Beaufort Yacht & Sailing Club. www.byscnet.com MARK YOUR I am happy to report that after only 3 months at the helm of BYSC, our new CALENDARS! General Manager, t Milledge Webb has March 2013 learned the ropes and is already imple- menting some fresh March 1st— new ideas. Milledge First Friday! 6:00 pm brought with him to BYSC a background March 2– PHRF and experience run- ning swimming pools, March 12- Board camps, and summer Meeting 6 PM programs. This year's summer camp March 13– at BYSC will see some exciting new activities and posi- Garden club 10 AM tive programmatic changes. If you have not yet met Milledge, please stop by the Steak night 6 PM office and introduce yourself. His positive attitude and high energy prove to be a perfect fit for BYSC! March 14th— Beaufort Sport fishing BYSC license plates show your enthusiasm for our club, help us to recognize And fellow members, and are a great way to promote ourselves to the local communi- Diving Club 5 PM ty. If you don't have one on your front bumper - just stop by the office and pick Feb 13th, one up. For a limited time, these are free to all members. March 8, 15, If you didn't make it to the club during February, you missed a lot of fun activi- 22nd and 29th ties. Members enjoyed: First Friday and Sunset Fridays, a Kid's Fishing Tourna- Sunset Friday’s at 6:00 pm ment, Steak Night, Sailor's Meeting, Auxiliary Social/mtg, Daily Tennis Being (Sign Up to Played, and PHRF Frostbite Series Racing. I even saw some sun tanning activity Bartend!) down on the dock. Check the club calendar for March and come on out and have a great March 16– River Rats time! Hope to see you soon. March 17th– PHRF Larry Hamilton Feb 19– Historical Show your support of the BYSC and fly the Society Burgee wherever you go! BYSC Plates avail- able in the office for Free! Sailing Club Youth to Represent US in International Regatta The Beaufort Yacht and Sailing Club is delighted to announce that Alex Mazzeo (13), son of Paul and Lisa Mazzeo of Beaufort, has been selected to represent the United States at the 30th Interna- tional Lake Garda Optimist Class sailboat regatta near Verona, Italy this March. “We are all very proud of Alex. He’s worked hard to build his skills and is a tough competitor” said Dr. Ricky Akers, Chairman of the Club’s Junior Sailing program. Optimists are a small, single handed sailboat that children begin sailing at about age eight. “Boys and girls learn to sail and race in Optimists. In ad- dition to sailing skills, they gain confidence, self reliance and problem solving skills that benefit them throughout life. It’s really fun to watch.” Akers said. Last year Drummond Koppernaes (then 14), son of Christian and Robin Koppernaes of Beaufort and also a participant in the Club’s Junior Sailing program, was selected to represent the US in a similar regatta in Holland. There were over 950 Optimist sailors from more than 40 countries competing in that event. ROWING/CREW AT BYSC With Spring around the corner we look forward to a beautiful year on the Beaufort River. Warmer tem- peratures will offer many opportunities for enjoying our recently upgraded fleet of rowing shells. Latest addition is a very user friendly craft that can be rowed by one person or by a pair of rowers. In addition, the club has two shells that are strong on stability and, for the more adventuresome, a proper racing shell similar to those used in the Olympics. There are private boats as well stored at the club so it will be necessary to request guidance before selecting a shell. Lessons are available (and advised) through the office. Martha and I are continuing our work with Savannah Country Day School in Savan- nah. Martha is coaching and I am in charge of equipment as well as driving the 40' trailer loaded with shells to regattas across the Southeast. We are seeking a new venue in the Savannah area and would appreciate suggestions from the membership. Search param- eters include 1- secure storage for shells, 2- waterway without heavy boat traffic, 3- insig- nificant bluff elevation allowing easy access carrying shells from land to water. This will be a returning feature in the Bow Watch. In subsequent blurbs I will post our SCDS regatta schedule. Come out and enjoy one or two of these colorful events. There is always a team tent serving refreshments. I will also post regattas in which Martha and I compete (master category). Some of these offer quite a pageant with entries as high as 1200 boats. Considering some of the boats