 Commodore's Corner
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I have said many times that “I hate rules” – that’s why I prefer to eat at the Outback Steak House!
Anyway, the Yacht Club has seen a need to post some rules to comply with the laws of Maryland, including Kent County. Those statutes deal with our liquor license and Board of Health issues designed to protect everyone – ensuring the club can continue to serve its members.
As you know, we recently had to close our pool due to a deterioration of the water quality. This is not due to any one individual or group but a cumulative effect of some misuse. To fix the problem cost us a bunch of money but allowed us to reopen the pool. The main thing we can all do in the future is to wear proper bathing attire – not street clothes – and to rinse off in the shower before we enter the pool. This gets any accumulation of salt, the main chemical problem, off of our bodies. Salt is a result of being in the bay water or just the natural byproduct of sweat. I know you ladies all glow and us men sweat, but the results are the same!
The liquor license issue is easier to fix – no alcohol can be consumed on the club property unless it was purchased at our bar. This does not prevent anyone that wants a drink from having one! RHYC has the best pour in town! If the club does not now serve your brand of beverage, or type of wine, ask Mike to get it; if he can, he will.
We are coming to the end of the 2015 fiscal year, which ends with the month of October. That brings with it our Commodores Dinner in honor of our past Commodores and a changing of the guard with the election of our Board of Directors and Flag officers. I trust everyone that wishes to attend will be able to, we are limited to about 100 people due to the size of the inside dining area, so reserve early!
I have been a part of the management of this club, serving in one capacity or another for over 10 years. My life style has changed and my time is done! I have been a part of a fun organization, made some bad calls and some good ones, made many friends, had many good times and I feel influenced the direction of the group for the good! Now the club needs new ideas and fresh direction and new eyes on the future.
In short, what we need are members willing to be in a leadership and business role for a year or two. I know most of the members have a strong history in this type of thing, whether it was as a member of a large corporation, educator or self employed small business owner. The roles will take on the personalities of those that serve! Of course it takes effort to pull off a great party or regatta, or to see a given project through to the end, but that maximum effort is short lived. With the current structure, it just does not take that much time over the course of a year to make the club a welcoming place where members want to help out and enjoy themselves. It is a team effort!
If you are so inclined, step up and see one of the current board members and we will get your name to the nominating committee.
Lee Urbani
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Junior Windmill National Championship Regatta at RHYC
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Lots of hard work went into making the Junior Nationals such a great event. Connie Ranney arranged for several of the Junior Sailors in the RHYC Sailing School's Racing Program to participate in a Windmill Sailing clinic taught by Ralph Sponar and Allen Chauvenet. Key instruction on how to launch the boats, sail with a jib and mainsail and going downwind gave them confidence to have fun on race day.
Thursday, July 23, was a crisp blue sky day with winds ranging from 4 – 12 knots varying in strength and oscillating 10 -15 degrees. The 8 young National skippers met their Windmill crews. Four races were held and Gareth Ferguson visiting from North Carolina placed 1st. Rock Hall Yacht Club's very own Max Penders placed 2nd, followed closely by Kiki Harris who came in 3rd. Alerie Barrett was 4th. Stephen Cropper who sailed both the Junior and Windmill National Championship races always had a smile on his face and looked like he loved being on the water every minute came in 5th. Nolan Gelinas sailing with Scott Ranney came in 6th. Noah Macielag also had a smile from ear to ear and got a 2nd in the 4th race placed 7th overall. Visiting from Washington Antigone Zartman and was never too far from the pack placing 8th overall.
Awards were graciously donated by the Windmill Class, APS provided gift certificates, Beacon Lubricants provided a Tech Regatta Shirt, Speed and Smarts Newsletters by David Dellenbaugh, Mari Pro donated $10 gift certificate and beautiful artwork of our club and nautical charts by Kristen Sponar. Numerous stickers from Harken, Sperry, and Gill were all part of the “Swag bag” given to each racer.
Sandy Sponar
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Windmill National Championship at RHYC
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RHYC member Ralph Sponar and son Matt won the first place trophy after 3 days of racing in difficult conditions - heavy and shifty wind.
