january-february 2009 ...1 january-february 2009 macatawa bay yacht club • 2157 south shore drive...

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January-February 2009 www.mbyc.com

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

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Front Cover PhotoThis month’s wintry club photos for the coverwere taken by Anne Gamache, Tom Slanec,and jb. Thank you to all for answering the callto walk out to the docks in the snow and getsome snowy pictures. The Wind Scoop’s frontcover needs entries for future issues. Pleaseemail your quality photos to Wind Scoop edi-tor Jon Bontekoe at: [email protected]

New Board Member AppointedAt a time when filling an “unexpired term” is often fraughtwith controversy, please extend congratulations and thanks toJack Knoblauch for his willingness to undertake the remainderof John Donnelly’s term on the Board of Directors. Jack andhis wife Linda co-own Capricious, and are active sailors, racecommittee members, and part of the Nauti Shop crew.Thank you Jack! rg

As I am writing this, it’shard to visualize summer inMacatawa. We’ve had threetimes our “normal” snowfall, and currently we’re ina blizzard that’s forecast toextend through theHolidays. However, yourBridge and Board areconfident that winter will

pass, and have been spending a significant amount of timeplanning and preparing for the 2009 season.

Congratulations to Commodore John Donnelly and his teamfor creating an exciting schedule of sailing events for 2009!Check out our schedule on the web at www.mbyc.com, andmake plans to be involved next summer. Over a number ofyears and a number of events, I constantly hear from visitorsthat we have one of the finest racing venues in the country.Our facility makes sailing easy, our conditions are challenging,and the quality of our race management program comparesfavorably with literally any event in the country. Over thepast several years your race committee has made a commitmentto quality racing with the theory that “if we build it, they willcome…” Well, it’s built. So please take a look at the scheduleand make a plan to take advantage of our sailing programsduring 2009.

Commodore Bob DeJong has been at work fine tuning theoperational side of the club (Dock and Grounds, House) toimprove the overall value of the member experience. Bob isbuilding on his experience in 2008 and I’m pleased that we’reable to have his continuity in the guidance of these criticalaspects of our club. Speaking of 2008, congratulations toCommodore Brown, Manager Marilyn Baker, and our club

staff for finishing 2008 strongly “in the black.” As reportedat the fall shareholder’s meeting, last year began slowly, howeverwith a lot of “hustle” and careful cost controls, the club begins2009 in a strong financial position. Looking ahead, our newslips have “permanent” assignments, and we’ve been able toaccommodate a number of members who have been on theslip waiting list, so we have a “full house” going into the season.

So with all this going on, you’re probably wondering whatI’ve been contributing… Well, as you read this, the 2009social schedule is also posted on the Webscoop. Drafting theschedule has been an interesting exercise. We really do have alot going on! And while the emphasis is definitely on havingfun, it’s “important” fun that creates our unique membershipexperience. Check out the schedule, and please considerhelping out with one or more of our events.

Additionally, I’ve been working on some longer-range issuesrelative to our membership. Analysis of the distribution ofages of our current members indicates a strong concentrationin the 45 – 55 and 55 -65 age groups. While there are anumber of reasons for this, including the effect of the “babyboom”, it points out our need to look ahead 10 years anddevelop the next generation of “active” members. Developingactively engaged members in the intermediate and juniorcategories will provide the level of active members that will beneeded to provide for the long term stability of the Club.We’re currently looking at the most effective ways to introducethe value of membership to a “younger” group. Stay tunedfor more on this as 2009 unfolds.

We’ve got an exciting year planned. Anne and I look forwardto seeing you at our Club!

Roger Gamache

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YYYYY a c h t C l u ba c h t C l u ba c h t C l u ba c h t C l u ba c h t C l u b

MMMMM a c a t a w a Ba c a t a w a Ba c a t a w a Ba c a t a w a Ba c a t a w a B a ya ya ya ya y

MBYC Flag OfficersCommodore Roger GamacheVice Commodore Bob DeJongRear Commodore John DonnellyBoard of DirectorsImmediate Past Commodore

Paul BrownTreasurer Larry D’HaemSecretary Michael HillDirector Beth EggeDirector Jack KnoblauchDirector Tom SlanecDirector Lisa RuoffDirector Joel KrissoffDirector Mitchell PadnosDirector David Sligh, Jr.Judge Advocate JD Stone

ManagementGeneral Manager Marilyn BakerExecutive Chef Jim RuehleOutside Manager Douglas Knapp

* * * *Wind Scoop Editor Jon BontekoeWeb Scoop Bob Standishwww.mbyc.com

MBYC 2009 Logbook is in pre-press production: There is still timeto send in a new picture for the2009 Logbook. (Email pictures toeditor Jon Bontekoe or mail a glossyto the club office.) Too many mem-ber photos are at least five years oldand we desperately want to replacethem with more recent photos. Andso many members are missing inthe photo section. Family photoswith kids are fine but must includeparents.

Happy 2009 to all! We will be doing a few shifts with our MBJA Learn to Sailand Learn to Race classes in the 2009 season. Please stay tuned to the MBYCwebsite later this month for more details. Because of the success and energycreated by last summer, we will also be expanding the West Michigan YouthSailing Association to include more teams and potentially bigger regattas. It looksto be an exciting summer for everyone!Congratulations to Caroline Sisson, who has been busy competing Optis inFlorida. At the Naples Cup in November, she finished 47th out of 90 in the OptiGreen Fleet. In early December, she competed inthe JO Regatta at the US Sailing Center at JensenBeach. She finished 30th out of 50. Coming up inJanuary, Caroline will participate in the O’Pen BicMiami regatta. BEST OF LUCK, CAROLINE!We would love to share racing news of our otherjunior sailors in this column as well. Please pass alonginformation to Marie for next month’s issue.See you on the water… one of these days!Marie Mell

MBJA YMBJA Youth Sailing Newsouth Sailing News

Caroline Sisson sailing her Opti atthe Jensen Beach JO Regatta heldin Florida this Fall. Photo by Steve Sisson.

Holiday Orange Bowl RegattaSeveral MBYC youth members will betraveling to Miami for the Orange BowlRegatta. Alex Kiss, Alex Post, andMitchell Kiss will be sailing in the LaserRadial Fleet. In the Club 420 class LouisPadnos is sailing with crew Ben Spector,and Morgan Kiss with crew LauraMcKenna. Graham Post will be sailingwith the Optimist Green Fleet. A recordbreaking fleet of over 700 junior sailorsfrom 24 countries and 26 U.S. states andterritories will convene for the 32nd an-

nual Orange Bowl International YouthRegatta based at the Coral Reef YachtClub in Miami, Fla. on December 27-30, 2008. The Orange Bowl Regatta isthe culminating event of the USA Jun-ior Olympic Sailing season. This regattais the largest youth sailing regatta in thecountry, with racing held on BiscayneBay, featuring fleet racing on fourcourses for Club 420, Laser, Laser Ra-dial, Laser 4.7 and Optimist classes.Results were not available at press time.

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Enter the Blue Cup regatta, an annualrace in Greece in the Argosaronic Gulf,during the first week of November--MBYC members Lisa & Bill Ruoff, BobNepstad, Paula Mutrynowski, and theirregular race crew Douglas VanderKamshared a Beneteau charter and a two weekvacation in Greece to experience it all.

Approximately fifty Beneteau yachtsfrom the Vernicos Yachts fleet, with crewsfrom many different countries participateevery year in this event. The ever-growingspirit of this race is the mixture ofcompetition and sportsmanship withcocktails, dancing and partying at everyport of call. Every island visited has aspecial welcome for the participants withreceptions, parties and prizes for eachday’s racing. Can devoted Dufour and C& C owners survive a race/cruise on aBeneteau? Add Greece, perpetualsunshine, 52 sailboats and crews from 10different countries, wine and Ouzo… wewill survive! After five days in Santoriniand three days in Athens seeing the sites,the five of us set forth to Alimos Marinasouthwest of Athens to get on our boat.

What an organization Vernicos YachtCharters is! We arrive by taxi and are metat the car by a fine young Greek man withrequests to move our luggage to theiroffice and Bill and Bob to go check in.Paula, Douglas and I are whisked to a car.Feeling confident, we hop in, not reallyknowing why. We’re told we are beingtaken to a shop to purchaseliquids…hmmm… so off with yet

Sailing the Greek Islands in November: Sailing seasonAnother sailing adventure by Lisa Ruoff

another fine young Greek man whobrings us to a ware house of sorts to pickout what we want for “drinking” the nextweek.

Ouzo, wine, more wine, perhaps we willneed some bottled water. It is all labeledwith our boat name “Felicity” and theytell us it will be delivered to the boat. Ipay and off we go in yet another car withanother fine young Greek man “to thegrocery store”. We wander through thisvery lovely gourmet store and fill thebasket with yummy foods. We spot someother sailors so we follow them and seewhat they are picking: toilet paper, papertowels … maybe we should ask them sowe strike up a conversation. They arefrom Ireland and have done this racebefore and fill us in on the shopping forfood program. Seems we will need moretzatziki, more lunch meats, more wine,olives, cheese, bread, salad stuff, coffee.Wow, we filled a shopping cart, giggled alot and had the time of our life, and wewere only two hours into it!

Yet another fine young Greek man (see atrend here?) whisks us and our 20 bagsof groceries into yet another car and wereturn to the Marina to see what Bill andBob are up to. Felicity is a 2003 Oceanis473.3 with four cabins and three heads

and just lovely. We load the groceries andwine and Ouzo (it was all delivered!) andthen walk about the docks checking outthe other boats and crew. We say hello tothe other sailors and ask about theagenda. The folks next to us are a lovelygroup of Swiss men on a sister ship. Thiswas a repeat event for them. We are tospend the night on the boat at the Marinaand then sail/motor 30 miles to thestarting venue on Sunday. We will followthem.

After a great dinner that night at “Jimmyand the Fish” for lobster spaghetti, Ouzoand wine, we head back to the boat toget a good nights sleep. We do learn thatthe boats in the charter fleet tend to buildup barnacles and we can get an ice scraperand jump in to scrape the barnacles offthe hull if we would like the boat to “gofaster”. At the same time Bill is inquiringabout holding tanks and water and welearn that the boats here have no holdingtanks. It’s overboard discharge. OK whowants to go in and scrape barnacles? Notakers! That’s ok, we will sail slow.

We are not even 12 hours into ouradventure! Our delivery to the startingvenue in Epidavros was, as deliveries go,pretty typical, 30 knots on the nose! Nokidding. It should be a great race with all

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n does not have to end when the snow begins to fly

of this wind! Our first experience withstern-in Med-mooring went pretty well.Bill at the helm, Bob at the windlass andLisa, Paula and Douglas with stern linesand fenders. Success! tied up and readyfor the party. (Suffice it to say not all themed-mooring experiences went as well).Our kickoff dinner was just fabulous,cloth napkins, actual wine glasses, wineon the table, and a phenomenal feast ofGreek food. Each boat and crew wereintroduced and then music and Greekdancing into the wee hours of the night.We learned, over the next 5 days, thatracing was secondary to eating, drinkingand dancing. Note to self… we will needto buy more wine and Ouzo.

So off to the start, our Oceanis lookingas slick and race savvy as any 15+ tonsailboat can look. Little did we know thatour 2003 boat was the oldest boat in thefleet. Who would have thought a 2003boat is old? A racing yacht she was not!Our competition you ask? They were inBeneteau 40.7’s ; Oceanis 40’s even aBeneteau 57… You get the point, we werenot in a competitive boat, quite a lovelyboat, but NOT competitive. As point-to-point race starts go it was yet againtypical conditions. NO WIND! And soit goes in yacht racing.

The race stops included: Methena, a geothermal area in Greece with sulfur bathsand royal spas; Poros Island, a lovely andquaint island with yummy restaurants

and bars; Soupia, which offered nothingmuch other than shopping, easy med-mooring, great sites, and great bars; andthen the final venue, Porto Heli wherethe final ceremony and banquet wereheld. Three of the four nights werefabulously catered meals with wine anddancing and even fireworks one night!Our second night we were greeted at thepier with two more bottles of wine. Itwas a good thing as our supply wasalready getting low. We are proud to saythat, after 2 races we were tied forsecond! Perhaps I should tell you that thewhole fleet was tied for second as onlyone boat was able to finish before the restof the fleet was timed out. There was nota lot of wind for the other races as severalwere even cancelled. We finished only tworaces and were careful to calculate timeso that when we couldn’t finish in thetime allotment we could turn on the oldiron genny and get into port to explore.We won many of “those races”.

Although there was not a whole lot ofwind and what little wind we had wasnot enough to move a 15+ ton Oceanisacross Greek waters, the crew of Felicityhad one fabulous time. The scenery alongthe way was just delightful. Meeting somany wonderful people from so manydifferent countries and forging newrelationships along the way was reasonenough for the trip. Perhaps you all willmeet some of the Hungarian crew nextyear at Mac Bay!!

Three MBYC 7.9’s competed inthe National Championship onPercy Priest Lake outside ofNashville, TN. Doug Padnos’s K2,the Bergman’s Second Wind, andScott Derby’s S’macd competedin the 7.9 National Championshipon October 22nd thru the 25th inbreezy conditions. Spike & BradBoston won the eight race eventconvincingly with K2 placingthird and Second Wind closelybehind in fourth.

Photo above: Jeff & Doug Padnos’ K2(432) and Don & Jean Bergman’sSecond Wind (507) charge off thestarting line at the recent S2 7.9National Championship Regatta inTennessee.

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Greece photos by Lisa and Bill Ruoff.A Rounding a markB Sailing into Poros HarborC Regatta welcome portD Doug Lisa, and Paula staying afloat.

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REPORTThe 2009 race program atMBYC will be a busy one.We will have our standardfive MBYC offshoreSaturday races: May 23,June 6, July 11 and 25, andAugust 29. We also expectmore out of town sailors tocome to MBYC to racethan in any year of our100+ year history. We will

be hosting the following regattas: Laser Great Lakes (June 13/14), Catalina Rendezvous (July 11/12), West Michigan YouthChamps (August 1), Commodore’s Cup (August 8/9), 420North Americans (August 13-16), M20 Nationals (August 21-23), Farr 40 Great Lakes (August 29/30) and the S2 7.9Nationals (September 17-19). We have a great sailing venueand sailors from around the Great Lakes and beyond arelooking forward to visiting us this very busy upcomingsummer.

A new fleet is starting at MBYC - the Melges 20, a new boat(pictured at right). We expect at least six M20s to hit ourstarting line this summer. A fleet organizational meeting tookplace at MBYC on November 22 and a number of new andprospective owners got a look at the boat. The only thing thatprevented people taking a sail in the boat were temperaturesin the 30’s and winds in the 20’s. The not-so-easy to pleaseeditor of Sailing Anarchy had a ride recently on the M20 offof Fort Lauderdale and gave it a very favorable review “Theboat (M20) feels very high performance to drive up and down.The bow penetrates the waves very well upwind and I did notnotice the bow wanting to bury downwind. The ergonomicsof the cockpit are spot on. It has a big boat feel. My guess isthe Viper and M20 will thrive as the sport of sailing finallydecides to modernize the equipment it uses.”

MBYC hosted the U.S. Junior Women’s Single-HandedChampionship regatta in August. In the September, 2008Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club (near Newport Beach,California) newsletter, there was an article titled “BCYC GirlsTake On Lake Michigan”. It is about two BCYC sailors, Chloeand Kiersten McDonald, and their participation in the USJWSregatta at MBYC with an emphasis on the windy Thursdayafternoon. I would like to share some quotes written by ChloeMcDonald from the article: “We got back on the race courseThursday afternoon, but the wind had gone CRAZY! Sailinga Laser in those winds is the greatest feeling in the world.Kiersten and I are really aren’t that big, so it was difficult to

keep our boats right side up...With hearts racing and musclesexploding we stayed focused one boat length at a time in sailingdownwind in 35 knots. It was scary, but such a rush.. I wasfeeling pretty good about surviving and finishing until amonster wave broke right on top of me. After capsizing acouple of times, a safety boat told me it was best if I sailed intaking a dreaded DNC. I still had fun hydroplaning to thejetty. Upon reaching the dock Kiersten showed me her mainthat was shredded near the foot. We felt it necessary to giveher a hard time for her blond moment, all in good fun! Wehad a blast meeting girls from all over the country and lookforward to representing BCYC again in this regatta. It was anamazing experience and we were very proud to have been partof it.”

It would appear that Chloe McDonald has a bright future notonly as a sailor, but also as a writer. We look forward to hostingmany other sailors this summer, and I hope that they will beable to share exciting and positive tales back at their homeclubs about racing at MBYC.

John Donnelly

Melges 20

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Life Lines(Assembled by Melanie Aves to help members track membernews of interest to many. Please submit entries to Melanie [email protected])

Jon and Shae Kobs’ son Jon Kobs IV married AndreaCartmill on October 18 in Menomonie, Wisconsin. Thecouple lives in Boise, Idaho.

John and Melanie Aves welcomed 3 new grandbabies in2008, one from each of their daughters, Pirrie, Amy andAlison. The total count is now 7!

Members wishing to read about or correspond with PeterKok following his recent surgery may visit the blog: http://www.carepages.com/carepages/peterkok You may have tocreate a temporary user name to view entries.

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Social Events

WindscoopCopy Due

Race Events

Private Parties

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FEBRUARY

JANUARY

Strictly SailChicago



Grand RapidsBoat Show



Winter Blues Party6:00 - 10:30 PMLimited menu

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Mardi Gras Party6:00 - 10:30 PMLimited menu

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Special Dates:Friday, Jan 23: Winter Blues Party 6:00 - 10:30Friday Feb 20: Mardi Gras Party 6:00 - 10:30Friday, March 13: St. Patrick’s Day Party 6:00 - 10:30Saturday, March 28: Basic Race Management Seminar

9:00 AM - 3:00 PMWednesdays in April: Learn to Race Seminars

7:00 - 9:30

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May 2009 www.mbyc.com


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CO M M O D O R E’S REPORTBe on the lookout! As webegin the new season andspend more time aroundour club, be on the lookoutfor “strangers” visiting ourclub. We’ve all seen thembefore. They’re people whodrive in hesitantly, notquite sure where to park.When they get out of theircar, they don’t seem to

know where they’re going, or seem to wander around ourproperty with no apparent purpose. “Strangers” appear moreon sunny weekend afternoons, but can appear at any time, soit’s important to be prepared.

Be prepared! When approaching “strangers” remember tosmile. Be ready to offer a friendly “Hello!” and introduceyourself. Usually, after as simple introduction, “strangers” willoffer an introduction and explain why they stopped by.However, if you meet a particularly reluctant “stranger” beprepared to say “I don’t believe I’ve had a chance to meet youbefore…” One of two things happens at this point, both ofwhich are good. Either the “stranger” turns out to be a fellowmember, or, they are, in fact a “stranger,” which leads to thenext step, an opportunity to be helpful by sharing a bit aboutour club and our activities.

Be helpful! “Strangers” stopping by our club are at least mildlyinterested in learning more about our sport. They may notknow much about yacht clubs (except that we are likely to be“snooty”) and they most probably know very little about ourclub. So don’t hesitate to ask some friendly questions (e.g.“Where else have you sailed?), and provide them with somegeneral information about our club. Good examples of thatinformation would include our “Everyone Goes Sailing”

commitment for Wednesday nights, and the availability ofadult sailing lessons. Whatever their interest, be open tohelping the “stranger” get involved with our club.

