sou’wester • january 2007 • page 1

January 2007 Official Publication ofAlamitos Bay Yacht Club

Volume 80 • Number 1

portrait photos by Tracy Conn (throughout)candid photos by Geoge Honeycutt Anderson

f a m i l y c h r i s t m a s p a r t y 2 0 0 6

This year’s party reconfirmed what we have been observing over the last year – our families are rediscovering ourclub. There were several three-generation family tables and a great representation of old and new members. Theclub was literally crawling with children. Over 180 people came.

Many thanks to all the volunteers especially Ann Seapy, Sue McDannel,Diane Bateman, chairperson Stephanie Munn and, of course, Jim Morford forplaying his traditional role as jolly old St. Nick. Thanks to the Junior Board forstaffing the serving line. The Tres Amigos (Chris Erickesn, Jorge Suarez andJohn Massey) led Christmas carols for the crowd and, as always, were well re-ceived. Thanks to Tracy Conn, as always, for the wonderful photos.

Jim Bateman

Diane Bateman, ready forthe hungry crowd

Santa’s favorite!!! Grandson, Tanner, son ofTom and Brooke (Morford) Jolly

Rose Bowl Regatta ................................ January 6Membership Meeting ............................January 19Adopt-a-Beach .....................................January 20Membership Meeting .......................... February 16Midwinter Regatta .......................February 17 - 18Manning Regatta ..................................March 3 - 4Membership Meeting ...............................March 16Chapped Cheek/St. Pat’s Dinner ............March 17

s a v e t h e d a t eCommodore’s Comments ..................................2Vice Commodore’s Views ..................................2Manager’s Corner ...............................................3Rear Commodore’s Notes .................................4From the Pages of History .................................4Junior Sailing ...................................................6-7Fleet Captain’s Report .......................................7Hails from the Fleets .....................................9-11

i n s i d e

Chris Ericksen connecting with the crowd while leadingChristmas carols

Pat McCormick enjoying the carolsAlan and Brett Peoples have a chat with Santa

sou’wester • january 2007 • page 2

c o m m o d o r e ’ s c o m m e n t s

v i c e c o m m o d o r e ’ s v i e w

As I write this in the waning days of 2006, we’ve just enjoyed a well-attended Christmas Party, and are planning for a big Boxing Day and a huge Rose Bowl Regatta. Three different

events but each exemplary of what ABYC is all about.2006 was a very good year for ABYC. Our holiday regattas had record fleets. Our social

events were overbooked. We hosted a world championship, the pre-Olympic trials and severalmajor clinics. We hired a great new Club Manager. We improved our RC fleet. We even got newmules and we put some money in the bank. We could do all this because we have the best membersin the world - members that are incredibly generous with their time, effort and money.

We’re always looking for ways to give more members the chance to get involved and to thatend, we want to keep you informed as to who’s doing what. Every event has a chairperson and aboard liaison. We have formal volunteer forms circulating but you can always call the chairperson of

the event and let them know you want to help. Here’s what’s coming up in February and March (look for more informationin flyers and at www.abyc.org):

February 5 - The Superbowl Race and Party – Race Etchells inside the Bay and then eat, drink and watch somefootball game. You don’t need to sail to come and enjoy the party. Jorge Suarez will be orchestrating these events and I amthe board liaison.

March 3-4 The SCYA Manning regatta – small boats, big fleets, very competitive event.The Etchells fleet is the duty fleet but we can always need more race committee help. Talk to Jeff Powell or ask anyEtchells sailor you see. Glenn Selvin is the board liaison.

St Patricks Day/Chapped Cheek regatta – A low key and short regatta with a great family party. Again, you don’tneed to sail to come and enjoy the party. Sharon Pearson is in charge and Merle Asper is her board liaison.

If you have a question about any club activity, remember that our Flag Officers all have specific areas of respon-sibility.

The Vice Commodore – Glenn Selvin is responsible for the clubhouse, grounds, the yard and moorings.The Rear Commodore – Merle Asper is responsible for the social program and membership development.The Fleet Captain – John Massey is responsible for the sailing program.We give these guys assigned parking spaces so you can tell when they’re at the club. We also put up their flag

whenever they’re around. Bother these guys as much as you want. Complain to them and make them buy you drinks at thebar.

As you’ve probably surmised, my New Year’s resolution is to delegate more!Happy New Year,Jim

ABYC is continuing to be a cleaner, more organized place for our members to come and enjoy.If you poke around the east yard of the club, you’ll notice that Kelly and staff have made a

wonderful effort of cleaning out the junk that somehow seems to accumulate in what issometimes referred to as “the boneyard.” Old bits of shelving, our old refrigerator units, a copierfrom times gone by…all have been hauled away as the east yard becomes a more organized part ofour club. New to the east yard is a temporary tent, where during these winter months of inclementweather, the mules will be living. If you come down during off hours, and you need a mule, that’swhere you’ll find them. And, if you would, when you’re done with that mule, please put the mule backwhere it can enjoy its time out of the wind and the rain.

