August 1, 2016
Hello fellow ECSC Sailors and Racers,
July has been a great month. Wednesday and Sunday races continue to be a blast. Temps are high, but so are water levels.
[caption id="attachment_1797" align="alignleft" width="211"]
Nick and Sheela Prepping for the Beach Party[/caption]
ECSC Regatta and Beach party proved to be one of our best Racing events of the year. Saturday had some great racing, but unfortunately Sunday the wind didn't quite cooperate and there were no races Sunday. Dr. Bob and his crew handled the Race Committee duties with expertise and we had some great racing Saturday. Nick Mates and his crew threw one of the best parties of the year. The band played until the wee hours and the dancing and singing was plentiful.
[caption id="attachment_1798" align="alignleft" width="293"]
Jeff and Sarah Hanson at the ECSC Beach Party[/caption]
Red Fleet was won by Nan Schulze in Dutch Mob, 2nd was Perry Cameron in Sublime, and Austin Graef finished third in Don't Panic. White/Blue Fleet was won by Rich Fox, 2nd went to Chuck and Nancy Goff, and third was Mark Walker. The green fleet was won by Geoff Endris.
[caption id="attachment_1799" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Racers at the Skippers Meeting[/caption]
On another note, Our club was represented for the first time ever in the Bayview Yacht club's annual race to Mackinac. This is a large yacht race from Port Huron, Michigan to Mackinac Island in Michigan. Club Member Tony ("Toe-Knee") Hubbard entered his John Alden Challenger. She is 38 feet long and was built in 1961 in England. Her home port is Sandusky, Ohio, but she proudly sailed for and displayed the Eagle Creek Sailing Club Burgee. Her crew included family, along with
[caption id="attachment_1803" align="alignleft" width="296"]
Integrity Charging towards the finish of the Bayview Mac Race[/caption]
extended sailing family. This included many former junior sailors that Tony has mentored over the past decades. Aboard for the race were Toe-Knee Hubbard, his sons Jason and Jacob Hubbard, Cam Borkowski, Barrett Rhodes, John Bergan, and myself - Rick Graef. Delivery crew also included Jim and Bonnie Wolfinger.
[caption id="attachment_1802" align="alignleft" width="235"]
Integrity proudly displaying her full colors[/caption]
The adventure began with a three day delivery from Sandusky to Put-in-Bay to Bayview Yacht Club, then on to Port Huron. After several days of race prep in Port Huron, Integrity began her first race in decades. We battled light air, medium air, and even squalls filled
[caption id="attachment_1807" align="alignleft" width="377"]
The view from aloft with lots of canvas in the air.[/caption]
with lightening, rain that pelted your eyeballs and 45 knot winds. Our only
[caption id="attachment_1801" align="alignleft" width="302"]
Integrity flying her A-Kite...before it blew up.[/caption]
casualty was our asymmetric kite (from a J105) that exploded in 20-25 knots of wind. Integrity finished a respectable 7th out of the 15 boats in her section, and 15th overall out of the 109 yachts competing on the shore course. Following the race, her crew relaxed for a few days on Mackinac Island before beginning the long delivery home to Sandusky. There are lots and lots more stories - so saunter up to me or Captain Tony at the liars table and we would love to share them.
As I write this blog three ECSC J24 crews are preparing their J24s to head north to Put-In-Bay, Ohio to compete in the I-LYA's Bay Week Regatta. This is often referred to as Senior Bay so as to not confuse it with Junior Bay week. Don't Panic, Dutch Mob, and Quixotic are all making the trip and will race this Friday through Sunday. This is also the J24 District championships and should be a great regatta.
Have fun, sail often, and sheet in.
Your race chair,
Rick Graef
Nick and Sheela Prepping for the Beach Party[/caption]
ECSC Regatta and Beach party proved to be one of our best Racing events of the year. Saturday had some great racing, but unfortunately Sunday the wind didn't quite cooperate and there were no races Sunday. Dr. Bob and his crew handled the Race Committee duties with expertise and we had some great racing Saturday. Nick Mates and his crew threw one of the best parties of the year. The band played until the wee hours and the dancing and singing was plentiful.
[caption id="attachment_1798" align="alignleft" width="293"] Jeff and Sarah Hanson at the ECSC Beach Party[/caption]
Red Fleet was won by Nan Schulze in Dutch Mob, 2nd was Perry Cameron in Sublime, and Austin Graef finished third in Don't Panic. White/Blue Fleet was won by Rich Fox, 2nd went to Chuck and Nancy Goff, and third was Mark Walker. The green fleet was won by Geoff Endris.