I’ve consciously practiced these habits over the past year. Bymeeting “strangers” I found a young man who was in townfor a summer internship at Hope. He was a member of theUniversity of Wisconsin varsity sailing team, and reallyappreciated being introduced to a member who needed crewfor the summer. In another instance, I met a young man whohad just taken a job in the area, and he ended up joining ourclub and joining a member’s crew. Being aware, prepared andhelpful, assisted these “strangers” in becoming active membersof our community.

On a separate, but related, topic. I’ve been thinking aboutwhat might happen at our club if each member committed tointroducing one new member to our club during 2009. NowI know that many of you reading this are immediately thinking“membership doubles and things get crowded.” But, in fact,a number of our activities would benefit from an increase inparticipation. Compared to our own history, none of ourfleets currently have the participation that we saw in the 110or Ensign fleets of the 1960’s. Additional members makeresources available for renewal and improvement of club assets.And, additional members will soften the “demographic shock”that all organizations are facing as the “boomers” age.

So as we begin a new season, be on the lookout foropportunities both “on campus” and in your daily life to helpintroduce our club to potential new members. Be preparedto describe the benefits of membership, and be helpful as theybegin to explore how MBYC should be a part of their lives.See you at our club!

Roger Gamache



Commodore Roger GamacheVice Commodore Bob DeJongRear Commodore John DonnellyBoard of DirectorsImmediate Past Commodore

Paul BrownTreasurer Larry D’HaemSecretary Michael HillDirector Beth EggeDirector Jack KnoblauchDirector Tom SlanecDirector Lisa RuoffDirector Joel Krissoff

Director Mitchell PadnosDirector David Sligh, Jr.Judge Advocate JD Stone

ManagementGeneral Manager Marilyn BakerExecutive Chef Jim RuehleDining Room Manager Irena MillerOutside Manager Douglas Knapp


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The US Coast Guard Auxiliary will be conducting Vessel Safety inspec-tions at the yacht club on Saturday May 30, starting about 11:00 AM.With four officers of the CGA there should be plenty of time to inspectthe boats of all who are interestred. These safety inspections check thatthe basics of boating are up-to-date and current on your boat. Ticketsfor non-compliance are NOT given. Inspections help you see what youmay have neglected. The CGI looks at all the things the US Coast Guardwould inspect if they pulled you over on the water. They will check flaredates, operating lights, safety equipment, polution warning stickers, anddocumentation. Their safety check sticker prominently displayed onyour boat is like a seal of good boating practices on your vessel. AllMBYC boat owners are encouraged to participate.

What’s Happening at the Yacht Club?

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MBYC 2009 Social Calendar

May 200910 May Sunday...............Mother’s Day Brunch23 May Saturday...........Music Under the Tent23 May Saturday.......MBJYC Hobo Bon Fire25 May Monday......Memorial Day Breakfast25 May Monday..........Blessing of the Fleet29 May Friday..........Stock Holders’ Meeting30 May Saturday.........Coast Guard Auxillary

InspectionsMemorial Weekend in Bold

June 20096 June Saturday..............Summer Kick-off Party

(formerly the “New Member Party’)13 June Saturday...................Regatta Party20 June Saturday.....Dueling Hors d’oeuvres Party

(formerly the ‘East Meets West Dock Party’)21 June Sunday..Father’s Day Fishing Tournament21 June Sunday..........Fathers’ Day Cookout27 June Saturday......MBJY C Bowling Party28 June Sunday.............Mini Rendezvous

July 20094 July Saturday................Golf Tournament4 July Saturday....................July 4 Picnic4 July Saturday.............MBJYC Ice Cream Social11 July Saturday......MBYC Rock N’ Roll Party and

Happy Daze Catalina Party25 July Saturday........MBJA Fund Raiser Dinner26 July Sunday........... ..Family Pool Party and

MBJYC Pool OlympicsJuly 4 Weekend in Bold

August 20098 August Saturday.......Commodore’s Roast Party9 August Sunday..............Family Carnival9 August Sunday...............Scavenger Hunt22 August Saturday.......VanderLeek Cup Party

All members invited28 August Friday........Stock Holders’ Meeting29 August Saturday.........Commodores’ Ball

September 20095 Sept Saturday........End of Summer Blast Party6 Sept Sunday............MBJYC Hobo Bon Fire7 Sept Monday.. .......Labor Day Breakfast7 Sept Monday........Junior Sailing Awards &

MBJYC Elections13 September Sunday..........Rendezvous19 September Saturday........Whine PartyLabor Day Weekend in Bold

October 200917 October Saturday......Sailing Awards and

Change of Watch Dinner30 October Friday...........Halloween Party

December 200913 December Sunday.......Holiday Brunch18 December Friday....Holiday Cocktail Party

Cut off thispage and hangit on the Frig’

MBYC 2009 Social Calendar

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MBYC Nauti Shop presents:THE “TEAM 1 NEWPORT/MBYCMerchandise Gear Online”The Nauti Shop is proud to expand our available merchandise.

Team 1 Newport will now provide their sailing gear products for

all members with the Macatawa Bay Yacht Club logo and burgee.

You can access our exclusive MBYC website at MBYC.COM or at

the Team 1 Newport website www.team1newport.com under

“MERCHANDISE GEAR”. Sailing jackets by Henri Lloyd,

Patagonia Pullovers and more. The price on our “exclusive

website” includes the burgee logo with the words Macatawa Bay

Yacht Club. When you order items from Team One Newport with

the MBYC logo the yacht club receives a 15% royalty fee. When

ordering if you have any questions about your order: email –

[email protected] or call 1.800.847.4327 and ask

for the Sales Department.

Or if you want to order anything on the website outside our

“exclusive website” with the MBYC logo, just add $10.00 to the

price of the items and MBYC will receive the 15% royalty fee. To

order anything other than what is on our website, you must call the

Sales Department directly 1.800.847.4327.

Or if you find something on the website that you want to order for

your whole crew or family, please call Annie Gamache’s cell phone

at 1-616-836-3861 or email me at [email protected]. Special

Discounts available on larger orders.

We will still have our great merchandise for sale right at the Yacht

Club starting Spring Fling Friday nite – April 24th!

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR PAST AND FUTURE

BUSINESS

Change theBATHROOM codes?After all these years? HowARE we going to remem-ber? Yes - following an ex-ecutive decision by docksmanager Doug Knapp andencouraged by the Flags,MBYC has a new code forthe bathrooms:

see DougShhhh! Don’t tell unauthorized persons.

Stockholders Meeting

FRIDAY, MAY 29TH

5:45PM(Note time change!)

Eat at the Club afterwords!!!

Make your dinner Reservations

Front Cover PhotoMBYC sailors love to sail fast andthey love to sail something new.On the cover we see JohnArendshorst sailing the latest ad-dition to the MBYC sailing fleet,one of the brand new Melges 20s.And he’s sailing with friends AdamHollerbach, and George Peet ona cold April weekend, delivery dayfor the first three M20 boats withthree more ordered and deliverypromised. With Laser racingstarted already, Peter Schwarz do-ing some ice boat sailing in March,and now a new small and very fastMelges, MBYC builds its reputationfor great sailing. It must be almostsummer. Photo by Tovi Kiss. Pleasesubmit your MBYC photos to WindScoop editor Jon Bontekoe([email protected]) We’realways looking for great coverphotos.

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Mid-Winter St Patrick’s Day and Mardi Gras Celebra

A Christine Drew & Pat Fox & at the St.Pat’s party.

B Spring TenKley, Jim & AnneStuursma celebrate St. Pat’s.

C Mardi Gras table decoration.

D Nate Bryant, Cleo Venhuizen, June& Dick Walker celebrating a total of189 years of MBYC membership!

E Peter Julius brought a bunch offriends to the St. Pat’s party.

F Jack Grates & Bill Malane wearingjewels at the Mardi Gras Party.

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H Don Thinschmidt, Bob Standish, TomSlanec & Jack Knoblauch went stagon St. Pat’s day.

St. Pat’s photos by Annie Gamache.Mardi Gras by Tom Slanec.

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THINGS ABOUT OUR WEBSITE YOU MAY NOT HAVE KNOWNDid you know:

· That current and past Wind Scoops can be retrieved on-line?· That you can order your MBYC logo clothing, foul weather gear, etc.

directly on line with direct shipping to your address?· That you can also order on line MBYC logo clothing WITH your boat/

cottage or other personal name?· That you can get real time pictures of the water/weather conditions of

the Holland Channel from a webcam on-line?· That you can get real time weather/wind/wave/water temperature reports

of locations throughout Lake Michigan on –line?· That at no charge you can advertise your boat or equipment on MBYC’s

own WebScoop?· That you can advertise your company on MBYC’s WebScoop at very

nominal expense?· That you can see photographs of yourself or your family or your friends

at recent Yacht Club social events on MBYC’s WebScoop?· That when you cannot find the last issue of your hard copy of the Wind

Scoop, you can get all the same information at MBYC.COM on the socialcalendar and highlights of the next scheduled events?

· That you can RSVP to club events directly from the online event flyer?· That you can get the entire club racing schedule and the latest NOR’s,

enrollment information and race results online?· That you can post your need for crew or your availability to crew on the

club’s message board? (This is a great way for you Wednesday night racersand racer “wannabes” to get connected!)

· That you can get the latest information on sailing lessons for adults andchildren on line?

· That, as an accommodation to your guests, you can find maps to the cluband information on area hotels/motels and local restaurants on line?

If you could not answer “YES” to all of these questions, then you may want tospend a few minutes exploring the volumes of information and services that areavailable to you on our ever-growing MBYC.COM website. And when you seehow accommodating and convenient all of this information is made available atyour fingertips, please be sure to give Bob Standish (“Brigadoon” in Slip 28) aHUGE thank you for the uncountable hours of time that he donates to the Clubin setting up and maintaining our WebScoop. This is a huge gift to our Club.Thank you, Robert, from all of us!! Bob DeJong

ations at the club

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VICE CO M M O D O R E’S REPORTAs I write this report on theweekend of Easter andPassover Celebrations,West Michigan is blessedwith gorgeous blue skiesand lots of sunshine. Andeven with temperatureshovering around 50degrees, I know that manyof our members and friendsare preparing their boats forlaunching within the next

few weeks!! Happy Boating Season!!

Dining Room ManagerWelcome to Irena Miller, MBYC’s new Dining RoomManager! Irena began assisting our General Manager onMarch 30. She comes to us with extraordinary experiencehaving worked for the Holland Country Club for thirty years.As she puts it, “I started out as a server, and ended up asbanquet coordinator and assistant to the general manager.”We have every expectation that Irena will be of tremendousassistance to Marilyn and Jim, and we are very pleased thatshe has joined our Club’s team!

Missing Your Wind Scoop?Approximately forty of you did not receive your March/AprilWind Scoop. We know that because they were returned tothe Club as undeliverable. We suspect that most were returnedbecause of “forwarding addresses” for temporary seasonalmailing. But because the Wind Scoop is sent “Standard Rate”to save significant mailing costs, the mailing is not “forwarded”as would be first class mail. Each copy returned to the Clubcosts $1.08. So each of you could help put a dent in our$6000.00 annual postage costs by letting us know to whichaddress to send your Club newsletter. Let us know alsowhether you would like different addresses used at certaintimes of the year. We are working on building a better databaseto serve our members, and we can change your mailing addressat specified times.

2009 LogbookOur Logbook editor, Jon Bontekoe, will complete editing andcompiling the 2009 Logbook soon. We expect that it will bemailed within about two weeks. Because it costs $3.50 moreto mail these first class, we send them by standard rate. If wedo not have your current mailing address, your Logbook willbe returned to the Club - another good reason to make surethe Club has your current mailing address. Please rememberto pick it up on your first visit but also let Marilyn know yourcurrent mailing address.

When you receive your 2009 Logbook, please confirm theaccuracy of the information about yourself, your family andyour boat. If there are any inaccuracies, please inform Marilynwhile you are thinking of it. Marilyn and Jon work very hardto include the most updated information that you provide tothe Club, but it can only be as good as the information youprovide.

Update your Email AddressesIf you do not receive emails from the Club regarding specialevents, it is almost certainly because you have not providedyour current email address. Past-Commodore Paul Brownimplemented email “blasts” last year in a continuing effort toremind our members of events, and any other news orinformation that could not wait until the next Wind Scoop.This is a list that you want to be on! Just call the Club oremail [email protected] and your email address will beupdated. Some spouses and significant others have observedthat emails do not always reach the social director of thosehouseholds. This is easily resolved: supply BOTH emailaddresses!

MBYC House RulesWhen you receive your new 2009 Logbook, please take aminute to review the MBYC House Rules located on page#88 and the Docks and Ground Rules immediately following.While most of these are common courtesy, others will remindus how we have agreed to treat each other and conductourselves at our Yacht Club.

The only significant change: these rules implement theshareholder decision of last year that all of our buildings arenow smoke-free.

Private Parties and MembershipsRemember to encourage your friends and family to considerusing our facilities for their special celebrations—weddings,birthdays, engagements, or just office celebrations. Our staffreceives rave reviews from those who decide to host theirfunctions at MBYC and it helps to moderate pressure on duesincreases.

Also remember to inform your boating friends that we haveno waiting list for slips, and that now would be a PERFECTtime to join. In fact, it is a great time to join this great clubeven if one did not have a boat! We eagerly anticipate seeingthe slips filled and the Clubhouse busy! See you soon.

Bob DeJong

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LAKE MICHIGAN LAKE LEVELS

576.0

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AVERAGE 2007 2008 2009

As can be seen in the accompanying chart prepared by Bob Standish, current water levels (red) areabout 3/4 foot higher than a year ago (orange), and 1/2 foot higher than in 2007 (light blue). Thecreek still causes problems in our small boat area with the large amount of runoff again this year. Thephoto by Annie Gamache, shows Roger standing on dry ground forward of the small boat dock.

DRYSAIL PARKING NOTEFor those of you who use our eastparking lot for parking your one-designsailing yacht, your dingy, your run-aboutor any other craft, PLEASE NOTE: likemost years, every craft will have anassigned parking space. The space willbe assigned by our outdoor manager,Doug Knapp, upon your supplying ourClub office with your signed contract.Doug will then affix a 2009 sticker toyour trailer. TRAILERS WITHOUTA 2009 STICKER THAT REMAINON CLUB PREMISES FOR MORETHAN ONE WEEK WILL BEREMOVED. The owner will end uppaying a towing and storage charge toretrieve the item.

We know that this may sound draconian,and we wish that this were not necessary.But last year’s experience in trying tocollect drysail fees makes these stepsnecessary. Thank you for yourunderstanding and for your cooperation.Bob DeJong

For the 101st edition of the ChicagoYacht Club “Race to Mackinac”, there’sa new twist – Yacht Clubs are competingfor “team trophies”. Every club that has5 or more entries may enter. MBYC hasalready registered, based upon our pastnumber of entries. Each yacht registeredfrom MBYC will be scored. Scoring isbasically the average of the club’sdivisional finishes. This means that it’snot only important that our fleet leaders

Chicago Yacht Club Challenge:Looking for Fast MAC Race Boats!

do well, but folks who are in “the backof the pack” will play an equallyimportant role in our success. There willbe trophies for the first three places(which would make a nice addition toour trophy case.) At MBYC we have ahistory of success in this race. The over-all winner in 3 of the past 6 years hasbeen an MBYC boat. We’ll keep youposted on our results this year! rg

Did You Know...

· You CAN reward great service!Our bar and food servers share the 18% tips on your bills. If youjust Loved the service you received, let your server know byadding an additional tip to your bill that goes directly and only toyour server.

· You CAN reserve a table on Wednesday nights!o Call 335-5815 at least an hour in advance of your arrival and

a table will be reserved for you in the Dining Room. Look foryour boat name on a Flag on one of the tables in the DiningRoom. (Buoy room tables remain “first come-first serve.”)

· You CAN help MBYC be Green!o All items placed in the trash and dumpster are sorted and

recycled by CHEF CONTAINER. This includes allStyrofoam cups and containers!

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REAR CO M M O D O R E’S REPORT

Racing has already startedat MBYC as the LaserSpring series is underway.It has been a very busyspring:

RACE MANAGEMENT SEMINAR

The best thing a race committee can normally hope for isthat nobody talks about them. When a race goes off withoutproblems, the sailors love to rehash the race. When things donot go smoothly, the RC is the center of attention. The RC isusually the underappreciated cog in the racing wheel. Smoothrace management can take place, and it requires a well trainedand experienced RC. It starts with training.

A highly informative USSailing race management seminar washeld at Anchorage Yacht Club on March 28. The instructors- Andy Kiener (Chicago YC, regional race officer) and PeterBlacklock (Muskegon YC) - were excellent. There were 18participants including members of Charlevoix YC, Boyne CityYC, Grand Rapids YC, and Edgewater YC (Cleveland). SixMBYC members took the training: Janet and Steve Magennis,Linda Knoblauch, Paul Brown, JD Stone and myself.

We all learned a great deal about the rules governing racemanagement, the need for extensive communications on thewater (did you know that many RCs use cell phones tocommunicate with each other to avoid eavesdropping fromcompetitors and judges?), the need for extensive equipment(flags, ground tackle etc) and back-up systems eg whistles ifhorns do not work.

Most participants took a test at the end of the day. The test isa requirement for moving up the race management ladder.

Jack Knoblauch and Diane Rodenhouse (Anchorage YC)organized this very successful event. Thanks again, Jack!

APRIL RACE SEMINARS

Commodore Gamache led a number of very successful raceseminars on Wednesday evenings in April. Roger promisedan “open kimono” presentation and he delivered. Thecenterpoint of Roger’s discussion was North U materials, buthe also described many of the techniques that he hassuccessfully used in his long career of racing. Thanks again,Roger!

MBYC LASER FLEET

Our local Laser fleet, led by Fleet Captain JP del SolarGoldsmith, will see a great deal of activity this year. MBYCwill be hosting the Laser Great Lakes (full and radial) on June13/14. This will be our first regional Laser event. Some greatsailors will be coming to town to mix it up with our sailors, sowe expect some exciting racing. If you do not have a Laser ofyour own to race, please come out to the Big Lake to lendsome support to the home team.

MBYC ETCHELLS FLEET

The participation in our Etchells fleet has been like the stockmarket: great numbers a few years ago, but pretty weak oflate. Have we hit bottom and is there a recovery in sight?Fleet Captain Mitch Padnos thinks we have. With the ableassistance of Tracy Brand, deals are being cut and arms arebeing twisted. While no one is promising an Etchells bullmarket - alright, maybe Tracy is, activity in 2009 should beup.

DANI GAMACHE

Dani is nearing the end of her very successful career on thecollege racing circuit. Dani is a senior at SUNY Maritime inNYC. Dani crewed in the college national championships lastyear in Newport and we wish her much success in her last fewweeks of college racing. Roger and Anne went east to see Danirace in late March in Boston.

