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The women's Sunfish Fleet on Tuesday, August 8, 2006 Photo by Don VanZile 
"Room at the Mark" By Tom Sturr 
Harken provided support and gifts for the Little Point Sable Race. Thanks, Harken! August 7, 2008 A strong thunderstorm caused cancellation of last night's Ensign race It left behind some nice clouds, which are shown in Kathy Ribben's great picture of the sun setting down the channel. August 3, 2008 FWIW, the August sunset down the channel calculations can be obtained by following the link in the left column. August 3, 2008 The beautiful trawler Capers (home port Montague), owned by Dan and Donna Lesczc, was anchored in Pentwater Lake yesterday. They took more than 100 photos of the Ensign race, and generously brought a CD to the PYC. Thanks very much, Dan and Donna. July 28, 2008 Mike LaHaye sent excellent photos from the Ensign Region V Championships in Hessel. These join those by Tom Sturr. July 22, 2008 Chicago-Mackinac The 2008 Chicago-Mackinac results are here. Jim Burch and Thunderbolt, having had many outstanding finishes in past years, finished lower in their division this year. July 22, 2008 Queen's Cup The 2008 Queen's Cup results are here. Jim Burch and Thunderbolt were 3rd in division 5, Bill Bluhm and Condor 4th in Division 6, and Art Haan and Sojurn were 11th in Division 11. Barry Miller's finish is still pending. Congratulations to all. 7-14-2008 M&M, Troll and Wings raced in the Ensign Region 5 Championships in Hessell, MI. Skippers, crews and supporters included Bill and Diane Bullard, Greg Harrison and Elona Van Gent, Leonard, Annette, Ken and Tom Hilton, Mike, Marsha and Laura LaHaye, Tom and Dolores Sturr, Dennis Rowley and Sally Landenberger, Frode and Marilyn Maaseidvaag, Lars, Claudia and Bjorn Maaseidvaag, and Jack Patterson. The report is that the winds were heavy, and that everyone had a good time. Pictures are here. 7-14-2008 I've updated the "Racing" link to include Ensign schedules and PRO's, the new Pentwater Lake courses, pictures from the Little Point Sable race and the Region 5 Championships, and other information. 2-20-2008 The September/October 2007 issue of Good Old Boat Magazine had an excellent article on Ensigns. Author Gregg Nestor, and Karen Larson, Editor of Good Old Boat have kindly permitted this article to be posted on the Pentwater Yacht Club website [and on pentwateryachting.org]. Thanks very much, Gregg and Karen. 11/10/2007 Don Lambix lent us articles about the 1948 and1949 Junior Commodore's Ball. These items were clipped from the ludington paper by Don's mother. I guarantee that you will find them to be interesting. 10/17/2007 Last Friday's Racing Awards Dinner was a great success, with an estimated 80 people attending. Many pictures, by Don VanZile, are here. I will post all of the awards when I have them. 10/9/2007 The materials for the PYC Protest Seminar have been posted here. 10/1/2007 Yesterday, David Nobles, Jim Burch and Tom Blackburn presented a very informative seminar on Racing Protests. This is an interesting aspect of racing, and helps to prevent problems that can occur when boats converge. There was spirited discussion, and everyone learned something. The following links may be helpful to anyone interested in this subject:
9/28/2007 Last July, the beautiful sailboat Minnehaha was anchored in Pentwater Lake. They emailed some photos of the 7/11/2007 Ensign race, and I posted those. They just returned home, and send a CD with many other great pictures. The new photos are posted here. Thanks, Jim Monson and Frances Lee. 9/24/2007 The PYC Regatta Committee is sponsoring a Seminar on Protests Saturday, September 29 at 2PM at the PYC. David Nobles, Jim Burch and Tom Blackburn will be the Protest Committee, and a few example protests will be presented. Topics will include proper hailing and flag flying, timing of filing a protest, and details about the protest form. All sailors and race committee members are encouraged to attend. On a closely related subject, Barry Miller has passed along a nice commentary and