[caption id="attachment_1799" align="alignleft" width="300"] Racers at the Skippers Meeting[/caption]
On another note, Our club was represented for the first time ever in the Bayview Yacht club's annual race to Mackinac. This is a large yacht race from Port Huron, Michigan to Mackinac Island in Michigan. Club Member Tony ("Toe-Knee") Hubbard entered his John Alden Challenger. She is 38 feet long and was built in 1961 in England. Her home port is Sandusky, Ohio, but she proudly sailed for and displayed the Eagle Creek Sailing Club Burgee. Her crew included family, along with
[caption id="attachment_1803" align="alignleft" width="296"] Integrity Charging towards the finish of the Bayview Mac Race[/caption]
extended sailing family. This included many former junior sailors that Tony has mentored over the past decades. Aboard for the race were Toe-Knee Hubbard, his sons Jason and Jacob Hubbard, Cam Borkowski, Barrett Rhodes, John Bergan, and myself - Rick Graef. Delivery crew also included Jim and Bonnie Wolfinger.
[caption id="attachment_1802" align="alignleft" width="235"] Integrity proudly displaying her full colors[/caption]
The adventure began with a three day delivery from Sandusky to Put-in-Bay to Bayview Yacht Club, then on to Port Huron. After several days of race prep in Port Huron, Integrity began her first race in decades. We battled light air, medium air, and even squalls filled
[caption id="attachment_1807" align="alignleft" width="377"] The view from aloft with lots of canvas in the air.[/caption]
with lightening, rain that pelted your eyeballs and 45 knot winds. Our only
[caption id="attachment_1801" align="alignleft" width="302"] Integrity flying her A-Kite...before it blew up.[/caption]
casualty was our asymmetric kite (from a J105) that exploded in 20-25 knots of wind. Integrity finished a respectable 7th out of the 15 boats in her section, and 15th overall out of the 109 yachts competing on the shore course. Following the race, her crew relaxed for a few days on Mackinac Island before beginning the long delivery home to Sandusky. There are lots and lots more stories - so saunter up to me or Captain Tony at the liars table and we would love to share them.
As I write this blog three ECSC J24 crews are preparing their J24s to head north to Put-In-Bay, Ohio to compete in the I-LYA's Bay Week Regatta. This is often referred to as Senior Bay so as to not confuse it with Junior Bay week. Don't Panic, Dutch Mob, and Quixotic are all making the trip and will race this Friday through Sunday. This is also the J24 District championships and should be a great regatta.
Have fun, sail often, and sheet in.
Your race chair,
Rick GraefJuly 1, 2016
Ahoy ECSC Racers.
Well, it is July in Indiana, the corn is knee high, and our racers are ripping it up here on our home waters and across the country. Our Wednesday Spring Series has just concluded with great racing all Spring. Congrats to Les Miller for winning the new Blue Fleet in his S2 6.9 Turbolina. The winner of White Fleet, our largest fleet (13 boats) was Mike Clark sailing his Precision 23, Logos. Green Fleet was won by Dr. Bob and Kenny sailing the Highlander, Kowa Bunga. The always competitive Red fleet was topped by Bob and Janet Hickok in Spontaneous Combustion (J24).
Sunday Racing has been building strongly this year. Sunday races are scheduled from 2 to 4 during June, July and August. New this year are club championships that will be sailed concurrently with the rest of the Sunday fleet. Our innaugural Catalina 25 Championship was won by Bob Hickok. Check the schedule for upcoming club championships.
Speaking of championships, the 2016 J24 Hoosier championship are 2 out of 4 regattas in. This is a new series between the J24 fleets of ECSC and ISC. ECSC Mayor's Cup and Governor's Cup along with ISC Geist Guzzler and their Keelboat regatta count for the series. With Mayor's Cup and Geist Guzzler completed ECSC is in the lead. There will also be an individual winner named. Jason Hubbard finished highest from our sister clubs in the Mayors cup, and Perry Cameron was on top during the Geist Guzzler. The scoring system for this series is a high point scoring system. After the accountants at ECSCScoring.notarealwebsite.com tabulated the results...... Jason and Perry are tied with 13 points each. Full scoring for the regattas and the Hoosier championships can be found on the racing page.
Don't Forget the ECSC Regatta and Beach Party is coming up on July 9th and 10th. Our Past Commodore Nick Mates has great plans for the beach Party. Dr. Bob and Kenny will be sharing Race Officer duties. The NOR is available on the website and the SIs and entry forms are posted at the bottom of the race page.
