GRANDGRAND TRAVERSETRAVERSE YACHTYACHT CLUBCLUB WATERLINES

FROM THE HELM by Jay Kraft, Commodore September 2012

Just this past week marks the end of the GTYC “Its Wednesday Night” Summer & Twilight Series. Hard to accept but summer is winding down yet another year. One must acknowledge however, it’s been a fantastic season for sailing and cruising in our little corner of the Great Lakes and beyond. Many GTYC members made the trek to the North Channel, the Trent Severn, Lake Superior and our sister peninsula of Door County. August has indeed been a great month for cruis- ing and there was some great racing action right in our front yard as well. Melges ma- nia hit GTYC with the Melges 24 Invitational and Melges 17 Nationals. Both fall under the direction of Mike Dow. Not only has he managed to pull off two great events, he managed to place second in the M24 Invitational and claim for the second year in a row, Melges 17 National Champion with crew member and wife Stephanie. Well done Mike and thanks for doing what you do on and off the water for GTYC. While summer is winding down, there’s more racing action to come. The GTYC tradition “Nan C Jay” race will be taking place this week and the NOR has a few twists and fun. Should also be a good spectator race. The ever popular and well attended by GTYC boats “Red Fox Regatta” Labor Day weekend. Hosted by CYC, always a favorite and plenty of fun, you don’t have to race to attend. Plenty of onshore activities and antics are abound in both Charlevoix Friday night and Boyne City Saturday night. Coast Guard appreciation day was the social highlight of August. You’ll soon see the USCG Ensign that was presented to the club that day framed under glass in the breezeway of the clubhouse. This flag was flown over Coast Guard Air Station Trav- erse City on the base Yardarm August 15th. We will display it proudly and fly it on the GTYC Yardarm every CG appreciation day held at the club. A special day it was for sure. Hours of time were choreographed by many dedicated GTYC members to make it happen. We are very fortunate to have a dedicated group of people who are com- mitted to protecting property and saving lives right here in Traverse City. These men and woman truly are the “Guardians of the Great Lakes”. As we jibe into fall, look for ballots in early September to elect two board seats and flag Officer positions. Doug Higgins, Danielle Higgins, Steve Hutchens and Rob Lovell were all nominated in August to fill two Board of Director seats. Jim Sorbie was nomi- nated for Commodore, Gregg Diehl for Vice Commodore and Jordan Owen for Rear Commodore. Good luck to you all and thank you for stepping into the role of volun- teering for your club. See you on the water for Fall Series and great color cruising! Signing out. Jay Kraft Commodore #53 WWW.GTYC.ORG GTYC Announces NYYC Qualifier Team

The GTYC is pleased to introduce our racing team for the NYYC Invitational Qualifier. The regatta will take place in Newport, RI early September.

Our team is led by Bob Sagan, GTYC Interlake Fleet Captain. Bob will Skipper the Sonars and J/70’s that the team will race. Bob Sagan is a mostly self taught sailor who started sailing as a kid in a Grumman aluminum canoe with clamp on spar and lee- boards, and raced anything on the water now has one-design and PHRF wins on the mantle (and still takes on anything afloat). Bob sails everything he can but is most often found in his Interlake and has been seen contorting his 6’6” frame on la- sers. Bob also calls tactics and is alt helmsman on a new Tripp 26 program, “Runs with Scissors” (Massaroni) and he was the 2007 MC Scow Blue Chip Regatta Mystery Guest. Bob ac- tively gives back and builds the sport. He is the founder of two one-design (Interlake) fleets, the local Junior Racing Team (TACS Racing Team) and a Board member of the Interlake Sailing Class Association. Bob has been our Interlake Fleet Captain for many years.

Next, we have Jordan Owen, GTYC Board Member (and Rear Commodore Candidate). Jordan has been sailing competitively for over 30 years in multiple forms of the sport. In offshore events, Jordan has sailed numerous major events including Newport-Bermuda, Annapolis-Newport, Annapolis-Bermuda, and Chicago-Mackinac, as well as around-the-buoys such as Key West Race Week, Block Island Race Week, the New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta, and the Onion Patch Series. In one- design keelboats, Jordan has sailed extensively in regional, na- tional, and international competition in Melges 24, J/24, J/22, & Star classes. In dinghies, he has also competed in the Finn and Penguin classes. As to his favorite type of sailing, Jordan has a soft spot for racing on the Chesapeake Bay Log Canoes of the Eastern Shore of Maryland. He has been racing Wednesday Nights and distance races trimming sails on Kokomo (Schulz) for nine years and has crewed with most of our Melges fleet. Jordan has been the GTYC PRO for Tuesday night laser sailing for nine years.