We’ve been making real progress getting unused boats out of the yard, and getting boats offof the waiting list and into the yard where our members can more easily enjoy their boats. We’vealso sent out letters to members who’s space is in dire need of a remodel. Please, if you’ve got a lotof junk in your space and if your space could use some attention, please come on down to the club

and do that… your neighbors will appreciate it.As for unused boats? Take a look at your boat, and examine your own lifestyle and your boat usage. If you’re just

not using your boat for whatever reason, please consider selling or donating your boat so that more active members mayenjoy that space. Boat usage is an issue that’s been going on for years, and is an issue that I’ll be looking at closely thisyear, though I’m also sensitive to the needs of our members. If you get a letter asking to remove your boat, and you feelits undue, please don’t hesitate to call me so we can discuss it. Remember, our yard is our largest asset, and is often thedriving factor to whether a potential new member joins ABYC,

I’m at the club often… if you have issues you’d like to discuss regarding the yard and our facility, please don’thesitate to chat. See you around the club.

Glenn Selvin

sou’wester • january 2007 • page 3

m a n a g e r ’ s c o r n e r

Sou’Wester DEADLINEFriday, January 19, 2007 is the deadline

for the February Sou’Wester.

First, a BIG thanks to all who helped make the Christmas Dinner a big success. I appreciated the help in the kitchen, and all the “runners” who kept the food flowing from the kitchen to the warmers.

My apologies to those who did not get fed, we had a late rush of last minute reservations,and tried our best to adjust the amount of food to prepare, but fell a bit short.

Speaking of cooking, our friend and colleague Jesus Espinosa was able to attend theABYC staff Christmas Dinner Monday night at Lucille’s restaurant. He looked great. He’s feelingmuch better, and hopes to be released back to work in early January.

I’m anxious to “pass the sauté pan” to Jesus, and dedicate more of my time to the man-agement of the club and instituting the exciting new endeavors being discussed by the Board.

More food thoughts…I’ll be taking a look at our Galley menu the next few weeks. We’ll beintroducing a few new items and are open for suggestions, as to items you would like to see

available. Some of the new items will be:Chicken Salad & Chicken Salad SandwichesMeatball SandwichesSausage & Pepper SandwichesFrench Dip SandwichesVegetarian WrapsWeekend Soup SpecialsFrisco BurgerFresh Salads

I’m sourcing a large menu board so you’ll be able to see the specials as well as our current menu more easily.Well….with all kidding aside, I can honestly say it appears we are slowing down a bit here at the club.We have really seen a constant stream of activity the past four months, and now have a chance to evaluate the

needs of the club before the next round of action.Thanks once again to all who have been so supportive these past four months. The staff and I wish you and yours

the Happiest of Holidays and a very prosperous New Year.Kelly Whitlow

2007OFFICERS & D IRECTORS

Treasurer George Kornhoff/Mary Montz

Junior Rear Commodore A.J.Robinson/Laura Newton

Fleet Surgeon Dr. Jeff Cohen

Judge Advocate Tom Ramsey

Port CaptainDave Myers/Jeff Ives

Sou’wester Editor/Layout Sharon Pearson

ABYC Phone (562) 434-9955

Fax (562) 434-2267

Homepage www.abyc.org

Email abyc@abyc.org

Commodore Jim Batemen

Vice Commodore Glenn Selvin

Rear Commodore Merle Asper

Jr. Staff Commodore Nicole Peoples-Moffett

Fleet Captain John Massey

Secretary Dan DeLave

Directors

Junior Program Jeff Merrill

Volunteers Bill McDannel

Bob Anderson

sou’wester • january 2007 • page 4

r e a r c o m m o d o r e ’ s n o t e s

2007 is going to be a great year! Can you believe 2006 is gone? Remember 2000 and Y2K?Scary! I am still worried that some gremlin may jump into my computer and shut everything off and delete all of my hard work. Not really, but that sure was what the media was

hyping back then. I did back up all of my work on a disk and put it somewhere safe before goingover to ABYC for the New Year’s Eve Party. For the moment it is Princess Diana and the con-spiracy theory associated with that tragic episode. I am sure it was aliens (from outer space, notTijuana) that caused the whole thing as part of their master plan.