[caption id="attachment_1663" align="aligncenter" width="318"]
Past Commodore Nick Mates attending the Americas Cup racing in Chicago[/caption]
Last month we had several of our ECSC members make the trek to Chicago for the Americas Cup World Series racing in Chicago. This was the first time any Americas Cup racing ha
s ever been sailed in fresh water! Chicago put on quite an amazing event and the Americas Cup is sure to return in the future. The AC 45 catamarans tore up the waters of Lake Michigan and even set a new speed record during a race.
[caption id="attachment_1664" align="aligncenter" width="428"]
Rick helping Team softbank load their hulls into shipping containers[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_1666" align="aligncenter" width="287"]
Integrity nearly ready for her 235 mile race to Mackinac Island[/caption]
ECSC will be represented in this years Port Huron to Mackinac race. This is an annual race sponsored by Bayview Yacht Club. Captain Tony Hubbard has entered his deep-draught Ocean Racer s/v Integrity. She is a 1961 Alden Challenger Yawl. Your fearless race chair will be aboard for this momentus race. We will be sailing the Shore course (slightly shorter than the Cove Island course) which is 235 miles long.
[caption id="attachment_1665" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Port Huron to Mackinac courses[/caption]
For more info check out the website at www.bycmack.com . There is also a tracker on the website so you can be part of the action. Integrity is in Class N and will proudly be carrying an ECSC Flag and Burgee. I believe that this is the first time a boat registered from ECSC has competed in this race.
[caption id="attachment_1661" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Integrity on a ball at Put in Bay[/caption]
Special thanks to everybody that has kept our race program running smoothly. See you on the water.
Rick
[caption id="attachment_1663" align="aligncenter" width="318"] Past Commodore Nick Mates attending the Americas Cup racing in Chicago[/caption]
Last month we had several of our ECSC members make the trek to Chicago for the Americas Cup World Series racing in Chicago. This was the first time any Americas Cup racing ha
s ever been sailed in fresh water! Chicago put on quite an amazing event and the Americas Cup is sure to return in the future. The AC 45 catamarans tore up the waters of Lake Michigan and even set a new speed record during a race.
[caption id="attachment_1664" align="aligncenter" width="428"] Rick helping Team softbank load their hulls into shipping containers[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_1666" align="aligncenter" width="287"] Integrity nearly ready for her 235 mile race to Mackinac Island[/caption]
ECSC will be represented in this years Port Huron to Mackinac race. This is an annual race sponsored by Bayview Yacht Club. Captain Tony Hubbard has entered his deep-draught Ocean Racer s/v Integrity. She is a 1961 Alden Challenger Yawl. Your fearless race chair will be aboard for this momentus race. We will be sailing the Shore course (slightly shorter than the Cove Island course) which is 235 miles long.
[caption id="attachment_1665" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Port Huron to Mackinac courses[/caption]
For more info check out the website at www.bycmack.com . There is also a tracker on the website so you can be part of the action. Integrity is in Class N and will proudly be carrying an ECSC Flag and Burgee. I believe that this is the first time a boat registered from ECSC has competed in this race.
[caption id="attachment_1661" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Integrity on a ball at Put in Bay[/caption]
Special thanks to everybody that has kept our race program running smoothly. See you on the water.
Rick
June 1, 2016
Well, Our 2016 Mayor's Cup Regatta is often our windiest regatta of the year and this year's weekend did not disappoint. We had several boats make the trip across town from Indianapolis Sailing Club as part of the new J24 Hoosier Championship Series. The Mayor's Cup was won by the J24 2XS from Chicago in a seven boat fleet. 2XS is owned by Mark Soya. Both days had very tight racing in steady 18-22 knot conditions with gust recorded at the airport over 30 knots. Second place in the J24 Fleet went to Jason Hubbard, sailing Absolut and third place went to Commodore Perry Cameron in Sublime.
[caption id="attachment_1280" align="aligncenter" width="375"]
Mayor's Cup 2016[/caption]
The Highlander fleet sent out a guinea pig boat to test the wind on Saturday which quickly scampered back in the cove and the fleet decided to not race on Saturday. On Sunday, the wind dropped slightly and they got in several races. The Highlander Fleet was won by Japikse, second place was Jamey Carey, and Hollingsworth was third.
[caption id="attachment_1282" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
In the Lead[/caption]
The PHRF fleet battled the conditions both days and was won by Jack Hale in his Merit 25. Second place was Leroy Leeman in his J22 and third went to John Kohne also in a J22.
Jack Hale aboard his Merit 25 Buzz Off
Full Results can be found on the racing page along with the J24 Hoosier Championship Series Results. The dinner was catered by Yats and the Band was fantastic.
