October - Ventura Yacht Club

The Forecast
A Great Ventura Cup!
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October 2014
Ventura Yacht Club
Established 1938
2014 Ventura Yacht Club
1755 Spinnaker Drive • Ventura • CA • 93001
Flag Officers
Commodore
Vice Commodore
Rear Commodore
Secretary
Treasurer
Port Captain
Fleet Captain/Sail
Fleet Captain/Power
Fleet Surgeon
Judge Advocate
Chaplain
Don Roy
Sue Van Gemert
Brian McKenna
Bonne Brown
Rudy Nodar
Jeff Beller
Craig Leverault
Neil Fraser
Dave Chase, M.D.
Rob Miller
Dotty Massa
Board of Directors
(Term Ending)
Joel Bozarth (14)
Ken Collin (14)
John Grether (14)
Don Roy (14)
Jean Crew (15)
Steve Ehret (15)
Craig Leverault (15)
Stan Whisenhunt (15)
Judy Cunningham (16)
Jan Lawson (16)
Brian McKenna (16)
Sue Van Gemert (16)
Yacht Club Staff
Manager
Office Administrator
Administrative Assistant
Bartender
Club Keeper
Chef
Anthony Jesu
Robin Lafrican
Megan Zavala
Chuck Sobel
José Silva
José Rodrigues
Office Hours
Tuesday - Sunday
0900-1700
Closed during lunch hour weekdays
Telephone Numbers
(805) 642-0426
Fax (805) 642-0494
E-mail: office@venturayachtclub.org
Web Page: www.venturayachtclub.org
Marine Radio
VHF: WRV 530 Ch. 71
VYC Group MMSI: 036713092
In case of an EMERGENCY
contact The Commodore or a Flag Officer
2014 VYC Committees
Audit
Malcolm Knight, Chair
Bylaws
Stan Whisenhunt, Chair
Cannoneer
David Boatner
Communications
Stan Whisenhunt/Sheri Green
Community Service
Jean Crew, Chair
Cruise
Jan Lawson, Chair
Finance
Brian Johnson, Chair
Fishing
Rob Miller, Chair
Historian
Don Mills
Human Resources
John Grether, Chair
Insurance
John Sugden, Chair
Junior’s Program
Ryan Cox, Chair
Marina Management
Jeff Beller, Chair
Membership
Jean Crew, Chair
PHRF Representative
Brad Barnes
Predicted Log Race
Jan Lawson, Chair
Property Management Richard Van Gemert, Chair
Race
Stan Whisenhunt, Chair
Social
Mary Kay Doubek, Chair
Ventura Cup
Stan Whisenhunt, Chair
Webmaster
Robin Lafrican
From the Commodore
By Commodore Don Roy
S
uper Summer at VYC
I’m not one to brag, but
it’s been a great summer
at the Ventura Yacht Club.
Where do I start?
With the permitting
process and planning for
our D-Dock Reconfiguration completed, construction has finally begun,
with everyone looking forward to the festive D-Dock
Party at completion.
Next, let me share the great news
about our talented Junior Laser team
showing some VYC pride competing
this summer against the best in the
U.S. at the North Americans, Pacific
Coast Championships, the Junior
Olympics and Laser Nationals. VYC
laser team members Ian Baldwin, 17,
Braeden Baum, 15 and Annika Fedde,
13 have been doing very well racing against the top college and 20+
year-old racers with the best finish at
11th place and the three teammates
improving with every race.
The Junior Summer Sailing
Camp celebrated another successful summer with 200 kids enjoying
a week of sun, sailing and making
new friends. At the Junior Banquet,
I heard nothing but praise for Junior
Director Annie Rossi and her staff
for putting on such a well-organized
event for the Juniors.
I enjoy meeting all the cruisers
who visit the VYC guest dock. One of
these visiting couples sat with me for
Saturday night dinner, and heaped a
whole bunch of praise on the office
staff for being so helpful and courte4
ous. VYC’s reputation as
being a “must-stop” on
the cruising circuit helps
build our reputation as
one of the best clubs
around. Well done to Anthony, Megan and Robin
for all that you do for the
Ventura Yacht Club.
The Social Committee has whipped up some
great events all summer! Anyone who stayed
around the club to enjoy the Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day Barbeques were treated to some amazing
food and entertainment. There were
singing of patriotic songs, hula-hoop
and bubble-gum blowing contests,
fantastic costumes and music.
The VYC Ship Store has been
restocked this summer with lots of
new items from VYC wine glasses to
warm pullovers. This is the perfect
place to look for gifts in the upcoming holiday season!
I’ve had the chance to cruise
out to the islands and Catalina this
summer, and it’s been one of the best
seasons in years. Hot temperatures
and warm waters have made it just
pleasant to sit on the boat at anchor
as well as dinghy ashore for a hike.
Thanks Mother Nature for an A+
summer of cruising.
The 2014 Ventura Cup is as good
a place as any to end this swagger.
VYC swept the big weekend event
with the VYC Gold Team dominating
all the classes in the 20-knot winds
VYC Forecast
Continued on page 7
October 2014
Vice Views
By Vice Commodore Sue Van Gemert
F
all is a busy time of
year at the Ventura
Yacht Club. Even though
Wet Wednesdays have ended for the season and the
Ventura Cup has come and
gone, we still have some
racing and cruising in October and November. And,
it is in the fourth quarter
of the year that planning
and preparation for the
next year (2015) are accomplished.
Board and Bridge elections are held;
Committee chairs are changed or
signed on for another year; New
Committee members are recruited to
serve; and, the annual budget process is undertaken. Concurrently,
the Social Committee is busy planning a New Year’s Eve to knock your
socks off; the dock reconfiguration
project is in the installation phase;
the almost annual Commodore’s
Roast will happen on November l;
Change of Command is scheduled for
December 6; and, Thanksgiving and
the Christmas festivities are right
around the corner. The result of all
this planning and preparation will
be enjoyed by our club member’s
one project and one event at a time
through the end of this year and into
the next.
While there are many members
who work together to make all of
the above happen, there are a few
people that I would like to single out
for special recognition this month.
One is Stan Whisenhunt who gives
so much of his time and energy to
the club and has done for over 30
October 2014
years. He is Chairman
of the Race Committee
which runs our very successful and busy racing
program. The Chairman’s
job includes everything
from setting the racing
calendar and promoting the races, to gathering the race committee
participants necessary to
run the races sponsored
by VYC, and writing the
articles for the Forecast and the Star.
He is the editor of the Forecast, which
is not a small job. He serves on
the Board of Directors and is Chairman of Communications and of the
Bylaws Committees. He runs the Ski
Cruise every year (one of my personal faves). If Stan ever cuts back,
we really will need five people to fill
the holes!
Next I would like to thank Jeff
Beller, Cindy Lawson and Bill Crew
for the enormous amount of time
they have devoted to the dock reconfiguration project during this past
year. While many individuals have
participated in this huge project,
these three have been the leaders
and day to day people doing the leg
work of finding out what agencies
were involved, meeting with those
agencies, filling out the endless
forms, researching the necessary
backup documents to accompany
the forms, and finally, following up
to obtain the approvals and permits
from all those agencies. A great deal
VYC Forecast
Continued on page 7
5
From the Rear
I
By Rear Commodore Brian McKenna
am writing this article
on the day after Ventura
Cup, and what a Ventura
Cup it was. Unlike recent
years, we definitely had
wind for this event. Both
days saw wind strengths
into the high teens and
it made for some exciting sailing. Once again I
raced on Dave Boatner’s
J-35 Rival, and it was an exciting
time indeed. As we approached the
weather mark for the first rounding
in the second race on Saturday we
had just tacked onto starboard on the
layline to the mark. We were sheeting in the jib when a puff caused the
boat to heel and with wet, slippery
decks I slid right over the leeward
rail. I think I had one arm around a
stanchion base, and the other over
the lower lifeline, but I was definitely
chest deep in the water and no possible way could I climb out. After what
seemed like a long struggle and with
the help of (I think) Chris Thompson,
Paul DeFreitas, and Scott Sampson, I
was finally pulled back onto the boat.
We trimmed the sails, set the spinnaker at the mark rounding and went
on to win the race. We also won Class
A, and were part of the VYC Gold
Team that won the Ventura Cup team
competition.
Despite my brief swim, it was a
great event. VYC boats went on to
take first place in every class, and
VYC teams took first and second place
in the team competition. There will
be detailed results elsewhere in this
issue, but I want to briefly comment
on what makes this event so great,
6
and that is all the volunteer help we receive from
our members. I certainly
can’t mention everyone,
but I will simply mention members that I just
happened to see working
and enjoying themselves:
Dotty Massa and Miguel
Valdes hosting the flags
on Joel Bozarth’s race
committee boat. I noticed Judy
Cunningham and Pam Phillips selling shirts all weekend; Commodore
Don Roy was also helping on the Race
Committee boat and served as master
of ceremonies at the trophy presentation. Rich Van Gemert was skipper of
the Leo Robbins as the mark set boat,
and Steve Fedde was on the water
on Steadfast as he took many photos
and videos of the racing and posted
them on youtube. Flash Wheeler once
again took many excellent photos
and Dotty Wheeler assembled them
into an impressive slide show that
played each afternoon following the
racing. And of course I watched Stan
Whisenhunt on Sunday morning as he
patched a hole in his brand new sail.
