Queen City Yacht Club, Toronto, Canada - CLIPPER · 2016. 5. 13. · CLIP The Magazine of the Queen...

CLIPThe Magazine of the Queen City Yacht Club May 2016

BoardUpdates•RacingRules•SartingtoRace•ClasslessRacing:AWeekInPuertoVallartaSafetyCorner•Yoga•SailPast•SchmoozeandtheFlyingQueens•JeanNimmoMemorial

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PhotobyDonHinchley

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Board Updates/QCYC Info

CommodoreRon [email protected]

Vice CommodoreJacqui [email protected]

Rear CommooreGraham [email protected]

Fleet CaptainChris [email protected]

TreasurerJohn Heath [email protected]

SecretaryLeigh [email protected]

House ChairGenia [email protected]

MooringsNikolay [email protected]

TheClipper ispublished four timesa year: May 1, June 15, August 15andOctober 15.Contributionsmaybe submitted to thepublisherviae-mail at [email protected]

While an effort will be made topublish submissions, the pub-lisher reserves the right to editmaterial for length and suitability.

Clipper Editor and Publisher Mark [email protected]

Clipper Copy Editor Heather [email protected]

Clipper Layout Christopher [email protected]

Quick Clipper - Moderators Jim Neundorf and Victor Granic

Webmaster Arleigh [email protected]

Twitter Keith Nunn

Facebook Teresa Miolla

GroundsJoanna [email protected]

MembershipNick [email protected]

PlanningTrevor [email protected]

Entertainmentchair [email protected]

CommunicationsMark [email protected]

Learn to SailRobert [email protected]

Yard ChairWill [email protected]

ManagerLaura [email protected]

QCYC Board 2016 Communications

Past CommodoreSteve Hills

Advertising

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Tel: 416-203-0929Fax: 416-203-0931Website: www.qcyc.ca

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Ads should be submitted as digital files: eps, tiff, jpg (for tiff/jpg ensure 300 dpi.) For information on placing ads in The Clipper, please contact Mark MacCrae: [email protected]

CommodoreRon Mazza, [email protected]

Well, for the longesttime it looked likespring would nevercome, but at last, af-ter delaying launchby a week, somewarm weather, atleast warm enough towork on boats. Goodcall on the delay,Will. I hope the sum-mer evolves to be a whole lot better thanthe spring has been and by the time you arereading this, all the boats are in the water.

I want to welcome our new Board members,MarkMacRae inCommunications,NikolayRo-shtainsky in Moorings, and Leigh Geraghty asSecretary.JoannaKiddhasmovedfromSecretarytoGroundsforthisyear.AndabigthankyoutoourretiringBoardmembersSteveGigielasMoor-ings Chair, Richard Slee in Communications,MichaelKellyinGrounds,andPhilipChattertoninEntertainment.Allotherpositionsremain thesame as last year except we still have a gapingholeatEntertainmentaswecouldfindnoonetorunforthatpositionlastfall.ThankstoallBoardmembersforwillingtogetinvolvedanddedicatethe time necessary to make Queen City work.

We also have ourmanager LauraVanek return-ingthisyear,aswellasEdMunsonandtheBightRestaurant, and our chief handyman Felipe.

The club continues to be healthy financially,with a strong nearly full membership, butthat’s just a starting point not an end point.The Board has been meeting monthly over thewinter and have been quite active to ensurewe stay healthy and strong for our next 125years. Please read the individual Board Reportsfor more detail, but here are some highlights.

The Board held two “retreats” over the winterto better determine a strategic direction for fu-ture planning at the club. Trevor Spurr as Plan-

Queen City Yacht Club

Board Updates

continued on page 4

ning Chair led this initiative and the sessionswere facilitated by our Club Manager, LauraVanek. The process was most enlightening anddeterminedthatpeoplewereprettyhappyaboutwhere the clubwas at and didn’t anticipate theneedforsignificantchangegoingforward.How-ever, fourgeneralareasof focuswere identified:

1)Self-helpaspectsoftheclubrelatedtoitssustain-ability,changingskillsetsofmembers,workhourorganization,hiredcontractorsv.volunteerproj-ects,optingoutbypayingformissingworkhours.2) Issues related to financial and membershipsuchasplanningforfuturecapitalexpenditures,the calculationofmembership fees and services

used, and how to expand sources of revenue.3)Membershipissuessuchascategoriesofmembers,changingrightsandobligations,andtheimpactofthependingnot-for-profitcorporationlegislation.4) Future attributes of the club such as sail v.power; racingv. cruising; impactof live-aboards;issues related to large boats, small boats, din-ghies, drysail, learn-to-sail; social club with ref-erence to “small foot print” limitations, revenueandcost:expectationsofallmembers.

How we tackle these issues de-pends on the available energy will-ing to tackle them. The next stepwill be to better determine that.

Trevor has also been finalizing thedetails of our newHarassment policyand Violet Abbot (formerly Couch)has agreed to take on the role asRe-sourcePersonasoutlinedinthatpolicy.

Our new Mooring Chair, Nikolay,has been active this winter and theBoard has approved the purchaseand installation of a new launchramp beside the Algonquin Queendock to the replace the 50+ year oldincreasingly decrepit ramp we have.

Joanna, our new Grounds Chair, hasalsobeenactiveandhas foundanewgroundsvehicletoreplacementtheag-ingandalso increasinglydecrepitma-chinewehavebeenusing.ItsprimaryusewillbetodeliverourgarbagetothedumpatCentreIsland.Thisisaslightlyusedmachineandwehaveenteredintoalease-to-ownarrangementforitspurchase.Butithasalimitedtowingcapacityanditsusewillbere-strictedtothatcapacitytoensurebetterlongevity.

And our new boat, the Freddy M, is beingmodified for itsnewroleas race committeeves-sel and backup heavyweather tender under thedirection of our Fleet Captain Chris with helpfrom our Rear Commodore Graham, past FleetCaptain Lawrence Reiber, and Peter Ashby.

ButthegapingholeintheBoardatthemomentisatEntertainment.Anumberofmembershavestepped forward to offer assistance but the bulkoftheorganizational/coordinationloadhadfallenon our Vice Commodore Jacqui Cook. This isnot a sustainable situation as the Vice Commo-

doreisalreadyafulltimejobwithafullslateofresponsibilities.Thenet resultwill be that theremaybe fewerevents thisyearandtheremaybea few hiccups, but all the old standards will bethere--Chili Challenge, Sail Past, NewMembersNight, Lobsterfest, Commodore’s Ball, WomenSkippers Race, QCYC Regatta, PresentationDinner, and Pot Luck dinner--so there will stillbe lotsofopportunity tomix,mingle,andparty.

Wewill have aCommodore’s Ball this summer.DuetothelackofanEntertainmentChairandtherealizationthatanincreasingnumberofourstal-wartmembersareawayforchunksofthewinter,itisbeingheldinthesummer.Thedatehasbouncedaroundabitlookingforasuitabledate(sorryforanyconfusionthatthatmayhavecreated)buthasnowsettledatFridayJuly8.Sodustoffyourtuxes,suits,andfancydressesandjoinusfortheCom-modore’sDinnerandadance.ThesamefabulousTravelingWilburystributeband,theBlackPearls,whoweresopopularatlastwinter’sCommodore’sBall, are returning. It shouldbe ahoot!Mark itonyourcalendarsandstaytunedformoredetails.

Ourpropertytaxsituationisstillunresolvedand,

ifpossible,moreconfusedthanever.DealingwiththeMunicipal PropertyAssessmentCorporation(MPAC)hasbeenlikewrestlingwithJello.Thereisnoplacetogetagrip.QueenCityispartofagroupofeightTorontoareayachtclubschalleng-ingourassessmentsfrom2008to2015.Afteraninexplicable10-foldincreasein2008,MPAChasbackedoffthatinitialhorrendousnumber,butas-sessmentssincethenhavebeenalloverthemap.

TheothersevenclubsareAshbridgesBayYachtClub,HighlandYachtClub,Etobicoke Yacht Club, CathedralBluffsYachtClub,BluffersParkYachtClub, Lakeshore Yacht Club, andMimico Cruising Club. Island YachtClubwereoriginallypartofthisgroupbut withdrew. Royal Canadian YachtClub and National Yacht Club wenttheirownwaysandhavesubsequentlysettled individually with MPAC. InJanuaryofthisyeartherewasahear-ing in frontofapanelof theAssess-mentReviewBoard(ARB)forBluffersPark in an attempt to finally resolvethe issue for those taxation years.

Though this hearing applied only toBPYC it had been our understand-ing that it would be a test case andmodel solution for the other 7 clubsand would resolve the issue for alleight clubs. It seemswewerewrong.The MPAC lawyer made it clear atthe hearingv that theywould not beboundby theBluffersdecision in re-lationtotheotherclubswithappealspending.TheBluffersdecisionwasre-

leasedinlateMarchandseemstousquitebizarreinitsfindings.Itappearedtorejectbothourargu-mentsandMPAC’sandreachitsownconclusionby cherry-pickingdata from thepresentations toarriveatanassessedlandvalueeveninexcessofthevaluesbeingclaimedbyMPACat thishear-ing.Therewasnoreferencetowater lots,exceptan erroneous comment that both parties agreedthattheyhadequalvaluetolandlots--andthenig-noredthemintheassessment.Thentheyconclud-ed that since IMAChad not formally requestedanincreaseinpastassessmentsthatthoseassess-mentswouldnotbeincreasedandwouldthusstayastheyare.TheresultforBPYCbeingthatthere

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Vice Commodore

Jacqui Cook, [email protected]

WeareaSelf-HelpClub.

You likely joinedQCYC because youwantedtobepartofacommunitythatworkstogether tomake ourclubaplaceofwhichwe can be proud.

When you read thisreport,wewillhavecometogetherandlaunchedour boats.This is one of the biggest demonstra-tions of our self-help philosophy. Since no onecan launchaboatalone, it takesallofuswork-ingtogethertomakeourspringmiraclehappen.

Nextup is theSpringworkparty.Thewinter ishard on our club. It leaves behind dirt, peelingpaint, filthy windows, too many leaves, brokenboards, mooring tires out of place and manyother maintenance projects. Every year beforeSailpast, we ask everyone to come out and giveone day of work to the club. The more mem-berswho attend thework party, themoreworkgets completed. Whether your talent is raking,painting, hammering, cleaning, fixing or tinker-ingweneedyou.The springworkpartywill be

spot at the stern of the portside tube hasbeen repaired--all at no cost to the club.

Ourfleetcrewshavebeenhiredandmostoflastyear’scomplementwillbeback.Pleasesayhitoeveryone!

Fleet work involves operations and attention allsummerofcourse(partofthewintertoo).Ifyouhave issues,pleasedonot take themouton thecrews. I am the unpaidwhipping boy for issues(justlikealloftheotherBoardmembers)!Butweare also gratified to receive compliments whentheyaredue.Wewilltryourbesttoensurethatall club members “take us for granted” duringthe summer with no issues and smooth sailing.

