August 6, 2020

Do you remember those future parties I keep promising?  The next one is this Saturday; again, being held at the Yacht Club building in downtown Clear Lake starting at 6:30.  The “new normal” party protocol and atmosphere should be expected…  Canned beer, wine, soft drinks and water will all be provided; please remember the hard stuff is not allowed on premises.  Smokin’ Joe’s BBQ will be on site this go ‘round offering their delicious delicacies; don’t forget to bring your money and your appetite!

During the party Andi Tisor will be selling the navy Sailing Center shirts in both long sleeve and short sleeve.  Don’t forget about the neck gaiters! These are great for both keeping the sun off your neck and for face coverings during the Pandemic. 

Speaking of parties: The MC and C fleets would like to thank Brad and Margaret Oz for their graciousness in hosting the annual fleet party, not that they had much of a choice!  You can’t have a fleet party, or any party really, at the Oz house and not have a smile on your face the whole time. Next year it’s down to Cougar Bay for the party hosted by 2021 MC Fleet Captain Chris Krogh, hopefully hazmat suites aren’t required by then.

The Sailing Center has finished up their year of lessons and fun; it’s truly hard to believe that time has come and gone.  Many of us have witnessed the smiling faces, yelling, laughing and fun had by the students both on the water and off.  Andi Tisor has included a letter to the CLYC membership which has been attached to this newsletter as well as information regarding the Alex Starbeck Scholarship.  

Most of our X boaters made their way over to Pewaukee for the ILYA X Championships.  7 races were sailed in just two days, mostly in great conditions.  I’m told the regatta was full of positive strides in racing, new friends made and realizations of new goals to achieve.   Danny Starbeck and Georgia Ebeling teamed up in the Z-00 for the regatta and finished 33^rd in the Junior fleet, in fact all our X boaters are in the Junior fleet.  The other crews attending were Elle Ebeling and crew Finley Nyhus, Jude Sorenson with crew Brady Amble and the Ludwig team of Sam and Stella.  Good job to all. 

If you missed the racing last weekend it was on par with the rest of 2020…  Saturday zilch; the wakeboarders dream.  Sunday though, turned out to be nice…  The MC fleet got in two races in a “Clear Lake 12” (insert your interpretation of Clear Lake 12 here, perhaps 16 gusting to 22?) albeit from the always ugly northernly direction.  As always, Charlie and crew did a great job setting up and let the boats loose.  As of right now this weekend looks promising so let’s keep our fingers crossed and our boats ready.  Rumor has it the E fleet has requested back-to-back-to-back-to-back races on Saturday…  That’s 4 Tommy.  Ok, so maybe I made that up, call it, “over-the-top suggestive speak” but they could use some more racing!

The race standing in all the fleets are close; just 1/100^th of a point (yes, 0.01) separates 1^st and 2^nd in the X fleet at current – The MC fleet’s top 3 boats are within 0.6 points and the top three in the E fleet are all with 1 point.  With a month to go the championship trophies are still up for grabs in every fleet; put your game faces on, it’s time to get serious!

The Pandemic has effectively torn up the “regatta playbook” this year, cancelling local regattas, ILYA Events and most National Championships.  Here at Clear Lake, we refuse to give in…  The MC Masters Nationals is still on track to be held September 17 – 20, 2020 right here in Clear Lake.  The pre-registrations are pouring in, this event could turn out to be quite the large regatta!  Stick around, volunteer, enjoy and watch some of the best sailors in the country compete at our gorgeous venue! Plans are in place to be COVID safe, provide more than adequate social events and of course fantastic racing! If you haven’t heard from a member of the team, I’m sure you will shortly.  The event is being held after our “normal” sailing season and therefore will require a little more effort to get volunteers.  Don’t wait to be asked, if you’re able and willing to help, please speak to Mark Tesar or Stu Oltrogge, on second thought, go ahead and talk to both!  

Stay in the clear air, 

Dan Allen

MC 2577 – Relentless

dsallen@cltel.net

www.clyciowa.com

www.clycss.com