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Nachrichten 2013 aus dem Manhattan Sailing Club
www.myc.org/ - Übersicht
10.09.2013
SEPTEMBER 2013 NEWSLETTER
Dear Members - Fall has become my favorite time of year. Although the evenings are getting shorter, the wind is good. But more important is the special feeling of camaraderie which begins to develop on the docks among sailors who have enjoyed an incredible season together. The anticipation of May and June gives way to a more relaxed feeling of contentness as the leaves begin to change color. It has been a special year in so many ways. And it has been a challenging year in other ways too. But when you roll it all together, our sailing season has created so many memories and experiences. For this, we should be grateful. And the memories of great seasons of sailing is why our club J/105 is named "Gratitude."
But while we enjoy the fall, there is more to do. We have another boat which was mothballed this year. Her name is "Generosity." She was donated to Project City Kids several years ago and has been mostly restored to operation. Her mission will be to take teens on week-long leadership training sails between New York and Newport. In between these trips, she will also be chartered to club members as a way to generate money to support her annual expenses. America II was also left in Newport this summer because of the time and attention needed to recover from Hurricane Sandy as well as absorb Arabella into our operations. Next summer, we hope to have America II back in the harbor sailing proudly again. Members will also have an opportunity to sail onboard and help support the annual expenses of incredible piece of yachting history.
Our club has grown over the years and we continue to offer more and more opportunities and programs to members. This growth was only possible with lots of great members who helped along the way. If you love sailing in the harbor and want to give back to the club which has given you such great opportunity, consider joining some of the new committees being created.
Every now and then, a picture arrives at Manhattan Sailing Club which makes you say, "Wow!." Thanks to Scott Masonis who was up in a helicopter photographing recently. This picture is from Thursday evening when the Corporate Sailing League races in the harbor. You can see the Honorable William Wall which serves as the start and finish line as well as the spectator platform. Six corporate teams race downwind with their spinnakers. Three more Learn to Race Level II boats round the windward mark a little further back. The PHRF fleet is off in the distance between the Statue and Governors Island. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are even bigger race nights with up to 26 J/24s on the starting line. Six more J/105s also race on Wednesday evening. Ellis Island is to the right and the Statue of Liberty is further above on the right. What an awesome harbor and a incredibly large body of water. When you see it from the air, you realize what a vast expanse of water this is and that it is only a matter of time before it is filled with more and more sailboats.
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Fotos: Commodore Michael Fortenbaugh
Photo of the Month: Teams in the Gold Fleet on Wednesday evening converge on the leeward mark. The skyline of Manhattan provides the backdrop and the new Freedom Tower soars into the sky
Our Beautiful, Magnificent & Vibrant Harbor!
Great Spectator Opportunities on Columbus Day Weekend for NY Classic Week
Honorable William Wall Season will End with Two Weeks of Oktoberfest!
Possible Trip to Monaco for Primo Cup in February
Laser Sailing Underway Again in Harbor
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New York Classic Week will be held over Columbus Day Weekend, Oct 12-14. Some magnificent yachts come race in the harbor, including boats like Blackwatch (above). You can participate in Classic Week by riding on the Official Spectator Yacht "Arabella." Arabella will depart North Cove at 11:45 am and return around 2:30 p.m. each day. Onboard, guests will be treated to a delicious brunch as well as bloody marys, mimosas and much, much more. To help you follow the race, an announcer will be broadcasting details as well as giving history of participating yachts. This will be a great event to bring family, friends and business associates. Details will be sent by email soon. You can also call Ali for more information ay 212-786-3323. Saturday will be the Verrazano Bridge Race, Sunday will be the Statue of Liberty Race and Monday will be the Round Governors Island Race.
