Alaska Sailing Club

Category: Events

  • Firecracker Regatta Results & Introduction to Sailing

    Firecracker Regatta Results & Introduction to Sailing

    Darren & Jake flying the spinniker

    We had plenty of breeze, but it was shifty and kept everybody on their toes. Winds were lighter but steadier on Sunday, and we decided to use the day for some group practice, including tack-on-the-whistle drills and spinnaker work.

    The biggest treat of the weekend was getting to spend time with sailing adventurer Barbara Meier. (You can see her in the banner image for this post.) She even sailed with us during the regatta. You can admire her well-traveled Sunfish (“Annie”) if you’re at the club over the next week, since we’re storing it for her while having a few more Alaska adventures over the week.

    Congrats to new ASC members Ben Sturmer and Charlotte MacKay for winning in the Open (Portsmouth) Fleet. And congrats to Gabe Black and Steve Ryan, who took first in the Bucc 18 Fleet. Thanks go out to Camille Oliver, Hannah Pratt, and Brie Busey for race committee work. (And special thanks to Hannah for also being our on-water photographer!) And thanks as always to Paul Willing for compiling regatta results. You can see all the detailed results here.

    Introduction to Sailing Starting Thursday

    Our first intro class stars Thursday afternoon and continues until Sunday at 5:00 PM. During that time, we’ll have the following club boats in use:

    • All six Lido 14s
    • The Flounder (Catalina 16.5)
    • The three club Lasers
    • The Ensign 22, but only during the evenings after 7:00 PM or so.

    We’re planning a class potluck on Saturday the 13th, and club members are encouraged to join us! And of course everybody is welcome at the club during the class. It’s a great opportunity to meet a whole group of new members. We’re also happy to have as much “shore support” as possible, especially with rigging and helping get class members on and off the docks.

    It should be a fantastic weekend, and I’m excited to meet all our new sailors!

    Bucc 18s lining up for a race start
  • Barbara’s Epic Sailing Adventure

    Barbara’s Epic Sailing Adventure

    Barbara will be arriving at about 11:00 AM on Saturday, and is planning to join us for the regatta. So let’s roll out the ASC welcome mat for our visiting dignitary! And even if you’re not planning to race this weekend, you should still plan to join the Saturday evening potluck and meet Barbara.

    You can see Barbara and Annie in the title image at this post. They’re at the North Shore Yacht Club in MI, which you can tell is a solid place because of the Buccaneer 18 picture on the first page of their website. :-)

    I asked Annie to write an brief missive about her adventures, and you can read that below:

    A little bit about me:

    I am a relatively new sailor. I took a couple lessons on a rented Sunfish about 3-4 years ago. I was hooked. I purchased my Sunfish, Annie, shortly after that and sailed whenever I got the chance, just for fun. Last Spring, I started out on my “Sunfish Adventure,” my quest to sail her in every state.

    I sailed in many states on the east coast, around the great lakes, and back down to Florida. I joined the Sarasota Sailing Squadron last winter, and also the women’s sailing club, “The Luffing Lassies.” They are trying to make a racer out of me, which I think is hilarious, but it is a good way to improve my sailing skills.

    In April, I set out again, this time, heading up the center of the country, and across the northern border states. Mostly, I sail by myself, but there have been a few sailing clubs who welcomed me to sail with them. The photo attached shows me with two of the members of the North Shore Yacht Club in Highland Park, Illinois, where we sailed on Lake Michigan last September. This was the first club that I sailed with, and we had a blast on very, very wavy conditions. I have since sailed with Hobcaw Yacht Club in Charleston, SC, Louisville Sailing Club in KY, Lake Thunderbird Sailing Club in OK, and  Sandpoint Sailing Association in ID. I arrived too late to sail with North Flathead Yacht Club in MT, and I arrived on a weekday, when no one was home at the Lincoln Sailing Club in NE.

    When I saw that there is no Wet Wednesday scheduled for this week, I was so afraid I was going to miss my chance to sail with The Alaska Sailing Club, which looks like too much fun to miss! I have been driving hard since Thursday to get here in time to sail in the Firecracker Regatta. I can’t wait to meet everyone and have some fun on Big Lake!  