For me, 2007 would be a great year if we can set ABYC up so she is very strong finan-cially. Part of that would be to get our membership level up to near the full mark. We are doinggreat, but we still need new members. You will be doing yourself, your family, and your friends afavor if you bring in a new member. If you bring in two new members, you will have done more

than your part. That is why we have the Commodore’s Council, to recognize those that have done more than their part. Ifyou have not seen the plaque with the names of the people that have made the extra effort, it is located at the right whenyou enter the Club. I have a great idea. If ten people make a goal to get two new members in (we more than did this in2005) we will be very strong financially. We also have a promotion going where for each member you bring in, you get$250 ABYC dollars to be spent on food, beverage, and ABYC logo items. This will make you rich! Or at least you will berewarded for doing something good for your club and for the new member joining. Contact Mike Baumann<michael_baumann@mac.com>, your hard working Membership Chairman, or myself with prospects. We will make surethey get taken care of in the best way possible. Let’s make 2007 a great year and let’s get those new members in!

In case you did not make it, the Christmas Party was fabulous! I believe it was the biggest yet! Jim Bateman willbe doing the write up, so I will keep my comments brief. Thanks go out to all of our great volunteers and members whoalways make things fun. Also we need to thank Kelly Whitlow for making some of the best food I have ever had at ABYC.Success brings new issues to solve. We did have a small problem that many people either did not sign up before the eventor signed up the day prior, which was too late to make the necessary food provisions and seating became an issue as well.I myself am guilty of signing up the day prior, even though I had been planning to go for more than two months! For futureChristmas Parties, we will probably be adopting the same method we have had for Easters in the past where we will handout tickets and those that sign up by a deadline will sit and eat first. The 2007 Christmas party promises to be as good ifnot better than 2006, so get your name in now, we are selling out quickly! Just kidding, but please get your name in earlywhen it is time!

In 2007, we are going to have some great bands playing during our Happy Hour Celebration many Friday nightsafter work. Not always rock, but lots of different types of music that will both surprise and amaze you. We will be sendingout email reminders, so please make sure the office (Lisa) has your email address, so we can make sure you get the word.Kelly Whitlow has been making some scrumptious happy hour food lately. You should come by just to witness happinesson a plate.

Thanks and see you around the club,Merle Asper

Another year has begun. New year, new challenges, new opportunities. And yet, history unfolds behind us andbeneath us, as a foundation, a backdrop for our future. And from the pages of history, three new years ofSOU’WESTER’s become blocks in that foundation.

THIRTY YEARS AGO:One of the fastest-growing and most popular fleets at the club thirty years ago was a pretty new one: the Laser.

Described in the SOU’WESTER of January 1977, as “a responsive, exciting boat,” it was attracting not only an older groupof sailors but also a bunch of kids, and the Lasers were scheduled to be at ABYC for the SCYA Midwinter regatta that year.ABYC member Don Barrus was the local secretary of the International Laser Class Association; Peter Gantz was the localfleet captain. They were planning a big year, and a key to that was that the elder sailors would be working with but notnecessarily competing against the youngsters; to that end, there was an “over thirty” and “under thirty” division by age.

International 14’s were pretty hot then, too. Jack Wills, Senior and Junior, were crowned Fleet Champions for the1976 season at the annual fleet meeting and awards dinner, ahead of Bob and Jan Curry; third place was Peter Gales withJim Temples as crew. John Hsu and his brother Tom also were in the top five. And it was noted that Alan Harder receivedthe Commodore’s Special Award for his leadership as chairman for the I-14 Nationals, West Coast Championship and NA’sthat had been held at ABYC the summer before.

Christmas parties were also reported upon. The ABYC Junior party was apparently a huge success, with KellyWinterrowd the chairperson. The Sabotiers had 103 attendees for their extravaganza, with Juniors serving dinner anddancing until one in the morning. Even the Cal 20 fleet got into the act with 60 folks aboard for their party at ABYC.

f r o m t h e p a g e s o f h i s t o r y

sou’wester • january 2007 • page 5

Patience had a window broken when another powerboat of similar size was maneuvering in a very tight space atthe dock. Bob Anderson was fending off but the force of the other boat was too great and Bob’s elbow was pushedinto a window on the port side of Patience. Fortunately the window was safety glass and Bob was not hurt as the

window cracked and gave way.Rowell Greene, a long time member of ABYC and the guy in the ‘white hat’, to our rescue. Rowell knew just how to

remove the damaged window, the correct bedding compound, etc. Of course it took a couple of days with some damagedteak finish strips repaired at his home where he has his equipment. Thanks to Rowell, Patience has been restored to herformer condition by another of her many friends.