Haveagreatsummer!

Rear Commodore

Graham Dougall, [email protected]

Another season isupon us and hope-fullywewillhavefairwinds and followingseas. Starting 2016,more of the SailingCommittee’s keytasks are now under-taken by true com-mittees of the Sail-ing Committee. Thisis amply illustrated by the material producedby the volunteers on these committees in thisedition of the Clipper. Thanks, everyone!

Here are some key Sailing Committee events:

•Wednesday,May11--Participants’MeetingandfirstpartoftheseminaronRacingRulesofSailing•Tuesday,May17-SecondpartoftheseminaronRacingRulesofSailing•Wednesday,May18-FirstRace•Saturday,May21-SailPast•Tuesday,May31-CruisingSeminaronprocessofenteringtheUSandreturningtoCanada•Saturday,July30toJuly1-CruisetoYYC.REGISTERONLINE•Saturday,August6-WomenSkippersRace•Saturday,August27toSunday,August28-CruisetoBPYC.REGISTERONLINE•Saturday,September10-QCYCREGATTA!

More details will be available on posters at theClub, and in theClipper andQuick Clipper.

This extensive program could not have beenput together without the effort of many vol-unteers. We can always use more help for:

•RaceCommittee-onwaterandonshore•Jury•CruiseCo-ordinatorsandAssistantCruiseCo-ordinators•Prepthenewvessel

Andespeciallyweneedsomeonetohelpmanagethetrophies.Ifyou’reinterestedinhelpinginanyway,pleasecontactme.Appreciateanyfeedback,[email protected]

FleetChris Borgal, [email protected]

Weareoffandrunningfor the new season.As I write this, theAlgonquin Princesshasbeencarrying theloadinrunsacrosstheharbour.Aswehadalate spring, I antici-patethattheweekendprior to launch willbe exceptionally busyandwearepreparedwitharrangements,includingback-to-backruns,toensureeveryonegetstotheIslandtogettheirtarpsoffandbottomsdone(!).

TheAlgonquinQueen is in thewaterwith newpaint and is being fitted out with all requiredsafety and operational gear. Servicing of en-gine components has been under way for awhile now andwill continue into the new year.Transport Canada inspection is scheduled.

ThesoontobechristenedFreddyMisbeingfittedwithappropriatesignalandcommitteeboatgear,althoughtheprogressoftheflagmastinstallationmaymean that wemay need tomake alternatearrangementsforthefirstraceortwooftheyearuntilthemastcanbefabricatedandtested(Gra-hamhasstatedthatpoleswithflagscanbeusedas a stop-gap measure). Minor items are beingaddressed,andpaint ison thebottom.Over thewinter,aheavywindpushedher laterally in thecradle, causing a considerable lean. Although awork crewwas inplace to righther, a fewdaysbefore itwasdue,PaulHornesetupthemateri-als onawarmishThursdayanddecided to startjacking--and couldn’t stop. With a wind gustfromtheotherside,shestoodupandherbottomwasrapidlypackedforstability(ofcourseheru-ined theafter-rightingpartybut agreathandofapplause isneeded forhimregardless). Aworkcrew will be set up this summer to adjust thecradlesomemoreandwewilllookforalocationtokeepheroutofthewind.Meantime,thenamewill be applied the transom and the scheduledchristening is for just prior to Chili Challenge.

The RIB will be sporting a new windshield(a recall by the manufacturer) and the soft

Commodore cont. from page 3held on SaturdayMay 7th starting at 8:30 a.m.

This year, for the first time since Eriks andI joined the club in 2002, we have an un-filled board position. No one volunteered forthe demanding job of Entertainment Chair.

Thankyoutothememberswhohavesteppedfor-ward to organize individual events, book bandsand deliver an entertainment program for theseason. I will thank this dedicated team morepersonally in future reports.Because of their ef-fortswehaveaninterestingentertainmentlineup.

Event Date LeadMember

ChiliChal-lenge

April30 KarenVeen-huizen

SailPast May21 GrahamDougall

NewMem-bersNight

June4 NickAbra-hams

TeamTrivia June10 MaryPartridge&DavidHall

AfterWomenSkippersRace

August6 BevHarney,Halszka&MarcelinaWeiss

Corn&WeenieRoast

September2 DougMiller

PigRoast September3 Klaus&LynnNoak;Tony&GeraldineKarahanas

AwardsBanquet

October1 GrahamDougall

PotLuck October22 ???Couldbeyou

Bandbooking:TeamHeathcote-Geoff&Lesley

Plus therearemanyexcitingracingandcruisingeventsduringtheseason:theQCYCRegatta,theWomenSkippersRaceandWednesdaynightracing.

We still needvolunteers tohelp in anumber ofareas,includinghelpingthebandsgettotheclub,advertising events and helping the team on theday of the event. If you can help, please letmeknow and I will point you at the right person.

I look forward to seeing you all at the club.

Board Updates Board Updates

wouldbenomoneybackfromtaxesalreadypaid,butnoincreaseonwhat’sbeenpaid.Norwasthereanyhelp in thefindingsmethodology thatcouldbe applied to the assessment of the other clubs.

Based on this, there was a unanimous decisionof the eight clubs to protest this decision andBPYCwouldseekreconsiderationfromtheARB.That reconsiderationhasbeen requestedandweare now awaiting a response.We should be re-ceiving our 2016 assessment this the fall so wewill seewhat that is.The saga, sadly, continues.

But on a lighter side, here’s some QCYCtrivia. Did you know that there are at leastfour other QCYC’s in the sailing world.

1.QueenCityYachtClubinSeattle.2.QueenslandCruisingYachtClub inAustralia.3.QueenscliffCrusingYachtClubalsoinAustralia.4.QueenCharlotteYachtClub inNewZealand.

A Board member of the QueenscliffCruising Club is scheduled to vis-it us while visiting Toronto on April 17.

I hope to see you all at Sail Past onMay 21st.And don’t forget the long-standing tradition ofa letter of apology and a bottle of rum to theCommodore fromanySeniorMemberswho failto sail their own boats past. Just a reminder.

Haveagreatsummer!!!

DecommissioningofHarold S. Robbins PhotobyDonHinchley DecommissioningofHarold S. Robbins

PhotobyDonHinchley

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Treasurer

John Heath, [email protected]

Launchtime,precededby sanding, painting,cleaning, polishing,checking all the sys-tems--andthelistgoeson--is finally here. Itis always worth thewaittobebackonthewater,nomatterwhat.

RecordsnowforAprilhas not helped with the prep of our boats, butthe board members have all been busy in theirownareasandalothasbeenaccomplishedoverthewinter. The directors, new or renewed, havebeenlearningtheinsandoutof theirportfolios.

With thebudgetset inSeptemberof thepreced-ingyear,wetacklethecapitalprojectlistinFeb-ruary andfinalize inMarch, as a rule.Wehavemadealotofcapital improvementsoverthelastthree years, notably the two new buildings andtheacquisitionoftheRobbinsreplacementvessel.

Wewerevery fortunate tohave found theTerryJason28thatwasmooredattheClubDock1slip.Manythankstoallthemembersoftheselectioncommittee.Somethingsneedtobeaddedormodi-fiedtoturnherfromagreatvesselintoagreatclubboatforpassengerservice,racecommitteeserviceand general duties. Our Rear Commodore andFleetCaptainhavebeenworkingveryhardintan-demtoseeherthroughtheupgradesandmodifica-tionsdesignedtomeetthespecialneedsofallherduties.Theracecommitteewillbeveryhappytohaveuseofastablevesselfittedouttotheirneedsandrequirements(Iknowthatafunctionalheadwillmakefora“happier”crewonthoselongdayson races that are beyond-the-harbour courses).

On the mooring end, our new Mooring ChairNikolay has done a great job in sorting out anew launch ramp that will be installed aroundthe first week of June. It will ease launch andhaul out for both the dinghy sailors and theLTS students. It will alsomake for a safer timeon the ramp: my dinghy outboard and I camevery close to a joint swim last September.

OurnewGroundsChairJoannaisofftoagreat

start,addressingourtractorissues.Thetractorwasfinallydeclareddeadlastfallafterwehadnurseditalongforthelast4or5years.Wehavearrangedanew-to-usvehiclethathasthepowertohaulgar-bagearoundtheyardandoverthebridge.Itisavehiclelikeagolfcartbutwithover800poundstowingcapacityandtheabilitytohaulatrailertotheCitywasteareaattheotherendoftheisland.Thetractorrequiredamuchlongerandslowertripthan the new vehicle.We should be able to getmoredoneinlesstime,allowingourgroundscrewtodoanevenbetterjobaroundthegrounds.Justasitisaroundourhomes,thelistofjobsandnewjobs is never-ending for our great grounds crew.

I would remind all as always that the cost ofCity-supplied services like water and wastecontinue to escalate. Here are some ways ev-ery member can help to keep costs down:

1. Leave the packaging on items at homewhenever possible to minimise waste.2. If you bring a new (fill in the blank)take the old one home for disposal.3. A barrel half full of “hazardous waste”costs in excess of $300 to $400 plustransport fees (min $250) to dispose of.4. If you see a tap dripping, please turn it off.

Our numbers are in line and will be re-viewed as always at the Spring Meeting.

HouseGenia Vanderkruk, [email protected]

Welcomeback foran-other sailing season.

Lauraandherstaffaregetting the clubhouseready after the longwinter, and makingnote of items whichneed attention. Aswith any older build-ingwhichsitsunusedfor part of the year,thereisnoshortageofmaintenanceitems.I’mhop-ingwecanmakeabigdentinthelistduringWorkPartyday,sopleaseplantocomeoutonMay7thtogetastartonyour2016workhours.Therearejobsforeveryskilllevel,andifyoucan’tbethere

onWorkPartyday,don’tdespair.Therearejobstobedonearoundtheclubhouseallseasonlongtokeepitlookingitsbest.Lookforthe“to-do”listontheQCYCwebsite, under theMembers section.

We welcome back Ed Munson of Queen CityCatering for another season. You’re encouragedto support the restaurant by enjoying a “BightatQCYC”.Ifyouhaveanycommentsorsugges-tionswithrespecttotherestaurant,pleasespeaktoamemberoftheRestaurantCommittee--GarryBaker, Deanna Owen, Gerry Karahanas, Rich-ard Slee, Thomas King, Violet Abbott and me.

I’d like toremindmembers thatboth therestau-rantandGreatHallarelicensedareasoftheclub.Outside alcohol may not be consumed in theseareas, as this is a violation of the terms of ourlicense, and could have consequences for bothQCYCandourcaterer.Youmaybringyourownwine to the restaurant, subject to corkage fees.

As well, please remember that theclubhouse is a smoke-free facility.

As always, I’d ask that if you see somethingaround the clubhouse which needs attention,please let me know via e-mail at [email protected] so that I can have it addressed. Or bet-ter yet, you can volunteer to take care of it!

