beach to bay 2011 volume 84 • number 82011 rich roberts photos beach to bay t he event, now part...

sou’wester • august 2011 • page 1

August 2011 Official Publication ofAlamitos Bay Yacht Club

Volume 84 • Number 8

Manager’s Corner ............................................. 2Commodore’s Compass................................. 2-3Vice Verses ....................................................... 4Rear View .......................................................... 4Fleet Captain’s Log ........................................... 5Pages of History ............................................. 6-7Junior Sailing.................................................. 8-9Membership .................................................... 10Elections Info .................................................. 13Multihul Regatta ......................................... 14-15Fleet News ................................................. 16-19

i n s i d ei n s i d ei n s i d ei n s i d ei n s i d e s as as as as a vvvvv e t h e d ae t h e d ae t h e d ae t h e d ae t h e d a t et et et et eJunior Program Awards ........................... August 5Membership Meeting............................. August 12Cal 20 National Championship......... August 12-14Catalina Cruise ................................. August 19-21Club ABYC ............................................ August 26BBQ Series - Hootenanny ..................... August 27Labor Day Regatta ................................... Sept 3-4Commodore’s Appreciation Party................ Sept 9Finn National Champs............................ Sept 9-11Elections & Annual Meeting ...................... Sept 16Stag Cruise...................................... Sept 30-Oct 2

Jeff Merrill photo

Kelli Clinton photo

Lori VanSkyhock photo

Rich Roberts photos 2011beach to bay

The event, now part of the Long Beach Sea Festival thatruns into September, featured 156 sailors ages 6 to 15sailing 146 boats in various classes. It was organized

and hosted by the Alamitos Bay Fleet of Long Beachcomprised of the Long Beach, Alamitos Bay and Seal Beachyacht clubs, the US Sailing Center and the Leeway SailingCenter.

The race was launched in 1988 and in 1995 wasrenamed in honor of Jessica Uniack, a tireless volunteer andsupporter of junior sailing. When she died her husband Billand her sons Alex and Billy carried on her work. Alex, holdingJessica’s youngest grandson, assisted in the awardsceremony.

His mother’s mission in sailing, Uniack said, was “toget the parents involved. It takes the parents to get the kids here. It’s only as good as the parents make it.”

The sailing conditions were less than ideal at the start, but the organizers planned it that way to finish the racebefore the afternoon sea breeze arrived, since few of the youngsters had experience in handling their tiny Naples Sabots,Lasers, Laser Radials and two-person CFJ dinghies on the outer harbor. The race started in a mild reaching wind of 3 to 4knots, then increased to 6 to 7 knots as the sun broke through the morning overcast and the wind swung aft from thesouthwest.

Mila Bakker, 15, of Alamitos Bay YC—was the first to finish overall, sailing a Laser Radial.Rob Rice of ABYC won the Laser full-rig class for the third consecutive year, following two wins in Sabots—and he’s

still only 15.Class winnersSabot A (6 boats) R.J. Ivory, Alamitos Bay YC. Sabot B (4) Noah LaBarba, ABYC.Sabot C1 (9) Scott Fairbanks, ABYC. Sabot C2 (13) Ryan Ayale, ABYC.Sabot C3 (77) Sofia Maranto, Dana Point YC. Laser (8) Robert Rice, ABYC.Laser Radial (6) Mila Bakker, ABYC. Optimist (17) Chance Weston, Cabrillo Beach YC.CFJ (6) Cole Dean/Charlie Gustafson, LBYC.

Rich Roberts

The first of some 120 Naples Sabots lead off the regatta between theQueen Mary and limp flags on the beach

The Board of Directors have voted unanimously to make it a policy that any member on a waiting list for the yardwho does not accept a position offered within 5 days will have their name removed from the waiting list and theirdeposit forfeited. Any member who declines a space can submit a new application and be added to the bottom of the

list. If you have any questions please contact Vice Commodore Jon Robinson.

policywaiting list


compasscommodore’s

...continued next page

cornermanager’s

Evidently the news that the economy is in the tank, people aren’t going out as much, and membership in private clubs is fading faster than a Sears shirt ….didn’t get to ABYC. This amazing little club continues to ROCK.I know I say it every year, but I don’t think the club could be much busier than it has been so far this

year. More Regatta’s, more Social Events, more sailors on Wednesday and Thursday nights, and nowthe BBQ series on a few chosen Saturday nights keeps this Club Manager and his incredible staff hopping.

The work that our Membership Committee has accomplished this year is nothing less thanremarkable. Teri Bishop and Jim Grubbs have managed to orchestrate an amazing campaign to bringback a few members who left the club, and through some very fun and innovative marketing, managedto bring a bevy of new members into the family. Congratulations to Teri and Jim, and ALL the folks who

helped grow the membership in these trying times.A big note of thanks to Jesus and Julissa for developing a new galley menu that features such new fare as: Philly

Cheese Steak Sandwiches, Fish & Chips and Fish Taco’s. We’ve also tried to insure we always have a good assortment offresh salads and healthier foods as well as the Ole Galley Standards.

We’d love to hear from you if there are items not currently in the Galley that you would like to have become available.It’s hard to believe, but the cooler days of fall are not far ahead of us, and we’ll be talking Holidays and New Years.

Take advantage of the summer weather, good winds and support your club. Have a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich a coldbeer and GO SAILING! Who knows….I may join you

Kelly Whitlow

What a great month July is to enjoy at ABYC! The Junior Program has been in full swing and we have hosted a number of regattas. The Club is vibrant, active and enjoyed by members of all ages. August finds us heading towards our end of summer Labor Day

regatta…if you have not been down to go for a sail or get a bite to eat at the galley please makethis a priority!I’ve had a fun and active summer racing boats myself. Sure, there’s a lot to do as commodore, butlike you I also try to find time to race. I’ve raced in our Clubs’ three staple classes – Sabots, Lido 14and Cal 20 and also participated in the Keelboat Fleet Pine Block regatta – see separate story aboutthat event. S/C Chas Merrill, my father, and I represented ABYC at the NOSA Commodore’sAppreciation regatta and won – another beautiful silver trophy is now on display in our lobby.

Long Beach Race Week was a blast! ABYC and LBYC co-host an extraordinary event to start the summer. We hadJ24s, Vipers and Open 5.70’s in our Basin and threw a huge party Friday night. This is the largest keel boat regatta on thewest coast and special thanks to S/C Jim Bateman and a large raft of volunteers for a great weekend.

A group of us met with local Kite sailors to talk about hosting a regatta for this exciting new class, we hope to includethem in our future plans!

Behind the scenes we have more happening on our website. The member business services directory is gettingorganized, an interactive web calendar is being worked out and we’re looking into more local weather – wind strength anddirections and tide tables, etc. to become available. Bookmark our site; it is a huge source of information. The online rostercontinues to amaze all who frequent it, please check on your own personal information and let us know if we have all of yourcontact details correct. We are missing quite a few children’s birth dates, so please help us out. I have formed a new websitecommittee to make sure we are staying up to date with current trends and making our site easier and more useful. Pleasecontact me if you are interested in participating.The Board of Directors met in July. We are financially strong and have a lot of energy to lead the club. A highlight for me washaving the Junior Board of Directors join us Jennifer Golison, chair, plus Elle Merrill, Emily Golison, Nick Odegard, RobRice and Dana Boudreau. We also approved of a new sail locker design (Bob Chubb to the rescue again) a prototype isbeing developed. One key order of business was approving four new Regular Members and one new Independent Junior.Welcome to: Chuck and Kay Henry, Regular, Derek and Sheri Lester, Regular, Yonn and Andrea Carpenter, Regular,Scott and Heather Tracy, Regular and Campbell D’Eliscu, Ind. Jr. – a big ABYC welcome to all of you!

Here’s an updated alphabetical list of those Members who need to propose just one more new Member to make theCommodore’s Council:

Andrew Bish, Mike Brownell, Tim Carter, Steve Cole, Sue Crockett, Dan DeLave, Christina Dunn, StephenFuccillo, Stan Gibbs, John Gresham, Jim Grubbs, Stacy Jackson, Ryland Johnson, Bob Little, Jeff McDermaid,Tom Mendenhall, David Michaelis, Steve Moffett, John Perone, Chris Raab, Kathy Reed, Mike Segerblom, GlennSelvin, Don Taugher, Jerry Thompson and Rob Waterman. (My personal thank you to each of you, I’d love it if you can


2010/11OFFICERS & DIRECTORS

Commodore Jeff [email protected]

Vice Commodore Jon [email protected]

Rear Commodore Mike [email protected]

Jr. Staff Commodore John [email protected]

Fleet Captain Jennifer [email protected]

Secretary Ed [email protected]

DirectorsJunior Program Pat McCormick

[email protected]/Recruiting Jim Grubbs

[email protected]

Volunteers/Member Services/Legal Ken [email protected]

Treasurer George Kornhoff/Mary Montz

Junior Commodore Elle Merrill

Fleet Surgeon Dr. Allan Rosenberg

Judge Advocate Tom Ramsey

Port Captain Dave Myers

Sou’wester Editor/Layout Sharon Pearson

ABYC Phone (562) 434-9955Fax (562) 434-2267Homepage www.abyc.orgEmail [email protected]

Sou’WSou’WSou’WSou’WSou’Westeresteresteresterester DEADLINEDEADLINEDEADLINEDEADLINEDEADLINEAugust 20, 2011 is the deadlinefor the September Sou’Wester.

