On November 14^th, we celebrated our end of the 2003 year with a very successful Banquet. This year, we decided to class it up a bit and let a restaurant serve us at Casa Carbone Ristorante Italiano. With over 85 in attendance, this was one of our largest Annual meetings in recent history. After a short social with music, we all sat to be served a great Italian meal with 4 entrée choices and pizza for the kids.

As we finished with our desserts of tiramisu, our Commodore, John Norton lead us through our Annual Meeting. The slate of mostly returning officers and chairpersons for 2004 were announced and those up for election were accepted. The two new board members are Henry Bridgers – Equipment Management and Eric Rasmussen – Race Management. Chistina Grobins, President of the Carolina Sailing Foundation, provided us a report on the great progress made on the first year of the Foundation and the success of the Junior Sailing program.

Trophies for the year were then awarded to the following members:

Legacy Bell - Pete Thorn

Robinson Cup

Joleen Rasmussen

The winner this year didn't start sailing as a child. She started crewing for a club member and then bought her own boat. She quickly developed the skills enough to beat some of the toughest competitors in her class. She has always been a leader in her fleet encouraging everyone to get out and sail as much as they can. She has served on the board, run countless races, chaired and co-chaired the Governors Cup. She has represented the club on a regional level at SAYRA meetings, has volunteered as Race Committee all over the Southeast and is on her way to becoming a US Sailing Judge. Her leadership has helped the club in a very difficult year.

Sportsmanship Trophy

Roy Rysdon

The winner this year has always shown good sportsmanship. Besides that, he has encouraged others to care less about winning on some weekends and instead take a guest sailing. His good sportsmanship has helped keep his fleet strong and brought new members to the club.

Yeomen Awards

David Brown for supplying the meeting room, doing the work as treasurer and redoing our billing system. Also, for his good humor at the meetings.

Alan Backus for running and upgrading all the social events and his attendance at CSC events.

Chistina Grobin for her work with the Foundation, Jr. sailing.

Amy Hitlin for her behind the scenes, working with the equipment, the Thistle fleet, Race Committee, helping out at the socials and sailing at most of the events.

George McKim for his work on keeping the club informed with the newsletter and weekly emails.

Junior Sailor - Lauren Norton

Kerr Series Trophies:

Lightning:

2nd Fall Series: Michael Rees

1st Saturday,

1st Fall, &

1st Overall: John Pelosi

Thistle:

1st Spring Series: Alan Backus

1st Saturday,

1st Fall, &

1st Overall: John Norton

Tanzer:

2nd Spring Series: Chistina Grobins

2nd Fall Series: David Mobley

2nd Sat. Series,

2nd Overall: Roy Rysdon

1st Sat,

1st Spring,

1st Fall,

1st Overall: Pete Thorn

Isotope:

3rd Fall Series: JP Ayers

3rd Sat Series,

3rd Overall: Jim Howard

2nd Sat,

2nd Spring,

2nd Fall,

2nd Overall: Eric Rasmussen

1st Sat,

1st Spring,

1st Fall,

1st Overall: Alan Wolf

Open Mono:

1st Spring Series: John Hunter

It was really a fine evening to celebrate another great year. The only miscalculation for the night was by yours truly, who, under a tight budget, placed a limit on beer (sailors drink beer, right ??) but not being watchful over the wine. So at 19 carafes later at $20 bucks a pop it dawned on me to shut down the free flow of vino. Oh well, if we’re gonna bust the budget, we might as well enjoy drinking it !! . . . your dues hard at work.

Alan Backus - Social Chair

Junior Sailing Program

A Fun Weekend For Junior Sailors

by Julia Oas

On Saturday, October 18, Junior Sailors Morgan, Graham, Lucas, Peter, Julia and Kaity met at Carr Lake for a fun weekend of sailing while the adults raced. Tom Coleman, the father of Tommy, who taught the kids last spring, was the instructor.

He first showed the kids how to tie the sail on to the mast and boom. Then Tom made a rope bridge for the kids to play on. It had one rope to walk on and two ropes to hold on to. After a lunch break, Tom talked to the kids about facing forward in the boat, where to sit, how to hold things and lots of other good tips and things to learn. Then the Opti. sailors rigged their boats and went out on the water.

Tom had them sail around marks in a triangle. He had them practice 360’s and switching to the opposite direction of sailing. At about 5 o’clock the Junior Sailors, except for Kaity, sailed over across the lake to Henderson Point to camp. Family members of Morgan, Graham, Lucas, Peter and Julia, Allison (who came late) and Allie John (who did not sail the Opti’s, but sailed a Tanzer with his father and Amy Grobin) were there to greet them.

