2015 is a year to remember a bygone era of sailing – The Westhampton Yacht Squadron will celebrate our 125th year of Sailing.
In 1890 sailboat races were promoted on the Moriches Bay. The love of sailing and comradery continued to grow, and in June of 1939 a small club house was erected. In 1969 with the purchase of the “Main Club house” the original Club house was designated the “Junior Clubhouse”. To celebrate these humble beginnings the Junior Clubhouse will receive long overdue repairs and a facelift. This renovation will be the focus of the 2015 Annual Fundraiser. We are in the beginning stages of planning this year’s fundraiser. I would like to encourage all members to take part in planning, volunteering and attending this event. Give the club a call and ask how you can make it a success- many hands make light work! I want to thank all our members for their support of the 2014-2015 Flag Officers, Board of Directors and Board Participants they are outstanding and have the clubs best interests at heart. In a few short months the fundraiser will be over and the bay will be full of WYS sails, 117 days to be exact – yes I’m counting down to Memorial Day, Flag Raising, warm weather and sailing.
For all you sailing enthusiast I thought it would be fun to sharpen our skills, these brain teasers are great and actually helped when on the water.
Happy Sailing!
Janet Jurgielewicz
WYS Commodore
‘Pushy’ Pete wants to win the start at all costs. He approached the line on port tack a couple of boats lengths behind the line with a minute to go in a semi-stalled mode. Pete has positioned himself close enough to the boat to leeward to deter incomers without putting his own start under pressure.
‘Chancing’ Charlie is in the ‘danger zone’, above the starboard lay line. He hopes the stalled boats drift away from the committee boat, leaving him a gap with 10 seconds to go. He needs to luff to a close reaching course, sails flapping, tiller hard down, drifting sideways into the gap he believes will be there. He is not entitled to room, Rule 18 does not apply, so needs to keep clear of Steam Roller.
Steam Roller hasn’t been practicing his boat handling, coming in at half speed on the close hauled lay line, controlling speed by easing or sheeting on sails. He may have to shout loud to prevent Charlie infringing, with some luck finding a way through the stalled fleet to the front row. If his timing is right he will be able to roll through the fleet, especially if the wind is light and the boat is slow to accelerate.
‘Smart’ Alec saw a fair amount of congestion at the committee boat end, leading the series so he does not need to take any risks, wanting to lead the fleet to the left side. He made a late approach on port, picked his gap, and will be able to sheet in and accelerate before Pete to hold his clear lane to the left.
‘Gasping’ Gary is in the bad air from the waiting fleet and won’t get to the line even if the start gun is two minutes late, he’s praying for a general recall.
