03  Cruise to Niagara-On-The-Lake Yacht Club
  17  LOCCA Rendezvous (@ Dalhousie YC)
  24  Cruise to National Yacht Club
  31  Cruise to Oakville Yacht Squadron

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It's a very good thing if you are not hearing anything from the Senior Vice Commodore this summer.

 

We've had some minor contretemps but I salute the level of comportment and reason and application of common sense that has so far prevailed.

 

Last year (and spilling over into some member accounts for 2013) there were a few questions surrounding the member work hours. SO, with lots of time to go this year:  

1. Senior members are required to contribute 20 hours of time.  This requirement is pro-rated for new senior members depending on their join date.
2. We have worked hard on the JobJar system so that you can see the work opportunities.  If you do not have or can't remember the name and password to access the members only section of the website, please see Lidia in the office for help with this.
3. You can also contact any member of the board - particularly VC Marine Bruce Morrison, VC Member Services Cindy Sampson and Rear Commodore Paul Brennan because they have most of the jobs.  
4. There are many non manual labour hours available.
5. You MUST log in your hours. The JobJar system is easy to use and avoids the massive amount of manual processing of blue cards that took so much time last year.
6. You WILL be billed at the rate of $45.00 per hour for any shortfall in your required contribution.

Last year there were also a number of issues with senior members wishing to change their membership status.  This bylaw has not been changed for a number of years - the requirement is that the office and Senior Vice Commodore be notified in writing of your wish to resign or change membership classification by December 31st of any given year.

 

We are approaching elections this fall.  I will not be running for this position again.

 

I would encourage anyone considering running for the SRVC position to call or email me (in confidence) if you want to know what is involved.  There have been many challenges and changes in this modern age of reduced board size and increasing intervention or scrutiny by outside bodies.

 

It's time for anyone with an interest in the board positions up for election to declare their candidacy and let the membership know their 'vision'.  We'd like to encourage more involvement and a more open and democratic process - even a town hall meeting or 2.

 

Fair(er) winds to all for the balance of the season, 

 

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A few weeks ago we featured an unusual method of arriving at ABYC - driving in with an amphibious automobile.  Since we received lots of comments about that story, we thought we would tell you about what was probably the most dramatic entrance to ABYC's bay ever witnessed.  This occurred 20 years ago this week in 1993.  It was a beautiful, warm Saturday evening in July with the Beaches Jazz Festival on.  ABYC was filled with visitors with no empty slips available. 

Around 7:00pm, many of us noticed a small airplane circling our bay several times.  We also noticed that a boat from the Marine Unit of the Toronto Police was stationed outside our bay.  Then to everyone's astonishment, the airplane approached very low from the east and landed in the bay, shooting out of the entrance at full speed!  It returned into the bay several minutes later, taxied to the east end of the public docks where several (apparently very important) passengers disembarked. 

Once the passengers were safely on land, the pilot then powered up and the airplane roared out of the mouth of the bay and took off.  It is safe to say that this can never happen again with our extension of Green Dock.

We noted the numbers on the airplane and a later check revealed that it was out of the Brampton Flying Club.  We never did identify the mystery guests who had flown in to the Beaches Jazz Festival! 

Some people know how to make an entrance!

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Senior Vice Commodore Pat Flynn with (left to right) Aaron Chan, Michael Treuman, Kathleen Ryan, Caroline Goodwin, executive of the Ontario Public Service Dragon Boat Club.

 

You haven't seen these folks on the water in our bay this summer.  Their arrangement with Balmy Beach Canoe Club came to an end in 2012 and their east end teams have been paddling in the west.

 

They've approached ABYC to explore options for becoming part of our waterfront 'community'.

 

There is something to be said for ABYC linking with a growing water sports activity that appeals to the younger generation.  They bring a lot of potential members (and crew/future sailors) for a single 650 pound 40 foot dragon boat.

 

At this point, we don't know what it could look like or if this would fit under Long Range Planning, Land Use, Membership or Finance, but we welcome any input.

 

Thanks to our Club Manager Rennie Stobbs for the photo and for conducting the tour this past Friday.

