Turns out the dog days of summer beat us to the punch, with heat in the 90s and no wind. So we wrapped up the spring sailing season in true southern style. That is, over a dozen sailors spent the day sitting on the porch swing watching the jet skis carve up the glassy smooth lake while sipping cool beverages, and spinning tales of great sailing trips to windy places. {In anticipation, Jay Harrell had previously written:}
Heads up! There has been some confusion about the schedule, so here it is: The final two races of the Spring Series are this weekend, June 11 and 12. Come join us as we wrap up the Spring Season at OSYC and get ready for the dog days of summer.

{{{ {{Property Assessment}} }}} We just received the new Annual Assessment Notice for the club property. The revised value is $446,400, up from $267,000. The reasons given were: C2 – New Accessory Improvement added. SC – STRUCTURE CHARACTERISTICS CHANGED It’s noteworthy that they did not cite Comparable Sales as a reason. It doesn’t seem reasonable that the seawall and dock alone would nearly double the value of the land. The deadline for appeal is July 3. The Board if Trustees is discussing whether we should appeal and on what grounds. {{{ {{Raft Up Tentatively Planned for July 15}} }}} We will have a party on the lake. We will locate a secluded cove on the lake, motor or sail to the location, anchor or raft up, swim and frolic in the water, and feast on low country boil. There will be more on this later. {{{ {{Use of Club Facilities by non Member Groups}} }}} Occasionally, non-member groups, such as Boy Scouts, the thistle regattas, and church groups, have been given permission to use the club grounds and facilities. Although these events sometimes incur costs to the club, we have not charged or been reimbursed for these costs. The Trustees are in the process of formulating rules for permitting these events and recouping costs associated with the events, such as costs for paper supplies and gasoline for the committee boat. {{{ {{Trailer and Boat Parking}} }}} There have been several informal discussions about how to improve the parking situation at OSYC. The Trustees are working on a solution and if you have ideas, talk to one of the board members.

During the week of May 21st we had 2 outboard motors stolen off of boats at the club. One of the boats was in the water, the other on land. Both motors were 9.9 HP. One was a Mercury and the other a Johnson. We suspect that the thieves came by boat, but are not sure. We have been very fortunate to have had very little theft and vandalism at the club for the past number of years. The club property is very vulnerable to thieves during the week due to minimal usage during that time. I would ask that each of you on your next visit assess your boat’s for susceptibility to theft. Does your outboard have a lock on it? ( Both stolen motors were not locked) Are your hatches locked? Are there any valuables laying in the cockpit? There is no way to stop a determined thief, but if we make it more difficult to get something, maybe they will move on down the lake. I hope this is an isolated incident and that we will have no more problems, but we should all be more aware of the chance of thefts and take actions to reduce our venerability.

The Oconee Sailing and Yacht Club will hold races 4 and 5 in its spring racing series this weekend. The weather forecast for Saturday the 27th call for mostly sunny skies and winds from the WSW at 7 with a high temp of 90 degrees. Sunday the 28th will be much the same but the winds should clock around to come from the SW. All in all, good racing weather. Ya’ll come race! Also, we need race committee volunteers for both days. All you need to do is show up and follow the directions. Not a difficult job at all. If you are willing to serve, please e-mail me (dougmacmillan@pineschurch.com) or call me at 478-731-4603. I’ll meet you at the lake and walk you through the whole process. Our club will only be as strong as we make it. See you on the water! – Doug MacMillan, 2006 Race Chair

Reasons to come to the Lake Sinclair Open – Friendly, easy-going racing on beautiful Lake Sinclair – Just 95 miles from Atlanta [(directions)->http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=N+33+08.697,+W+83+13.153&ll=33.144451,-83.218689&spn=0.687608,1.60675&om=1] – Entry fee only $10 – Dinner only $3 each – Y Flyer one-design fleet, plus Portsmouth dinghy and keelboats {{[Notice of Regatta and Schedule->http://osyc.net/racing/SinclairOpen/SinclairOpenNOR.htm]}} Camping is available on the club grounds and hotels are nearby. No pets please! [Directions to the club from Google->http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=N+33+08.697,+W+83+13.153&ll=33.144451,-83.218689&spn=0.687608,1.60675&om=1] [List of nearby hotels->http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=hotels+near+N+33+08.697,+W+83+13.153&ll=33.144451,-83.218689&spn=0.085951,0.144882&om=1] Contact Jay Harrell (Y-2398) at jay.harrell(at)riverside.net or 770-559-0776 for more information or to register to attend.

