Alamitos Bay Yacht Club Volume 85 • Number 12 celebration ......by Jeff Merrill, Chuck Clay, Steve George, Patty Nash. Special thank you to Jim and Special thank you to Jim and Tony

sou’wester • december 2012 • page 1

December 2012 Official Publication ofAlamitos Bay Yacht Club

Volume 85 • Number 12

Commodore’s Compass .................................... 2Vice Verses .................................................... 2-3Rear View ....................................................... 3-4Membership ................................................... 4-5Junior Sailing.................................................. 5-6Pages of History ............................................. 7-8Champions List ............................................ 9-10Beach Report (CSULB Sailing Team) ..............11Turkey Day Report ..................................... 12-13Fleet News ................................................. 14-15

i n s i d ei n s i d ei n s i d ei n s i d ei n s i d e s as as as as a vvvvv e t h e d ae t h e d ae t h e d ae t h e d ae t h e d a t et et et et eRace Management/Social Advisory ... December 5Christmas Party .................................. December 9Junior Advisory Board Meeting ........ December 10Board of Director’s Meeting.............. December 12Sou’wester Deadline ........................ December 22Boxing Day Race ............................. December 29Rose Bowl Regatta ............................. January 5-6General Membership Meeting .............. January 18Beach Clean Up ................................... January 20Club ABYC ........................................... January 25

Jeff Merrill photo

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The Champions and Special Recognition Celebration, hosted by the Cal 20 Fleet, drew large crowds again this year!Over 120 members attended the general meeting featuring a “Fall Harvest Theme” which was especially suited forthe cold and blustery evening!

Commodore Mike Baumann, master of ceremonies and Jennifer Kuritz presented this years awards to the sailors.The huge trophy tables organized by Jennifer and Steve Kuritz made for the perfect backdrop for the evening. “Burgee

Awards” were given to ABYC skipper and crew of a single event or cumulative, forwining an event series and “Bell Ringer Awards” were presented to an ABYC memberwho brought distinction to ABYC due to exemplary service as an organizer (PRO/Regatta Chair/Chief Judge/ ChiefScorer) of an ABYC hosted event or for beingrecognized by ABYC or the Yachting Community through acknowledgement of awardof non-racing merit (service, sportsmanship,Collegiate All American). Data wascollected throughout the year by the fleet captains.Then researched and compiledby Jeff Merrill, Chuck Clay, Steve George, Patty Nash. Special thank you to Jim andTony Morford, who’s record keeping we could not live without!

A complete listing of all award recipients can be found on page 10 and at:http://www.abyc.org/upload/Champs.pdf

Decor for the celebrated evening reflected fall color tones that created a warmand friendly ambience. Harvest-gold tables were accented with natural fall leaves,pumpkins, gourds and glittering tealights designed by Trish Clay, BettyBaumann, Social Chair KathyRobinson, Patty Nash.

Elaine and Ron Wood, Georgia Merchant, Jeff Ives, Dan Bates, MarkBarnard served a cozy “comfort foods” feast prepared by Kelly and Jesus ofbeef stew, grilled vegetables, brown rice, green salad, rolls and apple pie.

Thank you to all of our fleet members who made this eveningmemorable: Sue and Dave Crockett, John and Georgia Merchant, Ron andElaine Wood, the Clay Family, the Bates Family, the Gibbs Family, Jeff Ives,Steve George and Suzan Brooks, Mark Barnard, Terry Huguet, David Miller.

Thank you to Kelly Whitlow, Jesus, Port Captain Dave Myers, Reggie,Rick, Roberto, Shelia, Julissa, Jenny who assisted and organized this galaevent.

Thank you to Mike Baumann and Jon Robinson for all of theirassistance. A Huge Thank You to Jeff Merrill for his tremendous support andfor creating the “Annual ABYC Champions Celebration and Recognition Celebration!”

Patty Nash

Rob Rice photos championscelebration of


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compasscommodore’s

versesvice

HE SPOKE NOT A WORD, BUT WENT STRAIGHT TO HIS WORK Let me start with a big thanks to all of you that helped make this years Turkey Day Regatta one of the best in many a year. Of course good wind, and lack of storms had a

lot to do with it, but also the efforts of so many of you who raced, or helped out at the races.Thanks in particular to Stacy Conn for working as chef for the dinner, Jennifer Kuritz, KathyRobinson, the Staff Commodores, the Junior Board, and the Social Committee, who organizedthe dinner, and Chuck Clay and the rest of the Board of Directors for organizing the on- the-water activities.

As you start your busy holiday season, don’t forget your ABYC family, please stop by toone of our many celebratory events.

Fleet Events: The Cal 20’s, Lido’s, Senior Sabot and Keelboat Fleets all hold parties this month. These are a greattime to get to know the rest of your class competitors and friends, without having to wash down any boats. Events are onthe calendar

Club Christmas Party: I attended my first one soon after joining the club, and it was a great way to get introducedto people. It’s fun, it’s traditional, it includes carols, and Santa, and treats for the little ones. What’s not to love?

Boxing Day Regatta: December 29th (apparently American’s can’t use a calendar correctly). The one day a yearthat ABYC delves into handicap racing. Everyone competes from Sabots to 70s. Its’ easy, it’s fun, and there are warmdrinks.

And finally, please remember our staff. The holiday fund appeal has been mailed to you. The holiday fund is along-standing tradition at ABYC, where we all recognize our staff’s efforts. I would like to encourage you to be generous toour hard working staff for all they do for the club. It is not too late to contribute, and all contributions are greatly appreciated.

On behalf of your club staff, the Board of Directors, and Betty, Glenn, Kevin, I offer you best wishes for a happy andsuccessful 2013, and a merry Christmas to all.

Cheers,Mike

Steve and I would like to wish everyone Happy Holiday’s! As I am writing this article, ourThanksgiving turkey is in the oven and we’re waiting for family and friends to arrive. Aheadof us, we have quite the party schedule…Tree Trimming, Cal 20s, Lidos, Club Party, Sr.

