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AUGUST 2016

THE CHART

COMMODORE’S CORNER– KEN BUHLER

Summer is on the wane and the last PYC sailing camp is almost at an end. We have many new junior sailors and hope the seeds for a junior race program. Tuesdays and Thursdays the small boats and juniors have been out practicing their skills. It has been very hot this summer on land as well as on the race course. Our junior sailors raced in Meigs, Junior Lipton and Weatherly regattas. Our one design sailors are getting in the groove with our new Viper 640 and making great progress. They finished one point out of first in the Weatherly regatta, wow what a start! The PHRF fleet is on its way to complete the summer series, with one race left. Friday night sailing is a great way to cap off a hard hot day at the office, relax, sail and catch a sunset. What better way to start a weekend!

We conducted the PYC semiannual meeting on July 24, 2016 in accordance with the bylaws. We reported to the membership our finding on the club finances, house and grounds, juniors, membership, social and race. Cleve Fair went over the procedure for picking the nominating committee. Some facts about PYC founding:

A. PYC Charter filed 1967

B. PYC Becomes Member GYA 1968

C. Membership 310 in 1980

D. Membership 526 in 1982

E. Membership 550, 100 PHRF boats in 1989

White Summer Night, what a night. Thanks to Sylvia Schmidt for her organization of the Safe Harbor benefit. Great food, plenty of libations, no RAIN and the Mystics, enough said. The PYC staff outdid themselves, but this is nothing new with Kaia in management Jamie event planning, Nicole bar management and all their staff. Let’s not forget the artists with their creations, the auction and last but not least Edward for set-up and break down. Thank you. To all the volunteers it doesn’t happen without you. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

See you at the club or on the water. Ken

Besides reporting to the membership the mid-year meeting is occasion for electing members to the nominating committee to identify members interested in serving on the Board of Directors of Pontchartrain Yacht Club. As Vice Commodore one of my duties is the Chair the nominating committee.

The by-laws provide that three members at large, who are not candidates for the board, be elected by members present at the mid-year quorum satisfied meeting. In addition an alternate is elected and will attend all meetings. The Commodore shall also appoint a sitting board member to serve and the Commodore is an ex-officio member of all committees.

Elected this year are past commodores; Beverly Toeben, Brian Burke, Tom Jarvis and Dick Jones as alternate.

If any member reading this article has any interest in serving on the PYC Board please make this known to me or any of the committee members here listed. We have many talented members who could serve the Club well, and we need new blood each year.

We need to fill 4 positions on the board, three of those will be for a period of 3 years and 1 will be for a period of 1 year. Please step forward and volunteer. I and/or one of the committee members will be contacting some of you in the very near future.

Cleve Fair Vice Commodore 985-264-3348

VICE COMMODORE– CLEVE FAIR

REAR COMMODORE– GIGI SAVONA

July, more than halfway through the year and goodness it has been a busy year! The Semi-annual Meeting is behind us and we are looking toward the last part of 2016.

You may have noticed a change in the amount of tax on membership dues and bar sales due to increases in Louisiana state sales taxes that went into effect on April 1, 2016. The increase in taxes on membership dues is 1%. And the increase in the alcohol tax is about one or two cents per serving. These increases appear to be permanent without an expiration date.

On the other hand, since inflation for all of 2015 was the second weakest for a calendar year in more than five decades, with a 12 month increase of only 0.7%, membership dues were not increased.

This year, performance to budget is strong. When January to June 2016 is compared to January to June 2015, each income category increased by at least 5%. Membership dues increased 5%, bar sales are up 12%, club rentals are up 16% and social income increased by 24%! Overall income has increased by 9% and understandably, expenses increased by slightly less than 9%. So, the forecast looks good for the remainder of this year, though the doldrums of August and September are still ahead of us. If we can get through the next few months at a steady rate without any major repairs or maintenance, then we will close out the year in a positive position.

In closing, I want to shout out a big Thank You! to the majority of members that use auto draft and e-billing and pay their statements on time or early! It really helps with cash flow!

Wishing All Good Health, Good Friends and Good Sailing!

Gigi

WOW! It is hard to believe that it is almost time for school to start again! Since school is starting on Monday, August 8th, things at PYC will slow down a little bit…at least during the week.

Bike rides will continue on Wednesday evenings. On Friday, August 5th, we will have a “Back To School Family Party”! Plan to come to that and have some fun! Kaia and Clancey are making plans as this Chart article is being written so watch for Kaia’s emails for more information. You know when those two people are planning something; it will be lots of fun!

