March 2009 - Pontchartrain Yacht Club

Volume 42, Issue 3
March 2009
Commodore’s Corner
2009
Doolittle’s article for dates for
all of these events.
The Chart– March
PONTCHARTRAIN YACHT CLUB
It’s that time of year again,
when the activity at the club,
especially sailing, takes off.
The club Spring Series, the
Leukemia Cup, and a special
“Fun(d) Race” make March a
big month for getting out on
the water. Check out Rob
The North Shore Leukemia
Cup will be extra special this
year with a visit to our club
by Gary Jobson on Saturday
morning, March 21. As a
cancer survivor, Gary is
bringing his personal message
to us to aid this very serious
cause. How lucky we are that
we can enjoy a great weekend
of sailing, a party at the club,
and at the same time help
raise money to help the many
children and families that are
victims of Leukemia. Corporate charitable giving is down,
so our help as individuals is
more
important
than
ever.
Please
come
participate.
Any
contribution,
big or
small,
will be
very
welcome.
In other club news, we’re
losing a valuable employee
this month. Our Administrative Manager, Jessica Trabeaux, is leaving us after one
and half years of excellent
service to the club. Another
company has made her an
offer she can’t refuse and one
that is also in line with her
long term career goals in accounting and finance. Jessica
has been a great asset to the
club and great help to me
during my term as Commodore. She has all of our
thanks and best wishes in her
new career.
Fortunately for us, our own
Kaia Schindler, is ready to
step into the role of club
manager. We’ve all seen the
great job she has done as
Events Coordinator, and I
know she will do a great job
as club manager. We will
take advantage of this change
to do some restructuring of
responsibilities of part time
new hires we will have to
support Kaia in her new role.
With these changes, especially while we are in transition, the help of volunteers is
more important than ever.
Please don’t hesitate to step
up and offer your time to any
of the staff, committee and
event chairs. Your help is
always welcome.
The weather is warming up
and it’s been much too long
since I’ve had Voodoo Child
out of its slip. I’ll definitely
see you on the water this
month.
Tom
“We would like to take the kids
for a ride on a big sail boat. If
anyone is available to come to the
club during the camp hours and
let the kids take a ride, please call
the office to set this up. This is a
great volunteer opportunity! The
kids can have some fun during
their break and you can have an
excuse to go sailing!”
Islamorada Race Week - Bob Hodges
I went to Islamorada in early Janu‐
ary for a week of fantastic sailing in clear blue water, 26 A‐Cats racing, 10 races sailed. I finished 6th, mis‐
sion accomplished for my first A‐
Cat event in over a year. I just got back this week from St. Petersburg from racing two events over a week and a half. Finished 3rd out of 21 A‐Cats at the A‐Class/505 Mid‐
winter Championship raced out of Fort Desoto State Park (another beautiful venue). I was tied with Randy Smyth for 2nd going into the last race and we were both only 1 point out of first (Ben Hall led). I thought I was over early in the last race (7 races sailed) and re‐started. Dropped one place to 3rd but very happy with the result. It was very cool to have an event with the 505 class, very nice group of sailors. Four days later I raced the St. Petersburg NOOD regatta with Donnie Brennan and Elise Read (my girlfriend) on the Sprint 750. We finished 4th out of 7 boats but we ac‐
tually sailed better than our plac‐
ing. We got killed in the overall scoring by an OCS. There was no throwout in the 7 race series. If there had been we would have fin‐
ished 2nd. The racing was really close and fun. I think in at least five races, the top 3‐4 boats finished within 30 seconds of each other. We’ll be doing Mardi Gras Regatta on the Sprint 750 early next month and then I’m heading to south Flor‐
ida (Bokeelia) for another A‐Class event the 3rd week of March fol‐
lowed by the Leukemia Cup on the Sprint in late March (southshore event). Corsair Nationals are in April in Pensacola followed by the A‐Class North Americans in May at FWYC. Fun stuff! Fleet Captain - Rob Doolittle
First off, I need to give a big thanks to
Billy Ross, Steve Choate, and Bob Reedy
for escorting “J” back to it’s home in the
lake. A hopefully permanent fix at Latitude 30-18-424/ Longitude 90-02-571. In
true PYC style we made do with the materials at hand to anchor “J” at it’s home
with an old diesel block and exhaust
manifold. Hope it does the trick! I also
want to say thank you to Bill Hancock for
donating a Sunfish to our fleet. No doubt
Page 2
it is a fantastic addition to our summer
sailing camp.
As for race, we’re gearing up for what
should be a stellar season for PYC.
We’re kicking it off with 3 bouy races on
March 15th to start the Spring Series,
followed by the Leukemia Cup on the
very next weekend. The Leukemia Cup
will be included in the series, so please
don’t forget to register. The next big date
to remember is April 18th which will be
our Opening Day. Mark it on your calendars because we’ll have races all weekend and follow it up the next weekend
(April 26th) with a distance race. It’s time
for everyone to get their boats race ready
and rally for another great season of racing!
