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The Sheet

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Vol. 9, No.4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P.O. Box 92554 Anchorage, Alaska 99509 . . . . . . . . . . . . . September 5, 2004

Tim and Ethan Gould Capture the Governor's Cup

Race Results

By Paul Willing - Sheet Editor

Incredibly, this report was never posted during 2004, or 2005 for that matter.  Congratulations Tim and Ethan! 

RACE COMMITTEE:  JODY WILLING AND HANNA GOULD

By Jody Willing - Sheet Reporter

Governor's Cup Regatta.  Plenty of good wind this AM-Now that we are ready to race, the wind is dying. (Tim Gould)  Heavy wind for Race 1. 

Ray's boat had equipment failure.  Paul, Hannah and Dan went to her rescue.  Paul got soaked from the waist down, requiring a clothing change in the last five minutes before the start...he and Taylor left the harbor with a minute twenty on the clock and promptly ran a foul of Eric in the harbor (All of this happened after he had to craft a metal piece to repair his sail right before the race as well...phew). 

Poor Tom O'Grady had a tough race.  He struggled to get out of the harbor, his equipment kept kicking up, forcing him to run aground three different times.  When he finally got started, he sailed well and then had sail issues, dumping his boat twice unintentionally and a third time to fix his problems.  In spite of his issues he finished the race with a smile (and blue lips).  Good recovery Tom! 

Chris said he was struggling with the wind and almost lost control of his boat, crewed by Tom's family, their only concern was that he needed to "Just sail faster"  to catch Jay and Melissa as they raced ahead. 

The entire three races were extremely tight with Paul, Tim, Dave, Meghan, Jay and Bob finishing within seconds of each other in every race.  Spectacular racing!  Not only was the racing intense, but the docking under the high wind conditions, with limited dock space was not for the faint of heart.  Two T-bones on docks and only one sailor falling in seemed lucky by the time we were finished.  Though Tom Gould appeared to have shaken something loose on impact and Jay's boat may need a little fiberglass work next spring! 

Cheryl says that Elaine pushed her, that she didn't really fall in as she left her boat...All were tucked in safe and sound by the end of race three, ready to enjoy the fabulous food and music.  Hats off to the chefs (Chris, Karen, Jay, Melissa & TL) and the band (Sawed Off)...your efforts made our fabulous day of racing even more special and complete.  If you missed this event plan for next year...it was awesome! 

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Vol. 9, No.3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P.O. Box 92554 Anchorage, Alaska 99509 . . . . . . . . . . . . . August 31, 2004

Firecracker Regatta

Race Results and Olympic Photos 

By Paul Willing - Sheet Editor

Although we couldn't attend this race series, our excellent club log entries provided enough race data and descriptions to publish results.  I don't know how many of you caught any of the Olympic sailing action this month (it took some effort since it wasn't exactly primetime) but for those who didn't here's a couple of action shots.

Race committee Hanna Gould and Kaseena Shrebe.
A great race with a mixed up start timing.  We had a bit of a drifter for the first leg (out to Bird Island) but then the wind filled in.

We waited all day for the wind - finally the evening winds filled in - light but reasonably steady.  Finished in by the club.  Mark was positioned in a nice dead air hole which made for an interesting finish.

1000 start time.  Nice wind from the south.  Still blowing at 1100.

2004 Alaska Sailing Club Governor's Cup Race Series

It's Time to Polish That Hull and Hit the Water For Some Racing Action

By Tim Gould - Vice Commodore

Greetings Racers,

As I am sure you are all aware, we will be staging the 38th Annual Governors Cup Regatta this coming weekend.  That is right, 38 years (Ben assured me this whole thing started in 1967). 

This years' racing will commence on Saturday.  As in every year since 1967, we are at the mercy of the Big Lake wind patterns.  For those of you that need to get yourselves to the Club on Saturday morning, rest assured that we will not start before 11:00 AM even if there is wind before that time.  I hope to stage 5 races over the two days of racing (Saturday and Sunday).  At a minimum I hope we have wind to complete at least 3 races.

Many of you know there is a point system, and the lowest number of points wins the cup.  A 1st place finish is worth 0.75 points, a 2nd is 2 points, 3rd- 3 points, etc.

I am looking for all the help I can get for the race committee.  I especially always need help with the time keeping and starting.