John Donnelly

Wireless Internet at the Club:Wireless at the club should be up and running byearly May. The SSID will remain MBYC08 unless wesee abuses. Monitoring on weekends last summer

showed access by members only. See Marilyn ifyou need the WEP password/access number.Computers connected last year will not need tobe updated.

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Ice Boating Last WinterPeter Schwarz provided the WS editorwith some shots of what sailors do inthe winter on “hard water”. They weretaken at Muskegon Yacht Club onSaturday March 1, 2009. The yellowboat as well as several others are ownedand being sailed by MBYC member JonGronberg. Peter sat as passenger.“Incidentally,” Peter writes, “the yellowboat and the “stern-steerer” (last picture)were both built locally in the 1930’s byformer MBYC members CarlHarrington and Chris Smithrespectively.

Welcome spring! Just around the corneris the beginning of our 28th season ofyouth sailing instruction.

Leading our teaching and racing staff isrecent MSU grad Casey Ray, a veteranof 420 collegiate racing and formerdirector of the St. Joseph JuniorFoundation. He competed at MichiganState University and was Commodorehis senior year. We welcome hisexperience and leadership to our staff.He has a number of travel regattas linedup for our racers and is looking forwardto renewing Team Mac! ShariMacDonald returns for her fourth yearof instructing. She is a junior at theUniversity of Michigan and was an activepart of the MBJA sailing and racingprogram while a youth in Holland. Hopegrad former collegiate sailor Marc Palmawill also be returning as our Adult Sailinginstructor. These three will be our coreinstructors. We are very fortunate to havesuch great experience on our staff!

CHECK OUT OUR NEW WEBSITE!Webmaster Ben Harkema has revised our

old site! You will find it much moreinteractive and useful! Not only will yoube able to register online (YES!) and readabout the happenings, but there is aphoto gallery that will be updatedweekly!

We will be hosting Black River PublicSchool for their spring term starting May11. There will be middle and high schoolstudents learning to sail optis and 420’s.Take a moment to greet Casey and Shariif you are atthe clubduring theday.

Registrationhas alreadybegun for ours u m m e rclasses whichbegin June 15. Please check out therevised class guidelines on theregistration link as well.

Looking forward to seeing you on thewater! Marie Mell

MBJA Sailing Lessons Begin June 15

Adult Sailing LessonsLooking for a little adventure this summer? Want to learn to sail or refine yourskills with other adults? We have revamped our adult sailing lessons! They will beoffered on Tuesday evenings from 5:30-8:30 in a 4 week session. The first sessionruns June 16 to July 7. Session 2 is July 14 to August 4. Take a look at the NEW!MBJA sailing website and the adult sailing lessons link for more information. Don’tworry! We’ll update our photo gallery with photos from your class as well! MarcPalma returns as lead adult instructor and is looking forward to teaching you howto sail “double handed” on JY-15’s! mm

“Hey Buddy! Can you‘spare’ a Laptop?”With the internet going to “devices” and“laptop” computers giving way to“notebooks,” it’s possible that somewherein our membership there is a forlorn,neglected, “surplus” laptop. Your RaceCommittee would like to give yourlaptop a renewed purpose, serving onRecovery. Speed and memory aren’timportant (insert joke about racecommittee here), but a USB port isrequired. Windows office suite wouldbe nice, but not essential. The purposeof this donation is to assist the RaceCommittee in delivering “real time”event scoring to our Club website.Imagine being able to come back to thedock and checking your results as youdock. This is a common amenity atmany national events, and we’d like toadd this service to our race program. Ifyou have a candidate, please contact JackKnoblauch at [email protected].

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Private Parties

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Social Events

Spring Laser Racing

Spring Laser Racing

Mother’s DayBrunch

RegularClub Hours

Resume

Bar & GrillOpen

Bar & GrillOpen

BayshoreSpring Series


Bayshore S S

Mother’s Day Brunch - Sunday May 10Club Opens Wednesday May 13 - Regular Hours

Buoy Room Limited MenuFriday - May 6

WindscoopCopy Due

Spring Laser Racing


Opti Racing

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Bar & Grill open

MBJYC MemorialDay Breakfast

Blessing of Fleet

Coast GuardAuxillary

Boat Inspections

Laser Racing

Music Under The TentHobo Bon Fire

Saturday 23 MBYC #1 & PHRF #1

Stock HoldersMeeting 5:45 PM

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June 2009 www.mbyc.com


2

CO M M O D O R E’S REPORTMaybe it is caused by ourlate Spring, but it seems likeSummer just got here andthe sailing season is justracing along. I sincerelyhope that you’ve gottensome time out on the water,and that you’ve got moreplanned for the comingmonth. One great reasonto get out on the water willbe to watch the Laser Great

Lakes Championships on June 13 and 14. This event willbring Olympic quality sailing to MBYC and, with a littlebreeze, the boats are exciting to watch! After watching theracing, plan to come back to the club and mingle with thesailors. We have a special dinner offering including live musicfor members and racers on Saturday night. The awardsceremony on Sunday will also be an opportunity to meet andinteract with some of the best sailors in the country.

Speaking of “getting out,” keep in mind that JY 15 fleet willbe racing on Friday nights this year. Don’t have a JY 15?Consider chartering a boat from the MBJA at a nominal cost.Unsure of your abilities in a small boat? The MBJA has severalsessions of adult lessons available for those of us that need ourskills “updated”. The JY 15 program is a great opportunity toget involved with some fun, low intensity (unless you’releading…) sailing with a great group of people. Contact MarieMell or Mike Stewart for more information.

Another way to “get out” is to hitch a ride for a Wednesdaynight race. While the competition on Wednesday nights canget serious, the overall point to “beer can racing” has alwaysbeen to have a fun evening. In that spirit, we have, for severalyears, had a policy of “Everybody Goes Sailing on Wednesday

Nights.” Here’s how it works: show up at the club dressedappropriately for sailing (soft sole shoes, appropriate jacket orfoulies, and your favorite life jacket). Seek out myself (Tyrantat the end of the West Pier) or Jack Knoblauch (Capricious atthe end of the East pier) and indicate you’d like a ride, andwe’ll find someone in fleet who could use an extra hand. Noexperience required. Races take approximately 60 – 90minutes. The only risk is that you’ll have a great time, andwant to come again next week!

Finally, plan to get the most out of your membership byactively participating in our 4th of July Celebrations. Theschedule of events actually starts with the Mini Rendezvouson Sunday, June 28. Then on Saturday, July 4th we have ourGolf Tournament off the front lawn of the club, followed byour Picnic, finishing with the Macatawa Fireworks and a JuniorYacht Club Ice Cream Social (the Junior’s plan is to partyafter the adults “crash” after the day’s activity…). On Sundaywe have the 2nd Annual Ladies Offshore race. Last year wehad more prospective skippers than we had crew, so interestedladies should contact Marie Mell or Linda Knoblauch for moreinformation.

A final note. One review of my last column indicated that itwas “cheezy, ridiculous, and stupid.” And that was from afamily member I’m still supporting. So in case my point wasmissed due to bad rhetoric: clubs do better when themembership is growing. Membership grows because membersare open and enthusiastic when they talk to people about theirclub. So, who do you know who would enjoy being a memberof our club? What should you (we) do this summer to makethat happen? And please let me know if I can help this process.

See you at our Club!

Roger Gamache



Commodore Roger GamacheVice Commodore Bob DeJongRear Commodore John DonnellyBoard of DirectorsImmediate Past Commodore

Paul BrownTreasurer Larry D’HaemSecretary Michael HillDirector Beth EggeDirector Jack KnoblauchDirector Tom SlanecDirector Lisa RuoffDirector Joel Krissoff

Director Mitchell PadnosDirector David Sligh, Jr.Judge Advocate JD Stone



3

What’s Happening at the Yacht Club?

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This past April, I again had the opportunityto visit Charleston, South Carolina, anhistoric American city, pivotal during theCivil War years and today a proudrepresentative of its citizens’ feelings of placeand home. The city has beauty, charm,mystery and hospitality and sits on its grandpeninsula surrounded by low-countryvillages, rivers, marshes, fairways and thecoastal wonders of Charleston Bay. In thisbay, the Charleston Race Week commenced.The three-day regatta of sport boats andlarger PHRF divisions, was superbly run andsupervised by a great race committee. Wehad a ball with the variety of sailingconditions, the well-organized off-shore andon-shore activities, the most convenient andcomfortable accommodations, good music,and new friends. Even before we’d sailed oneleg of a race, we’d pretty much all agreedwe’d be back.

An Arendshorst tale of a new perspective of Fort Sumter andthe best way to get really fresh bay shrimp in Charleston.

first start was very good, until we snaggedthe anchor line of the pin-end committeeboat with our keel. Our second race wasbetter, until we snagged a lobster-pot linewith our keel. The third race was somewhatbetter, but we got “pounced” regardless.

Our fourth race was going quite well - wewere motivated to improve! With good boatspeed and tactics, we rounded the weathermark, in the first group, in a building breeze,set the kite and rocketed away, avoiding theup-coming fleet of Vipers. Our first jibe toclear our air was in a bit of a puff, and werounded up crisply. I decided that standingup in the tilted craft was a good idea in myquest to get the main sheet under control,and that is the last thought I had prior todoing a back-flip off our boat into the bay.When I looked up, without the glasses I waswearing when I disembarked, I blurrily sawour boat quite a distance downwind. At leastI had elected not to wear foul weather gearor boots in this day of 60 F air, 25 knotsbreeze, and 65 F water. I had worn deckshoes, shorts, and a buoyancy-neutral float-jacket. (Fine, and better than a usual marginof safety for a licensed Red Cross WaterfrontSafety Instructor level swimmer, as I was. Ilike water, and swim rather well. Spitz,Phelps, and Seals excluded, I can hold myown in water.

After a short while, I could see minimalrecognizable response from my team’sdistant, small, blurry craft. They werefrantically “crashing the boat”, pointing outthe MOB, and coming back for me asefficiently as they were able. As this processseemed to me to be taking a considerableamount of time, I considered alternativetransportation. A Viper, in our division, onits way to the starboard layline saw mewaving, and deftly popped me into theirboat. The rescue was remarkable: theefficiency of recovery was a product oftaking me from their windward side, andgrabbing me by the life-vest, rather than bythe hands or feet, as I used those appendagesto get on board helped along with theirlifting strength. Upon getting to thestarboard layline, surprisingly, the Vipercrew asked if I would like to get off, and bepicked up by the nearby windward-markcommittee boat. I thought the suggestionwas one of keen interest in jettisoning extra

baggage (me) and an opportunity for me tonot sail the remainder of 3 legs with thesefolks.

I jumped off the boat, and started swimmingfor the committee boat, waving every fewstrokes, assured that they would see me andrespond quickly. Quickly, and surprisinglyto me, I became aware that I was veryfatigued, and that the large committee boatwas not observing or interested in mysituation. I was surprised at how the coldwater and the neutral-buoyancy floatationmade things so challenging. I waved atanother up-coming Viper, as I was nowpositioned in a very busy starboard layline.I was grateful that helmsman John Porterfrom Savannah noticed me. His crewgrabbed me by the arms and legs. Afteringesting most of the Bay, several shrimp,and who-knows-what in this rescue effort,I was transferred to the low and opentransom of my second Viper of the day. Johnsaid no one was leaving his boat under anycircumstances. That was reassuring to me,sitting as I was, heaving and gasping.

I finished the race with John and hiscompetent crew and was picked up by oursupport boat after the completion of thislast race of the day. I took a long, hot showerafter thanking and talking with the variouscrews I had sailed with that day. Each Vipercrew received a form of redress by the R.C.

I recollect these rare experiences on requestof the Wind Scoop editor. I do not relishreliving them. To any one, young or old, Irecommend reviewing these 10 safetyobservations, most of which are familiar toall.

1. Pay attention to and over-estimatethe potential hostility of water conditions,especially water temperature. It can cripplequickly and without much warning.2. Fatigue from a long hard day ofracing adds to the complexity of a situation.3. PFD – wear one appropriate for theconditions4. Jump in a pool and swim 50-100yards in what you would wear in “foulweather gear” conditions. It may make youre-think what you would like be wearingwhen you fall overboard.

Continued on Page 4 ------->

Michel Kiss’ boat with crew JohnArendshorst, Morgan Kiss, and JP delSolar Goldsmith. Photo by Tovi Kiss.

The first day of racing brought breezebuilding to 25 knots in the lulls. (The nexttwo days were more moderate and “usual”).Currents and tides, a worry of us sweet-water sailors, were minor considerations inthe windy, flat, choppy waters. Our team,we had decided, was the most scientific andfun at the same time, amongst the 6 boatsin our new fleet at the inaugural event ofthe Melges 20s in the US. Our Melges 20crew consisted of our helmsman and owner,Michael Kiss, his daughter Alex, the multi-talented pro-sailing instructor JP del SolarGoldsmith and me. In the course of the firstday of sailing four races, we had amassedwhat we thought was the life experience ofanyone in blunders and mal-events. Our

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Front Cover PhotoThe Saturday of Memorial Dayweekend featured the first racingfor Optis and kids. Our cover photofeatures Ali Swets running the linejust before the start of the secondrace. Photo by editor jb. Pleasesubmit your MBYC events photos toWind Scoop editor Jon Bontekoe([email protected]) We’realways looking for great cover pho-tos.

DOWN THE RACE COURSE

DATES TO REMEMBERPLEASE PLAN TO ATTEND

Fri July 3rd - Sun July 5th4TH JULY

WEEKEND PICNIC

Saturday, July 11th50’s Party &

Catalina Rendezvous

The scene: The spring fling party. Sunis still up (hooray!). People are at thebar, and in the dining room. Mike Kisshas his new Melges 20 out, and it’sblowing 10-15 from the Southwest withsome big gusts sweeping eastward downthe lake. Mike has sailed east past theclub several times with the spinnaker up,on a full plane. Spray is flying off thestern, and the sheriff would have beenchasing him for violating the speed limit(big time). Well, during one of thespinnaker runs down the lake, all of asudden Jack Knoblauch noticessomething strange (it initially looks likethey have wiped out, and capsized theboat). Upon further inspection, itappears that the rig has collapsed afterthe bow tried to act like a submarine andstopping the boat on a dime. MattEldean happened to be out “touring” inhis Tiara, and helped Mike back to theclub. Mike reported that the Melges

Zenda: we have a problem

company replaced the mast at no costand has since reinforced the masts of allthe Melges 20s with a sleeve.

Thank you Matt for the pictures and thetow!

Instructors Casey Ray and Shari MacDonald and a crew ofhigh school helpers are anxiously awaiting June 15 and thebeginning of session one. Thanks to the generosity of many,we have 7 new Optis this summer! We can’t wait to get themin the water and racing! We have three regattas scheduledwith the West Michigan Youth Sailing Association in Julyand August. The last one will be hosted by MBYC on SaturdayAugust 1. We look forward to great participation from ourclub as we defend our championship title!

We have a new website! Check it out! It has information on the staff, schedules, maps,WMYSA and MBYC links, and more. Also, once the summer becomes active, we willalso be updating the photos on a weekly basis. Stay up on the great fun we’re having onthe water! Want to get involved as an adult? We have learn-to-sail classes for you too. Thisyear we will be doing four week sessions on Tuesday evenings beginning June 16. Checkout the website for more information and to register.

See you on the water! Marie Mell

5. Never go into the water on a racecourse voluntarily.6. Look at the Chi-Mac regulationsfor safety procedures when racing, especiallyapplicable to night and evening sailing oradverse conditions.7. Practice and communicate ManOverboard Routines. They really do makethings easier. Grab folks in the water by theclothes/PFD, not by the arms and legs.8. Learn to like shrimp at high speed.9. Remember that redress by the racecommittee is uniformly and generouslyapplied to those who help those in distress.10. Be aware, and be eager to lend ahand to anyone you see in distress at anytime. Sailing is life.By John Arendshorst

Arendshorst continued.

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Memorial Day - A great Weekend

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Memorial weekend was blessed withgreat cool weather, lots of picnics andcookouts, a sun-filled Blessing of theFleet, although strong wind conditionsmoved many boaters to accept theirboat’s blessing at the dock along with theVanTols pictured. Of special note wasthe return to MBYC of Bill & JudyStellin with their boat Jay Walker. Theyhave cruised Europe and the Caribbeanfor nine years and visited about 32 coun-tries. Their boat is pictured, flying flagsrepresenting each place visited.Pictures by Jon & Mary Bontekoe.

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This month is the 30th Anniversary of theMBYC yacht Aries after finishing first overallin the Queen’s Cup sailed from MilwaukeeSouth Shore Yacht Club to Macatawa BayYacht Club.

The year is 1979. Bill Tripp, a long-timeMBYC sailor, had purchased the 41’ Ariesafter her original owner had failed to qualifyfor the Admiral’s Cup team in 1978. Arieswas a “state of the art” Ron Holland designoptimized for medium distance racing.Typical of boats of that era, she was heavy(roughly 2x the displacement of a Farr 40),and had “pinched” ends (narrow bow andstern, flaring to considerable beam – thinkwater melon seed). But unlike many designsof the time Aries was stiff, and had enoughrudder to be manageable in higher winds andpower reaching conditions. No expense hadbeen spared in putting the boat together. Shehad a 3 spreader Stearns rig with hydraulicson the backstay, headstay, baby stay, andvang. Oversized winches made adjustmentsand sail changes easy. The boat had a flushdeck, slightly “bubbled” so that thewindward deck was level and easy to workon when the boat heeled. The electronicspackage was state of the art including B&Gsailing instruments (their competitiveadvantage was that they actually worked) anda new navigational device, a Trimble Loran,that actually read out in Lat/Long. Fromthe dock her most obvious features were her‘huge’ 60" steering wheel which stretchedcompletely across the back of the cockpit,and a very distinctive dark blue hull with a“rainbow” graphic, which became the motiffor Perrigo Trucks for more than 20 years(Bill was CEO of Perrigo at this time).

Our crew for this race was a mixture of folksfrom MBYC. Joining Bill from prior boatswere long time friends Bob Hayes and RoyalKlein. Bruce Van Dyke and John Getz hadsailed together on John’s Blitz and werecurrently between boats. Rick Kraai, SteveKubicka, and Anne Bryant were active sailorsat that time. I was invited along as the “guestexpert” in my role as a representative of HoodSailmakers in the Midwest. The scratch sheetplaced us in the bottom of Class A. Memoryfades a bit here, but I know that we wereracing against John Neadeau’s C&C 52Windancer, and Midge Ver Plank’s Petersen

42 Sleeping Bear. I seem to recall at least oneC&C 61, Ranger sailed by the Welsh familyfrom Spring Lake, a Frers 53 Encounter fromMilwaukee, and a converted 12 meterHeritage, from Chicago. But our mostimportant foe was a near sister-ship, Agape,owned by Terry Kohler from Sturgeon Bay.Terry had spent the prior summer competingto be the Bayview Yacht Club defender forthe Canada’s Cup (currently on display atMBYC). After an entire summer of sailing,he won the honor to defend, only to be sweptby Stuart Green’s Evergreen. Needless to say,Terry had “something to prove” and believedthat he had a clear advantage over Bill in boatoptimization and experience. Both wereowners of successful corporations and weren’tafraid of a hefty wager. So, Tripp and Kohlerstruck a wager that a “case of booze” wouldbe the prize to the best boat.

