Corinthian Sailing Club
THE MAIN SHEET

MAY/JUNE 2006 - WHITE ROCK LAKE - DALLAS, TEXAS

A LETTER FROM OUR COMMODORE
Well, we have hit the sweet spot of the season and it seems there are major regattas and social events down at the Club every evening. To date the Lightnings, Snipes, and Lasers have all had successful events with boats traveling from as far away as Tennessee, Colorado and many other nearby states to test their abilities against our best. On top of that, several members of the Flying Scott fleet traveled up to Oklahoma City and enjoyed a great regatta there. I won't go into detail on each of these events but our members have done an excellent job in representing us on the race course recently.

On the home front the adult sailing classes are well underway and I have really enjoyed seeing the enthusiasm that these folks bring to our sport. After... well, a lot of years, it's easy to forget how challenging our sport can be to a newcomer. At the same time it's also easy to forget the thrill of the boat accelerating in a puff that these folks are experiencing for the first time. Seeing their looks of concentration and excitement I am convinced our efforts to train a new generation of sailors are going to be successful. If you have a few moments, come down on a Tuesday night and introduce yourself to these members of our Club. I think you will be surprised at how much it will mean to them and how good it will make you feel. While you are at it please thank Bob Harrington and the other volunteers who help to make this program such a success.

Beyond the sailing scene there has been a great series of social events. The First Friday events are once again under way and I can tell you they are a great way to start a weekend. We have been treated to some great jazz under the stars and the always wonderful margarita machine! Add some good friends into the mix and it's a hard combination to beat!

Well that's about all for now. However I do have a couple of housekeeping issues to address before signing off. First I have heard on a couple of occasions that food and drinks allocated for the Club parties or regatta events have been consumed without permission. Really this is a simple matter to address as these items belong to our friends and we need to treat each other with respect. Bottom line: if you didn't bring it don't eat it or drink it without permission. And finally I want to correct a shortcoming that I made in the last newsletter. When identifying the top two fundraisers in this year's Leukemia Cup regattas as being from CSC I was only partially correct. To be completely fair I should have also congratulated Dave and Debbie Butler for their efforts. They were the third highest fundraisers in the Dallas area and are also CSC members. I hope they will forgive my shortcomings and challenge them to double up in 2007 so that even an overworked Commodore won't miss them!!

Thanks again to all of you and I hope to see you on the Lake!

Regards,

Jeff Bodkin, Commodore, Corinthian Sailing Club

JUNIORS PROGRAM

Summer Youth Sailing Classes

Sessions I and II of this Summer's Junior Sailing classes have now been completed. There will be a race clinic the week of July 10th, which will focus on preparing our juniors who will be traveling the following week to Texas Youth Race Week and and which will generally be open to all our youth sailors who have an interest in racing and give them a chance to hone their skills under the tutelage of our coaches. Contact ed@cscsailing.org if your sailor has an interest, even if he or she is not planning to attend Texas Race Week.

A third general class session has been proposed to start July 24, but will be held only if sufficient interest is shown (see below). As usual, Class Sessions I and II have been very popular this summer: the first session had to be closed after the class size reached twenty eight. Ten members of the CSC Youth Race Team also enrolled in additional sessions held on three afternoons each week during the summer dedicated to clinic-style race practice. Overall, the classes have gone well, under the steady direction of our two Youth coaches, Katy Towles and Michael Gent.

US Sailing Youth Championships

Congratulations to CSC sailor Paul Denison who was selected to sail in the Laser full rig class at the?US Sailing Youth Championships. This regatta is by invitation and the sailors apply and are selected by US Sailing based on their sailing resumes. Every competitor from top to bottom of the fleet thus represents the best junior sailors in the US, with sailors from the Virgin Islands to Hawaii and from New York to Southern California. The opportunity to sail against the top sailors in the country was a great learning experience for Paul.? He was one of only two Laser Full Rig sailors in Texas to be selected!

Paul and another CSC sailor, Gavin Rudolph, also participated in the 2006 Laser Gulf Coast Championship, a major regional event held at the Texas Corinthian Yacht Club in Kemah, Texas and also in the Laser U S Nationals in Corpus Christi, Texas.

End of Summer Youth Sail Class, July 24- August 4: Any Interest?