Help us to Help you!Help us to Help you!Help us to Help you!Help us to Help you!Help us to Help you!Please keep your e-mail address currentwith [email protected] to receive allof the weekly news and events. Thank you.

...from page 2commodorem o r emake a little more magic!)

I know many of you attended the Membership BBQ on July 16th – what a kick! Lots of new members, lots of “core”regular members and we also celebrated the Lido Fleet as the inaugural winners of the ABYC Fleet Membership Challenge.Thanks to Lisa Little and Heather Meyer for coordinating this party along with Terri Bishop and Jim Grubbs. Loved theconga line!

General Manager, Kelly Whitlow and I took a short road trip to San Pedro to view the facilities at Cabrillo BeachYacht Club and Los Angeles Yacht Club. I took a bunch of photos which Kelly reviewed with his staff. We have some goodideas from these neighboring Clubs to improve ABYC.

In August the Etchells’ play host for our meeting and yours truly will present a video time capsule from 1988 – anyoneremember a wacky inflatable catamaran race on Labor Day called the C.C.C.P.? Yep, it was captured on movie camerasand is a very fun, (epic?) film – only 25 minutes, and guaranteed laughs – see what many of your fellow members looked like23 years ago! (Identification is sometimes not as easy as you would think!).

Parking in the yard can become difficult during our active summer months. Please be sure to have your ABYCsticker on your windshield, leave your car unlocked and your keys in the car so we can move vehicles around. Please do notpark in the East Yard (you’ll be seeing more boats there now that construction is done and our containers are organized) andI’d also like to remind you that the aisle between the parking lot and keel boats must remain clear of vehicles, thanks!

The Board of Directors upcoming election in September is now on the front burner. Jr. S/C John Massey and hisnominating committee have announced the candidates and polling dates are forthcoming. Also we elect two trustees for ourLeasehold Trust.Our future at ABYC depends upon who we elect to lead us, please review the candidates, and get familiar with their qualificationsand then VOTE. Voting turn out has lagged a bit in years past; please make this year one where your vote counts.

As the last quarter of my term as your Commodore commences I would like to let you all know that Vice CommodoreJon Robinson is doing an excellent job in preparing to take the helm and if he calls for your help as a chairperson orvolunteer I hope you will give him the same support that you have given me, thank you!The current fiscal year race to October, 2011 finds us hard on the wind, everyone on the rail with the breeze steady and TeamABYC smokin’ the fleet – our final upwind mark rounding is approaching.I am available by cell phone 949.355.4950 and email [email protected] and always welcome your ideas and suggestions.

Thank you! “ABYC is the place to BE”Jeff Merrill


viewrear

versesvice

We are in the hot days of summer and the club is cool. There is still plenty of sailing to be done. The Lidos go until the end of September, the Sabots end mid-September and we have Labor Day still ahead. Don’t forget the Catalina Cruse or Stag Cruse.The clubhouse is in good shape but there are still some areas of concern. We are working

on the damage due to termites and weather. This includes damage to the Quarter Deck and theWidows Walk. Don’t worry; the Club House will not fall down. Termites, as we all know, are alwaysthe nemesis of wooden buildings in southern California and the electrical problems are due to theeffects of salt air. We are waiting for bids to perform these repairs and will perform them as soon aspossible.The yard is over 99% full. There are a few spots left in the yard for Lasers and Sabots. The east

yard is on line and is beginning to fill up fast. The best place to be if you do not have a space in the yard is on the wait lists.We are filling the east yard from those lists. If you are offered a spot in the East Yard, you will not lose your spot on the waitlist. We will continue fill the dry storage yard from the wait list.

If you have any questions about any of the programs please call Sheila at 434-9955. She and I speak several timesper week and I will be available to help.

There has been some abuse of the yard on crowded days like Wednesday and Thursday nights. We have foundnon-members and cars parking other than marked spots in the parking lot. This might seem insignificant but non-membersparking in a space that a member would otherwise be able to use forces members to park outside or in areas which makeit difficult to get boats in and out of their spots. It should be noted that if there are no spots left in the lot, you must parkoutside the yard either in the lot across the street or on the street. Parking has always been a problem but please do notabuse the yard.

As you have noticed, the aisles in the dry storage yard are not in good shape. Kelly has secured a very good priceon repairing the worst spots in the yard. I have approached the Board and secured funds to repair those spots. Over the next3 to 6 months, we will be doing the repairs. I know it has been a long time coming, so we will move as quickly as possible.

I have reported, in the past, that there are several boats in the yard that either do not have CF numbers or currentregistration or both. The State, every February, comes through the yard and checks the boats for registration. We also havea Yard Rule 3.4 which states that a boat not only has a club sticker but also must have a valid CF number and currentRegistration. I will be walking the yard and if you do not have current registration or CF number, you will be getting a letter.

Looking to the future, I will continue make regular yard walks. Work toward better yard and house security. Makemore boat storage available to members. Upgrade facilities to better serve the membership.

ABYC is the place to be.See you around the club.Jon Robinson

TEAMWORKI am constantly amazed at what we can do at our “little yacht club” at the end of the street.In the last 12 weeks we have had 11 weekends of racing, and 13 social events. Some

things are old favorites like Mother’s Day Brunch and the Twilights, and some are new, like the BBQseries. Some are simple, like Family Movie Night, and some are big productions like Long BeachRace Week and the US Sailing Alter Cup. Keeping it running smoothly is the result of the efforts ofmembers and staff with an amazing range of skills. It’s a blessing that we have such talented anddedicated folks in our club.I wanted to partiularly thank Sue McDannel for organizing the Social Committee work, to support so

many events, and covering all the little details that make our parties just a bit nicer. Thanks to herhusband Bill for finding some great bands. Kudos to Stacy Massey for heading up our best run

LBRW party in years, as well as keeping the club’s Facebook page fresh and up to date. A tip of the hat to Bonnie Robertsonfor providing her special deserts. Cheers to Stephanie Gwinn for helping with photos and promotion, and her husband Stevefor bringing his band to play at the club. A “Won-e-ful, won-e-ful” Lawrence Welk baton salute to the lady with the bubblemachine, Lori VanSkyhock for organizing the big Labor Day party again this year, featuring a new Aloha theme. A Top Chefnod to Stacy Conn for dinner and event organization with some of our bigger regattas, including the Cal 20 Championship.Bringing all these efforts together is Kelly Whitlow and the club staff without whom we couldn’t host a summer as busy as itwas this year.

We have some great creative and operations people organizing our events, and they are well supported by the restof us who help out here and there, setting up chairs, serving food, or cleaning up. So go ahead and thank yourselves forsupporting your club and their fleets that host so many of our events. We couldn’t do it without all of, well, all of us!

Mike Baumann


logfleet captain’s

We all survived Carmageddon, but last Wednesday seemed like the sky was falling on ABYC (June 20).

I’d gone to the club after work to light the TikiTorches for the Cheeseburger in Paradiseparty. As I was struggling to light a torch inthe heavy wind, I noticed a Cal 20 stuck onthe shoal in the channel. Pam Merrill walkedby and we sprang into action. Pam, JerryThompson and Steve Kuritz hopped into

Sydney T and headed out to provide assistance. Two harbor patrolboats and half an hour of tugging finally freed the boat. Our fearlessteam towed the Cal 20 back to its slip over by LBYC. A few minuteslater, a Lido 14 fell off the small hoist (time to inspect those lifting slings). Fortunately no people or boats were damaged.Then, a crippled 505 worked its way down the channel to our basin. They had capsized and broken the top 1/3 of the mastoff! Again, our sailors were fine. Green Machine came back from racing with a split boom and spread rumors that a Cal20 had lost its rig and was tied to a can behind the oil island. No sooner than we’d tried to contact Sydney T, the HarborPatrol boat was sighted towing Waka Waka back to the club with her rig on deck. Fortunately, Patty Nash and crew werefine, just a few raw nerves. Cal 20 #32 came in early, so we went to greet them. They reported that they were onlysuffering from a broken ego! Then a Lido turtled near mark V. Martyn and his barge crew were tucked inside the Basinwaiting at the finish line and their view was obscured by the sea wall due to the low tide. The Gladstone’s hard bottomwhaler came to their aid so all was well. What a night – good thing Reggie was serving those Margaritas on the patio!

