Our monthly meeting was well attended by about 20 sailing enthusiasts that included a couple of new guests, Steve and Cheryl Kornberg who live aboard their 50 foot sailboat in Ventura and have completed a circumnavigation. Our meetings keep getting more interesting as our presence in social media expands!
Tomorrow, Sunday the 15th of March, will be the Sail-Out for Captain Jane Thomas. Boats will be leaving Channel Islands Harbor at 10:00 am and headed for Platform Gina where a burial at sea will commence at approximately 10:50. Akua Kai will be leaving Ventura Harbor by 09:30. There will be a memorial at Channel Islands Yacht Club afterwards. See attachments for more information. I have 2 Wai'Lani purple pennants left if anyone is without one.
Discussion was held on the Anacapa Arch Race, April 11th. The plan is to start at Mandalay, go to Anacapa Arch Rock, round a mark that will be placed on the back-side of the Arch (no sailing through the arch), and return to Channel Islands Harbor entrance to finish. AYC has offered a post race gathering with food and bar open. Prizes will be pictures (that participants take) mounted on a plaque based on the number of participants in each class. There will be PHRF spin and non-spin class and an ORCA fleet. No beachcats for this one, as we haven't been able to muster enough interest to justify the expense of a chase boat. Hopefully next year. NOR attached below and will be up on the website soon. SIs and entry form to follow.
On April 18th, we'll host a beachcat race off of Ventura Harbor. Alicia and crew aboard Akua Kai will provide 2 or 3 starts for beachcats to do a little short course racing to start the season off for the beachcats. Bob Shirley is helping to get this project off the ground. More info coming. Any non beachcatters are welcome to join Alicia to assist with race committee or to just be spectators as the beachcats go out and play.
VYC is hosting some dinghy one design racing on May 8, 22 and June 5 at 6 pm. We'll be contacting them about the possibility of a beachcat fleet if there is interest in this. Layne and I are definitely interested if we can get a couple of more boats.
We've started discussion about this year's Frenchy's race. Course will remain the same as past years but we talked about delaying the start until noon to take advantage of more wind for the race, however the boats that like the light air start would like to continue with the 11:00 start as in past races. So maybe we can try a 11:30 start? With a beachcat fleet we always want to make sure they are off the water before dark, but historically they manage to finish in somewhere between 3 hours and 5 hours and the middle of June gives us light until after 8 pm. More on that later.
The 2026 racing season has begun with the midwinters race at CIYC that hosted a one design J 24 fleet. PBYC's spring series started with VSC members aboard She-Said-No, Akua Kai, and Velero. And PCYC's winter series had VSC's She-Said-No and So Long racing.
Treasurer's Report - we have $4K in our account. We plan to purchase a new race mark. Our old one is practically invisible at a distance, so we'll pick up an Orange inflatable that is easily handled by our volunteer race committees. If we can't get one sponsored it will be about $300. I'm working with West Marine and Nautos on that.
Social Media - Facebook and Instagrams are being kept current by Alicia and Don North. We've had THOUSANDS of views! Please send your pictures and videos to Dropbox Ventura Sailing Club Photos. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/p3ahpp0wcetlg3yhcfsvi/AALeKTwmDKcEbFgqvbYMaO0?rlkey=srytfz6zlib1526maq3yhi1nn&e=1&st=2e1ilzmo&dl=0 Eric has updated our website and needs time sensitive info at least a couple of weeks before an event.
Chris and Marisela administered our monthly pub quiz. Thank you. Also, retired Harbor Patrolman, ex lifeguard, and surfski builder Merv Larson has donated his entire library of nautical books to the club. It's extensive and we'll have one box available each month for members to peruse and to add to their personal libraries. Oh, did I mention Merv was an Olympian too! He's truly as much of a "waterman" as you can get. I'll never forget watching him surfski C street in 1969 on a 15'+ swell with no one else out.