Vern and George

a n o t h e r ‘ w h i t e h a t ’ r i d e s t o o u r r e s c u e

Passages were noted as well: Ettie Brown, mother of Staff Commodore Gordon Brown, Jr., passed away and wasremembered for her years of service in the galley of the old clubhouse, while Commodore Tick Weber noted the passing ofRalph Segerblom, “an able seaman and a very rare type of gentleman”...the First Mates were eagerly awaiting news of thenew spring fashions and scheduled a meeting on a Tuesday morning at ten o’clock to hear about them...the ABYC Christ-mas float won first prize in the Naples Christmas parade...among the newest members of ABYC were Dan Clapp, his wifeNorma, their daughters Stacey and Terri and their fleet of boats, including a Santa Cruz 27 named “Hot Flash”...TWENTY YEARS AGO:

Photos of the ABYC Christmas Party and an accompanying article graced the January 1987, SOU’WESTER.Sandi McDade was pictured with her then-months-old son on her lap for his first ABYC party, while Jan Waggoner satbeside her with another child balanced on her own lap. Barbi Anderson was acting as Santa’s helper while Ray and DianeGonzales’ children were perched on Santa’s lap. And the perennial Christmas caroler was shown leading songs with a bevyof children beside him, including a very young Betsy Cole.

Based on the length of their articles, the two top fleets at ABYC were the J/24’s and the C-15’s. Eric McClure tookover the helm of the fleet wile Terry Hanna was the fleet reporter, and the California Circuit would again include regattas forthe class in San Diego, Long Beach, Marina del Rey and Santa Barbara; the NA’s were set to be in San Francisco in July.And the C-15’s were poised for a real rebirth, with Carl “Doc” Risher as SOU’WESTER contributor; they were trying to roustall the C-15’s that were rumored to be “gathering dust in garages” and get them out racing. Carl offered the names ofseveral active fleet members to help get the old boats fixed up, including Ray Gonzales and Bob Anderson.

Commodore Tom Ramsey reflected on an interesting change in the demographics of the club in a decade: therewas nobody interested in leading the First Mates, and he asked if there was any interest in continuing the group at all.Apparently in those days the First Mates—a woman’s group within the club—had specific events for which they wereresponsible, and Commodore Ramsey was interested in seeing how those events would be handled if there was no FirstMates group. The times, it seems, were a-changin’...

Various members of the Kober/Merrill extended clan had been traveling, according to “Driftwood,” the news andgossip column that ran in the SOU’WESTER in those days: Chuck and Adra Kober had been in London for the IYRUmeetings, Lorie and Paul Merrill had been in St. Louis for Thanksgiving and Chas Merrill and son Scott went to Perth,Western Australia, to see son/brother Jeff on the crew of the Twelve Metre “Heart of America, tuning up for the America’sCup...a whole slew of ABYC members found themselves in Cabo San Lucas at the end of the Los Angeles YC’s race there;they included Scott Atwood, Mickey Beland, Alan Johnson, Ed Lorence, Pat McCormick and Jerry Montgomery—andLangdon Parrill and “Manhattan” went along as a communications boat...TEN YEARS AGO:

The coverage of the ABYC Christmas Party was a bit sketchy in the SOU’WESTER of January, 1997: CommodorePat Bixby mentioned it in his “Commodore’s Comments,” saying that the event—organized by Ted, Kathleen and KatieFlood—featured Gumdrop the Clown, a regular visitor to parties in those days whose specialty was, if I remember correctly,balloon animals.

Elliot Rosenthal was Port Captain in those days, and organized a group to recover, clean, repaint and reposition theBay marks. The team was mostly from the Lido fleet, which was appropriate as among the most regular users of the marks.

Staff Commodore Mark Townsend was president of the ABYC chapter of the International Order of the Blue Gavel,a group for past commodores, and did a short article on what the chapter did. In addition to helping organize the OpeningDay ceremonies, the chapter hosted a reception in late winter for new members; it was a great event in the days that itoccurred, and Mark and Robin were the creators of the event.

There were some announcements in the SOU’WESTER, too: Ron and Karen Fox were pleased to announce theengagement of their daughter, Lynda, to Chris Peoples...there were to be both junior and adult Sabot classes that winter,the latter in both beginner and intermediate divisions...Steve and Elaine Bloemeke were organizing “Club Happy Hours” inwhich a member or fleet could organize a Friday night of entertainment, food or whatever—and tend bar themselves...

Chris Ericksen, Club Historian

h i s t o r y (cont)

sou’wester • january 2007 • page 6

t h e b a y c l o g g e r ( j u n i o r s a i l i n g )

Happy Holidays ABYC! As the junior program approached the end of the year and our fall program ended, our sailingslowed down a lot but not the camaraderie of our young sailors. As many of you know, our Junior Board putstogether the annual submission from ABYC for the Naples Christmas Boat Parade. This year’s Junior Rear Com-

modores Laura Newton and AJ Robinson came up with the idea of a 60’s peace theme. Parents Doug Jorgensen, TomNewton, Jeff and Pam Merrill and John Robinson helped to tie together the two outrages and put up Christmas lights in theshape of a peace sign that towered high above where the bridges it would need to go under were. Fortunately, there aresome engineers in our parent base, so as the kids decorated signs that said “Make love, not war” and “Peace!”, the parentsworked on a method to lower the peace sign when going under bridges.

