News

Flooding at the lake. Before the snow, excessive rains had caused the lake to go into flood, lifting as many as 25 docks off their posts. The lake receded, but many of the docks are out of position. 3/8

One Design Class Council. The one council of US Sailing that affects us most is the One Design Class Council. To be in the loop of what is going on in one design, subscribe to the ODCC listserv. To subscribe, send an email to odcclist-subscribe@ussailing.org from the email address you wish to receive list messages. 3/6

CLSA logowear. CLSA is making available several pieces of merchandise with CLSA logo. Pete Japikse is selling these as a CLSA junior training fundraising project. When he reaches the 48 piece minimum he sends in an order. Details 2/25

Lift parties. Spring is coming and the first order of business after the club vessels are launched is to begin installing the boat lifts that were removed last fall. The vessels will launch on April 5. Use of the Pink Lady to install lifts on weekends is by reservation only. A signup sheet has been posted. Remember, all lifts not being actively worked on are prohibited from being on shore after Memorial day. 2/24

Launch ramps repaired. The hole at the end of the concrete aprons is gone. The park had a contractor place large gravel to level it out. Some people had run into difficulty when their trailer wheels dropped down and the trailer could not be pulled out. 2/20

Membership renewals. Membership renewals are due today. If anyone did not receive their invoice, they should contact treasurer Pete Japikse. The 2008 season schedule has been posted and there are only minor changes to our sailing instructions. 2/15

2008 Winter Dinner. This years sailing banquet was well attended. Everyone enjoyed chatting again with their sailing friends. The 2007 Marcotte Award for distinguished service to the club was presented to Ken Werremeyer and Ellen Dugan. Ken and Ellen were responsible for the design and construction of the beautiful gateway and surrounding landscape features. They also provided the banquet table decorations for the past two years. 2/10

New race starting machine. CLSA is obtaining an AutoHoot, an automated race starting system. Once started, it manages the starting time sequences and sounds the horn. All the RC has to do is display the starting flags when prompted by the system. This frees the RC to "get their head out of the boat" and be more aware of wind shifts, drifting start marks and the like. It does not add another layer of complexity for the RC, it removes one. It is programmed to produce the starting sequences for regattas using the 5 minute sequence as well as the 3 minute sequence we use for our club races. The sequences will repeat until the system is switched off. An additional programmed sequence is available called a "count down" sequence as used for collegiate and junior racing where watches are not needed. This is described in Appendix Q of the Racing Rules. 2/10

New radios. CLSA has purchased two new VHF radios, one to replace the dead one in the kitchen and the other will mount on the console of the large mark boat, the "aircraft carrier". It is to be stored on the shelf of the mark shed. 1/30

Jon boat to be replaced. The oldest (and damaged) jon boat will be replaced this winter. It will be equipped with a steering console. 1/27

So you really want to understand the rules? If during the winter you wish to sharpen up your understanding of the Racing Rules of Sailing, consider browsing the official rule interpretations found in the ISAF Casebook. Link 1/9

Interesting racing information source. Quantum Sails sponsors a very interesting website with useful racing tips. It is called Destination One Design, abbreviated D1D. It can be found at http://www.destinationonedesign.com/. A newsletter called D1D Insight can also be automatically received in your email if you want to subscribe. Check it out! 1/1

Anchoring the RC boats. Many of us have been boating for many years and think we know how to anchor. Still, too often, people are seen throwing the anchor rather than lowering it. This invites the chain or line to foul the anchor on the way to the bottom resulting in a dragging anchor. Also, dropping the anchor too quickly without the boat making sternway can result in the chain landing on top of the anchor also fouling it. Best is to lower the anchor as the boat has begun sternway to ensure the anchor chain and rode pay out as the boat moves to leeward. Also it is good to power set he anchor using reverse to be sure of a secure anchor set. It is not good to discover in the middle of the start sequence that the anchor is dragging. 12/15

Setting the starting line. An interesting technique for setting the starting pin was mentioned at the Race Management Seminar. It is also in the US Sailing Race Management Handbook. The mark set boat slowly motors to windward at the distance wanted for the proper line length trailing the mark in the water. All the line is out and only the anchor in the boat. When the mark reaches the proper spot they are signaled to let go the anchor. The anchor will settle on the bottom with the mark in the desired position. Neat! 12/6

