Lake Michigan Sail Racing Federation April 2012 Issue 4 Lake Michigan SuRF Newsletter Nelson Sails His 60 th 100 Miler Race By Brian Chaltry Ed Nelson, a member of Marinette and Menominee Yacht Club, sailed his 60 th 100 Miler, hosted by his club, on July 21. Nelson has retired from the captain's spot and consistently sails as crew on Eagle XXX out of M&MYC. Folks may know him better by his former boat's name: Challenge. Nelson’s first 100 Miler was with his father in 1946 or 1947, when the schooner was a common rig, and sails were still made from cotton. One of his most memorable 100 Milers was a long one - the race started Saturday morning and finished at 1:30 AM the next day. He won by 17 seconds. By far, however, his favorite memory of the 100 Miler is winning the race on a 28' wood sloop that he built himself, about 10-15 years ago. Nelson’s kept a written personal memoir of his sailing experiences. He figures all in all he’s done 900 total races (not just 100 Milers). Be sure to congratulate him for this notable feat. Great Lakes Singlehanded Society Drops 2 Flares from Required List By Bill Tucker, Great Lakes Singlehanded Society Communicating Secretary On July 9 the Great Lakes Singlehanded Society Board approved the elimination of the 2 orange smoke flares from the GLSS required equipment list. This action is consistent with action taken by other race committees. It was the Board's feeling that the 4 SOLAS flares and 4 aerial flares, along with the other requirements, are adequate safety measures. Sheboygan Youth Sailing Club Raffles By Matt Zieminski Sheboygan Youth Sailing Club is holding two fundraising raffles. We need your help. Sheboygan Youth Sailing Club's mission is to provide sailing lessons to anyone who is interested regardless of the ability to pay. Therefore, we keep our class prices low and supplement our operating costs through fundraising. If you are able to buy raffle tickets or help us sell raffle tickets - we want to HEAR from you! Contact us at [email protected]. The items are: -BEAUTIFUL HAND SEWN SAILING QUILT - Made by Adam Grandlic's Grandmother and donated to us for the raffle. Thanks Janet! Tickets are $5.00 each or 5 for $20.00 -$500.00 WEST MARINE GIFT CARD - Donated to SYSC for the raffle. Thanks Anonymous Donor! Tickets are $10.00 each or 3 for $25.00 Contact us today to get your tickets! Drawing will be held on August 19, 2012. FEATURED YACHT CLUB OF THE MONTH: Macatawa Bay Yacht Club By Gail M. Turluck Macatawa Bay Yacht Club is on Lake Macatawa which boasts a channel cut and breakwater onto Lake Michigan, close to Holland, Michigan. This active club has offshore racing in concert with two other clubs on Lake Macatawa, Anchorage Marine Yacht Club and Bayshore Yacht Club. Where other clubs have paid less attention to inshore one- design sailing, Macatawa Bay Yacht Club has active fleets of 110’s, Etchells, Melges 17, Melges 20, JY-15, Laser, S2 7.9, Melges 24, Optimist Dinghies, and an occasional Sunfish. In 2011 MBYC hosted the Canada’s Cup which was won by a Canadian team. They frequently host national level championship regattas. MBYC offers adult sailing lessons and a program focused on teaching women to sail as a standalone activity. Macatawa Bay Yacht Club has a full service club house, a new junior building, hoists, launch ramp, pool, and more. This family friendly organization features a slate of social events including the Commodore's Ball, 4th of July Lobster Boil, Pool Party, and Mother’s Day Brunch. Exercise and swimming lessons are offered. MBYC docks are home to 75 boats through permanent and transient slips. The dry sail area hosts a range of boats and includes launching ramps and hoists for easy access to the water. The Junior Yacht Club offers great entertainment and social activities to our younger members, as well as sailing lessons and Youth racing opportunities. LMSRF YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP SET The Lake Michigan Sail Race Federation Youth Championship is being hosted by Columbia Yacht Club in conjunction with their annual Skyline Regatta on August 9-10, 2012. Youth entries will be accepted for 420’s, Lasers, Laser Radials and Optimist Dinghies. The regattas will be run as one, but two sets of trophies will be awarded to the competitors placing in each class. The Skyline regatta will be scoring 420’s, Lasers, Laser Radials, Optimist Combined and Optimist Green. The LMSRF Youth Championship will be breaking the Optimist Class into Red, White, Blue and Green, as well as an overall Combined Trophy. Registration