The first Saints game is Thursday, August 11th. They are playing the Patriots in a pre-game, which starts at 6:30. Plan to come and bring some food to share! The next pre-game is Saturday, August 20th and they are playing Houston. Then they play Pittsburg on Friday, August 26th.

Brian Jones will lead the next Open Mic at PYC on Sunday, August 21st, at 4:00. Gather your musical instruments, great singing voices and come out and enjoy the talent!

Our Caribe Party will be on Saturday, August 27th. Brian Burke and his team are planning the food so put that date on your calendar.

If you want to help with anything or have any ideas, please feel free to contact me! Thanks for all of our wonderful volunteers!

Marian Arrowsmith

SOCIAL– MARIAN ARROWSMITH

JUNIORS– CHRIS FRIEND

This is the last week of Sail Camp 2016! Sail Camp has been a great success, with all four sessions booked. Sessions 3 and 4 had 30+ campers, with a wait list. Our staff this year was Mike McKnight (Sail Camp Director), Jacob Stevens, Reed Kirk, Zeke Stevens, Savannah Core, Cole Montelaro-Mokry, and James Ernst as counselors. We continued our successful junior counselor program with Carson Hamey, Camille Pierce, Matthew Dupuy, and Landon Rees learning the ropes.

Our sailors competed at the 2016 Junior Lipton Regatta at Mobile Yacht Club on July 23-24. Six dedicated young sailors practiced together for the last month under the tutelage of Reed Kirk and Jacob Stevens. Their parents have also dedicated the time to get their sailors to the practices and to the event in Mobile. Mike trailed Sea Shepherd II to Mobile so we could have a coach boat and spectator boat for the parents to observe the races. While our results need much improvement, they sailed every race and had smiles on their faces regardless of finish position. Our team is: Savannah Core (captain), Matthew Dupuy, Ellen Kalmbach, Robert Kalmbach, Dell Montelaro-Mokry, and Landon Rees. When you see them or their parents at the club, thank them for representing us so well. Also, thanks to Mike, Reed, Jacob, and Portia Bishop for organizing this year’s edition.

Our juniors also represented us at the Weatherly Regatta last weekend, with David Bolyard as middleman and coach. Matthew Dupuy, Dell Montelaro-Mokry, Savannah Core, and Colin Friend sailed with Dave, finishing 9th out of 12. Thanks, Dave, and thanks (again) to Mike and Portia, who organized attendance and towed the Scot.

As we go forward, we are planning an expanded junior sailing program. We will conduct junior sailing programs in the fall and spring. Any interested sailors are welcome. We have had a surge in membership of young families. Our introduction to sailing in club Optimists is a great way to literally get your feet wet. For those who want to learn to race, we will have an introduction to racing program this fall. We also will be sending our juniors to more regattas. As we transition our programs we can rebuild our junior team to be a force in the GYA.

Parents: we need your help to make this happen. Encourage your kids to participate. Get them to the club. Take them to regattas. It is a lot of fun.

Chris Friend

MEMBERSHIP– COURT RICHARDSON

This one is long, so I’ll get right to it.

Welcome new applicants:

Hugh and Laura Wagner

The Wagner's and their children Clay and Simms are another family applying to PYC. As is the case a lot lately they are friends of recently approved new members. They are interested cruising and sailing. Max and Shannon Albert Max and Shannon are returning members and we are excited of the value Max will bring to our racing program. Kevin and Casey Levy The Levy's have one child, Samantha. Casey is John Schell's sister and they have just moved back to St. Tammany from Houston. They are interested in sailing and helping with Social Events and Membership. David and Patricia Odom The Odom's, along with Jack, Grant, Kristian and Logan are related to members Jim and Karen Odom and are partners in their Beneteau 373 "Bella Luna". They are active sailors and enjoy racing and cruising and want to help with Social Events and Race/Regattas. Richard and Beth Lambert The Lambert's live in the house next door the hoist yard. They are returning members. Anthony and Constance Marciante The Marciante's have grown children. They are sponsored by Bob Deeb and Gus Schultz. They have offered to help with Membership. Daniel Carmouche Daniel 14 years old and is applying for a junior membership. He is interested in taking sailing lessons this fall when they become available. I hope Daniel finds a home here and becomes a young asset for PYC. A quick membership note about our semi-annual meeting. If you attended, you’ll remember the trip down memory lane that Commodore Buhler took us on. Part of that trip gave us some insight to how popular PYC was in the 80’s! We had over 500 members. We are currently around 326. I can’t even imagine having another 175 members wondering around. I think there are many factors that determine membership numbers. But the good news is that in just the past sevens months we’ve added 34 net new members with new applicants weekly. We get to spread the credit and thanks to so many people. As I explained in the meeting, Kaia is right there at the top of the list as she is our front line and always has my back. Also, many of our new applicants are friends and family of PYC members. So thank you to our members that think enough of PYC to recommend us. Let’s not forget everyone who volunteers to help make PYC the fun and beautiful place it is. So… THANK YOU ALL Thanks and Happy Sailing!!! Court Richardson Membership Chair Pontchartrain Yacht Club 985.626.3192 Club 985.318.1177 Fax 985.237.4261 Cell