Thanks to Sheela Smith Krout for taking some great pictures. They can be found
at https://www.flickr.com/photos/42535445@N04/sets/72157668696401316
Wednesday night racing has been fantastic with lots of beautiful evenings on the water. Sunday June 4th is our first Sunday Funday Race. Racing will consist of three short races from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. All boats are eligible and there will be prizes warded by the race committee that day. Also this Sunday doubles as our Club Catalina 25 Championship. Have a Catalina 25??? All you have to do is race that day and if you come out on top, You Win Club Champion Bragging rights for the year (and a great Prize)
Sunday June 4th is also the Geist Guzzler Regatta at Indianapolis Sailing Club. This is a keel boat regatta that is the 2nd regatta in the J-24 Hoosier Championship Series. Any keelboats from ECSC would be welcome, however, any J-24s that attend will count towards the J24 Hoosier Championship. The average of the top three boats from each club will count for the overall club championship. I would love to see 3 J24s make the trip. Last year yours truly took first in the J24 fleet and my son Austin placed second in a borrowed boat.
Sunday June 12th is another Sunday Funday race that will also double as the two and three handed green fleet champs. That means Thistles, Flying Scots, Highlanders.... Let's get them all on the water.
The following Sunday, June 19th is not only father's day (see social calendar for times for Father's Day event), but also the Father's Day Downwind regatta (it will also count as a regular Sunday series race. We will run 3 short downwind start races.
The final Sunday in June doubles as the J-24-Merit 25 champs. For the Sunday series these races will be scored with the normal PHRF ratings, BUT for the champs....the boats race boat for boat.
As for Race committee - We have had good turnout during May, however the sign-up sheet looks pretty bleak in June. Don't forget to follow the link on the racing page and sign up for your volunteer spot. Thanks to all the volunteers who have helped with RC duty, food and fuel so far this year.
See you on the water,
Rick
Mayor's Cup 2016[/caption]
The Highlander fleet sent out a guinea pig boat to test the wind on Saturday which quickly scampered back in the cove and the fleet decided to not race on Saturday. On Sunday, the wind dropped slightly and they got in several races. The Highlander Fleet was won by Japikse, second place was Jamey Carey, and Hollingsworth was third.
[caption id="attachment_1282" align="aligncenter" width="300"] In the Lead[/caption]
The PHRF fleet battled the conditions both days and was won by Jack Hale in his Merit 25. Second place was Leroy Leeman in his J22 and third went to John Kohne also in a J22.
Jack Hale aboard his Merit 25 Buzz Off
Full Results can be found on the racing page along with the J24 Hoosier Championship Series Results. The dinner was catered by Yats and the Band was fantastic.
Thanks to Sheela Smith Krout for taking some great pictures. They can be found
at https://www.flickr.com/photos/42535445@N04/sets/72157668696401316
Wednesday night racing has been fantastic with lots of beautiful evenings on the water. Sunday June 4th is our first Sunday Funday Race. Racing will consist of three short races from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. All boats are eligible and there will be prizes warded by the race committee that day. Also this Sunday doubles as our Club Catalina 25 Championship. Have a Catalina 25??? All you have to do is race that day and if you come out on top, You Win Club Champion Bragging rights for the year (and a great Prize)
Sunday June 4th is also the Geist Guzzler Regatta at Indianapolis Sailing Club. This is a keel boat regatta that is the 2nd regatta in the J-24 Hoosier Championship Series. Any keelboats from ECSC would be welcome, however, any J-24s that attend will count towards the J24 Hoosier Championship. The average of the top three boats from each club will count for the overall club championship. I would love to see 3 J24s make the trip. Last year yours truly took first in the J24 fleet and my son Austin placed second in a borrowed boat.
Sunday June 12th is another Sunday Funday race that will also double as the two and three handed green fleet champs. That means Thistles, Flying Scots, Highlanders.... Let's get them all on the water.
The following Sunday, June 19th is not only father's day (see social calendar for times for Father's Day event), but also the Father's Day Downwind regatta (it will also count as a regular Sunday series race. We will run 3 short downwind start races.
The final Sunday in June doubles as the J-24-Merit 25 champs. For the Sunday series these races will be scored with the normal PHRF ratings, BUT for the champs....the boats race boat for boat.
As for Race committee - We have had good turnout during May, however the sign-up sheet looks pretty bleak in June. Don't forget to follow the link on the racing page and sign up for your volunteer spot. Thanks to all the volunteers who have helped with RC duty, food and fuel so far this year.
See you on the water,
Rick