The Friday of the race dawned overcast withintermittent showers. The crew spent mostof the day recuperating from the crew dinnerat Karl Ratzsch’s the prior evening. As webegan to prepare to leave the dock, the windwas picking up from the north west with aline of dark grey clouds that promised a wet,windy, bumpy ride across the lake. Bill wasin a particularly foul mood because AnneBryant had not understood how the jib sheetshad been hung on the stern rail, and byuntying one, had managed to drop the otherone into the drink, whereupon it sunkimmediately. Luckily, Aries was wellequipped with spares, so after a few “wordsof encouragement” from our skipper wecompleted rigging and headed out. GettingAries off the dock was always an adventure.One of the less effective features of her designwas the hydraulic drive system, which hadthe advantage of putting the propeller on theaft edge of the keel, significantly reducingdrag, but had the distinct disadvantage ofreducing the thrust available. Imaginemaneuvering a heavy 41’ boat with a 5 hpoutboard. But, with some work, we got offthe dock, paint intact, and headed out tothe course.

Class A was the last to start. Watching thesmaller boats start we saw that with abuilding Northwest wind, a few stalwarts ineach class hoisted spinnakers, only to broachuncontrollably or be forced to sail well below

course. As with all Northwest breezes, thereare puffs that came through, and in the peakof the puffs, we noticed that some boats wereeven having problems controlling theirbiggest genoas. Onboard Aries we quicklyunderstood our problem. Under theseconditions the larger boats in our fleet wouldquickly move away from us based on theirmuch longer water lines (in the case of the12 meter, a 25’ difference giving them a 3-4knot speed advantage). However, we didhave a couple of advantages. First, we werestiffer, and had a hull that was optimized forheavier air. Second, the big wheel gave ourhelmsman a lot more control than manyboats of the day. Third, we had a small,“bullet proof ” spinnaker designed for justthese conditions. So the plan evolved thatwe would start to the right of the main fleet,pop the kite, and try to sail as high aspossible. Our hope was that we would beable to generate enough speed to “hook atow” off the quarter wake of one of biggercompetitors and hang on to it for period oftime.

Every once in a while a plan “comestogether.” We started well, hoisted the kite,keeping the #3 up to help keep the bow“down”. We found a “tow” from the C&C61 for about 30 minutes, until a big puffknocked us down and they slipped ahead.After that one broach, we got the boat sortedout, back in balance and roared off into thenight, with hands on the spinnaker sheet,mainsheet, and vang, and rotating helmsmenevery hour. As night fell, we could see Agapestruggling to hold their biggest genoa severalmiles astern and about a mile north of ourcourse.

Over the course of the night the breeze beganto clock. Our navigator, John Getz (whowas thoroughly enjoying playing withTrimble), indicated that we were now sailingconsistently low of course, and were about amile south of the “track”. So we droppedthe kite, headed up to course, but really didn’tlike the drop in speed. After a little fiddling,we set the genoa staysail underneath the #3and, finding a great groove, continuedroaring through the night. Later in theevening the wind continued to clock and

Tales from the Race course: A Short Thirty Years Ago...

Continued on Page 7

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moderate, so eventually we changed to ourHeavy #1 genoa slightly eased, sailed on,pointed directly at the finish line.

As daylight emerged Holland appeared onour bow, which was reassuring. Not soreassuring, is that there were no other boatsin sight. Hopeful that this was actually agood thing, we pressed on to the finish lineacross the mouth of the channel (a practicethat the Coast Guard has since prohibited).Sails down, we motored into the club.Coming into the club we saw the rigs of the“big boats”, but no sign of Agape or SleepingBear. After tying up and checking in with

the race committee it became clear that wehandily saved our time on the bigger boats.We confirmed that Sleeping Bear and Agapehad not finished, and we began to enjoy thethought that we have won class A (and that“case of booze”). Approximately an hourlater, our sister ship Agape, hit the dock.Kohler, always a great competitor came overto congratulate Tripp, and asked directionsto the nearest liquor store (Bernecker’s).Shortly later, Kohler returned with the case,and the crew of Aries began a celebration onthe front lawn of the club that lasted wellinto the afternoon. As time went on, itbecame clear that with daylight, the breeze

Tales from the Race Course...continued

VICE CO M M O D O R E’S REPORT

has clocked fully into the northeast and thatsmaller boats were hard on the wind in muchlighter conditions. Gradually the time ranout for the smaller boats, and Aries wasconfirmed the overall winner of the race.

That day ended with Tripp sponsoring avictory dinner for the crew at MBYC. I leftMBYC at the end of that weekend impressedwith the quality of the sailing, the hospitalityof the club, and not suspecting where thisexperience would eventually lead. But that’sa story for another time….Roger Gamache

Memorial Day Weekend,2009 is now history—butwhat a great weekend tojumpstart the summer!! Itwas great to reunite withfriends that we don’t oftensee in the “off-season,” ofcelebrating the return ofseveral of our voyagers, ofcelebrating the healing offriends who have hadchallenging medical issues

over the winter, and, yes, of mourning the loss of several ofour members who have left us with many good memories. Forthose who were able to dine at the Club on Friday evening,you know that it was a very busy evening for our staff! Imaginereceiving 36 RSVP’s to your party, but having 196 guests showup at the front door. That’s exactly what our staff had to dealwith. While we know that plans can be very uncertain duringsummer evenings, to the extent you are able to do so, pleasecall or email your reservations. It helps our staff to betterplan for adequate staffing of servers and support crew for Jimso that each of you can experience the kind of service youwant to see. Thank you.

Nauti-Shop has experienced brisk sales already this season.Some items have already sold out. If you have not seen thefun variety of clothing selected by Anne Gamache and LindaKnoblauch, take the time to do so! You won’t be disappointed!(And be sure to thank Anne and Linda for all the time andwork in ordering, displaying and selling MBYC products!)Among the new items available for purchase this year areMBYC’s coffee—specially roasted and blended for our Club— and even our serving napkins—a great addition to your

summer time picnics. Remember that almost all of the itemssold through the Nauti-Shop have a very minimal mark-upfrom our actual cost of goods sold. And don’t forget the on-line shopping of MBYC-logo garments available for you atTeam One by way of “What’s New” at your MBYC.comwebsite.

Thanks to Dock and Grounds Committee (Dave Sligh “Jr.”,chair) and Doug Knapp for directing the patching of theparking lot, and for coordinating the leveling of the sidewalksaround the Club that were starting to look more like hills andvalleys. Tripping on the sidewalks was conspicuously absentIt is a credit to our staff to hear our returning members reportthat the “Club looks fantastic!” Thanks in part to rising lakelevels and through accommodation by our dredging contractor,we were able to hold our dredging expenses to under $5000.00.

And one final reminder: if you have a one-design, a dingy, atrailer, or anything else occupying a dry-sail slip, and you havenot signed a contract, please do not be surprised or upset whenit has been moved off-site and you have to pay towing andstorage charges to retrieve the item. While most of ourmembers have made the necessary arrangements, there are stillthose of you who have forgotten or overlooked this importantpiece of business. Thank you for taking care of it right awayand helping to avoid unnecessary unpleasant consequences.

Our General Manager reports that business was more briskthis Memorial Day weekend than the same correspondingweekend last year. The Club is off to the start of a great season!Enjoy it!

Bob DeJong

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REAR CO M M O D O R E’S REPORTRacing activity at MBYCmoved into full swing inMay. The first Laser race inthe Spring Sunday serieswas held on May 3 and hadseven racers exchangingleads in a number of closelycontested races. The firstWednesday evening racewas held in light air onLake Mac on May 6 due to

no air on Lake Michigan. Two M24s and two M20s movedout to significant leads on the rest of the fleet.

M20 AND M32 CLINIC ON MAY 9

MBYC hosted a great on the water clinic for M20 and M32racers on May 9. A number of well known coaches/tacticianswere involved with the M32 fleet: Scott Nixon, HarryMelges, Wally Cross and Tac Boston. Winds were forecastto be in the 30s and the fleet wisely chose to stay on LakeMac. The RC was busy resetting starting and windwardmarks as the wind clocked from SW to W to NW to N.The crews were busy as the legs were short. Near the end ofthe morning, the forecasted high winds finally arrived andit was exciting for spectators to watch leeward markroundings. The leeward mark gate was finally set 30-40 yardsoff the south shore of Lake Mac near the Tiara compound.There was no margin for error for the three M32s as theybarrelled in with chutes up to the leeward gate just off theshore in 20kt breezes. The M32 class is considering MBYCas the location for its 2010 Great Lakes championship.

The M20 fleet had six boats take part in the clinic. MikeKiss, John Arendshorst, and the Post boat with Jeff Padnosat the helm all took part. They were joined by Eric Wynsmafrom Grand Rapids and two Detroit area teams. As the breezebuilt, it became apparent that there is a large premium forskilled boat handling, particularly downwind, in this excitingclass. There is a lot of enthusiasm in the new fleet as theygear up for the first M20 Nationals to be held at MBYC in

August. Our local M20 teams will be travelling to Muskegon,Detroit and Chicago this season for races. They also have abusy schedule of local racing.

A NEW TROPHY: THE RUDY VEDOVELL AND DONHILLEBRANDS ANNUAL BLUE WATER CRUISINGAWARD

Rudy Vedovell has a passion for sailing. Rudy has been aMBYC member since the 1960s and he spans the racing andcruising worlds. He has a distinguished record of racingachievements and extensive cruising experience around theglobe. Rudy has donated to MBYC a new trophy that is aimedat recognizing our members who have taken long distancecruises.

The award will be given each year at October Awards banquet.It will be presented to the club member who has taken thelongest cruise - sail or power - in the twelve month periodending on August 31 of that year. The cruise does not need toeither start or end at MBYC in that twelve month period.There will likely be a minimum distance required (eg 1000nautical miles). Club members who want to be consideredfor the prize should submit info about their cruise to the RearCommodore by September 15.

Retroactive awards back to 1995 will also be given. We aregranting the first award to Rudy Vedovell and Don Hillebrandsfor their 15000 nauical mile cruise that ended in New Zealandin 1995. If you have a past cruise (post-1995) that you wantto have considered, please email me info [email protected]. If you have any questions aboutthe trophy, please also email me.

The new trophy will be displayed at MBYC in the near future.

The club extends its gratitude to Rudy and Suzy Vedovell forbeing great, longstanding members and for their creativityand generosity in starting this annual award.

John Donnelly

Island Goats Sailing SocietyElects J Kunze Commodore MBYC was well-represented atthe Chicago Yacht Club Mac Storiesnight on March 6, which honored the50th anniversary of the IGSS. Dave Slighand Jack Kunze were two of the eight

speakers, each of whom related one ortwo of their favorite Mac stories. Othersin the group included Past President ofUS Sailing, Janet Baxter, a thirdgeneration goat. MBYC member, Jack Kunze, waselected Commodore of the Island GoatsSailing Society (IGSS) at the

organization’s Annual Dinner on April25, and will serve a two-year term. TheIGSS is an organization for those whohave competed in 25 or more Chicagoto Mackinac races. Currently, MBYChas more active IGSS members than anyyacht Club outside the Chicago area.

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Memorial Weekend featured kids at the hobo bonfire, racing, & serving breakfast

Kids photos by Pam Koch and JonBontekoe.

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J U N E 2 0 0 9Sun. Fri.Thurs.Wed.Tues.Mon.

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Race Events

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Private Parties

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Social Events

Chicago Nood

BayshoreSummer Series

WindscoopCopy Due Opti Racing

Laser Racing

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2009 SummerLaunch Party

Regatta Party

Dueling Horsd’oeuvres Party

MBJYCBowling Party

Father’s DayFishing Tourna-ment & Cookout

MiniRendezvous



Tripp Memorial

Fourthof July!Picnic

Laser Racing

Laser Racing

Opti Racing

MBYC #2PHRF #2

Melges 20/JY 15Racing



South Haven Invite

Laser GreatLakes Racing

Laser GreatLakes Racing

South Haven Invite

Chicago Nood

Queens CupQueens Cup

Main Events in June

June 6: Summer Launch/New Members PartyJune 14: Laser RegattaJune 20: Dueling Hors d’oeuvresJune 21: Father’s Day Fishing Tournament

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July 2009 www.mbyc.com

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CO M M O D O R E’S REPORTStockholders meetings are,by-and-large, peacefulaffairs. In fact, asCommodore, there is astrong tendency to hopethat the meeting goes“according to script” andthat you can escape to thedining room (and bar)without having to engagein any “heavy lifting.” OurSpring 2009 Stockholders

meeting followed “the script” so well that it might be possibleto overlook the one piece of new business that was presentedby club-member and Director of Macatawa Bay JuniorAssociation, Steve Sisson. Steve made a presentation regardingthe work of the MBJA and their current need for an infusionof capital. His proposal for raising the capital was, essentially,that MBYC make an institutional commitment to providingcapital on an ongoing basis to the MBJA. Some gooddiscussion ensued, and the Flag received his report for furtherconsideration. And, in the spirit of continuing that discussion,I’d like to offer the following analysis.

But first, I offer a disclaimer. The “institutional memory” ofour Club is amazingly short, so I am constantly surprised tofind club members who are unaware of my involvement withthe junior sailing and the MBJA from 1983 through 1997.During most of those years, Anne Gamache served as Treasurerof the organization, and I provided oversight and leadershipfor the development of the program. During that time weparticipated in the growth of our program and observed thegrowth of highly structured, nationally-oriented junior sailingprograms at a number of clubs. The following is based uponour years of participation and observation of junior sailing.

I believe that the long-term vitality of MBYC rests in a pro-active program that recruits and retains younger sailors. Thecase for this is difficult to directly quantify, in part becausethe true impact of underfunding junior sailing won’t be feltuntil years later, when the next generation of “core members”fails to emerge. Critically, if that happens, it will take yetanother generation to rebuild the “pipeline” that leads fromTravis Aiken winners to future board members and flagofficers. During our discussion, some members asked for adirect correlation between community kids in MBJA and newmembers acquired. And, while that might be one measure ofimmediate success, I’d suggest a much more telling metric ofthe value of our junior program is to stand in ourCommodore’s room and count off the number of flag officerswho were introduced to our way of life through a junior sailingprogram.

To provide a compelling program with great instructorresources, we need a suitable number of kids. Instructor wagesare a fixed cost (i.e. they are paid by the hour, whether theyteach one kid or 15). One of the problems the communityinstruction aspect of the MBJA was designed to solve was thisproblem of scale. By including community kids we lower thecost of instruction for member kids, and make moreinstructional programs available. Now I understand that classsize is a critical determinant in the quality of instruction, andthat the MBJA has, at times, not delivered instruction at thelevel that some (including me) would find acceptable.However, the simple economic/demographic facts are that an“exclusively club member” program would significantlyincrease the per student cost of the program. It has been thelong-held policy of the MBJA to pay all operating expenses(including instructor salaries and maintenance) fromparticipant fees, and to hold those fees to a “break even” level.MBYC has not had to assume the direct costs of providingjunior sailing instruction for over 25 years. This is not to saythat MBYC hasn’t incurred expenses related to the MBJA. Itis fashionable in a corner of the bar to allege that “this clubdoesn’t support junior sailing.” As a Commodore who hasbeen involved in organizing and approving over $25,000 ofdredging in our “small boat basin” over the past 3 years, Idon’t think that argument is valid. While the club doesn’taccount for MBJA occupancy costs, there are both “hard”and “soft” expenses that our club incurs by the MBJA being atenant. Now, I’m not suggesting that these expenses aren’thighly beneficial to our club, but simply mentioning that “nosupport” isn’t a valid observation.

And so we come to the question of capital. Unfortunately,sailing is a “capital intensive” sport. The “required” equipmentis expensive, and, quite frankly, a barrier to “introductoryexperimentation.” The ski industry learned a long time agothat if they had to sell skis, boots, bindings, poles and suitableclothing, the number of people trying skiing would beinsufficient to support growth. Their solution? Equipmentrental programs that makes modern equipment, in goodcondition, available for people “exploring” whether this sportfits their needs and interests. At the MBJA, we haveintroductory and intermediate level equipment available toencourage introductory exploration and skill building. Thefunding for this equipment has been provided throughoccasional donations of boats (for resale) and cash, as well asoccasional “capital fund drives”. The last large capital drivewas the “Perfect Storm” campaign led by Jeff Elhart in theearly part of this decade. Within the past year, approximately$15,000 was raised during a dinner at the club.

Steve’s insight is that we need to embrace a model of capitalformation that creates a stream of capital, so that the fleet canbe managed in a pro-active and more cost-effective manner.Continued on Page 3 ----->

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Commodore Roger GamacheVice Commodore Bob DeJongRear Commodore John DonnellyBoard of DirectorsImmediate Past Commodore: Paul BrownTreasurer Larry D’HaemSecretary Michael HillDirector Beth EggeDirector Jack KnoblauchDirector Tom SlanecDirector Lisa RuoffDirector Joel KrissoffDirector Mitchell PadnosDirector David Sligh, Jr.Judge Advocate JD Stone



His estimate is that $15,000 per yearwould allow for regular replacement ofequipment while it still had some marketvalue, reducing the overall cost of capitaland increasing the overall quality of thefleet. Steve’s proposal was direct, andsimple: $50.00 of every member’s dueswould be allocated for a contribution tothe MBJA capital account. Needless tosay, the proposal met with “someresistance”. From my point of view, thefundamental logic of underlying Steve’sproposal is sound, but the fundingmechanism should be improved in thefollowing way: if we need $15,000 / yearthen I suggest that 30 members (havingboth the motivation and means) pledgea $500.00 / year donation over the next10 years to the MBJA capital fund.

Commodore’s Report continued

July 4 WJuly 4 WJuly 4 WeekendeekendeekendFriday, July 3:

Melges 20 & JY RacingVanAndel Fireworks on the Beach

Saturday July 4:9 AM Golf Tournament on the Lawn6:00 - 8:30 July 4 Picnic at the club with ribs, chicken, shrimp, hot dogs, cob corn, etcCost: $15.00. Children: $8.00 (+ tax/tip)After dinner starting 7:00: MBJYC IceCream Social. $5.00 adults, $3.00 kids.Fireworks at Kollen Park

Sunday July 5Laser/Opti Patriots RaceLadies PHRF Race

Saturday, July 11MBYC 50’s Party combined with CatalinaRendezvous Party. Buffet: $16.00 + tax/tipEntertaining under the Tent: Peter Trappen

Sunday July 26Family Pool Party and MBJYC Pool Olympics

What’s Happening at theYacht Club?

These “investors in the club’s future” canreceive suitable recognition, and receivethe individual income tax benefits thatcome from a donation to a IRC section501 c 3 charitable educationalinstitution. So far, I’ve gottencommitments from 2 members to “join

the team.” I look forward to hearingyour thoughts!See you at our Club.

Roger Gamache

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Fathers’ Day Fishing Tournament successful despite the storm

Fishing Tournament pictures by PaulBrown & jb.

5June 6 Saturday Racing PHRF #2

June 6 featured the second MBYCPHRF race of the season. Bottomphoto shows the three Melges 20’ssailing close in a line. Photos by TomSlanec and Doug Slade.