I know there were many, many other
members helping with the event; I
just happened to watch these people
doing their jobs and seemingly enjoying every bit of the time. And that’s
why we all take part – because we
enjoy it.
For the second half of September I will be joined by new member
(and long time friend) Miguel Valdes
as we head off for a two week trip to
VYC Forecast
Continued on page 8
October 2014
From the Commodore
Continued from page 4
off our Ventura waters. Team Gold,
Rival, Pangaea and Jaded won the
Ventura Cup as each won their respective classes. Winning the fourth
class was Tortoise giving VYC a clean
sweep, gathered up all the 1st place
trophies and hats. VYC Team Blue
Joyride, Disheveled Rogue and Tortoise
took 2nd place. VYC rules the seas! A
special recognition goes to Flash and
Dotty Wheeler for photographing and
displaying all the beautiful images
of racing during the entire weekend.
Thanks everyone for giving the commodore bragging rights all summer
long.
Don Roy
Vice Views
Continued from page 5
of time and tenacity was expended
to make this happen and they are to
be congratulated on a job well done.
And last, I want to thank my
husband, Richard, for his work in
repairing and maintaining the Leo
and the clubhouse facilities. While
he has the help of many members
on the Property Management Committee and two all-member work
days this year, he has personally
spent days and weeks of his time
keeping the place ship-shape, and I
am grateful and proud of his service.
He won’t be getting a bouquet at
Opening Day but he gets my kudos
in print now!
Sue Van Gemert
October 2014
VYC Forecast
7
VYC Racers Dominate Ventura Cup
V
entura Yacht Club’s Team Gold
has made a habit of winning
the Ventura Cup, taking the team
trophy every year since 2009 and a
VYC team has won every year since
Santa Barbara Yacht Club last won
in 2006.
Dave Boatner’s J-35 Rival has
been on all of those winning teams
including last weekend when Team
Rival won all three races in Class
A to once again lead Team Gold.
Deke Klatt has also been on every
VYC winning team, but with different boats. The last three years he
has sailed his J-24, Jaded, and over
the weekend won all three races in
Class C.
Joining Team Gold since 2012
has been Mike Leary, who drove
his J-30, Jaded to victory in Class C,
while winning two races and taking
a second in the other.
The Santa Barbara Channel
Challenge regatta, of which the Ventura Cup was a portion, was hosted
by Ventura Yacht Club. High winds
Continued on page 9
From the Rear
Continued from page 6
de Compostela. However, this adventure is all about the journey rather
than the destination. We leave in
two days, and I have walked over 230
miles getting ready for our experience
on “The Camino.”
Portugal and Spain. After three days
in Lisbon we will ride the train up
to northern Spain and walk the last
120 kilometers of the “Camino de
Santiago” from Sarria to Santiago de
Compostela. If you are curious what
this is, please visit Wikipedia and look
up “The Way of Saint James.” In short
it is a pilgrims’ walk across northern
Spain ending in the town of Santiago
8
Brian McKenna
VYC Forecast
October 2014
VYC Racers Dominate Ventura Cup
Continued from page 8
and stormy seas made for rough
going on Saturday for the 23 boats.
Two rugged windward-leeward races
were sailed on Saturday and an
offshore random leg race on Sunday.
Winds exceeded 20 knots during the
second race on Saturday.
Tortoise, a J-24 co-skippered by
Suzy Ramey and Stan Whisenhunt
won the non-spinnaker class and led
Team Blue to second place in the
team completion. The other Team
Flash Wheeler was busy as a beaver
Blue members were Garret Baum’s
all Ventura Cup weekend, taking
J-24, Disheveled Rogue, which placed
dozens upon dozens of photos both
second in Class C and John Lilly’s
at sea and on land.
J-80, Joyride, which placed second in
Class B.
Taking the third place team
trophy was Channel Islands Yacht
Club, led by Troublemaker, a Schock
35, skippered by Roxanne Vettese.
The other team members were Bill
Brayton’s Catalina 36, Maverick and
Brent Swanson’s Islander 29, Velero.
The feel-good story of the weekend was the boat which wouldn’t
quit, the J-24, Abracadabra, coskippered by Doug Daws and Dan
Chepley. The boat badly damaged
the mast while being launched for a
practice race on Wednesday. During the next 48 hours, Daws and
Chepley with help from a welder
and rigger worked feverishly to get
the boat functional for the weekend.
After placing third in races one and
two on Saturday, another nightmare
hit Abracadabra as a crewmember
got violently ill before the start of
the race. The crew member was
Continued on page 10
October 2014
VYC Forecast
9
VYC Racers Dominate Ventura Cup
Continued from page 9
offloaded onto a Race Committee
boat, causing Abracadabra to start
late, but they still managed to rally
for a fourth place finish. (See related
article on page 12).
Results were very close in the
first race, with Pangea winning by
nine seconds, Jaded winning by 38
seconds and Tortoise winning by 17.
In the second race, Jaded won by 39
seconds. In the final race, only 27
seconds separated the second, third
and fourth place boats in Class A; 52
seconds separating the second and
third place boats in Class B and six
seconds separating the second and
third place boats in the non-spinnaker class.
The top lady driver was Stacey
Peterson who drove the Cal 29,
Out Patient to a first place and two
seconds for five points while placing
second in the non-spinnaker class.
Placng second among lady drivers
was Roxanne Vettese, who drove the
Shock 35 Troublemaker to a second
and two thirds for eight points, while
placing second in Class A.
S.B. Channel Challenge results:
Class A: 1—Rival, Dave Boatner
(1-1-1); 2—Troublemaker, Roxanne
Vettese (3-3-2); 3—Uncle Bob, Larry
Leveille (2-2-5); 4—Uhambo, Dave
Chase & Anne Fitzgerald, (4-5-3);
5—Buena Vista, Dwight Rowe (5-44); 6—Superluminal, Jerzy Poprawski 4—California Zephyr, Doug Stelck
(3-4-5); 5—Fat Tuesday, Carlos Brea
(6-6-8).
(5-6-4); 6—Maverick, Bill Brayton (7Class B: 1—Pangea, Mike Leary
(1-2-1); 2—Joyride, John Lilly (6-1Continued on page 10
2); 3—FeuerFrei, Dave Trude (2-3-6);
10
VYC Forecast
October 2014
It Takes a Village and VYC Delivers
Volunteers Make Ventura Cup Huge Success
V
entura Yacht Club was rockin’ all
weekend long on Ventura Cup
weekend. Making it all possible was
a bevy of land and sea Race Committee volunteers who put on a regatta
comparable to Long Beach Race
Week or San Diego’s Yachting Cup.
Heading up the land activities
was Judy Cunningham, while Don
Roy was in charge of the on-the-water forces.
Special thanks go out to Stan
Betts from San Diego, who served
as guest principal race officer; Su
Countess of Pierpont Bay Yacht Club,
who was chief judge; Wally and Patty
Cook of Newport Beach, who served
as arbitrator and judge; Doug Fajardo
of Anacapa Yacht Club, who also
served as a judge, and Richard Countess of PBYC, who served aboard one
of the mark set boats.
Club members were busy stuffing race packets, baking cookies, selling shirts and BBQ tickets, directing
parking, manning (and woman-ing)
the RC boat, Escapade, and mark set
boats Leo Robbins and Steadfast and
the photo boat Goodspeed., and finishing boats on Sunday from the club
balcony.
VYC members who worked some
or all of the weekend to make sure
the event was a big success included:
Cheryl Shaw, Sue Van Gemert,
Rich Van Gemert, Jean Crew, Joanne
Burch, Liz Cox, Ellen Potter, Dottie Berry, Sue Sullivan, Bill Crew,
Flash Wheeler, Dotty Wheeler,
Larry Thompson, Tom Sullivan, Pam
Phillips, Sherry Whisenhunt, Steve
Fedde, George Roberts, Bill Hair, Joel
Bozarth, Miguel Valdes, Dotty Massa,
John Berry, John Cooper and Ev
Ashworth.
And, of course, we mustn’t forget
the best staff a yacht club could have,
and they worked their buns off all
weekend. The crowds Friday, Saturday and Sunday were awesome.
VYC Racers Dominate Ventura Cup
Continued from page 10
5—Liquid Asset, Jane Thomas (8-5-5).
5-3); 7—Fusee, Harry Krum (4-7-8).
