Due to a complete lack of any visible signs of wind on the lake, racing for tonight (5/17) has been cancelled.  We will be meeting at Brewsters to make offerings to the wind gods.

The first scheduled racing for the Spring Series for 2016 is Tuesday, May 3rd.  Starting sequence will begin at 6:30 PM.

We will be meeting for results afterwards at Brewster’s on Portage Road once again.

Don’t forget your membership fees are due NOW!  You won’t be scored if you’re not a current member.  You can pay ALCA Treasurer Faith Akert at Brewster’s Tuesday night.

Watch here for updates on possible weather related delay or cancellation for Tuesday’s racing.

• The new by-laws were voted on unanimously by all members who voted, representing >50% of the fleet membership.  A big thanks to all who took time to go to the meeting as well as those who voted.
• These by-laws allowed for a PRO (Principal Race Officer) who will lead a team of weekly race chairmen.  Thank you Jerry Mohney for volunteering to be ALCA’s first PRO and coming up with this plan!  The PRO is a  newly added Fleet Officer, per the revised fleet by-laws.  Jerry will be managing three sign up sheets for the racing season:

1. Pontoon boats used for weekly races (typically, the owner/driver will be scored Help points for their time and volunteering their boat).  This person may be the weekly Race Chairman, but not necessarily.
2. Weekly race chairmen (who doesn’t have to be the pontoon  boat owner, who will be making the on-the-water calls for the night), who will also be scored Help points.
3. Committee boat volunteers.   Depending on the amount of help on the boat already available, this person may not be scored Help points.  Jerry will be the arbiter of this and you should know going onto the boat whether you are eligible for Help points or not.

We are pretty much set for the first month of the Spring Series.  You can refer to your new by-laws that had been sent out a few weeks ago for more details on the different responsibilities of the PRO and weekly race chairmen.  We ask all members help keep the races running – either by assisting on committee boat or by being a weekly race chair.  With this current system, you DON’T have to live on the lake or be a pontoon boat owner.  If everyone does a stint, then no one person needs to take all the responsibility for the season.

• Spring Series:  Tuesday May 3rd to June 21st
  Summer Series:  June 28th to Sept 6th   No racing on July 5th.  
• For BOTH Spring and Summer, we will be racing Portsmouth A and Portsmouth B, with one start.  The start sequence for the first race each Tuesday is scheduled to start at 6:30 pm.
• We will be going to Brewster’s on Portage Rd for the year – unless notified otherwise.  Thank you Win for taking care of this!
• We will set the dates for the Pontoon Float Party as well as the Year – End Party during the season.  Stay tuned!
• There may be a regatta in St. Joe in September – Cesar Santana and Jesse Ward will be forming a committee of fleet members to explore this option.
• Lastly, the Saturday before the season starts, April 30th, is not going to work for a boat tuning day.  This has been rescheduled for May 7th, at 11 AM at the Austin Lake Public Access.   More info on this to follow.

We’re past the midpoint of summer series, the season is going quickly! We’ve been extremely “lucky” with wind, and it looks like it’s going to continue, with Tuesday’s conditions:  NW winds at 10-20 mph and NOT decreasing too much into the night.  We meet at Brewster’s afterwards, and as last week, another group is scheduled before us, so we’ll get the dining area to the left in the event that they’re still around.

Summer is here this week! Yay! We’re looking at a high of 90 Tuesday, with 5 to 10 mph winds out of the southeast, becoming light and variable into the evening.  After racing we go to Brewsters.

In the event of a cancellation, if there are folks who are here to attend, we would meet for a rules review – so if the weather looks iffy, still come on over (for those who are out of town)!  Location TBD, but for certain weeks, like tomorrow, we know we’ll have the room earlier at Brewsters.  A rules review is something both the newer folks as well as many of us who have “heard it before” would greatly benefit from!

The only other thing here is to remind everyone that the year end party is scheduled for Saturday October 3rd – so save the date!

Tomorrow is Week 2 of Summer series already! Forecast for tomorrow’s sailing time is partly cloudy, 76 degrees with a 20% chance of rain and NW winds around 13 mph, decreasing into the evening. After sailing we go to Brewster’s for results.

Also, if you haven’t already, please RSVP for the float party that is coming up this next Sunday, July 19th. For those who do not live on the lake, we’ll need to arrange a boat for you to go out on, unless you have your own watercraft, of course.

You all should have received another invite for the committee boat sign-up page.  NOTE:  This is NOT to work the committee boat, but rather than to PROVIDE a Committee Boat!  We have been fortunate to have Dave D, Steve C. and Jeff D. provide a pontoon boat for the Spring Series, thanks guys!  However, we only have a single 2 week slot signed up for summer, and that’s by Dave S. in August (thanks Dave!). WE NEED BOATS FOR JULY, or we will not be able to start the summer series!  You can forward your invite to anyone else you may think is interested – including non-fleet members who live on the lake.

This sign up is protected by an access code.  When prompted, enter the code “2015 ALCA” for access.  There is a space between “2015” and “ALCA”.  Each time slot is for 2 consecutive weeks.

To sign up, go to:  www.SignUpGenius.com/go/20F0A4AACAA28A7FA7-tuesday/27768604