thread from Scuttlebutt. Thanks, Barry. To quote the article, "Fun to my way of thinking does not include cheating, pushing the rules to the detriment of others, swearing at other boats, bullying or taking unfair advantage of less experienced competitors, etc. I could list more, but you get the point." At first glance, racing protests would seem to represent unhealthy conflict. In fact, they are an important part of racing. The Racing Rules of Sailing is a very interesting book--the rules are covered in a few pages, but the potential racing situations are almost infinite. There are legitimate differences of opinion that occur on the course, and these sometimes require protests and hearings. When properly done, everyone learns more about the fair conduct of a race. The PYC has a rich history of racing in various classes, including the Sunfish, Lightning and Offshore Fleets. At present, the most competitive racing is in the Ensign Fleet. There is a high level of sportsmanship, and very few incidents of the kind discussed in the Scuttlebutt article. The protest seminar is aimed at continuing this tradition, and the continuous process of learning the subtleties of the rules. 9/6/2007 Here are Bill Bluhm's photos of the Arnie Samuel Memorial Race. 9/4/2007 The first Annual Arnie Samuel Memorial Race, organized by Tony Sisson, was held last Saturday. At noon, all boats collected in front of the PYC docks and dropped their sails for a minute of respect. A permanent trophy is being purchased, and the first name on it will be Troll, with skipper fo Frode Maaseidvaag and crew of Don Lambrix and Tom Sturr. A group photo of the participants, by Joan Noble, is here. 8/20/2007 Back From the Mac photos by Tom Kelly are here. Other pictures are still available here. 8/16/2007 Diana Foster, Norm Dodds' sister and right hand, took almost 200 photos of the 8/11/2007 Ensign race from the VanZile's deck and pontoon boat. Thanks, Diane, and Don and Joan. 8/11/2007 Gary Allie, a friend of Joan and Ted Cuchna, sent some great photos of Thunderbolt. 8/10/2007 Will Wright sent the best Sunset Down the Channel picture that I have seen. Click on the thumbnail for a larger image. Will has extensive professional experience with photos that align structures with celestial objects.  For more information about the sunset calculations, click here. 8/6/2007 At Al Burmester's suggestion, I have added a link to channel soundings in the left hand column of this page. 7/31/2007 Many additional pictures of the Back From the Mac party are here. 7/26/2007 Bill Bluhm sent a copy of the PYC history that he wrote for the new cookbook. Follow the History link in the left column. Bill describes the state of the Club dating back to the early 1900s. I knew Bill was old, but... 7/26/2007 Follow the Newsletters link in the left column for the August Newsletter. 7/24/2007 Bill Bluhm has sent a lot of excellent Back From the Mac photos. July 20, 2007 This week's Oceana's Herald-Journal had an excellent article about Jim Burch and the crew of the Thunderbolt. They sailed the Chicago-Mackinac Race again this year. Thunderbolt has won her division twice in the past several years. The crew is:
July 17, 2007 A beautiful sailboat, the MINNEHAHA, owned by Jim and Frances Lee, was anchored in Pentwater Lake during the July 11 Wednesday night races. The home port is Genesee, WI, and the Lees live in Manitowoc. The Lee's sent several photos, and plan to send a CD with many more. Thanks, Jim and Frances. 7/16/2007 The 7th Annual Little Point Sable Race was held under ideal conditions yesterday. We had a 10-12 knot southwest breeze--a few tacks down, and a nice run home. Twelve Ensigns raced, 5 in the main and jib division and 7 in the spinnaker division. Jack Patterson, the race's founder, sponsor, and Principal Race Officer, continued his string of seven straight wins. All in all, the day was perfect and everyone greatly enjoyed the event. Pictures by Mike LaHaye are here. Main, jib and spinnaker division
Main and jib division