If there is a sufficient showing of interest, a final youth sailing class session for the summer will be held July 24-August 4. As of now there has not been sufficient interest shown to justify holding the class.? If you are interested in enrolling your child in this class, PLEASE contact the Sailing Education Commodore at ed@cscsailing.org or 214-826-3998 ASAP. The registration form may be?downloaded from the Club website.? To encourage participation, the fee for the two-week class has been reduced to $200 ($175 for sailors who have already attended a previous class session this summer). If your junior sailor would like to get some sailing in before school starts, or if you missed the two earlier sessions in June and would like your child to be introduced to sailing before the summer is over, this will be the final class for 2006. This session will be open both to beginners and to those who already know how to sail. Those interested in sailing for fun and those who want to improve their racing skills are welcome. If your junior sailor cannot make it for the entire two-week session (and is past the beginner stage), then sign up for a week. We will prorate the class fee for the number of days attended. Based on the showing of interest received by Thursday of this week, July 13th, we will make a decision whether to hold the class.? However, don't wait until Thursday to express your interest, because the coaches must make their own plans for the remainder of the summer.?

TSA Grapevine Regatta

Four CSC Juniors competed in the Grapevine Sailing Club Spring Silly String Regatta. Congratulations to Gavin Rudolph, winner of the Laser Radial fleet. Stewart Draheim, Masie Comen, and Aaron Comen all competed in the Opti Red White and Blue Fleet. Stewart was 3rd in the Blue fleet and 6th overall; Masie was 3rd in the Red fleet and 7th overall.

POWERBOAT OPERATION

Here's a problem to look for which cropped up recently with our Rescue 1 powerboat. When operating a powerboat, if there is not a plume of water (indicating the engine is being cooled) then kill the engine and call Bob Harrington, who looks after the Club's equipment. Try and get a tow into the dock. Check for this plume before the boat leaves the harbor. If the cooling system fails, the powerhead will seize, and a powerhead is 65% of the price of a new motor.

FROM THE DECK OF THE DAVIT REGISTRAR
Robert Dorrell, CSC Davit Registrar

A big Welcome Aboard, to several new davit holders. This month, let me take a moment to discuss safe davit operation.

Safe operation of the wheel largely depends on standing on the correct side of the wheel. When operating the wheel the operator should always stand with one foot on the common walkway. Look towards your boat with your back to the common walkway when raising or lowering the cradle. Never operate the wheel from the "boat side".

The spokes of the wheel can act as handles to pull on when lifting the cradle, however when lowering the boat the spokes can be dangerous if the operator is standing on the wrong side of the wheel. The weight of the boat can cause the wheel to rotate with a lot of force, and the operator needs to be so located that body parts do not wind up between the spokes of the wheel and the framing of the davit. Always stand on the side of the wheel where you would pull on the spokes when lifting the cradle. Don't let the wheel spin free.

Pre-emptive maintenance of your davit is not only a safe habit, it can save you hundreds of dollars by avoiding damage from a collapsed davit. If you have a wood post davit, notice how the wave action wears the davit posts to a narrow point at the waterline. I see many posts in need of replacement and this month I urge davit owners to replace posts which are showing wear from wave action. If your 4x4 looks like a 2x2 then it really is past time for you to replace that post. Old posts must be pulled out and cross braces under finger piers need to be reconnected and often replaced along with the post.

Each davit has a finger pier which it is the davit holder's responsibility to maintain. Typically this finger pier is on the same side as the wheel which operates the davit. Be sure to replace walk boards on this pier which appear worn or dry-rotted. Don't wait until an accident happens or until something breaks.

Simple lubrication of load-bearing surfaces can be a big help. If it squeaks, then it needs lubrication. Some feel that dry lubricants such as powdered graphite are best, however I use a spray lubricant of white lithium grease on my windlass and pulleys, and find it to be effective.

Keep an eye out for fraying cables as cables wear out. When replacing cables, look at your pulley size and choose a cable size which fits the pulley. Narrow cables can put undue stress on your pulleys: get a cable that fits the pulley.

If a cradle is too narrow for a davit then the cables will be at a non-right angle to the cradle, rather than straight up-and-down to the cradle. This will cause the weight of the boat to tend to pull the post inward. This is often the cause of posts leaning into a davit. The cradle in your davit ought to be wide enough so that the cables are vertical and at a ninety-degree angle to the cradle. If your cradle needs replacing, do it. Protect your investment by using a cradle that is wide enough for the davit and strong enough for your boat.

