On Saturday, April 19, 2014, Oak Hollow Sailing Club opened its sailing season under rainy and gusty conditions. We had a great turnout with 30 members showing up for sailing, fellowship, and refreshments. We had several of our new members present, the Bouls (Steven, Sandy, and Beth) and Chris Malcolm, and several guests, Jessica and Leah, from Germany, who are exchange students who visited with Becky White.
Refreshments were provided by Mike and Marie Schram and Jerry Eldred and Connie Sloan. Thank you for providing those! They were much-needed as we waited out the rain.
Race committee duties were handled by Tom Kirkman and Tait and Ty Humphries, and they used some new technology for the starts and scoring, along with the improved flag raising and lowering system engineered and installed by Tom. Thanks guys! The day provided proof of the importance of having at least three adults on the committee boat, as there were multiple capsizes, with one severe enough to require the assistance of the safety boat to get sailors out of the water, and assistance in getting a turtled boat righted (with the centerboard retracted). Tait and Ty handled the processes very ably. Thank you guys (from Robert and me). Robert asked that it be passed along to everyone the importance of securing your PFD properly and securely. He said he has had a habit of wearing his too loosely (as he did yesterday), and it caused some initial problems for him when he found himself in the water. There were some good lessons learned from that event.
We had 17 boats signed up on the scratch sheet, but many of our mono-hull sailors wisely decided NOT to sail. Winds gusted to almost 30 mph, with sustained winds between 9 and 12 mph. We had a total of seven boats that participated. Some of us were able to complete 3 races, while a few of us apparently decided a “swim” was a good idea. Capsizes and equipment problems resulted in just three boats starting and completing the third race. Congratulations to race winners Phil Andrews (races 1 and 2) and Warren Mitchell (race 3) and to Michael Nordahl and Stephanie DeLair for three 2nd place finishes. Full results and handicap scoring are attached.
Thank you to all who showed up! It was great to see everyone again after the difficult winter.
Our next event is the May 13th Open House at 6:30 pm at the City Marina conference room, followed by our May Regatta on May 17, and then our Community Fun Day on Sunday, May 18.
Sincerely,
Paul Walter
2014 Commodore