed and tactics are the priorities, in that order. Saturday Kirk and Liz were both in chase boats. This time Kirk was the “official” umpire boat and Liz coached. Sha- ron and the RC ran 7 minute starts so teams had the chance to practice time and distance before entering the box and moving into dial-ups. The yellow (starboard) and blue (port) entry boats swapped sides between drills so each had the opportunity to experience the perks and pains of either entry. Non sailing teams rotated between RC, umpire boat and coach boat to get a perspective of “the game” from all angles.

[Solings side by side in Match Race clinic]

rotations were 2 teams on the water, 2 skippers joined Kirk in the umpire boat and everyone else helped PRO Sharon Bernd

[Lara Jaques (center) with coaches Liz Baylis (left) and Kirck Brown (right)]

The final weekend put all of the pieces together. Fri- day night Kirk gave us a written “Final Exam” that included watching videos and deciding what call the umpire should make, and what the strategies of each boat should be based on the position of the other. Saturday was a full round robin. (I missed the final Saturday on the water, but SCCYC member Kathy St. Amant was one of the skippers, so if you want to know more about it ask her next time you see her on the pa- tio!) Sometimes stopping is doing something. It can create opportunity. “The Game” of match racing is about the entire team on the water - the umpires, the sailors and the race com- mittee. Everyone has to do their part to make it a successful with RC on the dock and had a front row seat to the practice event. The sailors in the boats are not the only winners when [Kathy St Amant at the helm with Lara at far right] “The Game” goes well. I really like this Match Racing thing - a great team sport with plenty of life lessons. I’m going to make drills. Kirk pulled the Solings alongside the umpire boat and put a point of stopping more often to look for those new opportuni- them directly into a dial-up just below the start line before re- ties. February 2016 THE BEACON 5 [...Letter continued from page 3] #20 Maligaya Beach Nasugbu Batangas 4231 Philippines Commodore Bob Kellock South Coast Corinthian Yacht Club 13445 Mindanao Way Marina del Rey CA 90291 U.S.A.

Dear Commodore Kellock I read with interest the August 1997 Beacon. I haven’t had a chance to read Baywatcher for July, but I can tell you a little about the Club’s burgee and some of the Club’s early history. When the Santa Monica breakwater was first built, a group of Southern California Yachtsmen founded the S.C.C.Y.C. The expert on yachting etiquette and protocol in Southern California in those days was Norm Pabst, probably a California or L.A. yacht club member. He designed the S.C.C.Y.C. burgee to international standards; no letters (like K.H.Y.C.!) only nautical devices (like the sawhorse on the Hi-and-Dry Y.C. (now West Coast Y.C.!). When the original yachting group left Santa Monica harbor, the Santa Monica Sailing Club took over the name and articles of incorporation of the S.C.C.Y.C. and it’s [sic] burgee. The Club can be proud of it’s [sic] efforts on behalf of Southern California yachting, especially in the period just after World War II. When the N/O.S.A. started the Ensenada Race in 1947, the first race was officiated by the N.H.Y.C. at the request of the young N.O.S.A. But there were many problems, and for the second and later races, N.O.S.A. took over. I was the Race Committee chairman, Don Morden was my assistant, (when I retired, Don became the Race Committee chairman) and, except for an occasion- al outsider, all the race committee members were S.C.C.Y.C members. I am enclosing a photo of an early Ensenada Race Commit- tee. Another “first” for the S.C.C.Y.X. Ensenada Race Committee was the introduction of race timing in hours and decimal hours instead of hours, minutes, and seconds, but the workload for finishing 400 boats and awarding 70 trophies, sometimes in as little as 20 hours from the finish of the first boat until trophy presentation time, was horrendous, and the chance for errer [sic] was great. We tried to find an adding machine (this was before the days of electronic computers) that would calculate in hours, minutes and seconds, but none was available, so we took the opposite approach of timing the race in hours and decimal hours so we could figure the results on an ordinary adding machine, and could even record the results on proper tape. We found a Hayden chronometrically-controlled timer that read out on a Veeder-Root type counter. We bought two timers and Don Morden built a pair of battery boxes. We turned them both on at the start of the race; the second was a backup in case of failure of the primary unit. I’m under the impression that other races are now being timed in hours and decimal hours, but as far as I know, ours was the first. Another first for an S.C.C.Y.C. member: I was the handicapper for the “Arbitrary Handicap” fleet for the Ensenada and other early Southern California yacht races,. When I retired and turned it over to Frank Dair, he renamed it P.H.R.F. and I believe it is still in existence, but it is a direct descendent of a handicapping system developed by an S.C.C.Y.C. member. Incidentally, the “Beacon” was originally called “Dribbles from the Bilge Pump”, and the masthead was an old-fashioned galvanized iron, wooden handled bilge pump. It was designed by “Stu” Robertson, a club member, who was one of the authors of the definitive work ‘Southern California Yachting”, “The Beacon” may be more dignified, but I miss the informality of the old “Dribbles”

Regards; Harold Adams Staff Commodore S..C.C.Y.C. and S.C.Y.A. February 2016 THE BEACON 6

INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW!!!! By co-bar managers Michele and Aleks

What do beers you want to drink?!? Seriously. Your trusted bar management team (Aleks & Michelle) really wants to know the beers you prefer drinking at SCCYC. Actually, we only want to know your top 3 choices. So, in our search of accurate infor- mation, we are asking you to follow this link and vote for the 3 (THREE) beers you prefer the most to drink at the club.