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When you receive thisedition of the Wind Scoop,Father’s Day and summersolstice of 2009 will be inthe history books. And we’llbe staring in the face ofFourth of July weekendwith all of its celebration.How quickly summer findsits way to mid-way when itfeels as if it has just begun!

We are reminded to make sail while the sun shines—to borrowfrom an old farmer’s proverb.

While the weather has been cooler than normal by more thanjust a few degrees (where is that global warming??!!), activityat the Yacht Club has been brisk. Our dining room sales arehigher than the same time last year. Our General Manager,Dining Room Manager and Executive Chef continue to workhard to provide fine dining at affordable prices, and ourmembership seems to be recognizing these opportunities.(Remember to make reservations to help accommodate yourplans.)

If you have not already noticed, you will soon see that theHouse Committee has revised the Comment Cards. YourBridge and Board, with the support and cooperation of ourStaff, look for your input on how we can better meet yourexpectations. So please take a moment at the end of your

Boats:• You CAN get assistancedocking your boat at the club?• Radio in on Channel 9 ! Ourdock staff will assist you withdock lines as you come in.Please allow 10 minutes forthem to get to your slip. includein your message your slip # andif you are in the East or WestBay.

Dining• You CAN eat healthy atMBYC!• Jim Ruhle and our clubmanagement care about our

health! In lieu of chips orFrench fries, you may substitutea fruit cup or side salad.

Pool• You CAN help with safetyat the pool!• Signing in when you arrivehelps our Dock Staff andLifeguards keep us and ourclub a safer place. There is asheet at each entrance whereyou can sign in so that ourlifeguards know who is in thepool area.

From MBYC House Committee

dining experience and fill out the cards. Let us know what youlike, and how things could be improved for you. You arereminded that there is a comment card box on the bar side ofthe door leading into the dining room so that you can shareyour comments anonymously.

The Club appears to have weathered the Friday, June 19 stormwith a minimum of damage—certainly compared with manyof our Holland neighbors! Our roof is missing a few shinglesand it appears that we may have some erosion occurring underthe lawn near the sidewalk close to Eldean’s property line. Overall, for sixty mile an hour straight line winds and seven toeight inches of rain in less that twenty four hours, we fairedquite well. The cost of repairs should be modest.

A conservation reminder: our supply of hot water is not endless.Some of our kids seem to like standing under the warm poolshowers and do so for a very long time, and occasionally walkaway leaving the showers running. Parents, would you pleasehelp monitor this? Not only is this good conservation of waterand natural gas, it also helps to assure that there will be adequatehot water for those using the showers for bathing. Thank youfor your cooperation on this.

Please keep us informed of anything that requires our attention.And enjoy the summer—just as hard as you can!

Bob DeJong

Did You Know... Down the Race CourseSaturday, August 8th COMMODORE’s ROASTSunday, August 9th

FAMILY CARNIVALSaturday, August 22nd — VANDERLEEK CUP &

REGATTA PARTYSaturday, August 29th —

COMMODORE’s BALL

Cover photo taken by Doug Slade dur-ing MBYC’s June 6 PHRF racing. Pic-tured is Willie J, Doug Petter’s 43’ boatsailing on a spinnaker run. Please submitphotos to Wind Scool editor JonBontekoe at: [email protected]

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Member Gregg VandenBosch wasconfronted with a challenge of hostingfifteen international business travelersfrom the United Kingdom, Italy,Germany, Spain, and Australia with adozen “locals.” Gregg’s employer,Dematic (f/k/a Rapistan), was bringingconveyor teams from all over the globeto Grand Rapids for three days ofproduct release. Gregg’s goals werethreefold: provide an evening ofrelaxation, provide an opportunity todevelop relationships among businesscolleagues who would be workingtogether around the world, and show offsome of the prettiest parts of WestMichigan. So Gregg called on fellowclub member sailors and the Club stafffor the solution to his challenge.

Answering the call for assistance, Rodand Annie Van Tol, Bob and JanetStandish, Bill and Lisa Ruoff, John andLinda Stephenson, and father-in-lawBob DeJong made their sailboatsavailable for a pleasant evening cruise

into Lake Michigan—reaching on thepuffs of an easterly breeze on Tuesday,June 17. Returning to the docks at 8:00p.m. one of the sailors observed, “no sunor sunset tonight, but then no rain orflies either.”

With excellent planning and even betterexecution, executive chef, Jim Ruehleand his team, and Irena Miller and herteam served each guest her/his selectionof beef filet, tuna, specially preparedchicken dishes and other great selectionswhile the bar served its usual greatselection of cocktails and wine or beer.Gregg reports that for the rest of thebusiness conference, he continued toreceive compliments about the greathospitality and friendliness served withfine food and drink. He and his businesscolleagues considered the evening a hugesuccess.

In reflecting on the evening, Greggreports: “If you’re looking for a uniquevenue to both entertain and build strong

relationships with your team, I wouldhighly encourage you to consider MBYCfor your needs. If you’re not sure whomto contact to arrange a fleet, you couldstart with anyone on the Bridge. I wasamazed by the willingness of our clubmembers to show off our location, ourpassion for sailing, and our hospitality. Ialso found the cooperation of the staffoverwhelmingly positive. Marilyn, Jim,and their team exceeded my expectationsand their attention to details wasimpressive!”

The next time you are considering avenue for a business meeting orentertainment, you would serve yourbusiness colleagues well by makingarrangements at your favorite YachtClub. In fact, virtually every specialoccasion hosted by our Yacht Clubresults in unsolicited compliments aboutthe food, service and location. Is thereanything better anywhere in the area?by Bob DeJong

INTERNATIONAL TEAM BUILDING AT MBYC

Past Commodores’ AnnualLuncheon (pictured left to right):Paul Brown, Jack Smith, Jack Siebers,

Phil Ragains, John Stevenson,Seymore Padnos, Robert Sligh, ClarkWeersing, Steve Ratliff, Kevin Dolle,

Herb Eldean, Sam Martin, CharlieSligh III, Rod VanTol, Rudy Vedovell,Rick Kraii.

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East Meets West took on a new twist thissummer as we expanded to include allof the club in this traditional comingtogether of the docks. Members from the“pool” crowd, as well as racers and drydock boaters, joined in for Dueling Horsd’ Oeuvres under the tent. With around50 members attending, it was nice to seethe camaraderie and competitive spiritover all of the interesting and greattasting appetizers. The judges had a hardtime picking as they claimed everythingwas great. But prizes were eventuallyawarded to: Jeanne Marie Rifkin bestpresentation, Michael Nagelkirk mostunique, Tom DeRoseau best overall,Lenore D’Haem best taste, and JanetMagennis ease of preparation. Below weprint the winners’ recipes direct from their computerized cookbooks. by Janet Standish

Raspberry Cheese Surprise (DeRoseau): 1 C shredded cheddar cheese, 1 C shredded cojack cheese, 1 C mayonnaise,½ C chopped green onions, 2 C chopped pecans. Mix and form into a flattened cheese ball. Cover with raspberrypreserves, top with fresh raspberries and pecans. Serve with Crackers

Grilled cream cheese (D’Haem) On a sheet of aluminum foil, place one stick of Neufchatel cream cheese. Top with 2-3 tbs of pesto, 1/3 c. chopped tomatoes, sundried tomatoes to taste, and 1/3 C shredded five cheese blend. Place ongrill and cover with a lid. Heat until cheese on top is melted (or simply use a microwave dish). Serve with Triscuits.

Breadsticks (Rifkin): 1 box Skinny Italian Breadsticks, Vegetable Cream Cheese: Blend in food processor: ½ red pepper,¼ red onion, 3 sprigs fresh basil, 1 carrot, 1 glove garlic. Stir in: ½ tsp. Tabasco sauce, 3 – 8oz pkg. cream cheese, 1 lbthin prosciutto, 25 green olives, 25 peppadew (red African peppers cut in half). Assembly: spread one end of breadstickwith vegetable cream cheese, roll on slice of prosciutto around cream cheese, put an olive or a peppadew on theend, and chill.

Baked Brie (Magennis): Preps in just five minutes. Use a ready piecrust or puff pastry or a can of crescent rolls(unseparated). 1 Pillsbury Ready Crust (or store brand) brought to room temp, 1 round or wedge of Brie cheese, 1 cupcherry preserves (or other fruit preserves), ¼ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup maple syrup, dried Michigan cherries if desired –one/two handfuls. Use a quiche pan or pie plate and spray with cooking spray. Open and lay out the pie crust. PlaceBrie round or wedge on top of pastry. Spread preserves on Brie, add dried fruit if desired. Fold crust up around Brie andpucker the top. Drizzle maple syrup over top and place brown sugar on top. Bake at 350º for 30 minutes. Let cool for 10minutes before serving. Serve with crackers or tart apple slices.

Tuna Nicoise Ficelles (Nagelkirk): 3 large eggs, 2 tbp red wine vinegar, 5 tbp xtra virg olive oil, 6 flat anchovy,chopped,2 tbp capers, drained, 1 med shallot, minced, Kosher salt & fresh gd pepper, 12 oz chunk white tuna, drained & flaked,2-24 inch thin baguettes, 1 small red leaf lettuce, 10 oz plum tomatoes, quartered & oven roasted, 3/4 cp oil-curedblack olives, pitted & chopped. 1. Place eggs in med pan cool water & simmer 10 min. Drain & cool. Peel & thinly slice.Set aside. 2. Place vinegar in small stainless steel bowl. Slowly whisk oil. Add anchovies, capers, shallots. Season w/salt& pepper. Add tuna & toss. 3. Split baguette lengthwise without cutting through. Fold loaves open. Arrange lettucealong the inside. Spoon tuna mix evenly onto lettuce, top w/egg slices, tomatoes, olives. Close baugettes & cut intotwelve 2-in sandwiches. For roasted tomatoes: 1. Quarter tomatoes. Toss w/ 1 tbsp olive oil. Add salt & pepper. 2. Placeon parchment paper on flat baking pan. 3. Roast 1 to 1-1/2hr at 275.

Dueling Horsd’oeuvres or EastMeets West: Thefood was great!

Photos by Annie VanTol

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The Winners

The Judges

The Food

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New Member Partylaunches the sum-mer with friendlysmiles for new faces

A Larry & Lenore D’Haem with newmembers Justin & Kristen Salava.B New member Gina Attee (redname tag) talks with Nick Honor,Coreen Slanec and Judy Stellin.C Bill and Lisa Ruoff talk with Steve &Nancy Steketee.D Nate Bryan with granddaughtersLauren Brand & Dani Gamache.E Coreen & Tom Slanec with grand-son Andrew.G John Stevenson, MaryJane & PaulSchoenherr with Lenore D’HaemPhotos by Annie VanTol

A

B

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110 Fleet Racing In front of the Club on a Blue Sky Day

110 photos by Mary Bontekoe.

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LASER GREAT LAKESCHAMPIONSHIP: AGREAT SUCCESS!

MBYC hosted its firstregatta of the season onJune 13/14 and a bigthanks is given to Laserfleet captain JP Del SolarGoldsmith! JP did atremendous amount ofwork prior to the event and

it paid off. JP focussed on one on one marketing of the eventand sailors from as far as Toronto, Texas and California traveledto MBYC to compete. Top national youth sailors such as LaserFull rig competitor Colin Smith and Laser Radial competitorAnnie Haeger took part. The race committee led by BarbGamache and including Commodore Roger Gamache andDoug Slade did a great job in light and shify conditions onboth Lake Michigan and Lake Macatawa. Two races were heldSaturday on the Big Lake and three on Sunday on Lake Mac.46 sailors took part with 32 in the Full rig including JP, MikeKiss, Steve Sisson and Don Bergman and 14 in the Radial rigincluding Sam Padnos (1st), Mitchell Kiss (2nd), Alex Post,and Armaan Dandavati. Surplus funds from the regatta willgo to building a stronger MBYC Laser fleet.

MBYC JY 15 FLEET: A RENAISSANCE!

JY 15 activity declined in 2007 and 2008 and many believedthat the fleet was dead. Fleet captains Jan and Mike Stewartdisagreed. They did a lot of marketing of the fleet during thewinter and enthusiasm for Friday night racing has returnedwith 10 JYs taking part in the first evening of racing. This is agreater number of racers than has been seen for years! If you

have access to a JY, please join in the fun Friday evening.Without Jan and Mike’s extensive efforts, the portion of LakeMac in front of MBYC would be quiet this summer on Fridayevenings. Thanks go to Jan and Mike for the JY 15 renaissance!

M20 FLEET: ENTHUSIASTIC ROAD WARRIORS!

Mike Kiss, John Arendshorst, and Erik Post are enthusiasticnew owners of the M20. Starting in early April, MBYC hasbeen the venue for a lot of M20 activity: practices, Wednesdaynight racing, as well as our offshore Saturday series. Mike,John, Erik and their crews are rapidly moving down thelearning curve and a lot of tuning info is being exchangedamongst the three teams. The three teams are also travellingto compete with other regional teams taking part in regattasalready at Muskegon Yacht Club and twice at Bayview/Crescent Yacht Clubs in Detroit. All this activity is leadingup to the first ever M20 Nationals to be held at MBYC: August21-23.

CONGRATULATIONS TO DANI GAMACHE:COLLEGIATE ALL-AMERICAN!

Rona Sisson was the first MBYC sailor to win college All-American honors. She did so representing Stanford Universityas a crew in 1984 and 1986. Dani Gamache is the secondMBYC sailor to win college All-American honors. Danicompeted for SUNY Maritime (NYC) in the 2009 collegenational championships in early June in San Francisco and atthe conclusion of that event the 2009 All-Americans wereannounced. Eight women skippers won AA honors along with20 women crew - including Dani. Congratulations to Danifor her great college racing career!

John Donnelly

RREAR CCO M M O D O R E’’S RREPORT

MBYC volunteer photographersare available almost anytime totake a new family or individualphoto for the Logbook. Your flagofficers would love to have allfamilies pictured in the 2010Logbook member photo sec-tion. Photographers are willing totake photos anywhere on clubproperty or on your boat, during

club events or just when youhappen to be here. You can callone up to make arrangementsor just ask them if you happento see them at the club. Volun-teering to take your picture areAnnie VanTol, Doug Slade, EdKita, or editor Jon Bontekoe.We’ll even email you a copy ofthe picture!

2010 Logbook Family Photo Service

Laser fleet of 46 boats crosses thestart line in the June 13-14 GreatLakes Laser Championship Regattaheld at MBYC. Photo by Tovi Kiss.

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Morgan Kiss’ sailing partner LauraMcKenna of the St. Francis Yacht Clubin San Francisco was recently featured intheir news letter. McKenna, havingfinished high school, is ready to attendBoston College and join their top rankedsailing team, and has one more goal forher junior sailing career. With heryounger partner from MBYC, MorganKiss, their goal was to be the USrepresentative team in the 420 worldsailing championships. Their preparationfor the world championships includessummer travel to regattas and training inEurope and Brazil. The followingparagraphs regarding Morgan and Lauraare taken from the St. Francis newsletter:

“After a couple of championship seasonssailing with her Chicago-based”…partner who “aged out of youthcompetition … Laura still yearned for ashot to represent the US at the prestigiousISAF Youth World Champtiopnships.Another Midwest connection pairedLaura with 15 year old sailing prodigyMorgan Kiss from Holland, Michigan.Laura’s extensive crewing experiencecombined with the raw talent of Kiss (anationally ranked Opti sailor) were aquick match for success.

“After being named to the US SailingTeam under-18 development team, thepair sought out the coaching services ofDave Dellenbaugh (of America’s Cupfame) and quickly rose to the top of the420 fleet. At the ISAF qualifiers in LongBeach in December, Kiss and Mckennabested the other teams from across thecountry to give them the berth torepresent Team USA at the Youth Worldsin Buzios, Brazil in July.” jb

MBYC Commodores’ daughters make successful sailors!

Pictured below: Dani Gamache

The Inter-collegiate Sailing Associationof North American has selected DanielleGamache ‘All American’, a majorNational Sailing Award, as a result of hersuccess during the national sailingchampionships in May and for hersuccessful college sailing career. Dani hasjust completed a 4-year BS inOceanography and Meterology at SUNYMaritime College in The Bronx, NewYork. Dani elected to attend SUNYMaritime because of its high-level sailingprogram and her interest in studying at aMaritime college. She was on the sailingteam all four years and completed hercollege racing career participating withthe SUNY team at the NationalChampionship Regatta. In her senior yearshe sailed as crew in both team racing andon the co-ed team. Both Dani and herskipper Todd Hawkins were given the AllAmerican award. In both divisions sherepresented SUNY Maritime at theRegional and National Championships,sailing against top-sailing teams fromHarvard, Yale, Georgetown, Stanford,Boston College, and other top sailing

schools. Upon graduation she received a3rd Mates License with unlimitedtonnage. She is currently hoping to starta career on the ocean and ship out on aocean tanker or container freighter.

Dani, whose father is MBYCCommodore Roger Gamache, started hersailing experience in the MBJA lessonsprogram. After completing 8th grade sheraced on Jack Knoblauch’s ‘Capricious’and was invited by Bob Hughes to crewon ‘Heartbreaker’, then a 1D35 and laterwhen he moved his racing program intothe Farr 40. Dani participated in one ofthe earlier Canada’s Cup regattas onHeartbreaker, but was not able toparticipate while in college. She creditsher ‘big boat’ experiences with giving hera feel ‘for how well the boat is sailing’that lead to her success at the college level.It was not until college that Dani becameheavily involved in small-boat sailing,where competition is sailed on FlyingJuniors and 420’s. The Nationals tookplace in San Francisco. They were hostedby Stanford University and the St. FrancisYacht Club and were sailed on FJ’s. Rogerand Annie Gamache flew out to SanFrancisco to watch her last college races.jb

Dani Gamache elected College All-AmericanSt. Francis Yacht Club inSan Francisco honorsMorgan Kiss

Pictured below: Morgan Kiss

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Another June ‘storm of thecentury’ dumps 8” of rain onMacatawa. Mac the Sailorgets to go to sea again, carshave to wade down thestreet, lights do out during din-ner, the creek overflows withwater & debri and sewagesystems overwhelmed again.

Photos by jb. Lights out in the clubphoto by Lance Baker.

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Hard to believe that we are already intoour second session of sailing lessons thissummer! The kids (and the staff!) havereally been enjoying their time on thewater. We still have spots available in 3rd

& 4th sessions. Let your friends knowwhat a hidden treasure we have! You doNOT need to be a member to takeclasses. Come down or check the actionin the photo gallery on our NEWwebsite (www.mbja.org) !

Don’t forget about the adult learn to sailclasses Tuesdays as well. This year, wechanged the format to a four week,Tuesdays only format. Classes s run from5:30-8:30. The second session beginsJuly 14 and there is plenty of room stillavailable! It’s not too late to sign up!

Independence Day races will be SundayJuly 5. Juniors, come out for club racingin your 420. Opti or Laser! We’relooking to finish off the holiday weekendwith a BANG! (and to show our clubhow super the future looks in sailing!

Are you interested in helping with ayouth regatta? Put Saturday August 1 on

your calendar for the final event of theWest Michigan Youth SailingAssociation season. MBYC will behosting five yacht clubs from WestMichigan and help will be needed inrefreshments, race committee (includingboats!), awards, and general assistance.Even if you areavailable foronly 1 or 2hours, we willhave a role foryou. We willalso needc o m m i t t e eboats for racec o m m i t t e e .Contact Marie if you are available tohelp.

