Spindrift III, the entry flying the Port Oliver Yacht Club burgee, was the first to finish the 2012 Yachting World Round Antigua Race in the charter boat fleet.  The Beneteau 50 was crewed by Larry Caillouet and Richard Collins from Bowling Green, Bill Linehan from Indianapolis, and Chris LaMott from Lebanon, Tennessee.   Although 115 yachts are entered in the Antigua Sailing Week regatta, only 43 chose to sail in the optional race around the island on the Saturday before.   Most were glamourous racing yachts like Sojana and Paradox which had set the speed records for monohulls and multihulls in last year’s Round Antigua Race.  Only three charter boats entered the endurance race.

“We discourage charter boats from entering the Round Antigua Race,” said Kathy Lammers, the Chairperson of the Race Organizing Committee.   Due to the extensive reefs and coral heads on the eastern and northern coasts of Antigua, the ROC set marks well beyond these areas so that boats could compete safely.  Still, winds of 20-30 knots and seas of 6-10 feet made the 55 mile course challenging.   

 After Spindrift III had lost sight of the other two charter yachts behind it, the crew began to realize that their real competitor was not another yacht but the clock.  The Sailing Instructions required that yachts finish the race by 6:00 p.m., a maximum time of 9 hours 50 minutes.  Otherwise they were counted as Did Not Finish.  Spindrift III sailed the first upwind leg east out of English Harbour in 11 long tacks.  After reaching up the east coast of Antigua, running across the north coast, and reaching down the west coast, 8 hours had elapsed.  The final leg was upwind against 2 knots of current to the finish at the Pillars of Hercules.  12 tacks later Spindrift was within 200 yards of the finish line and within 2 minutes of the expiration of the race.  Three rapid tacks later Spindrift III crossed the finish line—at 6:03 p.m. 

 Spindrift was the only charter yacht to finish the course under sail, but was still listed DNF.  An appeal to the Race Organizing Committee resulted in Spindrift III being awarded the First Place Trophy and designated “First to Finish the Course.”  “It’s not quite as satisfying as being able to say we won the race, but after sailing hard for 9 hours and 53 minutes in a 9 hour 50 minute race, we are happy to claim the trophy,” said Skipper Larry Caillouet.  “We sailed 67 miles in under 10 hours.  We almost did what the race committee believes is impossible.”

April 13th 2012 Port Oliver Yacht Club Meeting

The meeting began with a salute to past Commodores. Commodore Champion related that we want to have a presentation each month of the year of some aspect of our sport.

Lee Huddleston burned out his Harbor Freight credit card presenting Trailering Safety.. thanks Lee

This month’s presentation was by Lee Huddleston who gave a talk on trailering safety, complete with most of the Harbor Freight trailer section for visual aids. Thanks Lee ! We need people to present these each month so please come forward and share your nautical skills with the club. Contact Deborah if you can present something. Thanks to Bill Champion for the excellent Fajita meal.

Purser’s Report – Purser Alan Cannon gave his financial report. The bills have been paid and we are starting to see some income from renewals, $10,000 so far. We still have people in arrears and some people are seriously in arrears for multiple years. We need to begin the process of moving old unpaid for boats out of the yard or get them sold for fees. Purser Cannon has now moved the savings account into an interest paying money market fund. We have a 3rd pavement payment coming up for $1800 and a balance of $3700 left to pay. We are saving money for our core dues which can be as much as $6500. If you are in arrears please pay up now!

Race Committee Report – Racing Chair Doug Roberts reports we have a full roster of free and other races this year. Please plan on attending and volunteer to help with the committee boat. We are discussing issuing citations instead of flags and maybe presenting flags at the Christmas party. Herb Siewert remarked that he has the medallions for the Yankee Doodle. We also discussed giving out trophies for the year.

Yard Master Report – We got a good start on the ramp, the yard and the Sunfish during the last work party. The next work party will be April 28th and focus on graveling the path and planting flowers etc. Commodore Champion also wants to reset the pavers in plank park to mitigate weeds growing up in them. Also planned is to redeck the first 12 feet of Committee boat deck with Trex. We will start promptly at 9am and lunch will be served. Max has graciously offered to cook.

