LAST NIGHT we had one of my favorite meals, Jolie Brise soup. It’s a seagoing soup, of course, named after the world-famous, wooden, gaff-rigged pilot cutter that, even in its dotage, is still a force to be reckoned with. In 2011 she was first in class and overall winner of the Tall Ships Race — and not for the first time.

Jolie Brise started life in France in 1913, as a working pilot cutter in Le Havre, but she was bought for private use in 1923 by an Englishman, Commander E. G. Martin. He sailed her to a win in the first Fastnet Race in 1925 and became famous for more ocean-going exploits in other yachts in later years.

Commander Martin sailed with a hefty, hardworking crew in Jolie Brise and they brought with them some hefty appetites, so it’s not surprising that one of his favorite meals was onion soup. It’s just what a hungry crew needs on a brisk night at sea, hot, tasty, and chock-full of energy. It’s quick and easy to prepare and handy because onions keep well on a boat.

You should try it sometime. Here’s the original recipe from Commander Martin:

Place four medium-large onions, peeled and cut into quarters, into a covered saucepan with 3 to 4 cups cold water.

Add 2 tablespoons Bovril (or other strong beef stock), 4 ounces butter, a dessert spoonful Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce, a little black pepper, and (when the cooking is nearly done) a small glass of sherry or rather more white wine.

Boil gently for 30 minutes or until the onions have fallen to pieces and are soft, stirring occasionally.

Now, you might be a little taken aback at the amount of butter in this recipe, but you must remember that it was meant to satisfy the energy needs of hardworking men in a cold climate. And anything with that much butter in it is bound to be delicious. But now I cut the butter ration in half, to 2 ounces, and still find it very tasty and satisfying. I tried a vegetable spread substitute once and it was a disaster. Stick to butter.

We can find Bovril occasionally in the British section of our local supermarket, but I more often use beef stock cubes instead — enough to make 5 cups of bouillon.

So give it a go, and save some of that sherry or white wine for a small toast to a real sailor and a wonderful boat: Commander Martin and Jolie Brise!

Stolen from John Vigor

Anyone else have any nautical recipes to share?

Consider using this instead of a Bowline for securing a sheet to a jib clew, its more compact than a Bowline and also much more resistant to shaking out. The downside is that, it’s also prone to jam and be much harder to untie. This is the same knot as the 4 in hand knot used for tying neckties. Good for wherever you don’t want to take a chance of the knot coming loose.

Better than Bowline?

The Buntline Hitch

Tying a Buntline Hitch

The Commodore says, “Better be coming me hearties!”
Come out and Join our Commodore and his Lady for a reception at the stately Reimer mansion 126 Windemere Ct. Bowling Green from 2-5pm on January 11th 2015. Bring a dish to share or just show up. The “Year of the Pirate continues”.

The last regatta of the 2014 racing season is coming up on the weekend of October 11th. Our club has suffered declining attendance for events and if there is any way we can step up for this one it will be good for all involved.We won’t dwell on the past; let’s just look forward and see what we can do to make the Minnow a real big one. We will have the October monthly meeting after the 1st round of racing Saturday afternoon. Let’s have a good turn out and spend some time talking to each other about how we can make the club functional again.

We care about sailing or we wouldn’t be here in the first place. Times change as do our priorities and distractions, and that’s what makes it important to recognize and overcome the barriers that are keeping sails from being hauled. We need to take steps now toward insuring that there will be a next generation of sailors on our lake. The club is built on the blood and sweat of many, and now will take just a bit more effort from a few to foster our growth going forward!

Gary Reimer
Commodore

The prestigious and highly coveted cups await the victors.

The past weekends regatta was a fun event although the wind was very light to say the least.

IHOP customers do not generally appear as happy as these POYC sailors do when they woke up to the smell of coffee and sausage on the grill.

Pancake breakfast and Pork BBQ dinners were a huge reward for all entrants in this year’s cup. Carol K. and Doug R. commanded the spatula and heard the approving remarks of many hungry pirates.

The commander and crew of Zephyr during one of the highlights of the race in which there was a boat near the photographer.

As for the light air racing, I was so far behind that without binoculars I couldn’t really tell what was going on. I did see Connie P. for a while as she and Zephyr were hoping for just such. The race committee mercifully ended the last race as I waddled around within 30 yards of the last buoy for half an hour or so.

The winning skippers of the 2014 Huddleston Cup from left to right: Dale Sturm, Bill Klarer, Carol Kersting, Barry Sanders, Gary Reimer and Kevin Klarer.

The results for the regatta were as follows:

• C. Kersting 1st Cruiser
• B. Klarer 1st Dinghies
• K. Klarer 2nd Cruisers
• B. Sanders 2nd Dinghies
• G. Reimer 3rd Cruisers
• D. Sturm 3rd Dinghies

POYC thanks all participants for coming out and especially Bill Miller and the race committee, and social chair, Carol Kersting, for the spectacular grubs.

Don’t miss the next event, The Jolly Roger and Low Country Boil on June 14th. Let the wind blow!

School is in session

Rob W. and Lee H. have their hands full with a whopping 14 students this time around! Welcome the students to the club if you see them.