Thanks for all of your support thissummer! See you on the water!

Marie Mell

Pictured below is the first MBJA after-noon sailing class with instructors anddirector Marie Mell on the floating Optidock ready for the first lesson in riggingand safety. Photo by jb

MBJA lesson season up and running: a reportfrom director Marie Mell

VanderLeek CupHospice RegattaAugust 22, 2009

Open to the public - Come &bring your friends

• To race– FUN comfort cruisersclass (no tech sails)• AND to race competitive classes• For ice cream social after theraces• For dinner - pig roast buffet

& auction, awards &• Music by Peter Trappen

Honor the memory of pastcommodore Paul VanderLeek

and support Hospice of Hollandpatients in need

www.mbyc.com for event details,NOR & entry form

Weekly Email reminders help memberskeep up-to-date on events at MBYC. Ifyou would like to be added to our emaillist, send an email [email protected] and you will getadded to our weekly broadcast.

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J U L Y 2 0 0 9Sun. Fri.Thurs.Wed.Tues.Mon.

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WindscoopCopy Due

Opti Racing

Laser & Opti Racing

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Summer Series


Laser Racing

Melges 20/JY15Racing

Melges 20/JY15

Main Events in July

31MBJYC Pool

OlympicsFamily Pool Party

Laser & Opti Racing

Laser & OptiPatriot Race

Ladies Offshore Race Catalina Rendez..

Chicago Mac


Laser & Opti Racing


MBYC PHRF #4

Port Huron-MacRace

Laser & Opti Racing

Catalina Rendezvous


Golf TournamentJuly 4 Picnic

MBJYC Ice Cream SocialKollen Park Fireworks

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Rock ‘n Roll PartyCatalina Rendezvous

MBYC #3PHRF #3

VanAndelFireworks

Sat July 4Picnic & Ice Cream Social

Sat July 1150’s Party (with Catalina)

Sun July 26Family Pool Party & Olympics

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August 2009 www.mbyc.com


2

CO M M O D O R E’S REPORTI am writing immediatelyprior to the Chicago-Mackinac Race and beforeour July Board of Directorsmeeting. By the timeyou’re reading this, both ofthose events will haveoccurred and you’ll havethe benefit of knowing howit all turned out. Butwithout that knowledge,

here’s some highlights for August.

Carpe Diem (“seize the day”). The MBYC season builds to acrescendo in August. Our sailing program includes the WestMichigan Youth Sailing Association Championships,Commodore’s Cup, the Club 420 North AmericanChampionships, the Vanderleek/Hospice Regatta, and the firstnational Melges 20 regatta (with participants from as far awayas Italy). There’s a “whole lot of sailing going on” at MBYC.Make sure you take some time to participate or spectate. Onthe social calendar, the month begins with the “Commodore’sRoast” at poolside, and ends with the Commodore’s Ball, along celebrated tradition honoring our past commodores.Check out the specific events, dates, and times in thisWindscoop and at our website.

Meanwhile… Your Board has been working on a number ofprojects this year which are moving along toward completion.One project has been to evaluate our current club informationmanagement “system” consisting of accounting, membershipdata, and club communication systems. The goal of the

discussion is to improve operating efficiency while at the sametime improving the quality of our members’ experience. Thereis clear consensus that our current system is inadequate. Thereis less consensus on how to address the problem, although asuitable solution is emerging. As always, the amount andtiming of the funding for this project remains a concern. Arelated issue under discussion is explicit formalization ofpolicies regarding member privacy. This becomes a criticalissue as we gather member information into a single data base,and enhance the ability to use that information. We areworking on By-Laws, policies, and procedures to protect theprivacy of all members.

Another source of concern/discussion is a more stable solutionfor the eastern side of our riparian boundary. A second “stormof the century” has threatened our access to our small boatharbor. We are working through a number of ideas, evaluatingeach against considerations of cost and feasibility. A finalproject has been evaluating the feasibility/cost of convertingthe primary restrooms in the clubhouse to “barrier free.” Asthe demographics of our general population (and ourmembership) ages, the issue of access becomes progressivelymore critical to our club. The forward planning committee isresearching the optimum solution to this challenge. Of course,the amount and timing of the expenditure becomes animportant consideration for our continued financial security.

Overall, it’s been a busy year, and it’s going to be even morebusy in August. Hope I see you at our club!

Roger Gamache

An island fit for the birds hasformed in the East Bay justoutside the creek where, de-spite increases in water depths,the sand deposits are limitingaccess to the small boatdocks. Dredging will in all prob-ability have to be planned fornext spring. Photo by jb

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ON DECK FOR FORON DECK FOR FORON DECK FOR FORON DECK FOR FORON DECK FOR FOR

AUGUST 2009AUGUST 2009AUGUST 2009AUGUST 2009AUGUST 2009

Saturday, August 8th

COMMORDORES’s Cup and

“All Club” COMMODORE’s ROAST

Sunday, August 9th

FAMILY CARNIVAL

Thursday, August 13th to Sunday August 16th

420 NATIONALS

Saturday, August 22nd

VANDERLEEK CUP AND “All Club”

REGATTA PARTY

MELGES 20 NATIONALS

Friday, August 28th

STOCKHOLDERS’ MEETING

Saturday, August 29th

COMMODORES’ BALL

Friday, September 4th to September 7th

LABOR WEEKEND

Saturday Nite– End of Summer Blast

Monday – Labor Day Breakfast

LOOK FOR EMAIL BLAST AND FLYERS for FURTHER

INFORMATION FOR EACH EVENT!!!

ATTENTION WINGS FANS!!(not as in hockey)

Executive Chef Jim Ruehle knows thatwe have many wings fans here at theClub. But Jim has received a few mixedsignals about your preference of thisyear’s model versus last year’s. We knowthat we cannot serve everyone’s preferredstyle, but Jim will “net” the modelreceiving the most votes. So call or emailthe Club ([email protected]) votingfor the 2008 or 2009 style. She/he whovoteth not, complaineth not. (Famousancient maxim—attributed to ancientGreece)

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July 4 BrJuly 4 Breakfast, Golf, Fireakfast, Golf, Fire We Works & Funorks & Fun

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Did You Know...

• You CAN help shape the food and bar service at the club?· We are always striving for continual improvement so please fill

out the comment card presented with your bill when you aredining at the club. You can return it with your bill or place it inthe suggestion box at the doorway between dining room and bararea.

• You CAN learn to sail?· Go to MBYC.COM and click on Sailing schools and then MBJA

sailing schools. You will immediately be connected to http://www.mbja.org/ Click on sailing lessons 2009 and you can signup! If you have an interest in sailing on a boat for the Wednesdaynight races you can also contact our Commodore Roger Gamacheat [email protected].

• You CAN get food and drinks at the pool or at your boat?· There is a portable phone at the sign-in sheet by the pool. Just

pick it up, dial the club’s number (located conveniently on thefood order form by the phone) and place your order. To helpfacilitate delivery, inform our staff where you are located. Usingyour cell phone, you can also order from your boat! Please beunderstanding if all of our staff are busy serving other guests andmembers inside that you may be asked to pick up your order.

July 4 Photos by Doug Slade, Annie Van Tol,Jon Bontekoe

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Custom Painted CrystalMBYC Wine Glasses

Through special arrangements with Leena Sullivan of Grand Rapids,MBYC members can now order custom painted wine glassesfeaturing our club burgee, Big Red, and/or the name of your boator cottage. Samples of the art work are located in the Nauti-Shopdisplay case along with order forms. Price: $28.50 each. Allowthree to four weeks for delivery.

As I write this, we arequickly approaching theend of July. So quickly thesummer flies by. But by allreports, and in spite of theweather providing some ofthe coolest July days inrecorded history and inspite of a less thanflourishing economy, yourClub is doing well. Oursales are at or above last year,

and we have seen more inquiries for membership informationthan many of us can recall for many years.

HOUSE COMMITTEE:Marilyn reports that our dining sales for June are upapproximately 15 percent over last year. You may recall thatCommodore Gamache extended invitations of reciprocity fordining to our neighboring yacht clubs, and our boating friendsat those clubs have been taking advantage of our dining services.We are happy to accommodate them, and the additionalrevenue is good for our bottom line. As many of you know, somuch of our dining related expense is fixed, such that the moredinners and cocktails we serve, the better we can spread thoseexpenses.

Over all our beverage sales are about the same as last year: beerand wine sales are up over last year for June, but liquor saleswere down correspondingly. Most of our members know bynow that our wine markups are very modest in comparisonwith markups by most restaurants. Our beer selection includesmostly premium beer with local on- tap favorites like Oberonand Founders. Marilyn and Jim continue to work hard todeliver good value for our members, and our restaurant andbar prices reflect that. And your comments indicate yourappreciation.

Remember that our bar is willing to stock your favorite wineand liquor if it is not already carried in stock. So pleaseremember that if our bar does not have your favorite bourbon,vodka, gin or other drink, you only need to let our bartendersknow, and it will be ordered. Thank you for your constructivecomments on your dining comment cards. This feedback isused by our general manager, dining room manager and masterchef in helping to respond to your needs and desires. Keepthem coming.

DOCK AND GROUNDS:We continue to explore needs and costs for additional dredgingthat may be required as a result of our seemingly now-annualone hundred year rains. We want to accommodate our juniorsailors while using our resources frugally. There are no otherknown significant expenses on the horizon for this year—atleast none that are planned. While we try to minimizeunpleasant surprises, we cannot eliminate them.

SUGGESTIONS?Please let us know your thoughts on how we can better serveour members. Sometimes these are little things. For example,someone noticed that we had a number of nice chairs stackedby the swimming pool for those extra busy days, and suggestedthat they might be better utilized under the tent. As theweekend morning “brain trust” can attest, the chairs wererelocated under the tent within two days of the suggestion. Itwas a little thing, but it made things nicer.

Hint: The Commodores’ Ball will be here before you know it.This event has become THE EVENT of the year as Jim showsoff his and his team’s talents in creating dishes for extraordinarydining. I am guessing that this event sells out this year: so getyour reservations in early; and please do not be upset with ourstaff if you call last minute and there is no more room available.Thanks for your understanding.

Bob DeJong

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MBYC.COM RE-DISIGNED

Thanks to the continued work of Bob Standish, our newly designedwebsite now has a section for “members only,” new links including“Sailflow” and a new home page. In order to help restrict certaininformation to our members, our site now allows members only toaccess certain parts of the site. Each member will be allowed freeregistration as another benefit of Club membership. Be sure to allowtwenty four hours (or so) for approval of your registration to confirmthat only members are allowed to register.

Many of our members have discovered already that our website is a fastand convenient way to confirm dates and times for the next socialevent as well as race schedules. Nearly everything you want to knowabout MBYC can be found with just a few clicks on your computer. Ifyou haven’t already done so, you will want to include this site amongyour “favorites” list.

The Bergmans won thegrueling Annual MBYCIndependence DayWooden Canoe Race onLake Macatawa againstmuch younger competi-tion. After the first heatother potential competi-tors bowed out. Photos byAnnie Van Tol.

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July 5 LadiesPHRF features 3MBYC racersThree boats participated in the July 5Ladies PHRF race (second annual!). Ca-pricious captained by Linda Knoblauchtook first over all in the three races, Sec-ond Wind (AKA Winch Wenches)steered by Jean Bergman placed second,and Hot for Teacher under Marie Mellplaced third. All three boats raced Spin-naker division. There were no boats en-tered in the JAM division. Race chairJack Knoblauch would love to have moreboats participate - come on ladies - showyour skills!

Small pictures in center show the threecrews at the awards ceremony or onthe boat. There were even a few spec-tator boats! Pictures by Doug Slade,Grant Chaney, Joe Bonadies, & JackKnoblauch.

Roast Commodore Gamache at the

Commodore’s RoastSaturday Evening, August 8, 2009

In a casual pool-side post-race party complete withgrilled fun-food, poolside bar. 4:00 PM - 8:00 PMJoin with Commodore’s Cup racing crews and

MBYC club members.Open microphone to get in your digs.

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MBYC’s own Saturday PHRF racing hascome to be a time for the Melges Fleetsto shine as M-20s, M-24s, and M-32scompete regularly in addition, of course,to any and all PHRF boats. And ofcourse The Wednesday night BayshoreSummer Series brings out upwards of 50boats from around the Holland area andfeatures both Spinnaker and JAM sec-tions with different starts for various boatsizes. There is always room for moreboats to participate and joining up iseasy. Just check out the racing section ofthe club website at mbyc.com orBayshore’s website atbayshoreyachtclub.org.

COMMODORES’ BALLSaturday evening, August 29, 2009

Reservations RequiredBe sure to reserve early to assure a place for you

at the highlight of the club’s social year.And dance the night away!

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Sat PHRF Racing & Wed Bayshore Series

Racing photos submitted by DougSlade and Tom Sanec.

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MACKINAC: GO WEST,YOUNG MAN

Horace Greeley, the 19thcentury newspaperman,had this straightforwardadvice: “Go west, youngman.” Henry DavidThoreau,another great19th century American,talked about “marching tothe beat of a different

drummer.” All this advice benefited those who followed it inthe 2009 Chicago- Mackinac race.

In the last few years, the installation of GPS transponderdevices in 80% of the Mac race boats has been a great additionfor those on shore who want to follow the race and thosecompetitors who want to reconstruct what worked well andwhat did not.

Over 300 boats competed in the 2009 race. All but two (atleast of those who had GPS devices) followed the general trackof heading NNE to the Michigan shore. Two boats marchedto a different drummer and went NW to the Wisconsin shore.The two boats were Flash Gordon 5, a Farr 40 from ChicagoYC and Zoom, a Farr 395 also from Chicago YC

Late Sunday afternoon when nearly all the fleet was driftingalong the shore between Pentwater and Ludington, fifty milesto the west,Flash Gordon and Zoom were moving in sight ofthe Wisconsin shore with great pressure north of Sheboygan.Late Sunday Zoom peeled off the Wisconsin shore and headedwith strong pressure towards Fox and Beaver Islands. FlashGordon stayed along the Door Peninsula heading towardsManistique, Michigan in the UP. She ran into light air Mondayafternoon and lost much of her lead.

At 10:30am on Monday Zoom, after passing north of theManitous, was just east of South Fox Island and moving withgood pressure 30 miles ahead of her nearest competitor insection 3 and 50 miles ahead of the bulk of section 3 whowere in light air off of Frankfort. Zoom had taken a greatcircle route to Grays Reef - a route at least 30 miles longerthan that sailed by the other 300+ boats , but she had sailed itwith much better pressure.

Windquest finished at 3:15pm on Monday. Zoom, the Farr395 and lead boat from section 3, passed through the GraysReef channel around 7pm on Monday together with the

balance of the boats from the Turbo class and the lead GL70s. Zoom finished just after 11pm on Monday and the nextboat in her class did not finish until nine hours later. She wasthe 9th boat to cross the finish line - beating one turbo andfive GL70s - and was the overall winner of the Chicago-Mackinac Trophy division.

A number of MBYC boats competed in the race: Windquest,Tyrant, Heatbreaker, Willie J, Sufficient Reason, Gauntlet(also doing the Super Mac), and Whitecap. Two of those boatshad corrected time finishes in the top three of their sections:Doug Petter and his Willie J crew were 3rd in section 2 and4th overall in the Chicago-Mackinac trophy division whileDon Thinschmidt and his Tyrant crew, includingCommodore Gamache, were 2nd in section 1 and 15th overall.Both of these boats followed the normal route along theMichigan shore and simply outsailed their competition.Congratulations to all MBYC sailors who competed in therace!"

JUNE RACE HIGHLIGHTS

The Chicago NOOD was held June 19-21. It started withstrong thunderstorms Friday morning, which delayed racing,and ended with a number of MBYC sailors posting strongresults. In PHRF-2 two Melges 32s from MBYC finished inthe top three: Doug DeVos 1st and Ted Etheridge 3rd. TwoMBYC S2 7.9s also finished in the top three: Jeff/Doug Padnos1st and Peter Schwarz 3rd. Sam Padnos was 3rd in the Etchellsfleet.

The Queen's Cup was held June 25/6. Doug DeVos andWindquest finished first in PHRF-1 and 1st overall. TomSlanec and the Talaria crew were victorious in PHRF-10.

The Laser Radial North American championships were heldJune 26-29 at the Buffalo Canoe Club on Lake Erie. MitchellKiss finished a very stong 5th in a fleet of 121 Laser Radials.The winner of the event was Lisa Ross from Canada whosailed the Laser Radial for her country in the 2008 Olympics.

MELGES 24s

The MBYC M24s were out on the Big Lake in full force forthe July 11 offshore races - congratulations to fleet captainDarren Lance! Four M24s were on the line and it was thelargest turnout ever for M24s at MBYC. Three races weresailed and the weekend winner was decided in the last racewith Merrill Tutton beating Jack Vandenberg by a foot. We

Continued on Page 13 ------------->

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DOWN THE RACE COURSEDOWN THE RACE COURSEDOWN THE RACE COURSEDOWN THE RACE COURSEDOWN THE RACE COURSE

Sunday, September 13th

RENDEVOUS

Saturday, September 19th

WHINE PARTY

Thursday September 17th to September 20th

7.9 NATIONALS

Saturday, October 19th

AWARDS DINNER and

CHANGE OF WATCH

Friday, October 30th

HALLOWEEN PARTY

hope to see this many M24s out for ev-ery MBYC Saturday regatta!

MORGAN KISS REPRESENTS USAAT YOUTH WORLD CHAMPS INBRAZIL

The International Sailing Federation(ISAF) holds an annual youth world sail-ing championship. There are sevenclasses: ( Intl.420 boys, Intl. 420 girls,Laser Radial boys , Laser Radial girls,Hobie 16, windsurfer boys, andwindsurfer girls. Each country can sendone team for each class. Morgan Kiss andLaura Mckenna (California) won a quali-fying regatta in January and were the USAteam at the youth world champs in theIntl. 420 girls. Morgan and Laura had avery strong regatta and were third overallgoing into the the final race. Their finalfinish was 5th out of 24 teams. The teamsahead of them were: Brazil 1st, Italy 2nd,Singapore 3rd and New Zealand 4th.This was the best result for any USAteam!

John Donnelly

Donnelly continued

Catalina sailors came to MBYCfor their yearly rendezvous,complete with a Friday ShrimpBoil, Saturday 50’s party anddance, and Sunday boatingskills tests. Several MBYC mem-bers joined the Catalina Groupin their 50’s fun Saturday night.Photos by Annie Van Tol

Photo above: Wind Scoop photogra-pher John Stephenson caught thisphoto of Windquest at Gray’s Reef.

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The Wind Scoop cover photo was takenby Joe Bonadies during MBYC’s July 5Ladies PHRF racing. Pictured is JeanBergman’s Second Wind, renamed‘Winch Wenches’ for the day’s specialevent.Two additional boats, Capriciousand Hot for Teacher participated in theall-ladies annual race. See pages 8-9 formore Ladies PHRF pictres. Please sub-mit your club photos to Wind Scoopeditor Jon Bontekoe at:[email protected]

MBYC small boat racing happens every week

VANDERLEEK CUP AWARDS & BUFFET

Saturday, August 22, 2009 at 6:00 PMPig Roast $25.00 adults, $10.00 children 3-10.

