Corinthian Sailing Club
THE MAIN SHEET
APRIL 2006 - WHITE ROCK LAKE - DALLAS, TEXAS

A LETTER FROM OUR COMMODORE

Dear CSC Members,
Well another month has gone by and once again I am amazed at the dedication and generosity of this group. Last weekend we completed the second installment of the Leukemia Cup regattas and I am proud to say that between CSC and DCYC we raised over $112,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It is worth noting that the CSC portion of this event raised $52,000 this year which was up 23% over last year's fundraising efforts. Additionally, attendance jumped from 62 boats to 75 boats in 2006. Of note was the Flying Scot fleet that showcased their determination and depth of talent by putting 30 boats on the starting line. Regardless of what fleet you sailed in, the caliber of racing was first rate across all three courses and it appeared that sailors from the age of 8 to 80 enjoyed the near-perfect conditions. I especially would like to thank all of the volunteers who made the weekend possible. If you haven’t made it down for one of these events you really need to do so. The great food, libations, live auctions, and bands truly showcase our “can do” attitude! A special thanks to all the DCYC members who came over to help run our races and to those CSC members who made the trek the next weekend to DCYC.

Having said all this, I realize this event requires a great deal of time and effort from our membership group. What helped to put that effort into perspective for me this year was speaking with Chris Henkel, our honored hero for this years’ event. Chris is a very accomplished sailor who has spent many years sailing at CSC and throughout the Dallas area. Last year his wife, Stephanie, was diagnosed with Leukemia and they entered what has become the battle of their lives. Chris was kind enough to address how that challenge has effected him during the awards ceremony and couldn’t say enough about how the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has helped them to understand, and cope with, their situation. As a result of the new treatments that have come out in recent years Stephanie’s prognosis has improved and I know you will join me in wishing her a full and speedy recovery.

The realization I came to after spending time with Chris last weekend was that while the racing and social events are a lot of fun, the real joy in these events comes from helping others. I am proud to know that our membership continues to step up year after year to make this event such a success and point to the $500,000 that has been raised in the past 5 years as a measure of this. It is worth noting that the top two fundraisers at this year's event were Corinthian Sailing Club members. Please take a moment to thank David Barrett and Ralph “Red Dog” Jones for their efforts to make a difference. Better yet take a moment to access the Leukemia Cup web site and see what you can do to help this worthy cause.

In conclusion, thanks to all of you who help to keep CSC in the spotlight of our community. I hope that you will continue to remain active and to enjoy the Club to its fullest. In May we launch our Wednesday Night Racing series and First Friday Parties. Additionally there is a race management seminar on May 7th and a Memorial Day party to finish the month on a high note. I hope that you will take advantage of these activities and that I will see you at the Club often!

Regards,

Jeff Bodkin, Commodore, Corinthian Sailing Club

STARTING FLAGS

Here's a simple introduction to the flags used in sailboat race starts. The idea here is to cover just the basic concept. All the gory details are in the

Racing Rules of Sailing, 2004-2008

Say the committee boat is indicating that your boat class is one, so that your boat class starts first. Further, suppose that your race starts at 10:30. The countdown sequence starts five minutes earlier at 10:25 (let's call this T=5), and involves two flags. The first flag corresponds to your boat class. Since your boat class is one, the flag to look for is numeral pennant one. When this flag is raised at 10:25 it indicates the beginning of a five-minute countdown sequence. When this sequence ends at T = 0 two things happen: numeral pennant one comes down, and the race starts. So the numeral pennant goes up at T = 5 and comes down at T = 0. If there's a second boat class racing, their T=5 is your T=0: their numeral pennant goes up when your numeral pennant comes down.

Its advantageous for sailors to start a countdown timer in order to accurately predict T=0: it may help to get a good starting position. For sailors who missed or muffed the numeral pennant going up, there are two additional timing opportunities, which is where the second flag comes in. The Preparatory flag (P flag) goes up at T=4 and comes down at T=1. Here's an illustration of the five minute sequence:

10:25:00 5:00 numeral pennant one goes up. Horn sounds This is the warning signal. Five minutes to go. First chance to capture countdown timing

10:26:00 4:00 preparatory (P) flag goes up. Horn sounds. Second chance to capture timing

10:29:00 1:00 preparatory (P) flag comes down. Horn sounds. Final chance to capture timing

10:30:00 0:00 numeral pennant one comes down. Horn sounds. Race starts

If many boats cross the start line early, a general recall is issued. If only a few cross early, an individual recall is issued.

