262.691.9927

August 2007

 

 

 

Racing again resumes on the lake this weekend now that the ILYA Champs are complete.  It's hard to believe that there are only two weekends remaining for this year's season championship races.

 

Congratulations go out to Augie Barkow and crew for winning the ILYA C Fleet Championship.  Other great ILYA performances were had by Paul Reinicke finishing 2^nd in the M-16 Fleet, Jim Gluek finishing 3^rd in the C Fleet, Kevin Jewett finishing 4^th in the E Fleet, Tobin Tornehl finishing 6^th in the E Fleet, and Eric Schloemer finishing 6^th in the A Fleet.  Congratulations to all.

 

This year, we've had strong attendance in both our hosted regattas and in our other social events.  Thank you to the event chairs and volunteers for your time and diligence in making these outstanding events.  Your efforts to organize these events and bump up the fun factor are very much appreciated.

 

And on a more somber note Sailing Race 10 in the E Fleet will stick with me for years to come.  Never in my life have I competed in a race in which a fellow competitor and friend has passed away.  Many of you can probably say the same as I believe this was a first for the PYC.  As tragic as this was, I now reflect back to that day and it is easy to see what an unbelievable group of individuals we are.  The care and concern for Butch and his family that day and over the following week was remarkable.  A special thank you goes out to the many people who came in from all parts of the lake to lend assistance that day.  Along with the other members who have passed away, Butch and his wonderful smile will truly be missed.

 

As this is my last Commodore's report, I want to thank the Board of Directors for doing an outstanding job over the past two years.  We have accomplished much in that short time (including shortening up the length of our meetings).  I would also like to thank you, the membership, for allowing me to serve you as Commodore.  It has been an honor!

 

See you at the PYC!

 

Bob Guidinger

 

 

                        It's time to get your perpetual trophies polished and engraved. Trophy night is August 29^th for the Junior Fleet and Sept. 6^th for the Senior Fleets. All trophies must be delivered to your Fleet Captains by 10:00 am the morning of Trophy Dinner. Don't delay. Tom Meyers (262-367-7464) is getting busy already; so, don't put this off for long.  If there are any repairs required on a trophy, please inform me or your Fleet Captain at once.

 

Regatta Trophies

The PYC donated a perpetual championship trophy to the ILYA for the Melges17 Class. The trophy is a 16" wide sterling silver "armada" dish with engraving of an M 17 in front of our club. The dish was purchased and engraved in London. It's beautiful! Special thanks to Coleman, Dave Buckley and Tom Meyers for their insight and efforts in completing this beautiful gift.

  

M17 Trophies

The PYC has received six trophy donations this year for the M 17 fleet. This is a great start in building a complete inventory for our new fleet. If you, your family or friends would like to be remembered on a perpetual trophy, this is a great opportunity.

 

Photos! Photos! Photos!

The Annual Committee is looking for photos taken throughout the season. Please mail or drop off any photos you would like to submit to Tammy Sawyer or Ginny Mills. We understand that many of you have digital cameras and we ask that you refrain from emailing your photos...but instead burn a CD for us and make sure you label the CD with your name and what events the photos were taken of.   This is a HUGE help in the editing process!  Thank you so much!!

 

Tammy & the Annual Committee

Over the last several weeks, the PYC has added a few new members.  Please join me in welcoming David & Susan Keller, Scot & Christa Banholzer, John & Ruth Nugent, Dan and Lori Royal, and Lynn Chappy as new members to our club.  The Kellers, Banholzers, and Royals have joined the club as Regular Family members.  The Nugents are Senior Non-sailing members, and Lynn Chappy has joined as a Regular Adult member. 

 

At this time of the season, the membership duties thankfully start to dwindle.  I want to take the opportunity to thank everyone for making all the membership responsibilities smooth sailing this year.  It was been a pleasure serving the club again this season.  Going forward, don't forget to email me at greg.riemer@mrpcorp.com with any address changes that you may have. 

 

See you on the starting line!

We launched our first-ever electronic issue of Lifters & Headers on April 4, 2007.  We wanted to find a way to deliver our social and racing news faster and cheaper than our traditional format.  After some research, we decided to subscribe to the Constant Contact newsletter service.  Special thanks for getting this project underway goes to Bob Guidinger (original suggestion), Candace Porter (current author of ILYA Scow Lines), Cindy Ziegler-Fritz (voluminous content) and Tammy Sawyer (the lady who made it all work).

 

From our first edition on April 4^th thru the time of this writing, we have delivered more than 15,000 email notices to our membership.  We have experienced, on average, a 48.2% open rate.  That compares to an average 37.0% open rate for other Constant Contact clients.  Our highest open percentage came May 8^th for the PYC Window Decal email with a 68.8% open rate (234 opens).  Our next highest was July 19^th for Pat McCurdy Comedy Night with a 61.1% open rate (220 opens).  Obviously, this medium is working.  Thank you for embracing this new technology!

