e-Sheet — August 18, 2008
eNewsletter of the Lansing Sailing Club
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LSC "Olympic" Sailing Games Ends In a Tie Between Red and White Teams

Last Chance to Order LSC 2008 T-Shirts

Laser Sunfish Racing Moves to 6 pm Wednesdays

Laser Regatta Saturday August 23

Labor Day Picnic September 1

August 23 (Laser Regatta)
  John Fishbeck
  Ian Clemens
  Ron Marshall  

August 24
  Volunteer Needed

August 31
  Alanna Harvey

Note: Wednesday Laser and Sunfish Racing Moves to 6 pm (from 6:30) for the rest of the season.

Commodore Dolan explains games to the teams
Picture by Chuck Amboy

At first we thought the LSC "Olympic" Sailing Games would need to be called off. There was no wind and only three had come to participate. After about 20 minutes, several of the organizers went home and others decided to go swimming. Then more people came to the Club - and more yet. Pretty soon there were about 15 participants and then the wind filled in.

The games were back on. Teams were chosen by Captain Mike (Red Team) and Captain David (White Team) and the Commodore explained the games. Then the Sunfish were brought around to the main dock and the games were underway.

The Circle of Opportunity called for each team to do as many turns in one minute as they could. The Red Team won with two turns while the White Team had one turn.

In the Pirate Relay Race, each team formed two crews. The first crew left the dock and sailed past the North Dock and back to the Main Dock where the second crew got aboard and sailed its leg. First team back to the Main Dock was the winner. The Red Team won in a very close contest.

Capsize and Recovery permitted each team to put as many on their boat as they wanted - but all had to be aboard to start the capsize and to complete the recovery. The Red team found its stride and did seven Capsize and Recoveries in the two minutes alloted while the White team did three.

In the Cannonball Run Event, each team was given tennis cannonballs. They were to sail past the end of the Main Dock and shoot (throw) their cannonballs to people standing one section of dock away from the end (20 feet). Teammates and judges were to try to catch the cannonballs and any that came close were counted. Each team had eight hits for a tie in this competition.

Snychronized Sailing called for each team to sail three Sunfish in a synchronized way doing three required movements: Get lined up and take off, tack and tack. The team was to then complete their performance by doing a "Surprise" movement they decide on. Both teams did a great job, but the White team came out on top when the Red team accidently had a collision during one of their tacking movements.

For the Commodore Walks the Plank Event , teams participated in a trivia contest. After all the trivia questions had been asked and the teams recorded their answers, everyone went to the dock. The Commodore stood ten paces from the end of the dock. When a team got a trivia answer correct, they received five points. When both teams got the right answer, the Commodore had to take a step backward - toward the water. It was close, the Commodore was one step away coming down to the very last in teams list of famous pirate sayings. When both teams had "Davey Jones Locker", the Commodore walked all the end of the plank.

When the scores were totaled, it was discovered that both teams had 125 points. The games were a tie between the Red Team and the White Team. A great time was had by all.

Event
Points

Red Team
Score
Red Team
Total Score
White Team
Score
White Team
Total Score
Circle of Opportunity
5
5 (2 Turns)
5
0 (1 Turn)
0
Pirate Relay
10
10
15
0
0
Capsize & Recovery
15
15 (7 Capsize/Rec)
30
0 (3 Capsize/Rec
0
Cannonball Run
25
25 (8 Hits)
55
25 (8 Hits)
25
Synchronized Sailing
45
0
55
45
70
Commodore Walks Plank
5 Per
Correct
Answer
70
125
55
125
Grand Total Points  
125
125

 


White Relay Team A
Picture by Chuck Amboy

Synchronized Sailing was Synchronized
Picture by Chuck Amboy

The Commodore walked the plank
Picture by Chuck Amboy

Last Chance for 2008 T-Shirts


Artwork for the Tee Shirts

Tuesday, August 19 at noontime is the absolute deadline for ordering the 2008 T-Shirts. Order from Larry Koster (see detail below). We need to get this order in to have the T-Shirts by Labor Day.