So, follow this link and vote your beers you prefer. [ At right. Club members show off their preferences (from left to right) Vincent , Karyn, Aleks & Trevor]

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/J3KRMC5

WANTED !!! TOP CHEF!

Calling all volunteers to sign up for First Friday and General Membership Dinners on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of each month. Right now, we are ask- ing our best chefs—and that means any and all of you—to fill in the dates from March through De- cember. The sign up board is on the wall behind the bar. Don’t wait for an invite—make your culinary creations come to life before the eyes of the SCCYC membership.! Whether it’s take out from your favorite restaurant or a favorite home made recipe, anything goes!

[At right . Murry confused by the theme change, tells Marcus to sign him up to cook dinner from Kathmandu.

This Year’s Dinner Theme: Darn Good Food! February 2016 THE BEACON 7 Officer of the Day Info... family member that owned a Beetle Cat, she felt that I should have it. The price: $675.oo! Now, in good condition, used they can be had for about We're using VolunteerSpot to organize $3000.oo. OD sign-up this year. Included in the packet was this History. Please sign up for the SCCYC OD duty. "In 1921 when the Beetle family of Clark's Point, New Bedford, de- Here's how it works in 3 easy signed and built the first "Original Beetle Cat Boat" they endowed her with that steps: intangible quality 1. Click this link to go to our invitation -- fitness for the purpose -- arising from the experience of three generations of page on VolunteerSpot: http://vols.pt/ boat builders whose name and reputation by virtue of another product - the tpcqEf "Beetle Whale Boat" was world- wide. Since that date without essential change 2. Enter your email address: (You in design, construction and rig there has will NOT need to register an account on come into being a fleet of over 1500 of VolunteerSpot) these cat boats. 3. Sign up! Choose your spots - VolunteerSpot will send you an "Coevally with the Beetle family, automated confirmation and reminders. three generations of a branch of the How- Easy! land family of Darmouth have been sailing Note: VolunteerSpot does not share boats of various types on the so often bois- your email address with anyone. If you terous coastal waters of that region loosely prefer not to use your email address, designated as Cape Cod. please contact me and I can sign you up manually. "From this experience -- a long one -- the Howlands owning the Concordia Company have come to realize that (Please let me know if you experience while mankind is swayed by fads and fashions both ashore and afloat, the sea, any difficulties with this system.) winds and weather do no change and that a sail boat to successfully cope with Thanks! Joshua Millstein, OD Chair these eternal constants must conform both in design and construction to certain basic principles. "Therefore, in 1946 having gathered proof from the long record of per- formance that the "Original Beetle Cat Boat" embodied these basic principles, the Concordia Co. purchase all rights, title and interest attached to the use of S EE YOU ON THE BALCONY ! the name, design, and business incidental to the construction and sale of the "Original Beetle Cat Boat" with a view to fostering and perpetuating a type of W WW. SCCYC . ORG boat adapted to her environment." THE OLDEST AND FRIENDLIEST YACHT I'm forever grateful to my Uncle Jimmy, my Aunt Sue and all of my CLUB IN MARINA DEL REY, cousins whose unbridled passion for sailing and the sea spurned my own. Just EST. 1932 like my first bike and my first car, the Beetle Cat will always have a very special place in the juvenile reaches of my heart. Anyone who has a chance to sail one of these classic old sailboats will appreciate its playfulness, it's unique design, and the wonderful smells of a clas- sic handmade wooden boat and find it as easy to master as say, a bathtub.

Upcoming SCCYC Events: Feb 5th - First Friday Dinner -Featuring New England sea fare by Sean McCarthy: Social Hour 6-ish/Dinner 7-ish

Feb 6th – Shallow Water Series is on! Registration: 9:30 am, Mandatory Skip- pers Meeting: 10:00 am,-First Race Start: 1 pm

Feb 7th -Super Bowl Sunday! Yes, there will be a game, and yes we will be watching – with great food and excellent company. Pre-game board meeting at 10:00AM

Feb 19th - General Membership Dinner—Brought to you by Michelle & Aleks Featuring Chicken Michelabella and Roasted Mandolin Vegetables Social Hour 6-ish/ Dinner 7-ish