Tag Archives: ALCA News

ALCA Year End Banquet Reminder

WHAT: I am writing to communicate year end party/awards details as well as talk about officer nominations for the 2023 sailing season, season point trophy presentation as well as other awards. 

2023 officer selection see attached bylaws for officer descriptions. ALCA-Bylaws-2016_1-April-1.doc (live.com)

REMEMBER Organizations like ours can only exist with the dedication and sacrifice of our various volunteers and officers. Step in if you can or ask one of the existing officers if you want some first-hand knowledge about what it entails.  

WHEN:  Saturday November 5th at 5 PM. Appetizers from 5-6. Dinner order at 6. Awards around 7. Fire and desert afterwards at Kathy and Daves’s house (Long Lake). 

WHERE:  Travelers Pub 5225 Portage Rd, Portage, MI 49002  https://g.page/travelerscafeandpub?share     Then, Kathy and Dave’s House.  

Please RSVP on Facebook or via email

Fair Winds Walter (Wall-E) Elsner ALCA Fleet 519 Secretary  CRAM H-16 Fleet Captain

Summer Series Week #4 – August 2, 2022

Welcome to week 4! 

Well here’s August, weather for Tuesday night looks to be in the mid 80s and sunny, wind looks to be light around 5-13 MPH and out of the South ish. However, that may change between now and then. Stay tuned here and on Facebook for any cancellations. I’m hoping for the forecast to build!!! so do your wind dance!  Win Larsen will be providing committee boat and serving as RC this week. Thanks in advance guys we couldn’t do what we do without people volunteering their time and boats!

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 

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 caliper!  Hobie 16 North American Championship 2022 – International Hobie Class Association

IF any of you have questions about the event please reach out!!! —

Fair Winds Walter (Wall-E) Elsner ALCA Fleet 519 Secretary  CRAM H-16 Fleet Captain

Summer Series Week #2 – July 19, 2022

Ahoy Sailors, 
Tuesday: is looking like mid 80s partly cloudy 0% chance of rain with winds forecasted 8-10 mph sustained gusting 15 mph out of the SW so should be a great night for racing. 
Our race committee will be Steve Chapman on their pontoon. Thanks in advance!

Michigan City Regatta 7/15 - 7/17/22
Michigan City Regatta 7/15 – 7/17/22

This past weekend in Michigan City with Fleet 126 – Hobie Class Division 10 and CRAM was a blast!  We all got a bunch of good practice in for NACs.  We had 12 Hobie 16s registered all of which sailed 2up… we had sailors from Alabama, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, and of course Michigan. Including a few of us from ALCA! Michael Estes even came down for his first big water race and crewed for Dave Stiemsma! 

Michael Estes & Dave Stiemsma
Michael Estes & Dave Stiemsma

 PLEASE REGISTER FOR 2022 Hobie 16 North American Championships. They 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

IF any of you have questions about the event please reach out!!! 

Fair Winds
Walter (Wall-E) Elsner ALCA Fleet 519 Secretary CRAM H-16 Fleet Captain

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

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

What a great year end banquet for 2021

We had a great year end banquet on Saturday, October 2, 2021 at Main Street Pub on Westnedge in Portage. This was a VERY welcome change from last year’s CoVid-19 Zoom Year End Party! We had the whole outside patio area to our group and the weather super cooperated with holding off on the rain until after 10 PM. Our server, Callie, knows Austin Lee and has sailed with him a few times. She is also on the WMU Sailing Team. Callie did a great job with our large group, and kept the food and drinks coming.

Trophies were given out to sailors. The Most Improved New Skipper award this year (mainly due to CoVid) was not awarded, as none of the new skippers had enough races to be qualified for consideration. Andy Lenczycki took the award for Most Improved Seasoned Skipper this year. The full results sheet is posted on the Series Results page, after the spring and summer, A & B fleet results (just before the 2020 results heading). If you click on the picture, you can get/download a larger version.

Don’t miss the ALCA year end awards banquet!

Reminder that this Saturday, October 2, 2021 is the ALCA Year End Awards Banquet. We have reserved the patio for this event. If the weather is not suited for an outdoor event, we will move to the inside. Please wear your masks and look for more information in our weekly emails.

Where: Main Street Pub, 7509 S. Westnedge, Portage, Michigan

When: Saturday, October 2, 2021

What Time: Beginning at 5 PM – come late and miss the appetizers

Who: All registered fleet members and RSVP’s guests

RSVP To: Julie Lenczycki if you plan on being there

What’s Happening: Year end trophy presentations for A & B Fleet, Most Improved New & Seasoned Skipper Awards, vote on fleet officers for upcoming year (if you are not present, you may be nominated).

Summer Series Week #10 – september 7, 2021 cancelled

Due to the increasingly volatile weather and high winds, racing for the last night of the Summer Series of 2021 has been cancelled.

We ARE still planning on getting together at Patrick & Peggy’s house for pizza, campfire and comradery. The new time will be 7 PM Tuesday, September 7th. Patrick & Peggy’s address was in the email sent to all registered members. There will be a charge of $5+ dollars for pizza and other items furnished. Everyone should bring their beverage of choice.

Spring Series Week #2 Results

We will again be meeting via Zoom meeting to dispense the results after racing on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. Planned time for the Zoom room to “open up” is 8:00 PM. If we get cancelled due to weather or other conditions, there will be no Zoom meeting.

The link to the Zoom meeting is: Click Here.

Spring Series Week #2 – May 11, 2021

Alright everyone, round 2. 

Tomorrow is week 2 of our spring series, I think we are in a little better condition this week than last. The forecast is calling for mid 50s but SUNNY with winds 10 to 12 mph gusting 14… The water more than likely hasn’t had much of a chance to warm since last week when the temp was reported to be 60 degrees by shore.  It feels like temp (windchill) is predicted to be around 48 degrees. All that being said, make sure to check Facebook/email for potential cancellations and if we do race make sure to dress appropriately and be safe.

Please dress warm! 

Inexperienced sailors please come out with a crew while it’s cold like this.

First start sequence is at 6:30 PM

Dave Dunlap is RC this week so thanks in advance for the effort Dave! 

Summer is coming! (eventually) 

Fair Winds-