Sabot/Keelboat, and Naples Parade.then off to Minnesota to Steve’s parents for Christmas. Ihope Santa is good to you this year – and lets you sail in Boxing Day Regatta! (I’ve asked Santafor a new tiller extension for the Cal 20.)

Thank you to everyone who helped with the Turkey Day Dinner at Turkey Day Regatta!We had 30 volunteers helping cook, set-up, serve and clean-up. We served well over 300dinners. Special thanks to Stacey Conn for coordinating all the cooking in the kitchen. Her team

produced a wonderful dinner. Also, many thanks to Kathy Robinson and SAC for the beautiful decorations in the diningroom and to the juniors who helped clean and reset tables. And, thank you to all the staff commodores who stepped up tohelp serve dinner.

With so many social activities ahead this month, I don’t want to lose sight of the three yard and house projects forthe year. We’ve made some progress on the Lido “Double Decker” project. Paul Makielski and the Lido team havedeveloped a strong design. Pricing for premium quality stainless proved too expensive, so we’re looking at other options.Rumor is that BCYC has a great system, so we’ll be taking a field trip to look at their system (might involve brunch as well).With other yard issues, I’ve had a lot of conversations and several members have stepped forward to help (THANK YOU!).Paul Bishop has volunteered to be the Keelboat Yard Ogre and the Yard Committee will have its first meeting in Decemberto prioritize yard needs. As I’ve mentioned in past articles, the yard rules are not being followed and many boats lookneglected. Please come down and pump of your trailer tires and clean up around your boat. Yard rules prohibit itemsbeing stored on the ground. If you don’t have enough storage space, please rent a locker (see Sheila in the office). Also,many keel boats don’t have up-to-date registration stickers which mean you haven’t visited your boat in over a year!

For the club house, we’ve done some inspection of the upper-deck. Current plan is to sand down the short Southend of the deck to inspect the boards and get a better idea of what needs to be repaired. Thank you to those of you thathave offered your professional help and tools for this project. We hope to have more to report on our progress in lateJanuary.


2012/13OFFICERS & DIRECTORS

Commodore Mike [email protected]

Vice Commodore Jennifer [email protected]

Rear Commodore Chuck [email protected]

Jr. Staff Commodore Jon [email protected]

Fleet Captain Latham [email protected]

Secretary Jeff [email protected]

DirectorsJunior Program Dave Michaelis

[email protected] Chuck Tripp

[email protected] Paul Anctil

[email protected]

Treasurer Nicole Peoples

Junior Commodores Kevin Baumann/Kevin Leddy

Fleet Surgeon Karen Rice

Judge Advocate Tom Ramsey

Fleet Chaplain Don Reiman

Port Captain Dave Myers

Sou’wester Editor/Layout Sharon [email protected]

Weekly Reader Glenn [email protected]

ABYC Phone (562) 434-9955Homepage www.abyc.orgEmail [email protected]

Sou’WSou’WSou’WSou’WSou’Wesesesesestttttererererer DEADLINEDEADLINEDEADLINEDEADLINEDEADLINEDecember 22, 2012 is the deadline

for the January Sou’Wester.

Help us tHelp us tHelp us tHelp us tHelp us to Help yo Help yo Help yo Help yo Help you!ou!ou!ou!ou!Please keep your e-mail address currentwith [email protected] to receive allof the weekly news and events. Thank you.

...from page 2vice commodorem o r eChairs! I’ve had a lot of input on the chair project. Sharon Pearson and I are still working on obtaining quotes, and

then will be able to make our recommendation.As many of you know we hired an additional club employee who is an engine repair expert. We’re modifying an

area in the East yard, so he will have a good work area with adequate power and secure storage for his tools. Eric’sexpertise was put to use at Turkey Day Regatta where he kept the fleet moving.

Jennifer Kuritz

viewrear

Gobble Gobble…. We have just completed the 65th ABYC Turkey Day Regatta, November 17 & 18. If you were not there, you missed a great event! This is the “Big Daddy” of the year, and it

takes a village to pull off. We had 96 volunteers working this event, and I must thank EVERYONEwho helped out in making this regatta happen.

First and foremost I want to thank my wife Trish Clay for hanging in there while I madebillions of phone calls and sent countless emails pulling the team together. I would also like tothank The Board of Directors for all of their support, guidance and direction; it is much appreciated.Thanks to Kelly Whitlow, and the entire staff for all their help and support. They are truly thebackbone of the club and do a great job in “managing” board members!!

We had two circles outside “Alfa course” PRO was Martyn Bookwalter with his stellar team that was led by SharonPearson and Stacey Gibbs. They did an amazing job keeping everything in order, and all of the competitors had a greattime.

“Bravo course” PRO was Bob Anderson and his team, lead by Erin Rustigian, Trish Clay, and Stephanie Gwinntaking great photos (posted on the ABYC Facebook page). Like the Bravo course, they did a great job in overcoming thedragging finish line that triggered the Mercury race to be thrown out. Apparently the anchor is now resting in Davy Jones

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The Chucks...Hardin (left) and Clay

reportmembership


...from page 3rear commodorem o r eLocker... (may want to use pliers next time line whaler!!). Nice recovery to get the line reset so the next class (the Lasers)could finish!

Inside PRO Marc Schryer was scheduled, but fell ill at the last minute. In a crunch, Mark Townsend (newly appointedIRO) took the Saturday shift and Commodore Mike Bauman was the closer on Sunday. They were supported by the manyvolunteers that make Turkey Day a great regatta, and thanks to Ed Spotskey for using his Duffy for finishing. Paul Antil wasalso very instrumental in getting all of the volunteers assigned to their whalers, and Latham Bell and Margaret Caddle tookcare of the judging. It turned out to be a slow weekend because everyone played nice in the “sand box”. Staff CommodoreJim Morford and Linda Peoples spent the weekend locked in the scoring room to ensure that results were posted quicklyand accurately. Rich Roberts was escorted around the race course by Chuck Harden, bringing the great daily reports.