CommunicationsMark MacRae, [email protected]

Welcome to the 2016 sailing season! I’m yournew Communications Chair, and I am learningas quickly as possible all of what that means.

As Iwrite this update, I amorganizing thefirstClipperofmycareer(whichifallwentwell,youare reading shortly afterMay 1st) and am verygratefulforthesupportofthevolunteerswhohelpmakeprojectslikethishappen:specificallylayoutartist Chris Sumpton and copy editor HeatherJackson.You’llnoticeabitofathemeinthefirstClipperof2016–it’sallaboutracing,somethingnearanddeartomyownheart.Thisisthetimeofyearwherewe’re lookingat the calendaranddeciding which events we want to race in andwhichwecangetcrewtocommitfor.Ihopeyou’llfind the articles informative and entertaining.

Imustalso thankthe twoQuickClippereditors

who have kept information flowing out to youall throughout the off-season:VictorGranic andJimNeundorf.Youmayhavenoticedacoupleofsmallchanges inyourQuickClipper.At thetopofeacheditionthereisnowa“InThisIssue”sec-tion to helpmake sure you don’tmiss anythingimportant to you. Another change has been tothe Photo of the Day. I admire my predecessorforhaving found time tokeep that sectionfilledona twice-weeklybasisallyear long,but Ican’tcommit to that. I am, however very open to ap-pointing a volunteer Photo of theDay editor. Ifyoufeelpassionateaboutthis,pleasecontactme!

It might go without saying, but I will sayit anyway: thank you to all our advertisersand (new!) Wednesday Night Series Spon-sors. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Finally, I would like to update the membershipon the state of our website. It hopefully wentmostly unnoticed to all of you, but our sitewasmoved over the Easter long weekend to a newhost, one that I hope will offer higher perfor-mance and more responsiveness than did Go-Daddy. Our new webmaster, Arleigh Crawford,has been a tremendous support in running theday-to-day tasks on the site, and he and I arealso working on a rather comprehensive rede-signofthewebsiteinhopesthatwecanmakeitmore user-friendly and just more useful overall.

Here’stofairwindsandfollowingseasfor2016.

MembershipNick Abrahams, [email protected]

This year startedoff with a successfulBoat Show whereone Associate andtwo SeniorMembersjoined, once againmaking our pres-ence at the showtotally worthwhile.Thank you againto all the volunteers. The total number ofNew Members joining since last New MembersNight isas follows: fourDrysail,eightAssociateand six Seniormemberswith boats. I say “with

boats” as some Senior Members join without aboatjusttohavesenioritywhenthetimecomes.

New Members Night on June 4th will be agreat opportunity tomeet all ournewmembers.Thismembers onlyeventwillhavethesamefor-mataseveryotheryear,PotLuckprovidedbyourverygenerousmembers(notthenewones),wine,and an amazing band calledNorth of 7. Ticketswillsoonbeavailableintheofficetopurchaseinadvancebutwillalsobeavailableforasurchargeat the door. Plan accordingly and buy early toavoid theextracost. Thedaystarts in theearlyafternoon with a three-gun Salute to our newboats.Ifyouhavebeenamemberoftheclubandhavejustboughtanewboatyouarestillentitledtoparticipate.Iknowtherewereafewboatsthatcouldn’tmake it last year so hopefully this willbeyouryear.Wehaveatleasteightnewboatsal-ready. Please come out for the day and eveningeventstoshowyoursupporttoournewmembers.

Forournewmembers,don’t forget tohaveyourboatreadyforSail PastonMay21st.ThisisanamazingdayasithasourfleetsailinginlinepastoursalutingCommodore,followedbythebagpipesinthelagoon,theCommodore’spunchreception,dinneranddancing.Ifyoudon’thaveaboat,don’tworryasyoucanstillwatchfromtheAlgonquin Queen. Justmake sure you sign up in advance.

Work hours are a great way to meet peopleandhelpgettheclubinship-shapeconditionforSail Past and summer events. Pleasemake sureto completeandsubmityourworkhoursasyoudon’t want to be charged for hours notworked.Ifyou’renotsurehowtogetenoughworkhours,makesureyouareregisteredtoreceivethetwice-weeklyQuick Clipperasitalwayspostsoppor-tunitiestojoininworkpartiesorthingsthatneedtobedonearoundtheclub.IfforsomereasonyoumissedtheQuickClipperandneedhours,justaskanyone for some suggestions, especially a boardmember.Also,intheMembersOnlysectionoftheQCYCWebsite,youwillbeabletofindjobspost-edbytheDirectors.WehadanAssociateMemberjoinjustbeforeHaulOutlastyearwhothenim-mediately helped get the Snug ready forwinter.

The Flash is another form of intra-club com-municationwhich is a greatway to advertise toother club members things you need to buy orsell, or want help with. A popular item adver-tised is lost items. Email David Craddock [email protected] to receive the Flash.

Wewill have lots of new faces this spring withlots of questions. This year I would like to beable to provide them with a quick way to getthe answers they seek through aBoat Buddy


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The process forcruisers travelingbetween Canada &the United Stateswith small boats

QCYC Cruising Presents...

Date of session: Tuesday, May 31Time: 1835 Location: QCYC

Free tender passage for attendees from other clubs for this session

Officers Steve Sloat and John Minutagli from US Customs and Border Protection will be presenting to our group to educate us on the process

For more information, contact [email protected]

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or Mentorship program. Any existing mem-berswho arewilling to be aBoatBuddy [email protected] Iwill trytomatchyouwithanappropriateNewMember.Thiswillbestrictlyonavolunteerbasisandnoteligible for work hours. Currently I am lookingfor five people. Remember your first year here?

BeingtheMembershipChairisanexcellentwaytomeetandget toknowallourmembers, espe-cially thenewones.A lot of people joinQCYCbecausesomeonetheyknowisamemberorhasamutual friendwho is amember, or they haveheardgreatthingsaboutQCYC.Oneofourmostrecent additions was sailing past our club witha friendwho saidwhile pointing to us, “ That’swhere youwant to be if you ever get a sailboatandwantto joinayachtclub”andtheydidandthey’rehere.Inaway,weareallambassadors of QCYC who spread the good word to ourfriends, family, and anyonewhowill listen. Thebestformofadvertisingisword-of-mouthadvertis-ing,solet’scontinuetobegreatambassadorsandkeepthiswonderfulclubofoursfullandvibrant.

PlanningTrevor Spurr, [email protected]

The Board continuesto develop ideas onhow, with member-ship participation,the club could drafta strategic plan toguide the futuregrowth of the Club.

To provide some his-tory to thiseffort, thedecision to proceedwith this project was started off with an autho-rizingresolutionoftheBoardinthefallof2014.

Inthespringof2015asmallgroupofboardandnon-board members looked to see if a strategicplanmightaddressissuesthatwereathreattothefutureoftheClubandwhatmightbedoneaboutsuch issues.The group looked at age and localeofmembers,boatsize,andactivitiesofmembers,


but in theenddidnotfindanyproblemswhichneeded to be addressed in an urgent manner.

Theideaofaplandidhavemeritnonetheless,soinApril2015someofusalsometwiththemanagerofRCYCtoseewhytheydidastrategicplan,howitwascreated,andtherelevancetoourClub.RCYChadsomerealandpressingproblemsthatneededtobeaddressedandtheirplanwascreatedinlessthan6months.Theirplanreflectedtheconclusionofitsboardandmembershipthatallaspectsofitsoperationsshouldbecentredontheclubbeinga“sailingclub”withallotheractivities--ofwhichithadmany--beingrelegatedtoasecond-tierstatus.

Fortunately we are limited in physical andmembership size and do not run a lot of non-sailing activities but learning about the pro-cedure in making the Plan was most helpful.

Theideaoftheplanwasallowedtomatureinourmindsfortherestofthesummerasthedevelopmentof a plan requires careful consideration and theBoardfelttheprojectshouldberevisitedatyearend.

Asaresult,inFebruaryofthisyearyourboardmetonaSaturdayattheRCYCfacilities(forwhichitgenerouslydidnotchargeus)forthesolepurposeofsurveyingallmannerofourpresentclubcharac-teristicsandwhatwemightwanttobeinthefuture.

Inasubsequentspecialmeetingoftheboard,weconducted an exercise known a SWOT analysis(Strengths,Weaknesses,OpportunityandThreats)tonarrowdownthefocusofwhatmightinterestus.

OneaspectofthegovernanceofourClubthatwasapparentinthisworkisthatwehavealargeboardforaclubofoursizeanditisveryrepresentativeofourvariousconstituencies.Onyourboardareyounger and oldermembers, islanders and non-islanders, racers, cruisers and more sedentarysailors, dry sailors, big and small boat ownersand thosewith a link to Learn-to-Sail activities.

As a result, the information gathered at theBoard level is not based on a narrow pointof view, although the discussions, conclu-sions and decisions that are part of this pro-cess must involve all members and ultimatelybe supported by the voting senior members.

Inadistilledform,theareasofinteresttheboardhascomeupwithcanbesummarizedasfollows.-Self-helpsustainability/workhoursorganiza-tion

-FinancialPlanning/fundingofcapitalprojects/membershipfees-Possibleeffectofpendinglegislationfor“notforprofit“organizations-Whoareweandwanttobe--findingtherightmixandservingtheinterestsofracing/cruising/live-aboards/smallboatsandbigboats/learntosail/drysailandmotorlaunches

Iwishtoemphasizethattherehavebeennocon-clusions made regarding these areas of interest.

Background research is needed and some orall of these areas may move forward, or not,and those areas that do move forward will in-volve input from the greater membership.

The unanimous conclusion of our meetingsso far is that our Club is well run and mostmembers are contented most of the time, butthe way we use and operate the Club needsto be reviewed so that we can continue tobe what you want for your “special place”.

On another topic, theHarassment Policy whichwasputinplacelastyearrequiredthattheBoardappointaResourcePersonwhocanbeafirstcon-tactforsomeoneinvolvedinanincidentwhowantsto find out the procedure and options availableunderourpolicy.VioletAbbot(formerlyCouch)hasagreedtoactastheResourcePersonandhercontact informationwillbeavailable inthepost-ingsofthePolicywhichwillbeonourwebpageandinprominentplacesaroundtheClub.Thesepostingswill be in place in thenext fewweeks.

Violet has extensive background in hu-man resource issues and the personality tobe open and accessible for those involved inwhat would be stressful circumstances.

Asafinalthought,whenIfirstwaselectedtotheBoard(withoutcompetitionImustadd)theonlytaskIwasmadeawareofconcernedthemaintenanceofashort,mediumandlongtermcapitalprojectsplanwhichisreviewedbytheBoardeachspring.

The Plan serves to keep track of projects sothat “needs and wants” do not disappearfrom view and each spring the list is reviewedby the Board in conjunction with the Trea-surer’s advice as to how much money willbe available for projects in the coming year.

