• July 4th Picnic at 5 PM
• Strong Winds Test Sunday Sailors
• Girl Scouts Earn Sailing Merit Badge at LSC
• Combined Crew Age: 209
• Some New Members at LSC

• June 30. Monday. Discover Sailboat Racing for Juniors Class 4 - 6:00 to 8:30 PM.
• July 1. Tuesday. Lightning Skipper and Crew Practice. Anyone interested in crewing is invited to participate. Contact the Crew Coordinator to help assure sufficient skippers are participating or show up and take your chances.
• July 2. Wednesday. Laser and Sunfish Racing. First of four races starts at 6:30 pm. Spagnoula's for pasta, liquid refreshment and "the Rules Quiz" after racing.
• July 4. Friday. Boat Building (Family Activity) 7 AM. Boat Yard Race (Kids Race Boats that are Built) 1 PM. Cookout and Decorate LSC Pontoon Boat 5 PM. Boat Parade 7:45.
• July 6. Sunday. Lightning Racing - Race Day 11. 12:30 Skip Mtg. 1:00 First of Three Races.
• July 7. Monday. Discover Sailboat Racing - 6:00 to 8:30 PM.
• July 8. Tuesday. Lightning Skipper and Crew Practice. Anyone interested in crewing is invited to participate. Contact the Crew Coordinator to help assure sufficient skippers are participating or show up and take your chances.
• July 9. Wednesday. Laser and Sunfish Racing. First of four races starts at 6:30 pm. Spagnoula's for pasta, liquid refreshment and "the Rules Quiz" after racing.
• July 11. Friday. Moonlight Sail. Bring a Dessert to share at 8 followed by Sailing.
• July 12-13. Sat-Sun. Tawas Lightning Regatta.
• July 13. Sunday. Lightning Racing - Race Day 12. 12:30 Skip Mtg. 1:00 First of Three Races.

• July 6 (Sun):Dave Vietti and Bill Wadland
• July 13 (Sun): Jim Ault and Volunteer Needed

• No coverage is scheduled in the immediate future. Sign up to receive notices of future telecasts by Gary Jobson (ESPN) at www.jobsonsailing.com

July 4th Picnic at 5 PM

This year's July 4th LSC picnic is at 5 PM this time. However, there are Lake Lansing Property Owners Association activities all day that we are participating in too. Mark your calendars with the new schedule and plan to join in one or more of the festivities. Here are details.

To start the day there is a boat building activitiy for kids and their parents. Those participating need to sign up in advance by contacting Pat Dolan ASAP. No one knows in advance what materials will be used or what the instructions are. Materials and instructions are picked up at 7 AM on July 4th. Families have until the 1 PM race to build their boats. Several years ago, boats were styrofoam. Last year they were slats, wire twists and a 7 by 9 tarp. Everyone had a great time with this.

At 1 PM is the big "Boat Yard Race". This is where the kids race the boats that are built in the morning. The event is held on the sand bar off Hickory Island. Last year there were dozens of spectator boats and many spectators cheering their favorites. After the kids raced last year, there was an adult race - and that was fun too see how many adults could keep the boats afloat.

At 5 PM, there will be a picnic and boat decorating party at LSC. Franks and brats and paper and plastic and soft drinks are provided. Everyone should bring a dish to pass. We will decorate the LSC pontoon boat for the annual parade of boats that begins at 7:45 and circles the lake starting at the condos. Plan on coming out to join the fun, enjoy the picnic and participate or watch the parade.

Strong Winds Test Sunday Sailors

Mother Nature pulled some of her stronger winds out the the hat Sunday to test the Lightning sailors on Lake Lansing. The Race Committee of Joel Shapiro and Bill Wadland initially wrote "Winds: 10-15", then changed it to "Winds: 10-20". Big gusts roared down the course, putting the boats up on planes for much of the leeward leg. Gybes and takedowns tested even the experienced crews. In race three, many crews never put up their chute and "Wind Dancer" paid a price for flying theirs with a good sized rip.

"Wind Dancer", sailed by Pat Dolan, Stacy Kotecki and Gil Chesbro, won the first two races - getting off to good starts, then employing top notch crew work to build leads she never relinquished. In the third race, a knock down brought a lot of water into the cockpit, but "Wind Dancer" got the bailer working and held off a charging "Moody's Booty" for a second place finish.

