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May 2017 www.mbyc.com

MACATAWA BAY YACHT CLUB • 2157 SOUTH SHORE DRIVE • MACATAWA, MI 49434 • 616-335-5815

Mitch Padnos wins Heineken Regatta

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Rod SchmidtRear Commodore

Flag Report

Lisa RuoffCommodore

Send in your photos!

The cover photos show us Heineken Re-gatta (St Martin) winners Mitch Padnos and mostly MBYC crew in their victory in the annual Heineken Regatta this past winter. Photos were made available by photographer Laurens Morel and the Heineken Regatta website. See full sto-ry on page 4 of this issue of the Wind Scoop.

Thanks to photographers and all the club members who submit photos for the Wind Scoop, the Logbook and the club website! jb

Our club is open Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and regu-lar club hours start on Memorial Day weekend. We start that weekend with our spring Membership meeting on Friday, May 26. Saturday is the annual Burning of the Socks and the Hobo Bonfire. Monday the 29th is the MBJYC Bill Ash Me-morial breakfast followed by the Blessing of the Fleet.

The season has started. Come on out to MBYC and enjoy all that your club has to offer. It’s going to be a fantastic season.

See you soon, Lisa, Tom and Rod

Winter, Spring, Winter, Spring.... Pure Michigan indeed. While Mother Nature has been fickle, our club’s management team and staff have a steady hand at the helm. They have been hard at work preparing the club for another fabulous season. Your board has approved several repair and mainte-nance projects around the campus.

Our St Patrick’s Day party was a great success. The next themed party is our new event, Cinco De Mayo (on May 5). Make your reservations to enjoy Spanish inspired foods and drinks. We’ve completed a well attended race management seminar. Our Wednesday evening race seminars have started and we have a racing rules seminar May 11.

Tom SlighVice Commodore

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MBYC Flag OfficersCommodore Lisa RuoffVice Commodore Tom SlighRear Commodore Rod SchmidtBoard of DirectorsImmediate Past Commodore Dick BeckerTreasurer Lou MoranSecretary Bill Pringle Director Pat WalkerDirector Michael NorrisDirector Phil WisniewskiDirector Susan WolfeDirector Grant CheneyDirector Claudia ScharlowDirector Jack WalkerJudge Advocate Bob DeJong ManagementGeneral Manager: Julie VanderveerExecutive Chef: Shawn Zoldowski Outside Manager : Joe GorrisDining Room Manager: Irena MillerSailing Director: Nick HovlandAdmin Assistant: Sarah TanisWind Scoop Editor Jon BontekoeWeb Scoop Nick De Foe

M a c a t a w a B a y

Y a c h t C l u b

Manager’s ReportMay is always an exciting month here at the Yacht Club. We train and add new staff members to prepare us for the Memorial Day weekend when we begin our regular season hours. The re-open-ing was tougher than usual for me this year. Brian Deyoung, our long-time bar

manager was offered a full time manage-ment position at Watermark Corporation in Grand Rap-ids. This was an upward move for his

future and I am very excited for him. However, I was sad to lose him and he will be missed!

Our menus have changed every 2 weeks in the Spring season and we will continue to change our Entrée items all summer long. Look for our new comment cards that your server will present to you with your bill after dining. Your feedback is important to us in building our summer menus which run from Memorial Day until Labor Day.

Office hours in May will resume to full time: Monday –Friday 9:00am – 5:00pm – If the front door is locked remember that there is a doorbell to the right of the main entry door. Ring that and Sarah will let you in.

