Summer Series Week #4 – July 28, 2020

Good evening ALCA Sailors!!
What a night last week was…the wind died just as the horn blew for the first race…sad face!  Thanks to everyone who paid their memberships, everyone is all set for being scored!

It is a turn off the air and open up the windows kind of evening…and Tuesday looks to be a nice evening for racing, somebody was good and got their wish with this forecast:
        Sunny skies with temps around 83, West winds at 10-12 mph.

Please be sure to sail past and alert the Committee Boat with your sail number, skipper and crew so we do not have any hiccups with scoring.  We have a few new members that may not know this and a friendly reminder to those of us in the silver fleet as well.
In the event that we do not sail, be sure to stay tuned to our Facebook or website and email for racing details around 5-5:30.

Since we are not gathering after sailing and to see the results of racing – be sure to check out the updated ALCA website, Andy tries to have that updated by the next day – http://www.austinlakecatamaran.com/?page_id=150

Summer Series Week #3 – July 21, 2020

Forecast for Tuesday night at 6:00 pm -Mostly cloudy with temps at 81 feeling like 83; SSE winds at 4 mph. If anyone has connections with the wind gods…bring it on!  With this type of forecast, be sure to stay tuned to our Facebook or website and email for racing details around 5-5:30.

If we do sail, please, please, please be sure to sail past and alert the Committee Boat with your sail number, skipper and crew so we do not have any hiccups with scoring.  We have a few new members that may not know this and a friendly reminder to those of us in the silver fleet as well.
I have updated and emailed the latest Fleet Directory and Sail # list as of tonight (7/20/20).  If you see your name in the CC portion of the message, it means that we have no record of your membership payment and you will not be scored.  If I have this wrong, please message me.
Best of luck for another nice evening of sailing!!

Tuesday Night Racing Check-In Required

To make the already busy Committee Boat jobs (and personnel) a little less hectic, we are asking that EVERYONE sail by the committee boat PRIOR to the 1st race starting flag going up, and announce their boat sail number, the skipper name, and the crew name (if present on the boat). If for some reason you don’t make it out to the race course prior to the 1st race, then still do this process before the 2nd race flag goes up.

If you don’t meet the minimum weight for a Hobie 16 2 person boat (285 lbs), then you MUST notify the Committee Boat that although you have 2 (or 3) people on the boat you should be scored as a SOLO boat. If you don’t do this and are challenged by anyone, you will have all races disqualified (DSQ’d) for the night.

I realize last week was our first actual night of racing for 2020, but we didn’t have everyone’s membership forms pass thru all officers that need to have information from the forms, by the time racing started. Not having who was on what boat greatly slows down the results process, which I assume you would like to have the evening of the race, rather than the next day after a flurry of emails to gather missing information must be sent.

Also, if you have already been scored one week for the year (Summer) and are NOT a paid ALCA member, you will not be scored going forward. We had a few people last year that got scored as dues paying members, but never actually joined the fleet. Not going to happen this year.

Summer Series Week #2 – July 14, 2020

Welcome to week #2 of the ALCA 2020 Sailing Season! The weather forecast for Tuesday looks nice at 6 pm – 82° feels like 82°  Sunny SSW 7 mph.

We saw many boats out practicing over the weekend, awesome winds and conditions!!

I emailed our Sailing Guidelines during COVID to all members I have an email for and membership forms are available on this site.
See you at the start 6:30 pm sharp for hopefully two races.  Be sure to follow our FB page and look for emails if we cannot sail.
Happy Sailing!