After a delicious dinner of hobo pockets (your choice of raw meat wrapped in aluminum foil and cooked in a fire) there was an awards ceremony. Each Junior Sailor was given a glow stick as an award. Then everybody went to sleep in their tents.

In the morning, after breakfast, the Junior Sailors went out on the water again. But they had races that day. Allison won the first and second races. For the third race they started at the starting line and ended at the beach. Peter won that race.

After that everyone unrigged their boats, put them on the trailer and said goodbye. I think everybody had lots of fun.

At least…I did.

Junior Sailing Medals and Awards

Green Fleet OPTI participation medals were awarded for 2003 season to:

Morgan Wittman, Kelsey Wittman, Kaity Norton, Thomas Nolan, John Henry Nolan, Evan Moore, Julia Oas, Peter Oas, Graham Lutz, Lucas Reed, Morgan Grobin and Allison Powell

Kids coming to annual meeting, I have something to say about each one…….

Kaity Norton. Vim and vigor with a guiless smile describes Kaity on the water. Kaity advanced over the year, developing a sense for the wind and a passion for the water. I hope to see Katiy out there more next year and especially at one of the road trips.

Morgan and Kelsey Wittman were there at the beginning of the season and could be counted on for the loudest squeals of laughter (and alarm!)

Lucas Reed is our reluctant racer. The thought of going from point a to point b across the lake was OK by Lucas…. Or even some on-the-water games… But going around all those bouys doing circles was a bit of a mystery to Lucas…. Until Tommy Coleman got them all out there in a group whooping it up. After a night of camping, Lucas thought this sailing thing was a lot of fun!

Morgan Grobin deserves recognition for toughing it out at the back of the Green Fleet in the district regatta at Wrightsville. For the first time battling current, she managed well and was much improved the next day.

Allison Powell is our world racer, having competed internationally. She is an inspiration to the rest of the fleet and a joy to sail with as well.

Lauren Norton received the Junior Sailing award:

Lauren. Leadership and maturity describes Lauren. Lauren did not race OPTIs this year. She has moved up to the world of Thistles. Although Lauren is competing with the BIG DOGS, she has kept her feet firmly on the ground of youth sailing. Every chance to help, every chance to rig boats, help with campouts --- every challenge thrown at her she has greeted with a smile and an offer to do more. Lauren knows each of the junior sailors by name and made an effort to greet any new faces or extra siblings tagging along.

Vice - Commodore’s Comments

The Carolina Sailing Club was inaugurated in 1957, and in one of the older clubs in the Southeast. It's mission is to promote one design dingy racing in the area. The organization of the club has changed over time, but in general, the club has a core group of individuals who volunteer their time in supporting and promoting the activities of the club. Each person has a general area of responsibility. Some of those areas are a bit more difficult and require more time than others. It also seems to be a bit harder to find a volunteer to fill the role. I'm sure you've heard that Equipment Director is a difficult job, and certainly, I believe Vice Commodore isn't something most of us would agree to do. One role you may not hear to much about is Participation Director. The Participation Director is responsible for seeing that every club member is assigned a club

support task and that each club member is assigned to fill their RC

obligation. Typically, this involves making lots of phone calls on the part of the Participation Director, especially in the Dec/Jan timeframe.

This year, CSC is trying something new for getting race committee signed up. Through the efforts of Duncan and David Brown, CSC has an automated Race Committee Signup method. I had concerns when I was first advised of the

approach, but felt we had to try something to make filling Race Committee easier for everyone. Alan Kraus and I were the first ones to actually try to use the registration as we were responsible for getting the PROs into the system before general registration occurred. We had one small setback which with my programming and web master access, I was able to figure out.

Tuesday night, the day before general registration, I was dialed in from a hotel room at 24k around midnight, making my attempt to enter the PROs.

I was amazed at how smoothly it went, and my optimism level jumped

drastically. I now think this may be successful. If you haven't yet gone to www.carolinasailingclub.org/racecommitee to sign up for you two days of

obligatory RC duty, please give it a shot.

This is the first pass at the internet signup process, and I'm sure that there are a few opportunities for

improvement. Michael Rees and Alan Kraus would love to have your feedback and suggestions. I also think SAYRA will be interested in hearing how this "approach" went. I suspect we may be the first sailing club to try having members sign up on the internet. I certainly haven't seen any other clubs using internet registration for race committee signup.

