The Mainsheet - January 2022

COMMODORE’S COMMENTS
Respected Members,

After a year that gave us a set of challenges no one expected, it is encouraging to know that not only did we meet them, but continue to be motivated by everything  that we accomplished. Our Board and Bridge worked hard to keep AYC financially intact, functioning as the premier racing club, increasing new membership, and maintaining Piper seaworthy. A big thank you to all that stepped up and helped our club when needed.

My wishes to you all for a prosperous and happy new year! I am honored to serve you as commodore this year. Members can anticipate to being heard and encouraged to participate in all that our club endeavors to do. AYC’s calendar will be filled with socials, educational activities, island cruising, and racing. Please continue to follow the Events tab as dates for these are posted throughout the year. You can be sure that the positive results from the previous years will be built upon, to continue to grow and strengthen the club’s well being and camaraderie. Let us begin the new year with a spirit of  strength, continuity, and adventure as we draw on all of our club’s assets. Please join me in Anacapa Yacht Club’s wonderful journey this year!

Thank you,

Angie Frausto Gram, AYC Commodore

JUNIOR STAFF COMMODORE'S COMMENTS

Dear Members, thank you again for the opportunity to serve as your Commodore for 2021. Now that I am in the Junior Staff Commodore position I will be focusing on Open Houses, Club Boat Piper, as well as our Commodore's Ball. As discussed at our last Board and General Meeting, Open Houses are now a post dinner event. Vice Commodore Diane Wilkinson will be sending out dinner and open house announcements in the coming weeks. Again, thank you for your support and I wish you all good health and a prosperous 2022! 

Eric Swartz, AYC Junior Staff Commodore

VICE COMMODORE

 I will have compiled the information for the 2022 Saturday dinners. I'm working with the email list to send it out to all soon. If you have not been getting AYC email or need updating in the email list please email Secretary, Linnea von Wissmann. To receive all invites and notifications from this year’s active AYC please make sure to get on that list.Volunteers are really needed to help with some of our upcoming events! If you want to be on the ground floor of putting together some exciting parties for our club please contact me at vicecommodore@anacapayachtclub.org with any ideas, questions or concerns. Thanks.

CLUB DINNERS AND SOCIAL EVENTS:

Here's what's currently planned in January. Please stay tuned for more:

JANUARY 22 SATURDAY - Commodore’s Ball and Annual Awards

BIRTHDAYS

“The older you get, the better you get. Unless you’re a banana.” —Betty White

Here are the JANUARY birthdays for members. Happy birthday!!!

Dave Gorney 1-1

Dan DeCesare 1-2

Josh Wood 1-2 

Todd Turner 1-4

Peggy Harris 1-10

Joe Underwood 1-11 

Linnea von Wissmann 1-14

Dana Armstrong 1-23 

Great start to another year!

REAR COMMODORE

I would like to thank all of you for electing me as your 2022 Rear Commodore. This year looks to be one of our best years ever. Not only do we have a dedicated and motivated Board and Bridge whom work well together we have the overwhelming support of you, our members. We have and will work within CDC guidelines to keep our club’s racing, cruising and social events on track.

Racing:

As your Rear Commodore, I plan to reinforce our Wet Wednesday and Sponsored Races with a dedicated Race Committee group whom ( under the leadership of Todd Turner) will rotate Race Committee duties thus giving all the opportunity to race. We are blessed this year in not having the dredge behind the breakwater allowing WW races to be started there as they did in the past. This allows management of the race from the beach or attached jetty’s, freeing up the club boat Piper to participate. All those that have a “Competency Assessment” sign-off will appreciate the opportunity. I also would like to explore the possibility of having an added class “D” for skippers new to racing to hone their skills and move up into the more advanced levels. The new skippers can start without participating in the “Dog Fight” that we all in A,B and C classes find so challenging and exhilarating. I also think it would be entertaining to video the starts of each class and view them at the club after the race at the awards ceremony.

If you have any interest in participating in race committee, you don’t need to be a racer, we will train you. Please feel free to contact me. 

Cruising:

We plan to expand our cruising programs with at least one Cruise a month starting in April “after Santa Anna’s”. Our most popular run is to Frenchy’s on Anacapa for the day. Kayaking, swimming or just relaxing in the sun, and if you are sailing in same direction as another boat it always seems to turn into a race with great photo opportunities. Images may be displayed by the club.

Thank You for your time. Any comments or suggestions, please email me at rearcommodore@anacapayachtclub.org

Best regards,

Michael Gram, AYC Rear Commodore

RACE COMMITTEE REPORT

The printed race calendar from the ASBCYC should be arriving soon. Races have already been posted in the Events tab. The club wIll continue to benefit from a revamp of our Fabulous Fridays and, most important, building more race committee support crew. 

Predator is for sale and would be nice to see it stay in our area as it is a great race boat.

Thank you for your hard work.

Todd Turner, RC Chair

FROM ASBCYC:

Upcoming sailboat races

Jan. 29           VYC                Winter Regatta

Feb. 6             PCYC             TGIS Winter Series 1

Feb. 12           PBYC             Spring Series 1

Feb. 19-20     CIYC               SCYA Midwinters

Mar. 5             PBYC             Spring Series 2

 Get Latest Boating Info

          Stay up to date with the latest notices of race, results and other timely information by joining the local Google Group for the Association of Santa Barbara Channel Yacht Clubs. Click over to http://groups.google.com/group/asbcyc and then select “Join this group.

OUR NEWEST DIRECTOR ON THE BOARD

Pablo Crandall Plasencia

Many years ago a five year old child sat with his father on a friend’s Piver Trimaran. The boat was waiting for the drawbridge at San Pedro to open. Then it happened, the sails were trimmed and the little boat came to life. I still remember that moment. It was the moment that I fell in love with the ocean and with sailing. Today, I remain in love with sailing. I live for the moment when the engine is turned off and the boat comes to life.

I have come to believe that sailing is about balance. I believe that this is also true for Anacapa Yacht Club. We strive to see balance with our goals, action steps, and our ability to achieve them together. It seems to me that we face a year of challenges. We want to increase membership. We must continue to develop programs that are appropriate to our mission as a yacht club. We have done much. We have much to do.

We are rightly proud of our racing program. Wet Wednesdays have become a staple for the sailing community. We need to look, in my opinion, at  how Wet Wednesdays are perceived by those outside of our club’s membership. There are those that feel that we favor our members. I do not believe this to be true, but I do think that we have an issue of perception that requires attention.

I would like to see our web presence expanded to include a YouTube page. I would be happy to make this into a reality. I would like to see our webpage become friendlier to phones access, easier to navigate and kept updated. I would like to assist in making this also happen.

Membership will come. I think that if we are deliberate in our efforts to cultivate members, that we will grow. Transitions can be difficult. We should seek a balance that will bring people into our club. Some ideas that I would like to see:

— Establish learning opportunities that are open to the sailing community

-Sailing the Channel Islands

-Basic Navigation

-Anchoring

-Racing: Rules, Do’s and Don’ts

— Improve communication with potential members.

— Commit ourselves to making our club known to the sailing community.

I look forward with enthusiasm for our year. I believe that we are a good club. We can become a great club that is not too serious, not too “snooty”, and remains committed to people that love that moment when the boat comes to life.

Pablo Crandall Plasencia, AYC Director

IN CONCLUSION,

This is your club! Members, please share the boating experience by sending announcements, your pictures, ideas , and any content you wish to be put in next month’s MAINSHEET to mainsheet@anacapayachtclub.org by Jan 28, 2022. Thanks again.