Important Announcement

Lauderdale Yacht Club regrets to inform our members, guests, and participants in the various sailing and waterfront activities at the club that our Sailing Director Philip Muller has tendered his resignation.  Philip has advanced from a green fleet coach to the leader and head of all sailing activities at LYC.  Our club’s youth program is one of the largest and most diverse in North America and under Philip’s oversight, LYC has garnered acclaim and respect throughout the sailing community.  From consistently training world-level optimist sailors and Olympians to enrolling a broad-based entry-level green fleet class, Philip has created a very special success story.  His tireless work ethic, balanced attitude towards fun and competition, and solid relationships with our sailors will be extremely difficult to replace.  We wish him well in his next endeavor; his last day at LYC will be November 3, 2013.

A Search Committee has been formed in order to identify and recruit the next Sailing Director at LYC.  For the short term, the depth of our coaching and administrative staff will help insure that all practices, programs, and logistics support will be seamlessly covered.  The fleet captain and the individual fleet chairmen have commenced a detailed examination of all upcoming events on the calendar to expand current coaching roles and responsibilities so that our athletes are provided the tools needed to achieve their personal sailing objectives and goals.  Juan Carlos Romero, Chris Dold,  Julia Melton, Colin Page, Kyle Pond, Corey Page, Hunter Cambone,  and guest coach Joakuim Carlson (arriving November 2) are all extremely qualified in their respective roles.  Our coaching staff is unparalleled and there is no doubt that this Fall season will surpass previous years’ participation and results.

We have multiple events planned for the upcoming months and procedures to insure our participants receive the same quality coaching, training, support and organization are being planned and implemented immediately.  Philip has pledged to assist in the process and knowing his character, our programs will smoothly transition in the upcoming weeks.     – Fleet Captain Tom Lihan

THIS WEEKEND

Best of luck to all our sailors who are in Cabrillo Beach, California competing in the USODA West Coast Championships. Best of luck. to follow our team check out the USODA.org website.

This weekend both Intermediate fleets will focus on team racing practice to prepare those racing in the Oct 26-27 Team Race regatta, and to help the boathandling skills and team race knowledge for those not racing that weekend. Our practice schedule for Saturday and Sunday will be 9:30am-4pm Saturday and 9:30am-2pm on Sunday for Intermediate Gold and Silver. 

Orange Bowl FULL

A quick check of the Orange Bowl registration site indicated they have reached their cap of 300 Optis and will not be taking any more registrations.  I, for one, hope this is a strategy and not a fact.  The following is the list of LYC-registered sailors.

Connor Murphy

Luke Welker

Bella Casaretto

Michael Moss

Jonathan Siegel

Kelly Clark

Connor Boland

If your sailor's name is not on the list and you hope to do Orange Bowl, there is a waiting list located here and I encourage you to do what I just did and get on it.

Commodore's Fleet Info

Hello, Commodore's Fleet parents, I'm Bob Meagher, the chairman of the LYC Opti Committee.  We have a group of seven committee members (listed at the end) who work to make sure the program runs smoothly and lines of communication stay open.  If at any time you have a question, please don't hesitate to contact any one of us at our addresses and cell phones below.

Communication & Optiblog

Experience has shown that e-mail lists quickly become incomplete, can annoy recipients with "Reply All" syndrome, and leave us searching our Deleted Items for last-month's critical information.  We have created a blog page located at http://lycoptis.blogspot.com/ that solves this problem.  Please Sign Up on the right side to receive e-mails of every blog post the morning after they're posted.  This is the simplest and most comprehensive way for the coaches and committee to communicate with all LYC Opti sailors.  Also, useful documents and links are located throughout the site -- explore away!  Note, if you don't sign up, you'll miss important info throughout the season, so please join us.  Thanks.  (P.S. -- for archive purposes, this e-mail will be posted to the blog, so if you're signed up, you'll receive it again tomorrow morning.)

Repeat Parent's Meeting This Sunday

Following the success of last weekend's Parents' Meeting, Lisa Jones is leading another on this Sunday, immediately after the kids launch (2:15ish) for the people who couldn't make it.  Please come learn about how to handle boats and sails, upcoming regattas & parties, gear, and more. 

Fort Myers River Romp

The first regatta of the season is around the corner (October 19 & 20) and your kid will love it!  The River Romp is a decade-old tradition and a great first regatta for aspiring Green Fleeters.  The races are held very close to shore in protected waters on the river in Ft. Myers, perfect for first-timers.  A dozen of you have signed up already, and all Commodores Fleet kids should take the leap -- but if you have reservations, please contact the sailing office at 954-527-2223.  If you haven't already done so, please register for the regatta here and sign up here on the LYC page here.  Green Fleeter boats like yours get first priority on the LYC Trailer, which you'll load Thursday night (17th) after practice.  This is a great way to do something quick and fun as a family, as well as spend some time with other parents new to the program -- or many years into it.  Ask more about it this Sunday, but make your plans now!