Ventura Cup Results:
Class C: 1—Jaded, Deke Klatt
1—VYC Gold, 10 (Rival 3; Pangea
(1-1-1); 2—Disheveled Rogue (2-2-2);
4; Jaded 3); 2—VYC Blue, 19 (Joyride
3—Abracadabra, Doug Daws & Dan
9, Disheveled Rogue 6, Tortoise 4); 3—
Chepley (3-3-4); 4—Sunrise, Chris
CIYC 1, 34 (Troublemaker 8, Maverick
Williams (4-4-3); 5—Zoarces, Shelly
15, Velero 11); 4—AYC, 36 (SuperlumiJohnson (5-5-5).
nal 20, Sunrise 11, Out Patient 5); 5—
Non-spinnaker: 1—Tortoise, Suzy
VYC Red, 37 (Uhambo 12, Fat Tuesday
Ramey & Stan Whisenhunt (1-1-2);
15, Eclipse 10); 6—CIYC 2, 52 (Fusee
2—Out Patient, Stacey Peterson (2-21); 3—Eclipse, Katelyn Dembowski (3- 19, Zoarces 15, Liquid Asset 18).
3-4); 4—Velero, Brent Swanson (4-4-3);
October 2014
VYC Forecast
11
The Boat That Wouldn’t Quit
By Doug Daws
T
here are a lot of sayings to describe life eventualities: never
assume, it happens, down for the
count, never give up, with luck and
good help and cream rises to the top
(or close to it).
Well here my side of things; It
was Wet Wednesday time, three days
before VYC’s biggest boating event,
the Santa Barbara Channel Challenge. I was running late with an
appointment and so was Dan Chepley who was also stuck in a meeting.
The usual sequence is Dan will put
the boat in the water and I continue
with preparation for the race, with
sails, line and such. This day being
different and being unware that boat
had not been placed in the water, I
was in need of a little extra help.
Attaching the straps for the lift, I
heard a call from the ground offering the help that I needed from an
ex-crew member from years ago on
Abracadabra who could help with
the crane. Thinking, “good I can get
things done.” I drove the trailer into
position and delegated it to my crew
member. I removed the trailer from
under Abby and went to get the sails
from my car and as I was walking to
the ramp I heard a very loud BANG.
Approaching I noticed that
Abby was in the water but I froze by
the view of the upper port shroud
hanging from the port spreader and
a large tear in the aluminum mast
under spreader partner. After staring at the damage (ever notice that
the word damage is a conjunction of
the words “damn” and “age”) any12
way, all I could do is get the boat out
of the water and back on the trailer
- we were down.
We had the Santa Barbara Channel Challenge coming up in three
days so we had to get back into the
race.
Dan and I decided to pull the
mast on Thursday night not knowing if we’re going to be able to get
the repairs done in time, but we had
to try. The mast had to come out
first, bent shroud, tear and all. In
addition it had to be in a position for
possible repairs.
Now we just had to find the right
people. And we did!
Patrick Willman from Avenue
Welding & Support Services was
able to finish another job in Moorpark and be at the Ventura Yacht
Club by 11:00 a.m. and assess what
VYC Forecast
Continued on page 13
October 2014
You Can Become the New
“Cruise Chair”
W
hat better way to get involved and contribute to the
club. Debbie and I have enjoyed the
last two years in this position. Well
ok I won’t lie… it is a bit of work,
but it is fun. The duties include
selecting the destination for the local cruises. Hosting them or conning, err I mean getting a volunteer
to host them; and making sure
everyone can get ashore or invade
another boat to eat and drink. The
best part is that the VYC office does
a lot of the work, revising flyers and
mailing them out.
The biggest part of the job is
getting ready for Catalina. I promise
not to leave you in the dust on this.
Planning the activities is the major
task. This year I think we can add
bowling with coconuts. It is quite a
bit of fun.
Who is going to step up???
The Boat That Wouldn’t Quit
Continued from page 12
was required for the repair, return
bracket in hand. Oh S*!#, what do
to his shop to make the necessary
you mean that’s the largest size you
aluminum plate to cover the tear in
carry!
the mast, return with a preformed
Phone call to Kim, his answer,
aluminum patch which he welded
“I think I have some in storage.” He
with the perfect positioned hole for
got in his car and off he went only
the shroud fitting.
to return with a really big rivet gun
Next the rigging needed to be
and the right size rivet.
repaired.
We’re back in the race - excelI called Kim Weir from Weir
lent! We took a third place in our
Rigging and left a message. Fortuclass in the Santa Barbra Channel
nately, he was at VYC late and saw
Challenge.
the problem with Abby, texting
“that’s a doozey.” I told him I would
(Editor’s note: Abracadabra’s
need a new shroud and fittings and
misfortunes with the mast disaster
his reply was “I’ll check my stordidn’t end there. Prior to the start
age.”
of Sunday’s race, a crew member got
He arrived around 3 p.m. with a
violently ill and was off-lifted onto Leo
new fabricated shroud in hand and
Robins, causing Abracadabra to start
said “no worries.” Now all we needvery late. But the boat that wouldn’t
ed was some pop rivets to retain
quit, rallied to place fourth in the race
the stainless mounting plate on the
and secured third place overall for the
inside of the mast. NO PROBLEM.
regatta).
Off to West Marine with a
October 2014
VYC Forecast
13
Community Service
By Jean Crew
O
ur final beach clean-up was
a great success if success is
measured by the amount of trash
you pick up. Six very enthusiastic
members did a great job and enjoyed
a gorgeous day on the beach while
doing something very beneficial for
our community. Thanks to Heidi and
Rafe Francke, Carolyn Cahn, Peter
and Kay Neumann, Jean Crew and
Bella. Over the summer 20 individuals
and one dog participated in our beach
cleanups. The city participates in the
California Coastal Cleanups twice a
year but they have stated that they
wish more groups would come out
like ours at other times of the year. We
are noticed and appreciated.
In October we once again have
our food drive to benefit the Food
Share of Ventura County. They
14
help needy individuals in the county
get affordable, healthy food for their
families. SOO, it is time to clean out
the pantry. The boxes will be in the
VYC lobby until the middle of November but why wait? Remember. A little
bit goes a long way! If every member
brought just a few cans, imagine
what good we would do.
VYC Forecast
October 2014
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VYC Forecast
15
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VYC Forecast
October 2014
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VYC Forecast
October 2014
Membership Report
By Jean Crew
New Regular Members
Miguel and Mary Jean Valdes
W
e are really pleased to announce that Miquel and
Mary Jean Valdes have decided
to become regular members of the
club. Miguel has been very active
in the Race Program on the Leo for
Wet Wednesdays and on Escapade
for Ventura Cup. They are very
interesting people and we always
enjoy getting new members for Race
Committee work. We look forward to
getting to know them better.
Think Prospective Members:
There is a special membership
event on Sunday, October 19. At this
event we honor our new members
of the class of 2014 and encourage
members to bring friends who have
expressed an interest in the club.
This is a perfect opportunity to
learn about the club as the Bridge
and committee chairs will give brief
talks and a tour will be given for
those interested. Come enjoy chef’s
wonderful breakfast buffet as well.
Members and prospective members are guests of the Membership
Committee on this special morning.
We are very thankful for our new
members as they are an active and
interesting group. Be sure to look at
the flyer for a listing of the class of
2014.
Members on the Move
By Tony Soans
This month Jeff Beller and
John Spille are checking something off their bucket lists. The two
men are hiking the entire length of
the John Muir Trail. John’s sons,
Matt and Nick, will be joining them
October 2014
for portions of the hike and another
friend came along for the first few
days.
This 210 mile-long trek begins in
Yosemite National Park and continues through Ansel Adams Wilderness, Sequoia National Park, King’s
Canyon National Park and ends at
Mount Whitney, the highest peak in
the continental US at 14,496 ft.
They began hiking on September 4th and finished the first segment
of the trip on September 8th at Red’s
Meadow in the Inyo National Forest.
They were blister-free and having
VYC Forecast
Continued on page 20
19
Members on the Move
Continued from page 19
a wonderful time. A one-day stop
at Mammoth Lakes allowed them
to resupply and have the last hot
shower they will enjoy for the next
three weeks.
Next week will find them at
John Muir Ranch where plastic
5-gallon buckets have been shipped,
containing their next week’s food
supply. Special filters allow them to
use streams and lakes for drinking
water.
On the third week, Don Lawson
has generously offered to drive to
Onion Valley to bring the supplies
they will need for the final leg to
Mount Whitney.
Their wives, Dori Beller and
Marsha Spille, can claim credit for
being an excellent support crew by
helping with the food prep, ferrying
them to the starting point in Yosemite and from the Mount Whitney
portal and cheering them on.
Finishing sometime the first
week of October, Jeff and John
should have many stories to share
and lots of breath-taking photos.
