Folsom Lake Yacht Club June/July 2021

THE TELLTALE SMOOTH SINCE 1956

Commodore's Corner - Kerry Johnson Unmask and Sail!

Yea! According to news reports, California is easing most Covid-19 restrictions. The State is supposedly keeping the mask mandate, but the CDC says that if vaccinated you can go maskless in small gatherings. We are very close to getting back to “normal" and that means we can start having in-person club social functions, like member meetings, BBQs and … Cup Boat Races?

By now, you received an email from me regarding a new race series expanding on the annual Cup Boat Regatta, which is normally held in August.

For those unfamiliar with Cup Boat Racing, it's a social event in which competitors build boats out of one Styrofoam cup, straws, tape, mylar sails and pennies for ballast. The

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Folsom Lake Yacht Club June/July 2021 boats are then raced in the host’s pool using shop fans for wind. Racing starts after everyone enjoys socializing and a BBQ. It is a great family event.

Considering that club racing has been swamped by pandemic restrictions and low water, after some discussion with board members, I figured now's the time to raise a first shape on socializing again. It's long overdue and considering so many of us are vaccinated or now drilled to wear masks if not, let's hold a sailing-oriented social event that gets us together in person.

So, the Cup Boat Regatta is expanding from one to three races with additional poolside gatherings planned for June and July. An added benefit to Cup Boat racing is that the water level is never an issue.

The first race of the series will be June 15 at the home of and Stephanie Erdrich. What's different from previous Cup Boat regattas is that you can build your boat ahead of time and bring it to the event (or make one there). So, there will be more time for socializing and racing.

Cup Boat parts have been left in a bag in the clubhouse. If you're at the lake, stop by and pick up hull (cup) or two, a sail and straws to make your boat.

If you plan to attend (even one race), email me. The June race will be combined with the Commodore's Picnic. So, on June 15 only, the club will provide hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and sodas. The following two Cup Boat gatherings are no host, meaning that you bring your own food to BBQ and drinks. Plus, depending on your last name, we ask attendees to bring an appetizer, salad or dessert to share.

Upcoming races: Cup Boat Races are great for socializing, but what about real racing? It’s kind of frustrating that we are finally opening up enough to get back to racing only to realize we don’t have the water. It looks like the State is happy keeping the lake at 396’, just below our minimum rule for keelboat racing and predicted to continue to drop.

In reality, the lake level affects keelboats more that dinghies ... primarily at the launch ramp and maneuvering in and out of Hobie Cove. If keelboat owners are comfortable taking on the risks of launching and avoiding hazards on the way to the racecourse, we can hold races, but I need to know from you keelboat skippers if you're willing to launch for any of our remaining scheduled races.

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Folsom Lake Yacht Club June/July 2021

I will volunteer to be RC for Summer #2 this Friday - 6/11 and let's keep in touch regarding future races.

Wednesday Beer Can Races: As I am still recovering from major surgery and can’t sail, I have been out every Wednesday night to get my fix, albeit from shore. Well, I have to say it has been a disappointing turnout so far. One or two boats each week. Come on, get out there! I’ve seen more action watching submarine races! (Editor's note: on good authority, The Telltale can report that our Commodore saw more than his share of submarine races when he was in high school.)

Other local racing: Several FLYC members made the trek to the Whiskeytown Sailing Club’s Memorial Day Regatta. The Galerias and Werders competed in open centerboard A class, Craig and Mary Lee won the Daysailer class and we had several local Banshees attend (see the Banshee report from Wayne Cassingham). Several members indicated their plans to sail in this past weekend's Gold Country Yacht Club’s Go For The Gold Regatta. Also, dinghy sailors should check out Lake Washington Sailing Club’s One Design Series (next race – 6/26).

Gone Phishing: Recently, yacht clubs (and I’m sure other organizations) have been targeted by scam artists by gleaning email addresses of board members from club websites and sending board members a phishing email, signed by the “Commodore”, asking them to purchase online gift cards or authorizing the treasurer to pay a fake invoice. Of course, these emails do not come from the “Commodore” at all. Please know that neither I nor anyone from the FLYC board, would ever ask you for urgent help in buying gift cards via email. If we need something from you, we would reach out personally with a phone call.

The Board has taken steps to alleviate the situation. We have deleted all personal email addresses from our contacts page on the FLYC website, and replaced them with one generic email – [email protected]. Still, please remain alert.

Stay Safe my friends!