Naples Cup Regatta

The second fun regatta of the season is the Naples Cup Regatta with the legendary party many of you have heard about.  Unfortunately, we received word yesterday that the beach renourishment project underway in Naples is causing the cancellation of the regatta this year for its scheduled date of November 9 & 10.  We are working on a suitable replacement, but if you booked rooms in Naples, cancel before your deadline, and stay tuned for the alternate plan.

Private Coaching

Is your sailor really into it and can't get enough?  Or has some hesitancy that some one-on-one instruction can erase?  We have numerous private coaches of all different personalities ready to help.  Ask the Sailing Office

Head's Up

The Championship and Intermediate Gold fleets are having a Joint Practice with the Coral Reef Yacht Club team this weekend.  On Sunday afternoon pickup, the Sailing Center area will be a little more crowded than usual.

We look forward to seeing you at the Sailing Center, and at Ft. Myers.

Thanks.

The Opti Committee

Bob Meagher -- son Joey, Intermediate Gold; daughter Lucy, Commodores -- 954-448-5999, bob3@supersailmakers.com

Roger & Beth Welker -- son Luke, Championship -- 646-745-4643, roger.s.welker@wellsfargo.com  rbleventmanagement@gmail.com

Alberto Casaretto -- daughter Bella, Championship -- 954-593-9290, wandacasaretto@yahoo.com

Lisa Jones -- son Langdon, Intermediate Silver -- 954-465-6342, lisawalljones@me.com

Kevin Wagerson -- son Christian, Intermediate Silver -- 810-969-2026, kwagerson@mac.com

Jim Clark -- son Kelly, Championship -- 954-662-7873, jimclark000@gmail.com

PRACTICE THIS WEEKEND

LYC will be hosting a Joint Practice this weekend with Coral Reef Yacht Club's Championship Race team!

Saturday and Sunday will be full days of practice for Champ and Intermediate Gold Fleet Sailors. 9:30 arrival!

Intermediate Silver, Prams, and Commodore's will observe regular practice hours.

We wish Juan Carlos the best of luck and to keep a sharp eye as he heads to California for the USNT practice and to scope out the venue for West Coast Champs.

Coaching on the ocean this weekend will be: Julia Melton and Colin Page (Saturday) and Julia and Philip Muller (Sunday).

Forecast for both weekend days looks good: 10-12 mph from the SSE.

PARENT'S MEETING RECAP

Thanks to those of you who attended last weekend's Commodore's Fleet parent's meeting. Here are some notes on what you missed if you weren't there.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW
The Lauderdale Yacht Club junior sailing program offers instruction at every level for sailors 5-18 years old in the Optimist, 420, and Laser classes. The fleet levels are listed below.
Optimist > Pram, Commodore's, Intermediate Silver, Gold, Championship
420 > Learn to Race, Varsity Race
Laser > Ocean Team, Hi-Performance Team

EQUIPMENT
your sailor has been assigned a complete Optimist set (sail, spars, blades, hull) for the season. Assignment lists are available. your sailor is responsible for the care of his or her equipment.
*LYC owned boats and sailors are numbered (stickers on the boat) and labeled (green dots on the sail).



All equipment is to be stored at LYC, unless it is being transported to or from a regatta.
Boats are to be racked on the northernmost (right) side of the Opti rack. Sails and blades are stored in the garage in designated areas.


REGATTAS
We encourage your sailor to participate in regional, LYC supported events once he or she is ready. If you aren't sure, ask a coach. Regattas are typically weekend events (full days). LYC will transport your sailor's equipment, provide coaching, and a coach boat. (LYC does not make arrangements for sailor travel or lodging). If you need more information about how to register for an event, read previous postings below, or give us a call 954-527-2223.

-

-     

PARENT HELP
Parents are politely asked to assist their sailor (and others) with bringing boats off the storage racks. Once the boat is down, sailors should be able to rig independently. Coaches will circulate the fleet to assist sailors with rigging.

-

    

    

WEEKEND UPDATE

Thanks to all the sailors who participated in LYC's historical BROOK BASH event! Great sailing to all the competitors! Thanks to Past Commodore David Rulien and Peter Commette for hosting a truly fun event!

Results: 3rd - Kevin Wagerson & Bret Moss; 2nd- Pam Moss, Darla May, & Rebecca Gennett; 1st - Mike Moss & Christian Wagerson.