I’m looking forward to an amazing 2017 at MBYC! Julie VanderVeer

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MBYC member, Mitch Padnos, char-tered the J122 – El Ocaso (Caribbean Yacht Racing), for the 37th St. Maarten Heineken regatta, March 2nd through the 5th. The world’s largest warm water regatta, featured classic Caribbean rac-ing conditions, with 15 to 25 knots of breeze, and lots of sunshine. The CSA 3 section is always a highly competitive section and featured 14 teams this year from around the world.Mitch and his team opened with a strong statement with a 1st place in the “round

Racing SeminarsOver the last weekend 5 members of the MBYC race management team joined representatives from Muskegon YC, Anchorage YC, Bayshore YC, and the Chicago Match Race Center for a two day US Sailing Advanced Race Management seminar at MBYC. The seminar included a thorough review of the new Racing Rules as well as skill building drills. Local Race Committees are “tuned up” to provide a great 2017 season! Roger Gamache

the island” race, and followed that with two more bullets in modified windward/leewards in heavy breeze. The 4th race found El Ocaso with a very “healthy” OCS, and the crew had to scramble back from a last place start to a fourth place finish. This left the door open for Spike, a well sailed J111 from St. Thomas on the last day of the regatta, as El Ocaso only had a 1 point lead. The day fea-tured two long legs of one distance race. After rounding a mark off of Guana Bay Point, on the west side of the island, the

Heineken Regatta win for Mitch Padnos & MBYC Crew: Charter sailingfleet turned back for the finish in Simp-son Bay. Spike and El Ocaso changed leads multiple times, and after 2 hours of racing, El Ocaso was able to beat the J111 by 43 seconds to secure a 1st and a 1st place overall for the regatta.A very interesting and cool side note for a Caribbean event. The El Ocaso crew (pictured) was all born and/or raised in Michigan. Left to right – not includ-ing Heineken girls… Evan Tolan, Da-ryl Fitch, Dave Hampton, Bob Hillier (kneeling), Dave Keegin, Mitch Padnos, Jamie Stuursma, Grant Cheney, Steve Penfield, and Nolan Marcus. Grant Cheney

St. Patrick’s party pictures feature lots of families with young kids and also lots of adults dressed in green and act-ing like ..... Photos by staff

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On Saturday, July 3rd, at 10:00 a.m. EDT, join the “All Hands on Deck” celebration occurring across all 10,900 miles of Great Lakes shoreline.

As you gather with family and friends on beaches, docks, boats, and decks to celebrate the birth of our country, bring a blue marble. Trade it—sharing your favorite memory of a Great Lake with another’s. If you’re a boater, hoist a blue flag alongside the American flag. And fly it all season. Both flags represent home—a home that is worth protect-ing.

The marble exchange and blue flags are just part of a one-hour cel-ebration de-signed to create a conversation in every community on the Great Lakes, to bring the attention and financial support nec-essary to keep the lakes healthy.

“Love them, protect them, link hands for them,” says Kimberly Simon, the mastermind behind the “All Hands On Deck” celebration. “When I heard the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding had been eliminated, I felt like I had to do something. I had this vision of people joining hands across the en-tire shoreline of the Great Lakes, com-munity by community, united in sup-port of our water.”

A retired art teacher in Charlevoix, MI with no experience in political advocacy, she began reaching out to others to help make her vision a reality. In less than a month, she identified 32 community leaders and over 1300 volunteers. While there will be formal gatherings across the region, everyone can participate—even if there is no community-wide celebra-tion nearby. All it takes is a memory of these lakes, a willingness to engage in discussion, and a blue marble.

If you’d like to identify an “All Hands on Deck” celebration near you, become an organizer, or learn more about the event, visit http://www.allhandson-deckgreatlakes.org.

To order a blue flag or pennant you can hoist all season to show your support of the Great Lakes, visit http://www.northstarflags.com/nylon-solid-color-flag.html and order a 12” X 18” flag or pennant in the American Flag Blue color (PMS 289).

Blue marbles are available at local toy stores.

In addition, please send a letter (or a copy of this an-nouncement) to your elected offi-cials, inviting them to join in the July

3rd festivities—ei-ther with you, your community, or with their family. All they need to bring is a blue marble. Mary McKSchmidt

Exchange a Blue Marble, Hoist a Blue FlagChef Shawn has worked his way up through the culinary world. He started working as a cook in Phoenix, Arizona after high school. After several years, he realized his passion for creating new rec-ipes. Shawn decided to further his edu-cation at the Pennsylvania Culinary In-stitute. He graduated Suma Cum Laude and valedictorian of his class. While Shawn was there, he competed on the competi t ive cooking team, and was an integral part of the team’s success at the local, state and regional c o m p e t i -tions. Shawn also worked his way through school as a chef at the Duquesne Club where he learned how to put his culinary theory into practice.