 

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On Tuesday, August 6th and Thursday, August 8th Diane will present updates on the One Girl's Ocean Challenge.  The presentations will begin at 9:30 after racing is over.  

Diane will give a recap of her campaign that has lead her to qualify as the 3rd Canadian and 1st Canadian woman to qualify for the 40 year old Trans Atlantic 4300 mile Mini TransAt from France to Guadeloupe.  Her presentations will focus on her recently completed qualification this past spring with particular highlights from the Mini Fastnet where she finished 6th overall.

 

She will also talk about her preparations for the Mini TransAt as she heads to the start line with 83 other competitors most of whom are based in Europe.

 

Diane returns to France on September 2nd to begin her final preparations for the start of the race on October 13, 2013.

 

Tickets for the $5,000 travel voucher raffle will be available both nights.  The draw for the winning ticket will take place at ABYC on Sunday afternoon, September 1, 2013.

 

Even if you are not a racer, we encourage you to come down to the club on one of these nights to listen to Diane's last presentations at ABYC before she heads to France to race the Mini TransAt while flying the ABYC Burgee. 

 

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You can tell we are in the full wing of summer as there is no shortage of races in which to participate.  ABYC boats and volunteers are in full swing, especially this week with LYRA having started on Monday morning, immediately after the Youngstown Level Regatta - the last, in fact.  I understand it will be back as a re-born, re-named event next year, and minus Don Finkle who has run it for forty straight years.  Although there were 185 boats racing, the numbers are certainly down from the glory years of the late 80's and early 90's.

My apologies if I missed someone; there are no clubs listed in the results which are at http://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=743.

Meanwhile the fearless decided to sail in the Laser North American Championships in Kingston, possibly to test the waters (so to speak) as the 2015 World Championships will be held at that venue. ABYC was represented by four sailors - two Standard Rigs, and two Radials.  The Standard Rig course had a large ABYC race committee presence with Don and Liz MacIntyre, Paul Brennan, Ian Gow and former ABYC member Bill Visser on the various mark and committee boats (not to mention Pat Lymburner as PRO).  Rebecca Crumlish was on the finish boat on the radial course.

Our youngest representative was 15 year old Shawn Gershman, who did well to make the cut for the Radial Silver Fleet after two days of relatively light air (at least by Kingston standards) but struggled in the heavy winds of Sunday.  Shawn finished 108th overall in the 163 boat fleet, while Ainsley Doell was 155th.

The Standard Rig fleet had ABYC's oldest representative, sexagenarian Nick Bailey.  Although his results were somewhat disappointing, he managed to win the "best wipeout of the regatta" according to the judges who witnessed his third capsize in one leg on Sunday.  None-the-less, Nick managed to finish a respectable 57th of the 73 boats, while Matt Sherar, who is less than a third of Nick's age finished 48th (11th in Silver).

Quote of the weekend was from a 12 year old Mexican sailor who said with much enthusiasm to Nick, "You know the best thing about these boats is that REALLY OLD people can still sail them.  You can even do it when you're SIXTY". Full results can be found at http://2013laserna.cork.org/?page_id=23

Meanwhile, just up the road, er, Lake, the 29er Canadian Championships were being held at Kingston Yacht Club.  ABYC was represented by Linor Berezin and Katherine McEwen who finished a very impressive 11th in the 31 boat fleet.  Full results are at http://www.kingstonyachtclub.com/racing/regattas.cfm.

LYRA started on Monday with the Founders and the Centennial Cup. Several ABYC boats are competing, including Cliff Walkington's Gypsy and Martin Gibb in Consort, as well as some of the usual suspects such as the Flynns in Starwatch and Stephen Trevitt and the Crime Seniors.

Just a reminder for the Thursday night racers that there will be no race this week, as any of the Tuesday racers who forgot to check the schedule will know by now.

After LYRA, ABYC is hosting the Ontario Laser Master's Regatta, followed by the Beneteau 36.7 event.

Enjoy the second half of the summer!

 

 

 

 

For more information on our team with up to date photos and results please follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/ABYCJuniorRaceTeam