Dave and Joanne Burch
write: “Thanks to all the Ventura
Yacht Club members who helped
20
BURCH RACING FOR A CURE raise
$9000.00 for the 2014 Avon Walk for
Breast Cancer. David and I had the
pleasure to walk with 2000 others
(297 of which were breast cancer
survivors and 274 were men) the
weekend of September 6 - 7. The
12th annual Avon Walk for Breast
Cancer in Santa Barbara raised $4.6
million. If you have never participated in such a physical event,
it is very uplifting to walk with
all these special people and hear
WHY they are walking. 39.3 miles
is very hard, but CANCER must be
stopped. Thanks again for all your
thoughts and donations.” Dave and
Joanne Burch.
Bill Fedde – entered the Alcatraz invitational swim race for the
fourth time on Sunday September 14. Bill headed up there with
about a dozen Ventura swimmers
to compete in the event. The race
has been limited in the past to 500
swimmers, at press time no details
were available on the number this
VYC Forecast
Continued on page 21
October 2014
Members on the Move
Continued from page 20
stem-to-stern refit. Recently, the
year or how things went. The race
Rigneys have been honing their sailis from Alcatraz Island to the cove
of the South End Rowing Club. Bill’s ing skills. Leslie crews Wet Wednesdays with Claudia Gottstein aboard
best finish was 26th and most of the
Within Reach (Eric affectionately
folks finishing before him in that
dubbed the crew, “Babes within
race were high school or college
reach”) while Bryce (13) and Trent
team members. At age 53 Bill says
(11) attended the VYC Junior Sailing
he will be happy to finish in the
program and race Optis with Ryan
middle of the pack and is entering
Cox on Fridays. The boys have
mostly for fun and comradery. He
is particularly looking forward to the ambivalent feelings about the upcoming adventure, unsure of what
brunch afterwards at the South End
to expect, especially with limited
Rowing Club. Bill plans to swim the
Internet access. From Cabo, they
event in just a racing swim suit as
plan to sail to Costa Rica, Panama,
he found after the first race that a
Galapagos, Easter Island, Pitcairn,
wetsuit is too hot and caused him
French Polynesia, and further westserious chafing.
ward with a goal to circumnavigate
- Poseidon willing. Follow them
on their pending website: RigneysKandu.com.
Eric & Leslie Rigney - Launching their long-term cruising plans,
the Rigney Family will join the
Baja Ha-ha in San Diego late this
October. Kandu, their 1987 Tayana
Vancouver 42 center cockpit cutter, was purchased four years ago in
San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico. Within
weeks of Eric having motor-sailed
her from Mexico to Ventura, Bill
Kohut, Eric’s uncle, began preparing
her for the circumnavigation--a near
October 2014
Sherry Whisenhunt is now just
two islands shy of the 8 Island Club
after a recent visit to Santa Rosa Island. Sherry and Stan spent several
days on their Catalina 36, Chinook,
buddy boating with Dena Mercer
and Mike Leary on Dena’s J-32, Millie M.
VYC Forecast
Continued on page 22
21
Members on the Move
Continued from page 21
On Saturday before Memorial
Day they went to Santa Barbara Harbor for a couple of days. Then they
sailed to Frys Harbor on Santa Cruz
Island for two days. It was uphill
into strong winds and bumpy seas to
Santa Rosa Island where they spent
two wonderful days.
While ashore for some hiking,
they ran into VYC’s George Roberts,
who is a ranger volunteer on the
island. After Santa Rosa, they motor sailed to Alberts anchorage for
another night and then a nice sail
home for Chinook on Friday and Millie M on Saturday. Sherry has also
been ashore at San Miguel, Santa
Barbara, Catalina, Anacapa and, of
course, Santa Cruz islands. Not sure
how Stan is going to get her ashore
at San Nickolas and San Clemente
but he’s thinking about it.
Brian and Laurie York update:
After Collin’s graduation from Saint
Bonaventure HS, we packed up lock,
stock and barrel and relocated to
Massachusetts; that brings a new
meaning to Members on the Move.
We (Brian, Laurie, Collin and our
22
two yellow labs) spent six weeks in
Brian’s 900 square foot, one bedroom apartment in Cambridge two
blocks from the Charles River and
it’s daily sailing regattas. While
living in Cambridge, in addition to
house hunting, we did a lot of the
tourist things like visited MIT, Harvard, Kennedy Library, Faneuil Hall,
walked the Freedom Trail, Boston
Common, shopped in Back Bay,
and Laurie’s favorite getting Italian
pastries at Mike’s Pastries. Laurie,
Collin and the dogs even had time to
squeeze in a 10-day trip to Virginia
and North Carolina to visit family
while Brian worked travelling to
Mexico, Brazil and Argentina.
Eventually we found a house
in Middleton, Massachusetts and
moved in August 1. Part of our
backyard has views of the Ipswich
River. We are settling in well. And
if all of this doesn’t sound busy
enough, over Labor Day weekend
we repacked Collin and sent him off
to his freshman year of college at
Westfield State University.
The guest bedroom is now open
for visitors, so if you are ever in
the area consider a visit to the York
home. Happy boating!
Brian and Laurie York, 7 Devonshire Rd., Middleton, MA 01949
Thanks to all VYC contributing members, you make this column possible! Submit your articles
along with pictures to Tony Soans
by the 12th of every month. Between 150 and 300 words please.
Email to tony@soansmail.net
VYC Forecast
October 2014
Three boats, six anchors, big mess at Santa Cruz Island. Maybe there’s a
Fouled Anchor Award in here somewhere...
VYC Talent Helps Winner of Audi Cup
S
usan Taylor of Cal Yacht Club,
won the recent Audi Cup Regatta
in Dana Point with help from VYC
members.
Crewing aboard Taylor’s J-24,
Take Five, were VYC members Braedon Baum, Claudia Gottstein and
a member of Claudia’s Wednesday
night crew, Christel Rogero.
The photo shows Claudia driving
home with her happy fellow crew
members.
Claudia’s report:
Saturday: started out with a
nice breeze, don’t know how much
exactly, then got to 22-plus knots so
that only two races were conducted.
The third race was cancelled.
“On Sunday, there were three
races in light to medium winds.
In the J24 fleet there were seven
boats. Steve Hendricks from Santa
Barbara was in the lead, but tied
with Susan Taylor after she filed
redress for second race on day two,
because the race committee did
not show an over-early flag, which
October 2014
caused her to go far on the first leg
before being called on VHF for OCS.
Race committee gave her average
of her results in all other races then
(that is: a two). That put us in first.
Susan raced with a crew of six,
three of whom were from Ventura.
Braedon trimming, me foredeck
and Christel in the middle position, on her very first regatta. (The
other two were Werner Horn and
Angela Goodwin from Long Beach).
I thought it was interesting that except for Christel, all other five crew
members are J24 owners.
VYC Forecast
23
24
VYC Forecast
October 2014
Nominating Committee’s
Recommendations
T
he last official task of the Jr.
Staff Commodore is to organize
the election process as provided in
the club’s Bylaws. This year’s nominating committee included Joel
Bozarth, Pat Haskins, John Grether,
Dena Mercer, and Brian York.
We will be electing the Bridge
Officers and a total of four Board
Members.
The Nominating Committee has
nominated the following members:
For the Bridge:
u Commodore –
Sue Van Gemert
u Vice Commodore –
Brian McKenna
u Rear Commodore –
Jan Lawson
For the Board of Directors:
u Robert Beck
u Mike Doman
u John Sugden
u Gary Wolfe
In the official ballot, candidate
statements will be included and
there may be more candidates than
those listed above as additional
nominations can be made after the
Forecast deadline.
Be sure to cast your ballot before
the October 31 Halloween Dinner
and Annual meeting.
Sue Van Gemert for Commodore
H
i there, I am Sue Van
Gemert and I am honored to be running for the
position of Commodore in
2015. I have enjoyed very
much my three years of
service on the Board leading up to this current year
in which I served as the
Vice Commodore. Before
being elected to the Board, I served
as co-chair of the Membership Committee and co-chair of the Social
Committee.
Richard and I moved to Oxnard
in 2008 when we returned from 3½
years of cruising on the East Coast
which included the coast of Central
America and the Panama Canal, as
well as The Great Loop of America
October 2014
and The Down East
Loop. While in Quebec
we met VYC members,
Ed and Barbara Kutchma,
who extolled the virtues
of VYC and urged us to
join when we returned
to California to build a
house in Oxnard Shores.
We are incredibly grateful that we took their advice and
have made the club a major part
of our life now that we are CLODS
(cruisers living on dirt) in our new
home. While we sold our cruising
boat, Lionheart, last year we bought
a new boat from a VYC member and
have enjoyed two seasons of cruis-
VYC Forecast
Continued on page 26
25
Sue Van Gemert for Commodore
Continued from page 25
ing Pacific Sunset in the Channel
Islands.