One of the most challenging jobs for Turkey Day (everyone that has done this job will appreciate this shout out):the launch ramp. Chris Peoples had the launch ramp in total control, with help from Rob Waterman. This is very difficultto do when you get 80 lasers wanting to launch at the same time. Thanks guys job well done!!

VC Jennifer Kuritz directed Land operations, working closely with Kathy Robinson and her SAC team to get over300 dinners served in 1½ hours! Shout outs go to Stacy Conn, “Kitchen Boss” Jesus, and Dave Myers, and all of theservers (including a few Staff Commodores) for cooking the birds! Reggie gets credit for keeping the drinks flowing with hispersonal style that we all enjoy, Thanks Reggie!

Now that the holiday season is under way we have many events on the calendar so check it frequently so you don’tmiss out!

Friday November 30th is the annual Tree Trimming party, so come down and enjoy what Jesus and Reggie areserving and help out! Next up is the Cal 20 Christmas party, which is always a good time. After that it is the Lido Fleet’stime to spread the holiday cheer, and you know how they roll! Following the Lido’s on Sunday is ABYC’s Christmas Partythat will include Santa, caroling and dinner. If you want to help out please contact SAC or one of the board members. Toround out the Christmas parties is the Senior Sabots and Keelboat Fleets on December 14. Keep an eye on the calendarfor event updates!

On behalf of Trish, Chelsea, and myself, we want to wish you all a safe and healthy holiday season and a prosperousnew year!

ABYC is the PLACE to BE….Cheers,Chuck Clay

All has been quiet on the membership front, as we regroup and refocus for the coming year. The emphasis for theNew Year is going to be on membership retention. We lose about 30 members a year for a number of reasons. Themajority of the members depart because they are not using the Club or because the kids are off to College and the

parents are not sailors. We have no problems retaining the sailors. The challenge is getting the non-sailors involved in ourwonderful sport. If each sailing member makes an effort to take a new member for a sail or possibly crew in a club regatta,this could help with opening up and growing our sport. If you have an opportunity to take a junior members parent for a sail,go for it!!! If you have any ideas about membership retention please contact us.

We hope everyone has a great holiday season. Thanks again for all your support.Chuck Tripp, Dan Milefchik, and Ed Spotskey

New members presented at the November Membership Meeting:

The Vidor family - Mark, Helen and sonsJennifer & John Christopher

Sheila Maddox photos


...from page 4membershipm o r e

The Gill family - Dudley, Laura, son Alex and fatherBruce Case with Sponsor Richard Vaught

The Stone family - Joel, Irene, and children Isaac &Katharine (sleeping)

Sammy Shuart, Jr member (Greg & Mary Montzsponsors)

Craig Dougherty with Sponsor Tom Ramsey

(junior sailing)the bay clogger

...continued page 6

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, from the ABYC Junior Sailing Program! It’s beena fantastic year for junior sailing at ABYC and many achieved their goals andmore and so it’s fitting to be thankful for the good things that have happened

over the year. We’re also thankful for such a supporting parent staff and membershipthat has been the reason the junior program has excelled to the extents it has. We’revery thankful for our Junior Advisory Board who has done everything from fundraisingto fixing charter boats. In fact all of the new dollies, new FJ fleet, and FJ gear camefrom them and money you donated to the Junior Fund. Thank you so much!

There have been so many additional people who helped fix charter boats and upgrade the equipment along theway and there is simply not enough space to list them all in this article, so with deepest gratitude, I extend a heartfelt thankyou to all of you who gave your time, money, and love so these kids could enjoy a fantastic sport that will last their wholelives.


perspect ivea junior

Turkey Day Regatta Wrap Up @ ABYC (Sabots, Lasers, & Lido 14s)We had over 20 ABYC junior sailors compete in this year’s Turkey Day Regattaand despite a gloomy weather outlook on the weekend, we managed to escapewith only a little bit of rain on Saturday. The wind was light and shifty through mostof the regatta but our juniors managed to do very despite the unusual conditions.

Out in the ocean classes, Rob Rice and Matt McDermaid finished 3rd overallin the 29ers with a very consistent showing, including three 2nd place finishes andtwo 3rd place finishes. Jessica McJones finished 12th overall in a highly competitiveLaser Radial class with a best race of fifth place. For the Sabot A class, AlanPeoples placed second overall with two bullets and three 2nd place finishes! BradleyClinton dominated the B fleet taking home the 1st place trophy. Jacob Warren tiedfor 3rd but lost the tie breaker and ended up 4th overall. On the Lido 14 course,Adam Elsharhawy and Stuart Robinson ended up 2nd overall in the A fleet. Adamwas the only junior in the A division and did very well on this outing! In the B fleet,Ethan Michaelis and Ryan Schack took home the gold! They were very consistentwith a worst race of third.High School Update

We sent three teams to SoCal #2 down at BYC this year! Due to heavywinds the races were called early but our teams fared very well considering their light weight. Our budding high schoolsailors have continued to improve by leaps and bounds throughout the Fall. Fourty-five boats competed in the regatta andEthan Michaelis and Ryan Schack were the top finishing team from our High School program placing 22nd overall. At thePCISA All-Girls Invitational Regatta Alexandria Ivory raced in the Varsity Gold boat A Team for Corona del Mar High School.They ended up 2nd place overall and won the first race of the regatta!

