LHYC.org July/August
2004
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.
Well it’s in full swing now,
and by it, I mean…”It’s Summer time, and the livin’ s easy”…yea baby. I know it really feels like summer at the
Powers’ home. Gentle breezes, sailing
school three times a week, and vacation right around the corner. There’s one last big event before the end of
summer, the Little Brown Jug race/picnic this Sunday. You can warm up for it with the August Friday night raft-up a few
days before, (see below for details).
Hopefully, what feels like a lifetime away, will be the Labor Day cruise
to Pt. Jefferson and Westport, (see attached).
Friday Night Raft-up/Race
Come on out this Friday for
the August edition of the raft-up/race.
The race starts with the first warning at 1900 right at the Huntington
Lighthouse. We run the Thirsty Thursday
course, and then head to the LHYC mooring for cocktails. If you don’t feel like racing, just meet us
at the mooring!
Little Brown Jug
This Sunday is the annual
Little Brown Jug race and picnic. This
race is one of our longest running casual, member’s only races. The traditional course is to 11B and back,
and we’ve updated it with options for a shorter course if the wind is not
cooperating, (see S/I’s attached). This
race also has a notorious perpetual trophy, (one year retention), that the
winner must drink from at the Awards Dinner in November. After putting the boats away, we all gather
at a beach for a lovely picnic/BBQ.
It’s a great setting this year, Bay Hills Beach, with the kids running
around and hopefully a lovely sunset.
I also hope to take this
opportunity to welcome our three newest members into the Club with a
presentation of tie and burgee. We may
get the chance to formally present any other newer members present that might
have not gotten theirs yet.
I’d like to pause at this
time, and share the voices from my past, which seem to beckon me strongly
lately. It is the voices of all the past
commodores of this club that I have had the pleasure of meeting. Every one of them, when passing on the
knowledge of their term has one thing in common to say. They have all had the trouble of moving our
membership, in whole, to participate in the social functions. They all say, “Let me guess, you have the
regular band of participants, a few more on top of that, and then for the most
part the rest of the membership is on the fringe.” I have stated in my first newsletter that my two primary goals would
be to increase participation in the social functions and the racing
events. We are, by definition, a club
of sailboat owners. Please help me to
bring this club, if not back to former glory, (100 boats on the line in the
‘60’s & 70’s), then help me turn the tide back to a flood. Please try to attend this Sunday. Enough preaching, (I get dizzy from the
height of a soap box).
Racing News
Our fearless Fleet Capt. has
put together the Fall season Notice of Race.
All should receive it in the mail soon. Just to preview the upcoming events: this Wednesday is the
notorious Clash of Champions, which is a chance for our Summer Series racers to
let their hair down and have all the division leaders start at the same time. It’s quite a sight with first gun in the Bay
at 1915. There is a raft-up afterwards
at he Club mooring, and all are welcome, even if you didn’t have your boat
entered this year. Rich Rubel still has
T-shirts available; please give him a call if you’d like some, ensign1601@aol.com or (631) 754-0891.
The following
Wednesday, 8/11/04 is the newly expanded Late Summer Series. Wipe the slate clean from the earlier series
and start up again with a 5-week series.
There will likely be one throw out, so even if you have vacation, come
on out. Entries will be accepted until
8/18/04.
Past Events
The 4th of July
cruise was run with great weather, and even better spirits. We had a good turnout, though most were
spread throughout the harbor, watching Mr. Dolan’s fireworks. There was a raft-up at Bayville, with some
hotly contested Sunfish racing, (results have still not been finalized).
The Stratford Shoal
Wake-a-Wish started in light wind. The
southerly was an hour late, or so, but made up for it in velocity. There was also some commotion going on at
the finish line with a number of boats sticking around, rafted up to the
committee boat to ensure they did a proper job, (and maybe stealing a few
hamburgers from the grill).
The Northport
YC half of the event went off this past Friday, with more kids than I ever
imagined on the starting line. One of
them, particularly close to my heart may have even finished first in her
division. She also had the honor of
finishing first in the fund raising, congratulations Christine Powers! It was hard to tell if she was more
exuberant over the trophy or the prize she won for the fund raising. I was torn between her successes and the
real prizewinners, the Make-a-Wish kids.
We should all be proud of ourselves.
We have been the second largest contributor to the foundation in past
years, and with the continued efforts of all the people involved, I’m sure we
can keep it up.
Labor Day Cruise
The circular for the Labor
Day cruise is also enclosed. Although
this holiday is bitter sweat for all of us, at least it is a chance to get out
for one more long weekend on the boat.
It will start with the Friday night raft-up in Lloyd Harbor, move on to
Pt. Jefferson, and then to Westport Conn., (see enclosed flyer). In addition to the BBQ at Cedar Point YC, I
enjoy walking around and looking at all the different one-design boats they
have. This club is truly committed to
sailboat racing, and this comes though clearly in their Corinthian spirit they
always show us.
Odds and Ends
The Secretary has mailed out
all the Rosters some time ago. He has
had a few people approach him to let him know they never got them. If anyone has not received their Roster, please
contact Roger Dorr at secretary@lhyc.org,
or (516) 883-1889.
Don’t forget to pass along
any Grounder or Boner nominations you might have. I promise to keep them confidential, and the parties involved
remain anonymous, unless they make the final cut at the Annual meeting.
Scurvy Dog Quote of the Month
A dear friend and boat yard
manager for years always like to use this one.
After tending to the Christine in Oyster Bay long before anyone other
than OBMC had an eye for her, he learned it the hard way. “We would have to go to her daily and man
the pumps. You almost always arrived
ankle deep in water, and if you were lucky the pump engine wasn’t under
water. The one saving grace was, ‘as
it gets lower, it comes in slower’.
He meant by this that at least as the boat got lower in the water, the
pressure becomes more equalized, somewhat stemming the flow. Of course he also had to pull her up off the
bottom more than once too!
See You Out There,
Charlie Powers
Commodore