Fun Sail Day Recap by John Ebell
Wow, what a great practice/fun sail day! Sunday, August 9, MMYC held another practice/funs ail day, and it turned out to be our best so far. The main reason I am so happy about the day was several new people attended! Heritage Harbour’s own Club Commodore, Ken Szekretar, new HHMYC sailor Ed Whitley and his wife Dale joined us for the toasty day. Great people! Dale is #1 in my book; she brought donut holes!! New DF 65 owner and retread MMYC member Will Wagner stopped by to set up his DF 65. This was the inaugural sail for it, as he just finished putting it together late the night before, and was even programming his radio pond side. You procrastinate like me Will! However, he will be loaded for bear this coming Saturday, so watch out!
Also stopping by to see what we are about, was Margaret Podlich. She is a nationally recognized, local Annapolis, consummate big boat sailor, and rumor has it, she just purchased a DF65. She watched the fun, and finally after some coaxing, we were able to stick a transmitter in her hand. Of course, you know that inevitable smile appeared, so I am pretty certain we will be seeing her again soon! I really hope so! Welcome to RC sailing Margaret!
All the way down from Frederick Maryland, NMMYC’s own Rescue Fleet operator, Braulio Mercader, stopped by. He was kind enough to offer his services for the day and launched a couple of his vessels to demonstrate them for us. They are way cool Braulio!
Besides the new people, regular MMYC members Bob Kehoe, John Houfek, “Jazz” Earle, Tom Walsh, and Jervis Dornton rounded out the day’s group. Jervis didn’t participate as he felt it was too hot, but he watched and promised to be at our next race day with his Victoria.
As usual, Tom Walsh ran through practice maneuvers, practice starts and practice races. All classes were on the water during the day. A great deal of time was spent on tuning boats and demonstrating tuning techniques. Of course, several people took advantage of MMYC free tell tales, as we installed them on many boats. Trust me, work with them and use them. Your sailing will improve.
Improving is just what we hope these sessions accomplish. I know I answered lots of questions pondside that we just wouldn’t have been able to discuss during the rush and tempo of a normal race day. We will be holding another practice soon (possibly Aug 30th) so I hope you will follow these people’s lead and come join us for a future fun and learning day. Watch for the notice coming soon.