ItisinterestingtoreviewthehistoryofthisPlanwhichoriginatedwithMaryPartridgemorethan

Grounds

Joanna Kidd, [email protected]

As I write this, thethermometerhasrisenintopositivenumbers--atlast--andIamabouttotakethetarpofftheShark. Although boatpreparation is justbeginning, work onGroundshasbeenun-derway since January.

To expedite the trans-ferofgarbagedowntotheParksWorkYard,wehavepurchasedausedClubCarCarryall242.Inadditiontohaulingwaste,thisgas-poweredutilityvehiclewillbeusedforhaulingpavingstones,lawn-

continued on page 10

mowersandothermaterialsaroundtheClubprop-erty.Asitstowingcapacityis800lbs,itcannotbeusedforhaulingStars.OrSharks--more’sthepity.

I recently did a walkabout with Tyler Ganton,the arborist who has been handling the treetrimmingduties for the last couple of years. To-getherwe have developed a plan for treemain-tenance. Because of the cost involved, this willbe spread over three years.Once completed,wewillbe“uptodate”intermsoftreemaintenance.

I am pleased to report that our stalwart volun-teers will once again ensure that our gardenbeds and containers are planted, watered andweeded. This is an important job that helps tokeepourClublookingbeautiful.Alsoundercon-sideration is some modest landscaping on thenorth side of the Clubhouse and the additionof some lawn furniture or picnic tables so thatmembers and visitors can enjoy the city view.

10 years ago, and see howmany projects listedonthePlanhavecometofruition.Manyprojectswere only completed with the volunteer help ofmembers, for example installing new windowsandwashrooms in the clubhouse; completion ofthenewbuildings;andrenovationstotherailway.

TheClubhasasmallbudgetforcapitalprojectsandwithoutmembershipparticipationthecostofmain-tainingandimprovingtheClubwouldneedtobedonebypaidhelpwitharesultantincreaseinfees.

It is very important that the self-help part ofour culture be reviewed to see how it can benurtured and improved so that the capital proj-ects on the capital projects plan can be accom-plished as has always happened in our past.

This thought bringsme back to where I startedthisarticle,as“selfhelp”isanareaofinterestforourstrategicplan. Iexpect tohavemore tosayonthissubjectduring thecourseofthesummer.

Membership continued from page 7

QCYC Presents

Friday July 8th, 2016 in Queen City Yacht Club’s Great Hall!

Cocktails: 6:00pm Dinner: 7:00pm

Dancing: 9:00pm

Tickets: Early Bird tickets $59 until July 3rd, then $65 (tax in).

Full Table bookings welcome, contact the office now at 416-203-0929.

Live Music by The Black Pearls

playing the best of Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, George Harrison, all the Travelling Wilburys and more!

The Commodore’s Ball

10 11

Board Updates Board Updates/Articles

Grounds continued from page 9


Lastyearacommitteewasformedtoexploretheconditionof theold lockerblocksandproposeastrategyforrefurbishment.Thishasresultedinaplanforreplacingorrepairingfoundations,anditismyhopethatvolunteerswillstepupthisseasonto replace the foundations on one of the lockerblocks.Theprocesswillcontinueinfutureyears.

And speaking of lockers, we have ten “locker-ettes” available for Drysail Members, thanksto volunteers who designed and built them lastfall. These are intended to be used for storingsails, foulweathergearandothermaterials.Thecharge for the lockerettes is $90 for the season,and they will be assigned to Drysail Membersonlybasedonthelengthofcontinuousmember-ship at the Club. If you are interested, pleasesend a request with Subject Line Drysail Lock-erette Request to [email protected] with copiesto [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] and include the number ofyears of continuous membership at the Club.Other goals for the year are to improve bi-cycle storage, improve the visuals in thearea around the north gate, and contin-ue reducing clutter and removing debris.

The careof our grounds is an importantpart ofQCYC, and I encourage anyone who is inter-ested in helping out--whether it bewith garden-ing, or cleanup, or replacing foundations onlocker blocks, or justmaking things lookbetter--to contact me. I look forward to hearing yourideas and working with you. Grounds Are Us.

YardWill Harney, [email protected] amildSuperElNino winter, wherewe actually started tothinkthatmissingouton buying propertyin Florida at discountpricesduringthegreatrecessionwasa smartmove, our city wasslammedwithWinterin April. The ensuingPolar Vortex left your

YardChairwithnooptionbuttopostponeLaunch.

Finally goodweather graced the Yard theweek-endofApril16andMemberscouldbeginprepa-ration for the postponed Launch set for April23-24 and 30, 2016. At the time of writing thiscolumn, coverswerebeing shed,Epoxywas cur-ing, a lot of VC17 and a little Rum was flow-ing. Ah, spring had sprung in the QCYC Yard.

Spring also revealed some nice and not sonice things.On the not so nice side of the led-ger, our Drysail area patio stones are look-ing very tired and should become the focus ofimprovement efforts this year. What with ourshiny new Tender Dock bridge and plans for asimilarly safe and elegantRamp to be installed,the aging patio stones just aren’t cutting it.

Ontheniceside,ourclubisbeatingdemographicodds and proving that we are the sailing clubof choice for a spate of new members. Manyare becoming Senior Members, some with bigboats.Thismini trendand themigration tobig-gerboatsbyexistingmembers isnecessitatingarearrangement of the Yard to reflect the mix ofboat sizes in our fleet. The Yard endeavours toaccommodate asmany boats as possibleWinterandSummertohelpkeepmemberfeesincheck.

One possible solution for the Drysail area is asystem of stabilized gravel that will be inves-tigated as an option to replace the patio stones.Anadvantageof the system is that it canbe in-stalled gradually and is DIY friendly. This sur-face option for the East and eventually, WestDrysail and Dinghy areas will be investigatedand reported to the Board for consideration.

To handle the shift in boat size in the Yard,converting West 3 to a big-boat row will beplanned and brought to the Board for ap-proval. The project will provide a great oppor-tunity to rack up highly sought-after VolunteerHours and should be complete for Haul Out.

These additional activities along with routineYard operations such as Yard equipment main-tenance, Cradle Inspection and Reporting willrequire increased organization and planningon an interim basis. I would like to re-start theYard Committee to manage the planning andexecutionof these importantprojects.Anumberofmembersarealreadyveryactiveinsupportingthe Yard andmany newmembers have steppedup to learn the ropes so I am confident thatwe

have the calibre of talent ready to volunteer.

Watch for notices in the Quick Clipper andpostings at the club for your chance to takepart in the Yard Committee. Until then,smooth sailing and protest-free mark rounding.

Learn to Sail Robert Eckersley, [email protected]!I’mpleasedtoannouncethatEvanFitzgeraldhasacceptedtheroleofournewHeadInstructor.Evanisapassionatesailor,whogrewupsailingatPCYCandhashadaverysuccessfulyouthracingcareer.ForthelasttwoyearshehasbeentheracingcoachatOakvilleYachtSquadron.IamlookingforwardtoEvanbringinghisexperiencefromthesewell-regarded programs to mix with our QCYC LTStraditions.Fourofourgreatinstructorsfromlastyeararereturning:RachelKozicz,RachelHarris,DanielSheedy,andArryVasilodimitrakis.JoiningtheteamasanewinstructorisQCYC’sownDer-rickMcKee, a recentQCYC alumnus. This is agreatstaffofcommitted,professional instructors,andI’mlookingforwardtoourbestsummeryet!

TheLTSwillbegettingasignificantinfrastructureboost from the planned dinghy ramp replace-ment. We will have a safer, better (less steep)rampforgetting theboats inandoutof thewa-ter,andextrastagingspaceforaftertheylaunch.This should streamline our launching/haulingprocedure and give us more time on the water!

Here is a summary of the 2016 courses.

Adult CYA Basic Keelboat CruisingThiscourseisperfectforfriendsorfamilymem-bers who want to enhance their keelboat skills.It is taught by our very own Scott Forbes on abeautifully maintained Shark. The course lasts24 hours spread over four days and follows theCYA Basic Cruising Standard, an internation-ally recognized certification. This course com-pletely sold out last year and we had excellentfeedback from the participants. Book early!For non-members, the course includes a ten-der pass for the remainder of the year, and formembers there is a price discount. The QCYCLearntoSailWebpageshavemoreinformation.

The course takes place during week-

ends. There is a choice of three sessions:Session1:June18,19andJune25,26.Only1spaceleft!Session2:July9,10andJuly16,17Session3:August20,21andAugust27,28

Adult Dinghy Learn to SailLearning to sail a dinghy is fun and social andis widely regarded as the best way to learn tosailreallywell!OurcoursesareofferedonTues-day and Thursday nights and are taught by ourtalented team of instructors. We use our zippy420s for this course and we follow the coursecurriculum for CANSail certification.What bet-terway to forget theworkday than toheadouttotheislandforsomebeautifulsummereveningsailing? The courses are available in two- andfour-weeksessions,with the four-weekbeing themorepopular.Aswith thekeelboat course,non-members receive a tender pass for the remain-der of the year, while Club members receive apricediscount.SeetheQCYCLearntoSailWebpages for course dates and more information.

Youth Learn to SailSpring“tuneup”startsonSaturday,May28,andruns everySaturdayuntil the endof June. It’s agreatwaytogetridofthosecobwebsandbeinfullformforthesummersession.Itisopentoyouthsailors who are taking their CanSail 3 and up.

OurfullprogramstartsonJuly4,withvarioussessionsrunninguntilAugust26withourawardsbanquet.

Ourraceteamprovidesanentiresummerofhigh-performance sailing for CanSail 5 and 6 sailorswhowanttolearntocompeteataProvinciallevel.

In addition to the racing team, the rest of ourprogram remains intact: CANSail 1-2, CANSail3, and Advanced CANSail 4,5,6. The value of-feredbyallofourprogramsis trulyexceptional.Weoffer a boutique learn-to-sail experience at aheritageclubwithgreatfacilities,averyhighboat-to-student ratio, and we do it at “Harbourfrontcamp”prices.FulldetailsareavailableontheLTSweb pages and there is a discount formembers.

Finally,pleasepromoteourLTSprogramstoyourfriends, neighbors, family and people you justmetonthestreet!Ourcostsarelargelyfixed,soeachadditionalpersonwesignupbringsnewrev-enueandpotentialnewmemberstoourclubandhelpsuscontinuetopromotethesportofsailing.

Lookingforwardtoseeingeveryoneat theClub!

The racing rules of sailing sometimes carry anintimidating stigma. Particularly for beginners,it can feelas thoughyou’rememorizinga listofhundreds of rules, presented to you in confus-ing jargonmore typicalof legaldocuments thanamateurathletics.Inpractice,sailingisgovernedby justahandfulofprinciplesandthereal trickis to knowwhen they do or do not apply. Likemostthings,thiscomeswithalittleexperience.Inthisarticle,Iwillexplainsomeofthebasicprin-ciples and discuss proper course in some detail.