Joleen - Vice Commodore, CSC

Tanzer Fleet

Tanzer Report for December 2003

The main news out of the Tanzer Fleet is that Joleen and Eric Rasmussen bought George Smart's famous #232 in November and have started racing it already. (See letter below.) In addition, the Tanzers were well represented in the Carolina Sailing Club's annual awards with Pete Thorn, Roy Rysdon, Joleen Rasmussen, and Paul Nicholson winning prestigious awards from the Carolina Sailing Club. In addition, Pete Thorn won first for the season for the Tanzers followed by the family teams of Roy & Eric Rysdon and David, Paul & Diane Mobley and the Grobin family sailors. (See previous article.) This should reinforce the claim of the Tanzer being a good family boat. This months report concludes with two letters--one continuing for the third month the dialogue about "Three boats and the Gybe Mark" and another about the soon to be notable, Rasmussen Tanzer experiences.

Respectfully submitted,

David Mobley

Skipper #286

.................................

Uncle David,

I'm a little late responding, but I wanted to present a different viewpoint of events surrounding "Three Boats and the Gybe Mark." Please forward to whomever you feel is appropriate. I am amazed at the write-up that this generated -- there is a lot of thought and rule analysis that surrounding this interesting situation. My summary is somewhat from a different viewpoint.

I will use Judge Eric's summary for the beginning:

David’s testimony:

In the second race of the Indian Summer Regatta at Lake Waccamaw, three boats were approaching the reaching mark on a modified Olympic course and all were fighting for 3rd place as Butch and Pete were already around. Mobley with his nephew, Chip Jackson—in his first regatta, were coming in high and to windward on starboard.

Okay, we have established a very important point early in the summary which bears significant consideration ... Mr. Jackson was in his first regatta ... with a life of powerboating and VERY little sailing. As we approached the mark, I was enjoying staring off the transom at how close we were to the other 2 boats -- you just don't do this with powerboats! I wondered what would happen with all of us at such close quarters -- that question was soon answered. I realized that we were going to have to stow the spinnaker, which somehow gave me a fit all weekend. Still not completely familiar with all the ropes (figuratively and literally), I think I began pulling or let out the wrong thing. Uncle David was shouting to pull something, which must not have been the one I was pulling on, because the tone of his voice got higher and louder with each repeat of the same command. I don't remember what he was shouting, or I was pulling on, I think I pulled and loosened every rope in that bow in about 3 seconds. The spinnaker and main sail were flapping all around and the minor amount of rope in the boat all of a sudden looked like a mass of spaghetti in the bilge. As our sails died, I watched helplessly as the other 2 boats collided into us immediately. I was just relieved to not hear any cracking sounds. Then we all just sat there together bumping along and hung up for what seems like an eternity while I was just imagining all the nice words the other 2 boats are thinking about me and Uncle David. We finally separated and went on our way.

I am very glad that the group of gentlemen that I was sailing with that day never came out and stated the obvious -- that Mr. Jackson really monkeyed up the whole deal pulling on the wrong rope!!

I really enjoyed the weekend and want to reiterate what a top notch group of folks were out that weekend!!

Chip

Part Time First Mate #286

Two Isotopes Skippers try a Tanzer - Part 1.

The entire Tanzer fleet is on pins and needles waiting to see how Eric and Joleen fair during their winter tryout of sailing a Tanzer together. Theirmaiden voyage was November 16th, and the actually did quite will in the standings placing 2nd overall for the day on. However, docking was a slightly different matter. It is pretty surprising how short the Jordan docks are especially when the winds suddenly pick up, a motor boat takes the prime docking location just in front of you, and the crew forgets that dropping the jib is an option in high winds. After four attempts at docking, and much cussing and swearing, Joleen decided to reschedule the maiden voyage for the following weekend. November 23rd had them back out on the water, this time sailing against Herb Bodman. They even felt comfortable enough to try the spinnaker in one of the races. Joleen thought the spinnaker flying went well, though Eric was a bit discouraged with the take down. Joleen was fine with the takedown, as she has had several much worse. Granted, they didn't need to round a mark, so that fact it took 50 feet past the line to drop the Spinnaker was fine with her. Well, the pair did OK that day, not placing as high over all, but beating Herb in two of the three races.

The first two weekends were light air days. Dec 6th found Eric and Joleen at Lake Townsend with two other Tanzers, a Flying Scot, and two cruising boats. The Raz Team did OK getting out of the Marina at Lake Townsend, but then immediately shipped water as the gusts took control of the boat. Joleen quickly hiked out on the high side, and between her fast response, and Eric's turning into the wind, they managed to not capsize. Eric, as skipper, announced that was it, they were going back in. They hailed the chase boat to come over and tow them back, and dropped the sails. Another Tanzer had already decided the winds were more than they were willing to try, and hadn't even left the dock. Docking in high wind was once again a challenge, and the pair nearly took the boat up the ramp without a trailer. Not to have a wasted day, two sets of crew derigged their respective boats, went out for lunch together, and had an hour or so of starting tactics discussions. Later, the team learned that the other boats, except for the largest cruiser, all capsized, two turning turtle. Their decision to return to docks perhaps was a very wise one for the new Tanzer team.

