Let me start with a reminder that there will be NO race next Wednesday, July 6, but when we come back on July 13 we will be fed by our team of culinary specialists.   We will continue to race for the next 8 weeks until our next awards ceremony on September 7.
 
Just a reminder that we have the 2nd of the 3 Moonlight races coming up on Saturday, July 9.  We are going to change the location of the 6pm skipper’s meeting to the grassy area in front of “X” dock at Aqualand (quieter and plenty of room to park).  I will send out a reminder next week.
 
It was an awesome night to go sailing if you were able to make it to the lake through the traffic and the rain that was reported on most of the freeways.  Fortunately for those of us that made it in time for the race, we had a great time with wind that varied in strength, always shifted (it was an easterly) but never died.  I heard people talking about boat speeds that varied from 4-7 knots, not bad for July.  It was humid and I spent more time looking at the sky and wondering “Is that rain or something else”, but RC did a great job of watching out for us.
 
Once again, we had a great gang of people on RC this week led by Stefan Schulze, Al Schulze, Jill Schulze, Nancy Dalman, Eugene O’Donnell and Mike Tataris.
 
We had some exciting action on the race course this evening.  Lately we have heard a lot of yelling (for good reason) from Greg Cash about boats interfering in the Cruiser start.  But this week all the Melges 24 fleet wanted to start at the committee boat and they just didn’t fit (live and learn) and of course someone had to pay.  
 
We had some exciting racing among the fleets this week.   David Wright came out on top in the High Cruiser fleet while Spencer Gay climbed to the 2nd place in the Low Cruiser fleet.
 
Mike Krantz flew around the course with Gary Umberger chasing him in the Melges 24 fleet, while Mike Macleod celebrated his son’s birthday by taking a 1st in the Low PHRF fleet.   Brad Bowers and his musical team took the J-24 fleet by storm this week.   
 
I hope everyone has an exciting and safe 4th of July weekend.
See you on the race course,     Dana
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And we are off again…….  It was a great night to sail, it blew a steady 4.6 k at the RC barge, but the participants tonight reported some very large gusts and some very slow spots on the race course.  Though the wind blew and made for a great race, the temperatures were still running high and kept it a warm but windy evening.  
 
A big thanks to race committee of Tommy Sawchuck, Tony Stanley, Heather Tempske, Anne Howard, Josephine Stanley, Rachael Green, Zoe Dangur and Dana Stewart.  Will Brown and Jo Ann Estes served a scrumptious grilled chicken Caesar salad for dinner this evening.  Our next meal will be Wednesday, July 13, Race 2-3.
 
We had some great races out there this evening.  Premature Acceleration in the Melges 24 showed the old guys how to do it fast and Valkyrie (new red C&C 99) sailed to victory in the Mid PHRF fleet.   Congratulations to the crews of these two boats, there is nothing like getting the horn on the race course.
 
There is one more race before we have an off week on July 6 and then we will reconvene the racing on July 13 for the next 8 weeks.  

I hope everyone got the photographs of your boat as well as the 8 x 10 canvas photo that were given out this evening, once again thanks to Linda Hoopes for all her hard work.  Those trophies that were not picked up are laying on the table on the left side of the clubhouse.
 
See on the race course,    Dana
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Thank you for the dedication of the race committee crew this week, She-Devil crew, Anne Howard and Neil Harris along with Jeff Freeman and Billy Street from Renengade. The forecast was a little iffy, but once we reached “A” mark the wind kept veering from “C” to “D” and it was a crapshoot as to where it would settle at race time but it sure exceeded my expectation for velocity.  
 
I must reiterate how important it is to have a chase boat on the race course.  One of the competitors ran aground in the vicinity of X island and fortunately Jeff in the chase boat managed to give them a helping hand.
 
A Message from our Culinary Specialist: 
“Ahoy sailors!
I’m sorry I forgot to update you guys about the food last Wednesday (race 9), but we still served over 80 people which an outstanding turnout!
Wednesday, June 15 is the awards ceremony (party) for the first series.  Please come out and represent your team and wear all of your colors.  Jonathan Stewart and I will be doing a low country boil.  Gather at 6pm, dinner at 7pm, and awards at 7:30.
I will forward to seeing you all there!
Also, please keep the Reggae Regatta in mind for this weekend.    Will Brown”

​ hope I see everyone at the Reggae Regatta this weekend.
See you on the race course,   Dana
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This race was anticlimactic, we had some fleets that had some very close contests for the trophy spots and boy were they disappointed that we did not run a race.  Of course, nobody complained about the postponement and eventual abandonment of this race because there was absolutely no breath of air.  
Thank you race committee of Mike Macleod, Brad Hamrlick, Sean O’Connor and the rest of the crew.
 
We had a great summer feast this night prepared by Linda Cellamare, Marie Umberger and the many cooks that slaved over the grill burning (joke) our burgers and dogs.  A special thanks to those who do such a fabulous job of cleaning up.
 
Below is an extremely funny video that Pat Finnick found on “What is a sailboat race!”  
Watch this wild video.
https://youtu.be/ZjbcnIrb9Sw
See you on the race course,   Dana
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