In my life before retirement,
I was a fund raiser at USC in Los
Angeles and at South Coast Repertory, a regional theatre in Costa
Mesa. I served as a volunteer in
several educational and arts organizations, as well as working on
the Congressional Cup Race as a
member of the Long Beach Yacht
Club when we lived there. Richard
and I have two sons who both live
in Southern California and we currently have five wonderful grandkids. VYC is a huge part of our life
and I look forward to continuing on
the Bridge……..with your support, of
course!
Brian McKenna for Board and
Vice Commodore
M
y name is Brian
McKenna and I am
honored to be nominated
for Vice Commodore. I am
the current Rear Commodore, a member of the VYC
Board of Directors, served
as Port Captain for years
2011 and 2012, and have
been on the Marina Management Committee for seven years.
I am also on the Dock Reconfiguration Committee and am pleased
that we are nearing the end of that
project.
I am originally from San Jose,
California, where I grew up sailing
my El Toro on Vasona Reservoir and
Santa Cruz Harbor. From there it
was on to UCSB where I joined the
sailing team and ultimately became
the captain, and then coach of the
team. I was one of four team members who represented UCSB while
competing in the 1971 Transpac
Race and we placed third in Class
C and second in the intercollegiate
division losing only to the U.S. Naval
26
Academy team by one
hour. I also managed to
graduate on time, earn
a bachelor’s degree, a
teaching credential, and
ultimately a Master’s
Degree in Educational
Administration.
I moved to Ventura
County in 1974 and began a 32 year career as a high school
administrator and teacher. Concurrently I worked for five years for
the U.S. Department of Justice as a
consultant for juvenile justice and
delinquency prevention. I was also
funded by the U.S. Department of
Education as an educational ambassador which included four trips to
Moscow, Russia; plus individual trips
to Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,
and Sweden. It was a good career.
Related professional experience
includes serving for ten years as
vice president for financial planning
of a family held corporation. Addi-
VYC Forecast
Continued on page 27
October 2014
Brian McKenna for Board and
Vice Commodore
Continued from page 26
tionally I have served on the board
of directors for two homeowner
associations, two educational organizations, and several civic and social
groups.
I began racing sailboats fiftyone years ago before I could drive
a car, and since then I have sailed
three Transpac races plus one return
delivery; one Cabo Race, ten Coastal
Cups, 40 Ensenada Races, and numerous Scripps, Wilson, Whitney,
Ahmanson, Overton, Catalina Series, San Diego Yachting Cups, Long
Beach Race Weeks, PHRF Championship Regattas, and Ventura Cups.
I currently race with the very successful J-35, Rival, thanks to former
and current owners Dick Velthoen
and Dave Boatner.
I look forward to accepting the
responsibilities of VYC Vice Commodore.
Thank you.
Jan Lawson for Rear Commodore
I
was born in Hamilton
Ontario Canada in 1953.
I was brought to the United States at the age of five.
I became a United States
Citizen at the age of 19. I
served four years in the
Navy on active duty and
two years in the reserves.
I obtained my law
degree from the Ventura College of
Law in 1982 with the help of the GI
bill. In 1989 I decided to make bankruptcy my primary area of practice.
I handle Chapter 7, 11, 12 and 13
cases. I like what I do. I have been
self employed since sometime in
1984, (I think).
I purchased Kiss in October of
1987 on a whim. I had no idea how
I was going to get it away from the
dock when escrow closed. Kiss is a
41’ aft cabin trawler that zooms at
seven knots if I am lucky. I have
lived on her ever since she was pur-
October 2014
chased. Fortunatley I did
learn to skipper the boat.
Debbie came aboard in
1998.
I have been and am
active in the Ventura Sail
and Power Squadron. I
have served in the past
as commander. I am
currently the secretary
for District 13, (the next level up in
the world of the United States Power
Squadron). For the past three years I
have taught an eight-week course in
basic seamanship. I plan to continue
with that commitment.
I never thought I would join a
yacht club. It seemed “silly” and
“pretentious.” However Pat and Rick
Metheny convinced us to give it a
try. We joined in 2010. Well I have
never had a better time. So much
for “contempt prior to investigation.” From chasing people out of
VYC Forecast
Continued on page 28
27
Jan Lawson for Rear Commodore
Continued from page 27
the parking lot in a wheelchair, to
commitment to doing the best job
Race Committee, to Log Racing, to
I can for Ventura Yacht Club. It is
Cruise Chair, I have had a lot of fun.
an honor to serve my friends in the
If elected I will bring my energy and
boating community.
Bob Beck for Board of Directors
T
here is no retirement
in my plans although
at seventy there are some
priorities it’s time to get
working on. Mary and I
now have two places we
call home, the Ventura
Keys where our Riviera
Sportfisher Findango is
waiting, and Bakersfield
where our kids, Seaco Technologies
Inc and the pay check is delivered.
I have had a wonderful active
life.
High school at Bakersfield High
was a full-time charge between
student activities, sports (football,
swimming, basketball) and playing
clarinet in the orchestra. We formed
a rock band my sophomore year
with me on tenor saxophone called
the Titans. The band was discovered
by Nick Venet; we signed a contract with Capitol Records cutting a
record that sold just enough to put
finances in order for college. We
played with the Beach Boys, Ike and
Tina Turner and spent weekends
playing dances up and down the
coast. After a stent as ASB President at Bakersfield College it was off
to UCSB.
In graduate school at UCSB
working on a PhD in Developmental
Biology, my first taste of the ocean
28
was taking the Scripps
course and diving for the
Marine Biology department, but the draft
board called and it was
off to the Army. It was
important to make the
most of it so I graduated
from Offices Candidates
School in Artillery at Fort
Sill Oklahoma, took a branch transfer to Signal Corp going through the
Officer’s Basic Course, then on to
Jump School, Ranger training and
the 10th Special Forces (green berets)
where I got to see Europe/Germany.
Viet Nam called my name and I was
baptized at Khe Shanh with the 101st
Airborne Division.
Returning to civilian life, I went
motorcycle and automobile racing
while working at Precision Motors
repairing Porsches/VWs. This was
a wonderful time to unwind, find
a life’s mentor in Bruce Smith who
was a friend of Roger Penske, Parnelli Jones and others in the racing
community. We had lunch several
times a week during those years
with Rick and Roger Meyers. I had
built a Model A hot rod with four
twos on an Oldsmobile engine just
out of high school so cars, motor-
VYC Forecast
Continued on page 29
October 2014
Bob Beck for Board of Directors
Continued from page 28
cycles and racing were a natural for
me. They are still important parts of
my life today.
It was time to get back to school,
so I took a trip to the campus to
re-enroll. My first encounter was
with a long haired, hippy looking,
fellow wearing a black arm band
blocking my entrance to the library.
I had learned a lot about myself and
life while in the service but I found
that I was still lacking in my ability
to properly relate to this protester
so I put off enrollment until the
next semester and went to work as
a chemist at Hornkhol Laboratories. I was their chief water chemist
and it pointed me in this working
direction for the rest of my life. A
bit of research work attracted the
attention of Betz Laboratories, the
largest water treatment company
in the world who offered me a job.
I accepted, thinking I would do this
for a few months and then return to
school, but when the time came I
was having too much fun and liked
having money in my pocket so I
October 2014
put it off for another semester, and
another semester……..
My Betz career took Mary and
me from lower and upper California to Salt Lake City, Houston Texas
and then back to Oak View just
out of Ojai. We had a blast camping, hiking, and river running in
Utah, Idaho and Wyoming and then
settled in Friendswood Texas. Polly
Ranch subdivision was built around
a private airstrip with hangers at
our homes. We both got our pilots
licenses; I flew for business and fun
and we met a wonderful group of
people. My office was across from
the Houston Space Center and many
of our neighbors were astronauts.
Jim van Hoften, who was the first
to do a satellite repair in orbit, and
Val asked us to take their two small
girls to the Cape for his launch. We
did this two times being included
as family. Our home became the
drop off spot for the astronauts after
their flight and return to Ellington
VYC Forecast
Continued on page 30
29
Bob Beck for Board of Directors
Continued from page 29
airport. We and the neighbors would
pick them up, they would still be
dressed in their blue jump suits, and
take them to our home for relaxing
fun and marvelous stories from their
space flight. The earth must glow
in a very special way with magical
sunrises from their descriptions.
After a climb through the Betz
corporate ladder as a VP, I was sent
to Carpentaria to run their oil field
company, Betz Energy Chemicals.
This time was busy moving the company to Ventura, and adjusting to
having an airplane way too far away
and board trips to Philadelphia. I left
in 1989, and we returned to Bakersfield to start a new business, see our
kids and take care of our elderly
parents.
Bakersfield has been good to us.
Seaco Technologies Inc has thrived
with offices in the western United
States, and in South America. We
took care of our family and played
with a 1946 Century Sea Maid
double cock pit wooden run-about
and a Cobalt family ski boat. The
car collection grew and my interest
in restoring things resulted in over
forty British motorcycles and odd
engines and things.
