A great big shout out and thank you to Harry Alcorn and Wil Cooney; they were the first to register in their respective categories.  Wil even beat me to the registration clicks, I’m guessing that won’t be the last time Wil beats many of us this year! Thank you gentlemen for promptness! Be like Harry and Wil, go to www.clyciowa.com and get registered now!  May 7th is the deadline for registration this year, if you look at your calendars, that’s just a few short weeks away!

Mother Nature seems to be in a foul mood so far this Spring; yet the docks and lifts continue to go in the water, it proves nothing can deter the unstoppable will of the Clear Lakers! Still, Mother Nature could use an attitude adjustment so we can hit the water soon; preferably hitting warm water!

The annual Spring cleaning at the yacht club building will be held Saturday, April 30th starting at 9am; all that’s needed is your willingness to get dirty!   The rain garden needs cleaning, the floors need to be swept and mopped, the cobwebs knocked down and of course the toilets need attention! The tools and cleaners will be provided, please bring your muscles! Many hands make light work. If you have any questions, please contact Margaret Oz at m.osmundson75@gmail.com

May 7th the Clear Lake Yacht Club is hosting a Race Management seminar; these seminars with John Strassman (USSailing Certified and Internationally renowned Race Officer) are designed for yacht club race committee members that want to know how to get organized and run great regattas and races. This is NOT the seminar for US Sailing certification that is based on the rule book. Please remember to bring your rulebook (RRS 2021-2024) with you if you have one! This seminar will also be great for RC individuals that want a spring refresher before the opening race of the season. There will be hands-on exercises and lots of time for questions and deep dives into your situations.

For times and location please contact Mark Tesar at mtesar@cltel.net

Seminar Registration Link

The Memorial Day Regatta honoring our recently deceased Past Commodores kicks off the 2022 racing season on Saturday, May 28th.  If you live between Ebelings and the Lakeside Inn you may want to watch for swimmers participating in the TriClear Lake; I don’t think their swimming times or your participation in racing would be helped by hitting one of them……Don’t forget to have a fresh charge or fresh batteries in your radios, then tune to channel 72; you wouldn’t want to miss hearing the always cheerful voices of our RC officers in the morning and early afternoon.  They’ll start advising the conditions and intent for racing, or not, about an hour before the scheduled warning signal!

The schedule remains the same as previous years with the exception of the dates the E Boats have additional Sunday racing; the approved schedule is listed below:

Saturday @ 9:30am – MC and X Fleets

Saturday @ 2:00pm – E, C and Hobie Fleets

Sunday @ 10:00am – MC and X Fleets

Select Sundays @ 2:00pm – E Fleet (June 5th and 26th, July 17th and 24th, August 14th and 28th)

I gave you time to do your registration earlier; did you use it wisely, making your way to the website, www.clyciowa.com and registering for the season?

The social events are bound to be epic; how could they not be??? Mike Starbeck is running the club, he’s one of the best hosts I’ve ever met!  Saturday, June 4th is the kickoff party at the Yacht Club in beautiful downtown Clear Lake!  Many of the food and/or catering details are being worked out yet, but we have plenty of time for those arrangements to be nailed down. On Saturday, July 16th we have a social event planned, however, we have no host as of now…….Would you be willing to have a few quiet, well behaved guests, perhaps some provided food and libations at your place?  If the answer is yes, please contact Commodore Starbeck, michael.starbeck@gmail.com.

The Sailing Center has posted their full schedule both on the website www.clycss.com and their Facebook page for the summer.  Please go check that out and register those kiddos quickly; June 6th is the first day of classes and it will be here before we know it. I’ve been told many inquiries have been made and classes should be filling up fast.  Don’t forget the Adult Classes on Tuesday nights throughout the summer also!

