Atlanta Yacht Club : Scuttlebutt Club Newsletter : 2009
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(AYC members only)
Randy Whitfield, founding member and AYC Commodore
It is with sadness in our hearts that we report the passing of charter member, Randy Whitfield. Randy was a founding member of the Atlanta Yacht Club, held stock certificate number 1 and was an avid sailor for many years. In 1952 he became the second Commodore of AYC, following a 2 year tour by the first AYC Commodore, E. O. Smithfield (Amanda Hodges' Grandfather). For decades, it was a Club tradition for Randy to give the invocation at Commissioning. He made significant contributions to the development of AYC as the Sailing Club that we know and love today.
Along with his family and Georgia Tech, the Atlanta Yacht Club ranked in Randy's top three passions. This past June, Randy enjoyed sitting on the Clubhouse deck, along side most of his 10 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. It made him deeply happy to be able to share his cabin and the pleasures of Lake Allatoona with his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Randy died peacefully in his sleep under Hospice care at his home at Canterbury Court after a brief hospitalization for congestive heart failure. As recently as two weeks ago he was working at his desk each day and walking all the way to Canterbury's dining room three times a day. He was 100 years old.
Randy's memorial service will be held at St. Philip's Episcopal Cathedral at 10 am on Friday, August 14. The address is 2744 Peachtree Rd NW, Atlanta, GA 30305-2937 and a reception will follow the service.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, including AYC member Clare Whitfield, and friends.
Junior Week Alumni Dinner, Friday June 12, 2009
In the last 35 years, have you ever attended Junior Week as a Junior, or known someone who has?
This year marks Junior Week's 35th anniversary and an informal Junior Week Alumni dinner will be held in conjunction with the closing ceremonies of 2009 Junior Week.
When: Friday, June 12, 6:00pm Appetizers, 6:30pm Dinner (Mexican Cuisine)
Where: Clubhouse (look for signs as to where to sit, as we want to ensure the Juniors and their parents participating in this years Junior Week are able to sit together)
Price of Meal: $12.50 for adults, $6.50 for children under 12 (make checks payable to AYC and bring them with you, there will be a check-in booth, again, look for the signs)
How: RSVP to Tracy Tumlin Allardice no later than Monday, June 8 via email or 678.360.3152
Those that participated who are not members now are encouraged and welcome to come too. Please help spread the word!
Tracy Tumlin Allardice
Junior Week Alumnus 1986 - 1991
Opti Regatta / Clinic was Great Fun
Any young sailors who did not participate lost a great chance to learn how to sail with some of the best teachers in the country. Hopefully, next year we will have a lot more Early Birders taking part. The Green Fleet, whose races are coached and not scored, doesn't require sailing skills like the Championship Division. Yet it still lets the young sailors meet some of the outstanding sailors from other areas.
This year we had 31 sailors from 7 fleets in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia preregistered. Despite there being thunderstorms and even tornado sirens, sailing was barely impacted as the bad weather came through at night and during lunch. With pros Tom and Tommy Colman coaching, you never have to worry about the weather, as much can be learned in question and answer sessions at the clubhouse.
The food was as usual excellent (even the parents were pleased.) Saturday night's game of Opti Bingo, where all the terms are nautical, was run by the teens in our Junior Yacht Club, which sponsors this event. The sailors had a blast, vying for their choice of prizes from the table of items donated by our sponsors, Layline, Gill NA, and OptiStuff. Yes, the candy donated by parents was appreciated too.
Leigh Ann Collier of LLSC walked off with most of the trophies, as she won the Blue Division for 11 - 12 year olds, as well as the Top Female and the Top Overall awards… not fair!! Our own Max Irvine made us proud by winning the White Division for kids 10 and under, while Jacob Payne managed 2nd place in the Red Division for 13 - 15 year olds. Congratulations!!!!
Freddie Cleveland
With sadness in our hearts we report the passing of Freddie Cleveland, long time member of AYC and life long sailor. Freddie passed away on Saturday, April 4, 2009, surrounded by her four children, Frank, Douglas, Shelley and Kristina. She had recently been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of Leukemia.
Freddie's love for sailing began at Lake Arrowhead in California when she was 9 years old and got her first boat, which she named "Catch a Puff." Over the next 75 years her love of sailing never ceased to grow. When she, her husband Al and the children moved to Atlanta in the 1950s, they joined AYC and Freddie began sailing Thistle's with Al as her crew. She was a fierce competitor and represented AYC in the Adams Cup multiple times.