For final touches, Laura and A.J. convinced me to play a set of classic rock songs live while cruising around thecanals. The event proved to be quite the challenge as candy was tossed from the boat to the shore and then from theshore on to the boat. The huge peace sign went down at every bridge as the crowd cheered each time it came back up onthe other side of the bridge. Some of the more exciting moments included the one bridge where a divider went right downthe middle of the channel forcing drivers Tom Newton and Doug Jorgensen to do some quick maneuvering while in theprocess of bringing down a huge peace sign. Thanks to all the teamwork on the boat, there was safe passage and to topit all off, the judges of the parade gave this year’s float from ABYC the “Most Original” award! Congratulations to the JuniorBoard for their great idea and thanks to all the parents for their hard work in putting the float together!

In other news, the Spring Program application is now uploaded to the junior website at www.fleetracing.net. Aftera successful fall program of 50 students and just amazing improvements in the students’ skills, we are looking forward toan even better and more fun spring program. If you or someone you know is interested in signing a child up for theprogram, please fill out the forms and return them to ABYC as soon as possible and feel free to email me atjrprogram@abyc.org with any questions.

Finally, as another year comes and goes (and this one flew!), I can’t help but be thankful for the people that makeup ABYC. As places to work go, there are few that can bring as much fun and happiness as this and I find myself feelingextremely lucky to be a part of it all. Thank you to the membership, my coworkers, the students and especially the parentswho are shaping these young men and women in such positive ways. All the successes we have seen as a junior programare due to all the efforts everyone puts in collectively, so thank you…it is genuinely appreciated! Merry Christmas andhappy holidays to everyone!

Brad Schaupeter, ABYC Jr. Program Director

j u n i o r s p o t l i g h t

Hey Jr. Sailors!!!The Junior Board has decided that it is about time that we start taking over our own section of the “Bay Clogger”.Each month, we plan to showcase an ABYC Jr. sailor that has displayed exceptional sailing skills or enthusiasm in

a recent yachting event. Our first and very deserving showcase sailor is ABYC’s own Sydney Bolger. Many of you knowSydney from her sailing sabots or maybe she evencoached you sometime this past year. If you haven’tseen Sydney sailing lately, perhaps you’re looking in thewrong place. Recently, Sydney has graduated from sail-ing her sabot “Blue Bird” and moved on to the growingClub 420 class. The 420 is a high performance, double-handed dinghy. In the past few months, Sydney hastaken huge leaps forward in the 420 class rankings.

The weekend of November 11 th and 12th was the2nd out of 4 regattas in the high school Perry Series.Over the course of the weekend, Sydney and her crew,Garrett Laudenback, sailed in an average of 12-14 knotsand managed to place 3rd out of 25 other boats. Consid-ering the fact that Sydney has only been sailing her 420for a year and that she was competing against highlyseasoned 420 sailors, this is a phenomenal achieve-ment. But just in case you aren’t impressed yet, Sydneyfinished a mere 9 points behind the 2nd place boat whohappened to be Chris Barnard; many of you know Chrisas Junior Sabot Nationals champion in 2005. Not onlythis, but she finished 78 points ahead of the next femaleskipper.

Sydney Bolger with Garrett Laudenback on the trapeze during the 2nd weekendof the Perry series

sou’wester • january 2007 • page 7

f l e e t c a p t a i n ’ s r e p o r t

Sydney has worked extremely hard throughout her sailing career and has reasons to be proud of her achievements.She speaks very highly of the Club 420 and is very fond of the boat and how it performs. If you have any questionsregarding 420 sailing or are interested in the boat, Sydney would be more than glad to provide you with guidance; justanother reason why we love her so much.

Do you have any suggestions for future Junior Board articles? If you would like to recommend a fellow sailor to beshowcased in one of the following months, feel free to address any one of your Junior Board members… that’s what we’rehere for! Keep a lookout for next month’s showcase sailor!Laura Newton, Co-Jr. Rear Commodore

s p o t l i g h t ( c o n t )

Enter January and January weather, with either too little wind punctuated by periods of rain orover powering Santa Anna conditions to test your rigging. The one major racing event ofthe month is the “Rose Bowl” regatta January 6 & 7. On going fleet racing continues with

the Etchells, Laser, and Sr. Sabots the following weekend. The Jr. Sabot (North Series) will be awayat San Diego that same weekend. Event schedules basically slow down, and all appears to besmooth and quiet for a period of winter’s rest. Not true. Like the duck smoothly swimming, therehappens to be a whole lot going on under the surface, out of sight.

Patience - Heads to the Ship Yard Jan 9 for a major bottom job. This occasion will be a full sanddown to the gel-coat. George Caddle and Vern Peterson will yard boss.