Three junior regattas are being held in Clear Lake this year!  The first is the West Water Clinic, which has become an annual affair, brings X boaters from Okoboji and Minnetonka to our slice of heaven for two days of intense, but fun training ahead of the major events.  The other two events are for all the marbles in the ILYA.  Trophies dating back to the generations of the kids’ great-grandparents are up for grabs during the ILYA X Boat Championship from July 27-30.  The ILYA Optimist Dinghy Championship immediately follows July 31 – August 2nd.  Hundreds of people in town for nearly a full week of racing, it doesn’t get much more exciting than that!

Did you know we have a new “Provisional Fleet” in Clear Lake?  The Melges 15 has been a hit nationwide with 42 active fleets, has been approved as an official class of the ILYA and now in Clear Lake 6 boats have landed!  Jeff Nicholas is once again a major influence in enhancing participation in racing at the Club.  He will have three Melges 15’s at his dock and wants you folks to use them!  Wide and stable, yet smokin’ fast with the ability to support a range of sailors and weights, the 15 will be a great addition to our organization.  Not only is this a great opportunity for our youth sailors to transition to larger boats, it’s a platform exciting enough for the most journeyed sailor and stable enough for the beginner!  Contact Jeff at jnicholas@cltel.net to take advantage of his generous offer! www.melges.com/melges-15

What about the other fleets you ask?  The E fleet is rumored to be back to 10 boats, the MC fleet rumored to be 20, the X fleet returns all 8 boats from last year, the C fleet…Well we have a C fleet, let’s hope they sail more than two races this year. The Hobies have been up and down for a few years now, however, rumor has it they may be on this year. Keep in mind this fleet travels much more than our other fleets and represents our Club in a fine manner! Oh yeah, Fleet Captains…Maybe you missed out last week, maybe you didn’t know you were “elected.” but here they are:

X – Danny Starbeck michael.starbeck@gmail.com

M15 – Jeff Nicholas jnicholas@cltel.net

MC – Jake Sorensen drjakesorensen@cltel.net

Hobie – Steve Brewer sbrew7659@gmail.com

C – Bill Nicholas cscowz3@gmail.com

E – Wil Cooney wrcooney27@gmail.com

The “Major regatta season” is a few months away, but right around the corner are the “Little guys.”  Get your tiller time and racing practice all while seeing your old friends from afar, tuning up for the upcoming season. Some are planning to put boats in the water and get a little practice in Clear Lake, others are planning to hit early season events. Unfortunately a few events have been canceled or reconsidered for this year, however, if you’re interested in early season regattas, here’s a few to choose from:

April 29-May 1      IBYC Spring C Regatta                      Springfield, IL

May 14-15            Spring Tune Up Regatta (C/MC)        Cedar Lake, WI

May 21-22            LaBelle Tune Up (C/MC/X)                 Oconomowoc, WI

May 21-22            Geneva Spring Regatta (E/X)             Lake Geneva, WI

The Clear Lake Yacht Club has been awarded USSailing’s “One Design Regatta of the Year 2021” for its running of the 2021 MC National Championship.  Despite uncooperative weather conditions, the entire club came together, executing an event that will be remembered for ages by 119 MC teams!  Thank you to the countless volunteers who helped make it a tremendous success; it takes the effort of many to run a regatta of this magnitude. The award was presented at the famed St Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco in front of a star studded audience; Stu Oltrogge and Mark Tesar along with their beautiful spouses were on hand to accept the award on behalf of the organizing committee.

Did you know some young dude with the last name Melges was named “Rolex Sailor of the Year”?  Yes indeed, Harry Melges IV was awarded the highest honor in USSailing at the same banquet which Stu and Mark attended.  The story is here:   Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman

Sailing World Magazine has had several articles relating to “our world of sailing” which are worth a read!  Check them out here:  In Good Company With the MC Scow, Generation X Boat,  The Enduring E Scow

Please don’t forget to pay your membership, the days of summer fun are approaching fast! Until next time!

Stay in the clear air,

Dan Allen
MC 2811 – Relentless
E Z11 – Wild Side
dsallen@cltel.net
www.clyciowa.com
www.clycss.com