Freddie was also a member of the Motorboat Fleet and an avid volunteer at AYC. She possessed a wealth of knowledge about sailing which she shared with our juniors by coaching at Junior week. Freddie leaves a legacy of a sportsmanship, volunteerism and generosity at AYC. She will be remembered and sorely missed by those who knew and loved her.
A Memorial Service will be held at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 3003 Howell Mill Rd, Atlanta GA 30327 (located at the corner of Moore's Mill & Howell Mill Roads on Friday, April 24, 2009 at 2:00PM in the sanctuary. A reception will follow at the church in Williams Hall. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Hospice or The American Cancer Society.
February 2009
Congrats, 2008 Award Recipients
Please welcome AYC’s new members of the Board of Governors
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Chris Payne |
Larry Bull |
Robert Mitchell |
Other Board of Governors are: Jim Womble (Ex. Of.), Lee Bradley (Membership Committee Chair), Tracy Allardice, Matt Gregory, Steve Guebert, Ian Elliott, Don Hackbarth, Jim Smither, Karl Andersen (Secretary), Tim Weber (Treasurer), and Flag Officers, Buz Benzur, Jim Roberts and Jill Zlogar.
HANDS-ON PRO's and Race Committee Team Member Training Meeting
March 22, 2009
1:30pm at AYC
Attention: All 2009 AYC Pro's and Race Committee Team Members!!
Plan now to attend our annual HANDS-ON Race Committee Team Training Meeting on Sunday March 22, starting 1:30 pm at AYC. All AYC PRO’s and Race Committee Team members need to attend! This will be a Hands On, No Theory training meeting where we will learn how to best use AYC equipment running races on our lake for our members. No part of the Race Committee Team action will be a left a mystery! Learn everything from the location of the keys to the McKee Craft, to the running of the marine radio, plus the secrets of the clock and setting the pin. All will be made clear in small group class demos. This will be a two hour class. Attend the March Race Committee Training Class and start our AYC Sailing Racing Season off right!
If you have questions, please contact Ron Redner,
AYC Race Development Officer at
email or 404.401.0204.
2009 Race Committee Update
Reported by Don Hackbarth, 2009 Race Committee Chair
The upcoming sailing season is loaded with activity, lots of racing and training. You won't be bored. The Race Committee teams have expanded and are preparing to provide you with quality race management services. We have added 2 new RC teams led by PROs Orren Williams and Jim Roberts. Bill Tumlin will be replacing Art Molitor as a PRO and Art will continue to serve on RC. Beth Tumlin will be calling Team Members each week to remind them of their upcoming RC duties. We have scheduled 3 fleet race days once every month and will be starting the summer Fleet races at 1pm, hoping we will have less boat traffic and better wind. Every Saturday from May thru August we will have coached training races at 11am, to provide the Members who wish to improve their sailing skills an opportunity to be instructed by the more experienced sailors in the Club. Each Fleet has been assigned dates on a rotating basis. The Laser races are scheduled once per month on Sundays and will start at 11am in the spring and fall and 10:30am in the summer.
The schedule has the traditional AYC regattas, plus in early April we will be having a 2 day clinic run by Quantum Sails, in May the second annual Opti Regatta and Clinic and in the fall the Snipe Fleet will be hosting the USA Snipe Masters Championship and a Classic / Wooden Snipe Rally.
All this activity is supported and provided by AYC's outstanding tradition of volunteerism. We appreciate your sharing of your valuable time and your skills.
See you at the lake!
How do we teach people (who are not kids) to sail?
Reported by Peggy Davis
In the past this was done by AYC members who brought up acquaintances and persuaded them to join the club. After that, there was some formal teaching done by fleets, but most of the newcomers just sort of hung around and picked up the basics. Those with great desire kept pushing for help until they developed into competent racers.
With everyone working now, it is harder to find people who are willing to use their valuable leisure time at the club to entertain and share their enthusiasm with near-strangers. Because of this, the club is trying to formalize some opportunities to develop new sailors.
We plan to hold coached races every Saturday from 11 – 12 starting May 9, except for regatta weekends. These races will serve as the Opti scored races and will also be an integral part of the junior classes. This year they will be expanded to include anyone else who would like to sail with coaching, in a casual environment where they can develop their boathandling skills. They can sail class boats or any club boats not already in use. Fleet members and part of the RC team will be asked to serve as support boats and coaches.
Adult / teen classes will be offered again, like last year. There will be two sessions taught by me in 420's, on Saturdays from 9 – 12. The first session is May 30 through June 27, and the second on Saturdays in August. The cost remains $35 for AYC members, and $150 for non-members. (The difference is that our club dues pay for the maintenance for the boats and sails). We are looking for some teens or young adults who would be interested in assisting with this program; we will pay them for their time. In addition, the fleet who sponsors the coached race for that day will be asked to come early with one of their boats to promote their class to these newcomers.
