Ron and John's 2004 Sailing Safari

Pymatuning Yacht Club
July 2-4, 2004

Base camp at Pymatuning YC	Mr. Volleyball

Suppose for a minute, you could design the perfect sailing club.  What would the ingredients be?

First I would want friendly people.  A club that isn't about double-breasted blue blazers and docksider shoes.  It would be a place where guest sailors are welcome and members are comfortable in shorts, t-shirts, and flops.  Okay, the occasional party shirt is permitted.

If it is to be the ideal sailing club, membership would have to be limited to active, one-design racers.  An active Lightning fleet is a no-brainer, but other fleets are welcome.  Membership would have to be high enough to put @10 boats per fleet on the line for club races and even more for club regattas.  Lets say one or two fleets of 20+ boats and maybe one or two fleets of 10+ boats.

An active junior program is a must.  Add an Opti program for ages 5-10 and then graduate the kids to Lasers and 420s.  Education is important, so throw in sailing camps, clinics, and lessons for all who want them.

How about facilities?  One asphalt dry sail lot, please, so our boats are not subjected to flying gravel or flying grass clipping.  One electric hoist is a must.   Two would be really nice for large regatta events.  But hoists aren't enough.  When your boat swings around to water side on a hoist, you want the type of protected waterway that allows for a controlled launch - not a wild ride in powerboat wakes.

And while we are on the subject of powerboats, let us turn to the body of water we will be sailing on.  The perfect inland lake will be wide enough and long enough to accommodate an adequate race course turned in any direction.  And just to make things real perfect, there will be a ten horsepower limit on all powerboats except those designated for search and rescue.

But back to the facilities.   After our asphalt dry sail lot with dual electric hoists, we want plenty of open, well-manicured, grass lawns for camping, parking, and sail-drying.  A club-house with showers and a locker room are essential.  Covered porches overlooking the lake would be real nice.  A swim area and sandy beach would be good for kids.  Part of our lawns would include picnic tables and shade trees.

But while we are being downright perfect, lets go a little bit further.  How about a wooded trailer park?  Nothing overly elaborate, just something where a member could bring in a modest single-wide mobile home and hook it up.  Something nice enough that Saturday racing could become a weekend at the club.  In fact, summer vacation could become a week at the club.  Why I might even want to retire at the club.

Finally, as long as we are dreaming, we want all this for dues well under a thousand dollars a year.

Still laughing?  You can stop.  It all exists at the Pymatuning Yacht Club - little piece of one-design paradise in the northwestern corner of Pennslyvania.

John and I set out on Friday morning at 6:00 A.M. to make the ten hour drive to Pymatuning.  Our goal was the Independence Day Regatta.  It was an easy ride up I-77 and I-79.  At 4:00 P.M. we pulled in to this sailing mecca.  We parked our equipment, set-up 14620, and decided to go for a sail.  We've been on a lot of hoists in our short sailing careers, but PYCs was the best.  The water is a scant one foot lower than the parking lot!  We sailed out and tested out two-man techniques.  Soon we were satisfied with our chute hoists and gybes.  We headed back in, signed up at the registration table, enjoyed a pizza dinner, and started to meet the friendly folks of Pymatuning Yacht Club.  A few hours later, we were asleep in our tents fifteen feet from the shores of Lake Pymatuning - where the nightime temperatures were a pleasant 65 degrees.

Saturday morning was something to behold.  When all was said and done, there were 35 Thistles ready to race, 12 Lightnings, six J-22s, and six Fireballs - some 59 boats in all.  The 35 Thistles were more than the total fleet of Lightnings at the Southern Open.  PYC didn't even flinch at the size of the fleet.   There was plenty of room for boats, camping, and launching.

There was only one problem - no wind.  It can happen at any regatta - even in a sailor's paradise like PYC.   We spent the day waiting and socializing.  The time really did pass without too much pain.  Truthfully, we were all glad to be on shore and not baking in our boats.  John and I found a ping-pong table and spent hours in heated competition.  At 4:30, the RC abandoned for the day.  We cleaned up and enjoyed a dinner of BBQ chicken and pork.   A DJ spun tunes until midnight.   When it was over, we turned in for another pleasant night's sleep in our tents.

14620 waits for wind	Everyone else waits for wind

Sunday morning brought 15 knot winds.   What a change.  By 9:00 A.M. we were on the starting line duking it out for position.  We didn't stand much of a chance.  We just couldn't hold the boat down no matter what we did.  I lowered the traveler to the rail and pulled backstay for all I was worth.  We flew and gybed the chute like pros, but it still didn't matter.  We just couldn't go as fast with two.  We finished 11 out of 12.  

By the second race it was blowing a few knots harder.  Still we hung in there and did a little better.  We played the right side of the course and it paid off.  We finished ninth.  One boat capsized.  On one downwind run, it felt like the boat was airborne.

By the third and final race, it was easily blowing 17 with regular gusts over 22.  There was just no point.  We had proven our manhood in race one and two where we two-manned the chute in wind we used to chicken out of with a full crew.  We headed in and packed up.  A number of boats had not been so lucky and the club had called extra chase boats to assist with capsized sailors.

Ryan Ruhlman, who won the Southeastern Districts in Wilmington, won the day.

At 4:00 PM, we were on the road.  Next sailing stop would be Wednesday at Susquehanna Yacht Club.  For now, we were headed to Judy Beiter's [John's sister] home in Silver Springs, Maryland. The road was one powerful thunderstorm after another.  On one stretch, a car hydroplaned in front of us into the retaining wall. A car behind him panicked and came to our lane.  We held our ground and with Figmo in tow, slipped through to clear road.   At 11:00 P.M. we arrived, safe and sound, ready for a good night's sleep.  Monday and Tuesday would be lay days from sailing.  Time for a little site-seeing.