We still seem to be in full swing with events every weekend. Long Beach Race Week was a huge success and hada big impact on the club. Basin 5 was full of side tied Vipers, 5.70’s and J24’s. We had well over 500 people at the Friday nightparty. Thank you to everyone who worked on the regatta – we all put our best efforts into the regatta and it really showed. Avery special THANK YOU to Dave Myers, George Caddle, Dave Rustigan and Melanie Carter for all their help with the LBRWequipment. This was a big effort that took several weeks to make sure we had all the right equipment on all the right whalersand committee boats. THANK YOU Robin Townsend for your hard work staffing the regatta and provisioning all the boats—we had more cookies than we could eat and who knew that Twix come in coconut flavor!

After LBRW, we rolled into the Olson 30 National and Fourth of July Regatta. Both events went very well. Again,thank you to all the volunteers and the Junior, Sr. Sabots and Keelboat fleets their help. It was a difficult weekend to staff aregatta as many members took advantage of the three day weekend and beautiful weather and headed for the island.However, participation was higher than last year and the Saturday night party was really fun.

So far, we’ve had two BBQ races. Our first event had low sailing participation (Lido’s were at Huntington Lake andSabots were in Newport), but there was a lot of participation in the BBQ. We sailed all boat in the bay which was a challengefor the Cal 20s. The second event had a large Lido fleet turn-out and dove-tailed into the Membership Party. We did receivea complaint from a pleasure sailor in the bay – so please mind your P’s and Q’s – not everyone on the bay appreciates a goodrace.

I’m happy to report that the new 90 hp engine was installed on Sydney T. The new engine has already had its 200hour service (after only one month) – so that give a huge indication of the amount of use our boats have in the summermonths. We’ve had to have some tune-ups on the Bay Barge engine and a few shifting cables have needed adjustments,but overall our support fleet has been doing quite well. We will need to schedule another Whaler Work Day to clean up the

boats and repair minor damage after the Junior Program is finished. Thereis a lot of clean-up, polish and bottom paint needed on the support fleet.We’ll get you know when the date(s) are scheduled.

Martyn Bookwalter has completed work on fixing our bay marks C,X, F and G – thank you Martyn! All are back in their respective places onthe Bay. This fall, we will be inspecting the remaining bay marks andpulling those in need of some TLC. If you are running a bay race, pleaseget in touch with Martyn or I so we can give you an update of the markstatus. Let us know if you’re interested in helping with this project – itcould take a few months to get everything back to par.

Jennifer Kuritz

Waka Waka being towed in.

Bob Daniel photo

Jeff Merrill photo



droppingsboard

(Commodore Jeff Merrill called the meeting to order at 1900 hours. Directors attending themeeting were Mike Baumann, Jim Grubbs, Jennifer Kuritz, John Massey, Jon Robinson, KenReiff and Ed Spotskey. The members of the Junior Board attending were Dana Boudreau, Emily

Golison, Elle Merrill, Nick Odegard and Rob Rice. In addition George Kornhoff, Mary Montz, Kelly Whitlow, JenniferGolison and Staff Commodores Ted Flood, Chas Merrill, Mark Townsend and Jim Morford were at the meeting.

Approved for Regular Membership were Chuck Henry, Sheri and Derek Lester, Scott Tracy and Erik Carpenter.Campbell D’Eliscu was approved for Independent Junior membership. Approved for posting as Regular Memberswere Cheryl Lathouwers, Micheal Hartung and Linda Faust. Approved for posting as Yachting Members were AlexValles, Rachel Levine and Micheal Price.

There was discussion regarding dense packing in the boat yard and an issue with boats not having currentCF numbers, as required by the Yard Rules. A Basin 5 Protocol has been developed and will be distributed to allClub members with boats in Basin 5 and all the members who are on the waiting list for Basin 5 prior to the protocolbeing approved by the Board.

The Board approved funds to begin repairing the most worn asphalt areas in the boat yard and to build anew prototype storage locker.

The meeting was adjourned at 2250 hours.Jim Morford

of historyfrom the pages

This month will be the fiftieth time the Cal 20 class will contest the class title. The regatta has variously been called theNorth Americans and the Nationals (but not the Worlds, insofar as I can find) and is now called the Class Championship.Regardless of the name, the history of the regatta has inextricably been linked to the history of ABYC—and reports on

past events have been part of the pages of history.THIRTY YEARS AGO:

A Peter Gales photo of Cal 20s rounding the leeward mark graced the cover of the SOU’WESTER in August, 1981.ABYC had just hosted the Cal 20 National Championships, starting with the Junior Championship on Sunday, July 12;continuing with the elimination series on Thursday, July 15; and ending up with the Championship and Consolation races onFriday and Saturday, July 17 and 18. Paul and Lorie Merrill chaired the event, with the help of such as Gordon and LindaBrown (social), Chuck Kober (protest committee), Steve Shaw Cal 20 Fleet One Fleet Captain) and Bill Uniack (brochureand videotapes).

Jeff Merrill ran the Junior Championship races; there were 18 boats competing, and Jennifer Ellis was top ABYCjunior in seventh. Regatta chair Paul Merrill was top ABYC skipper in the 32-boat Championship division, finishing sixth; fleetcaptain Shaw was second in the 25-boat Consolation division, with Isabelle Lounsberry taking third. Tick Weber ran theraces.

A bit earlier in the month, at the Fourth of July Regatta, a number of advanced Juniors had moved into the SeniorSabot fleet and pretty much cleaned house. Walter Johnson won the “A” division, with Peter Gales the highest-scoring“senior” in fourth; other youngsters in the Senior “A” division included Kevin Dumain, Ann Bloemeke, Andy Ayale and TomNewton, Jr. Jennifer Ellis—no doubt tuning up for the Cal 20 Junior Nationals—was tops in the Senior “B” division ahead ofTom Newton, Sr.

According to a report from the “world renowned luau committee,” the 1981 Labor Day Regatta Luau would feature areturn of the “lovely luau ladies” who were “demanding a performance after many years.” “Let’s just see how many cobwebsthey can actually shake off those hula skirts!!” said event co-chair Robin Lounsberry. She finished up by saying, “Don’t forgetyour squirt guns…”; wonder what that meant...

The 1981 Couples Cruise stopped in at the Isthmus Yacht Club; among the things they did was “wined and dined ongoodies, toured this uniquely historic club” and were “delighted by John Massey’s wonderful musical display”... “five Sabotsails, a set of foul-weather gear, beach towels, go-aheads, swim fins” and “oodles of sweatshirts and socks” were among thecontents of the ABYC lost-and-found; Vice Commodore Adra Kober was encouraging folks to come claim their goods or seethem “sold at auction or given to a charity”...”It’s been a busy summer,” wrote Commodore Langton Parrill in his “Commodore’sComments;” “we can now take an approximate four-week break until the Labor Day Regatta, the Luau and the SnipeWorlds”…TWENTY YEARS AGO:

As the SOU’WESTER of August, 1991, hit the mails, the “Cal 20 30th Annual North American Championships” were“in full swing” according to the article on the event by Jennifer Ellis, then Fleet Captain of Cal 20 Fleet One. There were a lotof names familiar from ten years before; among them were photographer Peter Gales, back in harness for this one, and JeffMerrill, who signed up to run the Junior Championship. Langdon Parrill was to be PRO for the North Americans while SandyToscan was handling registration, scoring and the SIs.


historym o r eThe 1991 Tornado U.S. Nationals had just ended, and ABYC member Pete Melvin with Chris Steinfeld as crew had

won. But they did it on the last day, touching out fellow ABYC members Pease and Jay Glaser. Third place went to then-newTornado sailor Craig Leweck with Kenyon Martin. John Weiss served as PRO and Chris Ericksen as regatta chairman.

There was serious business in the SOU’WESTER, too: a dues and moorings increase had just gone into effect, andthere was an article going into the basis for the increase. It was noted that the increase—which was ten dollars, raising thedues to $55 per month—was the fourth in eight years; the increase averaged out to just under three-and-a-half per cent peryear, “which is considerably less that our costs and well under the inflation rate,” the article said. The increase in mooringswas based on an increase on the slip fees in the Marina; in those days, ABYC dry-storage fees were pegged at a sixty percent discount from comparable slip fees, and an increase in one led to the increase of the other—but not a change in thediscount percentage.

Ann Exley’s “From the Pages of History” covered the early fall of 1939, a time made memorable by the arrival of whathas come to be called “The Hurricane of 1939;” the tail end of a Mexican hurricane wreaked havoc on Alamitos Bay,including washing a dozen houses off the Peninsula and the destruction of the barge that had housed ABYC...Dan andNorma Clapp were celebrating the birth of their second grandchild, a daughter named Laura Brianne; Laura got her namefrom her great-grandmother, Norma’s grandmother...ABYC won the Audi Yacht Club Team Challenge Trophy at the 1991Audi/North Sails Race Week; besides that, ABYC ran “Olympic-style courses” on Saturday...TEN YEARS AGO:

The Cal 20 Class Championships were scheduled for King Harbor Yacht Club in 2001, according to Glenn Selvin’sarticle in the SOU’WESTER for August of that year. So the focus on Alamitos Bay was Wet Wednesday racing: 12 to 15boats were out every week. And for those who were not racing, Glenn’s question was, “‘Why not?’ You’re missing a greatevent of racing, followed by a tasty Twilight dinner served on the ABYC Patio. Does it get any better than that?” he concludedrhetorically.