is on line this year at: http://yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=702. NEW RULES FOR 2013 By Glenn T. McCarthy The Racing Rules of Sailing are up to be changed once every four years. Why is it locked for four years? So that Olympians practice under the same rules for the quadrennium so that there are no surprises. With the Olympics going on right now, it means that on January 1, 2013 we get some tweaks made to the game we've been playing for the past 3-1/2 years. When ISAF meets in Dublin, Ireland in November they will make the final changes for the next quadrennium. As soon as they are released publicly, we'll be here to report on them. Lake Michigan Sail Racing Federation2 August 2012 Newsletter S.S. KEEWATIN SAILS BACK HOME The S.S. Keewatin could be seen for years with a short glimpse at Douglas, Mich. when driving by on I-196. She sat as a maritime museum there since 1967, one of the last two Great Lakes Passenger ships. She was said to be the last true Edwardian Era Steamer from the era of the Titanic, Lusitania and Olympic. Tug boats pulled up on June 4, 2012 and towed her to the Township of Tay, Port McNicoll in Georgian Bay, Ontario, arriving on June 23, 2012. The S.S. Keewatin was built in Scotland in 1907 for Canadian Pacific Railway and served between Port Arthur/Fort William and Port McNicoll, carrying both passengers and freight. She returned back home to a 200 voice choir as part of the arrival celebrations in Canada. She is set to be restored, as the hull is steel and the upper deck is wooden, and planned to be the town’s centerpiece. She is expected to be re-opened to tours in April 2013 after restoration is complete. Length: 350 Feet Engine: 3,300 HP Coal Fired Boiler Speed: 14 knots Consumption: 20 tons of coal a day Crew: 86 Displacement: 3,856 tons Passengers: 288 SAVING SAILING , by Nicholas D. Hayes Review by Glenn McCarthy Nicholas Hayes of Milwaukee wrote a book in 2009 titled " Saving Sailing ." Nick's profession is a researcher, and he brings numbers and data to the sport of sailing, rather than the common bar bull- hockey we all are accustomed to. For us to start rebuilding sailing, we really need to know where we came from and what causes success and what doesn't. The data is intermixed with Nick's own stories of sailing with his family (which he continues today). One of my favorite lines is (paraphrased), "The average American adult has 37 hours of free time each week (after working shopping, cleaning, chores, etc.). Sailors have chosen to use their 37 hours sailing." Doesn't that describe our lives as sailors? We have focused our free time into what we love to do. Sometimes it isn't easy, but the underlying theme throughout the book is that the sport must be a family activity. When it is, then it works great, as the family commitments are made to be on the boat! Personally I come from a sailing family. In this year's Chicago-Mackinac, I sailed with my daughter (Christina), niece (Laura), nephew (Neal), sister (Gail) and father (Gene) and a friend whose done 30+ Macs with us who is darn near family (Jack). All have been bitten by the sailing bug and it provides the opportunity for more family get togethers than anything else the family does. Back to the book. What I really liked about the book is the volume of information that is brought to the table. I liked the data and the numbers. What I liked most was that Nick did not attempt to draw conclusions or tell any of us how to fix the sport. That really must have been hard to do, but it was the best for him to do. The reader is left to think of new solutions using the data to guide them and build as many new programs to get this sport growing as they possibly can. I highly recommend reading this book and it is one to add to your book collection. http://www.amazon.com/Saving-Sailing-Choices-Families-Commitments/dp/1933987073 Lake Michigan Sail Racing Federation3 August 2012 Newsletter LONG DISTANCE RACE STRATEGY ONBOARD POROROCA by Andy Osvalds, Navigator and Glenn McCarthy, Watch Captain I board the GL 70, Pororoca , in her slip at the Chicago Yacht Club, just after dawn. The 104th contingent is still asleep or shaking off last night's festivities with a well iced Bloody Mary from the Mackinac Bar. I am the first of her thirteen crew aboard, except for a few overnight guests still checked in and asleep at Hotel Pororoca . "Those pipe berths really do rival the pillow-tops at the Palmer House up Monroe," I note to myself, estimating how much shut-eye I will get over the next 48 hours.