www.LHYC.org February 2008
Mission Statement:
The objects of the Lloyd Harbor Yacht Club shall be to encourage and promote interest in, as well as to foster the art and enjoyment of, the sport of sailing by providing the opportunity and means for the development of individual skill and knowledge, encouraging excellence in seamanship and navigation, and by providing participative events wherein these qualities can be exercised under the aegis of the LHYC burgee.
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Ahhh, perchance to dream (Shakespeare I think). On Tuesday, February 19, with a few members in tow, we went down to the Doyle LI sail loft and availed ourselves of fellow member Mark Washeim’s hospitality. We were treated to an amazing slide show and interesting discussion by a young boat captain, now turned yacht broker, Chris Dowling. Chris shared some inspiring tales and breathtaking photos of his trips down to the Caribbean on Ace, a J-145 carbon race machine he captains and charters. If that was not enough, he documented how he had the boat loaded on a float-on carrier, transported across the Atlantic and then deposited in the Mediterranean to accommodate the owners and their guests for ringside seats to the America’s Cup races in Valencia, Spain. Having spent more time in Jamaica Bay (Queens, that is) than the Caribbean, my imagination was jolted into overdrive and the prospect of various sailing adventures ahead for the coming season. It is what keeps me going through these 20 degree days, terrible train commutes and winter doldrums. However, relief is on the way and the chance to dream can be further realized, while at the same time we can prepare for the sailing season.
The Doyle Sailmaker’s Winter Weeknight Sailing Series is a great way to escape
temporarily from the winter drudgery, receive useful information and partake in
the camaraderie of our fellow members and Huntington fleet at large.
Accordingly, with such a rapt audience, dynamic speakers and great venue for
getting into the sailing mood, we have prevailed upon Mark to host us for
Lloyd Harbor’s Spring Speaker Series, which he has graciously agreed to do
on Thursday, March 13 (please see the enclosed flyer from VC Joe
Scarpulla advertising the event and asking for RSVP’s). These discussions are a
great way to break the ice, so to speak, and usher in the sailing season.
Another opportunity to dream that is presenting itself is the upcoming
factory tour of Pearson Composites, the contractor/builder of various
J-Boats, Alerion sailboats (touted as the prettiest girl at the dance) and the
ultra-
cool,
downeaster style power boats, the True North. While you may not be in the
market for a new boat, it is extremely interesting to see the boats in various
stages on the production line, learn the processes involved in making world
class boats and hear from the experts on various topics of interest. In the
past this tour was sponsored by J –Boats and was a great way to spend a Saturday
in March. This one, scheduled for March 15, promises to be a little
different, but extremely worth while. Since our February ski trip, as you may
have heard, was cancelled, we are contemplating using our bus to take club
members to another type of event; again, your interest in what type of outing
was solicited by Joe Scarpulla so that we can plan accordingly. Please assist
by responding to his survey. But there are also other opportunities ahead,
closer to home, to jump into summer mode and learn or hone some skills in the
preseason.
Centerport YC, under the auspices of the YRA of LIS is holding their annual Race Management Course on March 1 (hopefully this reached you by then); this includes Race Officer certification following the day’s course work. Another option is our friends at North Sails have a discounted offer for us for their Rules & Tactics Course, held at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, on Sunday, March 16, featuring the rules expert and riveting speaker Dave Perry. Our sponsors at the Willis Marine Center are hosting an open house and invite us to join them on March 8 and 9, for a kick off for the 2008 boating season. They will have refreshments, door prizes, and a raffle for a free GPS! You can contact them for more details at 631-421-3400.
Lastly, looking a little further down the calendar and dreaming of a maintenance free year, the Sag Harbor Yacht Yard is sponsoring a Diesel Engine Seminar in conjunction with Mack Boring & Parts Company YANMAR Distributor, to educate and update diesel owners with their engines at the Breakwater Yacht Club Community Sailing Center, Saturday, May 17.
As you can see, there is plenty to keep our minds active, other than shoveling snow, and just merely looking forward to and waiting for warmer weather and the sailing season ahead.
Sailing at Key West Race Week: (This was
excerpted from the UK/Halsey E-news) One of the nicer stories from Key West was
the J/80 class 
victory
of the Storck family: dad, sons John and Erik, daughter Kaity and family
friend Mandi Markee kicked butt in a 19-boat one-design class, with six firsts
and a second, while they threw out a third.
“We had a lot of depth at each position with four College Sailing All Americans
who could do any position on the boat,” said Storck. “In addition, this event
represented our sixth KWRW with this boat and
much of the crew.”