Bay Barge - An order has been placed for a replacement hull kit. The components should arrivetoward the end of the month. As the kit comes complete and pre-drilled, an assembling and erecting

detail will need to be manned with a few of you who are comfortable with socket and open end wrenches. You will bewelcome. If you are interested and want to play with tools, make yourself known to me or the office, with a way of contactingyou so that I can assemble the work party and coordinate a date after the parts arrive.

Sabot dollies - All parts should be at the welding shop by now. Another assembly party or two will convene lateJanuary or early February. Our “Parts and Pieces” guru, Bob Chubb, is devoting a great amount of his time and talent onthis project.

Bay Mark Buoys - All the buoys and ground tackle are due for an annual inspection. Those missing will be re-placed. Until that time a whip shall be used and that will be set on race day, and retrieved afterward. Dave Myers is ridingshotgun on this and will coordinate with the race PRO.

Whaler #3 - A replacement 17-ft whaler hull has been located and purchase by the board has been approved. Theexisting hull will need to be disposed of. Spread the word that it is available. We will consider reasonable bid for purchaseand immediate departure from our yard.

Annual Maintenance - All the whalers are candidates for visits to the outboard shop for their annual look see. So,if you need boats for an event, they may not all be available. On that thought, I cannot say more emphatically the necessitythat regatta chairs and/or PRO’s make available to Dave Myers your equipment needs for your event. Dave needs atminimum a week ahead to assure that your needs are met. The day of the event is way too late. Clairvoyant is not in thePort Captain’s job title.

John Massey

Busy kids at Christmas partyElaine Wood and sis, Barbara

sou’wester • january 2007 • page 8

Buddies!!

Ron and Elaine Wood

Stephanie Munn

The Morford/Jolly family

The McMahon clanThe Atwoods

sou’wester • january 2007 • page 9

Although it’s mid January, we still need to wrap up the past exciting Lido racing year.This past year fleet 6 has found it’s membership grow to a total of 25 members. Our fleet is thesecond largest Lido fleet in the world and we always welcome newcomers on the racecourse for

our summer twilight series. Lido’s are intense racing machines and are very active throughout SouthernCalifornia. www.Lido14.org has a great classified section where you can find used Lidos for sale.  2006 also found fleet 6 hosting the 49th Lido 14 Class Championships in mid-July at Huntington Lake, CA. 46 Lidosraced under PRO Mike Baumann. A big thanks goes to all who put this regatta on; especially our fleet captain Tracy Conn.  The Lido Fleet would like to congratulate Bob and Emily Sherwood for winning the Elise and Stan Church PerpetualTrophy at the Commodore’s Installation. This trophy is given to the married couple with the most successful racing recordor record of service to the club. The Sherwood’s traveled and raced competitively throughout Southern California in theirLido and they certainly deserve the trophy.  Our next event is the SCYA Midwinter Regatta at ABYC on February 17th-18th, 2007. We are hoping for a largeLido turnout (like Turkey Day) since this is the only regatta in which we have the whole bay to ourselves. That’s right, allNaples Sabots are down in Newport for this regatta. Suckers!  Dues are due for 2007! Contact Ron Clanton for more info.  Mark Ryan

h a i l s f r o m t h e f l e e t s

June 22 - 24, 2007A couple of buddies having a chat

Erin & Jack Fox

Michael & Emilia Anctil

sou’wester • january 2007 • page 10

KEEL BOAT FLEET ON WATCH

Everyone picture 10 Staff Commo- dores, at one microphone, sing- ing a Christmas carol and you will

have some idea of the fun at the combined Keel Boatand Sabotier Fleets Christmas party. The hors d’oeuvreswere outstanding, Judy Mathias obtained our superb pia-nist again, Joe Riddick and John Ellis were the great partyinstigators and earned everyone’s thanks, Carol Reynoldswon the 50/50 cash prize but the best part was seeing thefriends of many years.

The next meeting, Friday January 12, will haveArmchair Cruise signups. The play is ‘Catch Me If YouCan’ and is tentatively scheduled for February 8. This isalways a great time but also supports the Children’s Ben-efit League. Last year our Fleet had the largest segmentin the theater. This year if everyone in the Fleet tried toget other members of ABYC to go wouldn’t that be a partyto remember. We will have the usual potluck dinner, bringa dish for eight and a serving spoon.

The Keel Boat Fleet along with the Sabotier Fleetis the duty fleets for the ABYC General Meeting January19. We need servers and meal ticket cashiers. Pleasegive Isabelle Lounsberry a call and volunteer. The speakerfor this meeting will be Harbor Commission Vice Presi-dent, Mario Cordero who will speak on the future of thePort of Long Beach. As this will undoubtedly impact onwhere we sail and race it should be of interest to all mem-bers.

George C.

