Ahoy Sailors!
Just as a reminder, we’re moving the ASC work party from it’s originally planned date of the Saturday, May 20th to Saturday, May 27th. We’ve had a slow spring this year, and the grounds are still soggy and soft. We’re hoping that delaying one more week will although things to dry out a bit before we start tromping around and getting the club ready for the season. (We’ll get out a separate post this week with more work party details, including a master list of tasks.)
And a few other important notes:
Ice Breaker Regatta Changed to May 28th
As a result of the work party move, we’re going to change the Ice Breaker Regatta to a single day series on Sunday, May 28th. Hopefully, we’ll manage at least five races. And as always, we will be mindful of conditions. Given the early season chilly water temperatures, we’ll only hold the race if the breeze is moderate, the air temperature is fairly warm, and it’s not actively raining.
New Club Members Should Join Us This Weekend
We strongly encourage new club members, and especially folks in our classes, to join us for the work party. One of the ways we keep our dues incredibly low is by using volunteer labor for keeping up the club. We try hard to concentrate this work into our spring and fall work party days.
Pitching for a work party is a great way to help the club, and it’s also an entertaining opportunity to meet fellow sailors, including your instructors and future classmates. And you should also consider staying for the Ice Breaker on Sunday. If conditions cooperate, it’s usual pretty easy to find a club member who will take you out for a first sail. (And no experience is required.)
The New RIB is Incoming
Thanks to the hard work of ASC members Brie Busey and and Jimael Johnson, and the extraordinary generosity of the Rasmuson Foundation, the Alaska Sailing Club as an almost-new rigid inflatable boat (RIB) en route from Washington. (You can see it pictured above.) The boat is a 2019 Navigo 12, and you can read more about it on the AB Inflatables website. We’ve obviously made a lot of investment in our teaching fleet over the last few years, with the new Lidos, fresh canvas, rigging upgrades, etc. But our workhorse pontoon boat leaves a lot to be desired for teaching.
The new RIB will allow our instructors to be much more maneuverable on the water, make for safer water rescues, and will mean that we can pull right upside our sailboat on the water without risk of damage. Needless to say, we’re super excited, and the boat should be here by the work party / Icebreaker weekend. (And speaking of which, a big thanks goes out to Bruce Lee for on on-site inspection of our new boat, and to Mike Busey for dragging the boat all the way to Alaska!)
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