Past EYC Commodore Neil Sutcliffe wrote to us from Okanagan Lake. Neil is "not getting much sailing in, due to the fires and poor weather (too hot & no wind, too cold & no wind, too smoky to see what kind of wind...).

"Pretty nuts how fast these fires travel. Yesterday we saw a little bit of smoke and a bit of flame on the south flank of Mount Law, By 6.00 pm it was an inferno climbing up the south flank of the mountain and along the valley towards West Kelowna. They hit it hard though. At one point 60 fire trucks, six water bombers and four helicopters plus a couple of large aerial tankers dumping retardant. Can’t imagine how difficult it must be for the firefighters in this terrain and these conditions."

Neil says he is reluctantly putting Radical Chic up for sale. Here is the PDF with all the details. The email address contained in the PDF is unclear; try nsutcliffe@shaw.ca.

The race will take place August 21 and 22, 2021. We're looking for volunteers to help run the race (free pizza!). Write to Fleet Captain Michael Morris, fleetcaptain@edmontonyachtclub.ca, to volunteer or for details about the race. Check back here for the Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions.

They sail together
         race together
captain and crew
father and son.

In command
     giving orders
          captain leads.
Under command
           executing orders
                 crew follows.
No discussion
no debates or questions
when
          finding the wind
           rounding a mark
           changing a headsail.

Race one, Dad captains.
Race two, son does.
Captain/Crew.

From the shore,
I cannot tell them
apart
in their matched, red, rain gear
coming home.

Margaret Iveson,
October, 1993

The captains and crew competing for the Rose Cup must be female. This summer's race will take place Saturday, July 17. Your registration must be in by 9:00 AM, skippers' meeting at 9:30 and the race starts at 11:00 AM.

Here are the official Notice of Race and the Racing Instructions.

After the sad news that the Northern Alberta Sailing College (NASC) will transition away from providing sailing lessons at EYC and the Wabamun Sailing Club, we are happy to announce the first weekend of lessons for EYC’s own Sailing School. Saturday, July 10, saw the morning class start out with 10 youth sailors, who will be joined by 2 more next Saturday for the remaining 4 classes. The adult lessons started with 9 students on Sunday. Classes will continue on the weekends of July 17, July 24, August 14 and August 21.

Spread the word if anyone would like to do drop-in classes. Details are on our website under Sailing School.

Our team of instructors are three seasoned sea cadets and former NASC instructors Samantha, Saylene and Curtis, joined by our own instructor-in-training Jonas Jack (Jonas is an accomplished dinghy racer).

You can help the school! We're looking forward to have another volunteer join as treasurer, helping Mike Morris and Thomas Kelm going forward as we plan a full summer of lessons next year to make our school a success and to elevate the profile of the Edmonton Yacht Club as a premier place to learn sailing and join a community of passionate sailors.

When the winds are strong from the east, it becomes important that boats moored to our docks are well secured. Wabamun Lake is 19 kilometres from end to end. Over time, a strong east wind generates lots of wind fetch.

If you've noticed Bob Iveson walking the north and south docks on a windy day, chances are he's checking mooring lines, fenders and gear that is not well secured. Bob has saved many of us grief!

EYC members or their guests can stay on the grounds in tents and trailers. Here is the process:

• The EYC member must email Hurry Inn director Pat Coffey, hurryinn@edmontonyachtclub.ca. In the email include:
  • is the reservation for the member's family or a guest?
    
  • the size of the tent or trailer
  • how many people
  • what nights they want to be on the grounds.
    
• If we can accommodate the reservation, Pat will pass on the info to the Treasurer, Don Simoneau.
  
• Don will send an invoice to the EYC member
  • tents are $20/night up to 4 people, $30/day for 5 or more
  • trailers are $30/night.
    
• The invoice, which includes payment instructions, is paid via Interac.
  
• Don tells Pat and the member that payment has been made.
  

After all that is done, the member or guest can stay on our grounds.

I'm really not into racing sailboats. I know next to nothing about making sailboats go fast and – I cannot emphasize this enough – our 1984 Mac may be the slowest boat on the lake. But I volunteered to help with the 2021 Spring Series Regatta, out of curiosity.

I got to drive the club's whaler, with its 40 HP outboard. This was a wonderful change from the MacGregor, and good experience if you ever have to help a sailboat in distress. Mike Morris and I set huge orange marker balls at various places on the east end of the lake, defining the race course.

During the race, we tied the whaler to the "committee boat", from which the race was managed. I was entrusted with a very important job, to press a button when instructed. It was more complicated than just that. One of the presses had to be longer than the others, thus making a longer loud blast. Mike made sure I was fully trained before the races started. 😀

I also learned some useful stuff during the race, as the other volunteers chatted about the way the competitors trimmed their sails, altered headings, etc, as they sought an advantage over the other boats.

I really enjoyed spending those hours with Fleet Captain Mike and the other volunteers. Also got to know Larry Loven, a long time EYC member and past board member. I knew Larry to see him but didn't know how very kind he was (and generous with food & bevs!) and how much he knew.

– Mark Gordon

Canada Day, July 1, is a Thursday this year.

It will help immensely if you tell us you are likely to attend. If it turns out you cannot come then we'll simply have a bit of extra food left over, but if you don't tell us...! Please write to Mark, webmaster@edmontonyachtclub.ca. by Monday supper hour.

Here's all the deets:

• Rain or shine!
  
• In light of recent, horrible news around residential schools, please consider a personal way of offering respect. We will have orange swatches for you to pin to your clothing.
  
• Free for members and our families. Bring guests for $5 each.
  
• Continental breakfast at the clubhouse begins at 9:30.
  
• Marg Iveson's famous, family-friendly, Canada Day Trivia Contest will start 10:30 (ish) and last about an hour:
  • Fun for both newer members and the Old Salts. Learn about EYC, Seba Beach and all things nautical.
  • You can use your smartphone to answer questions. But, many questions will require thought and exploration!
  • We recommend teams of 2 to 5 people. Come with a team already made up or we can match you with others.
  • In the past, winning teams have been made up of some very young sailors!
  • Points awarded if your team name is something clever and nautical. Past years' names include Beach Boys 2.0 (Ava and Amelia) and Something Clever & Nautical (the Jack boys of course 😀)
    
  • Bonus points awarded for attire related to Canada Day or with a nautical theme.
• Prepare to get wet!
  
• Friends coming with tents or trailer? They should write to Pat Coffey, hurryinn@edmontonyachtclub.ca.

This year's Spring Series Regatta ran June 12 and13. Here are the results:

1. Windswept, EYC, Skipper Paul Kantor; crew Don Thierman, Graham Hornig, Justin Goddard
   
2. See Dawg, EYC, Skipper Greg Gillingham; crew Don Simoneau, David Darlington, Bob Iveson
   
3. Arabesque, EYC, Skipper Olly Romanowkski; crew Mark Vanderlinden
   
4. Flyaway, SBYC, Skipper Dan Meade
   
5. Wee Beastie II, SBYC, Skipper Bonnie Reib; crew Duncan MacDonald, Leanne Vicen, Dan Letourneau
   
6. Bethena, SBYC, Skipper Andy Minty
   
7. Tobermory, SBYC, Skipper Joel McGovern; crew Richard Sclacter, Kate McGovern
   
8. Dreamfinder, SBYC, Skipper Craig Dirk; crew Michael Dirk, Jeff Foster
   

Thanks to Fleet Captain Michael Morris and his race crew for all their work!