LHYC.org
February 2004
Well after 14 years of
henpecking others, it appears as if I’m now in the hot seat, and am
responsible for writing this glorious newsletter.
First off, I’d like to express how proud I am to have been given
this chance to serve such a great group of sailors.
I look forward to the next two years. Looking back, it seems to me that I should focus my efforts on
two main goals. As you can see
by the enclosed numbers (Participation
Summary), our racing participation
took a sobering downturn last year, probably due to a miserable spring.
We have been working hard at this since the late 90’s and have made
gradual progress. Last year’s
numbers were disheartening, and without continued growth, our sport could
become less and less attractive. This
will be my first goal, as it is the mainstay of our club.
Secondly, will be the growth of participation in the social functions
that we offer. There are plenty
of events scheduled throughout the year and I’m a firm believer that
through these events we fulfill the mission statement of our club.
Over the next few months
this publication will be going through some changes. I’d like to bring back some sections, (the fix it corner to
name one), and start some new sections, the Mission Statement on top of
every Telltales, Quote of the month, and maybe some pictures too.
I will also try to publish the Telltales monthly, hopefully right
after the Board of Directors meetings each month.
Note: I’d like to keep the letter fresh, so please pass along
anything you might see fit for publication.
As any of the Past Commodores will tell you, this is one of the
hardest parts of Telltales, as well as not neglecting anyone that deserves
exposure. I’ve also revamped
our mailing labels. I’ve
tried to get the information up to date, and have changed the format a
little. If I’ve gotten any of
the information wrong, or if I’ve offended anyone, please let me know. I am available ether by phone (631) 549-2902, or my new
e-mail address, commodore@lhyc.org,
(see below). So here we go:
Web
Page:
We have a new volunteer,
(read sucker), to run the webpage, www.lhyc.org, Mike Sterflinger.
He is very excited about the job, and has published a brand new site.
He will be adding new links, and information on a regular basis. As with Telltales, he too will hope for information from the
general membership to keep the page fresh.
I know I’ll be making it my browser Home Page, and hope that others
will find it so useful that they will too.
Mike can be reached at; webmaster@lhyc.org,
or (631) 757-0799.
New
E-mail Addresses:
Mike has also set up new
e-mail addresses for all our Officers.
We hope this will make it easier for everyone to reach us, including
the general public off the web page. We
do this in hopes that we can promote the club, and most importantly increase
race participation from inquiries from the web page. All the addresses can be seen on the web page, and follow the
pattern of the title of the officer you’re trying to reach:
commodore@lhyc.org, vicecomm@lhyc.org,
rearcomm@lhyc.org, fleetcapt@lhyc.org,
pastcomm@lhyc.org, secretary@lhyc.org
(Roster updates), treasurer@lhyc.org,
and the most importantly, webmaster@lhyc.org.
Race
Committees:
It won’t be long now
until we are taking the covers off our boats, and the smell of bottom paint
will fill the air, ah springtime! This
will also bring dire requests from our new Fleet Captain for Race Committee
volunteers. Please take the
time to help Rich Rubel out and step up for either PRO duties, or if you’d
like to learn from some of the other members, helper on the boat, or even my
favorite, run the Melrose for a day.
In a related topic,
I’ve enclosed a brochure for the US Sailing Race Management seminar.
It’s going to be held at Seawanhaka this year, and is a GREAT way
to learn to be a PRO. There
will be a number of us attending, and feel free to contact me if you’d
like to car pool.
Social
Functions:
The Annual meeting was
well attended this year. It was
held in a different venue, Off the Wall restaurant in Huntington.
A good time was had by all, the food was delicious, and in addition
to the Club business, the exiting Commodore was presented with a nice token
of our appreciation for their, (Mary Ann was always there for him), service.
The
Annual ski trip went off beautifully. Mother
Nature cooperated with lots of light fluffy snow.
It was a little cool though, with most of us running around with a #3
and two reefs in the main. It
was a nice bus ride again with skiing and sailing videos on the way up, and
plenty of food and that stuff the St. Bernard carries under his chin to
shake the cold off, on the way back. See
the web page for more pictures, thanks Webmaster.
I’ve enclosed the draft Calendar of Events. The date for the Winter Speaker is still to be announced,
watch for next month’s Telltales, and the date for the Annapolis Boat show
trip has not been finalized either. We
are undecided whether to go to the boat show Friday, and try to beat the
crowds, or Saturday when most people can get off from work. This is indeed the best boat show around, and fun day.
Our fearless Vice Commodore, Leigh Sterflinger will be sending out a
poll, please send her your opinions on which day to vicecomm@lhyc.org.
Member
News:
First, let me start by
apologizing for those that I know I’ve missed in this section every month.
I can only publish what I’m aware of, so please help me by passing
along anything you have, commodore@lhyc.org.
I’ve enclosed
something I stumbled on while reading Windcheck magazine this cold winter.
Congratulations to John Stork for being honored for all he has done
for our sport over the years, (sorry if we’ve embarrassed you John).
Congratulations to Kaity
Storck for making the All-Jobson Juniors, published in December’s Sailing
world. Keep up the good work,
you’re making us proud.
Key West Race Week saw a
few LHYC members doing well. Roy
Sherman was on a J-35 that made a respectful showing.
The Storck’s, (both Bob and John’s gangs teamed up), did quite
well. A strong finish to the
week put them in 4th of 20 J-80’s, by 1 point to the Rod
Johnston himself, and only 2 points from 2nd.
Dues:
As is the custom this
time of year, let me remind all those that have not paid your dues yet that
you’re overdue. Please send
$108.75 to PO Box 60, Huntington, N.Y. 11743 ASAP.
The Treasurer will be sending nasty letters out soon, so try to beat
him to the punch.
Tidbits:
Jeff Wright has been
doing some early spring provisioning shopping and has stumbled on a bargain
he’d like to share with us. He’ll
be buying Bird-X directly at 1/3 the normal cost.
This is the equipment of choice to ward off the dastardly cormorants.
It’s the spikes most of us put at the top of our mast, and is
usually quite pricey. Anyone
interested, please contact Jeff at jwright3@optonline.net,
or (631) 368-5612.
The 2004 Safety at Sea
seminar is coming up soon. This
is the premier local open ocean sailing course, and anyone planning to
participate in the Bermuda Race should take it, (I believe a percentage of
the crew of each boat is mandated to take this class).
It is offered by our YRA in conjunction with the US Merchant Marine
Academy, and the date is Saturday, 4/3/04.
Anyone interested can get information through a link we’ve put up
on our web page, (www.lhyc.org), or from the YRA.
See
You Out There,