- Kerry

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Folsom Lake Yacht Club June/July 2021

To Race or Not to Race? by Vice Commodore Rob Cram

For club members who've been hesitant to sail in a non-club regatta or have not sailed an away race for some time, regatta season is well underway (even though it is in a somewhat shortened format due to the Covid hangover). Well, considering low water on Folsom Lake, now might be the time for a road trip.

In addition to the fellowship of friends and other sailors, racing sharpens sailing skills. Racers point better. They can go where they want to sail more efficiently and satisfactorily.

Who knows? That maneuver you learn by racing may be just what you need, should you join fellow sailors on a delicious bareboat cruise to some exotic destination or, more mundanely, useful in dodging an inattentive powerboat when the pool gets full again on Folsom Lake.

So why would one be hesitant sailing in an out of town (or even in town) regatta?

Understandably, an away race can be intimidating. There is local knowledge to learn, different sailing instructions to absorb and an unfamiliar fleet with whom to sail. I'll admit, I've thought twice about these things in the past, and still do, to some degree. To be bluntly honest, I really don’t know the rules as well as I'd like, but then few sailors do. Good sailors are always learning and getting better, and by racing you force yourself to improve your sailing, because you're sailing with a purpose.

I've found that locals at an away race are eager to welcome you and help you succeed on their water. There's generally somebody around that will let you know - some more enthusiastically than others - and in most cases congenially - how to go about doing your best on their lake or bay. ... Now about that ‘overlap rule’, how does it really work ...?

If competing in sailing is holding you back, I hope my experience might help. I struggled with feeling comfortable racing when I started entering regattas. Now, I've been racing 12 or 13 years and have come to find joy in the camaraderie and accomplishment of sailing a boat fast. I still have a long way to go until I'm sailing at the level I want to be, but I've come to embrace competition. It has made me a better, more confident and knowledgeable sailor.

By the end of each race, I've learned, any competitive vibe that occurs on the water fades away by the time you tie up. What's left is good-natured sharing of the day's adventures, once the sails have been rolled.

Some might think twice about the cost of traveling to a regatta. I’ve found competing in a local regatta to be about the most cost-effective fun one might have. Just as with how much you invest in your boat, going to an away race can be as fancy or low key as you choose. All you really need is a tent, a few provisions, and most regattas (Covid aside), have been known to offer some decent dinner fare (and swag) at reasonable prices.

So, pack your vehicle, give the wheel bearings on your trailer a spin and give an away race a try. Here are some to put on your calendar:

• Yosemite Yacht Club ‘Spring Regatta’, Merced. (Generally Mid-May). Canceled 2020 & 21. Hopefully returning next year. • Whiskeytown Sailing Club ‘Memorial Weekend Regatta’, Whiskeytown Lake (Redding area).

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Folsom Lake Yacht Club June/July 2021

Held during the Saturday/Sunday preceding Memorial Day. • Gold Country Yacht Club ‘Go For The Gold’, Scotts Flat Reservoir (Nevada City). Early June. (Normally, a 2-day event). • Lake Washington One-Design Summer Series. 6/26 www.lwsailing.org • Fresno Yacht Club ‘High Sierra’, Huntington Lake (Central Sierra). July 10-11/17-18 (class dependent-see FYC website) https://www.fresnoyachtclub.org/high-sierra-regatta • Delta Dinghy Ditch (30 miles - all downwind - longest in USA) 8/7 www.lwsailing.org • Lake Washington Sailing Club ‘Turkey Shoot’, West Sacramento. November 6 • Richmond Midwinters (Dec - Mar.) • And, of course, don’t forget Camellia Cup (April 2021) at Folsom Lake.

On the Same Tack: Proper Course – Rule 17 (The Racing Rules of Sailing for 2017-2020) If a boat clear astern becomes overlapped within two of her hull lengths to leeward of a boat on the same tack, she shall not sail above her proper course while they remain on the same tack and overlapped within that distance, unless in so doing so she promptly sails astern of the other boat. This rule does not apply if the overlap begins while the windward boat is required by rule 13 to keep clear.