10:30:02 +0:02 individual recall flag goes up. Horn Sounds. committee boat sounds one horn, yells number of recalled boat(s)

10:30:02 +0:02 general recall flag goes up. Two horns sound. committee boat sounds two horns, all boats return to start.

RACE

Basic Race Management Seminar
CSC hosted a very informative four hour Basic Race Management Seminar on Sunday morning, May 7th. The 14 people who attended was given an excellent overview of the technical aspects of conducting a sailboat race, from starts to finishes, from flags to penalties, and not least, many what-if scenarios. The seminar, which was free, was conducted by National level US Sailing race official Brad Davis.

Sunday Races
The 2006-2007 Race Calendar started April 02. Please note the weekends on which your fleet has duty and review the Sunday Joint Sailing Instructions including the Race Committee Responsibilities and Guidelines section before your race duty so you will know what is expected of you. Race Committee members should be at the dock no later than 12:30 pm on Sunday.

Did you notice something different on the race course on Sunday? If not you were probably disqualified from the races. This race year a windward offset mark has been incorporated. The offset mark is a medium size white sphere with the word OFFSET written on the side. Be sure to round the offset mark, if it is present, before heading downwind. In addition a standoff mark may be trailed behind the Race Committee boat, so make sure you do not venture into no man’s land between the standoff mark and the RC boat.

Sunday Race Duty
May ERC: Phil Morris
May 7 - Corinthian
May 14 - CSC Board
May 21 - Rebel
May 28 - Flying Scot
Wednesday Night Fun Races
If you would like to gain racing experience but are not quite ready to tango with the big boys during Sunday races, then Wednesday Night Fun Races are for you. The Wednesday Night Fun Races will begin on May 10th. The first gun will be at approximately 6:15 pm.

A couple of new twists for this year:

If you are new to racing or have not been racing in awhile, hopefully you made it to the Basic Rules of Racing session that was held at 6:30 pm on Wednesday May 3rd at the CSC clubhouse.

A Rules Coach boat will be on the race course to help point out undesirable situations that are developing before they actually occur. So please heed the coaches' suggestions.

HULL OF SHAME

The boat in davit #93 (shown below) has the doubtful honor of being this month's Hull of Shame. No single stand-out feature got it its first place finish - rather the combination of disintegrating flotation, mildewed surfaces, frayed sheets and broken rub-rail clearly indicate a boat that has been neglected for a long time.

If this boat could talk, it would be saying "show me some love"!

CSC POLICY ON KAYAK STORAGE

At the March meeting of the Board of Directors the board unanimously voted to limit the storage of kayaks and canoes on club-owned property. This decision was reached in response to several concerns that members had raised regarding the storage of 2 or even 3 boats for the price of one on the board boat pads. The obvious concern was that such a policy circumvented the intent of our rental agreements and was not fair to the other members who pay the same rate to store one boat. Additional concerns were raised regarding the unsightly nature of this arrangement and one case where damage was caused in a storm situation when a pile of boats shifted on to their neighbors’ boat.

However the driving force to remove kayaks from the board boat pads has been the shortage of storage space for board boats. As our Club grows to embrace several new one-design fleets, the demand for this type of space is increasing exponentially. To help address this, the Club has committed to building 26 new board boat pads on the North end of the Club. I am happy to say that as of now only two of these spots are open and the existing pads are completely full. However this does leave us with a quandary about how to best use our scarce resources to serve members' needs. While I realize that many of our members enjoy the experience of paddling on our lake, our bylaws spell out that “the objectives of the Club shall be to encourage the sport of sailing.” Accordingly we have decided to allocate Club-owned areas, such as the board boat pads, for the storage of sailboats.

Please note that the storage of kayaks inside boats in davits continues to be permissible. (the distinction here is that the davits are privately held property) I would ask members to be considerate of their neighbors when storing kayaks in this fashion and to remember that access to the common areas may not be impeded by such storage. Should you have any questions regarding this or any other policy of the Club please feel free to contact me at commodore@cscsailing.org.