Thankfully, there are essentially just fourmajorrules that dictate how boats interact with eachother and even though I’m sure this is commonknowledgeI’llsummarizebelowforcompleteness.1.Oppositetacks--aport-tackboatmustkeepclearofastarboard-tackboat2.Sametack,overlapped--awindwardboatmustkeepclearofaleewardboat3.Sametack,notoverlapped--aboatclearasternmustkeepclearofaboatclearahead4.Whiletacking--atackingboatmustkeepclearofotherboats

Almost all racing situations boil down toone of the four rules above. In fact, it is truethat a boat can be in one and only one of theabove categories at a given time. The remain-ing racing rules are essentially just nuancesor exceptions to the above four principles.

Perhaps the most common area for confusionamongnewracersisthenotionofpropercourse.Let’sexplorethisideabyfirstdefiningthekeyterms:

- Proper course:Thecourseaboatwouldsailintheabsenceofanyotherboats(theoreticallythefastestcourse to thefinish). As longasyoucanprovidealogicalreasonforit,andyousailitwithsomeconsistency,youareonyourpropercourse

- Luffing rights:This term isnotactuallyde-finedintheofficialrules,butitisthecommontermforpossessingtherighttosailaboveyourpropercourse,ineffectforcinganywindward-overlappedboats to sailup tohead-to-wind (butno further)

The tricky thing about proper course is thatyou are never actually required to sail it andit is largely hypothetical. There are, howev-er, situations where you must not sail aboveyour proper course and this is where some ofthe most common issues arise on the course.Aside from the pre-start and around-the-coursemarks,whichcanalterthisruleofthumb,aboatoverlappedtoleewardofanotherboatdoeshaveluffing rights unless she became overlapped byapproaching from clear astern and within twoof her own hull lengths to leeward of the othervessel. In this case, the leeward boat had betterhave a logically justifiable reason for alteringcourse to windward (that doesn’t include screw-ing with the windward boat) and may neversail past a close-hauled course. Note that priorto the starting signal, no boat has any propercourse and luffing rights prevail.After the start,luffing rights are decided by how the overlapwas established during starting manoeuvres.Youcanattainluffingrightsbytackingintoalee-wardoverlap.Youmayalsoleverageyourluffingrightstoavoidbeingovertakenbyafasterboattowindward.Ifaboattacksintoawindwardoverlapposition,sheforfeitsluffingrightstotheleewardvessel.Aboatwith luffingrightsmayluffupto,but no further than irons and stay there indefi-nitely,providedshegivessufficientroomforoth-ers to keep clear (no swerving). Iwould cautionthat luffing, as a racing tactic that considerablyslows you down, has limited usefulness outsideof vengefulness in most situations. Used spar-ingly and thoughtfully, however, it can spell thedifferencebetweenoneortwofinishingpositions.

Therearemanyothercaveatstothefourprimaryrules listed above, but a strong understandingof proper course is essential to adding them toyour racing vocabulary. For instance, the rulesgoverning the windward mark are essentiallyjust an extension of those of the upwind leg,with the three-hull-length zone serving as thedifferentiator between having and not havingluffing rightsaround themark. I’ll reserveade-

Racing Rules, an introduction to Basic Principles and Proper CourseBy Dan Smith

12 13

Haulout Groundhog Day/Launch Preps

Photos by Richard Slee, Philly Chatterton, Heather Jackson, Stephanie Swatknow, Dianne Taylor and Genia Vanderkruk

14 15

ArticlesArticles

Racing Rules continued from page 11

continuedonpage16

PHRF Racer's Association Your PHRF Voice!

Welcome to the new PHRF Racer’s Association. Our purpose is to keep PHRF racers informed and up-to-date on events for Lake Ontario.

Participation in the association is free and open to anyone with an interest in making PHRF racing great; skippers, crew, yacht clubs, other sailing associations and groups!

Our goal is to get the message out and get more PHRF boats off the docks and involved in racing.

Check us out:www.phrfracersassociation.com

www.facebook.com/groups/PHRFRacersAssociation

PHRF Racer's Association Your PHRF Voice!

Welcome to the new PHRF Racer’s Association. Our purpose is to keep PHRF racers informed and up-to-date on events for Lake Ontario.

Participation in the association is free and open to anyone with an interest in making PHRF racing great; skippers, crew, yacht clubs, other sailing associations and groups!

Our goal is to get the message out and get more PHRF boats off the docks and involved in racing.

Check us out:www.phrfracersassociation.com

www.facebook.com/groups/PHRFRacersAssociation

tailed mark room discussion for another time.

Forthoselookingforaneasywaytogetajump-start on the rules, I’d recommend picking up acopy ofThe Rules in Practice byBryanWillis.Ithasalotofdiagramsandutilizesaveryprag-matic approach to explainingavarietyof racingscenarios.Therulesareupdatedeveryfouryearsand2016happenstobethefinalyearofthiscycle.Youcandefinitelypurchaseadigitalcopyofthisbook if finding a hardcopy proves too difficult.

We will also be hosting a rules semi-nar for those interested as part of the an-nual Participants’ Meeting on May 11 anda follow-up session as required on May 17.

Starting to RaceBy Mark MacRae

One of the best ways, if not the best way, tolearnhowtogetthemostoutofyoursailboatisto race it.When Ifirst racedPanache atQCYCseven years ago with a crew of friends whohad never sailed before, our goalwas simply toavoid collision and injury. It can be intimidat-ing to get into any level of racing, but as far asI’m concerned theamountof fun I get out of it,and thenewsailingknowledge Igaineach timeIraceareabsolutelyworthovercominganyfears.

In the last few years I have met several newmembers who, like me, were not sure where

(orwhen) to start. Club racing?Weekend regat-tas? Offshore? And what the heck is AHMEN?This article will attempt to give you the basicinformation on the various local racing seriesin hopes that you find one or several that youwillbe interested inparticipating in this season.

SomeAcronyms:PHRF: PerformanceHandicap Racing Fleet. Ahandicappingsystembasedonperformancefleet-wide which is very cost-effective: $30 per year.NFS: Non-Flying Sails. Also known as:White Sail or No Spinnakers allowed.FS: Flying Sails. Spinnakers are allowed.IRC: Technically, IRC does not officiallystand for anything. A handicapping rulewhose calculations and formulas are se-cret and proprietary. Mostly used by bigger,racier boats. Cost is around $500 per year.

QCYC Wednesday Night SeriesEntryFee:FREEDates:May-SeptemberClasses:PHRFNFS,SharkNFS,Star,DinghiesTheeasiestplacetostartyouryachtracingcareeris right here at QCYC. EveryWednesday nightbetweenmid-May and the end of Septemberwerace a single race around the buoys. The courseiseitherwindward-leewardoratriangle,depend-ingonconditions,andweusuallygoaround3-4times.Atypicalracewilllastanhour.Ifyoudon’twanttoraceyourownboatrightaway,therearelots of skippers looking for crew. Come out tothe participants’ meeting inMay to get started.

LORC Regatta SeriesEntryFee:$60-125pereventDates:May-SeptemberClasses:PHRFFS/NFS,IRC,OneDesignWebsite:www.lorc.orgManyToronto-area clubshostaweekendLORCregatta (QCYC’s is on Sept. 10). These are oneortwodayslongandyouhavetheoptiontoraceoneorbothdays.Typically,racesareonawind-ward-leeward course and there are usually threeracesperday.Thisyear,manyclubsareofferingpoint-to-point(a.k.a.“offshore”)coursesasanal-ternativetothemorehecticcourseracing,makingregatta participation more accessible than ever.

Lake Ontario 300/600 by LOOREntryFee:$400Date:July16

Classes:Single,Double-HandedandFullyCrewedforIRC,PHRF&Multi-hullWebsite:www.loor.ca

ThereareactuallyseveraldifferentdistancesyoucanraceinLakeOntario’slongestrace,from300kmto600nauticalmiles.Dependingonyourluckandtheweather,itcantakebetween2and5daysofcontinuoussailingtocompletethecircumnavi-gationofthelake.Forobviousreasons,thereisalonglistofrequiredsafetyequipmentinordertoracethisevent.Luckily,manyQueenCitymembershaveracedintheLO300overtheyears,soifyouaskaroundyoumightbeabletoborrowafewthings.

Susan Hood Trophy Race by LOOREntryFee:$100Dates:June3toJune4Classes:Single,Double-HandedandFullyCrewedforIRC,PHRF&Multi-hullWebsite:www.loor.ca

An overnight race starting a Friday evening, sohopefullyyouarefinishedbythemorning!Asthisracecanbeusedasatune-uptoLO300/L0600,thesamesafetyequipmentrequirementsapplytoboth.

Lake Ontario Short-Handed Racing Series by LOOREntryFee:$55(singlerace)$198(fullseason)Dates:June-SeptemberClasses:Double-Handed,Single-HandedforPHRFWebsite:www.loor.ca

Run by the same organization that runs theLO300, LOSHRS runs four events: one courserace and three long-distance events to a des-tination and back again in a single weekend.Again, therearerequirements forsafetygear forthe overnight race, but againmanyQueenCitymembersparticipateinthisseriessoaskaround.

AHMENEntryFee:FREEDates:August-OctoberClasses:PHRFFS/NFSWebsite:www.ahmen.ca

This late-season weekend series is run jointlyby several clubs, including Queen City. Eachevent is a single point-to-point race starting inHumberBay.ThelegsaremuchlongerthanourWednesday night course racing in the harbour(each race takes about 2-3 hours) so the crew

hasmore time to eat their lunch. Formany, thehardest part about AHMEN races is findingthe marks of the course (GPS recommended).

LYRAEntryFee:FREE-$250Dates:July25-31Classes:PHRFFS/NFS,IRC,OneDesignWebsite:www.wyc.ca/LYRA2016

Thisregattaishostedbyadifferentclubeachyear--in2016itisWhitbyYachtClub.Theeventconsistsofafewpoint-to-pointraceswhichstartatdifferentpointsaroundthelakeandallendupatthehostclub.Thenthereareuptothreedaysofcourseracingatthehostclub.Thisyear,thereisnoentryfeeforthepoint-to-pointraces.

There are some other popular racing eventsas well. Several Toronto-area clubs that arenot part of the LORC series host their ownregattas, including Frenchmen’s Bay andBronte. The LOOR group also runs the al-ways-cold overnight race, The Susan Hood.

Itshouldbenotedthattheseriesevents(LORC,LOSHRS,AHMEN)don’trequirethatyouracealltheeventsintheseries.Theyallawardflagsand/orprizesforeacheventindividually,soevenifyoucanonlymakeitouttooneweekend,it’sworthit.

And finally, if you have any questions aboutany of these series: ask around the club. Thereare manymembers withmuchmore experienceand knowledge about these races than I have,and all are willing and even excited to sharethat information over a refreshing beverage.

The On Water Safety CornerBy Graham Dougall, [email protected]

InearlyApril,Iwasaco-instructorforaSailCanada/OntarioSailingracemanagementcourseatCFBTrentonYachtClub.