7/15/2007 Frode Maaseidvaag has updated the Ensign/Open Class Race Dates and PROs. Follow the "Racing" link in the left column. 7/14/2007 Here is another update about dredging from Juanita Pierman. It includes a request to contact our Senators and Representative to thank them for supporting the dredging of our channel. 7/12/2007 Sue Squres reports that the Great Lakes Boating Federation has listed our Wooden Boat Show in their calendar. 7/11/2007 Norm Dodds sent a note that the White Lake Yacht Club will be hosting the West Michigan Yachting Association 78th Annual Regatta August 2-5. This is a chance to see some excellent racing. Click here for details. 7/9/2007 Juanita Pierman has sent the following, along with a letter to the editor of the Ludington Daily News. Dave -- would you pass this information on to the members of PYC? Thanks! Their letters and e-mails have really helped!! Juanita Pierman, President Pentwater Village Council P.O. Box 622 Pentwater, MI 49449 231-869-4338 Juanita also sent this: Subject: Dredging the harbor Last Friday the Ludington Daily News reported that Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow have included funds for dredging Pentwater Harbor in the Energy & Water Resources Bill which has just passed a committee in the U. S. Senate. The bill still needs to be passed by the full Senate and then it goes to the U. S. House of Representatives. The money still needs to be included in their budget bills. Attached is my letter to the letter. If you have NOT sent your letter or e-mail to the senators, please consider doing so. The letters that have been send have helped!! Include a thank you to them and tell them it is important to continue fighting for the funds for dredging. 7/4/2007 Condor was third in her division, and 53rd overall, in this year's Queen's Cup. Because of very light winds for several hours after the start, many boats did not finish. Congratulations to the Bluhms. + 7/1/2007 Marilyn Steiner has sent updates of the July and August calendars. Follow the Calendar of Events link in the left column. 6/27/2007 Juanita Pierman has sent the following: A copy of the Letters that I sent to both Sen. Stabenow and Sen. Levin is attached. Also attached is a letter to Sen. Stabenow about asking the U.S. Coast Guard to put buoys out marking the sandbar. NOW is the time to write to the U.S. Corps or Engineers and the 2 U.S. Senators asking that funds be restored in the 2007-2008 Federal budget for dredging the sandbar WHICH IS IN LAKE MICHIGAN BLOCKING THE MOUTH OF THE CHANNEL. I wonder if you could post this infomation on the PYC website. Juanita Pierman, President Pentwater Village Council P.O. Box 622 Pentwater, MI 49449 231-869-4338 Addresses of several elected officials are here. Thanks Juanita, for your efforts on this. 6/24/2007 From time to time, the Club is questioned about flying the US flag from the gaff of the flagpole. This is the correct location. Check here for details. 6/21/2007 Happy Summer Solstice. 6/17/2007 The Ensign Spring Series is completed, and the results are:
For complete results, follow the Racing link in the left column. 6-14-2007 Details of the Ensign Region V Championships are here. 6/4/2007 Instructions for use of the jin-pole have been approved by the Regatta Committee. Follow the "Jin-pole" link in the left column. 4/26/2007 Frode Maaseidvaag passes along the following: The Lake Michigan yachting association is having a luncheon and has invited the PYC membership to attend. If this is of interest to you, click here 3/15/2007 Classic Boating magazine has a great article about the 2006 Wooden Boat Show. Here is a reprint. 10/3/2006 While looking over the results of the Offshore racing, I wanted to brush up on the PHRF rating system. Google found an excellent website, the PHRF of Narragansett Bay. An especially good article was "The Racer's Guide to Time on Time Scoring" by Russ Cardoza. It is also useful for understanding Time on Distance scoring, and I recommend it to anyone interested in this subject. 9/11/2006 Don VanZile has sent pictures from the Power Boat Review and Wooden Boat Show. The best picture of all is... 
