Date line, Rock Hall, Maryland:  Flash, the rumors of the death of classy, enjoyable and well attended events at the Rock Hall YC were greatly exaggerated!!!

This fact was up held once again, and just like the recently concluded and successful Oyster & Ham dinner, the RHYC Commodores’ Dinner proved the skeptics wrong.

The Club House dinning room was decorated to the hilt, with YC Burgees on most tables and Flag Officer Burgees on the remainder and colorful appointments around the room. A big “thank you” goes out to the Event volunteers, Sally Powell, Connie Ranney and Dawn Urbani for their effort to make the place look great!

All the Ladies in attendance looked very pretty; not to be out done, all the guys shaved and most even had a tie on (Blue Blazers must have been on sale, too).  Relative to what one would expect to see at the YC, everyone in attendance was “dressed to the nines” and having a great time.

What can one say about the meal?  Simply this: you could go to any fine dining establishment on the Eastern Shore and then maybe for twice the price, enjoy a meal that great.  A big thank you goes out to John Conley and his staff. 

 

And let’s not forget the entertainment, that erstwhile self described “Guitar Picker” Chris Cerino (rumor has it he actually works for the Sultana Project, but who ever believes musicians?) performed original music.  All the songs had something to do with experiences on the Eastern Shore, boy that Fire Alarm in Chestertown really has to go.  That segment of the evening was worth the total price of attendance. 

Then of course the Vice Commodore had to follow all of that and keep everyone away from the bar (which is a full time job by itself) while he gave out the Seasonal Club Racing awards.  Ken Noble, received 4^th place overall, with Lance Williams winning 3^rd  place. Then of course, we had a difficult time because, guess who (Chuck Parry and Dyer Harris) tied for 1^st place.  To break the tie the V/C was asked to flip a coin and the winner of the coin toss would get the top honors.  Of course the V/C’s wife never lets him go to the club with any money, so he did not have any coins.  Chuck Parry tried to tell everyone that he gave all his coins to some charitable donation bucket at the gas station; which no one believed.  And we knew that Dyer never carries pocket change, only big bills.  But the YC manger John Conley came to the rescue by stealing a quarter from the tip jar on the Bar and the coin toss was made.  Of course Chuck won but Dyer protested by stating that under the RRS no two headed coins were allowed; the protest committee will convene shortly to consider the matter, stay tuned for the results.

The evening concluded with the Commodore Dyer and former Commodore Chuck making RHYC’s Top Annual Awards.  The “T. Allan Stradley” Award for demonstrating the desire to compete was earned by Sarah Ranney for her perseverance in junior sailing over the last 6 years.  The “James S. Troutman” Award for the RHYC High-Point Junior Sailor went to Nate Ostrander.  The “Sportsmanship Award” one of the two top YC annual awards was made to Joe Manley for his contribution to the Club Sailing Program.  And the “70^th Anniversary Award” for all around contribution to the success of the YC went to Rick Marshall, for all the work he put in this year ranging from pouring concrete to manning the kitchen when there was an emergency need.

Congratulations to all those award winners, from the all of the Board and Flag Officers, well done!

The formal events of the evening concluded, everyone (well most) adjourned to the Bar to put more two headed quarters in the tip bucket.  A great time was had by all.

We all had a great time at the Rock Hall Yacht Club "Night At The Races" on November 8th. After a tasty roast beef buffet, we all participated in the racing, very similar to the old horse racing game, except that this evening's fun was staged around sailboats. Members Don and Charlene Boccuti, who organized and orchestrated the game, raided their own bathroom to come up with six little toy boats, and the game was on! There were 10 races in all - and bets were placed for 25 cents, 50 cents, and the final two races were high-stakes, at $1. Fittingly, the big winner for the evening was RHYC Commodore, Dyer Harris, who didn't fare all that well with the sailboats, but won the 50/50! There was much hilarity and cheering going on - and we thank Don and Charlene for a lot of fun. (They also rounded up a bazillion friends and neighbors to come for dinner and the game. Nice people - and we hope they'll all come back again.)

This post could easily be titled Heaven on the Waters of Langford Bay; OR  Which Way Did the Wind Blow?????

