News, Series Racing

Summer Series Week #1 – July 12, 2022

Hello all, 
THIS WEEK:
This week we will have the Chapman’s providing RC Boat and Dave Dunlap serving as race chair. Thank you in advance. 
The weather Tuesday is looking good! Forecasted temps in the upper 70s, sunny with winds predicted to drop off as the night goes but, 8-12 MPH sustained; Gusting 13-17 MPH. Should make for a beautiful night. 
After sailing:(or in the event of a cancellation) we will be meeting at Jac’s Cekola’s Portage  https://jacscekolaspizza.com/ I would encourage people with boats to park either in the back or to the north (by Habitat or Colonial Kitchen)7640 S Westnedge Ave, Portage, MI 49002 https://goo.gl/maps/Fe9YfKVtfKPeeiKJAHope everyone had a good holiday and week off! I know I missed sailing.. 

UPCOMING EVENTS:
2022 Hobie 16 North American Championships are coming up September 11-16. This will be a high profile HOBIE event right in our own backyard! Normally you would need to travel 10+ hours for an event of this caliber!  Hobie 16 North American Championship 2022 – International Hobie Class Association.
ALSO;  CRAM is hosting a regatta in Michigan City, Indiana this weekend! July 16-17 It will be great practice at the same venue as 2022Hobie 16 North American Championships!!! Register before 23:59, Jul 12th to receive the preregistration discount ($10) and get that HOME TURF ADVANTAGE for NACs!!!  CRAM Sailing – MIchigan City Regatta

IF any of you have questions about either of these events please reach out!!! 
—
Fair Winds
Walter (Wall-E) ElsnerALCA Fleet 519 Secretary  CRAM H-16 Fleet Captain

News, Series Racing

Spring Series Week #7 – June 28, 2022

NOTE: This is the LAST week of the Spring Series. The Summer Series begins July 12, 2022.

Ahoy hoy, 
Well the final week of our spring season is upon us. Weather is looking good! Temps forecasted in around 80 F Winds predicted to be SW 6-9 MPH guesting 11 MPH 
Committee boat will be the Lenczycki Pontoon with Andy as Race chair. Thanks in advance! 

This week’s After Sailing results will be at Cattail’s, the Lenczycki Lake House – 9833 Woodlawn Drive. The fleet will provide the meat, taco shells, taco fixings and Mac & cheese.

9833 Woodlawn Dr.
9833 Woodlawn Dr.


Please bring either a salad or dessert to share and any adult beverage if you want more than water or lemonade.
Parking along Woodlawn or Bayside or you can leave your boat and walk from the landing, they are about 25 lots south and have left their red Christmas lights up on the garage and are just across the street from the Woodlawn SailFlow monitoring station.

—
Fair Winds
Walter (Wall-E) ElsnerALCA Fleet 519 Secretary CRAM H-16 Fleet Captain

News, Series Racing

Spring Series Week #6 – June 21, 2022

Ahoy Sailors, 
Week 6 already (next week is the last week of Spring series)! 
Another Tuesday in the mid 90s – STAY HYDRATED!  Winds predicted SW 10-14 gusting 24-26 MPH
Committee boat will be the Lenczycki Pontoon with Andy as Race chair. Thanks in advance!  He is planning on taking pictures of boats & crews from the committee boat with a nice 400mm lense, so be there.

ALSO, attached to the email that went out to all current fleet members, is the ALCA Standard Sailing Instructions. These are general rules we’ve been sailing to, but now are formally posting them. New exceptions are the race time limits and provision that sailors must start within 5 minutes of the race start. Also new is the time to have protest documentation submitted to PRO.