Here are phone numbers for some local davit rebuilders:

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

RACE

Sunday Race Duty
July ERC: Greta Mittman
July 09 - Corinthian
July 16 - Flying Scot
July 23 - Snipe
July 30 - Flying Scot

Wednesday Night Fun Races
Wednesday night fun races continue each Wednesday with the first gun around 6:15pm: we have been averaging 8-12 Lasers and 3-4 Flying Scots at these races. Regardless of what kind of sailboat you have, consider coming down Wednesday to these lots-of-fun, low key races.

2006 Sailing For Rhinos
On Wednesday July 19, please join Dallas Zoo Keepers in supporting Rhino Conservation at our annual Sailing For Rhinos event at CSC. There will be sailboat races, a cookout, T-Shirts and a silent auction benefiting the Dallas Chapter of AAZK's annual rhino conservation fundraising efforts. Dinner starts at 6:30pm, with sailing starting at 7pm. Admission for this event is $5 for club members and guests. Please Contact De or Steve McCombs at 214-319-7036 or s.mccombs@sbcglobal.net with questions, to provide silent auction donations, or to sign up to sail during the event.

MOTHER'S DAY / V15 REGATTA
Luther Carpenter

On May 13-14, 11 V15s trekked their way to Dallas for some excellent competition on White Rock Lake. Corinthian Sailing Club hosted the event, and received our fleet with open arms. Rachel Marsden connected with the club, finding keen interest for starting a fleet, and members psyched to try out the two boats provided by the Marsden children. Saturday morning saw a flurry of activity descend on the park, as V15s and Lasers drove in and rigged up. We were all pleased to look out on the funky little lake and see something we were not expecting - wind! The RC was excited too, and after a short meeting left at full throttle for the course.

The water looked a little suspect (very brown!) as we launched, but that was quickly forgotten as we got into the rhythm of the shifts and puffs in a nice 5-9 knot breeze. The super smooth water made for great sailing, and the shifts kept us always looking, thinking, and reacting.

In race #1, the fleet got off after one general recall, and saw Luther/Lisa and Lauren/Tim work the right side early. A huge right shift and puff line put this duo in good shape 3/4s the way up, joined by speedsters Tre/Carla. Positions remained throughout the run and next beat, with Luther/Lisa working out a lead, while Charles/Jennie started a diplomatic war with Tre/Carla and the Berger Brothers. The run was intense between the threesome, with the Bergers snatching second from the youngsters, Charles/Jennie third, and Tre/Carla fourth. Lisa and I were greeted at the finish line by locals Barbara and Glen Rudolph, shaming our performance with a "what took you so long?"

Race #2 showed us a completely different race course, starting in a cove, and discovering a heavily favored left side. Ryan/Rachel found it first with Wulf/Trish right on their heels. The windward mark was set under a shoreline, and provided a few righty shifts and a factor of craziness to the beat. The zany action up top solidified Ryan's lead, but let Lisa/Luther slip in just ahead of Wulf/Trish. Ryan/Rachel extended on the run, and we bid them farewell up the second beat. But at the top, wackiness prevailed and evaporated Ryan/ Rachel's lead in a series of "no fair!" windshifts. Lisa/Luther were blessed with extreme luck and made it down the run to take the win, followed by Ryan/Rachel, Wulf/Trish, and Tre/Carla - again sailing a very solid race.

The RC sent us in for lunch as the breeze seemed to be dying, and we all felt good fortune for getting two reasonably decent races in. We enjoyed the supplied lunches while getting to know the local members, and waited to see what White Rock would throw at us for the afternoon. Almost on cue, as we pushed off from the dock, conditions increased to a perfect 8-11 knots. The temperatures from the south breeze were quite warm, and it looked like we were in for some real hiking! The course was set closer to the club, so we studied the layout and tried to anticipate winning strategy. Race #3 could only be called the "Charles/Jennie and Tre/Carla show", as they started well and found solid breeze from the left, and laughed their way to easy victories. The rest of us had to dogfight it out, with Ryan/Rachel dominating the 3rd position while Barry/Jeannie found the gears and the shifts for a solid fifth.

The fleet wised up for race #4 as we all cued up for the left lanes, and a heated race ensued between pesky Charles/Jennie, Lisa/Luther, Ryan/Rachel, Tre/Carla, and the Berger brothers. The older set was non too pleased with the amount of energy this race took, as extreme hiking (with the hiking pants sitting in the van...) was required, and the temperatures soared into the 90s. Katie/Doug found the conditions to their liking (ah the youth!) and brought home a solid sixth.

