August 2020
Commodore’s Report | New Members | Series and Event Racing | TSA Update | Port Captains | Informal Racing | LCYC Personnel
Commodore’s Report
by Elizabeth Bentzen, LCYC Commodore
Hard to believe that it is already August! Normally, we would be busy getting things in order to host the Wurstfest Regatta, but this week Wurstfest in New Braunfels was canceled. The Board will discuss at the August BOG meeting what this means for LCYC. Although LCYC is not hosting events, I thought I would share with you a few things that have been happening.
Youth Sailing has been practicing on Saturdays. Several people have asked how we can provide youth instruction but not host other club events. Firstly, Youth sporting is exempt from most of the restrictions in Governor Abbott’s orders regarding COVID-19 mitigation. Sailors are on single-handed boats, adding to the inherent safety of the activity; Travis and Yam came up with a plan to instruct very small groups of kids with safety protocols that limit physical contact and require compliance with other measures such as face coverings, sanitizing boats between uses, no food, and no parents congregating on the dock; included were specific plans for screening participants before sessions. Their plan was carefully scrutinized and approved by the Board of Governors.
Julie Crum, a Mt Lookout neighbor, recently shared these pictures of the Opti’s on the lake close to her home.
In the absence of Club racing, Rick Mella has worked tirelessly to repair and upgrade the committee boat. The Tiki Taxi looks great (see picture). If you see Rick, thank him (from a distance!) for all the time, sweat and hard work he has put into the committee boat for when we can safely return to racing.
It is with great sadness that we inform the LCYC family of the death on July 22nd of charter member 004 and past Commodore, Neill Walsdorf. He and his father, Harold “Wally” Walsdorf, charter member 002, were among the group of sailors on Woodlawn Lake who yearned for deeper water and a club to call home. Both were intimately involved with the 1967 founding of LCYC, its governance, racing events and regattas. LCYC extends its deepest sympathy and condolences to Neill’s family and friends. (written by Kathy Leubner)
Stay safe and healthy! Many of us know people who have been infected by COVID-19 or in contact with cases, so stay vigilant. Wear your mask, wash your hands, and keep your distance from others so you can keep sailing.
Welcome New Members
- Jacob and Shiny Vadakekalam – Shavano Park, TX
- Thomas Holmes – San Antonio, Texas
- Sarah and Richard Phillips – Spring Branch, Texas
- Marushka Bland and Aaron Stanush – Austin, Texas
- Philip and Jane Hughes – San Antonio, Texas
- Edward and Autum Kelley – Canyon Lake, Texas
- Shawn and Sandra Morgan – Midland, Texas
- Eric Akkerman – Live Oak, Texas
- Donald and Mary Joachim – Celina, Texas
Port Captains
by Margaret McGill and Mindy Rogers, Co-Port Captains
I’m still busy making masks! It looks like it will be a long time until we can put them in our scrapbooks. And honestly, even when COVID-19 is under control, it might be a good idea to keep them on hand for when someone in the household gets a cold or the flu. Until this week, I could say I didn’t personally know anyone who had contracted COVID-19, but now that is no longer true. It makes me even more respectful of the Board of Governors’ courageous management of LCYC over the past few months. It’s not hard to make the decisions when people all around you are sick, but it is hard when you’re not personally affected. Their careful management has made it safer for you and me to continue to enjoy the club – as long as we all respect the rules to distance, wear face coverings, wash hands, and limit group sizes.
The kitchen has been dark and cool for quite a while, but we are busy helping to monitor the gate and enjoying sailing, the lake, and the club swimming pool.
Stay safe, and we will one day soon see you at the club or on the lake!
Series & Event Racing
by Rick Mella, Rear Commodore of Sail
The LCYC Board has approved COVID-19 Task Force recommendations.
Please adhere to all the safety guidelines for protecting ourselves against Coronavirus so that we can stay safe and return to sailing in year 2021.
Join Us for Informal Racing: Non-Club Sponsored
by Chuck Begley, LCYC Member
Over the past few weeks, several members have been getting together for informal racing. We meet in our boats just outside the breakwater on Thursdays at 6:30 pm for PHRF spinnaker and on Saturdays 11 am PHRF non-spinnaker. On Sundays at 1 pm board boats gather. We have rabbit starts and sail around the channel markers. We use channel 78 to broadcast marks and round direction. All sailors are welcome to join us — regular racers, non-racers, occasional racers. Social distancing, face coverings, and good hygiene are expected. Sailors are strongly encouraged to wear PFDs, particularly if single handing. Contact Chuck Begley (charlesebegley@gmail.com) if interested or just meet us on the water. These races are organized and run by interested members. They are not LCYC sponsored or directed..