Also note last week’s first race had 5 DSQs (disqualified). We ran a course 6 both races which has an upwind finish. In these scenarios you are only allowed to cross the start/finish line when starting or finishing; the rest of the time the start/finish line is to be treated as an obstruction. The other issue was all (single) marks are to be rounded to PORT unless there is a gate, in which case you enter between the two marks and exit to the outside side of either gate mark… Please review the SSI and US Sailing Rules for further clarification. 
After sailing (or in the event of a cancellation) we will be meeting at Jac’s Cekola’s Portage  https://jacscekolaspizza.com/  I would encourage people with boats to park either in the back or to the north (by Habitat or Colonial Kitchen)7640 S Westnedge Ave, Portage, MI 49002 https://goo.gl/maps/Fe9YfKVtfKPeeiKJA
—
Fair Winds
Walter (Wall-E) Elsner ALCA Fleet 519 Secretary  CRAM H-16 Fleet Captain

News, Series Racing

Spring Series Week #5 – June 14, 2022

Hello All,
Welcome to week 5 (only 2 weeks left in Spring series after this week)! 
Get ready it’s gonna be a hot one…. forecast says high 90s near record highs light cloud cover. STAY HYDRATED! Winds predicted SSE 6-10 MPH pretty light.
Committee boat will be the Lenczycki Pontoon with Julie as Race chair. Thanks in advance! 

ALSO, all current members were emailed the ALCA Standard Sailing Instructions. These are general rules we’ve been sailing to but now are formally posting them. Except the time limits and to start within 5 minutes is new. Also new is the time to have protest documentation submitted to PRO.
Also note that the document will reside on our website education page.
After sailing (or in the event of a cancellation) we will be meeting at Jac’s Cekola’s Portage  https://jacscekolaspizza.com/ I would encourage people with boats to park either in the back or to the north (by Habitat or Colonial Kitchen)7640 S Westnedge Ave, Portage, MI 49002 https://goo.gl/maps/Fe9YfKVtfKPeeiKJA

—
Fair Winds
Walter (Wall-E) ElsnerALCA Fleet 519 Secretary

News, Series Racing

Spring Series Week #4 – June 7, 2022

Ahoy-hoy, 
Well even though today may be rainy and gross out Tuesday night is looking pretty good as far as the weather gurus can predict anyway…  Looking like High 60s sunny Winds  NW 11-12 MPH Gusting 15-16 mph Should make for a pretty good night out there!
Julie Lenczycki is Race Chair on their pontoon, Thanks in advance Julie! 
As always remember to check in with RC before racing and inform them of any crew changes. 
If you have not yet registered please get with Faith or one of the other officers. 
After sailing (or in the event of a cancellation) we will be meeting at Jac’s Cekola’s Portage  https://jacscekolaspizza.com/ I would encourage people with boats to park either in the back or to the north (by Habitat or Colonial Kitchen) 7640 S Westnedge Ave, Portage, MI 49002 https://goo.gl/maps/Fe9YfKVtfKPeeiKJA
—
Fair Winds
Walter (Wall-E) Elsner ALCA Fleet 519 Secretary  CRAM H-16 Fleet Captain

News, Series Racing

Spring Series Week #2 – May 24, 2022

Ahoy,
Week 2 is upon us, last week had a small turnout but it was good sailing! 
The forecast is looking pretty good from here: forecasted air temps around 69 F, generally sunny winds ENE 10mph gusting 15 mph. Should make for a pretty good night of racing.  Water was warm enough last week but REMEMBER dress smart. Any potential cancellations will be communicated via email and facebook.
Race committee for the night will be Dave Dunlap on Jeff Danes Pontoon. Thanks in advance guys. Remember to check in with Race Committee once you are on the water and notify them of any changes from how you are registered.  
After sailing (or in the event of a cancellation) we will be meeting at Jac’s Cekola’s Portage  https://jacscekolaspizza.com/ I would encourage people with boats to park either in the back or to the north (by Habitat or Colonial Kitchen) 7640 S Westnedge Ave, Portage, MI 49002 https://goo.gl/maps/Fe9YfKVtfKPeeiKJA

—
Fair Winds
Walter (Wall-E) ElsnerALCA Fleet 519 Secretary 

News, Series Racing, Spring Series

Spring Series Week #1 Updates

Good morning ALCA members!
If anyone needs crew for today let me know. I will be bringing my friend Ananda down to the boat launch to show her what a Tuesday night at Austin Lake is all about! She has sailing experience and I have set her up with a trap harness, just in case 😉 We will be shore support for whoever needs us as well for rigging and launching boats.
-Nicole Berkel

I show 59° water temp on the east side of the lake. -Dave Stiemsma

Well that averages us at 66.5° lol —Fair Winds
Walter (Wall-E) Elsner ALCA Fleet 519 Secretary