The celebrate the end of a great season on the Honorable William Wall, the club is organizing Two Weeks of Oktoberfest! The celebration begins on Friday, Sept. 27 and continues until Saturday, Oct. 12. This will our club's first Oktoberfest celebration. Oktoberfest music will be played and banners hung throughout the clubhouse. Special Oktoberfest beers will be added to the menu. All Oktoberfest beers served from kegs will be sold at 1/2 price!! And any member who attends in Oktoberfest costume or brings their own beer drinking stein will get an additional 1/2 price off! They're almost giving the beer away! Pretzels will be served and "Ein Prosit" will be sung throughout the night. Don't miss the celebration! There will only be 10 nights of Oktoberfest. The Honorable William Wall frequently sells out so book your tickets now. Gather a group of friends, bring your co-workers and make it a party. Don't miss the celebration. And book your tickets now before word gets around and the tickets sell out!
Then on Monday, Oct. 14, the Honorable William Wall will be transported by tug to Staten Island where she is hauled for her bi-annual dry dock inspection. After painting and other work, the clubhoue will return to North Cove in time for the opening of our winter social season which will be Thursday Nov. 7.
There will be two Caribbean Regattas again this winter. The first will be to the British Virgin Islands in January and the second will be to St. Martin & St. Barths in March. Exact dates will be announced soon. This winter's Caribbean Regattas promise to be the greatest ever as we expect to be led by our flagship Arabella!!
For members interested in enjoying the high luxury of a stunning mega yacht, you will be able to book a berth onboard Arabella for one of these regattas. Arabella is limited to 40 guests so it will practically be your own private 151-foot mega yacht. And Arabella will be the only yacht in the flotilla with a hot tub.
In addition to Arabella, other members and sailing instructors will be skippering a variety of charter boats. You will also be able to sign up with one of them and sail on a beautiful monohull or catamaran in the 35-50 ft range. Already, 30 skippers have expressed interest in skippering a boat in one of the regattas so this could be the biggest year ever! You don't want to miss this historic occasion when Arabella leads our fleet around the BVIs. It will be an incredible experience.
First 100 Regatta - Friday, September 20
The First 100 Regatta is a special event which celebrates the 100 longest serving members of Manhattan Sailing Club. It's a magical evening where old friends get a chance to see each other and remember the way the club was "way back when." This event is only open to these special 100 members. The Antonio Nicoletti Memorial Trophy is awarded to the winning team. The list of the "First 100" members will be sent out soon. If you are on the list, please attend. There will be a short race with crews made of participants. Then this exalted group will all be invited back aboard Arabella for drinks compliments of the Commodore all night long. The skippers meeting for First 100 Regatta will begin at 6 p.m. on Fri. Sept 20.
Big Turn Out for New Member Party on Arabella
A big welcome to all of the new members who joined the club this past season. A New Member Party was held on August 12 to give an opportunity for new members to begin meeting each other. Arabella was packed with a great group of people and everyone enjoyed the chance to make new friends and chat about sailing. For many of the new members, this was their first visit down to the club. Because this event was such a success, the club will host another New Member Party on Tuesday, October 1. Details will be sent to new members by email shortly.
Yacht Club de Monaco organizes the Primo Cup at the beginning of February every year. Six years ago, our club sent three race teams as well as a social team over to participate in this event. In all, 35 members traveled to Monaco, enjoyed the incredible hospitality of Yacht Club de Monaco, raced for three days, drank champagne, ate, danced and generally lived life to the fullest. Maybe its about time we do this again? The Primo Cup has many classes which race over two weekends. We would field teams for the J/24 division which is raced from Jan. 1 to Feb. 2. You could fly over on Wednesday night and then return on Monday. This is an initial request to guage the level of interest among members. If you like to field a race team or just join the social contigent, please send an email to Commodore Michael Fortenbaugh at mike@myc.org. If enough members are interested, we will begin planning in earnest.
