Started our second juniors class today. We've got 29 kids in this class. Here's the twins moving along at a good clip.

made an inquiry to the yacht club that if we can get five f-18 to show up for the Tri-Point Ocean Race coming up in August would the give them a separate start.

Should know something next week

That's awsome! Put a big smile on my face,

I took six new-to-sailing people out on a Hobie 16 in good winds and I didn't scare them off.

Spent the week at Sail Sand Point in Seattle, working on the Waves and H-16's, while Grandson Dan was in the H-16 Class.

Keeping the marine industry supply companies in busine$$.

Nobody has done anything since June 2? I hope that means everybody has been out sailing, which is probably the BEST thing you can do for sailing.

I've just been doing the scoring for a couple of regattas here at Put-in-Bay, and taking a few pictures on land. I am putting together photo albums for the Wave North Coast Championship and the Shark Nationals.

Mary,

At our last Fleet Fun Day we did that "Ball Hunt" game that either you or Barb suggested, and it was a roaring success!

Mark balls with the sail number of each boat, (can do single, double, or multi-hand teams). We had eleven people and three boats (with very little wind) so we let them chose teams amongst themselves.
The only rules are retrieve your ball and be the first team back to the beach. We threw in a twist to sail ccw around the breakwater before returning to the beach, giving the stragglers another chance.
There was boarding of vessels, hoarding of balls, paddling and other non-sailing skill set activities.
One post-game comment was "I've got some ideas for next time we do this!!", of which they weren't sharing.

Thanks ladies for the great suggestion, I think the old salts enjoyed it as much as the newbies.

Must have been Barb's suggestion. Sounds like fun!

Got a friend of mine ''hooked'' He bought a 16 Hobie
'Don't fear the speed~~ Fear the addicition'

Ya all know the rest of the story!!!!!!

Ha, same here! I took him out on his first race a week ago after I got him hooked the month before. He and his wife are now looking at which boat to buy! I love taking strangers out on my cat. Pity they need a lot af special clothing to get into the sport in the Netherlands. This does complicate matters. Probably not a problem in Florida!

Took the 6.0 out last friday in slow to moderate conditions with my buddy Mike. ran across two other sats on the water, both had newb abord. First one, a H-18 single handed, was pointy side down so Mike jumped in the water, helped right it, and gave some instruction before jumping back abord the 6.0.
Second one, a hobie 16 with a young couple aboard, had the idea that it would be safer to raise the main wile under way instead of doing so on the beach. Had things all F'ed Up. Again, Mike jumped aboard and helped rig the main, gave some instruction, and some advice on setup.
Any time we go to the lake and see other cats with newbs, we keep an eye out to lend a hand. . We also try to talk to them on the beach and exchange contact info so that if they need help rigging, or someone is going to the lake and wants some company, rail meat, whatever, they have a chance to get it.
We also send them to this website, or to our local cat club websites, so that they can get information from others more experienced than us.
We also do a little showing off to folks on the beach whenever we get the chance. We make cat sailing look awesome! And it is!

Great Press

Like Mark noted. Good press helps our sport.

Also a good idea to add your comments to the article. They like to know we are reading.
Caleb Tarleton

Thursday night Rick and I went to the organizational meeting for next year's I-LYA Bay Week Regatta. At stake was not just the need to revitalize this regatta, which has been an institution on Lake Erie for well over a century, but to SAVE the regatta from extinction.

At least 30 people showed up for this important meeting, which lasted more than three hours and yielded much valuable input. It was great to see so many people committed to getting this regatta, which used to be the biggest freshwater regatta in the country, back on its feet.

By the way, this regatta is for all sailboats, big and small, monohull and multihull, handicap and one-design. Rick and I were there to sort of represent the small-boat racing, which includes centerboard monohulls, beach cats, and sailboards.

Nobody likes to go to meetings, but I can now see how important it is for people to get involved on the organizational level.

Took a 1st timer out on my boat last Friday, being a powerboat guy he was really impressed with the control and speed of the cat

How about what I didn't do for sailing? At last weekend's regatta I T-boned a Hobie 16 with my Hobie 18 and severely dented the 16's side rail to the tune of $200 of damage. The next day I brain-farted during the skipper's meeting and missed the admonition to avoid a restricted zone - then I sailed in it and caught the wrath of the entire fleet and RC.

Don't ya like it when ya take a 'motorhead' out and he's impressed... Almost makes ya want to give him a few bucks for a downpaym't on a cat~~~ 'Naaaawwwww'' he can use his GAS money for that !!!!!!!!!!!!!

What I like is when u FLY by the motorboat later on a reach and just SMILE!!!! ROTFLMAO!!!!!!

Doug

Just glad he had a good time sailing I actually like performance powerboats too...shh just don't tell anyone