Five Tips to Keep Winter Away From Your Boat Trailer

From Scuttlebutt.com

If your boat trailer is going to spend the off-season outside exposed to the elements, Boat Owners Association of The United States has five tips to protect your investment and eliminate problems down the road:

1) A little spray will do you:
Spraying lubricants such as WD-40 on metal trailer roller assemblies, winch gears and electrical connections will keep moisture away and rust at bay. It's also best to take care of any rust spots now on the (galvanized) metal trailer frame: sand, prime and paint. (Trust us, this will be the last thing on your mind come springtime.)


2) Don't park under trees:
Some boaters think their boat will be protected by storing it under trees but the opposite is true - ice, snow, and howling winter storms can snap off tree limbs which come crashing down. Falling leaves and needles can also stain boat covers and gelcoat, or make their way inside where they can block transom drain holes.


3) Turn it around in the driveway:
If you're going to leave the boat on the trailer in your driveway for the winter, face the hitch away from the street if possible, and put a lock on the trailer hitch. The name of the game in avoiding boat theft is to make your rig as difficult as possible to steal.

4) Take care of the tires:
In addition to being a theft deterrent, removing the tires and storing them in the garage or shed will keep the sun from damaging them. With the tires off, this may also a good time to repack the bearings (Another thing you won't want to do in the spring). Block the frame and secure plastic (contractor grade) trash bags over the hubs and brakes to keep them dry. If tires won't be removed, position the trailer so that the tires rest on a piece of plywood or plank to prevent dry rot, and cover them (again with plastic bags) to keep the sun off and hubs and brakes dry. To avoid flat spots from happening, move the trailer periodically a few inches throughout the winter.


5) Help water drain:
 Keeping the boat and trailer rig in a slightly nose-high (bow up) position will allow water to drain out the transom drain hole. This can be easily done by placing a small block under the trailer jack. (Don't forget to remove drain plug and tie it to the ignition key where you will find it in the spring). Also ensure that the boat's cover is tight and periodically check inside throughout the winter - critters love to hide aboard boats and find them appetizing.
Source: http://www.boatus.com/pressroom/release.asp?id=561

Bosun's Blog

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Induction of Evert Bastet to the Quebec Sailing Hall of Fame

Montreal, Octobre 21th, 2010

QUEBEC SAILING HALL OF FAME

It is with pleasure that we announce the induction of Evert Bastet into the Quebec Sailing Federation Hall of Fame. The induction will take place at the top of the Olympic Tower during the Quebec Sailing Federation Gala on Saturday night, October 21th.

Mr. Bastet is the second person honoured since the launch of the Quebec Sailing Hall of Fame in October 2009. By inducting him to the Hall of Fame, the Quebec Sailing Federation wishes to bring recognition to his exceptional achievement as an high performance athlete and Olympian and to his dedication and long term involvement in the sport.

Evert Bastet, born in Venezuela, moved to Canada in 1955 with his family. Bastet started sailing in his youth, describing the Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club as his “extended backyard”. His first victory, at the national level, took place in Calgary during the 1965 Canadian Youth Championship. This was the beginning of many great accomplishments to follow.

Amongst many achievements, Bastet, part of the Canadian Olympic Sailing team, has qualified in seven Olympic Games. This includes the 1968 Mexico, 1972 Munich, 1976 Montreal, 1980 Moscow (boycotted), 1984 Los Angeles, 1988 South Korea and 1992 Barcelona Games. With his team members, Evert finished 4th in the 1976 Montreal Games and won Silver at the 1984 Los Angeles Games in the Flying Dutchman Class. He has since been Team Leader for the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Games. It is difficult to beat five decades of involvement in the world’s largest organized sporting event!

At the local level, Evert has long been involved with the Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club and the Hudson Yacht Club as participant, official and executive.

Over the years, Evert Bastet has already received numerous awards and recognitions for his contribution to sailing in Canada. Most recently, he represented our country in carrying the Olympic Torch for the 2010 Vancouver Games. Also, the Canadian Yachting Association honoured Mr. Bastet in 2007 with the Rolex Sailor of the Year Award. This award is presented to those who have brought recognition to Canadian Sailing and the CYA. Most notably, Mr. Bastet has been inducted in the Quebec Sport Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1994.