Larry has received 26 requests for the 45th Anniversary T-Shirts as of Sunday and a few more will result in a price break.

The choices are:
(1) Gildan Regular NAVY T-Shirts, sizes S,M,L,XL, price is $14.75 XXL is $16.75, long sleeve add $4
(2) Anvil "Ringer" CAROLINA BLUE T-Shirts with NAVY trim at the neck and shirt sleeve, sizes S,M,L,XL, price is $16.75, XXL is $18.75, will check on availability of long sleeves today
(3) Alo Women's "Wicking" fitted T-Shirt, sizes S,M,L, XL is $37.75, XXL is $39.75
(4) Alo Men's "Wicking" T-Shirt, sizes S,M,L,XL is $31.25, XXL is $33.25

Note: Long sleeve T-Shirts are only available with the Gildan Regular NAVY T-Shirt. (No long sleeves for the Carolina Blue "Ringer" shirts nor the "Wicking" style shirt.)

The price will be about $1.00 less if 35 or more T-Shirts are requested. The mix on the Regular T-Shirt and the "Ringer" T-Shirt is about 50/50. There are 4 requests for the "Wicking" shirt.

Order from Larry by email at koster2l@yahoo.com.

A Good Crowd Was Present for Friday's Moonlight Sail

Quite a few members and friends showed up Friday for this seasons last Moonlight Sail.

As usual, the wind died as everyone watched the sunset and was still pretty quiet when boats pushed away from the dock to watch the moon come up over the trees. But then a gentle breeze came in and it was a very nice evening on the water.

Olympic Sailing Coverage


There are still four days of the 2008 Olympic Games with medal races each day. Coverage on the NBC networks (MSNBC, CNBC, Oxygen, USA, UniversalHD) is quite unpredictible and it appears they will limit coverage to medal awards and short highlight summaries - if that.

However, there is online coverage, live and rewind. Live is often 1 am Lansing time, but the rewind is always available. Go to:
www.nbcolympics.com/tv_and_online_listings/zone=ET/sport=SA

The first time you choose to watch coverage, you will need to select the option to download and install Microsoft Silverlight in order to see the feed. There is no commentary broadcast you can hear, but Gary Jobson's online "Live Commentary" appears in one of the windows. On the other hand, you do hear a lot of the race committee discussion and other background "noise".

There are a number of articles and some videos on the NBC Sailing page at:
/www.nbcolympics.com/sailing/

YouTube also has some coverage as people send in videos. Most are dated, but check out:

And, do your own YouTube search or look at "related" videos that are displayed as you watch another feature.

Moody Takes Two in Sunday Racing


A close finish in the final race
Picture by Stephen Wagner

Getting ready for the start
Picture by Stephen Wagner

In Sunday Lightning Racing, Mike Moody and Susanna Wagner put some of their recent learning experiences at Newport to good use and won two of the three races. In both of their wins they came from behind on the final downwind to pass "Wind Dancer" and take first place.

"Moody's Booty" was just a bit faster downwind than we were," said Pat Dolan. Having gone 2-1-2 on the day and been the victim of "Booty" speed, "Wind Dancer" team members Dolan, Chesbro and Miller later cornered Moody to see how they had improved their downwind speed so greatly. Mike explained that they leaned in Newport that keeping the spinnaker sheet in constant motion was the key. We'll all be working on this technique so we can stay up with the "Booty".

Larry Koster had Ron Marshall on board as well as newcomer Deon Claborne. They started slow, no doubt getting to know each other better, but came on strong with third place finishes in the last two races. Blaine Severin, Julie Pierce and John Kolstoe, sailing "Unidentified Flying Pigasus" started fast with a third, but then struggled with laylines and it went downhill.