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Roy Sherman and Maggie Arnesen (#1718) round the mark after fleet champions Ralph and Matthew Sponar.
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RHYC members and former Windmill class champions John and Anne Danneberger (5069) finished third overall in the competitive regatta.
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Beauty & the Beast is raced by veteran Windmiller and RHYC member Allen Chauvenet and his daughter Christina.
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RHYC father and son pair Jon and Max Penders entered their first Windmill National regatta!
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Thank you from the Windmill Class
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Good Day to All,
On behalf of the Windmill Class Association we would like to thank The Rock Hall Yacht Club for hosting our 2015 Nationals Championship Event. Giving up 3 days of their summer, our own RHYC members used their boats to volunteer and support our club members and traveling Windmill racers on the water.
Thank you to each and every one of you:
John Carey for use of your boat as the Principle Race Officer vessel for Peter Gordon, visiting from Washington
Marcy Sherman who recorded the race scores, visiting from North Carolina
Howard Ferguson as deck hand and photographer
Past Commodore Dyer Harris who offered local Chester River and Dinghy Racing knowledge
Graciously Gary Devito allowed our sailing judge Bill Colgan and Harry Murphy to use his boat to set the Windward and offset mark plus monitor the wind readings every 10 minutes.
Tom Deliberto used his boat and masterfully wrestled the (2) gate marks into place with the help of Raf Gustavino, Joe Manley and past Commodore Joe Skinner.
Dennis Staples took off from work on Friday and used his boat with Buck Young as a deck hand who volunteered all 3 days.
Connie and Scott Ranney and Buck Young worked hard on the weekend setting the start and finish line buoys for each of the 12 races.
Mike and Sara Joiner-Gagalski also acted as the extra Safety Boat. On Sunday as the wind and waves increased to challenging proportions, they helped a scared young Windmill Sailor on board after capsizing, reassuring her she was alright.
Inside the club Mike and Sharon worked tirelessly to serve great food and drinks. Our Windmill group of 60 swelled the ranks of club regulars. Mike and staff always had breakfast and lunch ready in the early morning and stayed late into the evening serving drinks.
Planning and coordination of our Rock Hall Yacht Club and racing volunteers was handled by Sandy Sponar, Commodore Lee Urbani, and John Macielag. Lance Williams and Sue Caswell helped each day with registration and taking care of small but important details.
Carol McCormack really got a work out polishing the silver trophies for the awards.
We would also like to thank the Social Committee for putting together a great Cowboy Hoedown dinner. The “Wanted Dead or Alive” pictures made it fun and no one went away hungry.
Rear Commodore Heather Byrne exchanged Burgees from our Windmill group: Darrell Sorensen from Lake Yosemite Sailing Association in California and Erie Yacht Club from Jon Tushak.
Please forgive me if I forgot to mention your name, all help was graciously accepted and I hoped that the friendships that were made from people who traveled as far as California, Washington, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Kansas and New Hampshire will last a lifetime.
Everyone had a great time and raved that this was one of the best regattas ever!
Thank you,
Sandy Sponar
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Club Racing Schedule
Sunday, September 6
Club Race 7
Saturday, September 12
Club Race 8
We need sailors of all ages, all skill levels, and in any sailboat to continue to build club racing this season on Lankford Bay! These are low-key, fun, but skill-building races run by club members for club members.
First race (& horn) starts at 12:00 noon; sailors head out on the water 11-11:30 am to prepare.
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Sailing School End of Season Thanks!
The RHYC Sailing School ended up the season in mid August and we're happy to report another excellent year of instilling the love of sailing and the water in children of all ages!
We had a terrific group of certified sailing instructors, lots of happy and more proficient sailors, and complementary parents and guardians. Thanks to the wonderful grounds and water access we have at RHYC we're able to offer this confidence-building, hands-on experience to over 100 children a year.
The sailing school operates only because of very generous volunteers and donors. If you haven't supported us this year, please consider doing so: RHYCsailingschool.org/donate
We're looking forward to sailing season 2016!
