Alaska Sailing Club

Category: Events

  • Gov Cup and August Recap

    Gov Cup and August Recap

    This is the 58th annual Governor’s Cup, and as far as we can tell, it’s the oldest continuously running organized sporting event in Alaska. Mt. Marathon lost the title in 2020 when they wisely canceled the race due to COVID-19. Fortunately for us, sailboat racing was unusually well suited to social distancing.

    For this year’s Gov Cup, we’ll race on both Saturday and Sunday. We’ll have our skippers’ meeting on Saturday at 2:00 PM and on Sunday at 11:00 AM. Racing will follow the skippers’ meeting on both days as soon as winds allow. We’re planning starts for two classes:

    Beginner sailors are welcome, and if you’re new to racing, we’d recommend sailing in the Open Fleet, even if you’re racing a Buccaneer. (The Bucc class can be a little intense.) And note that we’re still looking for one more race committee volunteer. Absolutely no experience is required, and working on the race committee is a great way to learn about racing. If you’d like to help out, just point a note in the #racing channel on the ASC Discord Server.

    Instructor, long-time racer, and (occasional) Gov Cup winner Geoff Wright (that’s me!) will be putting on a free Intro to Racing clinic on Friday evening at ~7:00 PM. New sailors are strongly encouraged to attend, especially those who took our classes earlier this summer.

    We’ll have a group potluck on Saturday evening after racing. Rumor has it that Jonathon “Dr. Party” Ramirez will DJ the event, so bring your best dish and your dancing shoes!

    Also, Nancy Black is cleared to walk, so the planned scooter race is CANCELED. :-)

    It’s gonna be an epic weekend, so we hope to see a packed house of sailors!

    Polaris K-12 Sailing Intensive

    For the second time in ASC history, we hosted twenty young aspiring sailors and two teachers from Polaris K-12 for a four-day introduction to sailing at the club. I was lucky enough to be out there with a crew of volunteers for an absolutely magical time.

    I had too many “favorite moments to count,” but I thought it was worth sharing the last-day reflections of two of the students. One said it was the best Polaris intensive she had ever participated in and even better than the Disney World intensive. Another said the whole experience was like an amazing dream, where when you wake up, you just wish you could go back to sleep and keep dreaming.

    I want to give special thanks to Addy Wright for making this happen. (She was also responsible for the first Polaris K-12 intensive when she was a sophomore in high school.) She took a full week off of work to volunteer with the kids at school and then at the lake. And that’s after teaching both beginner classes and getting her US Sailing Instructor certification this summer.

    In addition to Addy, our volunteer crew for Polaris K-12 sailing intensive included the following folks:

    • Christopher Cryan (and Adrian was in the intensive!)
    • Angie Oberlitner
    • Clayton Oberlitner
    • Cathy Wright
    • Oliver Wright
    • Darren Black
    • Steve Ryan

    Darren wasn’t on the official volunteer roster, but he showed up and helped anyway because … he’s Darren. And although Steve wasn’t on-site during the intensive, I included him anyway because the club boats were all in perfect working order, and nobody has worked harder to make this happen than Steve. (It was fun to tell the kids about how the Flyin’ Ryan got its name.)

    Fireweed Ladies Race & Brewery Sail

    The Fireweed Ladies Race was soggy this year, but we had a dauntless group of women skippers out despite the weather. Congratulations to Angie Oberlitner and Brie Busey for taking the top seat on the podium. The full results are here:

    2024 Fireweed Ladies Race Full Results

    On the Sunday following the race, we had our first-ever fleet sail to the Susitna Brewing Company. Continues were damp, but spirits were sunny. I’m personally hoping this will become a regular feature of Fireweed. :-)

    New Discord Page on the ASC Site

    We now have a permanent Discord page on the site that explains the platform, all the channels, and our server rules. The page also includes a form for requesting an invitation. You can find it here:

    Discord Server

    Going forward, new and returning members will receive a link to this page and a fresh invitation when they sign up.

  • Fireweed Ladies Race (and more!)

    Fireweed Ladies Race (and more!)

    And I should mention that our post header image is from the Pirate Race. That’s Taylor (new member from our first class) at the helm and Dave working as her able crew and gunner. They’re showing off proper crew/skipper configuration for the Fireweed, although you have to stow your water cannons for this race.

    Friday Night Racing

    As a warmup for the Fireweed Ladies Race, we’ll be running some low-key around the buoys races starting at around 7:00 PM, and we even have some sunshine in the forecast. I’ll be out mid-afternoon to get the racecourse setup, and I’ll can also do RC duty for the race. This is a beginner-friendly event, and new sailors are encouraged to come out for this. We’ll do a little on-shore refresher and a few practice starts for new sailors in attendance. Oh, and gents are welcome to helm for these races.