Jim Fletcher, Maribeth Fletcher and Eddie Fletcher were reunited in their boat "Splash" and sailed a solid 4-4-5. Nikiforose Delatolas and Tom Hutton put "Oh m" to work and came back with a 5-6-4. A good finish to top off the day.

Many of the sailors hung around afterward, enjoying the beautiful day, picnicing and sharing stories.

Complete results and standings can be found on the Lansing Sailing Club website at www.lansingsailing.org. Click on "Racing" then on the fleet symbol.

Getting ready for the leeward mark
Picture by Stephen Wagner

Race Start
Picture by Stephen Wagner

Some pictures taken by Stephen Wagner are included in this e-Sheet. The full set of pictures Stephen takes are usually loaded to the web within several days. Look for them at:
www.flickr.com/photos/12233491@N02/sets/


A close rounding
Picture by Stephen Wagner

Moody and Wagner Sail in Lightning Nationals at Newport

Editors Note: Mike Moody and Susanna Wagner were in Newport last week to crew for Sean Fidler in the Lightning National Championships. This is Mike's Report.

We are fresh back from New Port, Rhode Island and the Lightning North American Championships. Susanna has several hundred pics and will be sorting and posting soon.

We had a somewhat narrow pre conception of the level of competition at such a prestigious event. There were about 20 professional racers out of the 105 boats in the event. Small mistakes made for big losses. Prevailing currents made race analysis all the more difficult. Sean did a good job of calling tactics but inexperienced crew combined with little pre event practice made for a humbling experience. It was interesting to see the many "good club/regatta racers" that were used to winning have such long faces after the first two days of qualifying.

A 5 day event such as this will take its toll on those not physically prepared. Still, our team of Susanna Wagner, myself, and Sean Fidler showed steady improvement all week. Official results are on the Lightning web site but we went something like, 25,19, 16, 14, 12, 13, 11, 8, and finished with a 3rd. We were encouraged with the thought that if we had practiced for about a month beforehand, we might of had a better result. Had I known the level of energy required for the five days, I might not have gone. Having said that, it was a tough event that I am glad I was able to experience. I learned a lot from Sean, but a lot of it only seems to lead to more questions. Even with that, I think our confidence as racers took a major step for ward.

Coming Events Detail
  • August 20 (Wed) Sunfish/Laser Racing. First of 4 scheduled races at 6:00.
  • August 21 (Thu) Adult Sailing Night. 6:00 to dusk.
  • August 24 (Sun) Lightning Racing. First of 3 scheduled races at 1:00.
  • August 23 (Sat) Lake Lansing Laser Regatta.
  • August 27 (Wed) Sunfish/Laser Racing. First of 4 scheduled races at 6:00.
  • August 28 (Thu) Adult Sailing Night. 6:00 to dusk.
  • August 31 (Sun) Lightning Racing. First of 3 scheduled races at 1:00
  • September 1 (Mon) Labor Day Picnic at Noon. On-water fun sailing activity afterward.
  • September 3 (Wed) Sunfish/Laser Racing - Final Day of Wednesday Racing for 2008. First of 4 scheduled races at 6:00.
  • September 4 (Thu) Adult Sailing Night. 6:00 to dusk.
  • September 5 (Fri) South Lansing Kiwanis Club Picnic at LSC - 6:00pm
  • September 7 (Sun) Lightning Racing. First of 3 scheduled races at 1:00
  • September 11 (Thu) Adult Sailing Night. 6:00 to dusk.
  • September 14 (Sun) Lightning Racing. First of 3 scheduled races at 1:00
  • September 18 (Thu) Adult Sailing Night. 6:00 to dusk.
  • September 19 (Fri) Talk Like a Pirate Day.
  • September 20 (Sat) TSCA Rendezvous.
  • September 21 (Sun) Lightning Racing. First of 3 scheduled races at 1:00
  • September 25 (Thu) Adult Sailing Night. 6:00 to dusk.
  • September 28 (Sun) Lightning Racing. First of 3 scheduled races at 1:00
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