The deadline for club registration is just 9 days away… Have you taken care of your membership yet?  We don’t want anyone left out of the yearbook so please get those dues paid; Emily and Meg will appreciate it and you’ll love seeing your name in the coveted yearbook at the first social gathering on Saturday, June 4th!

Without a doubt everyone has noticed the mood Mother Nature has been in lately…I’m so sad I haven’t gotten to name the first sailboat or sailor to hit the water yet! No matter your personal descriptors for this Spring, a damper has been put on the installation of docks, delivery of lifts and unwrapping of boats from covers. If you’re like me, it can’t come soon enough; fingers crossed we can hit the water quickly and get some much needed rust removal accomplished before the start of racing!

Saturday, April 30th starting at 9am the Spring Cleaning will begin at the YC. If you’ve looked at the weather forecast, you’ll see it’s most likely going to be less than pleasant to do outdoor work. If the weather doesn’t cooperate, we’ll go ahead and take care of the building’s interior on Saturday then plan on Sunday, May 1st at 11am for the outside areas. If you have any questions, please contact Margaret Oz at m.osmundson75@gmail.com

This week the city of Clear Lake is starting a restoration project aimed at bringing the downtown sea wall back to its days of glory… Perhaps soon on the National Historic Landmark registry, the sea wall needs a facelift; a project that was originally projected to take over a year, is now proposed to be done by Memorial Day 2022… We shall see if that time frame holds; regardless please be prepared for some congestion at the boat ramp downtown.  Perhaps this is the year your boat goes in before Memorial Day Weekend?

May 7th the Clear Lake Yacht Club is hosting a Race Management seminar; the seminar with John Strassman (USSailing Certified and Internationally renowned Race Officer) is designed for yacht club race committee members that want to know how to get organized and run great regattas and races. This is NOT the seminar for US Sailing certification that is based on the rule book. Please remember to bring your rulebook (RRS 2021-2024) with you if you have one! This seminar will also be great for RC individuals that want a spring refresher before the opening race of the season. There will be hands-on exercises and lots of time for questions and deep dives into your situations.

For times and location please contact Mark Tesar at mtesar@cltel.net

Seminar Registration Link

On-water safety, particularly during racing, has become an area of emphasis for USSailing, the ILYA and now the CLYC. A new initiative has been started to “Strongly recommend” the use of kill switches and prop guards on coach boats along with “Safety cards” outlining proper protocols in emergency situations.  Some of the information can be found here on the ILYA website; with some digging, other information and important thoughts about water safety can be found.  Boat Medic for example is a great first aid kit (official first aid partner of the US Sailing Team), probably not a bad idea for us to have something similar on our powerboats just in case?

Earlier I mentioned rust removal……Before the club season and major regatta season starts, think about the “Tune Up Regattas” happening close by… Tune up your boat, get your feet wet (hopefully nothing more) and see some old friends after a long winter! Unfortunately a few events have been canceled or reconsidered for this year, however, if you’re interested in early season regattas, here’s a few to choose from:

May 14-15            Spring Tune Up Regatta (C/MC)        Cedar Lake, WI

May 21-22            LaBelle Tune Up (C/MC/X)            Oconomowoc, WI

May 21-22            Geneva Spring Regatta (E)            Lake Geneva, WI

Vice Commodore Brad Price is venturing farther offshore this summer, participating in two ocean races that are sure to test both his mettle, his stomach and keep the CLYC membership on the edge of their chairs. First, The Atlantic Cup.  On May 22, he will dock-out from Newport, RI racing double-handed (that’s right, two people only) on a Class-40 racing yacht out into the Atlantic on a 315 nautical mile race up the U.S. East Coast to Portland, ME.  The following month, Brad will venture outside the range of helicopter rescue to race in the Newport-Bermuda Race, docking out of Newport, RI on June 17 for a 635 nautical mile race across the Gulf Stream and into paradise on the island of Bermuda. If anyone has any questions or is looking to become involved in offshore racing and/or training, Brad would be happy to try and help.  Feel free to shoot him an email or just call his cell.

Past Commodore Chris Wessels and son Xander have been busy racing their Hobie Waves.  Most recently they participated in the Mid-South Regional hosted by Shreveport Yacht Club.  Xander finished 3rd overall with Chris right behind in 4th; each took a pair of bullets in the eleven race series.  Nice job guys.

The Social calendar dates are set, however, we have yet to find a suitable location for the Saturday, July 16th event… Just a few friends with common interests coming over for cocktails and dinner… If you would like to volunteer your home and host, please contact Mike Starbeck at michael.starbeck@gmail.com

Please don’t forget your membership dues need to be paid by May 7th!  We’ve all waited long enough; venture out to the website, better yet, just click here and go straight to the membership page!

More next week!

Stay in the clear air,

Dan Allen
MC 2811 – Relentless
E Z-11 – Wild Side
dsallen@cltel.net
www.clyciowa.com
www.clycss.com