I arranged to meet with the Officer in the Charge of Ca-nadian Mission Control Centre (CMCC)/ CanadianBeacon Registry (CBR) and Joint Rescue CoordinationCentre (JRCC) at CFB Trenton. This was done in myrole as Race Officer and Chair of the Race Managementand Safety Committee of Lake Ontario Offshore Racing.

I learned that the SAR aircraft do not currently haveAuto-matic Identification System (AIS) receivers for real-timetrackingofallmannerofvessels,although thismaychange.

The organizations I visited are part of 8 Wing, theRCAF Organization in charge of CFB Trenton.

TheCanadianMissionControlCentreandCanadianBeaconRegistryareCanadiancomponentsoftheInternationalSatel-lite System for Search and Rescue. The core of the systemis the Cospas-Sarsat Distress Beacon that, when activated,transmitsa signal at406MHz.The signal includes thebea-con number. If the beacon is properly registered, with cur-rent information, with the owner’s countryMission ControlCentre, then they can use that information in search andrescueoperations,andtoreachthe listedemergencycontact.

The beacons are ELTs for aviation use, EPIRBs for mari-

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Articles


The On Water Safety Corner continued from page 15

Articles

time use and PLBs for personal use.When a beacon trans-mits a signal, it is picked up by a group of low-altitudeEarth satellites. These satellites transmit a message to Lo-cal Users Terminals where it is processed to generate analert and send it to a Mission Control Centre. In Canada,this is at CFB Trenton. The appropriate Rescue Coordi-nate Centre is engaged to address the situation byCMCC.

The beacons are into their second generation. First-gener-ation beacons required two passes of the satellite becauseit used the signal’s Doppler Effect. The current genera-tion of beacons, introduced in 1997, transmits the positionof the beacon that was obtained from a Global Naviga-tion Satellite System (GNSS) such as GPS or GLONASS.

Bothgeostationaryandlow-altitudeEarthsatellitesareneededbecause geostationary satellites cannot locate a beacon us-ing the Doppler Effect, whereas low-altitude Earth satellitesprovide excellent coverage of the Polar Regions (which arebeyond the coverage of geostationary satellites), can calcu-late the location of distress events usingDoppler processingtechniques, and are less susceptible to obstructions whichmay block a beacon signal in a given direction because the

it originated. The computer system can vary the wind-age on a floating objective, such as a body versus a vessel.

The centre also has a large display of Environ-ment Canada weather radio to provide them with aheads up on impending search and rescue situations.

In response to a marine emergency, the JRCC can taska number of first responders: the Canada Coast Guard;Police Marine units, such as the Toronto Police MarineUnit; Volunteer Marine Search and Rescue organiza-tions including the Canada Coast Guard Auxiliary (e.g.Toronto Search and Rescue ) and other volunteer marinesearch and rescue units; the Royal Canadian Air Force;and US-based resources where JRCC Trenton needs them.Notes:1.https://www.cbr-rcb.ca/cbr/presentation/other_autre/index.php?lang=en;http://www.forces.gc.ca/en/operations-canada-north-america-current/trenton-sar.page;http://sarcontacts.info/contacts/jrcc-trenton-central-canada-only-6023/2.http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=AISFAQ,http://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/eng/CCG/Maritime-Security/AIS3.http://www.rcaf-arc.forces.gc.ca/en/8-wing/index.page4.https://www.cospas-sarsat.int/en/5.Fromcitedwebsite6.https://www.cbr-rcb.ca/cbr/presentation/other_autre/index.php7.http://ccga-gcac.ca/8.http://www.torontosearchandrescue.com/

As mentioned above, when the Canadian Mission Con-trol Centre receives an alert from a beacon transmittingfrom Canada, it notifies the appropriate Canadian JRCC:•JRCCHalifax–AtlanticRegion•JRCCTrenton–Central&ArcticRegion•MRSCQuebec–QuebecmarineareaofCentral&ArcticRegion•JRCCVictoria–PacificRegion

JRCC Trenton is responsible for an area of nearly 11 mil-lion square kilometres, from the US/Canada border to theNorthPole and frommid-Quebec to theAlberta/BCborder.

The centre is staffed by Royal Canadian Air Force/Ca-nadian Coast Guard personnel every hour of every dayall year. There are several workstations so that they canwork on multiple marine or air incidents at the same.

The Joint Rescue CC has a backup facility in Bel-leville. The phone numbers are rerouted from Tren-ton to Belleville when needed by Bell Canada.

The JointRescueCC receives real-time feeds fromEnviron-ment Canada for winds and current so that their computersystem can generate search grids to take account of drift.This can be either where a floating object is now or where

“Terry says they’re filling up fast, do we bookit or no?” “Ya, hell, let’s do it. I don’t exactlyneed racing tactics when I’m puddle-jumpingthe Pacific, but a little competition is alwaysfun.” “Who cares what you think? I want tokick ass on Wednesday nights this summer!”

Sowe decided to head to sunny PuertoVallartato jointheJWorldRaceWeeksailingclinicandgetalittlesun.ThecostwasUS$1,100,whichisabitofakickinthepants(back-right)consideringtheCAD$thesedays,butforafullweekofracingonaJ80withprofessionalinstructioninprotectedBanderasBay,Ithought,howcouldwegowrong?

There isn’t a lot of information on the JWorldsite sowedidn’t reallyknowwhat toexpect. I’d

beensailingatQCYCforabout5 years, with John Fursdonon Longbow and then BruceSmith on Bandoleer. Robinhad joined up about the sametime and crewedwith her Pops,Trevor Spurr, onDon’t Think Twice. We both view ourselvesas fairly novice sailors, butwe’re dorky and academic, andappreciative of things like thefiner rules and racing tactics.Wewerelookingforwardtobothin-class theoretical learning andon-water practice against otherJ80s--andobviously,wewerego-ing to win (or kill each other).

Wearrivedat theHarbormasteratNuevoVallarta’sParadiseVil-lageMarinaandaskedafter theJWorldschool.“Ifhe’snotnextdoor,thenhe’sdownatthedocks--the first two boats are theirs.”Firsttwoboats?Howmanypeo-plewereinthisclass?We’dkindabeen given the impression thatitwasabigcourse--nothingwasspecificallysaid,butTerry (theirofficemanager)certainlypushed

satellite is continuously moving with respect to the beacon.

EPIRBsandPLBsareexcellentcomponentsinthearsenalofthemariner.However,whenadecisionhastobemadebetweenthosedevicesandanAISMOBalertingsystem,agoodunder-standingofeachsystemisneededanddetermininginwhichwa-terstheyworkbest.Therewillbemoreonthisinafuturearticle.

Why Register a Beacon? It is mandatory for all 406 MHz ELTs (Canadian Avia-tion Regulations 605.38) and EPIRBs (Ship Station (Ra-dio) Technical Regulations, 1999) to be registered with theCanadian Beacon Registry. Ensuring that your 406 MHzPLB, ELT or EPIRB is registered, as well as updating theinformation regularly, will facilitate the task for searchand rescue personnel in the event of a distress situation.

If you have a registered emergency beacon, itis important that the information be accurate.Please update the information in the registry:•ifyoumove•ifyouwanttoupdatetheemergencycontactinformation•ifyourphonenumberchanges,or•ifanyoftheimportantinformationintheregistrychanges,suchascolourofvesseloraircraft

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Classless Racing: A Week in Puerto VallartaBy Russ Rowlands and Robin Spurr itspopularitywhileencouragingustobook.Obvi-

ouslythere’sagrainofsalttobetakenwithanypre-payment sales pitch, but two boats? Robinhadtheorized30peopleasideal--enoughcompe-tition to have fun, but not somuch that the in-classinstructiongotlostwithtoomanystudents.Turns out there were three students, includ-ing us. The two boats would not be nec-essary. We definitely felt disappointed.Ourinstructor(SeanPalizza)wasyoungbutfriend-ly and clearlyknowledgeable, beingyachtmaster

certifiedandcomingoffthebackofaninstructioncareerinChicago.Aftermeetinghimandtheoneotherstudent(50-somethingJim),weweregivenaquickrundownofhowtheweekwasgoingtogo:

Day1wasboatfamiliarityandaneasycruise,includingadownwindreturntoharbourwiththekiteup;Day2wasforupwindboat-handlingtacticsandskills;Day3wasforstarts;Day4wasdownwindtacticsandkitepractice;Day5wasregattareviewandraceday(racewho??).Day 1 started fine, with an introduction to ourfloatingclassroom.TheJ80wasclearlywell-used

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butnot inbad condition. I cutmyself onan ex-posed bolt-end jutting from the boom (I bleedon every boat I sail on--it’s a sanguine christen-ing) soSeanwrappedsome red tapearound theoffending hardware (the boat’s, not mine). Wepreppedherandmotoredoutof themarinaduetothesteadyinlandheadwindsthatwouldunfail-

inglycomeupeverydayaround10:30a.m.Dur-ingonetack,thejibtoreafewinchesatthetackunder the dubiously-onerous strain of Robin’sgrindingonthewinch.Seanshruggeditoff,say-ing it was an old sail--and hell, they’d just torntwo lastweek!Aftera fewhoursofupwindsail-ing, with the three students rotating among thetiller,themainandthejib,Seanannouncedthatwe’d gybe her around and hoist the asym kite.

I’dhadminimalexperiencewithspinnakers,and

Robinhadhadnone.WetoldSeanthispriortode-partureandagainpriortohoist.Heacknowledgedas much, and then quickly walked us throughthe terms, hoist and douse procedures, and as-signed roles. We then gybed the boat aroundand promptly dumped the kite in the water.

Seankepthis coolandspentabitof timehaul-ing it out.We got her flying again,made a fewgybes downwind, and thenwrapped her around

the forestayprettybadly.Seancontinuedtokeephis cool and took20minutes tounwrap her. He then had Robin guidethe boat into the marina under sail-power, and did an amazing job of talk-ing her through what was a fairly busy(and still windy) mooring manoeuvre.

Therestoftheweekwentprettymuchthesame.We’dspendanhourorsounderashadypalapaonthequaygoingoverSe-an’stheorymaterialfortheday,motorherout,practiceourtheory,screwsomethingup,andsailherhome.OnDay5,forour“regatta”, one ofthemarinamem-bers broughthis J80 out and

raced against us forthree legs before sailingoff into Banderas Bay.

Each day after the sail,RobinandIhadanhourbusridebackintocentralPuertoVallartatodebriefthe day. Some eveningswere a bit more tensethan others, dependingon how spectacular oneor all of our errors hadbeen that day. We allscrewed up, and Seanalwayskepthiscool.ButI can’thelpbut feel thatat least a few of our er-rorswere due to limitedpre-manoeuvre commu-nication on his part.Hewasprobablyaccustomedtomoreadvancedsailors.

Onthelastday,wesailedwayouttowardstheedge

oftheBay,lookingforwardtoalong,fundown-windrunhomewiththekiteupinthesteady18-20-knotwinds.Wesailedherwith the tiller tiedandourlegsdanglingovertherailintothe78de-greewater.Theweatherwasperfecteverysingledaywithout fail.We didn’t see any dolphins orwhales(ormermaids)butweretoldthattheBaydefinitelyhasapopulationoftheformer,atleast.