Dec 7th found them at Jordan Lake, still with strong winds--probably too strong for racing. Around noon though, the whitecaps disappeared and the PRO announced that racing was on. Eric and Joleen again went out to try "not light air sailing" on a Tanzer. They had a very good second race, but they are going to need a lot more experience. Why can't they point as high as the others, where is the layline, what is the best way to handle the gusts, how far can they push it, how can you tack without getting tied up in the lines. Truth to tell, it is easier to sail an Isotope and two hulls are a lot more stable. There isn't all this stuff to climb over to get to the other side. In heavy air, the Tanzer takes on a life of its own. Joleen does not believe that she could control the Tanzer in heavy wind, when she knows that she can control an Isotope.

Wondering if Meg has arms of steel, Joleen is going to look into a double purchase jib sheet system.

Anonymous

2003 Isotope Nationals

As a sailor I often wonder if there are other men similar to me. Nobody at work has any appreciation of water or nature unless it has to do with horsepower or killing something. Even my own family, the same people that I have been born and raised with in the same environment, do not see the beauty in sailing they only feel sailing is “ too much work” or the proverbial “too slow”. This heavy instinct somehow sets me apart. Do other men think for hours at work about how to shape a sail? Do other men philosophize over victory or glory after a weekend of making a boat go around buoys? Do other men spend massive amounts of income for the justification of getting an edge on their competitors in boats that are built to be the same? The answer my friends is yes there are other men that think this way and support each other and though we are a rare species we are here together on this rock to do the one thing that makes us happy. Go Sailing….. Page 2…

Last month one week after the Nationals my boss realized it would be cost effective for me to drive to Kansas instead of flying. So there I was sitting thirty feet away from a forty foot in diameter rotary cement kiln. The breeze blowing about 20 knots and about 30 degrees, the noise even with earplugs in was giving me a headache from the hard hat vibration, and my trusted co-worker who didn’t feel like driving during the day and couldn’t see at night won the coin toss to get day shift. So at about 2am I decided to go to my happy place. I looked around to make sure the observation cameras were pointing in a different direction and proceeded to reach into my briefcase and pull out the February issue of SAIL magazine. Everyone knows which issue, the one with two topless females on the large cruising cat laying out in the sunshine somewhere in the Caribbean. It only took a few seconds to go to my happy place but it took a couple of hours of lost data to make it back. ….Page 3

The Isotope Nationals were to be held in September but due to a near hurricane was postponed to October. At first I was bummed out at the prospect but after thinking it through I calculated that heavier winds would help my chances. My lean and mean 230 lbs of race machine wasn’t going to stand for light winds and a smaller person to take victory. The previous month at Lake Jordan and Lake Townsend I was hot so fate was within my grasp. Everything seemed to be going according to plan wake up early, drive to the lake, set up, socialize with all the buds, and stick to the age old fool proof strategy “get ahead and stay ahead.” It was beautiful start with breeze at 13 knots and a 20 degree shift but it was in my favor as I tacked for the windward mark. It felt good to be the first around the mark but half way down the coarse the decision to go deep instead of close to Henderson Point put me in fourth place. On the way back to the windward mark the trusty shark boat and my staying hiked out the whole time kept my rig straight and was able to pass to be the first at the windward mark and have enough lead at the leeward mark. With a good 50 yard lead what could go wrong. Back in second place Steve Renner opted to go to the port side of the course. With only 150 yards left to the finish line I again said to myself, what could go wrong? Sure enough with less than three boat lengths to the line Steve went by me flying on port to take victory and give me glory.

Throughout the day the shifting winds was a major part of strategy. The Isotopes had two capsizes but no major damage. There was a pretty good collision between Alan Wolf and Steve Renner, classic case of both boats on starboard tack looking behind you and seeing nobody looking ahead and seeing nobody and tacking right into the boat five feet beside you. The next two races were nail biters with the whole pack changing leads and staying together, the thought of breaking to far from the pack was entirely too risky. To loss five or six points while sitting in a hole was not a good strategy. It was Very tight competition between Steve Renner, Alan Wolf, Eric Rasmussen, and a person that I wasn’t used to seeing up front Bob Ethridge. That evening we had a class meeting lead by Joleen. It was openly discussed and voted upon to have a weight requirement for the 2-up handicap. It was discussed that sail measurements must be certified and attached to the foot of the sail. It was voted on that I was to be the fleet captain for next year; I will never leave a running meeting to go to the car to get a sweater again. After a good meal of catfish chowder and way too many drinks at The-Ol-Place I drove home one point ahead of Steve Renner and in the lead for the day looking forward to Sunday.