The Quebec Sailing Federation (FVQ) considers itself lucky to count Evert Bastet among its members. Since 1994, an FVQ trophy was named after him. The FVQ Evert Bastet Trophy recognizes an exceptional athlete at the national and/or international level. It is our pleasure to now include Evert Bastet as an honoured member of the Quebec Sailing Federation’s Hall of Fame.

The induction of Evert Bastet will be a part of the Quebec Sailing Federation 40th anniversary celebration. A cocktail reuniting Quebec sailing Olympians, volunteers, and members who have contributed to the development and the promotion of sailing for the last 40 years will precede the Gala during which the winners of the 2010 awards will also be unveil.

Congratulations and Thank You to Evert Bastet.

-30-

Fédération de voile du Québec

Annapollis Yacht Club

by John Marten

We visited Annapolis Yacht Club on the weekend of October 23rd.  It's an impressive location and well worth the visit if you are in the area.   The "annex" is dedicated to their drysail fleet of about 30 J22's, 15 Etchells, 12 J24's and a smattering of Stars.  To handle such a large fleet, they have just added a 3rd drysail crane and the J22's sail on a different night than the other fleets.

Bernard's new boat trailored up and ready to go

A sea of J22's with new crane in foreground

Pumpkin & Club Captain's Broom Race - October 16th

Join us this weekend for some of the last official races of the season, and fun for sailors of all ages.

Pumpkin Race

In the morning, come out for this seasonal family favorite.  It's a fun race with a twist that throws your normal strategy to the wind.

After starting and before finishing a boat must pick up at least 1 pumpkin by any method provided all crew members remain on board (might be a challenge for certain individuals based on recent experience even without Pumpkins). After the finish bring your catch into the club and enjoy some lunch while the results are calculated. Each boat's corrected time will be adjusted according to their haul of pumpkins.

Skippers and pumpkin briefing at 09:30, first gun at 10:30

Club Captain's Broom Race

In the afternoon, all boats are invited to come out and "sweep the lake" as our Club Captain hosts a mystery course that will be revealed at the skippers briefing.

Skipppers briefing at 13:00, first gun at 14:00

Frostbite Series

The Frostbite series begins this Sunday, 10 October, with the start at 10am, and will continue through October and maybe even sneak into November.

This is casual racing to enjoy the fine fall weather and get out and sail with a few other boats.  Skippers meet up at 9:15-9:30, decide on a course around some of the fixed marks.  One boat will provide sound signals on the water for the start, and everyone keeps their own time.  Normally we're done by noon.

Fall Sailors Meeting - Tuesday 12 October

We are pleased to invite you to join us for the Fall Sailors Meeting to reflect on the 2010 season and provide your feedback and suggestions on how we can continue to improve the sailing program at HYC.

It will be held in the HYC bar, starting at 19:30.

Note that the meeting has been moved to Tuesday 12 October, one day earlier than the date indicated in the calendar.

Hope to see you all there

Bernard, Don, Marian & Jean-Luc

Senior Sailing Awards 2010

Senior Sailing Awards 2010

The Senior Sailing Awards dinner will take place on Saturday, 30 October.  Book early with the HYC office to make sure you and your crew have a spot.  It’s always a fun-filled evening, and a great way to close the season.

Nominations for 2010

There is no better recognition than that of your peers. With this spirit in mind, I invite you to provide nominations for the awards listed below. You should include with your suggestions some insight and justification as to why you feel the individual or group is worthy of the honour.

To assist you in framing your nominations, the terms of the deed of gift for certain key awards are included below. Please email your nominations to sailing@hudsonyachtclub.com by October 11th for consideration.

Roberton Bell

To be awarded to the individual or group who best exemplify the true spirit of HYC sailing through competitiveness, integrity, fair play and sportsmanship, or by making an outstanding contribution to the sailing community of Hudson Yacht Club

FVQ Trophy

This trophy shall be presented annually to a member of the Club in recognition of his/her extraordinary contribution to sailing over the past year. Therefore, it may be remitted to a racer, a volunteer, an official, a cruiser, a benefactor, and organizer or any other individual that the Club wishes to honour.

Crew Trophy

This trophy shall be presented annually to an individual or group that through their regular participation within a yacht’s crew have demonstrated their teamwork, dedication, commitment and sportsmanship over the course of the past season.

Other awards for which you may submit nominations:

• Most Improved Sailor PHRF 1A
• Most Improved Sailor PHRF 1B/2
• Most Improved Sailor PHRF 3
• Most Improved Dinghy Sailor
• Novice Helm Award
• Most Improved Tanzer 22
• Most Improved Female Sailor
• Top Female Sailor

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thomson Long Distance Race

The Thomson Long Distance race will be held this Saturday, 2 October.