On the last tackall thewayround toourbroadreach,thekitewenthalfwayup,fluttered,stalled,

Articles

and the foot dumped in thewater. Seanblamedthehelmbeingtoofardownwind.Weweren’tonthetiller,andalthoughitwasn’tclearthatthathadactuallybeenthecause,RobinandIwerehappyitwasn’tapparentlyourfault.Becauseitshrimpedbadly,turnedintoaseaanchor,andthen30minuteslater,explodedunderitsownweightinthewater.

Ifinallyfeltlikewehadgotourmoney’sworthoutofthecourse.

Afterword. Russ is about to head out into thePacific on a Beneteau 461, destination Marque-sas and unknown. Follow along on the websiteaChartOfDays.com. Robin is back in Toronto,looking forward to Wednesday night racingand dreaming of future blue water adventures.

Returning from a two-week cruise on a Sundayafternoon,we’dscarcelyhadtimetocleatthelinesonAssignmentinoursliponthefloatingdockswhen David Kent approached by dinghy fromacross the lagoon. “Get your wallet out,” he an-nounced,grabbingontothepushpit.“Weneedyourcreditcard.Or$500cash.You’regonnabeapartnerinanewracingboat.”

The pronouncement wasn’t entirely outof the blue. David, Peter Broecker andPeterJoneshadtalkedfromtimetotimeof developing some kind of one-designfleet to rejuvenate dry sailing at QueenCity. But I’d figured it was mostly beertalking and hadn’t paid much atten-tion. I had all the boats I could handlein my life. In 1993, my wifeMary Par-tridge and I had bought our third keelboat, a C&C Landfall 38, that we’dsince been fitting out to go south in 1996.

Thatscheduleputmeatoddswithmynew“part-ners.” They’d already upsized to cruising boats,gone south, and come back. Peter Broecker andSari Bercovitch had sailedWillow’s Wind, aBristol 38.8, to South America and back. Pe-ter and Tracy Jones’s latest trip south to theBahamas and back--they’d done it on threedifferent boats--had been on Tapas, a Tartan37. David and Nancy Kent had gone south inZarabanda, the Niagara 35 they still own.They’d discovered upon returning, however, that

thoseplus-sizedcruisingboats,socomfortableatanchorforsundowners,werelessthanfriskyforWednesday-night racing. So they began lookingfor a boat that would scratch their competitiveitchandalsoinspireotherQCerstodolikewise.

Since I planned to go cruising for at least ayear, I wasn’t as taken with the adventure asthe other guys. Even so, I was honoured thatthey’d included me in what Broecker had al-ready taken to calling “the syndicate.” The hon-our had an as-yet-untallied price, but at leastI was sure of my partners. We had cruised,raced and travelled together for many years.

These guys, however, moved fast. I thought se-lecting a boat would be an interesting exercise.But by time I got on board, Pete Broecker hadalreadypersuadedDavidand Jonesey thatnoth-ingbutaSolingwoulddo--providedhecouldsoupit upwith a big chute and a couple of trapezes.

Thesearchforaboatleaptaheadalarmingly.Afeweveningsafter thesyndicate’s founding,mypart-nershavingdismissedmyprotestthattheAmer-ica’sCupsyndicateprobablydidn’tshopinBoat for Sale,wewereonourwaytoLefroy,onLakeSimcoe, to checkoutaSoling they’d seen listed.

Theyrecall the tripas somethingofan indoctri-nationasmypartnersrhapsodizedabouttheSol-ing’s history and considerable attributes: aNor-wegian design that first appeared in 1965, theypatiently explained, the three-person 27-footerhad proved seaworthy, competitive, forgiving,and more or less bulletproof. Having appeared

Articles

Classless Racingcontinued from page 17 Schmooze and the Flying Queens

By Wayne Lilly


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At first,Grahamhad trouble figuring outwhichdivision to put us in. In her first race in 1995,Schmooze finished third in Division III behindBill Eckersley’s Alberg 37 and Wayne Smith’sC&C30. For the second series, Graham createdanewGrandPrixdivisiontoaccommodateboatssuchasSchmooze, theconstellationofStarsJimFinchandDaveCraddockhadbeen introducingtotheclub,andJohnCoull’sTempest,Scott Won.

The GP division only existed for two series in1995, but Schmooze won both of them. Forgoodmeasure,SariBercovitch came third in theWomen Skippers Race and The Flying Queenstook a second in the Champion of Champions.

Schmooze proved even stronger than we’d an-ticipated.Wecouldsailher,haulheronatrailer,and leaveheruntil thenextweek,seldomdoingmuchmorethantighteningaturnbuckle,yetshecontinued toperform. In ’96, sailing inDivisionIIwith the Stars,which had not yet been giventheir own start,Schmoozewon a third and twofirsts in club races, came third in Champion ofChampions,andwon theWomenSkippersRaceco-skipperedbyTracyJonesandSariBercovitch.

Overthethreesummerseriesin1997,shescoredthreebulletsintheresurrectedGrandPrixdivision,athirdintheChampionofChampions,andgotasecondintheWSRwithTracyatthehelm.In1998,Schmoozetooktwofirstsandasecondintheclubseries,another third in theChampionofCham-pions,andMaryPartridgewontheWSRinher.

Alas, 1998 wasthe last great yearfor Schmooze.One factorwas theemerging popular-ityof theStarfleetat QCYC, enthusi-astically promotedbyDavidCraddockandJimFinch.Aid-ed by John Finch’s

uncanny ability to come up with inexpensiveboats, theStarfleetgrewin thewaywe’dhopedaSolingonewould.Even ifwestill felt theSol-ing’s forgiving nature, comfort and unbreakabil-ity made it a better choice, it couldn’t competewith a Star in price or light-air performance.

Ironically, the situation that led to the creationof The Flying Queen syndicate also contrib-

too late for the Mexico Olympics in 1968, theSolingwasselectedasanOlympicclassin1972.

Vitamin Sea, the dull grey Soling we foundourselves looking at in amarina, had sailed, al-beitunsuccessfully,inthe1976Olympic trials.But itwas inrelativelygoodshapeandwellequipped, including a trailerandevena3-hpkickerthatfitonthegunwalewithabracket.

As I watched my partnersgleefully climb in and out ofit, marvelling at the inven-tory of bits and pieces--allunder the gaze of the some-what perplexed vendor--itstruckmethatourfive-day-oldsyndicate now pretty muchownedanOlympic-classboat.Within a few hours we were towing it home.

My partners had already determined our indi-

vidualresponsibilitieswithinthesyndicate.DavidKent,thestructuralguy,iscongenitallyincapableof building stuff that isn’t beyond strong; PeterJonescanmaketheugliestpieceoffiberglassandworst-looking, non-working boat-part into some-thingfunctionallyelegant;Broecker,adabhandatsewing,isalsoariggingwizard.Giventhatthey’re

all fine boat keepers, I didn’tsee what could go wrong.

In light of my distressingabsence of manual skills,they breezily designated me“the paper guy.” I was stillpondering exactly what thatmight entail when I got myfirst assignment on the syn-dicate’s behalf. “Wayne,” theydirected, nodding toward thevendor,“gobeathimdownbya couple of hundred bucks.”

Fortunately, it didn’t matterthat my haggling talent falls

somewhere south of my boat-keeping abilities.The Soling’s vendor was even more nervous.He’d been wondering from the moment we ar-

rived what was up with the four guys in theirfifties and sixties kibitzing aroundwhile consid-eringthepurchaseofanOlympic-classsailboat.

I was surprised when he quickly agreed to dis-count his price and was still puffed up when Ireportedmy victory tomy partners. They, how-ever,quicklydisabusedmeofthenotionthatmynegotiating skills had had anything to do withcutting the deal. Broecker, who’d been envision-inghangingona trapezeashewhippedaroundQC’s racecourse, had taken to calling the syn-dicate The Flying Queens. “You should haveseentheguy’sfacewhenwetoldhimthat’swhotomake the bill of sale out to,” David Kent re-ported. “He couldn’t get rid of us fast enough.”

Over thewinterof1994-5,wespentmostweek-endsinrentedwarehousespaceinthecityready-ingtheboatforthe1995racingseason.We’dprettymuch agreed that it had to be absolutely bullet-proof;noneofuswantedanypartofmaintenance.

We also decidedwe didn’t need all the controlsOlympicsailorsdid,adecisionmadeeasierbythefactthatweweren’tsurewhatmanyofthemdid.After contemplating the somewhat discouraging

Articles

boxes of rigging, sheaves, line, clutches and thelike thatwe stripped from above and below thedeck,wesimplyfilledalltheholes,thenremount-edonlythestuffwhosepurposewecouldidentify.

Thestrategyappearedtowork.Theboatthatwe

trucked to QCYC in spring of 1995 was decid-edlystronger thanastockSoling,anda lotsim-pler to sail. It also differed from Olympic-classSolings afterBroecker installed not one but twotrapezes,whichcamewithtwoharnesseshemade.

AtQCYC, the Soling also got a new look cour-tesy of Willie Shubat and Tom Tomlin, whohad blue paint left over from doing Initram’s hull. Though the syndicate was called The Fly-ing Queens, we’d never actually renamed her.We decided to christen her Schmooze, theGermanic version of “smooth”, which PeterBroecker utteredwith satisfaction every time heran his hand over the highly polished bottom.

Accommodating four partners on a three-personboat was never aproblem. We rotatedcrews as well as thehelm. From the outset,Schmooze showed herNorth Sea pedigree.The harder it blew,themore fun itwas tosail. When the winddidn’t blow, however,not so much, so weconned Graham Dou-gall (no easy feat) into letting us fly a hugechute that PeterBroecker found somewhere.Weargued that we couldn’t compete with the Starsfleetwithout it in light air--whichwas the truth.Blessedly, Graham also permitted the trapezes,whichnotonlypoweredup the rigbutalsowaseasier than droop hiking on our aging bodies.

uted to its fading. We’d sought a nimble racerbecausewe didn’twant to race big cruisers. Butby the late 1990s, three of us had downsizedour big boats to smaller cruising models thatcould be raced. Unfortunately, there wasn’tmuchtimeleftforSchmooze.Sadly,wesoldher.

ThegoodnewsisthatGaryHoeg,aQCer,boughther,soSchmoozeisstillatQueenCity.Evenbet-ternews is thatGary is often looking for some-onetosailherwithhim.Whoknows?YoumightevenpersuadeGarytocreateasailingsyndicate.He already owns the perfect boat for the job.