Dedicated Harbor Master 9/6/2006 Don Lambrix loaned me a copy of the 1950 Lake Michigan Yachting Association Year Book. Here is the PYC entry:  The frontispiece has a nice chart of the Lake Michigan yacht clubs. Thanks, Don. 8/31/2006 Bill Bluhm has sent excellent photos of the Wooden Boat Show. and August Ensign Party. 8/3/2006 More than 50 Back From the Mac photos, by Bill Bluhm, are here. If you have additional pictures to post, please contact dlr@eolas.com . 8/2/2006 Follow the Ensign Regionals link above for an interesting story about four generations of Slighs. 7-26-2006 I have posted the WindInfo program for downloading--follow the link in the left column. This program was written for our Sailing Seminar series, and should be useful to anyone with a moderatiely serious interest in sailing. 7-23-2006 The Ensign race results have been updated and posted. Follow the Racing link in the left column. 7-22-2006 Updated nformation and pictures from the Ensign Region V Championships are here. If you have additional pictues, please send them to dlr@eolas.com, 7-19-2006 The storm that swept through Monday knocked out our powere until last night, but some photos of the Ensign Regionals are finally posted. Timing is everything--the 80+ mph winds would have made it hard for even the hardiest Ensign racer to have flown a spinnaker. 7-17-2006 The Ensign Regional Championships were an outstanding success. We had 9 outside and 11 PYC boats, extremely competent race officials, and help from dozens of PYC members and several others. The food and staff support were perfect. We heard nothing but praise from all of the guests. The race results, and (eventually) pictures, will be here. Thanks to everyone 6/28/2006 For those who attended last night's seminar, the WindInfo program and Powerpoint presentation are available. Follow the Seminar and Software link in the left column.. 6/21/2006 Happy Summer Solstice. The Ensign's Spring Series is completed. First Place was Joan!!! (Dave Roseman), Second Place was Troll (Frode Maaseidvaag) and Third Place EvenStar (Tony Sisson). 5-24-2006 Some of you have been having trouble reading pdf files. You might try downloading Foxit, a free program that seems to work very well. PC World says "In our experience, when it comes to viewing PDF files, Foxit Reader beats Adobe Reader hands-down." The link is in the left column. Please email dlr@eolas.com with good or bad experiences. 5-17-2006 Jack Patterson's seminar was attended by about 25 people, and was, as usual, very entertaining and informative. Paul Roys and the staff did an excellent job with dinner and the bar. Thanks, all. 5-10-2006 Last night, Peter Blacklock had an excellent presentation at the sailing seminar. About 25-30 people attended, and everyone seemed to benefit. Paul Roys and Sandy Carlin served an excellent buffet dinner, and Nikki Huggard managed the bar. Thanks all for the extra effort, and thanks to Joe Nameth for setting everything up. 4-29-2006 Allan Teske and Nancy Glover presented an outstanding all-day seminar on "Racing Rules and Sailing Sharp." More information, and pictures, are here. 4/7/2006 The Spring Sunset-Down-The-Channel date is May 6. See the Sunset calculations link at the left for more information. 2/11/2006 As announced above, the PYC will host the Ensign Region 5 Championships. This is the first time in about four decades that we have had such an event in Pentwater. This opportunity has grown from the relationship established with the Ensign Class Association by several members of Ensign Fleet 70, especially Jack Patterson, who is a vice-commodor in the national organization. Obtaining this event required prompt cooperation between the Regatta Committee, Ensign Fleet 70, the House and Stations Committee, and the Board. Many thanks to all. Mike LaHaye will serve as chairman for these festivities. We will need lots of volunteers. The above link will have contact information. Stay tuned... 1/31/2006 One result of the mild winter is that the water level is down. Here is a link to the Army Corps of Engineers' web site. This link will also be available using Links to weather and other sites in the left panel. We are getting close to the levels of 1964, the lowest in recorded history. 1/10/2006 The temperature is about 32 degrees, and it feels more like Spring than Winter. So, naturally, the mind wanders to the subject of boat maintenance. Epiphanes has an excellent site with everything you would ever want to know about varnishing. 11/24/2005 Bill Bluhm has sent the details of the 2005 Offshore Fleet finishes. 