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone and happy holidays! We’ll see you in 2013!Matt Beck

...from page 5junior sailingm o r e

boardjunior

Bradley Clinton 1st in Bs and Willem Perry(MBYC) 2nd. Yep...Bradley is my grandson-editor’s privilege. ☺

The Junior Commodore’s Regatta was held at Mission Bay Yacht Club on the 3rd and 4th of November 2012. I havesailed this regatta many times in my Sabot but the last 3 years have been in the Laser Radial. When you are sailinga Laser at this regatta you never know if it will be inside the bay or outside in the ocean. My first year, sailing in the

Laser, we went out to the ocean. The swells were huge, a full rig would hit the trough of the wave and you could not see thetop of the sail. That was pretty fun to see. My second year they held it in the bay. The wind was pretty decent and it wasinteresting to sail in mostly flat water. This year they had us sail in the bay on Saturday and on Sunday we sailed in theocean. Saturday was light wind and I did pretty well ending the day in the top 10. Sunday there was more wind and wesailed in the ocean. It was super choppy with high wind puffs. I did not do as well that day, ending the Regatta mid-fleetish.If any of you decide to sail this Regatta next year, I highly recommend you check out the Taco bar and dance that isincluded in your entry fee. It was a lot of fun with most of the sailors dancing and the music that was being played was verygood also. Even parents came out on the floor to dance near the end of the night. There was at least 6 more songs playedafter the supposedly last song. So check it out!

Stephen Hopkins

In November members of the Junior Board, along with other juniors, helped with the delicious turkey dinner at the TurkeyDay regatta. Thank you to Alan Peoples, Cameron & Derek Bloemeke and RJ Ivory for helping out. In December juniorswill work the Club’s Christmas Party, assisting the little ones with crafts, helping Santa, and serving food. Mark your

calendars now for a beach clean up on January 20, 2013. Bring your friends down to the Club for donuts and one to twohours of community service on the beach. We will also be working on our FJ fleet that day, so if you sail our FJs, please joinus to spruce up the fleet.

Our Sail Recycling program is now an ongoing program. Thank you to the Thompson Family for donating a sturdybin to the Junior Room to keep neat our used sail collection. Our 3rd batch brought in $800 cash. We collect any old sail, ofany material, in any condition. Help yourself by ridding yourself of the old sails that are cluttering your garage, boat anddock box. Help the environment by not sending your old sails to a landfill. Help the juniors by donating your used sails andthey will be made into useful duffle bags and other items.

Stephanie Gwinn photo


of historyfrom the pages

As the year comes to an end, traditions fill the SOU’WESTERs of the past. Turkey Day is certainly one of thosetraditions; holiday parties are the other. Both feature in both of the sets of historical pages reviewed this month.

THIRTY YEARS AGO:It is always a pleasure to see faces from the past that we know in the present. The cover of the SOU’WESTER of

December, 1982, features three such faces: those of Dick Landes, then Commodore; Dave Dorrans, then Rear Commodore;and Marilyn McMahon, then the trophy chair. They were shown holding frozen turkeys and game hens, part of the trove oftreasure that had been competed over during the 1982 Turkey Day Regatta.

In his “Commodore’s Comments,” Dick reported that the turnout for the regatta was “somewhat less than anticipated.”And the wind was evidently somewhat less than optimal: he reported the wind as “definitely a ‘no show.’” Results werescattered in various fleet reports, so we know that Chris Raab won Lido 14 A, Paul Anctil won Senior Naples Sabot A, JimOtis was first in Junior Naples Sabot A, John Ellis was second in Cal 20, Jim Kirk was second in Laser and the Golisons wonthe J/24 class. ABYC members swept the standings in the Snipe fleet, too: Keith Dodson was first ahead of Brian Kent andSteve Bloemeke in that order.

There were plenty of holiday parties in the offing. A full-page advertisement touted the New Year’s Eve party, set tostart on Friday, December 31; there’d be cocktails at seven, dinner at eight, dancing from nine until after midnight andbreakfast at one in the morning. The cost was only twenty bucks per person, and a full turnout was expected.

The two big Christmas parties in those days were the Sabotier and Lido 14 fleet parties. They were scheduled onback-to-back evenings, the Lidos on Friday and the Sabots on Saturday; Sunday was the date for the club Christmas party.The Lidos invited “all club members who are former Lido sailors”—which at that time was a large percentage. A honey-baked ham dinner buffet was set, and a recorder quartet including Lido member Chris Ericksen would entertain before TonyFallon led the partiers in Christmas carols on his guitar.

Not to be outdone, the Sabotiers were set for cocktails at six, dinner at seven and dancing from eight to midnight;while the menu was not mentioned, it must have been opulent, for the cost per person was nine dollars while the Lidos werecollecting six bucks per diner.

A regular column that talked about “the lives of our fellow members and the role our members and our club play inyachting circles and in the community at large” was inaugurated in December, 1982. The column was called, “Driftwood,”and the writer was Mary Alice Zeman; a long-time member, “M.A.” was a professional journalist and a great writer. Therehad been a long history of such columns in the SOU’WESTERs of the past; among the previous columns were “From theBay Window” by Betty Bixby, “Dragon Tales” by Ann Exley and an unnamed column by Mary Matson.

ABYC junior Jim Otis was named winner of the Southern California Youth Yacht Racing Association (SCYYRA)Lowell North Trophy as winner of the four-regatta North Series; sailed in Naples Sabots, the series had been won the yearbefore by Mike Sentovich, another ABYC member. John Ellis was elected to be Keelboat Fleet Captain, assisted by ViceFleet Captain Don Anderson and Secretary/Treasurer Audrey Hand; the Keelboat Fleet would hold a pot-luck Christmasparty at the home of Raleigh and Joy Moffett the week before the club’s Christmas party. Among members joining ABYCwere Peter and Eleanor Gantz; they had been members before, and Peter celebrated their return to ABYC by winning thePHRF A division at Turkey Day...

TWENTY YEARS AGO:There were no turkeys on the cover of the SOU’WESTER for December, 1992, but lots of J/24s: they were

photographed lining up on the starting line for the 1992 Turkey Day Regatta. There had been 230 boats in the water for theevent, according to the thank-you note posted by regatta chairman Jerry Montgomery; the races had been run by AlanSmith outside and George Caddle inside, and the Keelboat Fleet had the duty. Marta Weisbrod produced the Turkey Daydinner; among the carvers who did their duty on the turkeys were Eric Conn, Jim Morford, Lance Seaman, Jack Wolfe andCommodore Mark Townsend.