After graduation, Shawn moved to Tole-do for a position at the Inverness Coun-try Club. He quickly became an inte-gral part of the team helping to design their menu. Shawn continued honing his skills as a highly sought after chef in the Toledo restaurant scene.

Last Spring, Frank and Julie interviewed Shawn for the role of heir apparent to Frank as the executive chef at the Ma-catawa Bay Yacht Club. They offered him the position as Sous Chef to test his abilities to teach him the MBYC ways. This January it became official, Shawn was offered the Executive Chef position. Julie VanderVeer

Shawn Zoldowski ap-pointed Executive Chef

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House Committee Report: Campus Committee ReportInterest in becoming members of MBYC continues to increase! We had several members resign their memberships cre-ating some available spots in addition to our policy on accepting Legacy and Ju-nior members. Since last fall we have approved memberships for the follow-ing families: Patrick and Carolyn Schol-ten, David Wardwell, Brian and Dani-elle MacInnes, Paul Stscherban, Bob and Anne Marie Hughes, Andy Lauten, Victoria Bonadies, Bob and Anne Nuss-baum, Pete and Ellen Leemputte, Wes-ley and Jamie Pulver, Aaron and Jamie Lea Sligh, Dan and Nannette Ret, Ron and Mary Wiley, David and Deborah Gillespie, Lee and Linda DeVisser, Rich and Libby Munson, Parker and Martha Tuthill and Kasey and Rachel Nadolsky. Please extend a warm welcome to our

new members when you see them so that they can feel at home at MBYC. As your friends and families inquire about

club member-ship, keep in mind that there is still a waitlist. Encourage them to apply to secure a spot on the waitlist. As mem-berships become available, we continue to look to those people who fulfill the Mission of MBYC. Mark the date of June 8 for a New Member Open House. Watch for E-blasts for details. Claudia Scharlow

Membership ReportAt the gateway of a new boating sea-son, the Campus Committee has been engaged in preparing the Campus for a safe and experiential boating enjoyment whether it be sailing or power boating. Pause and discover some of the improve-ments around the campus.

The Pool house baths are in the process of being refurbished. New countertops have been installed and the exhaust system is being replaced with new in-cluding vents over the showers. In-wall heaters will also be installed to mitigate condensation on the floors. New win-dows are planned to improve cross-flow ventilation.

The Club will replace many of the old, damaged and faded umbrellas with Sun-brella fabric by May. This should en-hance the functionality and endurance for years. Dockside benches will be re-placed with new wooden benches to en-hance comfort while watching events.Our Race C o m m i t t e e boat, Recovery, is undergoing some needed repairs on the hull before launching this new season. Those repairs will enable a safe and stur-dy boat for regattas and club events.

The Club is looking for a volunteer Tech-nical Coordinator to assist with oversite of Recovery. The candidate should have a working knowledge of boats, boat sys-tems, coordinating repairs with various contractors and repair shops. If inter-ested, please contact Jack Knoblach or myself.

If you have any comments about the fa-cility, please submit an email to: Clubof-fice@mbyc.com. Jack Walker

DID YOU KNOW??... HOW DOES THE TIPPING WORK AT MBYC? As you probably know by

now, 18% gra-tuity is added to your dining and bar tabs. But who gets these funds? At the end of the business day, the “auto-matic” gratu-

ities are totaled for that day in a tip pool and shared evenly between the wait staff and bartenders who were working that day.

WHAT IF THE SERVICE WAS EX-CEPTIONAL AND I GIVE EXTRA TIP? That extra tip goes directly to your waiter/waitress and therefore is not add-ed to the tip pool.