  • Firecracker Regatta Sailing Instructions

    Firecracker Regatta Sailing Instructions

    The first race on Sunday will be set for 10:00 am and no race starts after 4:00pm so that everyone can make it back to Anchorage at a reasonable time after putting boats away. When you arrive on Saturday please check in with Race Committee to register your boat for the regatta. Please be ready for the potluck to happen at any time when there is no wind so that we can sail when there is wind. It might end up being an earlier potluck so we can catch the regular evening Big Lake breeze, so maybe plan on something easy for the potluck. 

    We look forward to seeing all you amazing sailors on the race course, and please check out the ASC 2024 Sailing Instructions before the race.

  • Firecracker Regatta, Intermediate Sailing Recap, & more!

    Firecracker Regatta, Intermediate Sailing Recap, & more!

    Firecracker Regatta

    The Firecracker Regatta is coming up this weekend, with races planned on both Saturday and Sunday. We’ll also have our usual regatta potluck on Saturday evening, so bring food to share and come hungry. We’ll have a skipper’s meeting at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, with racing to follow as the wind allows. The potluck will start whenever we wrap up racing. (Likely sometime between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m.)

    Our goal will be to run a minimum of five races over the two days with two fleet: a competitive one-design fleet for Bucc 18 races, and a more relaxed Portsmouth-rated fleet open to all boats. (Bucc sailors who would prefer more casual racing are welcome to join the Portsmouth fleet.) Our, and speaking of Buccaneers, the Tony Chapman will be joining us for the Fireweed Regatta this year. Tony is the treasurer of the Buccaneer 18 national class association.

    Race Vice Commodore Brie Busey will post more detailed race instructions as we get closer to the event.

    Intermediate Sailing class recap

    We had a fabulous weekend with our Intermediate Sailing class. Friday and Saturday were warm, with the “standard” Big Lake wind pattern: light winds during the day, and a lovely 5–8 knot evening breeze starting at around 5:00 p.m. The class was packed with info, including work on the Ensign and some pretty impressive first-time spinnaker sailing. Oh, and our “follow the leader” drill looked so good that I think our class could make a bid for an Olympic synchronized sailing event. :-)

    As an added treat, three brand-new members showed up over the weekend. Welcome, Jonathan, Joe, and Carmen! Jonathan and Carmen are both long-time sailors, and our instructors took them through the check-out process on the club Lasers. Joe is new to sailing, and his son will be joining us for the youth sailing class this season.

    Grounds cleanup

    A huge thanks go out to our Intermediate Sailing class, most of whom stayed several hours after class on Sunday to help clean up to the grounds and move boats back to their usual location. The club looks fantastic right now!

    Note that the mower is now located outside by the shed near the clubhouse. Mowing is done on a volunteer basis, so if you’re looking for any easy way to help out while you’re at the club, take a 1/2 hour or so and mow some club grounds. We also encourage boat owners to mow the areas until your trailer whenever you move it to launch your boat.

    Dock work

    We’ve lost the mooring attachment at the far end of “B” dock. Dave Verbrugge was worked on an updated mooring and attachment design, and we have a crew working to set everything up on Thursday and Friday. That includes “The Daves” (Verbrugge and Johnson) and Matt Flickenger on Thursday. I’ll be joining them on Friday. You are welcome to cheer us on while you’re out there!

    Coming classes

    We’ll run our two Intro to Sailing classes on the two weekends following the Firecracker Regatta, so things should continue to be busy at the club this July.

  • Late June Goings-On

    Late June Goings-On

    Congratulations to Darren & Gabe Black, Tom Harrison, Will Merriman, Dave Verbrugge, Addy, Geoff & Oliver Wright for passing the three-day US Sailing certificated sailing instructor course at The Alaska Sailing Club. 

    It is not too late to register for our Intermediate Sailing class, which begins on 6/28. We still have fourteen spots, and two are still open. If you think you may be better suited for the Intermediate Sailing class and are registered for for the Introduction to Sailing class, please reach out to the Education Committee. (You can do this using the ASC Contact Form. Just select “Class or clinic question” in response to the How can we help you? question.)

    The grounds are looking good. Our hydro-seeded grass has filled in nicely. If you can, consider making a trip to mow the grounds this summer. This can be done at your convenience. Contact the site committee to verify the need unless you were already planning a club visit. We will be moving boats back to trailered boat parking this week. 

    Well-mannered dogs are welcome off-leash! Pet clean-up bags are located on the west side of the clubhouse. Please remember to be respectful of neighboring property and keep pets from trespassing. 

    Remember that the hoist is only to be pivoted 180 degrees on the water side, not 360. This is to avoid pinching cords and causing damage.