Adult price includes tax, tip, and $10.00 donation toHolland Hospice.

Music by Peter TrappenEveryone is invite, not just racers!

RSVP by August 17(616-335-5815 or cluboffice @mbyc.com

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It has been a great summer so far at oursailing school! Our students have beenexcited about being on the water andhave been learning so much about safety,boat handling, on the water strategiesand having lots of fun in the manyvarying conditions during the month ofJuly. We’ve had many success stories,including kids who were hesitant aboutbeing in an Opti and out on the waterat the beginning of their session, and bythe end of the session asking their parentsto sign them up for MORE! Kudos toour instructors Casey, Shari and Jon, aswell as our helpers Genni, Alex, Jay, Lexiand Anthony for their excitement andlove of sailing that they are sharing withthe kids. It is obvious that we have a coregroup of kids coming up that are goingto be good sailors and racers in theMidwest in the very near future!

At this writing, we have been busy withthe West Michigan Youth SailingAssociation regattas and are on track todefend our 1st place title on SaturdayAugust 1 here at Mac Bay. Clubs fromGrand Rapids, Muskegon, Saugatuck,Spring Lake and St. Joe will be heregiving us their best challenge! We wouldlove to have you come out and supportus and be part of the awards ceremonyfollowing under the MBYC tent.

Congratulations to Graham Post,Caroline Sisson, DJ Litts, AnthonyNorris, Jay Mitchell and Alex Post for

their finishes at the Detroit JuniorOlympics July 18 & 19. Grahamfinished 2nd in the Opti White andAnthony finished 2nd in the Opti Reddivisions. In the Laser Radials, Alexfinished 1st, while Jay finished 2nd in theLaser division. At the second WMYSAregatta, we had three of the top 10 Optifinishers. Congrats to first place AlexBrown, thirdplace CaseyTutton andninth placeN a t a l i eBrown. RyanTutton andM i c h a e lC a l i s t r if i n i s h e dsecond in the 420 fleet. WAY TO GOTEAM MAC!

Looking ahead to October, we are proudto again be hosting the Junior OlympicsOctober 10 & 11 with some of the bestof Michigan, Indiana, Illinois andWisconsin junior sailors. Come join thefun! Contact Steve Sisson or Marie if youare available to help with race committee,safety, hospitality, registration or to letus borrow your boat for the weekend!We will need some larger power boatsto help in Lake Michigan.

See you on the water! Marie Mell

MBJA Report

MBYC team winners.

Lasers and Optis photos by DougSlade & jb. Junior Olympics winnersphoto by Marie Mell

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Melges 20/JY15Racing

Main Events in AugustAugust 8 Commodore’s Roast PartyAugust 9 Family CarnivalAugust 22 VanderLeek PartyAugust 28 Stock Holders MeetingAugust 29 Commodores’ Ball

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Laser & Opti Racing

Melges 20 Nationals

Laser & Opti Racing


MBYC Series #5Melges 20/JY 15Racing

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West MichiganYouth Championship

Harbor Springs

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420 NationalsCommodore’s Cup

Laser & Opti Racing

420 Nationals 420 Nationals

Verve CupChicago

420 Nationals

Verve CupChicago

Verve CupChicago

Melges 20 Nationals

VanderLeekHospice Regatta

Melges 20 Nationals

Commodore’sRoast Party

Family CarnivalScavenger Hunt

MBJYC

VanderLeek Party

Stock HoldersMeeting

Commodores’ Ball

Laser & Opti Racing

1MACATAWA BAY YACHT CLUB • 2157 SOUTH SHORE DRIVE • MACATAWA, MI 49434 • 616-335-5815

September 2009 www.mbyc.com


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CO M M O D O R E’S REPORTOur club is a truly amazinggroup of people. If youthink about our annualcycle, the first 90 days ofthe year we’re in“hibernation.” Many ofour members are physically(and for the most part,“mentally”) removed fromthe club. In the next 90days, we shake off thetorpor of the winter and

begin to see signs of activity at the club. During this periodour challenge is meeting the needs of “early bird” memberswith restricted staff and resources.

The next 90 days “hit” with the force of a Lake Michigan linesquall. House and Restaurant, Pool, Docks and Grounds,Racing, Junior Sailing, Social Events and Junior Yacht Clubare all working at, or above, capacity. After the squall abates,we enter the final 90 days of the year, scaling down the clubwhile meeting the needs of the members still present, andpreparing the club for the winter and the start of the nextseason.

As your Commodore, I’ve been able to watch this entireprocess for 3 seasons, and have now experienced being at thehelm during the height of the “summer squall”. I’m proud ofthe job that our club has done this year, and thankful for theefforts that all members of our “crew” have put into makingthis a great year. At the risk of overlooking someone, I’d liketo make special notice of the following contributors.

Professional Staff: Marilyn Baker, Jim Ruehle, Doug Knapp,Irena Miller, Lance Baker, and their teams have the difficultjob of anticipating member’s needs, wants, and delights whileall the while reacting to sudden changes in plans (Storm ofthe Century? No problem! Extra participants for an event?No problem!) In fact, “no problem” seemed to be the themeof the summer.

Flag Officers: You are not Commodore alone. Paul Brown,Bob DeJong and John Donnelly have been constantlyavailable, responsible for their respective areas, and moreimportantly, providing good counsel along the way. I alsoneed to recognize Past Commodores David Sligh and JohnStephenson for their continued council and encouragement.Larry D’Haem has performed as Treasurer with grace and

caring stewardship. Mike Hill “re-upped” after 3 years onour Board to help keep the Board organized and “on-task” asour Secretary.

Your Board of Directors: A special thank you to all of ourBoard members: Dave Sligh, Jr, Lisa Ruoff, Tom Slanec, JackKnoblauch, Mitch Padnos, Joel Krissoff and Beth Egge. Boardparticipation this year involved extra meetings and extra work.We’ve spent the year focused on the future of the club, andmembers will begin to see some of our results in the comingmonths.

Event Sponsors: Our club is all about events. Sailing events.Social Events. Kid’s Events. The following members madesure that an ambitious schedule took place in fine fashion:Michelle Dolle, Mary Jo DeJong, Jay Mitchell, JackKnoblauch, Linda Knoblauch, Martha Walker, Pat Walker,Banba Donnelly, Crystal Helbing, Annie VanTol, JanetStandish, Bob Standish, Mitch Padnos, Karen Padnos, DaveSligh Jr., Rachel Sligh, Mike Hill, Colleen Hill, Jim Lilly, SaraGarlow-Lilly, Gwen Post, Rod Schmidt, Joanne Schmidt, TomSlanec, Coreen Slanec, Nancy Andreano, Larry Andreano,Mike Kiss, Tovi Kiss, Steve Sisson, Larry D’Haem, LenoreD’Haem, Janet Magennis, Steve Magennis, JD Stone, DickBecker, Dave Sligh Sr.

Club Communications: Our club’s “central nervous system”is our Wind Scoop and Webscoop. I was recently approachedby another club asking “who have you hired to do yournewsletter and website?” They were amazed that theseprofessional publications were produced in-house, byvolunteers. Congratulations and tremendous thanks to JonBontekoe and Bob Standish for their special contribution tothe life of our club.

In closing, please help me recognize the contribution of AnneGamache to the life of our club. Not only has Annecontributed directly through her work in the Nauti Shop,Social Committee, and as the author of our email “blasts”,flyers and table tents, but as many of you may know, she’s alsoneeded to pick up a number of my duties in our business, tomake time available for me to “play Commodore”. The oldaxiom of “behind every successful man…” was never moretrue than in my case.

Fall is a great time of year at our club – I look forward toseeing you at our Club!

Roger Gamache

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Friday, September 4th to September 7th

LABOR DAY WEEKEND

Saturday Nite–

End of Summer Blast for the Family 5:00-8:00pm

Sunday –

MBYC Jr. Yacht – Hobo Bon Fire

Monday –

Our Traditional Labor Day Breakfast 8:00 -10:00 AM

Junior Sailing Awards Immediately after!

Sunday, September 13th

THE RENDEVOUSJoin the fun down in Pine Creek Bay (3:00 - 6:00 pm)

Hosted by our new 2009 – 2010Commodore Robert De Jong

and Commodorable Mary Jo De Jong.Bring an appetizer to pass

Saturday, September 19thWHINE PARTY

Thursday September 17th to September 20th

7.9 NATIONALS

DOWN THE RACE COURSESaturday, October 17thAWARDS DINNER andCHANGE OF WATCHFriday, October 30th

FAMILY HALLOWEEN PARTYSunday, December 13th

HOLIDAY BRUNCHFriday, December 18th

ALL MEMBER HOLIDAY

COCKTAIL PARTY Rod & Jo Schmidt hosting

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Arendshorst M20

M20 from Italy

Capricious

M20

Ruoff’s Bearly Movin’

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The third annual VanderLeek CupHospice Regatta was held on Saturday,August 22 under what could be bestdescribed as a typical October day. With6 to 8 foot waves on Lake Michigan, theRace Committee wisely set up a courseon Lake Macatawa. The course took thefleet east 3.5 miles to the R-14 can andback to the start/finish line in front ofthe Club. Of the twenty boats enteredfifteen took on the challengingconditions of continuous wind shiftsand velocity changes.

The top three finishers in each divisionwere: Spinnaker 1: 1. Drumbeat(Etheridge). 2. Delta (Dalton DeVos).3. Capricious (Knoblauch). Spinnaker2: 1. Hot Tamale. 2. Second Wind(Bergman). 3. Hot Tuna (Louis Padnos).Jib & Main: 1. Kaboom. 2. Shillelagh(Malone). Comfort Cruisers: 1. Talaria(Slanec). 2. Bearly Movin’ (Rouff ). 3.Seranata (DeJong).

The crew of the overall winner in theSpinnaker Division, Drumbeat, will beinvited to compete in the HospiceRegatta’s National Championship nextJune in Rochester, New York. New thisyear are trophies awarded to skippers andcrews that contributed additional fundsto Hospice. Scored separately, correctedtimes were adjusted 1.5 seconds per milefor every $100 donated. The winners are:1: Drumbeat, Hot Tamale, Shillelagh,Talaria. Once again a special thank-yougoes to Barb Gamache and her racecommittee, David Sligh Sr., mark setboat and Jack Knoblauch, registrationand scoring. Thank-you too to all theskippers, crews, individuals andbusinesses that contributed over $15,000to the Hospice of Holland Tulip TreeFund. From all reports and smiles a greattime was had by all competitors. We canonly wonder what next year’s weatherwill bring……..Snow? Tom Slanec

The VanderLeek and Melges 20Regattas were sailed on thesame day in very blustery andcloudy conditions. The Melges20s were sailed on the big lakebut the friendly VanderLeek Re-gatta stuck to Lake Mac. Ourpictures show the dark skies,misty views, and challengingsailing experienced by both re-gattas. All photos were taken bycooperative professional pho-tographers: Scott Diamond(Melges), Cliff Williams and An-gela Lynch (VdLeek).

DeVos’ Melges32

Drumbeat & Capriciousreaching

M20

VanderLeek sailed in bigwinds, rain, & dark skies

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Family Carnival & Pool Olympics -Two great summer days of fun!

7Pool Olympics & Carnival Pictures by Dan Mitchell & Jon Bontekoe

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Commodore’s Cup

Hiestand’s Gauntlet

Capricious

Drumbeat

Sufficient Reason

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Our summer season ended Friday August 7after a HIGHLY successful season.Congratulations and many thanks to ourinstructors and helpers Casey Ray, ShariMacDonald, Jonathon Kladder, GenniPerry, Alex Post, Jay Mitchell, Lexi Petter,and Anthony Norris for your daily hardwork and for sharing your love of sailingwith the future sailors of our club. Despitea slow start in attendance, we finished withstrong numbers in the last two sessions,including our biggest 4th session in recentmemory. We look to 2010, and continuegrowing our program.

We hosted the second annual WestMichigan Youth Sailing Association(WMYSA) Championship regatta onSaturday August 1, during one of our semi-frequent rainstorm and 25 + mph wind daysof the summer. Although we stayed on LakeMac, we were only able to get two races inon the three courses because of the high,shifty winds. On shore, we had tired kidswith huge, happy smiles. I am so proud ofour Team Mac, who won the season teamcompetition for the second year in a row.Check out our BEAUTIFUL crystal trophyin the club trophy case! MBJA fleet winnerswere Graham Post (Opti), Jay Mitchell(Laser) and Michael Calistri & Ryan Tutton(420’s). Way to go!We also had steady participation in our adultlearn to sail JY-15 classes on Tuesday nights.Next year we will be adding a Learn to Racesession as well to enhance our adult racingprogram.

Looking ahead to October, we will behosting the Junior Olympic Regatta onOctober 10 & 11. Weather permitting, wewill be using Lake Michigan for the Laser,420 and Opti Red/White/Blue and LakeMac for the Opti Green course. We willneed volunteers for race and safetycommittees, as well as help with registration.Do you have a power boat that we coulduse for the weekend? Maybe you would beinterested in driving it for a race committeemember? We will make sure that lunch isprovided for you. Please let Marie or Steveknow if you (and/or your boat) are available!We greatly appreciate all of your help! Manythanks to all of the parents, families andfriends that have supported our programthis summer!See you on the water! Marie Mell

MBJA report

MBYC volunteer photographersare available almost anytime totake a new family or individualphoto for the Logbook. Your flagofficers would love to have allfamilies pictured in the 2010Logbook member photo sec-tion. Photographers are willing totake photos anywhere on clubproperty or on your boat, duringclub events or just when youhappen to be here. You can callone up to make arrangementsor just ask them if you happento see them at the club. Volun-teering to take your picture areAnnie VanTol, Doug Slade, EdKita, or editor Jon Bontekoe.We’ll even email you a copy ofthe picture!

The Wind Scoop cover photo was takenby Doug Slade during MBYC’s August8 Commodore’s Cup regatta. Picturedis Ted Ethridge’s Melges 32 Drumbeatreaching at the windward mark in strongwindy conditions and closely pursued byTyrant. Your Wind Scoop is always look-ing for photos taken by members. Pleasesubmit your club photos to Wind Scoopeditor Jon Bontekoe at:[email protected]

Thinschmidt’sTyrant & Fleet

Drumbeat

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RREAR CCO M M O D O R E’’S RREPORTThe summer racing seasonis ending with a crescendoof activity for MBYCsailors. Here are thehighlights.

COMMODORE’S CUP

Saturday’s racing wasscrubbed due to morningthunderstorms, but it was

a beautiful and breezy day for racing on Sunday and two raceswere completed in all three classes. The top three finishers inlarge boat PHRF were: Capricious, Drumbeat and Gauntlet.The top three finishers in small boat PHRF were: SecondWind, and Muskegon YC boats Trim and Rampage. ThreeMYC boats were in the top three in the S2 9.1 class. Overallwinners for the Commodore’s Cup trophy were Capriciousand Second Wind.

420 NORTH AMERICAN’S

Fifty-six teams from all over North America converged onMBYC in mid-August for four days of exciting and closecompetition. Racers from as far as California, Florida, andNova Scotia took part in our first ever major 420 event. Theweather was outstanding - sunny with moderate breezes - andthree races were completed on each of the four race days. Thetop five finishers were: 1st Taylor Canfield (Boston College/2009 Sailing honorable mention All-American), 2nd MarlenaFauer (New York City), 3rd Deidre Lambert (Portland,Maine), 4th Shone Bowman (San Diego), 5th Connor Brady(Hilton Head, SC). Five MBYC boats took part with topfinishers Sam Padnos in 16th and Alex Post 22nd. A specialthanks is owed to Mitch and Karen Padnos who led theorganizing committee for the regatta. MBYC received a greatdeal of positive feedback from competitors and parents.

LAKE MICHIGAN PHRF RACING

The Verve Cup regatta was held in Chicago in mid-August.Standout results by MBYC boats were achieved by the twoDeVos M32s which finished 1st and 2nd in PHRF 3. TheClipper Cup is held also in mid-August and is a race acrossLake Michigan from Muskegon to Port Washington. Rod VanTol and Bill Ruoff were divisional winners while Rod was theoverall winner. Congratulations to all who participated! Inthe July Hook Race from Racine Wisconsin to Sturgeon Bay,Steve Magennis’ Alchemist took 3rd in its division, and 13thoverall.

M20 NATIONALS

The first Melges 20 Nationals were held at MBYC from August21-23. An unususal weather system led to high winds andcool temps for the outset of the regatta. Thursday saw a fewcrews head to Lake Michigan for practice, but high windssaw a boat break its rudder in Lake Michigan. Friday was tobe the first day of racing, but winds were above the class ceilingof 23 kts, so racing was canceled. Saturday was windy withsteep waves, and three races took place. Sunday was very lightand one race was completed. Eric Wynsma from Grand RapidsYC finished first with JP Del Solar Goldsmith and Wally Crossas crew. Marc Hollerbach from Bayview YC was second andJohn Arendshorst was the top MBYC boat with Eric Ash andDani Gamache as crew. Two teams from Italy competed anda few local teams hope to travel next year to race M20s inItaly. The new fleet is off to a great start and next year’s nationalswill be held on Lake Geneva.

VANDERLEEK CUP

High winds kept the charity fundraiser Vanderleek Cup racersoff of Lake Michigan on August 22, but a successful race washeld on Lake Mac. The fleet of 15 boats raced to Kollen Parkand back with gusty winds and rain squalls. Drumbeat(Etheridge) was the top boat in Spin 1, the 7.9 Hot Tamale(Vanderveen) was first in Spi 2, Kaboom (O’Keefe) won Mainand Jib, while Talaria (Slanec) was victorious in ComfortCruiser. Congrats to the Slanecs for leading the organizingeffort again this year!

MBYC YOUTH : WORLD COMPETITION SAILORS

A number of MBYC sailors have been traveling and competingagainst the best in Europe and Japan this summer. MitchellKiss and Alex Post competed in the Laser Radial Youth WorldChampionship in Japan in early August. Mitchell qualifiedfor the gold fleet and Alex finished near the top of the silverfleet. Louis Padnos and Morgan Kiss have been competingagainst the top Intl 420 sailors in races in Italy and Hungarysince late July. In the European Youth Champs, Louis qualifiedfor the gold fleet while Morgan finished 1st in the silver fleet.The Norris family moved to the Phoenix area three years ago,but they have returned during the summer and have remainedactive MBYC members. The stay in the desert has not hurtthe sailing expertise of Phillip Norris. He finished 5th of 61in the highly competitive Laser Radial fleet at the Buzzard’sBay regatta in early August.

John Donnelly

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420 National Regatta

See & buy online - Layline pho-tos of Melges 20 and 420 regat-tas.