The Lido Line The inaugural Fleet 8 Sacramento Lake Series has struggled due to too much wind and too little participation. With 12 races held, John Poimiroo leads the series with 17 points, George Biery has seven points and Steve Galeria has six. Points are awarded by number of competing Lidos and finish order (e.g.: three competing Lidos, 1st place = 3 pts). Upcoming Lake Series races include Steele Cup and Turkey Shoot, with the Capitol Cup (Fleet 8 Championships) being decided by accumulated finishes from the CamCup and Turkey Shoot. An additional Lake Series race has been proposed to be hosted by the Fremont YC, but has not been finalized. Upcoming away races include the High Sierra Regatta (July 10 and 11, Huntington Lake), Steele Cup Regatta (Aug. 14, Lake Rancho Seco) and Lido 14 Class Championships (Aug. 20 - 22, Mission Bay). - John Poimiroo, Fleet Captain

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Folsom Lake Yacht Club June/July 2021

#14 - Westward Bound - 5/00

Duffy Langford’s boat was transported the short distance from Auckland to the West Shore of New Zealand by pickup truck a week after the America’s Cup festivities had quieted. Duffy had heard that sailing along the coast provides ideal Banshee conditions, and he decided to begin his tour around New Zealand from it. As it was a short distance away, he was able to convince a local sheep rancher to transport Duffy's Banshee in the back of his stake truck, along with a load of rams he was hauling to be sheered. The shepherd, a robust teen named Colin, reveled in Duffy’s tales of sailing to New Zealand from Folsom Lake in his Banshee to see the America’s Cup, laughing and nearly losing control of the truck as he drove the winding road across the island nation. As he helped Duffy slide his boat into the water at the west shore, Colin looked up at our journeyed friend and opined, “You know, mate, if you sailed all this way just to see the ‘merica’s Cup, it’d be a wee dip in the Tasman and you’d be in Sydney for the Olympics.” The thought mellowed in Duffy’s conscience as he provisioned his Banshee at a nearby convenience store. Days later, Duffy would again become a local celebrity as New Zealanders came by to meet him, trade stories of sailing the Tasman Sea and check out his overloaded bird boat. Word spread that he was considering sailing across the shark-infested Tasman Sea to attend the Olympics. People tried to discourage Duffy from doing it, but that only solidified his resolve. One day, Duffy turned to Rolfe and Anna, the convenience store clerks he’d befriended, and said matter-of-factly, “Well, I’m off to Sydney.” Then Duffy walked alone to the beach, rigged his sail, launched and sailed west.

#15 - Too Many Arms, Too Little Time - 6/00

In the icy depths of the Tasman Sea, it’s said, the ocean’s most terrifying denizen resides ... the giant squid. Rarely seen, these tentacled titans patrol the ocean searching for schools of fish to consume. Their jet- propelled bodies were designed for speed and deep ocean cruising. Only great whales have challenged the Giant Squid’s dominance in Neptune’s lair, that is until Duffy Langford sailed into these waters. Sailing his Banshee from New Zealand to watch the Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Duffy Langford had just set his auto pilot and had crawled into a sleeping bag when the first suctioned arm reached into the boat. As the squid’s great milky eye tried to spy the oddly shaped fish its tentacle had just acquired, stringy arms and a tentacled tongue maneuvered to taste the plastic “fish.”

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Folsom Lake Yacht Club June/July 2021

Its caress on Duffy’s face melded with Duffy’s dreams of Polynesian women, though soon his dreams were transformed into a real Southern Ocean nightmare. Duffy awoke from his reverie to see suctioned tentacles waving and wrapping themselves around the Banshee. He sat erect, mouth agape and stared into the milky eye of the cephalopod. He remembered using squid as bait while fishing out of San Francisco, then shuddered to think that, now, he was the bait. Duffy had no spears like the men of Jules Verne’s Nautilus, nor harpoons like Melville’s Captain Ahab. All he had were the wits of a Banshee sailor and a keg of Wanaka Beerwork’s Brewski Lager, an award-winning Pilsner that had been given to Duffy before leaving New Zealand. He’d been told the beer had a good amount of aroma hops present that impart herbal, floral and green type notes, and there was also a slight starch-malt influence in the beer, but there wasn’t time to determine that now. He only had time to lift the keg and hurl it into the gaping toothed mouth of the leviathan. Just as soon as it had arrived, the Giant Squid disappeared. Duffy sat anxiously waiting for its return, though it never did. Days later, oceanographers began reporting the erratic meandering of Subject GS-1-9924-2, causing Greenpeace representatives to blame French Polynesian nuclear weapons testing and others to attribute the Giant Squid’s drunken travels to global warming. If they’d only listened to the sonar more attentively, they might have heard a giant belch.