The Turkey Day Regatta broughtout an armada as usual.  Although our fleet only had eight

entries, they had has much fun as anyone.  John Ellis,Sheila Eberly, Jane McNaboe, Jeff McDermaid, MackMills, Tom Newton, Mar Riddick and Wendy Siegal allenjoyed the usual California fall wind and weather.  Thewinners: 1) Mary Riddick 2) Jane McNaboe  3) JeffMcDermaid. 

December 3rd was the regular Sabot Sunday.  Thewind was up this day so a rough and ready group com-prised of Lee Berlinger, Tom Newton, Bob Ware, MikeGass, John Ellis, Don Hodges and Mark Ryan were theonly ones to rig their boats and set sail. The outcome: 1)Lee  2) Bob 3)Mark.  The Fleet Meeting was well attended and the BeefStroganoff prepared by Kelly was a treat enjoyed by all. Everyone is welcomed at the dinners, so if you see a“Sabot Sunday” on the Club Calendar, call the office andtell them you’d like to be included. Make this your restau-rant of choice.

Our Fleet Captain, Isabelle Lounberry, presidedover an informative meeting. Business discussed included

a vote that perpetual trophy winners also be gifted with atake-home trophy. Bob Ware suggested a medal.  It wasagreed to add the extra trophy to the Perpetual ceremony,but the form is undecided. Margaret Caddle and Isabellewill handle the trophy chores.It was announced that Amy Graham will be taking PeggyLenhart’s position at INSA.  Those are big footprints tofolow in. Peggy did an amazing job over so many yearsand deserves at least a ten-gun salute. Other news fromINSA:  There will be a mast and boom flotation test re-quired at Regattas. If you’ve already capsized, you prob-ably passed the test.  Not to worry.Other matters of pressing importance are the new DollyProject that Bob Chubb is directing and the new racks.Please call Bob if you can help on the dollies.  The newrack design was to be on display the weekend after theChristmas Party. To learn more of this project, talk to JohnMassey or Jeff Merrrill or attend the January Meeting.Thanks to Lee Berlinger who has volunteered to be “Sec-retary” and send off the E-mailed Newsletter that DaleBerkihiser sends out.  Also thanks to the Racing Com-mittee: Al Nelson, Jinx Ellis, and Joe Riddick who pro-vide the support needed to keep the fleet charging thosewindward marks.

The Sabot-Keel Boat Christmas Party was a livelyaffair with music, games and singing, on and off key. Judy Mathais arranged for the accompanist and also in-vited everyone to join Carol Reynolds and her on the Arm-chair Cruises to theatres to see “Catch Me If You Can” or“The Full Monty” in which that musical comedy star withthe great stage name of “John Massey Junior” is per-forming.  Call Judy to get in on all this.

There were almost more ex-Commodores presentthan on Opening Day and they all came forward to giveus their rendition of a Christmas Song. The younger setseemed to win all the prizes in identifying the ChristmasCarols hidden in Joe Riddick’s linguistic puzzles, but weall had fun trying.

Here are a few of the people attending: ScottAtwood, Stephanie Munn, the Caddles, the Flams, theBerkihisers, the Riddicks, the McMahans, Jerry Thomp-son, the Hardens, the Mills, the Kuritzes, the Masseys,the Nelsons, the Petersons, the Hodges, the Townsends,Bob Ware and Beth, the Floods, Isabelle Lounsberry, AdraKober, Ginny Butcher and Mark Ryan, the Clapps, PeterGales, Bernice Weiss, and if I missed you, well, you werethere also.

Next events: Fleet Race January 14th and Gen-eral Membership Meeting, January 19th.  If you missedgetting one of Isabelle’s great Fleet and Club Calendarsor Mary Riddick’s SCWSA Racing Schedules, show upJanuary 14th, and we’ll see you get them. Don’t forgetthose dinner reservations.  Call Isabelle for more fleetinformation.

Barbara Gabriel

h a i l s f r o m t h e f l e e t s

sou’wester • january 2007 • page 11

h a i l s f r o m t h e f l e e t s

Despite blustery Santa Ana winds, several Laser racers turned out for the December 3rd Fleet races.Launching was a challenge with a stiff breeze blow-

ing up the launch ramp. Once underway; however, it prom-ised to be a good, heavy-air practice day with crystal blueskies and cold salt water spray as we sailed downwind outthe jetty toward the Seal Beach pier.

Despite the prospect of fresh breezes; Vann Wil-son, Jim Kirk, “back on a Laser again”…Bob Anderson,your author and an ABYC newcomer, Greg Little foundlight, barely marginal, hiking conditions off Seal Beach.Making the best of it, we ran several windward-leewardraces between the Huntington Harbor channel markers.

After several circuits we sailed upwind back to theclub to cap an only slightly disappointing day of sailing,but most satisfactory day of getting together with likeminded lovers of sailboat racing.