420 Photos by Doug Slade andprofessional Scott Diamond ofLayline Photography

[email protected]

773-368-3094

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BayshoreFall Series

Main Events in SeptemberSept 5 End of Summer BlastSept 6 MBJYC Hobo Bon FireSept 7 MBJYC Breakfast & ElectionsSept 13 RendezvousSept 19 Whine Party

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Bayshore Frostbite & Awards

4End of Summer

Blast Party

RendezvousSummer’s EndWhine Party

MBJYC Breakfast7

MBJYC ElectionsJunior Sailing Awards

Labor Day

MBYC Post-it Note

M20/JY 15Racing

Governor’s Cup

Governor’s CupMBJYC Hobo

Bon FireAnchorage Cup

Laser/Opti

S2 7.9 Nationals S2 7.9 Nationals

S2 7.9Nationals

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October 2009 www.mbyc.com

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CO M M O D O R E’S REPORTIt is with some sadness thatI’m writing my last column.Writing for the Wind Scoopwas one of the surprises ofmy past 3 years. Whatstarted as a bit of chore hasbecome an opportunitythat I approach withanticipation each month.And, I’ve been encouragedby the positive feedbackI’ve received over the years.

Thank you all for your comments and friendly corrections.

For my last column, I’d like to comment on two apparentlyunrelated topics. My first topic relates to the role ofCommodore. One of the aspects of our Club that I’ve cometo appreciate is the diversity of interests represented by ourmembers. Each of us has a specific set of reasons for choosingMBYC. For some, it is the availability of the pool. For others,it is the availability of attractive, secure dockage. For somemembers, it is our restaurant and social schedule. For othermembers, it’s our active racing schedule. Personally, my reasonis that we race sailboats. As I’ve thought about this, withoutour active racing program, my passion for sailboat racing wouldhave taken me (and my family) to some other club. Thathaving been said, the process of becoming Commodore causesone to set aside your personal interests and become a leaderfor the entire Club. As Commodore, I’ve been called on tosolve problems for all aspects our Club. Many times the issueis balancing one aspect of Club life against another. It’s achallenging job, and I’ve found Stephen Covey’s admonition“Seek first to Understand” very useful in the process. I hopethat one of the contributions that I’ve made to life of our clubis that each member feels that their particular interests havebeen seriously considered during the past year.

My second topic relates to the future of the Club. We have achallenge, and a related opportunity. The future challengefor our Club is the continual aging of our membership. To befair, this is a problem facing all clubs, churches, and othersocial institutions. However, the demographic shift causedby an aging “boomer” group will be the ongoing challenge in

the next 10 years. Who will replace members who retire andrelocate? One opportunity could be to increase recruitmentof younger members through a focus on sailing smaller boats.We already have a number of advantages in executing thisstrategy. We are blessed with a very versatile location, offeringboth lake and “blue water” sailing. We have a substantial drysailarea, well equipped with launching ramps and hoists.However, there are a couple of “pieces” missing.

First, we need to devote management time and talent to thisissue. We once were a club where volunteers mowed the grass.However, as the size and complexity of the task grew, it madesense to have some professional assistance. The same thing istrue for our sailing program. It appears that we’ve taken theprogram to the logical limits of a purely volunteer organization.A properly designed and compensated “sailing manager”position would allow our volunteer-members more time toparticipate in events with somewhat less time spent in critical,time consuming administrative functions. However, the roleof “sailing manager” doesn’t make sense for a “90 day” club.

Second, we would need to have a location that could offersailing 7-8 months per year. Small boats, sailed withappropriate clothing, are sailed in similar venues from Aprilthrough November. Our barrier is that our facility is notorganized to support this type of activity. To make this activityattractive, we’d need to have proper locker room facilities toput on, take off, and store gear. And, it would assume thatthe club would be open (at an appropriate scale and cost) tosupport the social, après sailing activity.

The result of a thoughtful development of our remaining“fallow” asset would be a vibrant, attractive club that wouldbe a magnet for sailors throughout Western Michigan.

In conclusion, I realize that the analysis above will notimmediately appeal to a number of our member segments.However, I invite you to “think like a Commodore” and joinme in the next step in the development of our club.

See you at the Club!

Roger Gamache

Calling all MBYC Melges 20 Sailors:Your recent National Championship event wassignificantly supported by 5 sailors from the 110Class. Those sailors now need your help to runtheir 2010 National Championship in August.Please consider how you and your fleet can as-

sist the 110 Class and your Club run a first classevent. I would appreciate an initial indication ofyour support by October 17. It just seems that ifeach class understands that its both give andtake, we'll have a much easier time generatingrace management staff. rg

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Mackinac Race Yacht Club Challenge

For the first time in the history of theChicago to Mackinac Race, there was anopportunity for clubs who have 5 ormore entries into the race to competefor “Best Club” status. Points for eachclub were determined by averaging thedivisional placing of each of the boatsracing for a specific club. This year, 12clubs competed. The winning club wasthe Grand Traverse Bay Yacht Club.MBYC came in 5th, tied with MilwaukeeYacht Club. Congratulations to ourMackinac Race sailors!

REMINDER TO MEMBERSFOR CHANGE OF ADDRESSMembers who have two addressesshould inform the club when theymove to an alternate home. We savea lot of money sending the WindScoop with ‘standard’ class mail, butthe post office will not forward mailwith less than first class postage.Please send your updated address tothe club and/or [email protected]. Tell usyour alternate address and whichdates mail should be sent there.

Cover PhotoThe photo on the cover this monthshows Tom Slanec’s Talaria sailing to afirst place division win in the Anchor-age Cup. Photo by professional photog-rapher Paige Beard. Please submit pho-tos to Wind Scoop editor Jon Bontekoe([email protected]). The WindScoop is always looking and hoping formember photo submission by email,CD, thumbdrive, etc.

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VICE CO M M O D O R E’S REPORTBy the time you read thisreport, most of the boatslips will have beenemptied, the boats hauled,and final winterization ofboats and cottages wellunder way, if notcompleted. But what aSeptember it has been!!Record setting consecutivedays of sunshine, summerlike temperatures, and great

cool sleeping nights. It almost makes up for the elevenconsecutive Saturdays with measurable rain this summer.

It is difficult to believe that this is already my last report asVice-Commodore. But that seems to be a common themefor those who have accepted the opportunity to serve the Clubin one capacity or another. Frequently, past commodores willencourage me to enjoy the experience as much as one canbecause before you know it, one is past-commodore. I knowthat Commodore Gamache can vouch for that.

But the sweet message underneath this fleeting time syndromeis this: serving the Club is a lot more enjoyable than it iswork. And it is all of you who make the experience such ajoy!! I have already had two years of teaming up with a greatboard and bridge and with great committees.

You should know that your house committee was well servedthis year by Co-chair Lisa Ruoff and my wife, Mary Jo, andtheir members, Michelle Dolle, Maggie Greydanus, Mary JaneSchoenherr, and Rod Van Tol. Coordinating and supportingour General Manager and Executive Chef with ideas,suggestions and feedback, the House Committee has helpedto identify and share your ideas on how to provide greatmember value.

You should also know that Docks and Grounds Committeealso ably handled by Chairperson David A. Sligh (Jr.) and hiscommittee Rod Schmidt, Peter Schwarz, and Catharine

(Puffin) Van Dyke. Dredging issues were handled efficientlyand economically –even with our second annual “one hundredyear” flood; and our parking lot was patched to give us a fewmore years of service.

Annie Gamache and Linda Knoblauch handled the NautiShop responsibilities of ordering, displaying, promoting, andselling with great dedication. While still in the trial stages,Nauti Shop added direct on-line shopping with MBYC logo-wear with Line One. (You early bird Christmas shoppersshould remember this when you begin Christmas shopping!—great gift ideas from the convenience of your own computer.Remember it is linked from mbyc.com.)

And, as most of you know, the folks who really make it allcome together are our General Manager, Marilyn Baker,Executive Chef Jim Ruehle, Irena Miller, Restaurant Manager,and Doug Knapp, Dock and Grounds Manager and theirrespective teams.

Thank you to each of you for making this a “job” where thetime flies.

Between this report and the next report, another change ofwatch will have occurred and I will begin trying to fill theshoes of those who have served so well as Commodore overso many years. I only have to walk around the Commodore’sroom to look at my predecessors to be awed, if not a bitintimidated. But my confidence comes from all of you whohave been so generous and supportive in offering your supportfor 2010—our 111th Anniversary. So thank you, fellowmembers, in making this yacht club THE place to be.

I look forward to working with our new Rear-CommodoreJack Knoblaugh new Treasurer Tom Stanley, and other newboard members Eric Ash, Scott Bernecker, Robert Malone,Robert Standish, as well as Vice Commodore John Donnelly,and returning board members Beth Egge, Lisa Ruoff and TomSlanec.

Bob DeJongPictures Opposite:A Annie VanTol, Karen Nagelkirk, Jack Kunze.B Bill Ruoff, Rod VanTol, Annie VanTol, Paul & Mary JaneSchoenherrC Janet & Steve Magennis, Jo Schmidt, Kathy Cusimano,Janet & Bob Standish.D Clark Weersing & Cotter Tharin.

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On September 21, 2009, chairing hisfinal meeting as Commodore, RogerGamache welcomed incoming membersof the board (noted in Vice Commodore’sreport), and thanked outgoing TreasurerLarry D’Haem and members JoelKrissoff, Mitchell Padnos, and DaveSligh. Thanking Immediate PastCommodore Paul Brown, it was notedthat one of Paul’s children was four yearsold when Paul came to the Board and sheis now in the sixth grade—a confirmationof many years of service to the Club.

years, the loan will be nearly paid off atthe end of the next term.

The board approved a contract with BillMonhollon Builders, Inc. to upgrade theHouse bathrooms to barrier free for$11,608 with work to be completed overthe winter. Approved two newmember applications: Andy and AmyDailey, and Ronalynn Sisson. Gaveconditional approval for adding link fromWebscoop to Hunter Ratliff ’s websiteused for his Olympic campaign (see RearCommodore’s report). rdj

SEPTEMBER BOARD MEETING HIGHLIGHTSReports received: Financial reportshowing increased restaurant and bar salesover last year and a fine job of our GeneralManager and Executive Chef holding oncosts. Banquet reports on two Septemberweddings resulting in high accolades forextraordinary food and service.

Actions taken: The Board approved anew five year mortgage in the amount of$349,275 at 6.7% fixed interest withBank of Holland that continues toamortize at about the same rate as we havebeen reducing our loan balance. Withoutadditional borrowing over the next five

Whine Party mourns the end ofsummer with too much joy andsome wine. Lots of friends wear-ing name tags without needingthem shows MBYC’s reachingout to new friends and old. Oh -there were great hors d’oeuvrestoo. Photos by Ed Kita.

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Commodores’ Ball 2009We must have had a great timeat this year’s Ball. Largest atten-dance ever, at least in Marilyn’smemory, $3000 worth of wineconsumed, and smiles oneveryone’s faces.Photos by Annie VanTol, Ed Kita, JonBontekoe, Lisa Ruoff, and Lance Baker.

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A Former commodores and spousesB 2009 ice sculptureC Commodore Roger Gamache, AnnieGamache, their guests Bayshore YCCommodore Cyndie Hartman andJames Hartman.D Helen Ash, Claudia Scharlow, JosieCheney, Karen Padnos, Kathy Keegin

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E Clark & Shirley Weersing, Jack &Helen Smith.F Don & Barbara Thinschmidt.G Ben Jangula, Seymour Padnos,Kathy Day, & Suzy VedovelH Commodore Kathy Getz, MaryDevries, Commodore John Getz, BobHayes, Kathy Tripp, Charlie Devries.J Commodore Roger Gamachewelcomes us all.K Dotty McManus, Annie VanTol, &Brian McManus.L Bob Nepstad, Jack Kunze, PaulaMutrynowski.

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This edition of the Wind Scoop again fea-tures great pictures thanks to MBYC’s manysupporting photographers. Our greatestappeciation goes to Doug Slade whose con-stant presence on his markset boat Tatoo withcamera in hand has supplied us with hun-dreds of pictures for two years now. His pho-tos dominate the S2 regatta photos on thispage as well as dozens of picture stories inmany issues again this year. But MBYC’s2009 photo coverage also featured regattaswith professional photographers out on thewater. All of these pros made their photosavailable at no cost to your club’s publica-tions. Many thanks to professional photog-

raphers Scott Diamond, Cliff Williams, An-gela Lynch, and Paige Beard ofImagesByPaige.com (including this monthscover). Many members have complimentedyour Wind Scoop editor but it’s really thephotographers who deserve your thanks. jb

S2 7.9 Nationals

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A Second Wind (Bergmans)B Scott Derby’s first place finisherSMAC’D.C Spike Bostons crew with GamacheX 2.C Mike Sewart’s Scirroco leads a spinrun.D Doug & Jeff Padnos’ K2.E Doug Slade works his magic withthe wind and with a new camera.

A note on photography

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The Anchorage Cup, after a nearly wind-less start for the first two divisions, wassailed in perfect temperatures and per-fect 7 to 12 knot winds out of the North-west allowing spinnaker runs throughoutthe whole race. It is a straight-line racefrom Grand Haven to Holland raced theSaturday after Labor Day. MBYC racersparticipated in large numbers and wonmany top honors. Tom Slanec’s Talariatook first in the Spin 5 division. Willie J(Petter), Alchemist (Magennis), and Sec-

Anchorage Cup results

Anchorage Cup

ond Wind (Bergman) took second intheir respective divisions, with Tyrant(Thinschmidt) taking a third. OverallWillie J placed second in fleet. jb

Top photo on this page showing thewide range of Anchorage Cup spinna-kers taken by Paige Beard sailing withher sister Lisa Ruoff on Bealy Movin’. Be-low right is MBYC spinnaker participantBen Jangula on Premier Cru. (Photo byPaige). Steve Magennis’ Alchimist fliesits spinnaker, and on the bottom a spinrun, both photographed by Tom Slanec.

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Pine Creek Bay Rendezvous and End of

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Summer Bash top off 2 big weekends

Photos by Jon Bontekoe except topleft by Ed Kita.

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Labor Day Weekend: Kids’ Bon Fire,

Photos by Dan Mitchell & Jon Bontekoe

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As the summer winds down, we are headedinto one of our biggest events of the year…the Junior Olympic Regatta, to be hosted byour club October 10 and 11. Hopefully thiswonderful fall weather will hold and will beas great for our junior sailors! If we haven’talready contacted you and you are interestedin helping, please get in touch with MarieMell or Steve Sisson. The more adults, thebetter! Many congratulations to MatthewGreydanus and Caroline Sisson! At thesummer awards program Labor Dayweekend these two enthusiastic junior sailorsreceived two of the highest club honorsavailable. Matthew received theCommodore’s Award for GoodSportsmanship and Caroline received the

Youth Sailing Awards & Junior Olympics report

Breakfast and Sailing Awards

Travis Aiken Award for overall sailingcompetition, improvement and promotionof our sport. They join the company of someof our club’s greatest adult sailors, and notsurprisingly many of which have taken onleadership roles at MBYC, includingCommodore. CONGRATULATIONS tothese two outstanding youths!

If you have an extra space in your garage orstorage area, we are looking for space forsome of our power boats and JY-15’s and420’s for the winter. Please let us know ifyou are able to donate some space to help ussave storage costs.

See you on the water! Marie Mell.

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S2 7.9 NATIONALS

While the interest in somefleets rises and falls, theactivity of the 7.9 class hasremained strong at MBYCsince racing started in1982. The Nationals wereheld at MBYC fromSeptember 17-19 this year.The glorious weather that

began at the beginning of the month continued through theregatta with sunny skies and light to moderate winds. MBYCprovided 6 of the 23 boats with skippers Jeff/Doug Padnos,Don/Jean Bergman, Peter Schwarz, Mike Stewart, Scott Derbyand Eric Bert.

Jeff and Doug Padnos opened with two bullets in Thursdayracing with long time class champion Spike Boston from SarniaYacht Club second in both races. Commodore Gamache anddaughter Dani were onboard with Spike. Friday’s races sawsome big wind shifts upwind and Jeff/Doug scored an 8 and5 while Spike scored a 15 and 1. Thus the stage was set for aSaturday showdown when a throw-out would kick-in if twomore races were completed.

Jeff and Doug won Saturday’s first race giving them threebullets in five races. Spike was third. Going into the regatta’slast race, after a throw-out, Jeff and Doug had eight pointsand Spike also had eight. As long as they finished in the topthird of the fleet, whoever beat the other would win - matchrace conditions. Spike finished 4th and Jeff/Doug were 5th.

Spike Boston is the 2009 S2 7.9 national champ, Jeff/DougPadnos finished second, Paul LaTour from Nashville was 3rdand Don/Jean Bergman were 4th.

Congratulations to regatta chair Scott Derby and all thevolunteers who made this another great sailing and social eventin this very active year at MBYC.

HUNTER RATLIFF OLYMPIC CAMPAIGN

Hunter Ratliff has a passion for high performance sailboatracing. Hunter, age 25, is the son of Steve (1996 Commodore)and Kathy Ratliff. Hunter is the head sailing coach at LakeForest Sailing.

Hunter is competing in an Olympic class - the 470, and hisgoal is to represent the US in either the 2012 or 2016Olympics. The 470 is a specialist boat drawing primarily sailorspursuing Olympic spots. Thus the competition is high, butthe number of competitors in the US is limited. The highestlevel of racing occurs each summer in Europe. Hunter’s crew/partner in the campaign is Chris Williams from Chicago.

Hunter and Chris finished tied for second with Brendan Kopp- previously a top 420 sailor -in a six boat fleet at the 470Atlantic Coast Championships in Connecticut in August. Thewinner of this event was Erin Maxwell and Isabelle Kinsolving- 2008 470 Women’s World Champs.

A major stumbling block for most Olympic campaigns isfundraising. Travelling to regattas and utilizing coaches,paricularly overseas, requires a substantial budget. Hunter ispursuing help for his campaign. You can learn more aboutthe Hunter and Chris campaign by visiting their website:www.RWin470.org.

Good luck to Hunter and Chris from your friends at MBYC!

THANKS TO OUR VOLUNTEERS

A great season of racing is coming to a close. There has been along list of volunteers who have made this season possible. Iwould like to recognize the most active ones.

We are very fortunate to have an outstanding PRO - BarbGamache - to orchestrate our race committee efforts. Shebrings a high level of knowledge and expertise to our racing.Doug Slade did yeoman’s service with windward marksettingand wind checking all year. JD Stone provided extensive pinsetand judging support. Jack and Linda Knoblauch, when notracing Capricious, were always available for support onRecovery and organizing the RC tools onshore. BillVandenberg, Roger Gamache, Charlie Mawby, JanetMagennis, Dick Becker filled in numerous times.

Thanks very much to all who made this a great year for racingat MBYC!

John Donnelly

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Wed nite racing

There is a lot of beauty when you’re ona race boat in the fall. Tom VanTol, MaryBontekoe, and pro photographer MarkO’Brien found opportunities for greatsunsets. Thanks for submitting them.

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MBYC Post-it Note

Laser Fall Series

Junior OlympicsRegatta

Junior OlympicsRegatta

Laser Fall Series

Laser Fall Series

Halloween Party

Club Social EventsSaturday, October 17: Change of Watch/

Sailing Awards DinnerFriday, Oct 30: Halloween Party

Sunday December 13: Holiday BrunchFriday, December 18: Holiday Cocktail Party

Change of Watch& Sailing Awards

Dinner.Reservations Required

january-february 2009 ...1 january-february 2009 macatawa bay yacht club • 2157 south shore drive...

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