 

As good as that is, it still means 51.8% of our emails are not opened.  Only 1.8% of our emails are being "bounced" back to us by firewalls and/or spam killers (vs. 18.3% for other Constant Contact clients).  Note that you can give our emails "permission" to get through to you.  See your IT specialist for instructions.

 

What about those that don't use email?  Only 11 PYC members have requested to receive Lifters & Headers via snail mail.  Their issue is mailed the same day it is emailed to the broader membership.  Please contact our current Communications Chair if you wish to receive a hard copy of Lifters & Headers via snail mail.

 

Our move to an electronic newsletter has cost us $858.49 thru July 31, 2007 (latest figures at the time of this writing) vs. newsletter costs of $2,464.16 as of July 31, 2006.  We estimate that overall savings to our PYC membership will be in excess of $3,000 for calendar year 2007.

 

This is a big deal:  We are currently working on an electronic RSVP system.  The object is to simplify the way you make reservations to our social events.  Ideally, you will be able to click on an RSVP link on each social flyer and electronically make your reservations for each party.  This effort is being headed by Fred Miller, Chris Lieber, Bill Rajki and David Perrigo.  If all goes to plan, our e-RSVP system should be operational by the kick-off of the 2008 season.

 

Not getting our emails?  Make sure your email address stays up-to-date in our distribution system.  If your email address changes, please forward your new address to the current Communications Chair.  If you know someone who should be receiving an electronic Lifters & Headers but isn't, please have them forward their name and email address to the current Communications Chair.

 

Finally, the PYC Board and the Communications Committee would like to publicly thank Fred Miller for his outstanding efforts as our Web Master and Liesl Ackley as our Editor.  On behalf of the Club, Fred and Liesl, we sincerely appreciate all you do for us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2007 season has had ten races sailed with ten points difference between first and seventh place:  PJ Friend (V-11) with 33 points, Tobin Tornehl (V-511) with 36 points, Kevin Jewett (V-123) with 37 points, Augie Barkow (V-37) with 38 points, Russ Darrow (V-39) with 39 points, Tom Sweitzer (V-9) with 39 points, and Bob Biwer (V-222) with 43 points.

 

The 2007 E-Invite in White Bear Lake, Minnesota was won by our Pewaukee sailors V-123, Kevin Jewett, David Buckley, and Paul Good. With some great mentoring for Eric Good and crew for the V-15.

 

The 2007 ILYA Championship at Oshkosh saw some good finishes for Pewaukee boats. Kevin Jewett, David Buckley, and Paul Good finished 4th, Tobin Tornehl in 6th, Jim Gluek in 10th, PJ Friend in 12th, V-777 in 19^th, and Eric Good and crew in 24^th.

 

It was sad news to find out that Norm (Butch) Peterson passed away while competing against all of us in the 10^th race. He was always out there competing and it will be difficult to not see the V-27 sailing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The New Jersey team of John Applegate and Elaine Zamula took the last four races to capture the '07 M-16 title. Paul Reinecke with crew Kate Kumric placed second. Jim Young returned from Colorado to sail with Mike Swanson for overall third. The rookie of the year was tied between two Oshkosh girls, Gussie Cummins and Molly Sitter. Bay Head sailor, Jim Harkrader, was top Master. Paul made us proud representing the Pewaukee Yacht Club. He and Kate sailed a great regatta bringing in two bullets right from the start and finished the regatta with a 2-5-2-3.  The fifth place was due to a bad start and a couple of circles. Darn it.

 

The Big Inland always concludes with stories to share. In a recent conversation, Paul Reinecke stated, "When was the last time you got all six races in with good air at the Inland?" Now don't you wish you got your boat to the regatta. There were, of course, a few sailors swimming around upside down boats. You've got to love Winnebago!  The waves, as usual, needed lots of navigation. The parties and camaraderie were second to none. The Inland is more than just sailing.  It's meeting up with the friends that you have made over the years and cherishing the time you have with people who love the sport as much as you do.

 

Back on our lake, we can't remember when we last sailed.  Seems like forever ago. The wind has been quite light this summer which has put us a bit behind. We will be sailing back to back races with a 9:30 start on August 25^th and September 1^st.  If we get all four races in, we will have a 10:05 start on September 3^rd sailing one race. Let's hope for some really great wind to complete our season!

 

For those of you willing to tow your boat, the M-16 Nationals are at Little Egg Harbor in New Jersey, September 15^th and 16^th. It should only take about 16-19 hours to drive there.  Paul Reineke plans to make the journey and then, sadly, leave his boat with its new owner. Good Luck, Paul.

 

We are a small but tight fleet. And with that we care about every one who sails or has sailed the boat. Please keep our dear friend and Paul's long-time crew, Kate Tornehl, in your thoughts and prayers as she battles cancer. We know in our hearts that her strength and perseverance will pull her through.

 

Put on your sailing shoes!

 

            It's so hard to believe summer flew by so fast! Everyone had a great year despite  a few ups and downs. The tough competition grew even tougher out on the water every Saturday and the Pewaukee fleet continued to excel in the regattas.