Now for the best part, Ventura
and our new friends here are a true
blessing. Mary loves getting away
from the heat , sewing and being
at the coast and Findango and the
ocean have filled my need for challenging activities. The Ventura Yacht
Club is central to our joy. What a
truly special group of people, with
common interest, looking out for
each other and enjoying the ocean
with all its wonderment.
Mike Doman for Board of Directors
in Channel Islands so
I wouldn’t be the dock
entertainment. We loved
that boat…when all
three sails were properly
trimmed it had a mind
of its own and she knew
exactly where to track.
My two boys grew to
love the ocean on that
K
im and I have enjoyed
sailing in the Channel Islands ever since that
day back in 2001 when
we saw a for sale sign on
a Catalina 25 sailboat. We
looked at each other and
said “let’s go for it.” Our
first trip was to Frenchie’s
Cove at Anacapa Island on
a pretty breezy day and after about
five minutes at anchor we decided
we needed a bigger boat.
We found the bigger boat in Ventura Harbor, a Hunter 37’ Cherubini
cutter and we were so impressed by
this big boat I motored all the way
from Ventura Harbor to our slip
30
sailboat.
As the extended family expanded we decide it was time to get a
bigger boat again and we found Andiamo in Monterey Bay at the Elkhorn Yacht Club marina. We sailed
VYC Forecast
Continued on page 31
October 2014
Mike Doman for Board of Directors
Continued from page 30
bring. Kim and I joined the Ventura
Andiamo, a 42-foot Catalina Mark
Yacht Club in 2008 after we encounII, from Monterey Bay to Channel
tered a group of people from VYC at
Islands in a three day continuous
Pelican that were so nice we decidsail… night and day. We kept the
ed that we wanted to be part of that
crew on night watches warm with a
community.
continuous supply of chicken nooI am an electrical engineer from
dle soup. Those nights fascinated us
Canada. My career led me on a jourby the luminescent display left by
ney to Ventura county in 1984 and
the dolphin trails through the water
it has been my home ever since. I
that looked like a Disney Fantasia
own my own solar business installsequence.
ing residential and commercial solar
Kim and I sailed Andiamo for
systems and I also do consulting
seven years and when all the kids
grew up and naturally got interested engineering on utility scale projects
for Alpha Technology throughout
in their own lives we decided to sell
her last August. We are excited about the US.
the possibilities our next boat will
John H. Sugden for Board of Directors
I
am a lifelong resident
of California, Sacramento born, and raised
and educated near (and to
a certain extent – on) the
San Francisco Bay.
My older brother and
I got hooked on sailing in
the summer of 1966, on
El Toros – through San
Leandro’s basic sailing program.
Later, combining paltry earnings
from paper routes with my mother’s
substantial contribution, we bought
a Melody (a stretch version of the
Toro) and sailed, whenever possible,
on local and Sierra lakes and sometimes (if not too much air) on the
Bay. We belonged to the SBRA and
enjoyed the camaraderie of other
families and the vast variety of boats
(Aqua-cats, snipes, kites, Daysailors,
October 2014
Rhodes 19s, and Coronado 25s).
In the summer of ‘69,
we sailed our Columbia
22 from Oakland to MDR
- my first (hairy) ocean
experience and first trip
to Ventura County. Ventura Harbor was closed
due to the flood so we
tied one night to the guest dock at
Channel Islands. The beauty of
this area - islands, ocean, beaches,
mountains and open space – struck
my 14 year old brain, and stayed
there.
In the late 70s I lived aboard a
29-foot sloop in Berkeley Marina
while working and attending law
school (not recommended). I finally
VYC Forecast
Continued on page 32
31
John H. Sugden for Board of Directors
Continued from page 31
once towed a rickety club trailer
moved to Ventura in 1983 after
with a laser and a sabot to the High
passing the bar and have practiced
Sierra Regatta. The club’s Junior’s
continuously since, specializing in
Program has grown beautifully
Workers’ Compensation and Social
since then.
Security law. My home and office
I have participated in the clubs
are a few minutes from the club.
social, cruise and race activities
I first approached VYC regard– many Catalina Cruises aboard
ing membership at Opening Day
Yankee, my Offshore 40, 10 years
1994. I met Cornel Grier and JP
foredeck aboard the J35 Scooter Morgan, the Commodore and Staff
Wet Wednesdays (including many
Commodore, who graciously ancontributions to the post-race beer
swered my questions about the
fund), Ventura Cups, and other club
Junior’s Program and other club
races, and helped with the Race
activities, and then, after joining a
Committee, such as the J-24 Nationfew weeks later, appointed me head
als one year, using my Wellcraft as
of the Junior’s Program, which I
the chase boat.
chaired and co-chaired for approxiI have held leadership positions
mately 10 years.
in scouting, my church’s vestry and
In those days, my son and I,
school board, and I currently head
along with the other volunteers,
the club’s Insurance Committee. I
pieced together the various donated
have many years of professional,
Sabots and other boats for the once
volunteer, and boating experience
monthly juniors’ days, took kids on
and would be proud to serve on the
club members’ boats for day-sails to
Board of Directors.
Channel Islands Marina, to Westlake for the Turkey Day regatta, and
32
VYC Forecast
October 2014
Gary Wolfe for Board of Directors
I
want to thank the nominating committee for
considering me to serve
on your Board. Although
relatively new to VYC I
am a long-time boater and
lifelong Ventura resident.
I am just completing
my second year as Commander of the Ventura Sail
and Power Squadron, my father was
a charter member of the Ventura
Squadron in 1961.
I have been a Certified Public
Accountant with a local firm for the
past 42 years. I have also owned
the marina and boat rental at Lake
Casitas since 1990. From everything
I have seen, the club is incredibility
well run financially, but I hope my
financial background can still benefit the club.
October 2014
I am very familiar
with non-profit organizations and have served
on several boards here
in Ventura including
Community Memorial
Hospital (Chairman of
the Board 2005 – 2008),
Ventura Rotary Club
(President 1999-2000),
Salvation Army Advisory Board
(Chairman 1987), Channel Island
CPA Society (Chairman 1988-89),
Ventura County Taxpayers Association, St. Paul’s Episcopal Day
School, Ventura County Bass Club
(President 1990 and 1991), and several others.
I have been impressed with the
enthusiasm of the VYC members
and would be honored to serve on
the Board.
VYC Forecast
33
34
VYC Forecast
October 2014
2014 Gal and Guy Series
Notice of Race
V
entura Yacht Club invites you to join us for the 2014 GAL and GUY
SERIES. This series is designed to promote “co-educational” doublehanded racing for relaxed fun and good sportsmanship. The series will
consist of three races. Guest docking will be available at VYC; please contact the club manager.
DATES: Saturday, Oct. 4, 2014
Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014
Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014
TIME: The warning signal for each day’s race is scheduled for 1155.
COURSE: The courses will be chosen from a course chart to be provided at the skipper’s meeting. Races will start at the Whistle buoy, approximately ½ mile off the Ventura Harbor entrance.
CLASSES: Each entry shall have one Gal and one Guy on board during the race. The Gal shall be the helmsperson.. To assure a boat remains
eligible for the series, it can have different lady drivers for different races.
There will be one class: Non-spinnaker, double-handed. However, based
on the number of entries and the range of handicaps of the boats entering
the series, divisions may be formed. Children, age 13 or below, may be
aboard but may not perform crewing functions.
HANDICAPS: PHRF Area A random leg handicaps will be used. For
boats without a valid handicap, the Race Committee will provide a temporary handicap for this series. This is a PHRF Category 4 event.
RULES: The 2013-2016 Racing Rules of Sailing, the prescriptions of
the USSA, PHRF class rules, if applicable, and the Sailing Instructions, will
govern this series. The Sailing Instructions will be available at the Skipper’s Meetings.
SKIPPER’S MEETINGS: A Skipper’s Meeting will be held at the Ventura Yacht Club promptly at 1000 on each race day.
ENTRY: Registration will be accepted from 0930 to 1000 on race days,
or at the discretion of the Race Committee. The entry fee is $20 per race
or $50 for series entries. The entry fee for yachts that pre-register is $15
per race and $35 for the series. See entry form for early registration deadlines.
TROPHIES: Daily awards and series awards will be presented on Nov.
15. There will be attitude adjustment period (and appetizers) following
each race at the Ventura Yacht Club.
For further information contact: Stan Whisenhunt, Race Chairman
805-659-1464 email: swhisenhun@aol.com
October 2014
VYC Forecast
35
Ventura Harbor Marina
Yacht Yard
A Full Service Boatyard
Specializing in:
m Rigging
m Detailing
m Hull Painting
m Bottom Painting
m Engine Repairs
m System Repairs
805-642-6755
www.venturahbryachtyard.com
1644 Anchors Way Dr. • Ventura • CA • 93001
36
VYC Forecast
October 2014
Office Waves
By Yacht Club Manager Anthony Jesu
I
hope everyone enjoyed
our wonderful summer
events! Our Labor Day
Fifties Flashback was a
real big hit with those
who came and I received
many positive compliments on the decorating! Ventura Cup was
also a great success with
the participants dancing the night
away on Saturday and celebrating on
Sunday at the trophy presentation. A
big thanks to all the volunteers who
worked so hard to make these events
possible!