    Fireweed Ladies Race

    Here’s a missive about the race from Brie Busey, our very own Racing Vice Commodore:

    Hey ladies (and gentlemen crew),

    It’s time for the annual Fireweed Ladies’ Race this weekend!

    As always, women skippers only and anyone can be crew! If you don’t have someone to sail with, you should definitely show up anyway because we can generally find someone for you to sail with. The number of boats will determine whether we have one or two fleets. If you are available, we might do some practice races Friday night.

    We will attempt five races on Saturday. Skipper’s meeting will be at 11am. First start at 12pm, wind dependent. We will have a potluck Saturday, but it could be afternoon or evening, weather dependent.

    We had a great idea from Geoff, where instead of racing on Sunday, we sail to the brewery together. So if everyone would like to try that out for Sunday if we get enough races on Saturday, then I think that could be really fun.

    I hope to see everyone out at the club this weekend, and please come, even if you are a new sailor.

    Brie

    Susitna Brewing Co. Fleet Sail

    We’re going to try a new thing and take the entire ASC fleet to the Susitna Brewing Company for lunch on Sunday. All sailors and all boats are welcome for this. I’ll call the brewery in the morning once we have a head count and warn them that we’re showing up. We’ll take off at (roughly) 12:30 PM and return whenever we return. Hopefully, we’ll have enough wind to sail, but don’t forget to bring paddles if it’s light.

  • 2024 Pirate Race Wrap Up & Photos!

    2024 Pirate Race Wrap Up & Photos!

    Ahoy, mateys!

    A hearty thanks to all who joined the twentieth anniversary o’ the ASC Pirate Race! The chaos and fervor were truly beyond compare! Fair winds in our sails and blue skies overhead fueled a day of jolly mayhem.

    Thirteen crews faced off in this year’s Pirate Race! Cap’n Gilt Garb Wright and his trusty mate Kent Wait emerged victorious as team Narwhale, tied with the SkibidiJack crew, Gabe and London. After much reckonin’, the final decisive factor was Geoff’s fabulous pirate garb. Still, a tip o’ the hat to London and Gabe fer snatching all the unstealable treasure points by bein’ first to complete the tangram puzzle, the swiftest in the sponge race (with a time of 1:03, only 6 seconds faster than team Ritteabaarrgg— Johnathan and Emily), and for deliverin’ the best pirate joke. Gabe and London sailed into the harbor with a single treasure, but with those three bonus points, they tied 4 and 4 with Geoff and Kent. Just shows— bein’ a pirate really is all about putting on appearances. 

    While team Lucky Banana stole the spotlight with their matching outfits and won the Best Dressed Pirates award, they also fought like true pirates fer the final treasure to hit the docks—the Immunity Idol. A Lucky Banana indeed! Oliver and Piper were spared from the lottery fer plannin’ next year’s race. That honor fell to The Black Wind crew—The Christensen Family.

    Some o’ me favorite moments include (but be not limited to):

    • Peter abandoned his crew after bein’ bribed with snacks onto another vessel…and he took treasure with him to the Trimiran—aka team Kerberos!
    • I was bribed fer a handicap in the sponge race by Marilyn with chocolate and snacks (I now understand why Peter abandoned ship—Marilyn was convincin’ as all get-out) while she was drippin’ wet and shiverin’ uncontrollably. The priorities of a true pirate.
    • Gabe valiantly tried to intercept Piper and Oliver before they sailed into the harbor, only to capsize himself and have Piper and Oliver reclaim the treasure. (This was likely not Gabe’s favorite part.)
    • Nancy’s scooter slalom race after dinner, with Johnathan’s expert and hilarious commentary, topped off an already perfect day.

    I wish I could’ve been there to see all me riddles and puzzles solved, but I couldn’t be everywhere at once. I’d love to read about any of your favorite moments in the comments o’ this here blog post!

    A special thanks to Nancy and Darren fer all the support they gave me over the last month o’ plannin’. I’m certain they quickly realized this was more than they bargained fer, but kudos to them fer stickin’ with me. Thanks to Camille and Cathy fer manning the committee boat and handin’ out clues! Thank ye Johnathan fer bringin’ yer speaker system and MCing the day. And finally, special thanks to Duncan and Raia (me roommates and fellow pirates) fer puttin’ up with me and me puzzle-brained ways over the last month.

    Enjoy some o’ me favorite photos from the day:

    [envira-gallery id=’803′]

    Fair winds and followin’ seas,
    ~The Dread Pirate Hannah

  • 2024 Pirate Race

    2024 Pirate Race

    The pirate race will take place at 1pm on Saturday, July 27th at the Alaska Sailing Club. Please have boats in the water and be ready to go before then!