For those who don’t remember, 2001 was the first year of the current starting system, and for many participants inthe ABYC Multihull Invitational Regatta that year it was their first exposure to the system. Regatta chairman John Merchantreported that “the starts got off with less glitches and serious confusion” as the weekend went on—except for one particularsailor, “a cowboy from Tucson,” who never quite got the hang of it. “I think the problem had more to do with Saturday nightthat with flags and horns and our separate start/finish line,” he opined. Pete Melvin won in the A-Class cats and JeffNewsome in Portsmouth, racing a Hobie Fox.

It’s remarkable to me what a small world the world of sailboat-racing is. Ann Exley’s “From the Pages of History”reprinted part of an article from the Los Angeles Times that reported the winner of the Flying Dutchman class in the ABYCOlympic Classes Regatta that year was “Jim Dewitt of Richmond Yacht Club.” If that name sounds familiar, it should: JimDewitt is perhaps better known as an internationally renowned marine artist, whose colorful artwork ranges from a 1993painting of the legendary IOR boat “Imp” that graces the cover of a new book about her to one of the Oracle trimaran from thelast America’s Cup. Small world...

A full page of photos showed some of the participants of Men’s Day; Jerry Thompson won the heavyweight division(and the regatta perpetual) while Brian Brown won the middleweight division and Freddie Stevens the lightweightdivision...ABYC Fleet Captain Kevin Ellis reported that the Board had voted a five-dollar discount on entry fees for juniors;the measure, proposed by then-Rear Commodore John Merchant, remains in effect to this day...the Board was alsocontemplating the hiring of a year-round junior sailing instructor and creating a year-round junior program; members wereencouraged to make their feelings on this topic known to a Board member...

Chris Ericksen, Club Historian

...from page 6

FINN NATIONALSSep 9-11

Dinner and Party

Saturday Sep 10th

• Dinner & Country Music• More info at the event site on ABYC.org

Protest ProcedureThere will be a discussion for both those

who may serve on a protest committee and forcompetitors who may be involved in a protesthearing. We will discuss the proper proceduresinvolved to conduct a hearing. If you are a sailorinvolved in a hearing, it will be a great help tounderstand the hearing procedure and to knowyour rights. There will be a handout to guide you.

This meeting will take place at 9:30 a.m.Sunday, August 21 at ABYC. Any questions,contact Margaret Caddle 562/439-3484


(junior sailing)the bay clogger

The past five weeks have flown by and with only nine more days of the Jr. SailingProgram remaining, there are still many events to come! Since Sarah Ryan left onJuly 22nd to prepare for her teaching position in Santa Barbara, Russell Olson and I

have taken charge. This summer we have 137 students and an outstanding instructorstaff. The Jr. Program is a huge undertaking, but we love the students and look forwardto coming to work everyday. Here is a re-cap of what our juniors have accomplishedthus far...

Jr. Commodore’s Cup @ LIYC, June 26th - ABYC sent eight sailors to thisregatta who were very eager to kick off the summer racing season. In the Sabot Aclass, Riley Gibbs placed first and was accompanied by Matt McDermaid, RichardBell, and Allan Peoples. Carl Olson placed 3rd in the Sabot C1 class, Brett Peoplesraced as a C3, and Ryan Shack and Steven Hopkins competed in Laser Radials.

4th of July Regatta @ ABYC, July 2nd-3rd - Jr. Rear Vice Commodore Alex Newton headed the Juniors for theirannual duty fleet regatta and did a wonderful job! Thank you to all the junior sailors and their parents who volunteered tomake this regatta a success.

Summer Gold Cup @ NHYC, July 9-10th - This year, NHYC is the host of Jr. Sabot Nationals, which made SummerGold Cup the perfect opportunity to practice racing amongst the moorings, party barges, and shifty breeze. At Gold Cup, AlexDunn placed 1st in the Sabot C1s, Matthew Fairbanks placed 4th in C3s, and Matt McDermaid placed 4th overall in As.

So Cal Junior Olympics, July 14-17th - We sent nine sailors to the Junior Olympics at San Diego Yacht Club. Theconditions were tough with a lot of chop and fairly light breeze. In the C420 fleet, Riley Gibbs and Matt McDermaid placed 4th

and Marissa Golison placed 5th with her crew Francesca Cappellini. In the CFJ fleet, Elle Merrill & Sunny Scarbrough finished10th and Alex Newton & Taylor Schack finished 14th. Our respective finishes in the Laser Radial fleet were Nick Odegard 10th,Steven Hopkins 13th, and Dugan Farrell 22nd. Kevin Leddy competed in a 29er for his first time ever, crewing for CuylerZimmerman and finishing 6th overall.

Sabot II North @ BCYC, July 20th - Bradley Clinton placed 4th and was the only ABYC sailor to qualify for the SabotII Invitational at Mission Bay Yacht Club. This regatta is comprised of top-notch sabot racers all under the age of 11. Other Top20 finishers were Adam Elsharhawy, Nora Elsharhawy, and Jacob Warren. Late breaking news: Bradley Clinton placed 5thin the Sabot II Invitational.

C Fleet Champs @ Alamitos Bay, July 21st - Seventy-one sailors competed in this year’s C Fleet Championships.Sabot C1, C2, and C3 racers were all eligible to race in the ABF Regatta. ABYC took home the gold with 16 of our sailorsfinishing in the Top 20! Congratulations to Ryan Ayale (1st), Cameron Bloemeke (2nd), and Beth Golison (3rd).

Dutch Shoe Marathon @ SDYC/CorYC, July 22nd - Sean Leddy, Matthew Fairbanks, Scott Fairbanks, Noah LaBarba,and Steven Hopkins participated in the 42nd Annual Dutch Shoe Marathon. They all raced from San Diego Yacht Club toCoronado Yacht Club, amongst a fleet of 171 sabots!

Still to come are the Jr. Sabot National Championship, Laser Nationals, and CFJ Nationals. These events are highlycompetitive and I wish all our ABYC Juniors the best of luck! I am very proud of the progress they made and am confident thatall their hard work will pay off.

Laura Newton, ABYC Junior Sailing

Summe Program Class of 2011

sou’wester • august 2011 • page 9Jeff Merrill photo

Sarah Ryan photos

For many years our sailing director Sarah Ryan envisionedan all girl regatta here at ABYC. For her last two days with

us she finally got her wish! Thursday, July 21 started thefestivities for ABYC’s 1st, and hopefully annual, All Girl

Regatta and Sleepover. 25 entrants arrived on Thursdayevening for t-shirt tie-dying, and nail painting before overtakingthe second deck of the club for pizza, popcorn, cupcakes, ShirleyTemples and a movie. Lights were out by 10:30 and the night wassurprisingly quiet!

The girls had bagels and OJ for breakfast before donningtheir new shirts for photos and rigging. For many this was theirvery first regatta. An all-girl race committee consisting of SarahRyan, Gentry Bell, Mila Bakker, Emily Golison and Shirya Jain ranthree races in a delightful morning breeze. Congratulations to allthe participants and especially the top five winners: 1st Julia Golison,2nd Roxy Snyder, 3rd Beth Golison, 4th Sarah Warren and 5th Christine Rice.

Many thanks to the stellar moms (Jen Golison, Alison Strodahl, Sherry Syahian, Gywen Anctil, Dede Olson, MariaMilefchik, Liza VanDyke and Shelly Elsharhawy) who stayed the night, helped make this event possible and helped manygirls develop friendships and a love for the sport of sailing!!! Thank you to Paul Mikelski for providing the pink trophy bags forall the participants. Thank you, Sarah, for everything. All the girls will miss you!!

regatta & sleepoverall girl

OK boys and girls – we all know S/C Chris Ericksen has a booming voice…so unless there is a regatta on Mars thatwe haven’t heard of, why would he want a megaphone? Here are three photos, you send in the captions toSharon Pearson winning entry wins an ABYC hat. Email your submission to [email protected], August 20th is the

deadline.

caption contestloud hailer

#1 #2 #3


reportmembership

ABYC Membership Party a huge successOver two hundred members joined in the fun at the FIRST ANNUAL FleetMembership Challenge Party on July 16th at ABYC. The music was fantastic,

the evening was warm, and the dancing was HOT, HOT…. HOT!A record membership drive culminated in one gigantic Burgee presentation to

our NEW members. As of the writing of this article we have welcomed fifty-three newmembers to our ABYC family.

The Lido fleet celebrated their winning of the Fleet Membership Challenge witha one of a kind CONGA line. Rich Vaught and Ken Frost representing the Etchells Fleetwon the “good sport” award for leading the CONGA line.