The “Commodore’s Comments” mentioned some new things coming in the holidays. It seems that Robin Townsendhad made some new Christmas ornaments for the club Christmas tree that would be making their debut at the club Christmasparty in the middle of the month. And a crew led by Elliot Rosenthal made a full set of blackjack tables for less that it wouldhave cost to rent a similar number; they would debut at the club’s New Year’s Eve party, “Casino ABYC,” on December 31.

The Commodore also included a volunteer sign-up sheet in this month’s SOU’WESTER. The format was prettystandard in those days: there was one list of specific events, including club regattas, club parties and general membershipmeeting dinners, and another list of specific responsibilities for regattas such as chase-boat duty, hoist duty, entries andscoring and the like. There were also some chairs open, including for such activities as the House Committee, the Boatique,Grounds and Programs.

While the Turkey Day Regatta was the big news, the Halloween Regatta got the big ink. Scott Lake, then the JuniorRear Commodore, reported on how a handful of adults had assisted the ABYC Juniors in running the event. Only fiveclasses established—Cal 20 and Etchells in the harbor and Lido 14, Senior Sabots and Junior Sabots in the Bay—so therewere almost as many volunteers as racing boats. Bruce and Margo Golison won the Cal 20 class while Gabe and Cheryl

...continued page 8


Ferramola won the Lidos; Paul Aumann was top Senior Sabot and Jolly Choate from LBYC was top Junior Sabot. JohnWeiss won the Etchells class.

Robina Pace was writing the “Driftwood” column at the end of 1992; she reported on an ABYC group that had goneto Greece on a tour that included a cruise in a 51-foot Jenneau...C.J. Crockett was the “pit boss” for the New Year’s Eveparty and was looking for volunteer dealers; a training class was scheduled for interested members in December...theSabotier Christmas party was open to all ABYC members; there would be a seven-piece band playing Big Band music forthe dancing pleasure of all...

Chris Ericksen, Club Historian

historym o r e ...from page 7

Come down to ABYC to start or finish your holiday shopping. We have a great selection of sailcloth bags trimmed withABYC burgee ribbon, including 3 sizes of duffle bags, men’s wallets and kits, and women’s purses. We are alsocarrying ABYC ribbon belts, key fobs, dog collars and leashes. For the cooler winter months, we now have new

ABYC knit beanie hats in gray and pink. Our ABYC Croakies make great stocking stuffers. Look for our gear sales at clubevents and regattas. We can also accommodate special orders. Contact [email protected] if you have any questions orrequests.

gearabyc

managementrace

New Racing Rules of SailingThe Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) govern the sport on the water and are revised and published every four yearsby the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) to coincide with the start of a new Olympic cycle. The Racing Rules

of Sailing 2013-2016 will go into effect in January and are available on the US Sailing website. For the rules buffs amongstyou there is a version posted on the ISAF website http://www.sailing.org titled “The Racing Rules of Sailing 2013-2016Study Version”. This document provides the reasons behind each rule change.

Dateline IrelandISAF has confirmed Mark Townsend as an International Race Officer at their 2012 ISAF annual meeting. Markis the only IRO named to the United States this year and is one of only 14 International Race Officers in the United

States. Our congratulations go to Mark, we are proud of you!

mark townsend!!way to go

GotSails?Do you haveany old sailssitting aroundthat you don’t use anymore?

Not sure what to do with them?Well, here’s your chance to get rid ofthose old sails and help the ABYC JuniorBoard at the same time.

Just bring them to the club andyou’ll be directed to the place leavethem.

HELP KEEP OUR BEACHES CLEAN!

Join the ABYC Juniors

Sunday, January 20, 2013 from 2:00-4:00 pm

The trash on our beaches won’t pick itself up!


Month Skipper Crew EventJanuary Ed Feo Rachel Ellis Viper Pacific Coast ChampionshipMarch Howard Hamlin Andy Zinn 505 Pacific National ChampionApril Bruce Golison Amanda Wayne ABYC Club Champion - Kim Thompson TrophyApril Jack Jorgensen Savannah Brown Perry Series ChampMay Chuck Clay Cal 20 Alamitos Bay Fleet One ChampionMay Jay Golison Catalina 37 National Champion, Long Beach Race

Steve Flam Week - One Design Boat of the week winnerPat McCormickRob RiceScott AtwoodJim BatemanKevin BrownJeff Merrill

June Jeff McDermaid INSA Sr. Sabot Clydesdales ChampionJune Kevin Taugher Area J SemiFinals Single handed ChampionJuly Howard Hamlin Andy Zinn 505 French National ChampionshipJuly Jacob Rosenberg ABF ChampionJuly Sawyer Gibbs Beach to Bay - Laser Full Rig Champ (First to Finish)July Ryan Schack Beach to Bay - Laser Radial ChampJuly Steve Hopkins Beach to Bay - Sabot A ChampJuly Max Rosenblad Beach to Bay - Open Bic ChampJuly Zac Taylor Beach to Bay - Sabot C1 ChampJuly Sean Ayale Beach to Bay - First to Finish and C3 ChampJuly Bill Westland Alex Westland SCYA Multihill Area J ChampionshipJuly Jacob Rosenberg Summer Gold Cup Champ Sabot AJuly Ed Feo Rachel Ellis Viper Class at Whidbey Island Race Week 2012 and

the Viper Pacific Coast ChampionshipJuly Rob Rice Pine Block Open ChampionJuly Bill Nicolai Pine Block Grand Master ChampionJuly Kelly Moffett-Higgins Pine Block Women’s Champion - July Jonn Merrill Pine Block Junior ChampionAugust Sawyer Gibbs ABYC Jr. Sabot A Hi-Point Travel ChampionAugust Jacob Rosenberg Alamitos Bay Jr. Naples Sabot Fleet ChampionAugust Mark Golison Jennifer, Emily Golison Alamitos Bay Lido 14 Fleet ChampionsAugust Mark & Bruce Golison Jennifer Golison Cal 20 Class ChampionsAugust Stu Robertson Cal 20 Class Championship Masters ChampionAugust Kai Jensen Dana Boudreau Lido 14 Jr Fleet ChampionshipAugust Jerry Thompson Mandi Smith Senior Lido 14 National ChampionsAugust Mandi Smith Amanda Wayne Lido 14 National Women’s ChampionshipAugust Alan Peoples Sabot Junior Championships - Silver Fleet