Huge Thanks to Joe Manley for once again organizing another really fun day of Club Racing.  To Amy Manley, Jennifer Lieber, David Manley, Riley Lieber, and Joseph Lieber for agreeing to man the Committee boat; To Dyer Harris for providing the wonderful automatic starting horn,  making it possible for more people to man the committee boat (without the worry of messing up the starting sequence To Chuck Parry for making Sailing School boats available; To Connie Ranney for posting the results and to all of the sailors that made it out on the water.  (Oh and to Lancing Williams for buying me a drink afterwards;  I won't divulge what that was all about)
As many of you know this summer I have taken the opportunity to sail a Laser.  My first attempts earlier in the summer were, I am sure, quite entertaining to the crowd.  (Whoops, there he goes again)  Clearly the more I sail, the more fun it is and I am now truly getting the idea that the pointy thing with the sail on it is supposed to be on top.
Unfortunately now as we near the end of the summer sailing season, I am dissapointed that we can't just keep going.  Or can we????  As we look forward to our next summer season and the great fun we have at RHYC Club Sailing Days, I would like to encourage everyone not only to get out on the water, but also to help support Joe in his efforts to staff these great and fun days. 
Once again many thanks to all involved.  It doesn't get much better.

Chip Lieber

With only one more Club race to go and the Frostbiting Season about to begin, the formal Rock Hall Yacht Club Regatta Season Ends. What a season it has been!  I don't know if all of our members know that the YC sponsors so many races, holds so many events, or that we have so much outside participation, but I can tell you that it has been a very busy Regatta season at the RHYC.

Just so you can get a feel for what the YC has accomplished, I will list some of the One Design Classes we have hosted; Chesapeake 20's, Hampton, Wayfarer, C420, Optimist Prams (in many forms), Lasers, Laser Masters and Laser Radials, Lightning, Windmills, Sunfish, Albacore, Hobie 16's, 17's and 18's, A - Cats and the traditional Log Canoes.  Racers came from as far a field as Florida, Colorado, Michigan and Canada plus all points in between to join us here in Rock Hall.

These Regattas have ranged from kids in the Opti Green Fleet's circling the marks like plastic ducks in a Carnival pond, to the East Coast Lightning Championships and the Albacore Nationals - complete with some hot shot sailors.  We have had One Design Division Championships, which are a little like watching open-wheeled sports cars racing on a road course with the closeness, contact, twists and turns.  We have had the thrill of watching modern A - Cats scream down the Chester River like they had rockets attached, and getting to the finish line just a little bit before the Committee boat had a finish line set up.  I would say they were quick!  What could be more "Chesapeake Bay" than watching the thrills of the old Log Canoe's crew fighting to adjust their collective balance and best each other in 12 - 15 knots of wind, or the tradition of presenting perpetual trophies to the winner in the Cheapeake 20's, a class of sailboats that along with the Log Canoe, pretty much defines sailing on our Bay.

After the races, the RHYC had the privilege of making awards to 10 year olds for participation and 75 year olds for finally winning.  It was great to watch as they accepted those awards with equal joy on their faces.

What a diverse bunch of boats and people! 

It was also a different perspective than I have ever had on Sailboat racing.  As a racing participant for many years, I always took the hosting yacht club for granted.  I just expected that the Race Committee and Mark Boats were there to set a course and stay out of our way.  I also expected there should be a good meal and a cold beer ready when I was finished, or I felt "they" just didn't get it.

Let me tell you some thing, I was wrong!  (And those of you who know me know that last part was not easy for me to say.)

None of this could have been done without the numerous YC member volunteers and staff who worked tirelessly to make every part of each event special and happen without a (visible) hitch.  Nothing is perfect, nothing happens without problems, it is how people in an organization deal with those imperfections that mean something and show what grit that group is made of.

Well, the RHYC has Grit!

We will undoubtedly host similar regattas next year with similar results, but before we move on, I want everyone who had a hand in these events this year, from the kitchen, bar, and food service to the mark and safety boats and Race Committee's, to feel the accomplishment and know that it was a job "Well Done".  On behalf of the Flag Officers, I want to add our personal "Thank You", none of this would have been half as good without you; you are all a part of our Regatta "A" Team!