Monday Night Racing concluded its Summer Series with 3 boats and a few new recruits. Drew Wilkins was able to fill positions on his boat from our waiting list, having lost crew to grad school and moving out of the area. Glenn Burger had Danielle Gallo aboard mentoring his team, getting pointers on all positions and Rainer Degener has his crew moving to different positions in the races to learn the whole boat. It was a good series for learning and improving and those boats will be joined by another in the fall series to further hone their skills. We start the 6 week Monday Fall Series on Sept 9 and look for other skippers to find crew and join. It's a great way to have fun as well as learn and improve skills and remember, after those 6 weeks it will be many months before you're back out on the water.
Tuesday and Wednesday completed their series with only one race missed each night due to no wind. On Tuesdays, Boat 11 skippered by Commodore Fortenbaugh and Sovereign of the Seas skippered by Toby Lawson won the Gold and Silver fleets respectively. On Wednesdays, Boat 9 with The Applied Companies and Mac True on Flying Dutchman one their fleets. Wednesdays also saw Warlock, skippered by Austin Fragomen took the honors for the J/105s. We also welcomed William St. Pierre and Anne Covi as new skippers aboard Eclipse and Levan Babukhadia on Boat 10.
Again I would like to thank all of the Fleet Captain Skippers that have made this program the success that it is. All new members should take advantage of this great way to meet the other members of the club and to get out on the water sailing. We seem to have one continuing problem, especially on the weekends; members sign up for Fleet Captain Sails and then don't show up or get to the Mermaid late. There are a total of Six boats reserved for the Fleet Captain Program, that limits the total crew members to 24. Please get to the Mermaid at least 15 minutes prior to the scheduled time of the sail, preferably 30 minutes before sail time. The dock master does a great job of assigning crew members to the available boats, getting to the dock 15 minutes before sail time will make this process much smother. Over the winter the club is planning to update the reservation system, making it easier for both skippers and crew to participate in the program. Until then if for any reason you sign up and decide to cancel please notify the club as early as possible, so other members get the chance to sail.
We are delighted to report that after lots of time on the water and more time studying charts, learning ferry routes, tying knots, and more - six of the mentees are now skippers. Congratulations to Tom Bollen, Vladimir Pick, Emilian Cartis, Francois Quintard-Morenas, Brita Siepker, and Justin Mahy!
Most of these new skippers have taken their test in the last few weeks and there will be many more mentees who will challenge the test before the end of the season. For those mentees and other club members who are going to take the test before the end of the season, our venerable "testers," Joe DiFranks, Randy Lewis, and T.J. Shea, have a few words for the wise: Expecting a last minute rush to take the test, Joe Di Franks advises that because of the number of people wanting to take the test, it could take up to a month from scheduling the test to actually getting certified. Why a month? It can take week or so to schedule the test date and that test date could be a week or two in the future. Inclement weather often plays havoc with the testing schedule. And if a retest is necessary, plan on at least a couple of weeks of practice before you will be able to schedule another test.
When asked about common failures, Randy Lewis had four that he sees regularly: crew overboard, docking, chart knowledge, and sailing in traffic. T.J. wants challengers to demonstrate more confidence, citing that some people are so hesitate in their responses that he doesn't know if they know the material. Good communication, which goes hand-in-hand with confidence, is also often lacking for T.J. On a knowledge basis, TJ would like to see a deeper understanding of currents, in other words, put your tide app away and dig into your Eldridge. They all agree that with the number of mentors and fleet captains willing and eager to help mentees hone their skills, and with the answers to the test on the club's website, there is not reason not to be fully prepared to take the exam.
As well as a rush to take the test, there also seems to be a rush to join the program. Members are emailing me every day and contacting me on the docks to join so they can hone their skills now and be ready for the test next May. Of course, the preparation and success of the mentees would not be possible without the many hours that the mentors and many fleet captains give to the individuals in the program. Many thanks to one and all!
Hello to all MSC members both new and old. My name is Ted Wallace. This is my 15th year as a member and I can only hope for the joy and involvement of 15 more. The Commodore has asked me to chair the program called Sail Patrol. SP is an extension of the Fleet Captain program committed to getting fellow members on boats to go sailing.