“Even though we’ve all sailed together a lot, we practiced until
after dark on the Saturday before the regatta to get in some light air work. On
the Sunday before the regatta, when it was too windy to sail, we sat in the
condo and went through what we do in each step of the race while the others
added their critiques. It was a great way to get our heads in the game. Later in
the day when the wind moderated to 30 knots, we went out to practice. We were
one of the only boats out; we put up the small chute and did some jibes, giving
us a lot of confidence. On Monday we went out to the course and were the only
J/80 to put up the chute for the five-mile run to the starting line. On that
wild ride we hit 17.4 knots. We even practiced a jibe and takedown. When racing
for the day was abandoned, we were one of the last boats to head in because we
couldn’t hear the radio over the flogging of the new crispy main. But in the
five-mile bash to windward, on the way back to Stock Island, we passed almost
all the other J/80s. That was just one more confidence builder.
"The first day of racing was Tuesday. It blew 18 knots and that felt
like light air. We finished third, first, and first in the three races. The
third was our worst race all week. We had unbelievable boat speed upwind and
could sail lower and just as fast as anyone downwind. The next regatta for the
Storcks is the St. Petersburg NOOD and it will be Kaity’s turn to drive.
Another LHYC boat traveled down to Key West this past January and raced in the very competitive J -105 division. Jordan Mindich and wife Shannon sailed Shakedown in what is perhaps the premiere sailing event of the year. Hope the Shakedown crew all enjoyed and that we get to hear all the stories of what it was like racing in paradise.
Board Meeting Bullets:
The
February Board Meeting, graciously hosted by PC Leigh Sterflinger at her home
addressed the following as part of our monthly agenda:
Frostbiting – Our intrepid winter sailors are well
into the thick of the season, with nearly half of the Spring ‘08 series
completed. After 24 races sailed, CYC’s Brian Simkins maintains a hefty lead,
followed by the team of Rich Rubel and Doug Vaughn. At the time
of this article, Joe Scarpulla is holding onto third place in the series,
sailing with Leigh Sterflinger or son Peter, but has the young
team of Austin Anderson and Alex Hering, nipping at his heals. Roy
Sherman is right there as well, and currently, it is only two points that
separates three different boats for third place. Not to be left on land,
Mike Sterflinger is trying his hand at it as well, sailing with son Peter
and learning the nuances of dinghy sailing. The racing is fast and furious,
with each windward - leeward race taking no more than 15 minutes, thereby
allowing for at least six races to be held in an afternoon. So far in the
current series, at least five different boats have collected bullets, which
keeps the interest high and the competition keen. From shore, one is 
afforded quite a view of the race
course, and with each race day comes some new spills and thrills. Fortunately,
Chris Schneider oversees the fleet and ensures that no one spends an
inordinate amount of time in the water wrestling their capsized boat back to the
upright position. The traditional St. Patrick’s Day Regatta is coming up,
which always follows with some post race frostbite festivities. Should you be
interested in possibly crewing, volunteering on a crash boat, or just watching
from the warmer sides of Northport Harbor, feel free to come down. The fleet
camaraderie is contagious and you’d be surprised how quick one gets acclimated
to a little cold weather.
Some Housekeeping Items: It is again time to compile all of our membership data for inclusion in the upcoming roster. New boats, rating changes, new addresses and telephone numbers need to be updated so that the lines of communication can be maintained. All changes were to be supplied with your annual dues, which, by our by –law mandate, was due by the beginning of the year. Please make sure that your dues have been submitted and that your contact information is current. Most importantly, email addresses are the primary and most immediate tool we now have to communicate. Please make sure that you are receiving these communiqués and if there are any changes, please indicate them to me ASAP.
I would also like to suggest to the membership, that should an electronic copy of this newsletter suffice, as well as our various notices and bulletins, we can be more environmentally friendly and cost efficient by modifying our mailing list. Should you like to receive our newsletters solely by computer, I would appreciate hearing from you; with postage creeping up to nearly half a buck, our hard fought revenues and a few trees to boot can be saved. I do understand that not everyone uses a computer regularly and that our artistic notices make for great pin-ups on the refrigerator, so either way is fine - we aim to please, but strive to act environmentally and fiscally responsible.
Similar to the NY Times, our Telltales motto is “all the news that fits, we print! I encourage the membership to get involved with the operation of the club and to stay in touch by sending me news items you want to share with the club. And feel free to contact the Board of Directors or officers should you have any questions or suggestions to improve our club. I look forward to the coming season, seeing everyone at our Speaker Series in March and want to thank you in advance for your support and participation in Lloyd Harbor events.
Sincerely,
Rich Rubel
Commodore LHYC
Past Telltales