A very special thank you to our volunteers and staff: Heather Meyer, Lisa Little,Lori Von Skyhock, Bill & Sue McDannel, Jennifer Kuritz, Staff Commodore Chas Merrill,Kelly Whitlow, Sheila Mattox, Jenny LaForce, Jesus Espinoza, Reggie Myles, Rick Rose,and Susanne Sterbentz.

Terri and I are honored to be part of such a terrific team. ABYC is the best familyYacht club in America.

Membership Activity:Please welcome our 4 new Regular members, and 1 Independent Jr. member:

Chuck & Kay Henry Derek & Sheri LesterScott & Heather Tracy Yon & Andrea CarpenterCampbell D’Eliscu – Ind. Jr.

Posted for membership: 6Cheryl Lathouwers – Regular Michael Hartong – RegularLinda Faust – Regular Michael Price — YachtingAlex Valles – Yachting Rachel Levine – Yachting

The ABYC Regular membership count is: 392Our bylaws allow 421 regular members.

Jim Grubbs and Terri Bishop

Jeff Merrill/Steve Kuritz photos

Membership Challenge Trophy

Welcome new members!! Lido Fleet winners

The Conga line

Sheila & Jenny handle registrations

Chas & Nancy Merrill enjoying the party

Heather Meyer finishing decorations


Jeff Merrill photoswrap up4th of july regatta

Those who decided not to travel for our nation’s birthday stayed to do battleat the once again two day 4th of July Regatta.

The Junior, Senior Sabot and Keel Boat Fleets combined their resourcesto pull off a great event held concurrently with the Olsen 30 Nationals. Outsideclasses included Cal20s, Finns, Lasers, Laser Radials and Portsmouth; insideclasses included Lido As and Bs and Junior Sabots in 5 classes for a total of 92boats.

The Saturday evening burger bash featured entertainment by a great band“Another Fine Mess”, with some ABYC members dancing until closing time whenthe band treated us to an a cappella rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.

The big winners on the outside course were Mike and Ron Wood in Cal20s,Erik Lidecis in Finns, Vann Wilson in Lasers, Steven Hopkins in Laser Radials andBill Westland in the Portsmouth multi-hull fleet. On the inside course the winnerswere Freddie and Fred Stevens in Lido As and Tracy Conn and Caitlin Ott-Conn inLido Bs. Sabot winners were: A’s - Joseph Hou, B’s - Kai Jensen, C1s - JacobWarren, C2’s - Erik Hou, and C3’s - Isabelle Meegan.

Thank you to the Juniors, Junior parents, Keel Boaters and Senior Sabotiers for all their help on land and on threerace courses. Also, thank you to Marc Schryer, Steve Kuritz and Chris Erickson, our talented PRO’s, who managed toorganize great races.

Jane McNaboe

Clif Mathias gretting people at the gate withparking passes

Friendly registration group...Joe & Mary Riddick,

Bobbie Petersen and Jusy Mathias

Stu chillin’

All quiet but ready to go!

Elle and Pam Merrill

The band “Another Fine Mess”


regattapine block

Every year the keel boat fleet has found an excuse to wade alongthe soft sandy shores of Alamitos Bay, enjoy a coolrefreshment, and race sailboats that don’t require any attention

after the start. As a newcomer to the Pine BlockFleet I was delighted to learn so much of the history wrapped up intothese tiny dynamo’s they call “Pine Blocks”.

As I have learned, many moons ago the keel boat fleet set sailfor a cruise to San Diego. Bob Chubb came up with an idea for a projectto keep the sailors busy while underway (along the lines of the pineblock derby that cub scouts do) and he designed a 12” monohull sloopwith a dowel for spars, an adjustable rudder with tiller, spinnaker clothfor sails and buttons and thread to trim the sails. Each keelboat familywas given a rough kit to assemble and the goal was to paint and readyyour Pine Block for the inaugural race at San Diego Yacht Club. A fullrecounting of this historic cruise was elaborated upon by Judy Mathiasat our awards ceremony (hilarious stories about designated countries,assembly malfunctions, etc.) – but I’m getting ahead of myself.

As Commodore of ABYC I like to stay in touch with as many of our activities as I can and I had just sailed with S/CDave Crockett Sr. (along with Sue and grandson Austen) in the first Barbeque Series aboard their Cal 20 and I decided to

walk over to the beach to check on the Pine Block race. Judy Mathiaswas pacing up and down the shore, handed me her “Lucky 7” sailboatand formally entered me into the race, which was starting in 3 minutes. John Perone, meanwhile, was up to his elbows in Alamitos Bay withhis beloved white sailboat “Casper” meticulously fine tuning the trim.There were about six of us at the start line, we all lined up, placed oursturdy craft on port tack aiming parallel to the beach and on Judy’sgo we let go…and the little beauties took off in all directions towardsthe finish line about 50 yards away.

Beginners luck saw me take the first race and eventually the series,but what struck me was the fun camaraderie and esprit de corpsamongst all of the “kids” in the keelboat fleet. Urging their boats on,wading and waiting, a few laughs, some hugs and some handshakes. The Bishop patrol boat retrieved all of the racers (thanks Peter andTerri) and after three races we retired to the Quarterdeck to eat ourbarbeque, have another glass and tell tall tales, then hand out awards.

These “Pine Blocks” are great sailing boats and those of youunfamiliar with the elegant simplicity of the Pine Block Fleet are missing out on some good old fashioned hand craftedsailing. Sure, we have RC boats with the Nirvana II’s, but this is a little more pure. These are more like a mini version of theColorado Lagoon specials that Clyde Ellerman and Rod Oliglby – and now JoAnne Pike help kids make every summerthrough the Long Beach Parks and Rec Department.

So I talked to Bob Chubb after the event and asked how I could get my own Pine Block – the pure joy goes straightinto your blood stream, and after much discussion (serious persuasion and commanding commodore influence) he finallyrelented. If Bob has a batch order for 10 or more (and all boats built have to promise to race every year or be handed backto the keel boat fleet to be reassigned) then he’ll get outthe patterns and get back in business. I’m game, who elseis? If you want to get your own Pine Block and will raceagain next year send me an email with “Pine Blocksailboats” in the subject line and let’s continue thismarvelous tradition! My email is [email protected] me know and if we can get this rolling again we mayjust have to start having more races. This is yet anotherwonderful excuse to come down to ABYC and this particularfleet gets to take full advantage of the beach! What otherclass can you race in where you don’t have to wear alifejacket, there is no yelling (just encouraging loud voicesaimed at beloved chunks of floating wood) and you canleave the boat rigged 24/7 for years at time?

Jeff Merrill Winners left to right: Denis Kasper, Jeff Merrill (winner), John Perone,

Stephanie Gwinn

Jeff Merrill photos


We again have arrived at that time of year on our club calendar that the members with voting privileges must casttheir choice of new members to the ABYC Board of Directors.

Our 2011 Slate, as always, has individuals who understand the commitment involved as a board member, shouldthey be elected. I do not point this out lightly, for serving on the board and, for some, and going through the flags requiresenormous dedication. Each of the individuals listed for your consideration believe in the importance of our club, and arewilling to take on the stewardship that is involved. Please take time to get to know the nominees and, and please thank themfor running.

Each is a member, like yourself, who cares deeply about ABYC.This year you will be voting for four seats on the board and two for the Trust Fund. The slate is as follows:

For the Board:MIKE BAUMANN LATHAM BELL MARTYN BOOKWALTER CHUCK CLAYDAVID KOFAHL JENNIFER KURITZ DAVID MILEFCHIK CHUCK TRIPP

For the Trust fund:NICOLE PEOPLES MIKE VAN DYKEThe slate was posted on the Club bulletin Board, Friday, 15 July 2011.Per Bylaws - Article V, Section #3 & #4, the notice of election will be mailed to the voting members during the week of

8 August 2011.Per Bylaws - Article V, Section #5, polls will be opened at special times (to be announced) beginning 14 days prior to

the Annual Meeting (after 2 September 2011).On the day of the annual meeting 16 September 2011 the polling location at the club will be opened from noon, and

closing at 2000 hours (8:00 p.m.).The counting of ballots will commence at that time.Winners will be announced at the meeting.John Massey, Junior Staff CommodoreChairman Nominating Committee

9/16/2011elections

You can never guess what might happen or who mayturn up at Happy Hour. Such was the case on theFriday night before the Multihull Regatta. A plan was

hatched the previous Wednesday after Lido-14 twilightsto bring ukuleles Friday night for a sing-along. And sing-along they did. Loaded with instruments were Kathy Reed,Cindy Heavrin, Carol Kofahl, John Massey, and JorgeSuarez. After sampling the hors d’oeuvres, all settled downto what started out as a quiet evening of playing ukuleleand singing. Unexpectedly, Mary and John Massey Jr.showed up to surprise dad Massey and to listen in.What happened next was totally unexpected. As MaryMassey admitted later, she calculated that John could notlast much more than 5 minutes before he would have thepiano opened up and at full speed. She was right, andcertainly knows her man, for soon he was at the keyboard had the whole crowd belting out Jimmy Buffett lyrics. Asthe other instruments joined in on familiar choruses, theukulele players were sent scrambling for their chord charts,as John would change key on the fly. Even some of theyoungsters had music selections that were sung by all.The evening stretched until 9:30 or so when Reggieannounced “Last Call” and everyone departed chatteringabout what a fun evening it was.

