Crow’s Nest 04/10/25

2025 Season is upon us and the membership section of the website is primed for your clicks! The registration deadline is May 10th  2025 Membership Don’t forget to make your tax deductible donations to the Sailing Center while you’re registering!

While you’re out there renewing or joining for the first time; please take a minute and browse through our redesigned website.  New pictures, new tabs to explore and much more is coming! On the website you’ll find the new calendar which includes the party dates, racing dates, Club rentals and other important events.

One of those important dates is the Spring Cleanup at the Clubhouse, April 26th at 9am which will be coordinated by Margaret Oz of course! Everything you’ll need will be at the Club; if you’d like to work on the grounds around the building, please bring a rake. If you have questions please contact her: inremoz@aol.com

We have exciting news from the Sailing Center: Chloe Frank has been hired to fill the reimagined Program Coordinator position for 2025.  Chloe is originally from Garner; while not a sailor, she’s got plenty of experience around the water and in sport! Chloe attends Rockhurst University in Kansas City, studying Strategic Communications, Marketing and Spanish all while representing the Hawks on the basketball court!  Congratulations and welcome Chloe!

A new Coordinator, 4 instructors are heading to Okoboji for USSailing Certification, strong candidates are being interviewed for the remaining positions and a new curriculum is being implemented; the future is bright for the Center! Registration is open, act quickly as spaces are limited and classes will fill quickly!

So…Here I am in just the second Crows Nest of the year having to admit to mistakes already; oh well, I’ll make more… Last week, I included a list of the social events and had two errors; here’s the corrected schedule. You’ll notice a Friday, June 13th event; this is open to all members, we’ll be enjoying a showing of the Buddy Melges documentary, “Melges – the Wizard of Zenda.” More details will come soon on all the events!

• Saturday, June 7th @ the CLYC
• Friday, June 13th @ the CLYC – “Melges – Wizard of Zenda” – hosted by Stu and Julie Oltrogge
• Saturday, June 21st @ the CLYC
• Saturday, July 19th @ the Marcus and Julie Lundberg residence
• Saturday, August 9th @ the Outing Club
• Sunday, August 31st @ CLYC (Awards Dinner – Transfer of Flag)

Saturday, May 24th kicks off the First Series in club racing.  Don’t forget regatta weekends (Memorial Day, 4th of July, Jack Mac and Labor Day) feature back-to-back racing scheduled for Saturdays. Warning signal times have been the same for a while now, but for our new members or those on the forgetful side, here’s the schedule:

Saturdays at 0930 – MC, Melges 15, X
Saturdays at 1400 – E, C, Hobie

Sundays at 1000 – MC, Melges 15, X
Select Sundays at 1400 – E and C (June 8th, June 22nd, July 20th and August 3rd)

HRO Charlie MacNider has asked for and received guidance from the fleets regarding upper wind limits and conditions for sailing.  While the upper limits haven’t changed per se, they are now in writing and will be included in the Sailing Instructions. Sailors, particularly the X fleet, will have more responsibility for determining their own comfort levels. As always, the onus is on the sailors when deciding to race; if you/they don’t feel comfortable racing, then they probably shouldn’t. That’s the same for all fleets.

With all that said, here’s the guidelines submitted by the Fleet Captains after polling their respective fleets:

• Morning fleets – MC/M15/X – Steady 20mph and/or gust to 23mph as registered on the Committee boat.

• Afternoon fleets – E/C/Hobie – 25mph, steady or gusts as registered on the Committee boat

Speaking of racing… It’s a new Olympic Quad; you know what that means… New Racing Rules of Sailing.  Thankfully not many changes have been made, however, the changes made are very important.  Please take note of Rule 14, Rule 18 and some “Clarifications” to rules and definitions.  Go to USSailing RRS 25-28 and download the very user friendly app for your phone or tablet. You could order yourself a paper copy of the book but you’ll be waiting a while!!!

You may still be suffering from regatta lag after the 2024 Inland Champs, however, it’s time to start thinking about this year’s event:  The 2025 ILYA E Invitational is here the second week of July.  I promise you, this event is not near the scale of last year, but it’s still going to take a big volunteer force. Please mark it on your calendars!

A reminder:  it’s never too early to start thinking about and keeping a watchful eye for those notorious Blooper Award worthy moments!

I’m sure the first thing you’ll do once you’ve finished reading this masterpiece of informational literature is get registered!  The deadline is just 1 month away! Once you’ve done that, get your dock in the water, think about getting boats out (maybe wait just a bit on the power boats) or prepping for your first regatta of the year!

We’ll chat again in a couple weeks!  Until then friends…

Stay in the Clear Air,

Dan Allen
Commodore 2025
MC 2811 – Relentless
dsallen@cltel.net
www.clyciowa.com
www.clearlakesailingcenter.com