This coming weekend is a big out of town event for OSYC sailors. Eleven members are planning to travel to the St. Johns River, Florida to participate the the 53rd annual Mug Race sponsored by the Rudder Club near Jacksonville, Florida. Be prepared for a lot of bragging and lying when we get back. Those planning to go are: -Bill Shaw, Ronnie Hartley, Ronnie Young racing Bill’s S2 -Calvin Smith, Ken Griffin and Jimmy Harrell racing Calvin’s Tristar. -John Davis and Pete Ekstrom racing Jonn’s O’Day 240. -Ashley Saylor in her Raider. -Paul Keller in his Railder. -Carl Saylor sailing ? For more information check this site: [Mug Race Book->http://www.rudderclub.com/2006MugRaceBook.pdf]

You may have noticed a bit of wind at your house last weekend, right? You may have remembered that I was up at the AYC Open sailing a Y Flyer, too. Oh boy. So when my normal crew had “other plans”, I sought out a random partner via the grapevine and ended up crewing for Fred Dorr using Karl Anderson’s boat. Very nice arrangement – Fred is very experienced and very good. Lots of local knowledge. And Karl’s boat was first rate. Saturday comes and the wind is really blowing. Remember that time we took the Capri out on Pamlico sound? But more wind. People were having trouble leaving the dock. Snipes almost flipping, Thistles almost swamping. We sailed out and proceeded to smash our way around the starting line, while getting thoroughly soaked from head to toe. It was a blast – the boat was really flying and spray was going everywhere. My jacket and bibs were working. I was running the timer, trimming the jib, hiking hard and watching traffic. We got a reasonable start, but being too heavy guys with “plenty” of wind, we out-pointed and out-paced the boats nearby and after a few tacks were near the front. Fred picked the left side perfectly and stayed on the lifted tacks. We rounded the weather mark in second place. Had a bit of trouble with the whisker pole due to the wind, but by the gybe mark we had left behind the following boats and were gaining on the leader. The pole gybe went fine – it was the main that caused the problem. I think we were focused on catching the boat ahead, but that didn’t work out. The bow caught under a wave, and that was all she wrote. Darn near pitch-poled. Turns out that Y’s turtle very quickly in 20+ mph wind and are difficult to right. Water wasn’t warm either. We ended up back at the dock for the day, after a rather long swim. I think we were the first boat to flip, but certainly not the last. I ended up separated from the boat and rode back on the rescue boat – we righted a couple of other boats and picked up two other swimmers on the way. That night the camper shook with the wind, but by morning it seemed calmer. At least relative to overnight. Turns out the wind had just clocked a bit and we weren’t as exposed. I got to the dock, and Fred said his ribs hurt too much to sail (I have a big bruise on my arm). Since I was dressed in full gear, I jumped on the rescue boat (a cut-down Carolina skiff). The fleet had shrunk substantially. The first flip came before the first start when a Snipe decided to head back in and didn’t make the tack. We pulled in a mother and cold daughter in shorts and tee shirt, and proceeded to try to right their boat right in the middle of the starting line while the committee went ahead with the starts all around us. And that was only the beginning. Before long boats were flipping left and right. Seemed to be the gybes that got them. We towed one snipe with a snapped shroud (but upright!). We would have rescued more, but the motor sucked in a rope and we couldn’t drive very fast. There were 4 or 5 rescue/safety boats running around. By the end of the race only 4 Y Flyers finished (out of 20 registered), plus 3 Snipes and 3 Thistles. I know that two of the Thistles had swamped at least once during the race. 10 boats left – at least an 80% attrition rate, but the Y’s finished the most boats. Despite the large quantity of flipped boats and swimming racers, as far as I know now one was hurt and no boats suffered more than minor damage. Compliments to AYC for putting so much safety on the water and pulling off a fun regatta in trying conditions. It certainly was fun and I’m ready for more! Jay

We had 20 members at the work day on Saturday March 25. In addition to the regular club maintenance projects, we made progress on the A dock rebuild project. We also buried the electrical line to B dock which was cut during the seawall project. We ran out of lumber about the same time we ran out of time and energy. The project is complete except for the two outer finger piers which are almost finished and two of the other finger piers have not been started. My time estimates in the past have not been very reliable, but I think we can finish the dock A rebuild project in one or maybe two more workdays. With about an hour or two of work the electricity to Dock B should also be complete. {{Several members of the ROF group will meet on Wednesday, April 26 at about 9 AM for another Weekday Workday.}} If you are available and would like to join us, let me know via email(jimmy.harrell@riverside.net) or phone (706-484-1405) or you can just show up. We will provide sandwiches for lunch.

The Thistle Disctrict Regatta will be held April 22-23, 2006 at the Oconee Sailing and Yacht Club. Any Thistle Sailor who is a member in good standing of the Thistle Class association with a boat that has a current measurement form may participate. In addition, other club sailors are encouraged to attend to watch, socialize, and help out with the race committee and shore preparations. Friends, let’s go racing! Jay Harrell is rounding up folks to help with Race Committee. If you might be able to come help, please click {{“Reply to this article”}} below and sign up. The Thistle Fleet is bringing their own Prinicpal Race Officer, but we are still on the hook for supplying the labor.

The OSYC will host races on both Saturday and Sunday this weekend. On Saturday there will be a skippers meeting at 12 followed by first gun at 1. Sunday will start with the gun at 1. The National weather services is listing a 50% chance of scattered thunderstorms from 5:00AM until about 11AM on Saturday. But… and this is the good part… it will be clearing and the wind will be blowing 12-15 mph. Bring your foulies and LET’S GO RACING! See you on the water,
Doug MacMillan