I saw a good deal of interest in a potluck style feed Saturday night. Please also note that the club will be providing a small keg of beer (to grease the skids) and live music on Saturday night (September 4th) also. This year we have booked the smokin'-hot home-grown ever-popular Alaska band "Saw'd Off".  I'm told they even have one or two new songs to try out on us.

Please plan to come out for some exciting racing and good fun.  See you there.

Editor's Note - The first entry on the Governor's Cup trophy is 1966.  This year will mark the 38th race series, but for 1987 there was no winner listed.  I sat down and listed all the entries on the trophy plaques in the table below.  PW

Commodore's Corner

It's Almost Time for Our Annual Meeting

By Dave Johnson  -  Commodore

Hi Everyone,

This is a little jumping the gun, but now we can all mark our calendars and not plan anything else for that day. Lets have our meeting on Saturday, Sept. 18th at 4 PM. From 10AM to 4PM we can get the club ready for it wintertime use. Lets do this rain or shine, just bring a rain coat if needed.

Attached is the latest, greatest and final excel membership list for 2004. We lost some members and gained some members which caused the overall membership to remained about the same. The open house and the sailing class were both very successful. The ice breaker classic was warm and the fire cracker celebration was a blast. As of yet there are no organized plans for anything in August, but on any given weekend there will be lots of fun to be had there.

The Governor's cup race weekend is the biggest, best and oldest tradition the ASC has. In fact, the Alaska Sailing Club has sponsored a race series that weekend for 37 years in a row, this year will make number 38. The fun starts Friday evening, September 3rd, with the arrival of a keg of beer and an unofficial race beginning at about 7PM. The official racing begins on Saturday and continues through the weekend. Tim will let us know when the races will start.

Last year, in addition to the races and the keg of beer, we had great food to eat, a wine tasting, a live band, evening swimming, a cookin sauna and the greatest fireworks display I've ever seen (the top of our hill or the end of our floating dock are two great places to view them). It was a great time!!!!

As far as the club's health is concerned, it is in great shape. There are flowers growing, the boats are clean and in good shape, there is a new motor for the RL, the clubhouse has had some paint applied and a blue counter top has been installed. There us an active involved membership and the summer has been warm and with great sailing to had. What more could we ask for!

Enough of my idle chatter. Hope everyone is enjoying this club as they desire; this is our place.

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Vol. 9, No.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P.O. Box 92554 Anchorage, Alaska 99509 . . . . . . . . . . . . . July 1, 2004

Another Sunny Sailing Class and Open House

Geoff and Cathy Wright Do It Again It 

By Paul Willing - Sheet Editor

Sailing gurus Geoff and Cathy Wright once again held an excellent sailing class at the club site June 12 and June 13.  The weather was beautiful and the wind cooperated for the most part.

Sailing the club's Laser, Cathy showed us all the way around the race course during a practice race for the class and members.

Thanks Geoff and Cathy!

Our annual Open House on Saturday introduced more visitors to the the club and its possibilities.  Several I spoke to had tried to get in the sailing class but it was already full.  It's encouraging when they come on out anyway to check things out.

Chris worked a mean grill for the barbeque lunch and Dave did his usual fine job as Master of Open House Ceremonies and Commodore.

Harbormaster T.L. made sure all equipment worked smooth, kept idle hands busy and also shot lots of video footage.  And all other participating members helped as well to present the club as the fun, friendly place to share the joys of sailing that keeps us all coming back.

Icebreaker Regatta Removes All Ice From Big Lake!

Residents report no ice anywhere

By Paul Willing - Sheet Editor

Here's the race results.  Way to go racers!  Lack of wind in Race 1 was offset by a nice breeze for Race 2.  For the first time in club history (Race 2) multihulls entered equaled monohulls entered.

I found a published D-PN handicap for Bob's Trac 14 but nothing for Chris's Venture Cat 15.  So, I estimated it at 92.0 - faster than a Skipjack but slower than a Laser.  We can discuss and adjust as required to fine tune that.  Or, if anyone can find an old Portsmouth table with it listed, let me know.

CORRECTED TIME =(ELAPSED TIME / D-PN) x 100

THE LOWER THE D-PN NUMBER THE FASTER THE BOAT

Keg House Rocks the Lake

Rumors of their demise were greatly exaggerated 

By Paul Willing - Sheet Editor

Yes folks you heard it right - Live Music and lot's of it was sailing across the lake as the sun set on Saturday night June 19th.  If you missed it, then too bad for you.  