Sunday morning came but the breeze that had been my friend the previous day wasn’t to be found. With a 3 to 6 knot breeze with a shifting range of 90 degrees things weren’t looking to good for the race machine. The first race started with Steve and I pointing neck and neck and him pulling away. Something wasn’t correct with my rigging so watching him pull away putting me in a situation of drastic measures and ridiculous strategies. After about a hour and forty-five minute slow race going from second to tenth and back to third at the finish line things were rough but if Steve finished four places behind me and hell froze over I could win. The last race was long and painful with my luck running out and desperate strategies showing desperation. I finished tenth.

After racking and stacking the boats the awards were handed out. Steve Renner finished first and retaining the title. The first time in twenty eight years the national champ was able to defend his title two years in a row. I won second. Eric won third and a big surprise to everyone was Bob Eteridge’s fourth place. As I look back on the weekend a smile comes to my face because a good time was had by all. I look forward to correcting the sail tune and going sailing again. In the end I am stuck with glory instead of victory but as long as there are men similar to me it means a lot.

See ya on the water.

J.P.

Basic Race Management Seminar

Carolina Sailing Club - Raleigh, NC

Saturday March 13, 2004

This seminar is sponsored by the US Sailing Race Management Committee and the Carolina Sailing Club, and the Carolina Sailing Club Foundation. It is designed for people with some race committee experience who wish to become certified, or maintain certification as a US Sailing Certified Club Race Officer. It is also an excellent course for those who are interested in race management even if they do not wish to participate in the US Sailing race officer certification program. This seminar is the best way to find out how a race should be run. Race committee experience is helpful but not required.

The topics to be covered include race committee objectives, competition formats, sailing instructions, race committee jobs, race committee equipment, race day preparations, setting the course, starts, during the race, finishes, post-race responsibilities, and scoring.

The principal instructor for this seminar will be John Slater, from the Lake Norman Yacht Club. John is a US Sailing Certified Regional Race Officer and regularly serves as Principal Race Officer at major regattas. He was the PRO at the 2003 Flying Scot North American Championships. John will be assisted by Eric Rasmussen who is a US Sailing Certified Club Race Officer, US Sailing Judge-in-Training, Director of Race Operations for the Carolina Sailing Club and serves on race committee as little as possible.

At the seminar, you will need your own copy of the Racing Rules of Sailing -available at http://ussailing.org/rules. If you own a copy of the US Sailing Race Management Handbook, please bring it as well. All other materials, including a copy of Join the Race Committee Team, will be provided.

Participants should also complete a set of race management study questions and this information is available at the following web address - http://ussailing.org/racemgt/Race_Officer_Prog/Documents/RMStudyQ7-basic.pdf. Bring the results with you to the seminar.

The Club Race Officer Certification Test will be given at the end of the seminar and is optional. However, to be certified under US Sailing’s race officer certification program, you must attend a complete basic seminar and pass the test. You will also need to have your own copy of the current US Sailing Race Management Handbook and meet the program’s other criteria. The Carolina Sailing Club Foundation will sponsor the testing fee for those who wish to participate in this program.

The fee for this seminar is $25.00 and includes a continental breakfast, morning and afternoon break refreshments, lunch, seminar materials, a copy of Join the Race Committee Team, instruction, and test administration. Location:

Meredith College – room to be announced. Directions are coming soon.

Schedule:

8:00 am Registration and continental breakfast

8:30 am Seminar begins

12:00 Lunch

4:45 pm Test

5:15 pm Test debriefing

5:30 pm Seminar concludes

Advance registration is required – registration closes March 1, 2004.

Seating is limited and will be filled on a first come-first served basis. To register, complete the form (see CSC website or CSC Newsletter for form) and return it along with a check for $25.00, made payable to Carolina Sailing Club, to:

Carolina Sailing Club

Basic Race Management Seminar

5712 Island Road

Hillsborough, NC 27278

For additional information, contact Eric Rasmussen at (919) 732-5410 or email ejrasmussen@mindspring.com.

2003 Annual Meeting & Awards Banquet

Sportsmanship Trophy

Roy Rysdon

Junior Sailor - Lauren Norton

Kerr Series Trophies:

Basic Race Management Seminar