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Folsom Lake Yacht Club June/July 2021

TREASURER’S REPORT – SCOTT FREDERICKSON

This is going to be a long, hot summer with insufficient lake fixes ... but not without some unsolicited $-related entertainment (anybody remember Herb Caen, the SF Chronicle columnist, the king of '3 dot' journalism?). This weird email arrived, purportedly from Kerry and Joyce.

“Hi Scott, Hope you and your loved ones are staying safe and healthy. Pay the attached invoice as approved by the board. Thanks, Kerry & Joyce Johnson.”

The invoice was for $5578.13 (!! $5250 + sales tax) for 'consulting fees' and, according to Google Earth satellite photographs, the address was a mobile home park in Apache Junction, AZ. ... OK, nothing suspicious about THAT!

The invoice had a link to the online payment system, 'link.waveapps.com/******' (Wave Financial, Toronto). So, I stumbled through a less-than-friendly website to finally end up in the 'Complaint' dept, and sent an email summarizing the problem, including the invoice, and suggesting it was fraud, a 'phishing' attempt. After a couple days and unsuccessful attempts at convincing the wavapps computer there was a problem, I sent a snippy note suggesting maybe a human brain should be involved in this issue.

That resulted in an email from Wave staff, and I inferred that they did not really understand the problem, in spite of having the same evidence I had, but no knowledge of FLYC. I wrote a longer, more detailed email, and again included the invoice. I suggested that if this was an illegal operation, it might reflect badly on their company.

A couple days later I got a very nice email thanking me for alerting them to this issue, and letting me know that the offending account had been investigated and closed.

Solarwinds it wasn't, but still a small victory. There has been only one other phoney scam email in all these years, in spite of our FLYC.org addresses being publicly available.

P.O. Box 156 No news here. Last time I visited the box was empty. I don't remember that ever happening before this year, but it was only 2 weeks of mail. This month I expect the $200+ invoice for the yearly box fee, and maybe a 'Latitudes and Attitudes' mag.

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Folsom Lake Yacht Club June/July 2021

BANSHEE BEAT – Wayne On Sunday we all woke to a nice breeze that we all were convinced would most likely die just Cassingham before our start. To our surprise it held through the first race and slowly faded as we concluded I hope everyone is well and has access to air the last race of the day. Dean Eppley had a conditioning, we all wish we did at the fantastic day and put on a clinic on how to sail Whiskeytown Regatta this past month. The only Whiskeytown Lake. I should have re-read the thing hotter than the weather and the "Banshee article he wrote on how to do that on the Babes" was the close racing out on the lake. We website. Tim Loomis, for not having sailed much had six boats on the starting line each day and in the past couple of years, didn't seem to forget the racing was extremely close. much, taking second in the last race on Sunday. Rob Cram sailed really well and was mixing it up On Saturday the wind was 3 to 5 knots but with the fleet all day on Sunday as well. Great job otherwise not too shifty. The race committee did Rob! Murray drove down from Eugene to join the an excellent job of not making the races too long fleet and was doing well on Sunday as well. It with the wind conditions. At the end of the first was great to see Murray and Linda. day of racing there was a three-way tie at the top between Charles, Dean and Wayne. Everyone The Banshee fleet almost missed the awards else was really close as well. Racing was so close, presentation, being preoccupied with showers Murray and Tim actually tied one race. Either and re-hydration. We did make it there by the they actually did or the person sighting the line very end. We uncovered a few mistakes in had the wrong eye closed. Nonetheless, it was scoring the last race which took us a little while too close to call. to sort out. Dean and Charles broke their tie, per the US Sailing rules, by going deep to figure it Saturday evening the Whiskeytown Club out. Here are the results: volunteers put on an excellent taco bar which was very authentic and delicious. After dinner 1st - 8 points - Wayne Cassingham and dessert, the fleet held a short meeting that 2nd - 10 points - Dean Eppley (tie breaker) included our awards presentations for last year, 3rd - 10 points - Charles Witcher tie breaker) since we were unable to do this earlier in the 4th - 18.5 points - Tim Loomis year because of you know what. Charles Witcher 5th - 23.5 points - Murray McLeod was fleet champion, beating out Wayne in a 6th - 25 points - Rob Cram multi-layered tie breaker in which he received a nice bottle of Tequila for his efforts. Huntington Lake: It's coming fast and the lake is filling equally as Congratulations Charles, well done! Every year fast and should be perfect when we show up. I we vote on an award that goes to the person who need to ask (beg) everyone just as soon as does a lot of work on the behalf of us all. The possible to please let me or Mary know when inaugural recipient of this award was Steve you plan to arrive and depart, tent or RV. We are Galeria for his tireless work. Steve was really the holding a lot of reservations for dates we most inspiration of this award. Every year I send out likely will not use but our credit cards don't an email to each member who sailed the year know that. So, PLEASE email me or Mary and let and they, in turn, vote on the person who they either one of us know your plans for attending so feel deserves this award and Mary Niederberger we can start adjusting our camping reservations. was chosen for all she does for us at Huntington Lake, her reservations process and the colorful Stay Cool, way in announcing race courses at Rancho Seco. Wayne Cassingham The phonetic alphabet will never be the same! Banshee Fleet One and Two