Rounding out the GTYC team, Dr. Rob Lovell will take on the foredeck position. Dr. Rob is a current Candidate for the GTYC Board. Dr. Rob reports, “My first sail was in 1969 on a family vacation in the Upper Peninsula, after a friend found a big sheet of visqueen, dad cut down a small tree, fashioned a mast, lashed a pair of paddles to the sides of our canoe, and we had our first sailing experience. Nearby, a tornado blew through while we were out sailing and we were hooked. Our family would own several sailboats over the next dozen years sailing on Lake Erie, with occasional trips up to Lake Huron, Georgian Bay and Northern Lake Michigan. While keeping our boat in in Vermilion Ohio, I got my first taste of racing on an Irwin 27 called Banner, but it would be another ten years before the learning curve would really ramp up in my racing education. My first bow experience was on a J-22 in the summer of 1988, and while I would sail for a few years on the 22 the next sum- mer I got a chance to race up front with Mike Dow on his Lightning. This is where the learning curve turned real steep. I can’t thank Mike enough for his patience in answering my end- less questions as to why we did things in our post-race discus- sions. Over the next two decades, I found myself doing bow on J-24’s, Melges 24’s, a Frers 33, Farr 40, Frers 50, Pearson 53, Shock 55 and a Santa Cruz 70.” Dr. Rob has raced in two World Championships (J/22 and Melges 24), numerous Great Lakes and District Championships and small boat regattas from Harbor Springs in the north to Annapolis in the East. He has raced in three Huron to Mackinac races (including a bucket list accomplishment of being the bowman for a SC 70), and in 20 Chicago to Mackinac races, doing bow and navigating for Wes- son and Janie Schulz on Allegiance and Kokomo, including helping Kokomo to rescue the Trima- ran Caliente during the Chi-Mac race in 2002 while finishing 1st in section, receiving the U. S. Sailing Arthur B Hanson Award for Life Saving at Sea. Most years we can also find Rob out on Tuesday nights banging around the buoys in his laser. Our team looks forward to representing our Grand Traverse Yacht Club in Newport, competing in the 2012 New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup U.S. Qualifying Series. Bob, the team Captain, truly has been our team cheerleader and organizer. Bob is a teacher, and he “made it happen” so that he will miss the first week of school this fall in order to compete for the GTYC. He has taken the lead on interfacing with the NYYC, parsing tactical information (particularly for the inau- gural J/70’s – thank you to Quantum and Mike Dow for tuning info), and he has organized and led the team through practice sessions on virtually any boat they can get their hands on, in- cluding Bob’s Interlake, Dan Lisuk’s Etchell, Campbell’s J/30, Massaroni’s Tripp 26, a Melges 24 and a Sonar in Charlevoix, among others. It seems that the only boat growing cobwebs around here may be Jordan’s Tartan 27 Olin, since he has been spending all of his time practicing rather than cruising on his own boat. Jordan has been the rock of the team, providing steady advice in his typical low key humorous style (“It’s just boat. Get in it and race it.”), expert skill and tactics. He is the team’s logistical leader for Newport, planning for housing (thank you to Joe Richter for providing housing), team uni- forms and the like. Dr. Rob sums it up best, “I hope the wis- dom of others that I’ve gained through the years will help me help our club qualify for next year’s finals. Regardless of the outcome, the chance to sail in the waters and from the club where the America’s Cup was contested for over 100 years will, without doubt, become one of my three greatest sailing accomplish- ments, and an honor for which I am truly humbled.”

for the Calendar of Events, visit http://gtyc.org

HELP WANTED!!! Several GTYC members have been talking about an off season speaker’s series over the last couple of years. This could be a great attraction for the club and feature beneficial subject matters for the members. Ideas have ranged from a talk from “Saving Sailing” author Nick Hayes, to discussions with the USCG on res- cue procedures or Racing rules 101 (or maybe 501). To pull this off we’ll need volunteers to suggest topics, contact speakers and arrange for the event. If you’re interested in helping this project please contact Jim Sorbie at [email protected].

Thank You to the Landscaping Committee!! Have you noticed the landscaping around the club lately, if you have I’m sure you’ll agree that it looks great, if you haven't check it out, this picture doesn’t do it justice. Many thanks to Cherie Buchbinder, Bev Stepnitz, Sue Smith and others for making the entrance to our club so impressive. What a great example of what the volunteers of our club accomplish! On August 20th GTYC was the

scene of an Open House for Verne Powell’s 60th Birth- day. Verne wanted to mark his birthday by raising awareness and donations for Food Rescue of Northwest Michigan. Verne’s many guests enjoyed an evening of food, cocktails, and six dec- ades of music. The event raised donations totaling more than $15,000 for Food Rescue. Many thanks to Chef Pat and Ian Ster- ling & Staff for a GREAT eve- ning – everyone enjoyed them- selves to the fullest. Thanks also to the party-goers for their over- Sunset picture sent from Carol whelming generosity. Morris in the North Channel.

Interlake regatta results. GTYC KICKS ______! 1st place: Bob Sa- gan & Gene Schmall. Master's Champion: Jim Menzies with grand- kids, Ladies Champion: Brooke Ostrawski (TACS), Junior Champ: Ben Corwin (TACS)

Send newsletter articles, stories, advertisements, photos, & free BVI charters to: [email protected] (Please include “waterlines” in the subject line) Next deadline is Monday, September 24, 2012. The Grand Traverse Yacht Club newsletter Waterlines is published monthly.

Bay Breeze Charters New Bay Breeze Boat Club! Affordable mem- bership sailing on boats 18'-27' and discounted sailing school courses 231-941-0535 [email protected] www.bbyc.com GTYCGTYC MuGMuG SHoTs!SHoTs! GTYC Works hard & Plays Hard!

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