News, Series Racing, Spring Series

Spring Series Week #1 – May 17, 2022

Hello everyone, 
Well it’s FINALLY here! Our spring season starts Tomorrow (Tuesday, May 17, 2022)!!!! This week may not be as warm as last but the forecast is looking pretty good from here reports of water temps in the mid 60s and forecasted air temps to be about the same, generally sunny winds WNW pretty steady right around 10 mph. should make for a pretty good night of racing. REMEMBER it’s still very much wetsuit weather so dress smart. Any potential cancellations will be communicated via email and facebook.
Race committee for the night will be Dave Dunlap on Jeff Daanes Pontoon. Thanks in advance guys. Remember to check in with Race Committee once you are on the water and notify them of any changes from how you are registered.  
After sailing (or in the event of a cancellation) we will be meeting at Jac’s Cekola’s Portage  https://jacscekolaspizza.com/ I would encourage people with boats to park either in the back or to the north (by Habitat or Colonial Kitchen)7640 S Westnedge Ave, Portage, MI 49002 https://goo.gl/maps/Fe9YfKVtfKPeeiKJA

If I missed anything or have more information for you stay tuned. —
Fair Winds
Walter (Wall-E) ElsnerALCA Fleet 519 Secretary CRAM H-16 Fleet Captain

Water Temp update… Jerry Mohney says he’s got 74 degrees at the end of his dock!!! 

News, Series Racing, Spring Series

ALCA Sailing Reminders

Hello All,
I hope you are all as excited as I am. Tuesday May 17th is our first day of racing for this year!!!
First start will be at 6:30 PM.  Stay tuned to your emails and our facebook page for potential cancellations as well as further updates and the “Weather According to Wall-E” prior to racing. 
However if you are like me you may also find yourself with some last minute boat projects to get done! Below is a very good Safety checklist put together by Dave Stiemsma to go through before you consider hitting the water. This is of course not all inclusive…
If you have ANY questions or are in search of parts please reach out!  
Let’s start with SAFETY (it’s no accident)–
Fair Winds
Walter (Wall-E) ElsnerALCA Fleet 519 Secretary CRAM H-16 Fleet Captain

Catamaran Sailing Checklist

Mast: If you leave your boat rigged with the mast up this may be the only chance you have to inspect the standing rigging for the season.
Check that the mast is straight, sight down the length of the mast with the groove up and you can pull the halyard tight to give you a nice line of sight. Be sure the mast is sealed, any loose rivets can create a leak. You might be able to hear the water rush when the mast is lifted from level. Inspect the top pulley, it should be free to turn. Comp tip mast head can easily be damaged and not allow the halyard crimp to pass. Also take a look at the hook/fork on top to be sure it’s not bent. Clean the sail track of debris by running a short piece of line with a knot in it, slide it end to end.
Cables:  Most cables break at or in between the crimps or swage. Look for an unnatural twist or bulge in the strands of the braid. Be sure the clevis at the top is assembled correctly and is tight. The screw should be locked with a wire or at least taped to prevent it coming loose. Don’t forget the bridle, bow tangs and hull anchor points, all should be tight.
Trapeze: Inspect the line for wear, replace often with a good quality line. Check the plastic stoppers as they are known to break. No worse feeling watching your boat sail away without you.
Mast Base: The rounded end should be smooth and free of burrs, check the righting pin and hardware. Be sure to use a good teflon chip and that it stays centered under the mast. In the event you lose your chip you can use a Gatoraid cap or 1/2 of a wiffle golf ball.
Righting Line: Be sure it’s long enough to do the job, it needs to be 14 foot or so, tied to the dolphin stryker and tossed up and over the hull. Use a diameter line that you can easily grip. If you have the elastic type that goes all the way around the boat be sure it is free of the shrouds.
Personal Gear: Don’t forget to check your wetsuit, boots, gloves and life jacket for proper fit and function.
Trailers: Be sure to check tire pressure (including spare), lights chains and wheel hubs (grease if need be) check your boat and mast is secured before putting on any miles and follow the 1,10,100 rule and check after 1 mile, 10 miles and 100 miles. 
More to come on tuning before Tuesday but if you have individual questions feel free to ask.
See you on the water, — Dave Stiemsma