ChampionSeptember Kevin Thomas Lido 14 District 6 ChampionSeptember Bobby Ware Senior Sabot Twilight ChampionSeptember Jim and Gina Sears Viper West Circuit ChampionOctober Bobby Ware Alamitos Bay Sr. Sabot Fleet ChampionOctober Mike Wood Ron Wood, Tom Cooke Holiday Series - Cal 20 Challenge TrophyOctober Eric Lidecis Holiday Series - FinnOctober Sawyer Gibbs Holiday Series - Junior - R.L. Russell TrophyOctober Vann Wilson Holiday Series - Laser - Sid Exley Perpetual

Month Skipper Crew EventOctober Bruce Golison Holiday Series - Lido 14 - Harvey R Hays Fastest

TimeOctober Eric Conn Don Shirley Holiday Series - MercuryOctober John Williams Holiday Series - Multihull - Asa Clark PerpetualOctober John Ellis Holiday Series - Senior Sabot

of championsm o r e celebration

...continued page 10

...from page 1


October Ed Feo Holiday Series - ViperOctober Jerry Thompson Mandi Smith US Snipe Grand Masters Championship December Vann Wilson Alamitos Bay Laser Fleet ChampionDecember Jack Jorgensen Alamitos Bay Laser Radial Fleet ChampionDecember Chris Raab Boxing Day - First to Finish - Boxing Day Trophy? Rob Coutts Finn Master’s World Championships - Grand Master

divisionJuly Rob Rice Matt McDermaid Junior Olympics - 29er Champ? Vann Wilson Laser District 25 Champion? Jim and Gina Sears Viper West Circuit ChampionOctober Craig Yandow A Cat Nationals - Grand Master Champion

of championsm o r e celebration ...from page 9Rob Rice photos


Your CSULB Sailing Team is back sailing hard & fast! After being resurrected in 2010, your 49ers made it to Semi-Finals of College Sailing Nationals just last Spring. We have continued the momentum into the fall placing a respectable3rd out of fifth-teen in San Diego and 4th out of twenty-five in San Francisco. Just this past weekend, your team

finished a strong 2nd {just behind top ranked Stanford} in the Fall Pacific Coast Championships in Santa Barbara. Yoursailing team is working hard to represent Long Beach sailing well out on the College circuit.

The Team is roughly fifteen strong made up of roughly five guys and ten great looking girls for crew. Two of ABYC’svery own are on the team: Alex Newton & Mark Ryan. We practice every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 1pm to 5pmin Alamitos Bay, off Seal Beach & behind the breakwater working hard to represent Long Beach well out on the race course.Currently, we don’t have a coach but occasionally we get go-fast-tips from Steve Flam {thanks for al that you do, Steve!} &other local fast sailors. For the most part we work together coaching ourselves with unique sailing drills & debriefs after eachpractice. We also meet once a week at the Nugget Pub & Grill on campus for an ice cold beer and a round table discussion,question and answer on how to sail harder, smarter & faster for Long Beach out on the water.

Your 49ers will be sailing hard in our next regatta, the Rose Bowl which will be in our home waters off the BelmontPier. Feel free to come down and watch your sailing team duke it out against many east coast ivy league schools. After that,the team will be working on its sun tan in mid-January at the Rainbow Invitational in Honolulu, Hawaii. The coming Springand Fall looks to be a busy one for your 49ers. The team is planning to travel to the east coast for some action. Stay tune formore news on your local, home grown college sailing team.

If you like what you read, feel free to follow us on Facebook {search CSULB Sailing Team}. If you would like to helpyour team out financially it would be greatly appreciated. Your donation would go to the purchase of regatta sails and travelexpenses and would help to keep your team sailing hard and fast for you. The team would be greatly thankful for yourdonations whether its financial, go-fast-tips or extra sailing gear {lines, PFDs, boots, foul weather gear? We’ll take it!} Feelfree to contact us at [email protected].

Go Beach! or as the team likes to say “Go Sail, Get Tail!”Mark Ryan

reportbeach

of championsm o r e celebration ...from page 10Rob Rice photos


regattaturkey day

ABYC’s Turkey Day a regatta for the agelessThe dozens of kids racing in Alamitos Bay Yacht Club’s 65th Turkey Day Regatta this weekend have something tolook forward to: someday they could be sailing with their

children or grandchildren in the traditional holiday event.Prime examples are local veterans Barney Flam, soon to

be 88, and Henry Sprague, 67, who are demonstrating that you’renever too old for the sport. They lead two of the 18 classescomprised of nearly 200 boats and 300 competitors—Flam andhis crew, his middle aged son Steve, in Cal 20s and Sprague inthe Olympic class singlehanded dinghies.

Steve Flam said, “We weren’t even sure we were goingsailing today if it rained.”

But when the forecast for rain held off until after the racingwas done, they thrived in the light 5- to 7-knot southeast breezewith finishes of 4, 3 and 1 in their 14-boat fleet, while Spraguetrounced his 10 Finn rivals with a 1-2-1-1 scoreline.

Flam’s day was a celebration of sorts.“He just came back from the Mayo Clinic this week with a

clean bill of health,” Steve Flam said, noting his dad’s past coupleof years with various medical issues. “Now he’s still working everyday and has no plans to retire.”

Sprague’s motivation was a bit different.“I want to get the turkey again,” he said, referring to the first-place prize awarded the winners in place of trophies.

“I’ve won it two years in a row.”Sprague still sails his Finn year-round.

