August 31, 1999

I recommend that you come down to the floating clubhouse on Thursday evening, September 9 to help welcome about 20 visiting sailors from Italy and Austria. They will be racing on our J/24s that evening and again on Saturday afternoon as part of the international racing series organized by the New York Harbor Sailing Foundation. The welcoming party should run from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. These are always fun events with an international flair. If your schedule allows, please stop by.

Our club flagship, Miss Manhattan, will be returning soon from her summer stay in Newport, RI. On September 13, she goes into the boatyard for a few upgrades to prepare her for the trip to the Caribbean. Miss Manhattan will participate in the West Marine Caribbean 1500 Rally which departs from Hampton, VA on October 31. A group of members will be sailing her south and you can follow their preparations and progress by logging on to the "Blue Water Society" section of our club website at www.myc.org.

The Blue Water Society is a group of members who are interested in learning about passage making. This is an educational program which allows members with offshore experience to share and develop their knowledge and skill while teaching other members. I am happy to announce that the skipper of Miss Manhattan for her first Caribbean 1500 Rally will be Jack Boye. Jack is one of the most experienced single-handed sailors in our country. He has competed in many events including the BOC where he raced a 50-foot boat around the world by himself.

While on the subject of the Caribbean, the club wants to encourage all members to spend a week of winter vacation sailing on our flagship in the British Virgin Islands. To make this as attractive as possible, the club will offer Miss Manhattan to members at the low cost of $900 per week for a bareboat charter. More information is on our website under the "Cruising" page. You can look to see which weeks are still available and make a reservation on line.

To help members prepare for bareboat chartering Miss Manhattan, the Manhattan Sailing School will run a special Bareboat Chartering course on September 24, 25 & 26. This will be a comprehensive 3-day course which covers boat systems, navigation, sailing and boat handling. It will be taught out of Liberty Harbor Marina in Jersey City so you can return home each evening. If you wish to be certified to bareboat Miss Manhattan in the Caribbean, please sign up soon because space is limited. MYC members will receive a $200 discount off the normal tuition of $590. You can sign up for this course on line at the school website at www.sailmanhattan.com.

August was a very busy month at our club. After the July heat wave broke, we had several weeks of consistent and strong sea breezes. The sailing was terrific. In addition to our members, there were teams from 1 Scottish and 3 German yacht clubs walking up and down the docks. The foreign sailors were here to race on the sandbaggers. All in all, it made a unusual and enjoyable mix and the clubhouse seemed to be a beehive of activity.

The Fleet Captain program is running at full steam, making many members happy. During the heat wave in July, skipper volunteers were scarce but in August, the program kicked into gear. On some weekends, as many as 6 Fleet Captain boats have gone sailing. Much appreciation is due to all of the skippers who have volunteered for this program. It is a great way for members to share their enthusiasm, provide some education and just have fun.

A new effort this summer is the Mentoring program which has been spearheaded by Jon Overton with the help of Pablo Opazo and Joan Lappin. This program grew out of our efforts last winter to improve the club. The Mentoring program is for members interested in acquiring their skipper privileges. On several weekends, I’ve seen several groups sailing with this program. And after participating in a mentoring sail, many members have remarked to me how much they enjoyed the experience.

The Annual Mayors Cup Race, the classic boat race organized by the South Street Seaport Museum, will be on Saturday, September 18. This year, Manhattan Sailing Club will have an entry and a few more spots are available to interested sailors. A group of members is chartering the classic wooden yawl Petrel, which is docked at North Cove. In addition to being one of the fastest boats in the harbor, Petrel is also one of the most beautiful. If you would like to join the crew, please contact Edward de Sa Pereira at e.desapereira@worldnet.att.net.

On Tuesday, August 24, the annual Single-Handed J/24 Championship was raced. John Hoekman captured the victory for the second year in a row. John LaGrassa was second and David Owen was third.

On Wednesday, August 25, the annual Ladies Championship was raced. A special part of this year’s Ladies Championship was the arrival of the Port Edgar Yacht Club from Scotland. They had read about the Ladies Championship on our website and were keen to participate. We were lucky to have 2 boats still available and Port Edgar put their women members behind the helm and it was off to the races. At the finish, Katie Morgan’s team got the winning cannon with Angela King in second and Ingrid Clayden from Port Edgar in third.

After the Ladies Championship, spirits in the clubhouse were very high, especially since most sailors remembered how last year’s Ladies Championship had to be canceled twice due to lack of wind. Then the house really came down at the awards ceremony when Pete Sykes, commodore of the Port Edgar Yacht Club asked for the microphone. The Port Edgar team had brought over a beautiful bracelet to award to the winning skipper. The crowd roared, Katie smiled and the evening became historic.

With the fall winds arriving, there will be lots of good sailing and I encourage everyone to come down to the docks for a bit of rest and relaxation. And if anyone has ideas on how to improve the season, please let me know at mike@myc.org or (212) 786-3323.

Sincerely, Michael W. Fortenbaugh, Commodore