John Massey

7/22/2011happy hour John Massey photos


For 2011, our traditional ABYC Multihull Invitational Regatta was also the Area J (Southern California, Southern Nevada,Utah and Arizona) Qualifier for the 2012 U.S. SAILING Multihull Championship Regatta. This Championship wascontested here at ABYC back in June of this year; however, only the F-18 fleet chose to compete in the Qualifier portion

of our event this year. The other boats; Hobie 16’s and WETA trimarans chose to race as one-design fleets.Our Race Committee (RC), under the direction of Principal Race Officer (PRO), Jorge Suarez and ably assisted by;

Jennifer Kuritz, Chuck Tripp, Martyn Bookwalter, Jamie McGhee, Nigel Morris and guest Bonnie DeMoss, set out forthe traditional ABYC race area behind the Long Beach breakwater, between the oil islands. A windward leeward course was

set, racing began for three fleets and all seemed well in hand until the racerswere beating toward the weather mark on the second lap of their course.

At this time, a large “bulk carrier” (Chuck Tripp, graduate of the U. S.Merchant Marine Academy informed me of this) was steaming right into ourrace course and appeared headed straight towards an anchored Patience.As we all watched and stood by ready to weigh anchor, the freighter droppedits anchor, just about on the starboard tack layline to the weather mark. Bythis time our racers saw the obvious problem, avoided the ship and completedthe first race without further incident. Of further interest on the day was theappearance of what looked like a new, large offshore oil rig just outside Angel’sGate. According to Chuck it was in fact a converted oil platform that was usedto launch rockets at the equator in order to more easily place satellites intogeosynchronous orbit around our planet. The platform was even accompaniedby its mother-ship…kinda cool and interesting. Rockets launched from LongBeach?...we’ll see.

As our original racing area was no longer suitable, the RC weighed anchorand moved west close to spar buoy #38, reset the course and due to the quick work of; Peter Fyfe, Tom Mendenhall, DaveSchack, Michael & Kevin Baumann, Chris Crosley and Eric Chadwick in our mark-setting whalers, we were back toracing in short order, sending the fleet off in a sparkling Force Four to Five breeze.

Right out of the gate, in the F-18 fleet, ABYC’s Ian Sammis with crew Paulo Gabella showed they were a force to bereckoned with, running off three bullets in a row. In the Hobie 16 fleet ABYC’s Jeff Newsome & crew Michelle Eatough alsohad a string of firsts, after placing a close second in race one behind the always competitive Jeff Perlmuter & Susan Stockdalefrom Tucson AZ. Scott Miller & crew Patty Miller from Mission Bay YC (MBYC) were the only racers to challenge Ian & Pauloas they won the fourth race when Ian & Paulo experienced an equipment problem but still managed to finish second. Ourthird fleet consisted of a trio of the interesting WETA trimarans. Robert Shirley from Ventura SC and Bruce Fleming from

F-18 start.

regattamultihull


Things are heating up for the Cal 20 50th ClassChampionship August 12-14th…it’s going to bea battle, pure war out there…although some boats

are going to extremes to distract their competitor withconfusing signs of Peace and Love!!! Photo: NY Times,July 24th, Courtesy of Ken Reiff.

flashnews pianoour

Pity the poor piano. For the past few months, thepiano has been in a location from which, like aturtle on its back, it could not be moved. The

simplest explanation is that a leg was knocked out fromunder it while being moved incorrectly. The itty-bitty castersare designed to support a lot of weight, but not to be pushedaround on rug without sufficient bodies helping at eachleg position. Some will say “we have done it for years”,and the answer is: “You were lucky, but it finally ended upbalanced on two beer kegs where it didn’t fall on anyone”. That said, two legs have been fixed where they attach tothe piano frame, plus an order has been placed for areplacement “wound”string that broke inthe recent past. Theaction needs work,but that is anotherstory. John Massey

Drilling legs for new fasteners


Kaneohe YC swapped first and second place throughout the regatta while TimCorcoran lost his rig in the third race and had to retire from the series.

Our RC ran four races Saturday for all fleets in time for everyone toreturn to the clubhouse for a scrumptious, prepared by Jesus and crew, TacoBar dinner with apple pie for desert! Entertainment for the evening was providedby The Fabulous Nomads Surf Band who I understand kept the party going wellinto the evening.

Sunday promised to be another perfect day for racing at ABYC and asthe freighter was still anchored in the regular ABYC racing area, the RC set upnear buoy #38 once again. This time the Force Four to Five breezes came inearly and the RC was able to run three races twice around a windward leewardcourse before 3:00PM.

In the F-18 fleet Ian & Paulo continued to dominate, however, Peaseand Jay Glaser who did not race on Saturday, were on hand to challenge on Sunday finishing second three times and first inthe race when Ian & Paulo had to retire with a halyard problem. From the RC boat we could see Ian & Paulo capsized anddrifting toward the rocks of the jetty for quite some time as they worked to resolve their equipment problem. An ABYC whalerwas standing by so, alas, no one was in danger. Now I’d venture to say most mortals by this time would have maybe tired oftrying to make repairs and since first place was assured, would have sailed in for an early shower and a cold drink. Not theseguys, no, they recovered in time to make the start and win the last race by a comfortable margin.

The breeze began to take its toll Sunday, as at first one then more boats went in early, but the conditions made RCwork fairly straightforward save for when one of the F-18’s hit the starting line marktaking the staff and orange flag with it as it sailed away. Not having a readily availablespare, our whaler crews swapped the staff and flag from the finishing line buoy withthe starting line buoy until a suitable replacement was fashioned and put in place.Nice work guys!In the Hobie 16 fleet, Jeff & Michelle continued to duke it out with Jeff and Susan,

but after throw-outs, Jeff & Michelle won the regatta by six points Rex Miller & AnnSullivan finished the regatta in third place.Ian & Paulo’s performance in the F-18 fleet was impressive, winning the regatta

and Gold Medals by ten points despite equipment problems Saturday and a long,wet, tiring capsize and boat repair on Sunday. Rounding out the top three for the U.S.SAILING Medals in the Area J Qualifier were Scott & Patty Miller from MBYC forSilver and Bill and Alex Westland from ABYC for the Bronze. Other ABYC racersfollowing in order were; Dan DeLave & crew Eileen Haubl, Pease & Jay Glaser andMichael Kramer with crew Erwin.Jeff Merrill joined Jorge and me to present trophies on the patio Sunday after

racing. In addition to their U.S. SAILING Medals, Ian & Paulo won the U.S. SAILINGArea J Championship perpetual trophy as well as a nice etched glass bowl as winnersof the ABYC Multihull Invitational. Jeff Newsome on the other hand was recognizedas winner of a most impressive perpetual trophy for his performance in the Hobie 16class.The ABYC staff, members of

the ABYC Laser fleet and friends who volunteered to help run this regatta,deserve recognition for conduct of another successful and fun event atABYC! In addition to those previously mentioned, I wish to thank JimMorford for agreeing to register the competitors and score this regatta.Will Vrooman was on-hand Sunday to work a whaler. For scoring onPatience we had Shirley Smith, Bill & Patt Anderson and your author.Latham Bell was our Chief Judge, assisted by Margaret Caddle andErnie Bain from the American Legion Yacht Club in the Newport Beacharea. John McNaughton watched the boatyard gate and assisted withvolunteer check-in while Ellen and Jim Kirk came by to help us Sundaymorning. George Caddle and Chris Ericksen made sure Patience wasin good running order, while Dave Myers and Rick prepared the whalers.

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all the competitors,ABYC staff and volunteers…we couldn’t do it without you!

Steven Smith, Regatta Chairman

...from page 14

Dan Delave & Eileen Haubl, blast reaching.

ABYC’s Ian Sammis & Paulo Gabella, F-19class and U.S. SAILING Area J Qualifierwinners.

Hobie Class winner Jeff Newsome & Michelle Eatough onthe left.

multihullm o r e


the fleetshails from

ABYC 4th of July Regatta Ten Laser full rig and eight Radials signed up to race in the 2011 ABYC 4th of July Holiday Regatta. The marine overcast layer hovered offshore to the West, leaving our usual race area

sunny and with a breeze on Saturday that built to Force Four by mid afternoon giving all of us a chanceto test our hiking muscles and downwind, wave-catching techniques.