QCYC Open Regatta By Dan SmithWe have a lot to be excited about in the up-coming season. Thanks to the help of a greatgroup of volunteers, preparations for the 2016QCYC Open Regatta are coming along verywell.Considerthis theofficialSavetheDateforour one-day event on Saturday, September 10!Inadditiontotheusualtrappings(includinglivemusic,greatprizes,beer),thisyearwehavebeencoordinatingabitofafriendlychallengewithourdear neighbour ABYC. The basic concept is tohave a blended participation- and performance-based award given to the best-performing clubover both the ABYC and QCYC Open. Actualnumbers have yet to be confirmed, but we willlikelytakethescoresfromeachclub’stopfiveortenPHRFboatsateacheventandawardflagstothe winning club’s participating members. Thisis a great opportunity forQCYC boats to scorean extra flag and show the sailing communityhowwesailasateam.Andit’sall ingoodfun!The ABYC Open is scheduled for May 28 andwill once again feature traditional course rac-ing on Saturday. An additional coastal racewill be held on the Sunday for those interested,though the eventswill be scored completelydis-tinctly.This isalsoagreatway to jumpstart theseason and get your crew interested in compet-ingbefore the summerdoldrumskick in. I trulyhope you will all consider joining me in repre-sentingQCYC. Please reach outwith any ques-tions and feel free to register online at lorc.org.

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Schmoozecontinued from page 19

22 23

It’s Back! Sunday Morning Yoga at QCYC By Valerie Wint, Lor’ TundrinSundays, 9:45 - 10:45 a.m., June 5 - August 28. On the lawn by the flagpole.

On any given Sunday morning from June to August, I ei-therwalkfromourboatontheAmericansideorIcatchthe9:15 tender from the city side,preparing to leadour regularHatha Yoga practice. Between 9:30 and 9:45 people start toarrive, yogamats under their arms.The Island residents of-ten fly in on their bikes, just in time to set themselves up.A coupleof stalwartswhodon’thaveboatsmay joinmeonthe tender. Guests of members and visitors from reciprocalclubs comeby fora class.Quiteoftenweare twenty strong!

Our weekly Sunday-morning practice started fiveyears ago with only a few people. It has since be-come a staple of the club’s offerings, and members lookforward to working out the kinks and de-stressing.

We’vehadparticipantsofallagesandabilities,fromthe4-year-oldforwhomflexibilityisn’tanissue,totheolderpeoplewithshoulder,hiporkneeissues.Nomatterwhatyourageorstage,wecanfindawayforyoutoreapthebenefitsofayogapractice.

We try as much as possible to practice outdoors on thelawn near the flagpole, but if the weather is inclem-ent or too cold, we’ll move into the Snug. Since 2011,we’ve practiced in the Snug only a handful of times.

MostpeopleinNorthAmericacometoyogainitiallyforthephysicalbenefits,wantingtoincreasetheirstrengthandflex-ibility.Yogadoes all this, but can also improve your breath-ing and circulation, and can help relieve aches and pains.So from a purely physical aspect, yoga complements anyphysicalactivityyoumayenjoy,includingsailing.Italsohelpskeep your muscles and bones strong so that you age well.

Asyoumaybeaware,however,yogaaddressesnotonlythephys-ical,butalsothementalandemotionalaspectsofourbeing.It’sgreatforrelievingstressandanxiety,andforturningnegativesintopositives.Youmightfindthatyoudevelopgreatercoordi-nation,memory, reaction times,and improvedconcentration.

Classes are on Sundays from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m. on thelawn, starting on June 5 and running through to August28. Please try to arrive five minutes beforehand so thatyou don’t disturb our opening centring exercise. Please

Articles

AmemberofQCYCformanyyears,JeanNimmodiedinPictononApril9attheageof98.Thereisamemorialnoticepostedatwww.whattamfuneral-home.com,andherdaughterCathyCoulissentthefollowingmessageabouthermotherandQCYC:

“ManymembersofQueenCityYachtClubknewmy folksTomand JeanNimmo,whowere long-timemembersofQueenCity,datingbacktothemid-1940’s.MumandDadalways enjoyed shar-ingafewdrinksandstoriesaboardtheirsailboats

overtheyearstheyspentintheTorontoareaandalso in Prince Edward County. Dad had what Iliked to refer to as a ‘colourful’ personality, andmydearMumwas thequieterof the two.Mumwas a very kind and thoughtful woman witha very strongwill.Dad’swedding gift to her, in1948, was an old veteran R-boat which he pre-sented to her when it was on the hard sittingin a cradle out in an overgrown field at ABYC.

I can recallmany fondmemories of growingupatQueenCity.Onesuchmemorywaswhenwestayed overnight in our locker (one of those bigones on themain floor of the clubhouse).Mumpreferredstayingthereratherthanontheboatif

theweatherwasparticularlynasty. The top bunk wasmine, and whenever oneof the club’s famously well-attended dances was being

heldintheGreatHallIcouldseethedancefloormovingupanddownrightabovemyhead!When

Mumcametocheckonme,moretimesthannotshe would find me up and gently scold me forstillbeingawake.Howdidsheexpectmetosleepwith all that ruckus going on right above me?

I would like to extend my deepest appreciationandheartfeltthankstomembers,andtothemanyfriendsIandmyfamilyaresoprivilegedtohavethroughout the sailing community who knew ofMum’s longhealth struggleswith blindness andtheravagesofAlzheimer’sDisease,andwhotookafewmomentstosharewithJohnandmetheirownfamily’sstoriesofalovedone’ssimilarstruggles.Nowmore thanever, Iamfindingmuch-neededsupport from those wonderful acts of kindness.

Whentheweatherisnicerandthetemperatureiswarmer,aMemorialServicewillbeheldforMuminPicton.Inthemeantime,memorialgiftscanbemadetotheAlzheimerSocietyofPrinceEdwardCounty on behalf of Jean Nimmo. Donationscan be made online. Visiting www.alzheimer.cawilldirectyou to theproperpage for theAl-zheimerSocietyofHastings-PrinceEdwardCounty.”

Memorial

fleet, the fleet is divided into groups with as-signedgroupleaders.Theorder,groupsandgroupleadersare in theParticipants’meetinghandout.

ParticipationintheReviewoftheFeetisatime-honouredyachtingtradition--somuchso,thatanyowner whose yacht does not participate in theReview of the Fleet needs to present a bottle ofrum to theCommodore to atone for the lack ofparticipation.As a reverse of this, theClubwillawardabottleofrumtoaparticipatingyachtse-lectedbythecrewaboardtheCommodore’syacht.

The actual Review of the Fleet beginsat 1345 as per sailing directions dis-tributed at the Participants’ Meeting.

The reviewbeginswith thefiring of a gun.TheViceCommodoreleadstheparadeofPastCommo-doresbytheCommodore’syacht.TheobjectiveistohaveanorderlySailPastandtoallowtheCom-modoreachancetosaluteeachboatandmembers.Pleasefindtheleaderofyoursectionandthenfallin linetofollow.Ifyourboat ismovingtoofast,pleasereducesailorcutpower.Thisisimportantand will help maintain an orderly procession.

bring your own mat or big towel, and wear comfy clothes.You might also want to bring a hat and/or sunglasses.

I do hope to see you on Sunday mornings, mat in hand,ready to practice. Looking forward to a great season

Sail Past at the Queen City Yacht Club

Graham Dougall [email protected]

The Annual Sail Past and Review of the Fleetby the Commodore marks the official open-ing of the Club. This is quite a traditional andformal event. It’s a day when all members cel-ebrate the new sailing season. This is an all-day event which all are expected to attend.

There are three components to the day:•SailPastintheafternoon•PostSailPastsocial•ThebanquetanddancingintheGreatHallintheevening.

The schedule on Saturday, May 21, 2016:

1205Participants’Meeting1320AQIIdepartsforReviewoftheFleet1345ReviewoftheFleet1600SailPastoftheFleetintheLagoonac-companiedbythepipes1630Commodore’sPunchbowlReception1745SailPastBanquet1755HeadTablePipedin2030HeadTabledepartsforFlagLoweringCeremony2042SunsetandFlagLoweringCeremony2045DancingtoDirtyLittleSwingThing

The Participants’ meeting is when the writteninstructions for theSailPast aredistributedanddiscussed. One important aspect of the ReviewofFleet is theorderly lineofyachtspassing theCommodore’s anchored yacht. As with manyaspects of yachting, naval traditions drive thispractice. The order, with minor variations, is• ViceCommodore• PastCommodoresinorderofseniority• FleetCaptain• Sailingvessels,longestfirst• Powervessels,longestfirst• Invitedvessels• RearCommodoreInorder toprovide somehelp inorganizing the

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CLUB PHRF TEAM CHALLENGE:

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QUEEN CITY YACHT CLUB:

ASHBRIDGES BAY YACHT CLUB

CHALLENGES YOU!

The May 28/29 2016 ABYC OPEN CHALLENGE Regatta features a new racing format for all PHRF racers. We invite ALL racers competing under PHRF rules to join us this year for a spectacular season of exciting sail racing on the lake. Forthwith, ABYC issues this CHALLENGE to all yacht racers of QUEEN CITY:

CLUB PHRF TEAM CHALLENGE: - Semi-Annual 2 event “Team Racing” competition. - 1st Challenge May 28 at ABYC Open. 2nd Challenge September 10 at QCYC Open. - Unlimited number of PHRF boats can compete from each club. - Best Combined Club Team Score for PHRF boats from each club. - Flags & “Prizes” to each boat on the winning club team. - 100% “Nationality Rule.” (Competing Boats club members only.) - CHALLENGE includes Flying Sail & Non-Flying Sail boats. - Largest club team increases their winning percentage!

Winning team retains CLUB PHRF TEAM CHALLENGE TROPHY until next CHALLENGE.

SEE YOU IN MAY at ASHBRIDGES BAY!

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We’re sailors and we get it. Check out our same to next day turn around on splicing, standing and running rigging, as well as our in house custom graphic services for your boat name and registration numbers.

Email us your name and address to [email protected] to receive your free catalogue today!

Xantrex Pro 1000Watt InverterModified Sine Wave #806-1010 XM1000 $299.99 (while quantities last)

2000GLSingle BurnerNon-Pressurized Alcohol Stove with Glass Top $279.99

12Ga. Orion Flare Launcher Kit 6 Flares and Gun. #C1212 $ 89.00 Replacement Shells #12AWGF $32.99/3pk

Plastimo Inflatable Vest - Pilot With Harness Automatic/ManualBlack with crotch strap $159.00With Harness Automatic/ManualBlue or Red $139.00Without harness Manual Activation Red $99.00

QCYC Members Only Spring Specials

Xantrex Freedom SW Inverters and Charger - Sine Wave 2000W w/ 100A charger model Built in 30amp transfer relay. #815-2012 SW2012 $ 1950.00With remote panel $ 2250.00

Jabsco Twist ‘n’ Lock Head Compact $ 179.99

Large Bowl $ 199.99

Prices Valid May thru June 2016 Or while supplies last!

Queen City Yacht Club, Toronto, Canada - CLIPPER · 2016. 5. 13. · CLIP The Magazine of the Queen...

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Transcript of Queen City Yacht Club, Toronto, Canada - CLIPPER · 2016. 5. 13. · CLIP The Magazine of the Queen...