Bellingham Yacht Club

Friday February 9th, 2007 – This is an important meeting for anyone interested in participating in the 2007 PHRF races. We will review the schedule for the year, introduce the sailing fleet officers, discuss the effects of rating changes, and take your input for how to improve the series.

US Sailing – BASIC RACE MANAGEMENT SEMINAR
Saturday ~ February 3rd, 2007
Bellingham Yacht Club

This seminar is sponsored by the US SAILING Race Management Committee and US Sailing Area H. It is designed for people with some race committee experience, and newcomers, who wish to become certified under US Sailing’s race officer certification program as a US Sailing Club Race Officer. The program will be presented at the Bellingham Yacht Club in Bellingham, Washington, and will begin at 0800 and end at 1730.

The topics to be covered include: race committee objectives, competition formats, sailing instructions, race committee jobs, race committee equipment, race day preparations, setting the course, starts, during the race, finishing, post-race responsibilities, and scoring.

The principle instructor for this seminar will be Leslie Keller. Leslie is a US Sailing Regional Race Officer and the Area H Race Officer.

At the seminar, you will need your own copy of the Racing Rules of Sailing (“RRS”) and you will be given a copy of Join the Race Committee Team. People who register will be asked to complete a set of race management study questions prior to attending the seminar.

The Club Race Officer Certification Test will be given at the end of the seminar and is optional. However, to be certified as a US Sailing Club Race Officer under US Sailing’s race officer certification program, you must attend a complete basic seminar and pass the test. You will also need to have your own copy of the current US Sailing Race Management Handbook and meet the program’s other criteria. An application for certification will be provided to each participant in this seminar.

The fee for this seminar is $50 for US SAILING members and $55 for non-members and includes the following: continental breakfast, refreshments for an afternoon break, lunch, all seminar materials, your own copy of Join the Race Committee Team, instruction, and administration of the test. The schedule for this program is the following:

0800 Registration and continental breakfast
0830 Seminar begins
1200 Lunch
1645 Test
1715 Test Debriefing
1730 Seminar concludes

ADVANCE REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED.

To register, send your check for $50 ($55 for non-US SAILING members) payable to the Bellingham Yacht Club, 2625 South Harbor Loop, Bellingham, WA 98225, by January 15, 2007. Include with your registration your name, address, telephone number, fax number, e-mail address, and indicate whether or not you will take the certification test. For additional information, please contact Leslie Keller via e-mail at LesKeller@AOL.COM.

Thanks to Dave Steffan, Ken Malseed and many others, the racing and cruising calendar is out. Time to start scheduling your summer. Be sure to check out the Sucia Island Race / Cruise event in June. Click Here

With wind gusts of 82 mph, trees down and power out on the night of our first planned “Why Knot Wednesday” meeting, the decision was made to postpone the Port of Bellingham’s presentation. “ The Future of Boating” with Mike Endsley and Dan Stohl. The new schedule is:

Date: Wednesday, December 13th
Time: 1800 hours (6:00 PM)

Please note that we have changed the time of the presentation as well to get an earlier start, and the burgers will be put on the grill at 5:00. As Endsley stated, “We want to give everybody an opportunity to hear the presentation. It’s important to have good attendance.” With the attendance reaching close to 50+ that night, despite the bad weather, we estimate that this next get together will certainly give Mike the good attendance he is looking for. We look forward to seeing you there. Don’t forget to bring your questions and comments with you that night.

See you at the Club
Ken Malseed
Fleet Captain

Well, we’re now back in Phuket and we’re getting ready for the King’s Cup. Every year this regatta is held in honor of their beloved King’s birthday. This is the biggest regatta in Asia, and there’s boat from all over the place here.. It’s kind of cool to be at such a big event in Asia. Yesterday we had a big Boat Appreciation Day on Argo, and we spent the whole day scrubbing and polishing. Our trip is winding down and everyone is busy with final exams and projects that are due, as well as last minute travel plans. The boat looks really nice and it’s satisfying to see the difference it makes. We’re also finishing up our Rescue Diving. I am staying a bit longer in Thailand, but unfortunately we won’t be chartering a boat as planned. I’m diappointed, but there is still a lot to see and I’m looking forward to having some time where I don’t have to follow a schedule. I’ve made a lot of really great friends, and it’s going to be sad to say goodbye. I think when I get home I’m going to homesick for Argo. But I”m really looking forward to seeing everyone again.

-Ashley