With qualified fleets, the Lasers and Radials started separately and sailed three races in quick succession on windward-leeward courses. In the Radial fleet, Steven Hopkins from ABYC ran away with the first race and continued apace scoringnothing lower than fourth throughout the regatta. Following Steven in the first race was your author who managed anothersecond and two firsts to finish the day. Also in the hunt was Laser Grand Master, Nils Andersson from Mission Bay YC whojoined us in hopes of stronger breeze than he’d expect in his home waters as he prepares for the Laser Masters WorldChampionships in the Bay Area next month. Rounding out the top five were Derek Thomas from Westlake YC (WYC) andIan Markowitz from ABYC.

In the Laser full-rig fleet, ABYC’s Vann Wilson was unbeatable in all conditions, notching bullets in all six races.Eugenio Cingolani and Jorge Suarez finished the series in second and third, putting three ABYC racers on the podium.Other ABYC racers competing in order were; Bob Anderson, Chris Crosley, Dave Schack and Chuck Tripp.


Why we go sailing... Every Wednesday afternoon, I look at the digital clock on the cable box, under the TV in our living room.

It reads 5:30. I sprint downstairs to grab my bike as Irealize I am late. I arrive at the club at around 5:40 just

find my father smiling chatting with people just getting in to our boat, orthat have been sailing in it for their whole lives. All these people haveone thing in common, they just want to have fun sailing Lidos.

When we get to the boat, all there is to do is drop theboat, and get the sails up and we are ready to go sailing. We leave thedock in our blue hot rod with flames and leave the basin. Threeminutes later we are at the starting line. If we are really lucky, we havetime to go up to the windward mark a couple times to see what’s happening in our littlebay. We hear Mr. PRO, Martyn Bookwalter, sound the warning blasts, so we mosey on towards the line. We relax as wewatch the A’s try too hard, and get ready for the “B” start. We go through our starting procedure (check the line, get line

sights, etc.). It truly doesn’t matter becausewe never use our line sights. So we attemptto be at the line at the gun and be onstarboard tack, but we all know stuffhappens. We then bounce around the wellset race course chasing after Elle Merril whois miles away (“A” fleet candidate?) After twomore races, we sail in while the sun is settingand the wind is dying. I enjoy going out every Wednesday. We alljoined the yacht club to go sailing, and that’sjust what we doing. If you aren’t having funsailing anymore, get your hands on one ofour three fleet boats and come out. Everyoneis one big happy family. You need toremember the fleet’s one rule, HAVE FUN.See you out there.

John Makielski 6277

Don Taugher (5024) photo

Jeff Merrill photo

July can have some high tides and the Lido gang came in on a recent Wednesday twilightto see water over the hinge on the dinghy ramp and both hoists precariously close tosailing off.



As co-Fleet Captain of the Etchells Fleet, Rich Vaught may have been asked to do the “Loserville” dance and lead the conga line at the new member reception on Saturday, July 16, but leading is something to which he is very accustomed: he continues to lead the 2011 Alamitos Bay Etchells

Fleet Championship Series.Earlier that same day, he showed the rest of the six-boat fleet it is done: after taking second in the first race, the trio

finished up with three straight wins to take the four-race series. Tom Corkett, winner of the first race, came in second in theregatta ahead of Ken Frost (sorry, I didn’t get crew names for this article).

Don Burdge and his team was the fourth-best team out there that day: even dropping out of the last race to effect arescue of the folks on a sinking outboard-motor boat did not change that fact, and they touched out fifth-place John Chapmanon the tiebreaker. Gordon Dudley and Jeff Powell finished the first race of the day.

Alex and Andrew Vaught served on the race committee. Here are the standings:

OWNER SAIL NO. RACE 1 RACE 2 RACE 3 RACE 4 TOTALSRich Vaught USA821 2 1 1 1 5Tom Corkett USA889 1 2 2 3 8Frost/Hardenbergh USA669 3 3 3 2 11Barber/Bergan/Burdge USA126 4 4 4 DNC/7 19John Chapman USA1002 5 5 5 4 19Dudley/Powell USA531 6 DNC/7 DNC/7 DNC/7 27

And here are the standings in the Fleet Championship Series:

OWNER SAIL NO. TOTALSRich Vaught USA821 88Tom Corkett USA889 71Frost/Hardenbergh USA669 70Argyle Campbell USA1375 61Jerry Montgomery USA792 49John Chapman USA1002 30Barber/Bergan/Burdge USA126 27Carter/Ericksen USA491 15Menezes/Sims USA643 7Wells/Dooros USA488 6Dudley/Powell USA531 3

The summer continues with another fleet regatta in August. And the fleet has been out for the Seal Beach YachtClub Pop Top Regatta on Thursday nights; on a recent evening there were three of them, including the Vaught, Frost andDudley/Powell teams. Tune in next month to see how that is going.

Chris Ericksen

...from page 16

Nils reported to me on Sunday the overcast never left and the breeze never really appeared. These conditions did notdeter Steven from notching two more first place finishes and Ian followed close behind scoring two seconds. Derek andJaclyn Hollander, also from WYC, both scored a third on Sunday. Another racer and newcomer competing from ABYC wasDavis Bakker.ABYC Laser Fleet 2011 Championship

Exactly halfway through our qualifying events, we find Vann Wilson once again in the lead for our 2011 ABYC LaserFleet Championship. Our yearly winner and runner-up earn the privilege to compete in the following year ABYC ClubChampionship Regatta. Following closely and themselves only separated by one point are Chuck Tripp and Jorge Suarez.The rest of us are further off the pace, but with the high-point scoring Labor Day and Turkey Day regattas still to come, anythingcan happen.

Not only is Vann our current fleet leader, he also qualified to compete in the U.S. SAILING Singlehanded Championshipto be contested in Lasers at the Columbia Gorge later in July. Good Luck Vann!

Steven Smith, ABYC Laser Fleet Co-Captain


The Fleet to Be In!


The Cal 20 50th Class Championship will be held August 12th-14th and will be hosted at ABYC. This year in honor of the 5Oth, we will have three fleets, Gold, Silver and Bronze. The Bronze Fleet is designed for those

who want to come out and have fun, no qualification is necessary, three racesover two days and at reduced entry fee of $50.00. Qualification for the Gold

Fleet will be held on Friday, followed by two days of racing on Saturday and Sunday, for a oftotal seven races. The Juniors’ Championship is scheduled for Saturday, August 20th. Our goal is to have fifty boats on the

line and create the ultimate competition. We are rallying boatsfrom Hawaii to Vancouver, B.C. to have a fabulous turnout forthis once in a lifetime golden regatta! The regatta co-chairsare Barney Flam and Mike Van Dyke and our PRO for thefourth year in a row, will be Chris Ericksen.

A brief history of the Cal 20: The boat was designed byWilliam Lapworth in 196O, and was built in Costa Mesa at theJensen Marine Factory. 1,945 boats were turned out and theboat quickly became popular because sailors wanted aninexpensive one-design boat that was simple yet responsiveand would not be affected by the next measurement rulechange. In the early years the rig was sailed tight and verystructured, but as time went on the rules changed and itbecame the rage to sail a lose rig to be competitive.

The Cal 20 was a great “family” yacht that people took toCatalina or raced like a VW Bug. It quickly became the “it”boat!! Some boats spent a year in a famous yrd and, although

the cost might only have been 4K, they were amazinglyembellished and stories were told of the 5OK Cal 20! Even today,the resale value of clean Cal 20 is equal to what it was in the60’s.

At ABYC, Fleet One started with George Lounsberryand Mickey Beland along with eight other sailors.(Completelist in next issue). In those days it took ten sailors to form afleet. George Lounsberry’s boat “Toadstool” was appropriatelynamed as the fleet has mushroomed today to sixty boats.Robin Townsend still sails her dad’s boat “Toadstool” today.

Come August 12th-14th, the big names and who’swho of the sailing world, young and old and sailors from farand near will come together to celebrate 50 years of anamazing boat, whose history is Golden!!!

Patty Nash

Chuck Clay rounding the leeward mark, CBYC 2010

Cal 20s on the starting line, KHYC 2009

A focused Patty Nash and Mark Barnard, KHYC 2009

An intense Keith Ives and Chuck Stevens, CBYC 2010



Bob Danielphoto

KEEL BOAT FLEET ON WATCH

Nirvanas are alive an well and sailing every Friday evening. Come join us.

Don Shirley, Fleet Scribe

ABYC Senior Sabots had a very successful Senior Sabot Nationals. In the Senior Division Freddie Stevens was 2nd. In the Masters Division with 19 competitors and 7

races Tom Newton was first with 13 points, separated by onefirst place finish in a tie-breaker with Betty Becker from San Diego Yacht Club; FredStevens was 4th,, Terese Ivory was 5th, and Lee Berlinger finished 6th. In the ClysdaleDivision Jeff McDermaid was first and Latham Bell was 3rd. In the Grand MastersDivision Kathleen Weishampel was third, with each of the first three boats in thatdivision winning one race.