Race #5 was a similar contest, with the youthful Charles/Jennie taking a sail away win, followed by Lisa/Luther, Tre/Carla, Wulf/Trish, Ryan/Rachel and the Berger boys. We all retired happily to the dock, tired, spent mentally, and in disbelief of the perfect conditions we had sailed in. The club served up a perfect dinner, with ThommyK/Lucy/Rachel supplying some fleet rum (yeah!).

The Mother's Day Sunday forecast was bleak with expected thunderstorms and rain, but in reality it delivered a phenomenal finish to a great regatta. Once again we experienced a completely different wind direction and course location, so it was anyone's guess as to what would pay. The wind was extremely shifty and puffy while we raced three races in an increasing breeze - planing upwind by the 3rd race. The racing was crazy, auto-tacking shifts, big puffs, localized holes on the downwind legs. Wulf/Trish sailed a beautiful race to only see it vanish 50 yards from the finish line as a black line of wind surged three boats around them! Barry/Jeannie liked the tricky and breezy stuff delivering a fourth in the second race, and Charles/Jennie kept firing away and made some amazing comebacks. The big breeze and beat to the final finish was the perfect end of the event, as we all hiked our last bursts and felt the boat rip upwind. Every event should end like that!

Extreme thanks to Rachel, the CSC, and Brent for loaning his boat. Our fleet enjoyed the action, and was pleasantly surprised with the conditions White Rock delivered. It was good to get out of our local neighborhood and be challenged by a new venue, and exciting to see the dawning of a new fleet to join us!

Educational Section - warning!

Here's just a few notes on things Lisa and I learned at this event. We started by wanting to improve our tacking skills, especially in light air and shifty conditions. Anna Tunnicliffe also shared with me some interesting comments. I was mostly focused on finding an easier path for Lisa across the boat, so that we could accomplish three things:

Roll longer with me while backing the jib.
Footwork that enabled movement across the boat quickly but balanced enough to be trimming sheet.
A positive "finish" position for her as she fine-tuned jib trim and adjusted weight accurately.
Anna often breaks the handrails of the boat during roll tacking with her feet. I started thinking about it, and realized that she is standing virtually on the inside of the tank as the boat rolls way up. So the first lesson was to learn how to get comfortable with that stance and amount of heel. Lisa found that it was actually much easier to cross the boat this way, instead of leading with a step across. If you step too early, when the boat heels up it's impossible to keep "climbing" to the windward side for your platform goes vertical on you! It's better to just put both feet on the (new) leeward corner of the floor, and "stand up" to cross. As the boat heels, your butt ends up almost touching the new windward side, and enables a smooth transition of weight to the tank.

Pictures of Wadlow's wife in action always showed her grabbing the new windward outside rail of the boat when coming out of a tack. This enables her to pull herself up to windward while the boat is heeling, and maintain balance while flattening. These two changes really boosted our performance, and helped us nail tacks quickly and keep in phase with the shifts.

I personally wanted to sail better in the shifty conditions, and told myself that I would not pinch too much, and prioritize keeping the boat moving and playing shifts accurately. Since I was sailing with the jib "full" most of the time, we delivered pointing by sailing as flat as we dared, especially in lifting puffs, and let the lift of the blades produce height. The puffs came quickly on White Rock, and usually didn't last long, so I we worked hard at flattening as soon as the puff powered the boat. It's too easy to passively start flattening only to find the puff gone, so we would hike fast/hard while I pointed the boat in the short blasts. I was very happy with the results of these two techniques, as we were fast and in phase most of the time, and pointed well enough to hang with Ryan and Charles (you pointing bandits!).

Well that's just a few things to share. It was great seeing all of you again, and excellent racing. The fleet is improving rapidly, and it's exciting to see everyone putting together solid races and more consistent boat speed.

HULL OF SHAME

The boat in davit #191 is this month's Hull of Shame. The picture doesn't really do the boat's decrepitude justice. From the mildew all over the sheets to the peeling paint to the cracked floor, rotting tiller and broken rudder - all cry out long-term neglect. If the Flying Dutchman were a Bermuda-rigged dinghy instead of a square rigger, this poor boat could have been a contender!

SOME UPCOMING LOCAL EVENTS
12, 19, 26 July, Wed. evenings: Wednesday Night Fun Races. First gun is at approximately 6:15

19 July, Wed.: Sailing For Rhinos. Dinner at 6:30, races start at 7pm.

4 Aug, Fri.: First Friday party - Jamaican Beach Party, 7pm.

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.