Connie Ranney, Volunteer Director
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RHYC-A-Hula-Luau
Over 100 club members and guests from The Cocktail Class Regatta enjoyed a wonderful evening of delicious Hawaiian food and entertainment by Ukulele Uprising on Saturday, August 15.
Mahalo to the Social Committee, staff and management for making this another outstanding event!
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Richard McLaughlin and Twig enjoy a beautiful afternoon at the club.
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Twig
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Perfect day for Rudder. Beach, bay, boys and a ball. Seen here with Beth Dunn and Andy Newman.
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Rudder
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Attention Members!
Your Membership Cards are waiting for you.
Please stop by the club to pick up your 2015 membership card. The cards - and a full array of beer, wine, cocktails and soft drinks - are waiting for you at the bar.
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Grill Night Continues
Every Wednesday 5 - 8 pm
Grab a side dish or dessert and head to the pavilion and enjoy burgers and hot dogs fresh off the grill. The cost is $7.00 per person which gets you either 2 hot dogs or 1 burger.
Please watch your email for This Week at the Club to get updates.
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Lobster Night
Saturday, September 5
Choice of a 1 ½ or 2 lb scrumptious lobster
Served with Corn on the cob, potato salad, coleslaw and green salad
$28.00 & $35.00 plus tax and gratuity
Limited Log Canoe Menu available.
Please RSVP by Thursday, September 3 to social@rockhallyachtclub.org
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A Night in Tijuana
Saturday, September 19 at 6 pm
Come out to the Club and enjoy some Mexican food and atmosphere!
Margaritas
Tortilla Chips & Salsa
Quesadillas
Build your own soft or hard shell tacos bar with:
Shredded chicken, seasoned beef, cheddar cheese, diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, chopped onions, sour cream, salsa and guacamole.
Enchiladas
Refried beans
Mexican Rice
Sopaipillas with Chocolate sauce
$14.95 plus tax and gratuity
Please email social@rockhallyachtclub.org with reservations.
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SAVE THE DATE!
Lobster Night - Saturday, September 5
A Night in Tijuana - Saturday, September 19 at 6pm
Oktoberfest Celebration - Saturday, October 3
Annual Bonfire Night - Friday, October 16
Halloween Party - Saturday, October 24
Commodores Dinner - Saturday, November 21
Annual Stockholders Meeting - Sunday, November 22
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Reminder: Food & Drink Service
How do you feed 30 or 40 or 50 people, when only 10 told you they were coming? They all want their own choice to be ordered and served between 6:45 pm and 7:30 pm. All the while enjoying a prompt bar service. This has historically been a problem and continues to be so. In order to try to improve service, Mike and his staff are implementing a new system on busy nights.
A dinner reservation steward will be located at the end of the bar nearest to the fireplace during the rush. The bar tender will devote her time to serving drinks and cashing out, not taking dinner orders. When your order is placed you will receive a number which indicates the approximate order of receiving your food. If you sit together a number 5 will still arrive before a 15, not all at the same time. If a group plans to sit together and want their food at the same time, please all order at the same time and tell the steward you are together (the tabs will be separate). Also if you have a problem with your order please do not go into the kitchen to address it, speak to the reservation steward.
Reservations are greatly appreciated so that the staff has an idea of how many they should shop, prep and staff for. Stating what you plan to order will help their planning but does not place your food order, it is necessary to place/confirm your order at the club.
We hope that this resolves some of the issues. Also remember that your ideas for improvement can be discussed with any board member, these are always welcome.
Board of Directors
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Ahoy Members
Come in and see what's new in merchandise
We have visors in Blue and White, Ladies V-Neck T-Shirts in several colors, Ladies and Men's Golf Shirts in White and Blue, Log Canoe T-Shirts, Stone Blue Regatta T-Shirts, and of course the club Cap in Khaki and Blue.
So come on in and check it out!
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Crossing the Bar
John Howarth
August 31, 2015
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Please watch your email for This Week at the Club to get updates and specials. And don't forget our Facebook page, website and club calendar!
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