Please mark down Friday, October 11 on your calendars. That night
October 2014
we will be celebrating Octoberfest and the chef will
be cooking up his famous
German menu and we will
have some wonderful German beers at discounted
prices.
Also on Friday October
31 we will again be “spooking” it up for Halloween.
Although not required, for those
devilish enough to come in costume,
there will be a costume contest as
well as our popular pumpkin carving contest.
Anthony Jesu
VYC Forecast
37
Master Calendar 2014
October
2
Thursday
4
Saturday
6
Monday
7
Tuesday
7
Tuesday
8
Wednesday
9
Thursday
10
Friday
10-13 Fri-Mon
11
Saturday
12
Sunday
13
Monday
14
Tuesday
14
Tuesday
15
Wednesday
16
Thursday
18
Saturday
19
Sunday
20
Monday
21
Tuesday
21
Tuesday
23
Thursday
24
Friday
27
Monday
28
Tuesday
28
Tuesday
30
Thursday
31
Friday
November
1
Saturday
1
Saturday
3
Monday
4
Tuesday
4
Tuesday
7
Friday
8-9
Sat-Sun
10
Monday
11
Tuesday
11
Tuesday
12
Wednesday
13
Thursday
Power Squadron
Gal and Guy Series #1
Power Squadron
VYC Potluck
Power Squadron
Book Group
Power Squadron
Oktoberfest/Friday Dinner Party
Columbus Day Cruise
Private Party
Junior’s Day
Power Squadron
VYC Potluck
Power Squadron
BOD meeting
Power Squadron
McCleery Memorial
New Member Brunch
Power Squadron
VYC Potluck
Power Squadron
Power Squadron
Monthly Birthday Dinner
Power Squadron
VYC Potluck
Power Squadron
Power Squadron
Halloween Dinner & Annual Meeting
Gal and Guy Series #2
Commodore Roast
Power Squadron
VYC Potluck
Power Squadron
Private Party - Downstairs
Optimist Jr Fall Regatta
Power Squadron
VYC Potluck
Power Squadron
Book Group
Power Squadron
Continued on page 39
38
VYC Forecast
October 2014
Social Committee Report
By Mary Kay Doubek
T
he biggest event this month is
Halloween, of course. This year
it will be celebrated on the 31st itself
as part of our Friday night dinner.
All members are welcome to attend
whether or not they appear in costume. The Social Committee is still
planning the details for all the yearend events that crowd the calendar
in November and December, with
New Year’s Eve as the grand finale.
Speaking of New Year’s, thank
you to everyone who participated
in the survey about preferences for
that very special annual celebration. Over 100 responses came in
and we are still assessing the data
at press time. We intend to publish
more complete findings next month,
but some general conclusions can
be shared. For example, over 40%
of respondents agreed that the food
was a major attraction of the event.
Just under 40% also commented on
dancing as among the best things
about New Year’s Eve at the club.
When asked about the best time to
start the evening, opinions were
nearly evenly split between 7:00 and
8:00, with a few outliers voting for
6:00 or 9:00.
The Social Committee will be
considering how best to incorporate
the survey results into our “Denim
and Diamonds” theme for December
31, 2014. One decision the Committee already made is to use denim
very cleverly in our table decorations. In fact, we need your retired
denim blue jeans and will put them
to good use at least one last time!
You can deposit your castoffs into
the container that will be placed
near the bulletin board at the club in
October.
If you would like to help with
New Year’s Eve, Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Change of Command, why
not join the Social Committee? We
will meet next on Sunday, October
19 at 2:00. Please contact Mary Kay
Doubek at mkw835@att.net or 323742-6758 for more information about
involvement opportunities.
Master Calendar 2014
Continued from page 38
15
15
16
17
18
19
23
25
27-28
30
Saturday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Sunday
Tuesday
Thr-Fri
Sunday
October 2014
Gal and Guy Series #3
ART SHOW
Junior’s Day
Power Squadron
VYC Potluck
BOD meeting
Thanksgiving Feast
VYC Potluck
Club Closed for Holiday - Thanksgiving
Trim The Club
VYC Forecast
39
40
VYC Forecast
October 2014
Member Profile: Ev Ashworth
(Editor;’s note: This is the
second in a series of features
on memberts who are active
in boating areas outside of the
yacht club).
E
v Ashworth, and his wife
Brooke, have been members of VYC since 2011. “Our
motivation in joining the
club was driven in large part
by the long-standing support
that VYC provides to The
Ventura Sail and Power Squadron.
It also helped that our boat was two
slips down from Gary Bright’s, who
questioned why the hell we weren’t
members in the first place.” Ev has
been around boats since he was a
toddler. “My first boat was made
by my Dad – a wooden tug and two
barges that I maneuvered through
all sorts of flotsam and jetsam in the
bathtub.” His father was an admiralty lawyer, and Ev learned the rules
of the road from the perspective of
marine casualties. “Dad would reenact collisions at the dinner table
– knives and forks became give-way
and burdened vessels, salt and pepper shakers became ATON. It was
the best way to put COLREGS in
their proper context.”
Ev learned how to sail and
handle small boats on lakes in the
Adirondacks, Long Island Sound,
and Cape Cod, where his family
spent time in the summer. In college, he and several of his friends
at Clark University started a sailing
club, refurbished a fleet of disused
sail boats and taught sailing and
October 2014
small boat handling. “As we all
know, one of the best ways to spend
time with someone is on a boat.
My best friends in college were not
room mates, but my crew.” About
ten years ago, Ev and Brooke transitioned to power boats, when they
purchased Goodspeed, a power catamaran. The boat has served as the
Ashworth’s platform for surfing, diving, studying abalone populations
in Willows Cove, and exploring the
Channel Islands. Concurrently, Ev
joined the Ventura Sail and Power
Squadron, where he has severed in
a number of capacities: Executive
Officer, Educational Officer, Head of
Instructor Development and Commander. “Through the combined
work of a lot of people, we’ve more
than doubled our membership and
have taught hundreds of students
and boaters the essential skills for
safe boating.” He continues to teach
Advanced Piloting (just ask Gary
Bright how fun that class was) and
the Squadron’s intensive Instructor
VYC Forecast
Continued on page 42
41
The Isthmus Log Race
By Jan Lawson
O
n Thursday, August 14 Robin
Miller, Paula Kahn and another
friend took Kiss to Marina Del Rey.
We got a late start. My original
departure time of 0700 was a bit ambitious. It was closer to 0800 when
we finally got out of the harbor.
Robin almost immediately spotted a
vessel in trouble. It had great clouds
of black smoke coming out of it. By
listening to the radio it was determined that that vessel in trouble belonged to a friend ours, Ed Kutchma.
He was preparing to run a “make
up” log race when something went
wrong. The windows on the disabled vessel were visibly fogged. Ed
and Paul Swanson were outside on
the deck. It must have been stinky
inside. Turns out an impeller failed.
We circled Pacific Pixie for about 30
minutes waiting for Vessel Assist.
They arrived and we resumed out
voyage. We passed Don Roy’s house
in Malibu and waved at him. He
took a picture of us going by. Without any further incidents we arrived
in Marina Del Rey around 1700.
Bypassing the public docks we
elected to spend the night at the Del
Rey Yacht Club. What a nice place!
They gave us a slip right in front of
the building. Lovely showers except
I could not figure out how to get
the hot water going. I have been
living on a boat way too long! For
Continued on page 43
Member Profile: Ev Ashworth
Continued from page 41
ing and racing, and exploring how
Development class.
More recently, Ev was appointed to establish a sustainable shellfish
industry off our coast. “The more
as one of five commissioners that
we study this opportunity, the more
form the Board of the Ventura Port
it makes sense – from every perDistrict. “We are fortunate to have
spective. And there are few things
two former mayors and two comtastier than a fresh grilled scallop or
missioners with direct experience
moules frites.”
working for local government on
In the accompanying photo are
the Board – they all bring a commitHenry (20, a junior at Eckerd Colment to improve the Harbor.” Ev
lege in St. Pete studying biochem
was recently re-appointed to a new
four year term. “I very much appre- and philosophy), Emma (19, a
sophomore at The George Washingciate the opportunity to help build
on what Oscar Peña and the Port
ton University, studying journalism
District have been doing to improve
and communications) and the family dog, Addie (6, “our insouciant
the Village and the Harbor.” Ev is
Wheaton Terrier”)
especially interested in expanding
the support to recreational boat42
VYC Forecast
October 2014
Cruisers, Cruisers, Cruisers
H
ave you sailed across
oceans, sailed to
Hawaii or Mexico, gone
around the world? Or
are you still getting up
enough nerve to make
your first trip to Catalina.