WHAT IF I WANT A WINDOW TA-BLE IN THE DINING ROOM? Sim-ply make an advanced reservation and MBYC will do its best to honor your request. Otherwise, it’s on a first come basis.

HOW LATE IS BAR SERVICE IN THE BAR? Last call in the bar is 1 hour after dining service ends at 10 pm. But if at 11 pm, there are in excess of 10 mem-bers still in the bar enjoying the club, then bar service will be extended for a reasonable amount of time.

HOW DO I AVOID THE RUSH? Peak dining hours in the dining room and on the patio during high season, be-tween Memorial Day and Labor Day are between 6:30 pm and 8:30 pm.

Susan WolfeHouse Committee Chair

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Sailing ReportThe 2016 books have been closed and financial statements prepared. The re-sults reflect the second full year of opera-tions in our new clubhouse. 2016 net income was $25,859 compared to 2015 net income of $45,272. While there are many moving parts that go into the club’s performance, there are a few key drivers that warrant mention in compar-ing year-over-year results. With the in-crease in new members upon the open-ing of the new c l u b h o u s e , our 2015 re-sults included $115,250 of new member Initiation Fees recognized as revenue. In 2016, the amount of new member Ini-tiation Fees decreased to $50,950. This expected reduction in Initiation Fees was offset by improved performance in Dining Room, Bar, and Nauti Shop op-erations, as well as the annual increase in dues agreed to at the time of the decision to build the new clubhouse. It is also important to note that as of 12/31/16 we had drawn $50,000 on our line of cred-it, which was significantly reduced from the outstanding balance at 12/31/15 of $120,000. Finally, we incurred approxi-mately $25,000 in capital expenditures

on the club and grounds in 2016, en-tirely funded by club operations.

As the club is closed through St. Pat-rick’s Day, there is very little to report on current year operations. As of March 31, 2017, we are again in a very strong position in terms of both cash on hand and working capital of $421,587 and $422,780, respectively. This compares to $383,160 and $362,883, respectively, at this time last year. We have not drawn on our Line of Credit at this time, con-sistent with the prior year, and our im-proved cash and working capital posi-tion should contribute to both a reduced need to borrow and a delay in when we would need to draw on the line later in the year. Lastly, the mortgage balance continues to amortize down on schedule as we make our monthly payments, with a current balance of $909,628 outstand-ing.

In summary, as we enter the summer of 2017, our Club is in a sound financial position. The Board and management will continue to monitor club opera-tions to maintain this strong position. We will also use our financial position to make prudent investments in our club and grounds to foster the best possible yacht club experience for you, our mem-bers. Lou Moran

Financial Committee ReportSpring is here or did it ever leave? Inter-esting winter this year. It has been a very educational April with two exceptional Wednesday night Quantum Sails semi-nars to get the blood flowing for the race season. The sailing schedule is full and is on the website, so be sure to check it out. Spring season of the Bayshore series begins May 3rd. The Soling RC fleet begins May 4th. Mark your calendar for May 11th as North U presents Racing Rules and Tactics from 6:00-9:30 pm. Be sure to make it to this seminar. If anyone is interested in one design sailing be sure to save the date for June 10th as we will host a One De-sign Open House in the dry sail area for anyone interested to see and sail these boats that are always out there. This will be from 2:00-6:00 pm. Once again, if there are any people who are interested in learning and helping with the Race Committee, please contact me. See you all out there! Phil Wisniewski

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Macatawa Bay Yacht Club2157 South Shore Drive PO #207Macatawa, Michigan 49434

Fri May 5 Cinco DeMayo DinnerSun May 14 Mother’s Day BrunchFri May 26 Membership Meeting

Sailing Seminar

Bufft Dinner 5-9 pm

Inshore Racing

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& Spouses’ LuncheonsMembership Meeting

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Bill Ash Memorial Day Breakfast

Blessing of Fleet

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Mother’s Day Brunch

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Inshore RacingVX1 & M17

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Sat May 27 Burning of the Socks Hobo BonfireMon May 29 Memorial Day Breakfast Blessing of the Fleet

Regular Dining Starts Memorial Weekend