Lee Urbani V/C 

Well, with only 2 more Regattas to go and some time to think between the Last one and the Next one, it feels good to be on the Shady Side of the Hump.  Since this year represents the sum total of my Regatta planning and excecution experience, I needed the help of an Army of "volunteers". 

I put the quote marks around the word volunteer because some of them had no choice!  Just kidding, we all have choices when it comes to which YC activity we want to become involved in.  Therefore, I am personally grateful to those who made the choice to help out in any way they could with the Regatta efforts.  And you know what? It was hours and hours of shear fun and pleasure, punctuated by a couple of minutes, here and there, of boiled over emotion. 

So if I lashed out at anyone please forgive me, I did not mean anything by it; after all I am half Itailian and we all know that showing emotion is like great food when it comes to that ethnic group.

There have been no complaints about the facilities and grounds, the sailing venue or the hospitality offered by the membership, most enjoyed the meals and if you can believe it, there was not one complaint about the Bar.  99.9% of the feedback I have gotten from visiting sailors has been very positive; there are always a couple of individuals that would like to have something for virtually nothing.  Just to be clear, all the complaints I have received are about the cost of the entry fees.  

Unlike many other old established YC's around the country, the Rock Hall YC does not have an endowment fund with which to pay for any events or building repairs or grounds maintenence or waterfront upgrades, or for anyother purpose: zero, zip.  All of the cost of maintaining and upgrading the YC comes from the membership, and the membership should not be expected to underwrite any single element of the YC's activities, Regattas or otherwise. 

It remains my feeling that those who complain about the cost of a Regatta entry fee need to step back and try to understand what it costs to maintain a proper facility and put on a good Regatta.  I will not bore the readers with that list of costs but I can tell everyone this; the YC's goal for every Regatta is to break even, if it were not for the work of our extensive list of Volunteers this would be an impossible goal. 

We will continue to monitor the fees of every Regatta to make sure of two things; first it is an affordable fee and secondly it covers the cost. 

V/C Lee Urbani

The RHYC hosted a very successful Opti Green Fleet Regatta and clinic on Thursday, July 24, 2008.  We were extremely fortunate to have Tom Coleman leading the clinic and coaching the Opti competitors on the course.
                         
There was a steady SW breeze of 7-9 knots and we ran four clean races.  The kids and their families had alot of fun after the races swimming with West Marine donated beach balls and other prizes and giveaways.  Pictures and race results are posted at http://rockhallyachtclub.org/regatta.htm

If anyone wants to know what teamwork is, they should pay a visit to the Rock Hall Yacht Club on a busy regatta weekend.  The staff and volunteers pulled together to make the 2008 Lightning ACC Regatta hosted by RHYC a huge success! With good winds, great food and a terrific band, what could go wrong? We even managed to get the Sunday races finished BEFORE the storms!

Many thanks to the staff and volunteers again for a job well done...in RHYC fashion!! GREAT JOB!

The Rock Hall Yacht Club held its annual Junior One-Design Regatta on June 26, 2008.  Photos are published at

http://photos.rockhallyachtclub.org. 
Regatta results are published at http://www.rockhallyachtclub.org/regatta.htm.  We had a terrific day with 49 boats turning out.

In addition to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in each class (except Opti Green), We awarded Best Female Skipper as follows:

1.  Mariah Leffingwell, TAYC, Opti Red, 4th place in class

2.  Kate Ranney, RHYC, Laser Radial, 4th place in class

3.  Rebecca Leffingwell, TAYC, C420, 3rd place in class.

Welcome to our new Blog for the Rock Hall Yacht Club! 
The purpose of this Blog is for RHYC members, committees, and boards to communicate on the web.    If you would like to be a RHYC Blog author, please email web@RockHallYachtClub.org.  If you would like to comment on an entry - just click the "Add Comment" link under that entry.  Any questions, issues, or comments should be directed to web@RockHallYachtClub.org.  Note that all Blog entries and comments are moderated.