Finish building and launching our three new docks (We have two large docks that replace the “old generation” plywood versions, as well as one finger dock that should help improve the boat parking situation on busy weekends.)
Migrate all sails and boat rigging supplies to our new sail shed
Clean up and organize the clubhouse and sauna
Move, chop, and stack firewood
Launch the Ensign and pontoon boat
Clean and rig the club fleet, plus a few select boat repairs and improvements
Installing new steps on “Ankle Roll Hill”
Install landscape edging outside of shoreline piles
Digging a new conduit trench for Trailer Row electric improvements
Set up awnings and picnic tables
General site cleanup
This is obviously a pretty sizable project list, so we’re hoping for a solid turnout. And remember: we do ask all members to show up for at least one of the two work parties, spring or fall.
If you’re a returning member, you know the drill. If you’re new, our work party starts at 10:00 AM, and usually runs until 4:00 or 5:00 PM. You don’t need to show up for the whole day, and we can make good use of whatever time you have to volunteer. When you arrive, ask for Cathy Wright. She’s our volunteer coordinator for the day, and will help connect you up with a project.
In terms of equipment, we typically have what we need on hand. You’ll just need work clothes, and work gloves are always recommended. And we do have an unusual number of digging projects this spring, so if you have a favorite shovel, you could bring it.
And special note for class members:
We’d love to see you guys for the work party! This is a great chance to meet other ASC members, and you can learn a lot about the boats and the club by helping to everything ready for the season.
And special thanks to Nancy Black, Dave Johnson, TL Stanbro, Bruce Lee, Jim Johnson, Darren Black, and Cathy Wright for attending our site committee meeting to help plan the work party. And thanks also to Will Merriman for helping with the materials run.
No doubt everybody is focused on holiday preparations at the moment, but I wanted to make a few important announcements regarding bylaws changes, our annual meeting, and candidates for the ASC Board of Directors.
New ASC Bylaws
We held a special meeting on December 8th to adopt an updated set of bylaws. We had 32 memberships present, and the motion to adopt the updated bylaws passed overwhelmingly. Thanks to all our members who took time out of their busy holiday schedules to review the bylaws, provide feedback, and attend the special meeting in the midst of the holiday season.
Annual Meeting
Just to remind everyone, our annual meeting is scheduled for December 29th at 12:00 PM via Google Meet. Members should have already received an invitation via email, and we’ll send out a second email just to make sure that everybody has it. We have two items on the agenda:
Our board member election.
A “State of the ASC” report with updates on our programs (both education and racing), membership, infrastructure, and financials. And as an added bonus, the report will include plenty of great pictures from the sailing season.
Per the updated bylaws, we need 15% of membership represented to establish a quorum for the meeting. Under the updated bylaws, family memberships count as two voting members for purposes of establishing a quorum and voting. We currently have 39 family memberships, 31 single memberships, and 5 young adult memberships. By that math, we need 17 voting members to establish our quorum for the meeting. And note that one family member can represent both voting members at the meeting.
Hopefully, it goes without saying that we want as many members as possible at the annual meeting, and we’re hoping for a great turnout!
Board Candidates
Per our new bylaws, a number of our long-serving board members will term out. That includes me, Christopher Cryan, TL Stanbro, Brie Busey, and Dave Verbrugge. All of us have served at least two terms, and in some cases many more than that! Fortunately, Nancy Black, Angie Oberlitner, and Matt Flickenger have all agreed to run for a second term. In addition, Dave Johnson has also agreed to run. If anybody else has interest in running for the board, please let me know.
We’re a small enough club that most of you know Nancy, Angie, Matt, and Dave. But I’ll get a separate post up that includes a short biography for each, so everybody has a little more background on each candidate.
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:
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
Look ma, no roof!
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:
Installing the pavers in the upgraded grill area (Darren may be able to finish this during the week)
Painting the clubhouse floor
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:
The Northern Lights Regatta is this coming Saturday. It’s our final regatta of 2025, and we have everybody can make it for one last weekend of sailing, campfires, and camaraderie. The Northern Lights is traditionally a low-key race with an old-school “around the islands” format, and it’s as much an all-fleet group sail as it is a race. It’s a single day format, and we aim for an early afternoon start so we can have sailing done and boats put away before nightfall.
We’ll send out official race instructions later this week, so stay tuned for more information. As always, new sailors and first-time racers are extra welcome.
Work Party on Sunday
Our end-of-season work party is this coming Sunday starting at 10:00 AM. As a reminder, we ask all members to come out for at least one work party (spring or fall), so that we have enough hands to get through all of our tasks. We usually have everything wrapped up by 4:00 PM, and you don’t need to be there for the entire work party. Even an hour or two of help is appreciated!
The site committee is meeting this Wednesday at 6:30 PM to plan out the work party task list, and they’ll send an update with the detailed plan after that meeting.
BNAC 2025 in Alaska
The Buccaneer 18 Class Association has selected Alaska as the site of the 2025 Buccaneer 18 North American Championship (BNAC). This is a considerable honor for the ASC, and as far as we can tell, this will be the first-ever national level sailing event in the history of our state. Thanks to Bruce Lee, Brie Busy, Steve Ryan, and Nancy Black for leading the charge on this effort.
The BNAC will bring a group of national-level sailors from around the country to our club for a week of racing, learning, and socializing. The BNAC has been described as a traveling “sailing camp for adults,” so it’s a natural fit for the ASC. We’ll have more details forthcoming, and we’re looking for folks interesting in volunteering for a BNAC planning committee.
The winds on Sunday were the dreaded “light and variable,” but the mood was festive and we held an impromptu on-shore spinnaker handling clinic.
Many thanks to Nancy Black, Camille Oliver, and Tyler Dunlap for running the race committee for the weekend and to Paul Willing for the electronic scoring. And, of course, CONGRATULATIONS to our race winners! Bart Hawkins won for the Open Fleet, and Gabe Black and Adriana Ramirez took first in the Buccaneer 18 one-design fleet. Full results are here:
Other weekend highlights included Dave Johnson’s epic fire dance, a scrumptious potluck featuring Darren Black’s pulled pork BBQ, and time spent with brand new members Tiffany and Scott Picquet and Jimmy O’Rourke. Nancy Black posted a bunch of great race pictures in the #racing channel in the club’s Discord server, so check ‘em out! We also got a video of Dave’s fire dance; you definitely don’t want to miss that.
Alaska at the BNAC!
The ASC has two teams representing Alaska in the Buccaneer 18 North American Championships (BNAC) this year: Steve Ryan & Gabe Black and Darren & Jake Black. ASC member Bruce Lee is also in the mix. This year, the BNAC will be hosted by the Tampa Sailing Squadron in Apollo Beach, Florida. Nancy Black is taking pictures and posting live updates in the #racing channel on the ASC Discord server, so you can follow Team Alaska’s exploits there.
Alaska Sailing Club 