The next fleet race is January 14th 2007. I hopewe’ll see you there!Laser Masters Fleet Added to SCYA Midwinters Hostedat ABYC

Thanks to efforts of the ABYC Race ManagementCommittee, a start for Laser Masters has been added tothe 2007 SCYA Midwinters Regatta hosted by ABYC. So,if you have access to a Laser or Laser Radial and are 35years or older, come out and try your hand against otherLaser Masters the weekend of February 17-18, 2007.Inactive Lasers and Others in the ABYC Boatyard

The ABYC Moorings/Boatyard Chairpersons, LisaLebold and John Perone, with help from the fleets, areworking to formulate plans and increase storage capacityof the ABYC boatyard as we try to accommodate currentmembers on the waiting list for a storage space and pro-spective members who want to join, with the proviso theyhave a spot for their boat.

With this in mind, we identified Lasers in the yardthat are not registered with ABYC, or Lasers that have notbeen moved from their storage space or rack in the recentpast. Although we have no wish to seem draconian, orMoorings/Boatyard Chairpersons are determined to en-force the ABYC By-Laws, esp. Part 3 Boat Storage , para-graph 3.20 “ A yard moored boat must be sailed at leastonce during each six-month period (from Jan 1 to June 30and July 1 to Dec 31) to retain yard storage privileges.”

Ideally, we’d love to have all Lasers in the ABYCboatyard actively participate in the races and practice ses-sions of the Laser Fleet and Junior program. We do; how-ever, realize this is not possible for a variety of reasons.

So…are you interested in donating your Laser tothe ABYC Junior Program or selling to a private party? Ifyou do not intend to use your Laser in the near future, willyou consider moving it to free-up a storage space for thenext person on the waiting list? If so, you may contact:Lisa Lebold, lmlebold@earthlink.net John Perone,arbitratorperone@aol.com or Steve Smithsalaor@sbcglobal.net and we will help.

Steven Smith, ABYC Laser Fleet Captain

No prudent navigator changeshelmsmen when the ship is going so well, and so the ABYC

Etchells returned the leadership team ofJeff Powell and Gordon Dudley to steer Alamitos BayEtchells Fleet 18 into the future.

The fleet met during Happy Hour at ABYC onFriday, December 15. About a dozen members attended.A new calendar was distributed, reviewed and revised,setting the dates for the 2007 Fleet Championship Seriesand Worlds Qualifying Series. Jeff was returned as FleetCaptain in the coming year, and Gordon will be the Sec-retary/Treasurer.

The meeting also served as the time when FleetChampionship trophies were presented, handsome jack-ets embroidered with the Etchells logo and information.Jerry Thompson collected his 2005 champion awards onbehalf of his team, which won the fleet championship intheir first year racing an Etchells; Tim Carter collectedthe 2006 runner-up awards, the second (or third) time theDESPERADO’s have finished second.

The big collection went to Doug Jorgensen: notonly did he take second place in 2005, Doug and his newpartners, Jim Barber and Bob Newsome, definitively wonthe 2006 fleet championship series. Doug left with anarmful of prizes.

There was a little business done, too. ChrisEricksen was asked to stay on as Fleet Measurer, a some-what less active role with the changes voted by the classthis year, and to continue as SOU’WESTER contributor.The fleet year was shifted to coincide with the yacht-club’scalendar, so another meeting will occur late next summerwith the idea that a new Fleet Captain will take over inOctober. Dues will be collected in late winter as usual.

A racing-rules change will be made for fleet-re-gatta racing in 2007: the Two-Turns Rule will be changedto require one turn, including one tack and one gybe, toexonerate a boat that has violated a rule.

The 2007 calendar includes five one-day fleetregattas to make up the Fleet Championship Series, run-ning from April through September; the first to will consti-tute the Worlds Qualifier Series. The calendar also in-cluded our first fleet event, a one-day regatta on January13. The Super Bowl Regatta, an annual celebration, willoccur on Sunday, February 4.

So watch for another great year of Etchells sail-ing in 2007—and another year of reports from Yours Truly.

Chris Ericksen

sou’wester • january 2007 • page 12

Alamitos Bay Yacht Club7201 East Ocean BoulevardLong Beach, California 90803

PRSRT STDU. S. Postage

PAIDLong Beach, CAPermit No. 685

OK...so being editor has some priviledges...these are my grandguys,Zach, Bradley, Gavin and Spencer along with Santa, of course.

Tracy Conn with Santa

Shelby Stordahl (grandaughter ofDick and Linda Landes)

Scott & Heather Meyer with Kennedy,Reynolds and baby Katrina

John & Georgia Merchant with Amy & Jason Ballow(daughter and son-in-law), Evan and twinc Carter and ColinDavid & Mila Bakker with Santa