“It’s really good for your health,” he said, “very physicalnot only sailing but rigging it.”Other notable class leaders included Matthew Long of

Santa Barbara in Laser Full rigs and Cooper Weitz of ABYCand California YC in Laser Radials—the two largest classeswith 20 and 31 boats, respectively.Racing on two ocean courses and the inside Bay winds

up Sunday, starting at noon, conditions permitting.

Teenage brothers signal the future in Turkey sailSaturday’s report on Alamitos Bay Yacht Club’s 65th

Turkey DayR e g a t t awas aboutv e t e r a nsailors stillg o i n gs t r o n g .

Sunday’s is about others just getting started.Brothers Dane, 17, and Quinn Wilson, 15, of Ojai, Calif. and the

Santa Barbara Yacht Club have their sights set on Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in2016 when they will be just about old enough for a bid to reclaim some of theUSA’s lost Olympic sailing glory.

“That’s what we want to do,” said Quinn, who steered their 29er skiffwhile big brother Dane did the crew work in a remarkable string of sixconsecutive first-place finishes following a second place in the first race forthe10-boat fleet.

“Actually,” Dane said, smiling diplomatically, “we won that one, too,but there was a scoring mistake.”

Oh, well, they figure to win a lot more and soon graduate into the49er class for an Olympic campaign. As it is, Dane has sailed the similar29er for only two years, while Quinn jumped aboard just this year.


Rich Roberts photosChuck Hardin photo boat captain

29ers head upwind as Vipers cross behind them on Day 1

Barney Flam (r.) and son Steve push their Cal 20 in brisk wind

Veteran Henry Sprague cruised to victory in Finns


turkey daym o r e ...from page 12

Phil Toth and Dustin Durant saved their Viper from flipping

Last summer they placed fourth in the ISAF Youth Worlds in Ireland.“The competition was super good,” Quinn said, “and it was cold, but we won two races out of 12.”Back home their victory here clinched California’s 2012 PCC Series for the Maxam Trophy, dedicated to Bill Maxam,

who started the 29er class in the state. It wasn’t luck.“We sail as much as possible—about three times a week—and prepare for everything,” Dane said.They were certainly ready for Long Beach, which met them with a light southeasterly breeze Saturday followed by

a brisk 12-knot southwesterly of 65 degrees Sunday under clear blue skies rimmed by a parade of white cotton clouds.Their nearest rivals were Campbell D’Eliscu and crew Conner Kelter of Newport Harbor and ABYC, respectively,

nine points back with no finishes worse than third.As for the oldtimers, Henry Sprague, 67, held on to dominate the singlehanded Finns with wins in five of the seven

races, while Barney Flam, soon to be 88, and son Steve struggled a bit in the bigger breeze but held onto fourth placeoverall among 14 Cal 20s.

The Cal 20 winners, as in the past, emerged as Keith Ives and Chuck Stevens of ABYC with two wins and twoseconds in the last four races.

MEDIA CONTACTRich Roberts, [email protected] results at: http://www.abyc.org/upload/2012turkeyday1.htm

San Diego’s Jack McGraw and Tristan Thrush right their 29er

Lido 14s drift to leeward mark


the fleetshails fromLasers and Laser Radials Race at Turkey Day

The 2012 ABYC Laser/Laser Radial Fleet Championship and opportunity to represent these fleetsin the next ABYC Club Championship Regatta, hung in the balance awaiting results of the Turkey DayRegatta. On the eve of Turkey Day, Vann Wilson held what looked like an unassailable lead in points

and Jorge Suarez, with the chance to overtake him depending on their finishes. In the Radial Fleet, your author lookedlike a strong contender for the championship.

Preregistration for this year’s Turkey Day was looking thin compared to last year and with cloudy, rainy skiesleading up to and on the morning of the regatta, combined with a light wind forecast, I suspect some racers decided to takea pass. Maybe some decided to attend or watch the big USC vs. UCLA football game on TV.

The light wind forecast was correct as Lasers and Radials racedin the ocean just south of the shores of Seal Beach on Saturday. Despitethe conditions the ABYC Race Committee (RC) was able to run fourraces for Lasers, Radials, Finns, Mercury’s and Cal 20’s sharing thewindward-leeward course. The last race of the day saw the day’s raceresults thrown into turmoil as fifteen of nineteen Laser racers were judgedOCS, i.e. premature starters. Now I’m not sure how the RC was able toidentify all those racers. All I know is I was about midway down the startline on starboard with seconds to go before the start and all I could seewas a huge pack of Lasers obscuring Patience at the end of the line. Iwas confident I was not over early so began to race. Hearing no GeneralRecall signal, I kept going but still finished well behind the assumedleaders. I did not learn of the mass OCS situation until Sunday morningwhen I finally saw the results and looking down the page, I did not seemy name where I expected. Instead, due to the large number of earlystarters, I stood in ninth. This was not to last. Matthew Long, representingSanta Barbara and Cabrillo Beach YC’s also escaped the OCS scrumand ended the day in first place.

In the Radial Fleet, Cooper Weitz from ABYC and Cal YC held a slim lead over Lindsey Baab representing SanFrancisco and St. Francis YC’s. Simone Staff from Cal YC, Lola Bushnell from San Francisco YC and Christopher Weisfrom Del Rey YC followed in order.

The early Saturday morning rain and gloom did dissipate to give us the kind of sparkling day we enjoy during thewinter months here in Southern California. Although we raced in sunshine, rain clouds threatened to the west and the rainarrived as the fleets returned to the club. No worries, as everyone was soon showered, warm and dry in the clubhouseenjoying the annual Thanksgiving-themed feast. The upstairs was packed with tables, chairs, sailors, volunteers andguests leaving precious few available seats for late arriving diners.