July has been slow and hot for our PHRF events. The second race of the Summer Series had 8 PYC spinnaker boats on the course and they got in 3 windward/leeward races; the non-spinnaker class was less fortunate, 4 boats signed up for a longer triangle only to discover that “P, ain’t dere no more!” However, it was the largest number of PYC boats that we have had out so far this year.

Friday evening sailing has seen very light air but this last Friday we had a nice breeze, 5 skippers showed up, and had a nice evening on the water.

There are several upcoming events:

1. August 6: The 3rd race of the Summer Series was pushed back to the make-up date due to conflict this weekend, come on out!

2. August 20: The Around the Lake Race, not a PYC event, is a good and challenging race and many PYC skippers usually participate. It is 40 plus miles around the lake at night. Check the CSA website for details.

3. September 17: Veterans from two local groups will be invited to join us for some fun at the club for the 2nd Annual PYC Veterans Regatta . We are putting together a kayak/paddle board event, race, live music, etc. We need skippers who are willing to have veterans onboard to get their boats out for the event.

4. September 24: PYC skippers have been invited to sail over to Tammany YC for a pig roast Saturday evening and race on Sunday. We have been trying to put together a reciprocal annual event with Tammany (more details later).

5. Farther out, at the end of October, PYC is the host this year for LPRC. We are trying to increase the number of participants this year (more on this later).

Brian

RACE– BRIAN KEATING

ONE DESIGN– ROB DOOLITTLE

One-Design racing is alive at PYC! It is awesome to see so many new faces right alongside so many familiar ones on the water. Everyone had a blast at the Weatherly regatta last weekend in Gulfport, and we looked great! Congratulations to our junior team for big improvement, to Max Albert, Jeff Lindheim, Lee Eikel, and Ladson Poole for a 2nd place finish in a very competitive Viper fleet, and to Elise and Bob Hodges and Hew Hamilton for bringing home a 2nd place finish in the VX One Female Invitational. Thanks too to Dave Bolyard for hopping on board a Scot with the juniors to give them some much appreciated pointers. Let’s keep this vibe alive!!!

The rest of our racing season is full of opportunities to get out on the water. Please raise your hand and let me know if you want to race. Beginners are welcome! Next weekend, August 13 and 14, is the annual Knost regatta at Pass Christian Yacht Club. Ladies are always needed so if you want to have fun on the water with the girls then please contact Heather Doolittle or Savannah Core to get on board.

See you on the water! Rob

261 Atalin Street ● Mandeville, Louisiana 70448

northshoremarine.netHaul Out for Survey ● Bottom Paint ● Sailboat Rigging and Repair ● Emergency Towing

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Phone (985) 626-7847 Emergency (504) 487-0394

2016 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Commodore KEN BUHLER kbuhler@hotmail.com Vice-Commodore CLEVE FAIR cfair@fairengineering.com Rear-Commodore GIGI SAVONA gsavona@charter.net Membership COURT RICHARDSON courtrich@mac.com Social MARIAN ARROWSMITH marianarrowsmith@bellsouth.net Juniors CHRIS FRIEND cfriend17@gmail.com One Design ROB DOOLITTLE captainrob1@live.com Race BRIAN KEATING keelblt@aol.com House & Grounds BOB LIPSCOMB rjjlipscomb@yahoo.com

140 JACKSON AVENUE

MANDEVILLE, LA 70448

Www.pontyc.org

985-626-3192

Fax:985-626-5564

office@pontyc.org