10/27/2005 Don Lambrix has loaned us a couple of early postcards of the PYC, and some photos of mast stepping in the Fall of 1950. Thanks, Don. 10/16/2005 About 60 members attended the annual Racing Awards Dinner. The winners are here, and pictures are here. Congratulations to all. 10/11/2005 Don Lambrix brought in a couple of interesting photos. One shows the Novodoc when it was partially submerged. Don said that the ship was subsequently pulled into deeper water in a failed salvage attempt. Don thinks that the date on this photo is 1940 or 1941. The other photo shows the Little Point Sable light before the lightkeeper's house was removed. Don recalls that he ws sailing a 16' catboat to Pentwater form the south, and spent the night after this photo sleeping on the beached boat at Little Point Sable. He also recalls that a storm came up, and he made a 90 minute trip to Pentwater, surfing and taking water over the bow. 10/11/2005 Bill Bluhm sent some excellent photos from the Michigan-MSU party. 9/24/2005 Jack Patterson, Marsha and Mike LaHaye, and Tom and Delores Sturr attended the Ensign Nationals in Nyack, New York. Tom sent along these photos. 9/13/2005 The Board has voted to have its minutes posted on the web. Use the link "Board meeting minutes" in the left column. 9/13/2005 Don VanZile has provided some excellent photos of the Ensign and Offshore fleets. 8/21/2005 During some enjoyable conversations with Will Wright, he mentioned that he had other experiences in aligning sunsets with structures. Here is a neat picture of the Empire State Building from the late 1990s. 8/19/2005 Al Docter has just forwarded some excellent Back from the Mac photos. 8/16/2005 If you are interested in a Flying Scot, check the Classifieds. 8/10/2005 Here is another wonderful sunset picture by Will Wright. 8/9/2005 Here is a great sunset down the channel picture by Will Wright. 8/7/2005 Here is an initial picture of last night's Sunset Down the Channel. There were some pro photographers taking pictures last night, so we should get some great pictures soon. 8/5/2005 Dennis Rawley and Sally Landenberger sent this nice picture of the sailors from the Little Point Sable race. 7/27/2005 Pictures from the highly successful Back from the Mac party are here. 7/22/2005 Sailing seminars. Last Tuesday, Bill Ribbens gave an outstanding presentation about aerodynamics and the similarities and differences between airplanes and boats. Bill is an Aeronautical Engineer, pilot and sailor, and this makes him extremely qualified to present this topic. Katherine, Bill's wife, prepared an excellent Powerpoint presentation, and we will try to make that available from the web site. Tuesday, July 26. Dave Roseman will discuss some other theoretical sailing issues, including hull speed, VMG, true vs apparent wind, etc. Tuesday, August 2. Tom Sturr will discuss weather patterns and forecasting in what he is calling Weather or Not. Tuesday, August 9. General discussion about strategy and rules issues that have arisen this season. All seminars are at 6PM at the PYC. Everyone is welcome. Regatta Committee 6/27/2005 Whoops!! I omitted the fact that Joan Van Zile skippered Dream Catcher in the women skippers Ensign race. 6/23/2005 Regatta Committtee comments. The Offshore Fleet had its first race of the season, with seven boats participating. The winds were very light, but we are off to a good start. We had a real Race Committee for the first time in a while. It consisted of Ed Ackerman, Bill Ribbens, Janie Tibbits and Jack Patterson, with Ed providing the Committee Boat. We are very appreciative of their efforts. If you are interested in participating, contact Fleet Captain Bill Bluhm. The Ensign and Open Fleet had its first Wednesday race which was to be skippered by women only. Joan Cuchna and Joan Roseman shared the duties for Joan!!!, Hillary Benevenuti skippered Nite Hawk, Marsha LaHaye skippered M&M, and Vanessa Erickson skippered Baby Bula.. Hopefully, this will be expanded. July 13 and August 17 are the dates for the next such races. For those boats not skippered by women, we have had a couple of suggestions.
There are new course charts for Pentwater Lake and Lake Michigan. Laminated copies will be passed out prior to the Saturday races, and they are available from the "Racing" link in the left column of this page. The Sailing Instructions are posted on the bulletin board, and are also available at the above link. 6/11/2005 The racing seminar on Local Winds, to be presented by Bill Bluhm, will be Tuesday, June 14 at 6 PM at the PYC. Dinner will be available after the presentation. 6/3/2005 The Sailing Instructions for the Ensign, Open and Offshore fleets, and the courses for Pentwater Lake races, have been posted under the "Racing" link in the left column of this page. 6/1/2005 Last night's sailing seminar was an open discussion, covering a wide range of issues. Jack Patterson and Arnie Samuel contributed lots of information. About 20-25 attended. The next seminar will be about Local Winds, to be presented by Bill Bluhm. It will be at 6 PM on Tuesday, June 14 at the PYC. dlr@eolas.com |