The rain and clouds were gone Sunday morning but the breezewas up. The RC started all fleets on time with Lasers and Radialscontesting three races in Force Three to Four breezes. Withcompletion of seven races, the sailors affected could discard theirOCS scores from the previous day. Matthew’s brother Stephen scoredtwo firsts and a third on Sunday to best the Laser Fleet after discardinghis OCS. Matthew did come in second with ABYC’s Chris Raab,rejoining the Laser Fleet for the first time this year, finishing third.Frequent guest of ABYC, Dave Leuck from Mission Bay YC finishedfourth with Richard Didham from San Diego YC in fifth. Other racersfrom ABYC finishing in order were; Sumeet Patel earning a welldeserved sixth place, Sanjai Kohli, your author, Tucker Campbelland newcomer to our fleet, Charlie Crockett. Charlie warrants specialmention for fielding a vintage blue Laser he put together just minutesbefore racing began Saturday. Charlie dates his hull to 1973, mucholder than many of the sailors racing that weekend. Unfortunately,Charlie did have a close encounter with the weather mark, causing his boom to separate from the mast gooseneck whenthe breeze was up on Sunday. Charlie told me he was able to limp back to the club, but the boom was broken beyondrepair. We hope he gets his rig back in the boat in time for Boxing Day!

In the Radial Fleet, ABYC’s Cooper Weitz’ consistent finishes gave him fifteen points, ten less than second placefinisher, Lola Bushnell. Lindsey Baab finished third, Simone Staff fourth and Christopher Weis was fifth. Racers from


Rich Roberts photosChuck Hardin photo boat captain


the fleetshails from

This month the Southern CaliforniaWomen’s Sailing Associationcompleted their 2012 series withABYC Sabotiers doing very well.

Southern California Women’s Sailing Association has fiveregattas during each year - one each at MBYC, NHYC,BYC, ABYC and the final one at SDYC.

On Saturday, 11/10/12, SDYC held its regatta.At the end, during dinner, they presented trophies forthe day, followed by SCWSA presenting trophies for theyear as follows:

Ladies A 1st, Terese Ivory, ABYC; 2nd, BettyBecker, SDYC

Ladies B 1st, Julie McPherson, SDYC; 2nd, RuthJones, MBYC; 3rd, Rita Moller, SDYC

Men 1st, Fred Stevens, ABYC; 2nd, JeffMcDermaid, ABYC; 3rd, John Lyon, MBYC

Clydesdale 1st Jeff McDermaidMixed Novice 1st, Donna Collins, MBYCTerese Ivory of ABYC also won the day with a 2-

1-1 which resulted in another perpetual for the low point score.The SDYC Regatta was exciting with winds gusting to 25 but stayed around 14 off and on. The Race committee, led

ably by Karen Butler, waited until 1:30, hoping the winds would die down, and then they had everyone sail up to the areaaround Southwestern YC where they managed to complete three races. Nine B’s registered and only three raced all theraces. In A there were seven registered and five sailed. In the men’s division, 12 registered and nine raced. Four novicesregistered but none raced - good choice. It was a beautiful day though, and a great party afterwards. The results for the dayare on the web site at SDYC.org.

Our Sabot Sunday in November had eight strong competitors; we were happy to have Danny North from SDYC joinus for the day. We completed four races, each with a different winner. Thank you to Jennifer Kuritz, John McNaughton andDon Wilson for their well managed races. Jane McNaboe was first, followed by John Ellis, second and Bobby Ware, third.Jesus prepared a wonderful dinner of homemade enchiladas!

The Senior Sabot/ Keelboat Fleet Holiday Party will be on December 14 at 1800. Don’t forget that Sabots do wellin the Boxing Day Regatta! Our next Senior Sabot Sunday will be on January 13th, 2013, please join us for racing and/ordinner!

Jane McNaboe (with Rob Ivory contributing)

ABYC winners in the 2012 SCWSA Series (from left to right): Jeff McDermaidClydesdale 1st; Terese Ivory, Women’s A 1st, and Fred Stevens, Men’s A, 1st.

Just a quick reminder of the Christmas party on Friday, December 14th. Always the best holiday party with games, prizes, Christmas carols and hors d’oeuvres to fight for. Friday, January 11th is the next Keel Boat Fleet meeting, wow that’s next year. We will meet on the

second deck at ABYC and it will be the usual pot luck. The fleet will provideplates, cups etc. This is always one of those great meetings with no agenda and just friends yaking away.

Don’t miss it.Friday, January 18th, our Keel Boat Fleet is one of the duty fleets for the ABYC General January meeting. Please

contact Joe Riddick and see how you can help.See you there,George

ABYC finishing in order were; Jessica McJones, newcomer to the fleet Robert Enrico, Steven Hopkins and TheresaCornwell.

Oh yes…about the 2012 ABYC Laser Fleet Championship. Well, despite Vann hooking up with a couple Cal 20racers for Turkey Day, he still had enough points to secure the championship for the fourth year in a row! Jorge wassecond. In the Radial fleet, I decided to race in the full-rig fleet for Turkey Day, so my chances for the championship wereblown away by Cooper Weitz’ first place finish in the Turkey Day Regatta. Congratulations Cooper and Vann! We lookforward to cheering you on at the 2013 ABYC Club Championship Regatta next summer.

Steven Smith, ABYC Laser Fleet Co-Captain

...from page 14


PRSRT STDU. S. Postage

PAIDLong Beach, CAPermit No. 685

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Rob Rice photo

Alamitos Bay Yacht Club7201 East Ocean BoulevardLong Beach, California 90803

WANTED: Dinghy Yard Ogre2013

Please contact Jennifer Kuritz

Newly minted Yankee - Jesus Espinosa -led the Pledge at the GeneralMembership meeting with Commodore Baumann. We are sooo proud ofyou Jesus!!

Boxing Day Pursuit RaceDecember 29th

First Warning at 1255 ishOnline resistration available

NOR & SIs are very entertaining...justfollow the links:

http://www.abyc.org/upload/2012_Boxing_Day_NOR.pdfhttp://www.abyc.org/upload/2012_Boxing_Day_SI_Addendum.pdf

photosturkey dinner Stephanie Gwinn photos

Documents

Alamitos Bay Yacht Club Volume 85 • Number 12 celebration ......by Jeff Merrill, Chuck Clay, Steve George, Patty Nash. Special thank you to Jim and Special thank you to Jim and Tony