June 2016 Official Publication of Alamitos Bay Yacht Club opening day and Volume 89 • Number 6 raft up 2016 Kathy Robinson photos n April 29th at 1200 hrs. the cannon marked the beginning of ABYC’s Opening Day and Raft-up Party. The Raft-up welcomed 32 Oparticipating boats. Jennifer Kuritz was the organizing Staff Commodore with Pat McCormick directing traffic and mooring location. Beer and brats were available for the participants and guests. Everyone seemed to have a terrific time thanks to Jennifer and Pat. That evening the party continued with burgers and beer. The bar was open on the patio with Kelly Fitzgerald playing into the night. I had many great compliments. The next morning was preparatory to the Club Championship Regatta known as the Kim Thompson Memorial Regatta. The regatta was sailed in Vipers supplied by the Viper Fleet thanks to Tim Carter. Tim got the Vipers together and worked on them to make them as equal as possible. Thanks to Tim. The regatta was sailed in the bay, went off without a hitch and in record time. Congratulations to Tim Carter and Steve Bloemeke, the winners of the Club Championship and the Kim Thompson Memorial Trophy. The trophy was awarded to the winners by Nancy Merrill and Brad Thompson, Kim’s mother and brother. At 1530 hrs. the ceremony began. We honored our Staff Commodores, senior members, regatta winners, members who passed during the year, club staff and visiting guests. Ron Wood and Vann Wilson were awarded the 2015 Jesse L. Carr Trophy take home plaques by Jr. Staff Commodore, PCYA Gary Green. Don Ryman gave a brief history of the past 90 years at the club and a very moving invocation. Yes we did run over the allotted 30 minutes and finished up with a P.A. system failure (the battery ran out). Instead of giving me the hook they just turned off the power to the P.A. system. After the ceremony the ABYC Staff Commodores upheld their tradition by pouring champagne but this is where we diverted from tradition slightly. In an attempt to move our guests out to the Raft-up, I decided to change the reception from the club patio to the boat yard and the ramp. The Staff Commodores poured champagne and hor d’oeuvres were available next to the ramp. In addition we did not have a bar available but we did have specialty drinks on the boats in the Raft-up. Many of the boats also had food onboard and a Passport was given to each guest. The passport was much like a bingo card allowing the guest to board boats in the Raft-up and receive a sticker for visiting that boat. The passport was very cleverly created and was well received as a fun item. Thanks to the Social Advisory Committee. The effort to entice our guests to visit our members on their boats in the Raft-up was a complete success. I received many compliments from both our guests and club members. I am hoping that we make this a tradition to establish how friendly our club is and of course how much ABYC Is The Place To Be! Staff Commodore, Jon Robinson ...continued on page 9 inside Manager’s Corner ............................................. 2 sav e the date Commodore’s Comments.................................. 2 Ukelele Lessons ................................. June 7 & 21 Fleet Captain’s Log ........................................ 3-4 Membership Open House .......................... June11 Junior Sailing.................................................. 4-5 Membership Meeting................................. June 17 Membership ......................................................6 Men’s Day Regatta/Father’s Day BBQ ...... June 19 Rules Quiz................................................. 7 & 10 LBRW ...................................................June 24-26 Mother’s Day Brunch....................................... 89 Big Bang on the Bay .................................... July 3 Hails From the Fleets ................................ 10 -11 Full ABYC Calendar sou’wester • june 2016 • page 1 manager’scorner ell, it’s hard to believe, but summertime is here folks! We’ve got a jam-packed couple of months ahead of us, and you don’t want to miss out on the action, so be sure to check W out our club calendar and the Weekly Reader to make sure you’re not missing anything. This month, we’ve got some exciting regattas to look forward to, including the Olympic Classes Regatta (in conjunction with the I-14 Nationals), the Men’s Day Regatta, and of course, Long Beach Race Week finishing up the month. We’ve also got our Lido Twillight Racing now in full swing on Thursday nights. For those of you that don’t know, the Galley is now open on Thursday nights from 5pm to 8:30pm, with dinner being served from 6pm to 8:30pm. We’ll have the dinner menu posted on the club calendar the weekend prior, and we ask that all of those who’d like to join us for twilight dinners make a reservation, either via the website, by e-mailing Sheila at [email protected], or calling us in the office. Those who make reservations will be given priority, so please be sure to plan ahead! On a different note, I would like to wish our long-time staff member Julissa a big “Congratulations” on her recent marriage to her long-time sweetheart. Julissa and Santos celebrated their commitment to one another with a beautiful wedding ceremony right here at the club on April 9th, with a grand reception at the Harbor Reef restaurant following the ceremony. It was a lovely wedding and a wonderful evening, and we wish the very best to the happy couple in their future together! Cheers to Julissa and Santos! Tori commodore’scompass ell, the Basin is free of ice and the bay clear of flotsam and jetsam! The 2016 Sailing season is officially open at ABYC! W I would like to thank all of you, members and guests, who attended our 89th Opening Day celebrations. Each and every one of you made it a special day. The raft-up party went smoothly with the help of Pat McCormick and his crew. Seeing them work out the puzzle of yacht placement was truly a sight to behold! The BBQ and party Friday Night was great fun for all. Saturday was our first attempt using the Vipers (thank you owners) for the Fleet championship was a total success! I am happy to report that there was no carnage on the course. The ceremony on Saturday afternoon went off without a hitch. There is nothing like seeing all of us in our blues and whites (once a year) celebrating what we love and support. The raft-up party after the celebration was a great deal of fun and lasted into the late evening. Good food and beverages were served to our members and guests by our members on their yachts. If you did not bring your boat down this year I hope to see you next year! I would like to give a special shout out the Staff Commodore Jon Robinson for all his efforts in making this event a success – I only hope I do as well when my time is up! And we just kept on rolling. The US Olympic Development Team has chosen to make ABYC one of its primary host locations. The sailors and coaches were at the club for four days of extreme and targeted training. It is always great to see these competitor here at what we all know as one of the best venues in the world to sail and train. Following the opening of our club, the Social committee once again knocked it out of the park with the Mother’s Day Brunch! The decorations, especially the rose bud folded napkins were just wonderful. Everyone I spoke to was relaxed and enjoying the good food and special time with their mothers! Twilight dinners are now being served on Thursday nights. Please make a reservation so that there is plenty of food to go around. Just around the corner we have our Memorial Day Regatta, OCR and Long Beach race week. I have been told that Long Beach Race Week is looking for volunteers! Please give Chuck Clay a call and help support this event in any way you can! Remember, there is nothing quite as good as just messing around in a boat! Latham Bell sou’wester • june 2016 • page 2 fleet captain’slog e are ready for another successful of doing what we do best ABYC-putting on great regattas. I thought I would share with you what it goes in to the planning and execution of a successful W regatta. At the first Fleet Captain’s meeting of the year (sometime in October) each fleet receives its assignments as duty fleet. Following that a Regatta Chair and Board Liaison are assigned to ensure proper management and execution of the regatta. A few months leading up to the regatta a budget is developed and the Race Management Committee begins to assist in the planning phase. A PRO is assigned to work closely with the Regatta Chair to make sure that all of the needs of the regatta from a race management perspective are met. For some regattas the Regatta Chair also liaises with the Social Advisory Committee to develop any social event for the regatta such as a special dinner like the Memorial Day BBQ. During this time the Board Liaison works with the Regatta Chair to ensure that proper resources are being allocated and that the regatta budget is being adhered to. The weeks leading up to the regatta are usually very busy times for the regatta chair working with a number of people shoring up both on-the-water and land-side support by ensuring that there are enough volunteers staffing the regatta.