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Folsom Lake Yacht Club June/July 2021

WHAT THE TECH JUST HAPPENED? By Garth Reynolds

As a new FLYC member, most likely like you, I’ve been thinking “What the heck just happened over the past [fill in the blank]?!” Despite a bewildering number of setbacks, the lack of sailing has had one side benefit. It's allowed time to for me to pursue my interest in the technical side of sailing and racing. I figured I'd take this moment to share some of the innovations being developed that could have an impact on us as sailors. Much of our everyday lives have been disrupted and changed during the pandemic, but one thing has remained pretty constant - some really smart people are out there doing some really neat things to help make boats go faster. I am an engineer and have worked as a sail designer for some of the global brands. I’ve always been curious about how to make boats go faster. As evidence, note the following photo. In it, Zoe (my wife who always crosses the finish line ahead of me) is seen. We were sailing a , while living in San Diego, we were able to gather flying Photo courtesy of my masthead camera robot! shape data. That was when I was designing for North Sails One Design. In my quest to learn and understand, I always felt let down when a more experienced sail designer We had gotten into the Snipe class at Mission Bay would say “Just use 200 kilos for the forestay load Yacht Club which was a ton of fun! when it gets ”. This assumption was more of a As a data geek, I have a knack for strapping SWAG (scientific-wild-___-guess!) and it drove me sensors on boats and sails to see what I can learn nuts. (like the mast-top camera on our Snipe - seen at The forestay load actions on the mast and is right, above). countered by the shrouds and mainsheet … (I’ll I’ve also been involved in CFD (computational fluid stop us from going down the rabbit hole here!) ... dynamics) & FEA (finite element analysis) studies and impacts the sails’ flying shapes and ultimately on boats, as I specialized in the Olympic for the how fast you can go. 2008 China Games and 2012 London Games. UK-based Cyclops Marine, In the Olympics I worked with the , 470, https://www.cyclopsmarine.com, has developed and 49erFX boats. These computer tools help a suite of products to eliminate this guesswork for understand how a boat, mast and sails will react normal boats. during a certain wind condition and tuning set-up. This type of tech is standard on AC boats and other One of the things that always bothered me with grand prix programs, but not in Olympic classes, these computer tools were my assumptions of keelboats or dinghies. loads on the boat. So, it's super exciting to see it come into the market. As a data guy, I'm driven by that this tool

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Folsom Lake Yacht Club June/July 2021 can measure the exact loads during a sailing MarkSetBots have kept a steady course in big wind session. If you were to couple that with wind and and waves at the Yacht Club De Monaco, and they boat speed data, and sail shapes captured from my Here’s the view from the Race Committee: mast-head cameras, you could learn a ton, and the sail designers could have more precise inputs with fewer SWAGs. Below is an image from Cyclops Marine on an Etchells, where they are measuring and logging the loads on the Headstay, Mainsheet and Backstay. The green arrow shows the load sensor on the Backstay- small, lightweight and easy to install. Teams, coaches and sail designers have fun new tools in their toolbox with these products!

have also successfully kept perfect courses at Charleston Race Week in some big-time currents, all without a single anchor! Have you learned about another fun, tech solution for sailors? If so, I’d love to learn about it. I hope to Another really intriguing product that has come on see you at FLYC soon, and I hope we can get the market is from Detroit based MarkSetBot some races in through the rest of this year. (https://www.marksetbot.com/). MarkSetBot builds floating, self-driving regatta marks that are controlled with a customer software called RaceOS. Their full package offers pretty awesome automation for setting marks on a racecourse. One can easily adjust the length or angle of the course. I have yet to sail in a regatta with MarkSetBots, I hope to do so, someday. I’ve been following this company since their launch, and I'd love to see some of the challenging venues and conditions where they have held fast.

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