At first glance, this looks like we want more work from you, but it actually combines several groups and makes possible maintaining the excellence our club is known for. It lets you volunteers get to know new and potential members, it gives them knowledge of the advantages of different boats as well as how to sail safely and achieve self-confidence in their boat handling skills, and it keeps our fleets and club growing. Our wonderful AYC way of life is too important not to share.
Prepping for Junior Week '09
Reported by Craig McLean
Yep, we're getting ready for JW '09! We're using the Maassens' playbook from JW '08, and that's keeping us organized and on schedule! You'll see a few experimental changes at JW '09, but mostly we'll be aiming for a safe and fun sailing experience just like last summer.
We're expecting as many as twenty Optis on the water next summer. Some Opti sailors will concentrate on basic sailing skills and an introduction to racing while others will be honing competition skills to get ready for the Red, White, and Blue Fleets at Opti regattas.
We also expect up to thirty Lasers next summer. We'll separate the Laser sailors into three groups as they were last summer. The Beginning Laser Fleet (Last year this group was called Intermediate I) will sail with 4.7 rigs, which will make the boats much more manageable if the wind picks up. The Beginning Laser Fleet will concentrate on boat handling skills and introductory racing skills.
The Intermediate Laser Fleet will be expected to rig their Lasers without assistance (except for stepping the mast). They will do extensive drills and participate in practice races that will be designed to help them move up to the Advanced Fleet as soon as possible.
The Advanced Fleet will be made up of experienced skippers who want to prepare themselves to sail in the many Laser events at the AYC, out-of-town Laser and 420 regattas, U.S. Sailing Championships, and on college sailing teams. Top coaches who have sailed at this level will share their knowledge of tuning, boat handling, and racing tactics. They will design a rigorous curriculum that challenges the best sailors in our Junior Program. The Advanced Fleet will compete in Lasers and 420's.
If we have enough interest, we will also experiment with a non-competing fleet. This fleet will require a minimum of three participants. They will sail in a larger, cruising type sailboat and learn the basics of sailing, navigation, radio usage, docking and mooring, etc.
Junior Week registration opens Feb.1. Go to the AYC web site to find more information. Adult AYC members can direct questions to this email.
Calling all Junior Sailors!
Reported by Chris Payne, Jr. Training Director
Youth classes begin again in April. In the Spring we will hold intermediate and advanced class for Opti's, Lasers and 420's on Saturdays 9-12am. This is a move to Saturday classes in order to tie in with other Saturday training activities.
In the Summer, we will hold beginner / basic training on Sundays and Opti Early Birds on Saturdays.
The Opti regatta is planned for the weekend of May 2nd. The Opti racing series introduced last year will be continuing, now as part of short-course racing starting at 11am for optis, lasers, 420's and practicing adult fleet boats. We are working with the adult fleets to provide coaches for the 11am races, focused on Saturdays.
We are looking into Fall training plans based around the busy regatta calendar.
Go to Junior Training for details and to register online.
Dates:
Watch out World, these top notch Opti sailors mean serious business on the race course
Congrats to Zettler Quinn (left) who won the sportsman award, his brother Devin (not pictured) who was 3rd in the season, Max Irvine (middle) who was 1st for the season, and Nick Haile (right) who was 2nd overall.
Sugar Bowl Regatta ends on a sweet note
Our college girls are making us proud, read all about them in the excerpt below found on the Clemson University Sailing Club's web site, www.clemsonsailing.org
Congratulations to the women of the CUSC Race Team for their performance on December 30th and 31st at the Sugar Bowl regatta in New Orleans at Southern Yacht Club! Anna Lee Bradley, Kate Hodges, Hanna Collins, Andrea Sassard, and Hali Knight all led the team to an outstanding 1st place finish in the womens division, and an overall 4th place finish out of 15 co-ed teams. Light air on the 30th and strong winds and big waves on the 31st didn't stop them from taking home a nice trophy for the club. They beat some big names, including Georgia Tech, Florida, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma University, Texas A&M, and the University of Texas. Nice sailing, ladies!
Did You Know....
According to the February 1962 issue of the Scuttlebutt, Woody Norwood, a college student at Tulane University sailed in the Sugar Bowl regatta too, among the likes of competitors from Yale, Cornell, Coast Guard Academy and Purdue and placed 3rd overall.