The first signal at 11:00. There will be a brief skippers meeting at 10:00.

This race was established in 1966 by the Commodore at the time, Arthur Thomson, and is an important part of the tradition of the club as well as being a very enjoyable sail.

All keelboats are welcome to participate, and a prize is awarded to the first boat on corrected time. The prestigious Thomson Trophy itself will be awarded to the first “cruising boat” on corrected time. For a reminder of the review that was conducted last year of the definition of eligible boats for the Thomson Trophy, follow this link.

Sailing instructions will be posted on the club website.

Club Championship 2010

Following a very exciting day’s racing, in the very last race of the series, Evert Bastet with crew Taylor Grant, Matt Rozon and Jenny Marten emerged as the HYC 2010 club champions.

With 6 races to run, RC, led by RO Scott Lawrence was out early, but very shifty conditions delayed the start of the wild card race until 10:00. Alan Gray and David Godin exchanged the lead position several times during the first three legs of the race but, in the end, Jean-Luc Gosselin caught a personal wind-lane on the last down-wind and snatched a second place just behind Alan to go through to the club championship series.

The wind continued to strengthen, but remained very shifty the whole day to challenge both competitors and race committee alike. Each race in the 5-race series proved exciting with no one competitor dominating and all the boats appearing reasonably matched. The wind continued to oscillate and also varied significantly in strength – so there was a major premium for picking the right side and getting in-phase – and a big penalty if you happened to be on the wrong side of a wind variation. The positions changed frequently on the course, providing plenty of interest for the small fleet of spectator boats that were out to support the sailors and follow the action.

After four races, Evert Bastet and Allan Gray were tied with 1 race to go and 1 drop to be had. The RC was determined to set an absolutely square course for the determining race and so tension mounted as the pin and the windward mark were adjusted and the start sequence was called off a few times. Once underway, after a close start, Evert eventually managed to open up a lead and Ron Harris snatched a second place for the race, with Alan in a close third. Congratulations to all competitors who all pulled off some excellent moves during the day.

The final placement was: Evert Bastet, Allan Gray, Ron Harris, Jean-Luc Gosselin and Chris Campbell and their respective crews.

Thanks to everyone: Competitors, Race Committee, Support Boats, the J/24 fleet and the office for helping to make the event a success.

Club Champions 2010 - Photo courtesy of Robert Steiner

To see more great photos, go to http://steinerfoto.zenfolio.com/.

And also to www.maddylane.com

Soling One Meter Champion 2010

Thursday September 9 2010.

By Roy Folland

Our Soling One Meter Fleet Championship event was run today off the T pier. Reasonably steady west winds of 6 to 8 knots with gusts up to 15 or so, enabled us to complete the scheduled six races.

Races were generally tight between the four competitors with George Roberton coming out on top.

George has been a tough competitor all season. His win today is well deserved.

Congratulations George. Well done!

Roy

Club Championship Qualification

It has been a challenging and exciting season at HYC this year, with unusually strong winds but also low water levels.  The battles in the various fleets have been hard fought and everyone who has sailed deserves congratulations.  In the end, however, the following skippers and crews have emerged as the direct qualifiers for this years club championship:

PHRF1B/2: Jack, Ron Harris & crew

PHRF3: Shigawac, Chris Campbell & crew

Dinghy: Evert Bastet

In addition, the following boats have qualified for the wild card race:

PHRF1A: Slim, Alan Gray & crew

PHRF1B/2: Won Ton, David Godin & crew

PHRF3: Will o Wind, Jean-Luc Gosselin & crew

As there are only 3 boats that qualified directly for the club championship, the top two boats from the wild card race will qualify for the club championship.

This year, unfortunately, the PHRF1A fleet did not sail the minimum number of 16 official races to qualify directly for the club championship.  They did, however, sail more than 11 races and hence have a wild card spot.  The dinghy fleet did sail the minimum number of races, but only 1 competitor accumulated enough races to qualify.

The full scores for all boats have been distributed on email and will also be posted on the club website. If there are any queries, please send an email to sailing@hudsonyachtclub.com or give me a call.

Congratulations to the qualifiers and we invite everyone to join the fun and come out to support the sailors and watch some exciting racing on Saturday 18 September.