Other Business – Sailing School is starting 10 a.m. to noon on April 21, 28, May 5, and 12th. Need boats to take people sailing, we have 3 teaching and need enough boats to take 4 people.

We lost the camera’s at the club, due to thieves and also apparently someone took the AED from the shed. We plan to change the combination on the locks immediately, if you need the new combination contact the Commodore at 270 781-2522 (home phone) or 270 991-2661 (cell phone). We will have a discussion of this at length to be held 45 minutes before the May meeting.

Herb remarked that Jeff Wheeler and family is leaving the area to move to Atlanta, this will be a loss to the club and we wish them well. They will also be wanting to sell 2 of their 3 boats. More details later as they become clear.

This year its pretty much raining boats on the club, if you need to purchase one, this would be a good time. Tim Hayes, Bill Grapes, Lee Huddleston’s brothers, boat, the Wheelers and others all have boats for sale.

The meeting adjourned at abut 8:30 pm.

Potluck April 13th at the lake.  6pm… Bill Champion will be grilling Fajita meat. Lee Huddleston will have a class on trailering safety. Be there or Be Square !

The meeting was held at the lake on March 9th at 6pm. Commodore Deborah Champion presiding.

The meeting started with a salute to past Commodores.

The Community Ed people want us to add a day to the teaching schedule for Sailing School and we will add April 21st. Lee, Max and Bill Miller will be instructing. Remember we need boats to take the students sailing after the land portions of the class. Please see the calender page for these dates.
Contact Max Vinson to volunteer.

We have two work parties scheduled, the first on March 31st is for general cleanup and the second on April 14th will be a catch up day.

May 12th will be the Commissioning of the Fleet this year and Commodore Champion is still planning this event.

Purser Cannon gave the Treasurer’s report – We have $1500 accrued for our Core fees of about $6500 for 5 years. The Corp fees change depending on many factors, we may get some of this waived for our charitable work on the Trashmasters which will help the budget. Purser Cannon reported that 90 people have been billed for dues and that 16 people are past due for at least one year. 41 people have paid thus far for 2012. Please Pay Your Dues if you are in Arrears.

Purser Cannon has looked at the last 5 years and he estimates we have run at a loss of about $1800 during this time.
We have a balance of $9400 at present and the bills are paid.

We have a new member Mr. Keith Sparks, who has a Catalina Capri docked at the Peninsula. Please welcome and introduce yourself to him as he gets involved.

Racing … We will have lots of small races scheduled for the club this season. This is to increase interest in racing and many of these are “Fun” races. Please take advantage of these this year and give it a try.

Meeting Meals – We need Cooks for these throughout the season – Contact Rob Hatcher rob@z3dp.com to volunteer to cook for these. Bill and Deborah Champion are cooking for April. We will have some small amounts of beer and wine for these, but please bring some if you are going to drink a bunch.

Vice Commodore Vinson reported on his attendance at the Friends of Barren River Board meeting. The Friends do a lot of good at the lake and provide the Fireworks at 4th of July and Sponsor and co-ordinate the Trashmasters Classic among many other things. Gary Reimer is the current President of this organization. As our fates are closely linked, Vice Commodore Vinson proposed that we purchase a $150 year corporate membership and that the Vice Commodore sits on the board of Directors for the Friends of Barren River. The motion was made by Lee Huddleston and seconded by Gary Guss that we allocate $150 for this purpose, the motion carried. All members are encouraged to join this organization Individual memberships are $10/ year and Lifetime memberships are $50, said memberships can be taken off income taxes as they are a 501(c)3 organization.

Commodore Champion proposed that each monthly meeting this year include a “Share and Learn” Session for the good of the members. Lee Huddleston will conduct the first one of these on “Trailering Safety” for April. Please volunteer to host one of these and share your skills.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:00 PM.

Click the clicky for more information — let’s support the Friends of Barren River and our own Starcaster band…

St Partrick’s Dance

Friends of
Barren River Lake & Park
invites you to a
St. Patrick’s Day
Dance
March 17, 2012
7 – 11 pm CST
Barren River Lake State Resort Park
Live Band – STARCASTERS
Watch game on the big screen
Refreshments and appetizers
Door prizes
All proceeds go toward the Friends of Barren River Lake & Park, a not-for-profit group
For more information contact
friends.barrenriverlake@gmail.com or call 270-646-2055