TSA Update
by Chris Fogle, LCYC TSA Representative
It’s been a crazy year, so far – and that’s also true for the Texas Youth Sailing Circuit. The impact on the schedule has been the rescheduling of several regattas to the fall time frame – to include the “twice rescheduled” LCYC’s Spring Fling. We are now projecting (hoping) to have our youth regatta the weekend of October 17th – 18th. Please mark your calendars, cross your fingers, and say a prayer!
One yacht club was able to get in a regatta before additional restrictions hit. The Ft. Worth Boat Club held the Jr. Ol’ Man of the Sea regatta in June, but extremely light conditions one day, and a storm the next, limited most fleets to only two races. The competitive Opti RWB fleet didn’t see any action.
Texas Youth Race Week – our Junior Olympic Event held every July was canceled this year. The next attempt at racing will be a one-day regatta at Texas Corinthian Yacht Club in Kemah, TX, on August 1st. The remainder of the projected schedule is as follows
2020 Texas Sailing Association (TSA) Youth Racing Circuit Dates
| 1-2 Aug | TCYC Round Up Regatta | Texas Corinthian YC |
| 22-23 Aug | Silly String Regatta and Texas State Girls Optimist Champ | Grapevine Sailing Club |
| 12-13 Sep | Rock the Rock Regatta | Corinthian Sailing Club, (White Rock Lake) |
| 26-27 Sep | Rockin Rockport Regatta | Rockport YC |
| 10-11 Oct | Pirates of the Corinthian Regatta and KO Sailing Texas State Optimist Champ | Dallas Corinthian YC |
| 17-18 Oct | LCYC Spring Fling Regatta | Lake Canyon YC |
| 14-15 Nov | Chocopalooza Regatta | Rush Creek YC |
| 19-20 Dec | TSA End of Year Regatta: Roadrunner Regatta and Texas State Youth Laser Champ, and TSA Alumni Regatta | Austin YC |
In response to the changing conditions, the need to ensure fair competitions, and to remove unnecessary stress on parents and sailors to travel the circuit this year, the TSA has suspended season awards. We still encourage youth to continue to practice and race when opportunities present themselves.
If you have any questions about US Sailing, Area F events, the TSA Youth Circuit in 2020, please contact your LCYC TSA Representative, Chris Fogle (the author).
See you on the water!
LCYC Personnel
| Officers | ||
| Commodore – Elizabeth Bentzen | Treasurer – Renee Kizziar | |
| Vice Commodore – Scott Wells | Port Co-Captains – Margaret McGill, Mindy Rogers | |
| Rear Commodore – Mike Samulin | Rear Commodore for Sail – Rick Mella | |
| Secretary – Laurie McGill |
| Board of Governors | ||
| 2019 – 2020 | ||
| Debbie Fogle | Ed Miller | |
| Bubba Harris | Jean Junker | |
| Scott Wells | ||
| 2020 – 2021 | ||
| Chuck Begley | Carolyn Harris | |
| Boguslaw Godlewski | Joseph McDonough |
| Committee Chairs | ||
| Adaptive Sailing – Bill McVey | Membership – Jim Garity | |
| Adult Sail Training – Mike Stellato | Nominations – Jim Kizziar | |
| Audit Committee – Rick Cioppa | Personnel – Ed Miller | |
| Budget Committee – Laurie McGill | PHRF – Jim Garity | |
| Cabana Owners – Christina Purcell | Safety – Ron Popp | |
| Corps of Engineers – Joe McDonough & Rick Mella | Slip Utilization – Steve Edlund | |
| Docks & Grounds – Rick Walker | TSA Rep – Chris Fogle | |
| Emergency Task Force – Julian Craven | Vice Docks and Grounds – Dave Sanford | |
| Lifetime Achievement – Sandra Lindsey | Wurstfest Regatta – Scott Wells | |
| Long Range Planning – Marvin Arnold & Ed Miller | Youth Sailing – Travis Mitchell | |
| Women’s Sailing – Lynn Simpson & Debbie Fogle |
| Staff | ||
| Club Administrator – Carolyn Cole | Docks & Grounds- Edward Ward, Rashad Williams | |
| Staff – Carolyn Cole Maggie Carty, Tiffany Hodge | Ditty Bag – Bill Cook | |
| Property Manager – Julian Craven | Website – Kathy Leubner |
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