Do you want to know
what equipment most
people have for costal
cruising? How big a
boat do you need? Are
you nervous about anchoring out? Answers
to all these questions
and more will be revealed starting January
2015. Stay tuned for
an exciting new VYC
program.
The Isthmus Log Race
Continued from page 42
dinner we BBQ’d steaks, that Robin
you go, the higher your handicap.
brought, on the aft deck.
Kiss is a slow boat. We “raced” at six
Up early we were off to the start
knots.
of the log race to Cat Harbor. The
The next day was a power
race started at a navaide near Point
squadron event at Two Harbors.
Ferman. We saw a whale, maybe
Since I need a new knee, (surgery
two of them close to the boat just
scheduled for 9/25), Robin pushed
before the start. Robin and Dave,
me in a wheelchair over the hump
my non-VYC friend helped navigate. from Cat Harbor to Two Harbors.
Paula was the official time keeper
We enjoyed a tri tip lunch, bingo
and lunch maker. Over 35 miles,
and prizes. Robin won a free lunch
my ETA was off by only 50 seconds.
at the next Power Squadron conferUnfortunatley that is not how log
ence and a cooked tri tip, which I
races are scored and I came in dead
ate. A nice Sea Scout pushed my big
last with an error of 4.18%. I was
booty back at the end of the day. In
doing fairly well but had one really
the evening we joined Hollywood
bad leg. Each leg is judged sepaYacht Club for a tortilla toss, which
rately. All in all I feel good about
Paula and I won and a round of
how we did as I am not that familiar
bowling with coconuts. We came in
with those waters and a voyage of
second. And yes, there was more
35 miles takes you through quite a
food involved in this event.
few different sea conditions. It was
Sunday we got off really early to
rather calm crossing to Arrow Point
come home, 0358 to be exact. The
(near Emerald). From Arrow Point
forecast was for large lumps from
it was a slog uphill with quite a bit
the south and northwest. It took
of wind on the nose. Rounding the
11 hours to get home because we
backside there was a hefty current
picked headings that were more
against me and no wind. If it had
comfortable. All in all it was a great
been a handicapped race my score
trip. Who is going next year?
would have been better. The slower
October 2014
VYC Forecast
43
44
VYC Forecast
October 2014
October 2014
VYC Forecast
45
VYC Has New Ceremonial Bell
By Donald F. Mills, Club Historian
V
entura Yacht Club has a new
ceremonial bell, a gift of Laura
Korb Waisler and the Korb family. Laura is a friend of member
Kenneth Kidd. The bell was for
many years in Laura’s father’s
store known as Korb’s Trading Post
located in Montalvo. The bell was
used to announce closing time of
the store. Photo 1 shows the couple
presenting the bell to the Club Historian.
The bell while new to the club
can be considered an antique as
it was cast in 1886 by the C.S. Bell
& Co. in Hillsboro, Ohio. Charles
Singleton Bell started a foundry
business in 1858 and in 1875 added
bells to his line of cast iron products. However Bell’s bells were
cast, not of cast iron, but a special
steel alloy, he called Crystal Metal
that provided more durability and
a “very mellow tone.” Many of the
bells manufactured were intended
as post mounted bells in farm yards
weighing from 40 to 100 pounds
each. VYC’s new bell is of this type.
The company also made school and
church bell weighing 150 to 1,000
pounds each.
The Navy has had a long tradition of using bronze for ship bells.
During WW II there was a shortage
of that metal so the C. S. Bell Co.
supplied many cast steel bells to the
US Navy, Great Britain, and their
allies during the war.
The new bell has been cleaned,
refurbished and installed above the
46
Photo 1: Laura Waisler and Kenneth
Kidd are shown here presenting the
new bell to VYC Historian Don Mills.
The 40 pound, 14 inch diameter bell
hangs from a yoke which is supported by a vertical U-shaped upright.
Photo 2: The refurbished ceremonial bell is shown as installed in the
downstairs patio. It has been outfitted
with a crown knot sennit or lanyard
attached to the clapper rather than
rocking the entire bell for ringing.
bar in the downstairs patio (See
Photo 2). It is intended to be rung
on special occasions such as the
Memorial part of our Opening Day
Ceremonies, announcing meal time,
and calling to order gatherings in
the patio, as was done at the recent
Ventura Cup Trophy presentations.
VYC Forecast
October 2014
Having a Party ?
Tired of Cleaning UP ?
Call the Ventura Yacht Club
and have your party or function here!
O
ne of the great benefits of membership is that you have access to a great facility for weddings, anniversary celebrations,
birthday parties – you name it. The club is available for your friends
and family members who are having a party. All you have to do is be
a sponsor .
Reasonable prices and Great location !!
Club rental fees:
Member-hosted parties
13 to 50 persons:
Over 50 persons:
$75
$150
Member-sponsored parties
Under 50 persons:
$150
50 to 100 persons:
$225
More than 100 persons:
$300
Bartender and catering available.
Bartender charge: $20 per hour.
The best place in town to have a party and you save the
headaches of hosting in your own home.
Call the club at 642-0426 for more details or
to make a reservation.
October 2014
VYC Forecast
47
48
VYC Forecast
October 2014
October 2014
VYC Forecast
49
Club Hours
(Closed Monday)
Breakfast
Sunday .................................................. 0800-1230
Lunch
Saturday ................................................ 1200-1400
Dinner
Friday .................................................... 1830-2000
Saturday Grill Night ............................. 1730-1930
Bar
Friday .................................................... 1700-2200
Saturday ................................................ 1700-2100
Sunday .................................................. 1500-1900
Appetizers
Saturday Sunset Happy Hour .............. 1730-1930
Sunday Hors d’oeuvres ........................ 1500-1700
(Complimentary)
Office Hours
Tuesday-Sunday .................................... 0900-1700
(Closed during lunch hour weekdays)
The Forecast
T
he Forecast will be mailed
d
the last week of each
month. The deadline for
copy and photographs is the
15th of the previous month.
Copy should be submitted to
Stan Whisenhunt at
swhisenhun@aol.com. Pho-tographs should be submitted
in digital form to graphic artist
st
Cindy Daly at cmdaly@pacbell.net, or photographs should be
left with Anthony in the club office.
Copy, deadline: The 15th of each
50
month.
mo
Editor:
Ed
Stan Whisenhunt,
65
659-1464, swhisenhun@
aol.com
ao
Copy Editor: Sheri Green,
C
661-296-1688,
6
sheriholz@juno.com
Photographers: Bob
“Flash” Wheeler, Paul
Swanson, Ed Kutchma,
West, Stan Whisenhunt, Jean
Amy West
Crew, Sheri Green
Graphic Designer: Cindy Daly,
647-1554, cmdaly@pacbell.net
VYC Forecast
October 2014
October
Birthdays
Debbie Braun-Lawson, October 1.
Jim Clark, October 2.
Rachel Chepley, October 3.
Kenneth Kidd, October 3.
Mike Basler, October 5.
Dottie Berry, October 5.
Michael Harrington, October 5.
Ellen Potter, October 7.
Donna Johnson, October 8.
Connie Larson, October 8.
Dan Cahn, October 9.
Nelly Mac, October 9.
Judy Graves, October 10.
Belinda Del Pesco, October 11.
Cheryl Broome, October 12.
Leola Dahl, October 12.
Peter Bozek, October 14.
Sandra Hopps, October 15.
Harvey Wilson, October 16.
Jerry Rice, October 17.
Dori Beller, October 19.
Rita Grier, October 19.
Marlene McElroy, October 19.
John McGinnis, October 19.
Carol Sexton, October 19.
Michael Raider, October 21.
Jane Dwire, October 23.
Linda Gramckow, October 24.
Sandy Rothermund, October 24.
Don Mills, October 25.
Irene Stanton, October 25.
Pat Zenone, October 26.
Fran Chandler, October 27.
Cherryl Connally, October 27.
Muriel Cooper, October 27.
Ben Pedraza, October 27.
Bonnie Brown, October 28.
Stephen Ehret, October 29.
David Holien, October 30.
Yuanping Liu, October 31.
Charles Miller, October 31.
Ventura Yacht Club 2014 Advertising Rates
Business Card (3” wide x 2” tall)*
$ 20 per month
Half-page (5” wide x 3 1/2” tall)*
$ 35 per month
Full-page (5” wide x 7 1/2” tall)*
$ 53 per month
Full-page - back cover - color
(5” wide x 7 1/2” tall)*
$100 per month
*Prices are for camera ready ads. If not camera ready, an additional charge
will apply for set-up. Ads are black and white except for the back cover.
To place an ad please contact Robin Lafrican at the VYC office at 642-0426.
October 2014
VYC Forecast
51
More Ventura Cup Photos