THE CHART– MARCH 2009
Social - Cathy Deano
For being the dead of winter, Social
had a pretty active month. We started
the month off with Super Bowl Road
Kill Potluck, followed closely by soup
night, Jenny O’Hara’s Tortilla Soup
was quite a hit. Friday, February 6th
kicked off our Good Food Friday.
March brings a hint of
spring and with it a busy
PYC social calendar.
Check it out:
Wednesday, March 4th Soup
Night
by
Janie
Eshelman
Friday,
March
6thSeafood Lasagna
by Louie and the
Redheaded Lady
Saturday, March
7th - Grill Night,
reservations
please
Sunday March
8th-Brunch
Friday-March 13-
Each Friday, come rain or shine we
will be serving delicious food from a
variety of restaurants and caterers.
Bosco’s, Jenny Simmons, and a fried
fish dinner all were offerings for this
new event. Nancy Wyllie put together
a Bunko Night where families were
welcome. Kaia’s Brunch always a
success. Valentine’s Night proved to
be quite a hit, the food was wonderful
and The Frank Fairbanks Band had
everybody out of their seats and
dancing up a storm.
and Silent Auction. This is PYC’s
only philanthropic event. All proceeds go to helping fight this
deadly disease that claims so
many . PLEASE try and attend.
Many Mandeville restaurants have
donated food and Janie Eshelman
is organizing a silent auction. If
you would like to donate items to
the auction please call the club, or
just drop them by. Tickets are
$25.00
Friday, March 27th
is a Shrimp Fry by
Dennis Sharpreservations required
All Good Food
Friday’s are
$14.00, kids can
eat for ½ price.
Pesto Shrimp Pasta by Jennie Simmons
Friday, March 20-Crawfish Alfredo
Pasta-Don Phillips
There have been
requests for
Jenny O’Hara’s
Tortilla Soup.
Since my article was so long this
month I will have Georgia put it out on
PYC Events. See you at the club!!!
Saturday, March 21-Leukemia Cup
Fundraiser-A Taste of Mandeville
VOLUME 42, ISSUE 3
Page 3
Membership - Rick Delaune
Our motto, "Just show up!" has
served PYC well over the years
to get our members involved in
club activities and to let everyone know that all are welcome
to volunteer for projects as well
as enjoy the socials. As a tool
to recruit new members, I want
to add another motto, "Step out
of your comfort zone ". If you
see a new person at the bar or
on the grounds, tell them "hello"
and introduce yourself. Then,
ask them what they think about
the club, or if they have heard
about an upcoming club event.
Even if they are members they
will tell you so and a relationship
can grow from there. Should
they not be members, ask if they
would like a call from the membership chairman, that would be
yours truly, Rick Delaune @
504-458-1013. To date, I have
personally talked to a dozen potential members concerning
PYC and what we have to offer
them as members.
As of this writing we have two
new members.
Let's welcome - Scott and
Karen Hymel from Mandeville. Scott is an attorney and
Karen is in banking and they
have a Hunter 27. Scott has
been crewing on my boat and
really has the racing bug.
Also welcome John and Lou-an
Hamlin, also from Mandeville. A
20 ft Triton Seaflight is their
pride and joy. We're hoping to
get John enlisted as a "scat boat
volunteer".
So that
would put us
at 296 members in various classifications.
Step out of your
comfort zone!
If you have a friend that has
shown interest in the club,
please let me know or direct
them to our website
www.pontyc.org for membership
information. And the Board
is re-considering something that
worked in the past: A credit incentive at the bar for
both the new member
and their PYC sponsor. That way, you are
recognized for bringing
a new member in and
the new member has an
immediate reason to come over
to the club!
We are currently looking into an
interactive site that will help with
membership and organize volunteer data.
On another tack! We have rejoined the Chamber of Commerce. This will give PYC exposure with locals who really don't
know who we are. If you are
a Chamber member and
attend Chamber events,
please wear two hats: one
for your business and one
to promote PYC membership. Let your friends and
business associates know
that you belong to
PYC! Smooth Sailing,
Rick Delaune
One Design Practice Racing
To all: Daylight savings time is right
around the corner and begins March
8. Our Thursday One Design practice
races will begin on March 12. We
would like to extend this program to
all small one design boats, including
our 420’s and Lasers. Bob Doolittle is
working on three Sunfish to be added
to the fleet of one design board boats.
This is a good time to tune up for the
Fun(d) race on March 14 and LeukePage 4
mia Cup the following weekend. See you on the water.
Hans
THE CHART– MARCH 2009
Juniors - Bridget Jarvis
Hey everyone - it's getting to be that time
of year again! Time to pull the boat out of
the shed, wash and wax her and put her in
the water!