ALCA Sailing Practices for Safe Racing During the Coronavirus Pandemic

The following actions should be adopted to allow safe sail competition among individuals while minimizing exposure risks to the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 disease. As you may or may not know, this virus can be spread by pre-symptomatic as well as asymptomatic individuals causing a wide range of disease, from no disease and very mild symptoms to severe respiratory illness. It is hoped that these practices will not only be informative but also alert boundaries that some sailors need to respect so we can all participate safely. We do not want to become infected with this coronavirus and pass it on to compromised individuals! In General:
  1. Symptoms that may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus include fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, or diarrhea. Please refer to the CDC website for a continuously updated list as more is learned about COVID-19. If anyone is experiencing these symptoms, please do not participate in any land or water activities, stay home and continue to monitor your situation. Please alert either Kathy Rubino or Jerry Mohney if you suspect you may be infected or you have a positive result from the SARS-CoV-2 viral test and do not participate for at least 2 weeks until you know you are not infectious, even if you feel better.
  2. If you have been exposed to someone who has tested positive for the virus, you must quarantine and not participate in land or water activities for 2 weeks. Continue to wear a mask as you come back to being around others as well as practice social distancing.
  3. Solo sailing or sailing with other quarantined household members is strongly encouraged since it is impossible to maintain a 6 ft. distance between skipper and crew while racing. However, it is up to each individual to consider their own risk factors; it is advisable to wear a mask, scarf or buff when sailing with members of other households. Hand hygiene is stressed and sailors are encouraged to carry hand sanitizer for regular use before, during and after racing.
  4. Boat to boat contact should also be considered, as aerosolized respiratory droplets carrying the virus can travel across boats, especially at the starts and mark roundings. Again, wearing a buff or a scarf would minimize transmission, especially when hailing other boats.
  5. ALCA will not be providing help on land to new skippers this year, nor will experienced skippers be available to crew for new skippers. Please use e-mail, phone or video-chat if anyone has questions.
  6. We are not meeting after sailing for results. Results will be posted on the website.
  7. Other social events are suspended at this time.
  8. If the governor decides to move our area back to the Phase 3, Flattening, in the Michigan Safe Start Plan, sailing will be cancelled until further notice.

Boat set-up Practices: to include the public boat launch, as well as a friend’s residence:

  1. Sailors should respect 6 ft. social distancing and wear facial coverings. Give each other plenty of room to rig, which may require a staggered approach.
  2. Transmission of the virus can occur by contact of infectious surfaces, hand hygiene is important. Hand sanitizer should be used before and after assisting others with boat set-up.
  3. Do not congregate without practicing 6 ft. social distancing.
  4. Individuals should provide their own refreshments and avoid sharing coolers and snacks. Do not touch others properties unless asked.

Race-Committee Practices:

  1. We are blessed to have two former ALCA sailors, Keith and Dixie, who have volunteered to be part of our race committee – even during this pandemic. It is all of our responsibility to keep them safe! Therefore, only three people are permitted on the committee boat each week. Anyone wishing to provide their pontoon and be the Race Chair for a two week period, should contact our PRO, Jerry Mohney. If either Keith or Dixie prefers to be absent for a given week, the third person will be a member of the same quarantined household as the Race Chair or pontoon owner.
  2. Masks will be worn at all times, and 6ft distancing should be maintained as much as possible at all times. Extra masks as well as hand sanitizer will be provided to the Race Committee by the fleet.
  3. Surfaces of each pontoon boat should be cleaned prior to each Tuesday.
  4. Race Committee members can bring their own beverages as desired, however there should be no food on the boat.

We’re finally back!

Happy 4th of July week!!
Thank you to everyone who responded to our email and accepted the recent By-Law revisions and that our sailing season for 2020 will begin on July 7th.  The start time will be 6:30 pm with hopefully two races.  We will have two fleets, Portsmouth A & Portsmouth B with one start per race.  Our wonderful Race Committee will determine the time between races based on conditions.

We cannot emphasis enough to practice safe social distancing/sailing, as outlined in the emailed ALCA Safe Sailing Practices document.  Our webmaster will be posting these to our ALCA website soon.
Please fill out and either mail in or drop off your racing membership to Faith prior to Tuesday so the Committee Boat and our Statistician know your sail numbers and who is crewing for you.  Faith said you can put forms in her mailbox at her house if you are out sailing and want to drive by.  Her address is: 9702 East Shore Drive Portage 49002.
The first two weeks of racing, look for the Mohney red tri-toon with Jerry being the Race chair and Keith & Dixie on the Committee Boat.  Jerry will contact members on the lake to determine the following weeks protocols.
Be safe, be proactive, wear a mask and sail smart!
Julie Lenczycki

ALCA Secretary

Summer Series Week #1 – July 7, 2020

Welcome sailors!
Hopefully, everyone had a nice 4th of July weekend, we saw several boats out practicing and making sure they found all of the boat parts!  I have emailed the updated 2020 ALCA Directory (as of tonight) and as you can see, we have some of the ALCA “Sailing Kids” who grew up in the fleet joining us this summer as skippers with their Mom’s as crew!!
The weather forecast for Tuesday looks HOT and sticky…at 6 pm – 91° feels like 94°  Sunny WNW 7 mph.

See you at the start 6:30 pm sharp for hopefully two races.  Be sure to follow our FB page and look for emails if we cannot sail.
Happy 1st night of Sailing!

Julie Lenczycki, ALCA Secretary