Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Big Thanks from the Race Team

Great news, the Bring and Buy Sale raised $367.50 for the Race Team!

Many Thanks to all the members who brought down their treasures for us to sell and to those of you who purchased them. The funds raised are greatly appreciated and will help our young athletes pursue their racing goals.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Join The HYC Race Committee Team

WHO

· Sailors
· Retired racers
· Non Sailors, non boaters
· Everyone is welcome.


No experience necessary, not even sailing experience, just a desire to have fun out on the water.

We will find a place for you from day one.

Develop your RM skills at your own pace.

The Race committee schedule is flexible (once a week, once a month).

Contact: Pat Patterson 450.458.0329
Ross Tellier 450.458.5952

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

1st Sail

The prize this year for the keen bean sailors are Bernard le Duc and the crew of Springbok as the 1st boat launched and sailing at HYC. Sunday saw three J22's take to the water for an early tune up session. With bright but cool conditions they enjoyed a morning tour of the lake.

Also on the water last week end was our Commodore Michael Laventure. He was out on Saturday (if not Friday evening) to claim bragging rights over Evert Bastet.

It's great to see plenty of activity in the yard and as water levels appear to be cooperating, we intend to start launching on May 11th. This is good news for Ken Hodgson who already has Sloup du Jour ready to go to and has been seen camped out at the office to make his launch date appointment!


Time to Book Your Launch Date

Great news for all of you watching the water levels and working hard on your boats. The 1st day for launching will be Monday, May 11th 2009.

Please call the office as soon as possible to make your appointment. Remember that a launching appointment will not be accepted until written proof of sufficient liability insurance ($1,000,000.00) has been submitted to the office.

We would like to see all boats launched as soon as possible. Our first race is on May 19th, with the tune up races the week before.

The last day for launch is Friday, June 12th as the parking lot has to be cleared out prior to the Club Commissioning.

See you on the water!

Scuttlebutt April 2009 - Club Captain

The sailing program at HYC is full of exciting events and activities that help us all share in our passion for sailing both on and off the water. In this our Centennial year, I want to start by recognizing that the program is realized through the time and dedication of our volunteers and staff. I would like to introduce the members of the sailing committee and the key roles that they perform throughout the year.

Bernard leDuc, Senior Sailing Director
Dave Cobbett, Judge
Gord Thompson, Vice Commodore
Holly Frohloff, Women’s Sailing and Participation
Jean Luc Gosselin, Regattas, Handicaps & Club Measurer
John De Sevigne, Communications
Marian Kuiper, Junior Sailing Director
Pat O’Brien, Bosun
Phil Gribbin, Trophies and Awards
Ross Tellier, Race Management
Roy Folland, Soling 1M
Ryan Beck, FruitBowl

There are of course many others that provide valued help, support and guidance. Thank you all for the enthusiasm and hard work.

Read on to find out more about what is planned this year and finally a reminder that it all starts with the Spring Sailors Meeting, Wednesday April 29, 7:30pm in the Bar

Scuttlebutt April 2009 - Senior Sailing

Planning is already well underway for our 2009 and the calendar is packed full of fun events.

The core of the sailing program will again be our Wednesday and Saturday series PHRF spinnaker racing, as well as the Tuesday Whitesail series, which just keeps growing in popularity. For 2009, we’ve added a Frostbite series right after the Fall series. This started unofficially last year, with 10 boats gathering for spontaneous races on frosty Sunday mornings to stretch the season by a couple more weeks. Of course, the program would not be complete without the Jack Howlett Memorial Race, the Thompson Long Distance Race, the Single Handed Race and the Club captain’s Broom. We will also be running a special event for Centennial weekend – watch the new and improved Sailors Advisory http://hycsailorsadvisory.blogspot.com/ for details.

Events with other clubs will continue to expand. As well as our interclub racing on Wednesdays with CVL and Oka, we will be reintroducing the Lake of Two Mountain Championship – a series of 5 races in June with CVL, CNMD and Oka.

About 30 boats competed in the Wednesday Series last year and a similar number in White Sail. We hope to get those numbers up even higher this year and welcome the new additions to the fleet: so far at least one J22, one J24 and a C&C Redline.

Dinghy sailing has a new time slot and will be receiving an injection of extra talent and energy. It’s moved to Thursday nights and the old hands will be challenged by the up-and-coming junior sailors from the bronze programs and the race teams.

The Soling 1M program continues to go from strength to strength and will be hosting the National Championships this year.

As you can see it’s a big program, with lots of races to run and results to calculate. So I’m happy to report that Pat O’Brien will be returning as Bo’sun and building on his success from last season.

Finally, a quick note to recognize Scott Lawrence and the crew of Quill who were the true PHRF1A fleet champions last year (this was incorrectly reported in the Annual Report).

See you on the water, the sooner the better.

Scuttlebutt April 2009 - Junior Sailing

It’s gonna be a hot summer – and I am talking about HYC’s Opti and Senior Race Teams! Our coaches and kids are gearing up for the start of their pre-season training later this month. Simon Gallagher and Lauren Laventure, two of HYC’s own who took their passion for racing to international levels, will be guiding our young sailors through the challenges and thrills of regatta competition!