But of course, we have to get organized
first. I'd like to meet with parents
(children optional) of junior sailors, next
Thursday, March 5th at 7:00 pm at
PYC.
This year, along with our sailing goals
(getting juniors on big boats and more
involved with our Capdevielle Team) we
are hoping to build a new downstairs
junior room and a half size basketball
court.
Your children and you are
the future of our club. Your
participation is requested to
make these improvements
possible. I would also like
any suggestions or ideas
that you all may have to
improve our junior sailing
program.
Please feel free to call or
email me!
626-1751
[email protected]
Bridget
One Design - Hans Albert
New Flying Scot ambitions.
year to purchase a new Flying Scot.
the three possibilities we have to
Flying Scot GYA racing is at the
acquire a new race boat, i.e. factory
highest national level and requires
new, Adams Cup boat or other suitthe best boats we
able used race boat in
can find in order to
excellent condition and
Please support our various fund come up with a recomsucceed. We have
raisers this year to enable us to mendation on the basis of
some catching up
to do as the $300
the most value for our
purchase the boat we need.
monthly accrual
investment.
adopted by the
board in 2005 was never implePlease support our various fund
mented. Blame Katrina one more
raisers this year to enable us to purtime!
chase the boat we need. The board
A new Scot now costs just over
of Directors so far has raised/
$20,000 race equipped with sails
pledged over $3,000 plus we have
and trailer. We have the opportunity
offers to sell to old hulls for an adto purchase a FS after the Adams
ditional $1,300. Not a bad start, but
Cup held this year at Bay Waveland
we have a long way to go.
in September. The manufacturer
See you and your valet at the Fun
will provide 11 new boats for this
(d) race March 14.
regatta and available at a 15% discount after the races.
As many of you already know we
are trying to raise the funds this
I have asked Billy Ross, David Bolyard and Bob Doolittle to look at
Capdevielle update
We completed the second of 16
Capdevielle regattas this past weekend as part of the Mardi Gras regatta hosted by NOYC. The regatta
was limited to two races on Saturday, with the remaining three races
cancelled due to Sunday’s high
winds.
David Bolyard and Brock Schmidt
finished tied for second but lost the
tiebreaker and got third place. We
are glad to see Brock return to the
team and his presence will be felt as
the season progresses.
Daylight savings is here and we
will start Thursday’s practice races
on March 12.
VOLUME 42, ISSUE 3
Hans
Page 5
In boating there‘s a “right of way”
In dentistry there’s a “right way”
Dr. Michelle LeBlanc
985-624-8011
Advertise on the Chart
Your Ad Here
Call Kaia at 985-626-3192
Page 7
THE CHART MARCH 2009
2009 LEUKEMIA CUP REGATTA-NORTHSHORE
On the weekend of March 21-22, PYC will host the Northshore Leukemia Cup
festivities, to include racing, of course, a breakfast with special guest GARY JOBSON
(a lymphoma survivor & world –class sailor), and a Silent Auction. Proceeds from
these events will benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in their fight to
conquer this disease.
Gary Jobson
As SILENT AUCTION coordinator, I AM ASKING OUR MEMBERS TO DONATE
ITEMS FOR BID. Art, jewelry, crafts, gift certificates from your favorite vendors or
your own business, Christmas presents that can be “re-gifted”, trips, time-shares....
please drop off at the club or my home (270 Lafayette Street @ Jefferson/Mandeville)
by Friday, March 20, or call me and I will pick up your item (985-264-2727/985-6269062).
We all have friends, family, or acquaintances that have been affected in some way by
this disease – be part of the effort to fund research for its eradication by donating an
item today! Thank you!
Janie Eshleman
2009 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PONTCHARTRAIN YACHT CLUB
Commodore
Emailing and email list
Tom Quinlan - [email protected]
Georgia Young
Vice-Commodore
[email protected]
Jane Eshleman - [email protected]
The Chart
Rear-Commodore
Suzana Williams
Peggy Gele - [email protected]
House & Grounds
1501 Lakeshore Drive
P.O. Box 633
Mandeville, LA 70470
Phone: 985-626-3192
E-mail: [email protected]
Administrative Manager: Jessica Trabeaux
More Club Contacts
Bob Lipscomb - [email protected].
[email protected]
Victoria Class & Website
Hew Hamilton
[email protected]
Social
Cathy Deano - [email protected]
Juniors
Bridget Jarvis - [email protected]
Just Show Up!
One Design
Hans Albert - [email protected]
Membership
Rick Delaune - [email protected]
Fleet Captain
Rob Doolittle
[email protected]
*ATTENTION* PYC MEMBERS
*Please call the office to start
receiving e-statements. Less paper
is good for PYC*
If you are set up to receive estatements and have not received
your bill by the 5th of the month,
please contact Jessica in the office
626-3192