For a sample check back here for a possible online video in the future.  Hover mouse over photo to see if it's there yet.  Caution - could be a slow download on dialup.

Summer Solstice doesn't get much better than this.

Firecracker Regatta Coming Forth of July Weekend

See Flyer on What's New Page or right here

By Paul Willing - Sheet Editor

Challenge Cup Found!

It's Back

By Paul Willing - Sheet Editor

The fabled Challenge Cup has been found.  It's similar to this one, only not so shiny.  The premise - the holder of the cup (currently Tim Gould) must accept challenges from any and all sailors in the club.

These challenges may take the form a standard race or any variant thereof.  For example - race with no sails (use a paddle), no rudder, sail backwards, take an unusual route, down a drink at each mark, pirate race (use water balloons).  You get the idea.

Challenges can be posted on our message board or in person at the club.  I'll post one for Tim (or whomever the current cup holder is after this weekend) on the message board by 7/2/04.  Let the games begin.

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Vol. 9, No.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P.O. Box 92554 Anchorage, Alaska 99509 . . . . . . . . . . . . . May 12, 2004

Time to Work, Time to Sail, Time to Sun!

It Doesn't Look Like This Anymore

By Dave Johnson - Commodore

Elayne's spring celebration was a huge success; good people, fun stories, good food, warm sunshine, a good harbinger for the summer.  In addition to having a great time, we also decided upon the date for our spring work party, which will be Saturday, May 15th, starting at 10 AM and ending about 5 PM.  We will fire up the barbe towards the end and enjoy dinner, so bring something to eat.

Here are some of the things that need to be done, and there is something for everyone to partake in:  build a floating dock, build a stable footing area around the hoist, clean and ensure all the club boats are ready for the sailing class, turn over the ASC's blue skip and repair its leaking hull, rake and burn all the winter leaves, create a sign stating the requirement about children wearing life jackets while on the docks and build some hooks to place some ASC life jackets on and thus are available to anyone who needs them (these items could be attached to the sauna wall, reposition the drums on the work barge, put a coat of sealant on the plywood section of all the floating docks, put some sealant on the outside of the sauna building, try to repair the inside of the sauna building, design an area to plant some flowers... 

Well, that seems like plenty to do in a day. 

All of the needed building materials, the sealant and the paint brushes will be on site, so we just need some tools and people to use them.   

We can assume the ice will not have broken up at this time and therefore will have to set the docks and launch the RL at a later date, but that isn't a problem.  Lets just hope for sunshine.

 The publicity of the sailing class in the Anchorage Daily News has resulted with 10 people already signed up, so that is very exciting, in that once again, the sailing class will be full, in fact I'm sure I'll have to turn people away.  Sailing in Alaska is alive and well.

Time to Learn!

Sailing Class Coming Soon

By Dave Johnson - Commodore

Summer will soon be upon us, complete with warm sunny days and steady 5-10 knot winds.  Well, that was how I remember last summer to be, so hopefully this summer will be the same or even better.   We will again offer a sailing class and host an open house, all on the same weekend.  Cathy and Geoff will be the sailing instructors, and I'll be the cook and bottle washer.  June 12th & 13th, from 10:00 to 18:00 are the dates for the sailing class and the open house will be on June 12th, from noon till 5.  If any existing members want to take the class, let me know, and a spot will be saved for you.  

In addition to the class, on the 12th at noon, there will be a review on how to launch and rig up a Skipjack and also how to rig up the Laser.  We will also review where all the gear is stored and what gear goes to which boat.  We have some new members from last season and such a review may help anchor that knowledge into one's long term memory.

Because all the boats will be in the water for the class, and thus ready to go, we will have a race on June 12th at 7PM or so.  Last year, this was a great race, too bad Cathy had to bail out and join her child upon rounding the third leg, she was really flying that Laser.  For this race we will make an effort to match up experienced sailors with inexperienced ones, so there will be room for all who want to sail.  We can have 6 or 7 boats in this race.

Last year's class and open house was a great success.  This year we will again provide food and drink for an afternoon cookout each day, hum, about  1PM or so, maybe 2, it depends on the progress of the class.  Food will be burgers, dogs, fish, that sort of thing, so come on out that day and help spread the love of sailing to others.  Hope to see everyone often at the lake this summer.

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