The Senior Sabot fleet, along with the Keel Boat Fleet and the Juniors wereresponsible for staffing the July 4th regatta. Everyone did a great job! Thank you toall who helped.

Sabot twilights are ongoing on Thursday nights. 6:00 pm start, be there!Upcoming events are the Saturday BBQ series, Sabot Sunday on August 7th, andthen the summer Holiday Series Regatta – Labor Day.

Jane McNaboe

Jane McNaboe photo

Dan and Norma Clapp were all set to run the Pineblock Model Boat Regatta when Norma was toldthat she needed a valve replaced in her heart and the only thing she was going to run was Dantaking care of her till the surgeon, hospital, etc. were lined up for her surgery. When the actual

surgery took place the initial valve replacement ballooned from a major operation to a super major operation as it was adouble by pass and the expected valve replacement. I talked to Terry, Friday, July 15, and Norma did very well but confinedto ICU for several days. By the time you read this Norma will be bossing Dan around and ready for your calls and cards. Ahbut you say what happened to the Pineblock Regatta? Judy Mathias, who else, stepped in and ran the regatta. Judy did herusual outstanding job with the results as follows:

1st Jeff Merrill 2nd Stephanie Gwinn 3rd John Perone 4th Elizabeth 5th Dennis KasperWAYDAMINUTE, That first place name is awfully familiar. Judy gave him her boat, race trimmed, and what happens?

Our next meeting is the start of the calendar yearof the Keel Boat Fleet. The meeting is Friday, September 23,and is a barbecue on the patio. Bring your entrée, booze, plus asmall hors d’oeuvre. The Fleet will provide 2 salads, plates, plasticcutlery, cups, napkins and barbecue utensils.

On a different note, September’s meeting is not only ourfirst meeting of the Keel Boat Fleet calendar year but also mostimportant as we talk of how the Fleet will function during thistime. Upcoming events and a plea for support from the membersof the fleet for the Christmas party etc. will be on the agenda. Allthis plus the great news that dues are due so bring $10 in cashor a check made out to Keel Boat Fleet and give it to MaggieCaddle.

See you there,George

Jeff Merrill photo


PRSRT STDU. S. Postage

PAIDLong Beach, CAPermit No. 685

Alamitos Bay Yacht Club7201 East Ocean BoulevardLong Beach, California 90803

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Rob Rice photo

BBQ SERIES FINALE & ABYC HOOTENANNY*

SATURDAYAugust 27th

Racing at 3 PM, Dinner at 5PM

Bring the family, bring your appetite, bringyour guitar, or even your ukulele, because itsan afternoon of audience participation as we makeour own music and song.

(* Its like Burning Man, but with foul weather gear)

Mack Mills joined ABYC in 1972 and hasbeen a sabot sailor ever since. I don’t wantto spoil any fun and announce his age, butlet’s just say Mack is more “experienced”than most of us. The other day I saw Mackpacking up after Thursday night senior sabottwilights – still sailing and racing the woodsabot he built himself. One of the unsungheroes of ABYC, an inspiration for all (andhe’ll probably be mad at me for calling himto attention), keep on sailin’ Mack!

Jeff Merrill

heromy

The 2011 ABYC family Catalina cruise will be held on August 19, 20, 21.The Junior program and the sabot nationalswill be over, so come on over to two harbors and enjoy friends and family for a relaxing weekend.

See flyer at abyc.org for details.For reservations: Call Sheila in the office. $75 for adults and $35 for kids 14 and under.If you would like to help or have suggestions please call or email Pat McCormick 2011 Catalina cruise chairman at

562 673-8418.

The Lido family invites everyone in the Club to come out and enjoy our annual “end of summer” event on SaturdaySeptember 3rd and Sunday September 4th. End of summer!!! Does that mean the kids are going back to school?Who wants to travel and fight traffic all weekend? Simply stay at home, bring the family to the Club/beach/party and

enjoy the sun and wind.The Labor Day Regatta is only surpassed by Turkey Day as our largest regatta, so remember to register on-line early atabyc.org to avoid the late fee. Also, arrive early so that you don’t have to park on 61st street (you have been warned—nocomplaining).

This year’s Aloha party on Saturday night from 5:30-9:30pm will include kids activities, hula hoop contest, crazyHawaiian shirt contest and surf music by the Bonesharks. RSVP to [email protected] by August 27th to avoid thelate fee.

This ABYC weekend sounds like “The place to be”Ed Spotskey

cruisecatalina

aloha partylabor day regatta

Beach Music EveningFridayAugust 26th

Bar opens at 5 PM, show at 7 PM

John and Scott from “The Nomads” return with anevening of classic folk-rock favorites with from JeffersonAirplane to Jimmy Buffet. As always, at Club ABYC thefood and fun times are free!

commodore’s regattanosa

ABYC recaptures NOSA Appreciation Series TrophyThe NOSA (Newport Ocean Sailing Association) isbest known for running the annual Newport to

Ensenada yacht race. They also have an annual event wherelocal SCYA commodores (or flag officers) are invited tocompete in Harbor 20s and the one day regatta has beenhosted at Balboa Yacht Club in recent years to coincide withthe NOSA annual meeting. On Sunday, July 10th S/C ChasMerrill and Commodore Jeff Merrill raced for ABYC.

Their first race was a qualifier (3 of the top 4 advancingto the finals) and they took first. The final was a three raceseries with boat rotations after each finish and the ABYC posteda 1 – 2 – 1 to win the Cup.

The Cup has been engraved and is in our lobby –congratulations Jeff and Chas – the first father/son team towin. Previous ABYC winners include Ted C. Matson in 1958and Jerry Montgomery with Ted Flood crewing in 1996. Jeffalso won this event in 2009 with Jon Robinson as crew.

race weeklong beach

Some big numbers148 boats, 1030 sailors, 13 sponsors, 3 circles, 15 classes,7 races, 105 starts, 3 parties, 2 clubs all handled by over

100 volunteers and our hard working staff.This is the seventh year that we have been co-hosting Long

Beach Race Week with our friends across the bay at LBYC. Big,but not the biggest (that was 2006 when we had 158 boats), but itwas one of the best. We had our challenges. We didn’t know until afew weeks before the regatta if Basin 4 and the long dock at LBYCwould even be there. We had over 50 boats using the hoist at ABYC.We no longer had an automobile company as a presenting sponsorand we had all the uncertainties about who might come in thissluggish economy. But it all came together and even the weathercooperated giving us three days of great Long Beach sailing.

ABYC did a great job across the board.Our race committee work was outstanding. Our perennial

competition chair Mark Townsend did a great job and our PRO’s, Mark,Martyn Bookwalter, Stacy Jackson and Chris Ericksen gave ourcompetitors outstanding racing. Special thanks to Chris who evenprovided his “Volunteer” as our Charlie coarse signal boat.

Behind the scenes and constantly on the job were: Robin Townsendwho recruited and staffed the courses, negotiated, arranged anddistributed the lunches, sorted gear and hosted a houseful of visiting

sailors, Melanie Carter who stepped into theunenviable job of trying to fill Sandy Toscan’s RaceAdministration role, Diane Bateman who againhandled the twists and turns of herding the registrationof all the competitors and Jennifer Kuritz who has thevirtual year-round job of keeping the financial end ofthis regatta straight.

Our Friday evening party was beautifullyexecuted thanks to the efforts of Stacy Massey, SueMcDannel, Mike Baumann and our GM Kelly Whitlow.

Thanks to Ron Wood and his “Driftwood”, who, with Chris Wells were our pressboat for the entire regatta. Ron had his boat loaded all three days with the press,photographers and videographers who all help promote our regatta.

This year we had big fleets of Open 5.70. Vipers and J 24 who along with severalother boats, presented a big logistical challenge for Basis 5 and our boat yard. JohnMassey, Jon Robinson and Jeff Merrill came through with flying colors to make sure ourguest got in and out and felt welcome at ABYC.

These are just some of the people who put in an extraordinary effort. My sincerethanks goes to all of our wonderful volunteers.

I also want to thank my Co-Chairman Randy Beers and all the volunteers on andoff the water from LBYC. LBRW is a marquee event in sailing and it takes the combinedefforts and resources of two great yacht clubs to make this happen.

And, BTW, ABYC sailors also did a great job on the water. Team ABYC, led byChuck Clay, again won the Catalina 37 National Championship and with Tim Carter’svirtually flawless Viper performance and Dave Michaelis’ Schock 35 class victory againgave ABYC the coveted Yacht Club Challenge trophy. ABYC had the second largestnumber of boats of all the 44 yacht clubs entered in the regatta (SDYC was # 1). Not abad showing in a big boat regatta for a bunch of small boat sailors!

Thanks to all for another great LBRW.Jim Bateman, Regatta Co-Chair

Jeff Merrill LBRW photos

Alex Ivory at burgee exchangeduring Ida Lewis.

beach to bay 2011 volume 84 • number 82011 rich roberts photos beach to bay t he event, now part...

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