Northern Lights Results & Work Party Thanks

For those who don’t know, the Northern Lights Regatta is the youngest regatta at the ASC. It started a little more than a decade ago and was originally called the “Frostbite Regatta,” but it was rebranded to encourage more participation. :-) The format of the race harkens back to less formal days of ASC racing, with a start by the docks and a course around the islands near the club.

We had thirteen boats on the line this year, which made the 2024 race by far the best attended in ASC history. Our podium finishers were all in Buccaneer 18s, with Steve Ryan and Darren Black in 1st, Brie Busey and Oliver Wright in 2nd, and Christopher and Joyce Cryan in 3rd. Bart Hawkins was the first non-Bucc finisher and took 4th place in his Megabyte.

And a few “honorable mentions” in this year’s regatta: Clayton Oberlitner and Adam McArthur completed their first-ever race using a spinnaker. (It was also their first race on a Buccaneer 18.) After a disastrous last-place start, they clawed their way back to 9th and flew their spinnaker with no major mishaps. Adrian Cryan also completed his first solo race in a laser!

You can read the full results with elapsed and corrected times here:

northern-lights-2024-results.pdf

Thanks to the Christensen family (Erik, Olivia, and Ansel) for serving on the race committee. And thanks as always to Paul Willing for the regatta-scoring magic. This was an epic closeout event, and we’re hoping we can carry the positive momentum into 2025.

Hannah Pratt, Bart Hawkins, Jimmy O’Rourke, and Nancy Black posted many great pictures on the #general channel of the ASC Discord server. If anybody else has good shots of the weekend, please share them there!

Fall Work Party

One more “wow” goes out for the work party. (I feel like Owen Wilson.) We had a huge turnout, and to quote member Hannah Pratt, we had so many people working at once that it felt like a movie set! The day started with a robust “Gov Cup Winners Breakfast” provided by Adriana Ramirez and Gabe Black. It included eggs, bacon, pancakes, and coffee and was augmented by various pastries brought by members.

Here’s a quick overview of the tasks we completed:

• Removed the old (and very rotten) sauna roof
• Trimmed the shoreline willows down to 36”
• Planted two new birches and removed the grass on the “Hill of Doom.” We’ll plant more bushes and install landscape edging in the spring.
• Folded and winterized the docks
• Cleaned and organized the clubhouse and sauna
• Winterized the Ensign, pontoon boat, and RIB
• Cleaned the club dinghies and inventoried sails and parts
• Prepped and leveled the grill area so we can install pavers
• Winterized the motors on club boats
• Put away all tarps and canopies
• Tested all the old marks

It’s hard to overstate how important our spring and fall work parties are to making the ASC function. These events concentrate most of the site and boat-related work to just two days, allowing us to enjoy the classes and regatta for the rest of the season. So, thanks to everybody who made it out to help!

Hannah Pratt, Bark Hawkins, Jimmy O’Rourke, and Nancy Black all posted a bunch of great pictures of the weekend in the #general channel of the club Discord ser

Mini Fall Work Party This Coming Sunday

Despite all the hard work last Sunday, we still have a few more projects to finish up:

1. Installing the pavers in the upgraded grill area (Darren may be able to finish this during the week)
2. Painting the clubhouse floor
3. Building the new sauna roof

Nancy Black, Cathy Wright, and Carmen Summerfield are working on the clubhouse floor, Darren is managing the pavers, and Steve Ryan and I are working on the sauna roof. We could probably use one more hand on the roof project, so if you have some carpentry skills and time to donate, please let me know. We’re all planning to be working by 10:00 a.m. on Sunday.

Upcoming Events

Our sailing season is done, but there’s still plenty to look forward to! Stay tuned for updates on all of the following:

• Our end-of-season celebration
• A fall board meeting
• The annual meeting and board elections
• Member input and a vote on bylaw updates
• The ASC holiday party