    Ahoy me hearties, sailors, pirates, and swashbucklin’ adventurers!

    I be in a right pickle, I am! Me ankle’s gone and snapped like a rotten yardarm in a storm, leaving me and me crew marooned at the worst possible time! Arr!

    We recently received the inside scoop on a stash o’ the finest treasure ye ever laid eyes on. But alas! With me leg in a splint and me spirit unwilling to let such finery slip through me fingers, why not give me ol’ “friends” a chance to claim it?

    Now don’t be thinkin’ I’ve gone soft! I’ve crafted a little game for ye, and I hope yer ready to puzzle it out with yer trusty crew.

    If ye dare to join, set yer course for 61.5°N, -149.9°W on the twenty-seventh day of July. Be ready to hear the rules at 1300 hours, for I’ll be tellin’ them but once.

    NOTE! If ye win, yer crew DOES NOT (necessarily) have to plan next year’s pirate race.*

    A taste o’ the bounty up fer grabs:

    • A free sailing class (or membership) to use or gift within the next year (expires at the end of the 2025 sailing season)
    • First pick of the ASC boat fleet for next year’s pirate race
    • A shiny $100 voucher to West Marine

    Some additional tidbits fer ye:

    • We’ll be havin’ a pirate themed potluck after the race!
    • Extra prizes for the best dressed pirate!
    • Earn a bonus treasure point if ye regale us with yer best pirate story or joke.

    Specific Race Rules

    • No capsizing
    • No Pedal Drives
    • Teams limited to 5 sailors per boat

    So, me fellow pirates, are ye ready to rise to the occasion?

    Fair winds and followin’ seas,

    ~The Dread Pirate Hannah, Fair Lady Fancy Nancy, and Cap’n Darren “RedBeard” Black

    * The next pirate race planner will be chosen via lottery. Aye, there be a way to wiggle your way out of the drawing, but I ain’t spillin’ the beans until the day o’ the race.

  • 1st Class Recap and 2nd Class Starting

    1st Class Recap and 2nd Class Starting

    • The great round of introductions on the first day. I knew it would be a memorable class just based on hearing about everybody’s interests, backgrounds, and sailing passions.
    • Watching the class head gamely out into the rowdy weather after just one day of sailing instruction, and watching how well everybody handled it.
    • Waking up to “pike ’n eggs” on Saturday morning compliments of Darren Black and the teen instructor fishing crew.
    • As always, there lots of the magic happened after class each day, including sailing the Ensign 22 in the evening breeze, tying knots by the campfire, and indoctrinating new sailors into the “ASC Swim and Sauna Committee,” and just handing out by the campfire and getting to know all the new ASC members.
    • Watching Matt Flickenger hand out the US Sailing Instructor scholarship money to Gabe, Addy, and Oliver while the whole class cheered.
    • The Saturday evening pizza party in the dumping rain, powered by Nancy Black’s culinary magic and high-tech pizza oven. Also: dessert pizza with Nutella, marshmallow fluff, and orchard-fresh cherries!
    • Seeing Brie and the entire kids class out ripping around in high wind on the Flounder, the ASC’s Catalina 16.5.
    • Working with Clayton and Gabe to run the race start drills on the final day. Some of those starts were just remarkable! It was honestly difficult to imagine that everybody could come so far with their sailing in just three and a half days.

    I also wanted to send a shout-out to the (many) volunteers who put this together, including:

    • Brie, Cathy, Darren, and Addy: our fabulous instructor crew.
    • Gabe, Clayton, Oliver, and Jake: our high-energy teen instructor crew.
    • Nancy & Angie: our make-everything-happen super volunteers.
    • Steve Ryan: the reason we have a fleet of working boats!

    I also wanted to send a special shout-out to Michele and Luciana Liu. They’re the mom and sister of Kendrew, who took the class. The two of them were at the club during much of the class and jumped in to help wherever they could.

    I did a terrible job getting pictures, so I’m hoping that other folks have some to share. But Brie got a great shot of the kids’ class on the Flounder (that’s our header image), and Tom Harrison got a good shot of the class rounding a mark in one of the calmer and dryer moments of the weekend.

    The 1st 2024 Introduction to Sailing class rounds a mark. Photo by Tom Harrison.

    Next Class Starts on Thursday!

    Our next class starts this Thursday, and once again, we’ll have all the club boats in use from Thursday through Sunday. We’re planning on a class potluck on Saturday evening, and club members are all welcome (and encouraged) to join us. Note that we should have plenty of space for RVs this weekend since we have a permit with the Mat-Su Borough during the class that lets us use the area by the public boat launch for overflow parking.

    As usual, everybody is welcome to be at the club during class, and it’s always a blast to meet all the new members.