Boater education requirement. Effective Jan 2000 a boater education requirement was mandated for all persons born after Jan 1, 1982 to operate a power boat over 10 HP. That means members under about 26 need to be certified to operate most of our RC boats. More information as well as links to online courses may be found here. Many of our teens are already doing this and the off season is a good time. 12/1

Racing Rules tidbit. The rules for shortening the course do not call for any advanced warning as changing the course does. The RC may just set a finish line at whichever mark it wants, even if boats are already on that leg. They display code flag S on the finish boat with the blue flag, make two sound signals as the first finishers come into range and begin recording finishes. They do not repeat the sound signals. The CLSA Sailing Instructions provide that an RC boat will hail boats as they round the previous mark advising them to finish at the next mark. Code flag S is not displayed and no sound signals are made. This makes it less confusing when the course is shortened only for certain fleets. 12/1

First Aid, CPR & AED Course online. The American Red Cross now offers several training courses online. This answers a need for people too busy to schedule a classroom based course. Link 11/22

Flags. Sailing instructions make reference to "signals made ashore". In the past, this referred to certain signal flags flown from the RC boat at the dock to provide information to sailors on shore before racing. CLSA is acquiring a larger version of these flags so we may fly them from the clubhouse flag pole. This would make the information available before the sailors went down the hill - perhaps saving them the trip. Although mainly for regattas, there is some application for club races. For how this will work, see details 11/19

Clubhouse closed. On Saturday, Nov. 3 , work groups toiled to prepare the CLSA facilities and vessels for winter. The water is off so the restrooms are not usable. The electric power will be on so winter projects may move forward. 11/3

Season scoring. The 2007 racing season scoring has been tabulated and posted. 10/29

Pictures. Several members contribute pictures from time to time. Most notable are John Ray, non-sailing spouse of Jenifer Ray and Steve Tsuchiya. A group of Steve's excellent pictures from Sept. 1 are newly published in our gallery. 10/15

New Officers. New officers were elected for the 2008 season. Judy Hearn will be Commodore, Tim Black Vice-Commodore, Pete Japikse Treasurer and Bob Gallagher Secretary. Jenifer Ray and Mike O'Toole were elected to the Board of Governors with terms expiring after 2010. Tom Antunes was elected to complete Tim Black's term on the Board expiring after 2008. They officially assume office November 1, 2007. 9/2

Dogs on club grounds. For many years club rules and regulations have stated members dogs are not welcome on club grounds, whether on leash or not. Please make other arrangements for your pets when you come to the club. 6/2

Listserv. Please remain connected to our listserv as it is a valuable communication with our members. Unlike many, it does not serve as a discussion forum. Messages are strictly moderated by managers Patti Lawrence, Judy Hearn or Ken Irwin. To facilitate receiving messages add cowan-lake-sailing-association@googlegroups.com to your address book. If we have your company email address, access to listservs may be blocked, so you should be registered with your home address. If you didn't receive a message today, you may not be connected. 4/25

Web navigation problems? A few have had trouble navigating our website where the link buttons were blank and not working. This is a local browser issue and likely relates to their Java application. In this eventuality an alternate method of navigation is provided. The site has a "site map" which contains standard links to all our pages. Links to it are at the bottom of this news page as well as on our home page. 9/4

Email addresses. From time to time people change their email addresses and forget to notify everyone. Check yours in the Members page by mousing over your name and reading it at in the status bar at the bottom of your screen. If yours has changed, please notify the webmaster. 6/21

CLSA burgees. We have acquired a number of small CLSA burgees. they are 12 x 18 and cost $15. See Judy Hearn.

All those signal flags! On the occasion of replacing our signal flags with larger ones, we have taken the time to produce a primer for our more casual racers. What does that mean?

Rules Corner. The Racing Rules of Sailing are lengthy and complex and aren't especially interesting reading. We have broken them up into several categories and just feature the ones most sailors have trouble understanding