We currently have 11 members of SP each of who give a minimum of 6 sails per month. That amounts to 66 sails per month which translates to some 250 seats aboard boats for the members to get out on the water and enjoy sailing the upper and lower Hudson harbor. While aboard any SP vessel you may wish to take advantage of informal instruction from these skilled skippers. We coach our crews in tacking, gibing, sail trim, motoring, and docking our fleet of J 24's.
The fabulous team I am privileged to be associated with currently lists Andrea Radoff, Clifton Yen, Lori Ruderman, Dan Rothschild, Lauren Turner, Ben Kramer, Sonya Mesomata, Bob Woodring, Craig Kayian, Prudence Thiry, and myself as participants. So when you are making reservations on line and you see one of these Skippers signed up with the letters (SP) behind their name, try to get onboard with one of us. Bring your thirst for better safer sailing and be prepared to drink deeply. Let's Go Sailing!
Several weeks of Laser sailing have already been accomplished in the harbor this summer. If you are interested in dinghy sailing, maybe you can find a boat over the winter so you can join them in the spring. The club has built the first Laser dock which can hold up to 8 boats. Members can rent a rack on the dock to store their Lasers. Then sailing times are coordinated with club staff.
With the opening of Arabella, our club is now looking at other improvements. Over the years, we have created an amazing and diverse sailing organization. Many members have contributed to this achievement, especially those who offered new ideas and volunteered their time and energies to develop programs and help them run smoothly. One of the foundations of our club's success has been a series of committees. The most active of these include: Race Committee, Fleet Captain, Mentor Program, Sail Patrol and Skipper Privileges.
In plotting a course for the club's future success, more member participation in more committees is a cornerstone. We hope you will consider participating in these next stages of growth. This email is a call to action. I am inviting and encouraging you to join one of the club committees. This is an opportunity to play an active role in Manhattan Sailing Club. The club is grateful to all of you who contribute your time and energy.
Membership Committee - A committee to interview new applicants to the sailing club and to provide advice on issues which involve membership. Members of this committee would be requested to attend one membership committee each month from April through October.
Dennis Conner's International Yacht Club Challenge Committee - This is a great international event organized by our club which takes place every other year. We invite yacht clubs from around the world to travel to NYC for an international celebration of sailing. The primary role of this committee will be to contact international yacht clubs in the fall to invite them for the following August. Once the list of participating clubs is set, then the committee will work on regatta logistics.
Social Committee - We already have many annual events like the Annual Dinner, Spring Launching, Full Moon Parties, the Sailors Ball and the New Year's Eve Celebration. We would like to build upon that to create even more events for members. The Social Committee will be in charge of envisioning and supporting these events. Special emphasis will be on winter activities at the clubhouse when members are not sailing.
Communications Committee - A lot happens at the club every season and informing members about all the events and opportunities is a priority. The club has been using a digital newsletter to spread information. We wish to increase communication by having more members involved.
Sailors Ball Committee - The Sailors Ball is our annual black tie party which also raises money for the Operation Optimist kids sailing program. This past spring, the Sailors Ball was postponed because club staff was too busy on the Arabella project. Over the years, the Sailors Ball has grown to be a great NYC institution. More members are needed to help produce this great annual event.
Annual Cruise Committee - The club wishes to send Arabella up to Newport once per year for an annual cruise. Private member boats would also be invited on the cruise. This event could coincide with a 12 Meter regatta so America II could also participate. We need to form a committee to set dates, stops along the way and envision the social events.
Reservation Committee - One of the club's initiatives this fall will be designing an automated reservation system. If you have experience in programing, databases and websites, the club requests your participation in this Reservation Committee to develop a more efficient on-line reservation system.
You can throw your hat in the ring to join any of these committees simply by sending an email to Ali@myc.org. We will then let you know when he next meeting of the committee will be held.
Manhattan Sailing Club | 385 South End Ave. #6H | New York | NY | 10280
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