Many thanks to the race team committee (Diana Lavoie, Cyrille Vittecoq, Don Gillis, Danny Olivenstein and Hannah Kennell) whose input and time were invaluable – and to the race team kids and parents for their support and enthusiasm!

Registration is now open to non-members and there are still a few spots available. Race teams are typically bring-your-own-boat, but this year we have made available to rent a limited number of double-handed 420-class boats to our Senior Race Team participants (and it is an excellent deal!)

If you would like more information on our Race Teams, coaches, registration or boat rental, please check out the Junior Race Teams page on our website, call the office or come by to pick up a Race Team Package.

In the next Scuttlebutt, we will say HI to our group of keen instructors, and look at some exciting offerings in the Junior Sailing Programs! (And if you just can’t wait, check out the Junior Sailing Lessons page on the web!)

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Spring Sailors Meeting - April 29

Now that the snow and ice has left us it's time to look forward to the season ahead. In this our Centennial Year there is an exciting sailing program including a series of National regattas, coaching clinics, an extended series on club and inter club keel boat racing, a revised dinghy racing schedule and much much more planned.

Want to learn more then come on down on Wednesday April 29 to the bar at HYC at 7:30pm.

Bring and Buy Sale in Support of our Race Teams at Work Bee April 25th

Hey, you must have boating gear you no longer use or need? Nearly new lifejackets the kids grew out of? (Or you grew out of? ;-) What about the boat hardware still in the packaging, because you bought the wrong one? (Oh, we’ve all done that.) Still using that canoe? And what about that boat cover you found? Fenders, a spool of rope, an anchor, GPS, the list of extra stuff in the stern locker or basement goes on and on.....

Why not bring all those treasures down to the Work Bee on Saturday, April 25th? The HYC Race Team kids will be there from 8:30 – 11:00 a.m. to receive your goods, price them, tag them and sell them for you. A small portion of the proceeds will go to the HYC Race Teams and the rest goes back to you!

And if you don’t have anything to sell, be sure to check out the sale, score an excellent deal on that thingy you’ve always needed, and support our enthusiastic young sailors!!

The sale will run over the lunchtime break from 12:00 to 1:30 pm. Don’t miss it!!

Questions or want to lets us know what your going to bring down drop us an E-mail at sailing@hudsonyachtclub.com

Work Bee - April 25th

It's that time of year again to help spruce up the Club for the season ahead. Lots of help is needed as usual from cleaning up Junior Sailing, unrapping the coach boats, to painting Hy Seas.
There are lots of projects so bring down your tools and we will see you there from 8:30 am.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Fitting Out Checklist

Make sure 2009 is mishap-free with Yachting Monthly's guide to preparing your boat for the coming season.

Clink on the link below to download a PDF copy of the fit-out checklist.

http://www.yachtingmonthly.com/ym/pdf/YM0408p034.pdf

Hudson Sailors Take On The World

The 2009 J/24 World Championship, hosted by Annapolis Yacht Club, April 30-May 8, already has 78 entries from eighteen countries including Hudson's own High Strung and Peacemaker. All competitors qualify through a regional, national or international event or nomination to represent their country in the World Championship. Entries close April 8th.

The HYC teams led by Dave Cobbett and Lee Grant join a fleet that includes five former J/24 World Champions together with five North American champions; a four-time European champion; two South American and five US Midwinter Champions. Chris Larsen returns to try and repeat his 1996 win along with two-time World Champion, Mauricio Santa Cruz of Brazil.

Stay tuned for news of their exploits.

Event site:

Racing Rules Podcast - Get ahead with Bryan Willis

So still wondering why the rules change? Or how to defend your position in a protest?

Nobody knows the racing rules of sailing like Bryan Willis. Having chaired international juries at major events throughout the world including the Sydney Olympics, the America's Cups and currently for the Volvo Ocean Race, he knows a thing or two about what you can, can't or must to while out competing on the water.

In these three Wiley Nautical podcasts listen to Bryan discuss the racing rules of sailing:

Podcast 1. Why Change the Rules?
In this, the first of three racing rules of sailing podcasts, Bryan Willis talks about how he got involved with the racing scene, how and why the rules get updated and the main changes for the recent 2009-2012 revision.

Click here to listen to the podcast

Podcast 2: What rules do you actually need to know?
In the second of Bryan Willis; racing rules podcasts, he discusses what rules the club racer needs to know, what rules cause the most confusion on the water and offers a few suggestions for how to use the rules to your advantage.

Click here to listen to the podcast

Podcast 3. Umpiring and Protests
In the last of the three racing rules podcasts, expert author Bryan Willis talks about the advantages of on the water umpiring, offers his own advice on making the most of the protest process and how to present strong evidence to the committee.

Click here to listen to the podcast

Wiley Nautical publishes books for yacht and dinghy sailors, surfers, powerboat fans and more. Wiley Nautical books include the sailing books previously published under the Fernhurst name and the Cruising Companion series.

http://www.wileynautical.com/view/0/index.html

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Excellent Seminars

Many thanks to Ross Tellier and Ron Harris for running excellent seminars on Race Management and the new Rules. Both were very well attended with about 20 participants for Race Management and over 30 for the Rules.