            The Saturday series continued with race seven being won by Drake Sprinkman. Chance Dries took race number eight. Race nine was won by Kelly Roy and Cody Ziegler won make-up race four. Race ten was won by Nicholas Clemence and shifty race eleven took a shocking twist when Chance Dries shot off the north shore to win the race. With hardly anyone winning more than one race, the points are still tight going into the last three races.

            The Geneva Lake Sailing School Regatta, or GLSS, proved to be full of shifty winds and not the most ideal racing conditions. The competitors managed to get two races in on the first day but were rained out by an intense storm clocking 50 mph winds. Consistency was the main factor in this regatta and Nicholas Clemence finished off with a fifth. Chance Dries also got to experience first hand that falling out of the boat is not, in fact, fast.

            Light air at the Oshkosh Xtreme Regatta did not do justice to the tales of stormy weather and monstrous waves. The judges managed to get two drifter races in the first day. Day two consisted of a long morning of sailing, only to be abandoned because of the two hour time limit. Pewaukee still managed to finish extremely well: Drake Sprinkman finished third, Nicholas Clemence finished fourth, Cody Ziegler finished seventh, and Marco Deguire finished eleventh.

            The WYA, hosted by Beulah, was definitely a tough regatta to stick out. Only two races were sailed with the light air. While I personally find it the shiftiest lake, Cody Ziegler managed to finish off with an eleventh place and Drake Sprinkman with a thirteenth.

            Delevan Lake hosted the 2007 X Inland and everyone had a ton of fun on and off the water. On the first day, there was a medium breeze and all four races were held. On day two, light air meant one long drifter race with the afternoon races abandoned. On day three, there was an early postponement but the judges worked with the weather and got in the final race. I'm sure the junior fleeters never want to hear another general recall again. In the senior fleet, Pewaukee had five boats in the top twenty. Cody Ziegler placed sixth, Chance Dries in thirteenth, Kelly Roy in sixteenth, Drake Sprinkman in seventeenth, and Alli Gutenkunst in twentieth. In the junior fleet, Nicholas Clemence sailed an excellent regatta to a fifth place, and PJ Feichtmeier finished thirteenth - outstanding job for his first year! Congratulations to everyone for going out there, doing their best, and having fun.

            Seven Pewaukee Boats were invited to the Blue Chip on Cedar Lake, the most boats sent from any one lake. Congrats to Cody Ziegler, Chance Dries, Kelly Roy, Drake Sprinkman, Alli Gutenkunst, Marco Deguire, and Nicholas Clemence. The first race was a long course in hardly any breeze. The wind died  and then shifted 180 degrees. I think it's safe to assume it was the only time anyone had every finished a 1+ downwind. In the afternoon, the wind picked up enough to sail one more race. But still, it was tough in the light air conditions. Day two looked more promising with a little more breeze. Nicholas Clemence certainly liked it, winning the first race of the day. The next race was even looking windy for awhile, until it died again in true Cedar style. Nicholas Clemence ended up second overall, a huge accomplishment for his first year in the Blue Chip! Nice job to everyone who got invited as well.

            It's a little sad to see the sailing season end, but it's been a great year filled with competition, sportsmanship, friendships, and lots of fun. Whether it's their first year in X boats or they are moving on to bigger and better scows next year, you'll be sure to see these kids around again.

Bob Stoltz

 

Being a revitalized ex-X-Boat parent, I felt compelled to write this and describe the experience I was afforded to judge on August 22^nd, X-Boat Parent's Regatta. This was truly an adventure all should experience.

 

We started out, listening to John Malan, realizing that we had no right being out there. However, six hearty souls braved the elements to prove that weather does not always play a part in sanity. Darkness, however, does.

 

Two, slightly competitive, races were sailed. The V-48, Darcy McCormick, kept pushing the fleet forward and finished a close 6^th. Mike Kaerek, in the V-34, also helped push the fleet forward and finished 5^th, with the help of the commodore's wife.

 

Then came the dilemma. We had three boats tie for the next positions. In consulting with the resident rules person and husband of the skipper of one of those concerned, it was determined that she should be eliminated from the tiebreaker (potential quiet ride home!). This would be Coco Roy, V-26, who happened to be the birthday girl that night. She would thus finish 4^th.

 

This left the tiebreaker between the V-151, Matt and Joy Weber, and V-51, Robin Dale and Hanna Jewett. With identical finishes, the only way to solve this dilemma was with sailor's bar dice.   Matt and Joy became the ultimate victors.

 

The 1^st place prize went to the V-7, Ty and Kathy Gutenkunst. This only goes to show that luck, not skill, plays the ultimate part in the result of a parents' race.

 

A good time was had by all, including the illustrious judging team of Tom Fritz, Dan Halaska, Sam "the flag girl" Kultgen, and yours truly.

 

 

We are also saddened by the death of Buddy Zinn, who died at his home in Naples on July 3rd at the age of 45.  Everyone who knew Buzz loved him.  He was an incredible sailor, a fantastic teammate and a wonderful friend to the PYC.