APRIL BOARD MEETING

We are seeking accomodation for one of our returning Junior coaches, Mike Gent, for the duration of this Summer's Juniors classes. The period is June 1 - Aug 5. If you or someone you know are interested, please contact Sandy Denison (ed@cscsailing.org).
The percentage of members including an additional $100 with their membership renewal in lieu of the eight hour service requirement is approximately 30%.
The number of davits not in compliance with club policy has declined from 104 earlier this year to a current level of 45.
if you are leasing your davit you need to let the davit registrar (davit@cscsailing.org) know this.

DO NOT GO TO THAT LAST WINDOW

This is another reminder that Parks & Wildlife are actively enforcing boat registration requirements. Avoid a fine by getting the sticker on your boat up to date. Here are some useful links to boat registration information, from last month's newsletter:

General Information: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/faq/fishboat/boat/registration_and_titles/

Registration & Titling Requirements: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_lf_a0900_1108.pdf

USCG Navigation Center: http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/mwv/navrules/inland.htm

By the way, Donna occupies the last window at the local boat registration office.

DAVIT NOTES

Ahh, it's a wonderful thing and it gives me a tinge of envy, to see how a number of fine CSC members are improving their davits using galvanized steel posts. It used to be a rare sight, yet now one can see beautiful steel davits just popping up all over the place. These davits may quite possibly look this good for the next fifty years, and the luster it adds to the look of our club is just great.

I've also seen some good-looking rebuilds using treated lumber. It's a fine example of those members who are investing in the future of our club by taking the initiative to rebuild their davits. A number of members are beginning to notice that their own davit really is in need of maintenance, and that many of these davits are in need of a complete rebuild.

We've got around three hundred members here at the CSC and there are approximately six million folks in the DFW area. This means that each of us represent one in twenty thousand people who are not only interested in sailing, but lucky enough to be a member of CSC. Truly it is a privilege which is good to remember when wondering whether or not to be responsible in the care and maintenance of one's davit. Remember: old walkways must be removed when rebuilding and old posts must be removed when possible.

I've noticed that some members are leaving the rudder down on their boat and leaving the boat low in their davit. This leaves your boat vulnerable to damage by floating logs and wave action. Go the distance and make sure your boat is up in the davit and that the rudder is not left down after use.

Beware of dehydration and drink plenty of water when on the lake. Let me know how I can help to make your experience as a club member better. Stay involved and stay active in the club, it's fun and it can be good for your health.

Here are phone numbers for some local davit rebuilders:

Ken Brown (972) 977-4750
Ben Larson (214) 926-1852
Joe Romanowski (214) 683-1128

SOME UPCOMING LOCAL EVENTS

10 May, Wednesday: the 2006 Wednesday Night Fun Races start. First gun is at approximately 6:15.

13 May, Saturday: Second Saturday Shoreline Cleanup, in conjunction with For The Love of the Lake. Meet at CSC at 9:00am.

13-14 May, Sat.-Sun.: Laser/V15 Mother's Day Regatta.

27-28 May, Sat.-Sun.: Snipe Southwestern.

28 May, Sunday: Pre-Memorial Day Post Race Party.

A complete list and more details are on our club calendar

THE MAIN SHEET - YOUR NEWSLETTER

The Main Sheet belongs to each member of the club. This is an invitation to all members to submit articles about the club, regattas, meetings, fleets, awards, members, family and community. The deadline for submission is the first Tuesday of the month. Please submit articles to secretary@cscsailing.org. If you prefer, call 214-369-9037 and simply leave your thoughts in a voice mail message. An article draft will shortly waft its way to you for proof-reading. Any suggestions concerning improvements to the newsletter are welcome. If you have experienced formatting problems with the newsletter, please contact me at secretary@cscsailing.org.

CORINTHIAN SAILING CLUB

Membership in the Corinthian Sailing Club is open to anyone with an interest in sailing. Club facilities are located at 441 E. Lawther Drive on the East side of beautiful White Rock Lake. Phone 214-320-0841. Our web address is http://www.cscsailing.org ; a general email address is info@cscsailing.org. Our mailing address is Corinthian Sailing Club, PO Box 180087, Dallas, TX 75218.