Special Report - Winter Project Update
In the first issue of the 2007 Scuttlebutt, Dave Shively shared his winter project with us and included some pictures of the frame. After two winters (and time in the Spring, Summer and Fall) his Rascal runabout is almost finished. Can you guess how many coats of varnish this beauty has on it? TWELVE! That's right twelve and countless hours of sanding. Dave is currently shopping for a trailer and a motor and is still looking for the perfect name for her. It's been a long love affair and the lesson in this project Dave says is "everything takes longer than you think!" and he also adds "It would be much easier the second time." Keep your eyes peeled for her glorious debut once the weather gets a bit warmer.
Around the World...
Reported by Tracy Tumlin Allardice
When I was in college my father continually reminded me that upon graduation "the ride" would be over and in order to survive I would need a job. Planting that seed in my head cultivated many thoughts about things I wanted to do before I joined the workforce. Sailing around the world was at the top of the list. Once this goal was in my head, I was determined and from there, as my father gently reminded me about "the ride coming to an end", I gently would remind him of my dream of sailing around the world. My gentle reminders were always met with comments such as "you'd never last on a sailboat that long," to "it's not as glamorous as you think it may be" to "good luck with that." I did not know how I was going to sail around the world but I knew I'd find a way and in the Fall of 1996, my next to last semester of college, I set sail on the S.S. Universe Explorer from Vancouver, Canada. Heading west across the Pacific, over the next one-hundred days, I would be introduced to 11 new countries in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. And, on top of that, I received 15 hours of college credit. I arrived back on US soil, in Ft. Lauderdale, FL two days before Christmas with my eyes wide open. Semester at Sea was / is the name of the program and at that time it was affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh (now with the University of Virginia). Although the ship was 617' long and 88' in width and was powered by steam rather than wind, it was still called "sailing." I was reminded of this story when my uncle Woody Norwood was over for dinner last month and talked about how he was following one of the Around the World Races. I scratched my head and wondered how many people at the Atlanta Yacht Club follow the Around the World Races and thought a brief overview of the various races may just entice some of you. While my race was to sail around the world before I joined the work force, these races are powered by wind, not steam (and like my father suggested, I never would have lasted on this type of sailing adventure around the world, he was right, it wouldn't have been glamorous enough ...).
Going on right now ... is the Volvo Ocean Race, which used to be called the Whitbread Round the World Race. It started 35 years ago, occurs every 4 years and is known as "The Everest of Sailing". Sailed in a boat designed just for this race, the VO70 is 21.5 meters in length with a beam of 5.7 meters. 
The Volvo 2008 - 2009 race started last October in Alicante, Spain, is 9 months long and will conclude in St. Petersburg, Russia this coming June. Over 37,000 nautical miles will be covered on this race across some of the most treacherous seas in the world. There are 7 boats, each with a professional crew of 11 (the race started with 8 boats but Team Russia had to drop out due to insufficient funds after leg 3). The crew sails night and day for up to 30 days at a time from port to port and each crew must have at least two members that have medical training, a sailmaker, an engineer and a media specialist. As I write this, teams are racing on Leg 4 from Singapore to Qingdao, China (remember, home of the 2008 Sailing Olympics) and are expected to arrive around the 30th of January. There they will have in port races, rest a bit, probably enjoy some Tsing Tao beer (Qingdao is the birth spot of this famous beer) and then start the longest leg of the race, Leg 5 to Rio de Janeiro on the 14th of February (with love;). The web site for this race, www.volvooceanrace.org is loaded with information and there is a Volvo Ocean Race Game where you can be a virtual racer right from your computer at home with over 100,000 sailors from 180 countries as your competition.
Coming up ... is the Clipper Round the World race which starts on September 13, 2009 in Humber, UK and is run every two years. The race started in 1996 by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first man to ever circumnavigate the world, non-stop solo and caters to non-professional sailors. The race is a 10 month event and touches ports on 6 continents and covers 35,000 miles. The web site shows that they are still recruiting crew for the 2009-2010 race, so if you have the interest, the time and the moo-lah, check it out! www.clipperroundtheworld.com
Next year ... is the Velux 5 Oceans race, previously known as the BOC Challenge and Around Alone. It is a single-handed around the world race and "the ultimate solo challenge". In the past, the boats used in this race have been 40 - 60 feet boats but now is exclusively raced in the Grand Prix IMOCA Open 60 and Open 50 classes. The mental challenge of isolation and sleep deprivation is just as hard as the physical challenges these skippers undergo. The next race will start in October 2010 from La Rochelle, France and you can find more information about this race on its web site www.velux5oceans.com.
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