are eights (eight rowers), you can imagine the number of participants. For those of you facing college tuition in the near or distant future, be aware of the sig- nificant scholarships available to students competing in our sport. Some of these are full scholarships -- particularly abundant for women. We have been active in this sport for decades having competed both nationally and internationally. It is a very small, tight knit group (similar to sailing??) and we have many influential contacts who can assist in col- lege admission and scholarships. See you on the water, Steve & Martha Weeks 522-9772 http://byscnet.com/other-activities/rowing Sailing and Racing It’s hard to believe but spring sailing is upon us-the PHRF Frostbite races have already started with a light air day and a blowout. Mark your calendar down for the first weekend of April-a big one! Not only is Friday April 5 the BYSC Flag Raising/opening of the season and Sunset Friday, but also the skippers meeting/cocktail party for the Jean Ribaut Cup. Roy Crocker is again in charge of the Jean Ribaut Cup on April 6 and the river races-one leading up to the Ribaut, one in the river on Sunday and one on Monday. He reports more details in this issue of the Bow Watch. Sunday, April 7 is the opening day of our Spring Series. All of you dinghy sailors get ready. Registration on Sunday, noon to 1pm, Warning for the first race is 2:00pm. Series continues each Sunday at 2pm (except for the Laser Regatta on May 5) until the last day at 1pm on Monday, Me- morial Day, May 27, -that’s 7 race days. If you want to sign up for race committee for any of our spring series day there is a sign-up sheet posted on the porch. These are volunteer/River Rat jobs and you will receive credit against your assess- ment for the time spent along with your official River Rat yellow t-shirt-a definite status symbol. We need mark/safety boats and signal boat volunteers. Not much experience necessary. (Can you swim, have you been on a boat before, do you like being on the water? You qualify.) For the less experienced sailors we have the rejuvenated Sunfish B fleet, a popular group of some years ago. And don’t worry if you are not experienced-there will be several opportunities to get famil- iar with the boat prior to April 7. Sue Hamilton will be putting on an indoctrination for inexperienced sailors on Sat. March 23 at 10am along with some basic rules for keeping out of trouble. We will have some rigging instruction of the Sunfish during the presentation. So, all of you MC’s, Lasers, JY15’s, Sunfish and Opti sailors-start washing and polishing and get ready for a great season! Keep up with the schedule at byscnet.com, Racing Calendar. Frank Pontious Fleet Captain “Calling all Sunfish sailors! We are trying to revitalize the “B” Fleet this spring. Let’s clean off our boats and get out on the water. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the “B” Fleet, it is what we call those sunfish sailors who are a little less experienced but still want to get out there and race and have fun. We have some wonderful volunteers that are go- ing to refresh our memories about rigging, racing rules, etc. Anyone who has some basic sailing skills should feel free to come out and join us. If you have never sailed before, get down to the club and take some lessons and plan to join us this summer or fall. The more the merrier! If you have any interest, please contact Cheryl Potter at 986-0173 or [email protected]. I am very happy to announce two New Memberships for the Month of February! Dan and Susan Beckham and Luke and Jeanne McLaughlin. Welcome to the BYSC Family. We are so happy to have you ! AUXILIARY COMMITTEE REPORT “To the promote social enjoyment, fellowship, and the general welfare and beauti- fication of the Beaufort Yacht & Sailing Club” The Auxiliary is in the throes of organizing this year’s New Member Open House that is scheduled for Sunday, April 14th. Erica Dickerson has once again graciously offered to head up this project. It will follow last year’s very successful model of mem- ber representatives from all activity aspects of our club, and staff on hand to welcome and inform pro- spective new members. If you would like to be part of that fun day, please contact Erica at [email protected] We are actively looking for some new blood to step up and help organize our social events. Please take the time to look at the social schedule posted in the clubhouse and make this the year that you sign up for one.