"Fins", kept improving as the day went on. George Siegle, with Ann Siegle in the front position and Tom Rasmussen in the middle position finished third in race one - then second in race two. In race three, Merrick Hurlbutt stepped in for Tom Rasmussen and "Fins" took the building breeze in stride to finish first.

Don Baron, with son David and Dan Sutkovs crewing, stepped up to the plate with an excellent fourth place finish in race one. In race two, a capsize forced a DNF. Then a fifth in race three was a survival story as all the boats faced 20 MPH winds. The "Unidentified Flying Pigs" crew of Blaine Severin, Tom Deits and Julie Pierce kept improving throughout the day, finishing sixth, then fifth, then fourth.

The Fletchers "Bananas" lead everyone to the first windward mark of the day, showing that their boat goes to windward very well. Spinnaker work challenged experienced crew of this day - and was a special test for "Bananas" where Eddie, Maribeth and Jim Fletcher are still in the learning stages.

Merrick Hurlbutt took Larry Koster with him for the first two races and scored his first top three finish with a third in race two. Nice going Merrick. A tip of the hat to the Race Committee for an excellent job in conditions where it was difficult to set an anchor.

Complete results and standings available through the Race Results page of the Club web site at www.lansingsailing.org.

Girl Scouts Earn Sailing Merit Badge at LSC

A number of area Girl Scouts earned their sailing merit badge Saturday at the Lansing Sailing Club. Alanna Harvey arranged for the girls to have some Sunfish and Lightnings to sail in. To prepare, they spent the morning in shore school. Then they rigged and went on the water in the afternoon. After showing they recognized where the wind was coming from, the group learned about sail trim, tacking and gybing. With plenty of wind, most tested the hiking straps - learning back far enough to drag their hair in the water. On the way back to the dock, some of the girls celebrated by dragging on a line behind one of the Lightnings. Laura Harvey was in charge of the Sunfish sailors who did very will in some pretty stiff winds. Mike Moody and Dave MacKenzie took the Safety Boat out to monitor things. Dave and Sandy Vietti, Pat Dolan and Maribeth Fletcher made their Lightnings available and went sailing with the girls. It was a fun day for everyone.

Combined Crew Age: 209 - Contributed by Larry Koster

Editor's Note: Larry Koster's "Master's Team" that sailed in the 1998 North American Championship was reunited several Sunday's ago (see June 16 e-Sheet). The combined age of that reunion was 216 years. Here Larry tells of another "Master's Team" he sailed with last week.

Shibumi's Master's "B Team" had their first practice sail last Sunday, June 22nd. This took place during LSC's first race of the day. Once the newly installed twing arrangement was checked out...and which color string to pull next was figured out, the 'practice' went well! The combined age for the "B Team" is 208 years.

The "B Team" of Larry Koster, Tom Rasmussen and Bob Brook, LSC's newest Lightning skipper, used 15 year old Fisher jib & spinnaker sails and an old, old Murphy & Nye main sail to claim a 2nd place finish in the 2nd race. (Does anyone know when the Murphy & Nye sailmakers went out ot business?) That goes to show you, when you shed about 8 years of crew age, you gain speed...of course, no one should believe that comment!

We couldn't quite catch the "Wind Dancer" crew of Pat Dolan, Bob Miller and Gil Chesbro. Congratulations to Pat Dolan and the "Wind Dancers", who won all three races.

Some New Members at LSC

The Lansing Sailing Club is welcoming a number of new members. Lori Katz recently purchased a Laser and is now a Regular Member. Lisa Winters, Pete Kuhn and the Brennan family are new Associate Members. Bob Brook recently purchased a Lightning and his Regular Membership begins July 1.

Lisa is new to sailing and has been crewing with Terry Kleiman and other Lightning sailors as well as participating actively in our practice activities. Lisa was originally from Flint, then spent time in the Washington DC area and Austin, Texas before coming to the Lansing area. Pete has an extensive sailing background, has been crewing with Mike Moody and sailing a club Laser during Wednesday racing. Kathy and Gordon Brennan have two children Caitlin (14) and Daniel (11). Kathy and Daniel wasted no time in getting out on the water in one of the Club Sunfish.

Bob and Suzanne Brook live in East Lansing. Bob has been very active with crewing since early spring. He even took an early, cold dip in the lake (by accident) while working the foredeck in a practice session. Lori and Matt Katz recently moved to the Lansing area and Lori gave us a call wanting to get involved. She began crewing with Terry Kleiman and got the bug to get her own Laser.

Welcome to you all.