Commodore’s Corner...Lisa Herbster
Since Daylight Saving Time kicked in again recently, we have more light in the evenings, so we started up our TGIF Sail & Socialize on 3/15/24. We had great attendance - 4 of the boats on the dock got off, as well as a catamaran and a sunfish. We had a beautiful evening, sailed for about an hour or so, then came in and socialized. We even had our own house band - The Barnacles - playing! It was great! We’ll be running this event monthly - about mid-month. When/if we have more volunteer help to run these events, we’ll try to run them more frequently. They’re a big success!! It’s always a great way to finish up a work week - a relaxing sail on the Halifax! We have lots of great, fun events going on. Every week has at least one event usually, sometimes many events. Check out the calendar on our website (halifaxsailing.org).
Speaking of our website, it is being updated and added to regularly. We have a small team of members (myself included) who meet weekly to discuss what has been added to the site, what needs to be added, what’s working well, what isn’t, etc. This is another way a member can complete volunteer hours. Interested in helping with the website, contact me - lisa.herbster@gmail.com
Volunteering and Volunteerism I just mentioned two ways that members can work on the volunteer hours requirements - Help us for one of our regularly scheduled events. You could volunteer onshore by helping to organize the tables and food for the socializing after sailing, or you could volunteer on the water by helping to get people on boats and/or captain a boat for HSA, or … You could do work for HSA remotely by helping with the website development. These are just 2 of many, many jobs that need to be done for HSA. Now that we have more regularly scheduled events going on, we have a much greater need for people to help us with these events. Please volunteer!! The purpose of the volunteer hours requirement is to get more members involved and to help take the burden off of the 10-15 of us that run most things at the club.
March’s All Fleet Race is a good example of what I’m talking about. Chris Sinnett, HSA Education VC, often runs these events, but he was out of town. He sent out a request, to the 4-5 people he knew to have some experience running races, for someone to help run the March All Fleet Race. No one was available, so my husband and I stepped in and ran it. We don’t mind doing that, except by running the races, we NEVER have the opportunity to sail in the races! It takes a village to keep an organization like HSA and its affiliates rolling along! We need more people to help us with these events! We understand that many members have no idea how to run a race, but we are more than willing to train members and run a clinic or two about how to run an event. We need help! Doing what? Helping out on the water - we’ll teach you how to set and move marks, start a race, etc.! Helping at the pavilion with our shore activities - like prepping tables, etc.! Helping instructors and students with our classes! Helping on Thursday and Saturday work days! You do NOT have to know how to do the things we need volunteer help for. Members of the board know what we need and how to train and guide people. We’ll help you. In our website development meetings, we are discussing how to get all of this volunteer info onto the site. We are working on creating a “button” to be clicked that will take you to a page listing the various volunteer jobs. This aspect is coming, but it is still in development. In the meantime, please reach out to me (lisa.herbster@gmail.com, (386) 679-6315) to discuss this with me further. We’ll find a job for everyone. Best of all - after you finish volunteering - go for a sail!!!! I’m sorry for the length of my message, but we really need volunteer help!! Please reach out to us!! Please read on for more info from our Board Members. Dan Biringer has a Volunteer jobs list that will be included in this newsletter and posted at HSA. Other members have great news to report too! Read on!
Fair winds, Lisa
URGENT!!! Register NOW!!!!!
HSA is hosting a US Sailing Level 1 Instructor Certification on May, 18th, 19th, and 20th. We MUST have 8 people registered for the class to be taught. We currently have 1 person registered! Please don't let this course evaporate by not registering!!! Please!!! Please!! If you are planning to take this in-person portion of the Level 1 Instructor Course, please go to the link below and get started now!!!!! You MUST complete the online portion before you can take the face-to-face portion (which is the part held at HSA). https://www.ussailing.org/education/instructor/small-boat-instructor-programs/level-1-instructor/small-boat-level-1/ Please help me to have our registration filled to 8 by the end of April at the latest!! If you all could be registered by April 15th that would be awesome!!!! Please help support our efforts to offer this class on our home turf!! Thank you!
Chris Sinnett- Training and Education Vice-Commodore April kicks off the Adult Sailing Class season but first, we have the Riley's Run on Sunday April 7th. This will be followed by our first Capri Class for Intermediate Sailors on the weekend of April 13th-14th, and our first Sunfish class for Beginner Sailors on the weekends of April 20th-21st & 27th-28th. We are also scheduled to have the All Fleet Race on Sunday the 21st, so I could use some assistance in running that event (since I will be teaching the Sunfish Class). Please let me know if you are available to help on the 21st. As mentioned in previous newsletters, if you are interested in learning to drive HSA's powerboats so that you can support regattas and other Club sailing activities, send me an email at JCSinnett25@gmail.com. April and May are opportune months for training - and powerboat driving is fun! We focus on the basics of powerboat driving and then some specific skills that are required for regatta support. Looking forward to seeing you at the Club and on the water!
Dan Biringer-Fleet Vice-Commodore March has been a busy month at HSA and this would be a very long message if I was to list everything we've accomplished. Suffice it to say, we're doing some incredible work in getting ready for the summer season. There's a bunch of projects in the works and ongoing maintenance but...we are making significant progress ! That said, with just two months left before hurricane season, we will need to begin focusing on the viability of our trailers and ensuring each and every boat in our yard has sufficient anchors, in the ground, ready to go. Much of this work has been done so I'm hoping, with just a little extra effort, we will be ready. Thank you for all the work you've done !!!
Dave Dunn-Youth Optimist Coach Our youth racing team is doing incredibly well! A few of our sailors have now participated in 2-3 regattas since January. Our most recent regatta was the Mt. Dora 71st Regatta held on Mar. 23-24, 2024. Two of our racers placed 2nd and 3rd out of a field of 33 Opti Green Fleet sailors!! We are incredibly proud of them!!! All our sailors are doing an amazing job! We’re very proud of them and all the hard work they’re putting into their practices! We will participate in 2 more regattas this spring - Sail Eustis on the weekend of Apr. 20-21, 2024 and The Cowford Cup at FYC in Jacksonville on the weekend of May 4-5, 2024. We’ll complete our season on Sat. May 18, 2024. Our summer camps will begin the week of June 10-14, 2024. We’re offering 6 weeks of camp this summer, plus a special week at the end of July devoted to advanced sailing skills and racing techniques. This is by invitation only. Interested campers must speak to a sailing counselor about this last week. Please go this link to register for summer camps 2024 - https://www.regattanetwork.com/event/27709
Chuck Wright-Membership Vice-Commodore Attention boat owners who have not paid your 2024 dues yet. Please arrange to have your boats picked up and removed from the HSA yard as soon as possible. Let me know when you are coming to pick them up; My email address is: cwright1351@yahoo.com.
Keith Amaro-Vice-Commodore New overhead LED lights were installed in the pavilion this week.
Upcoming Events Kathy Sinnett-Events Vice-Commodore and Windward Women
For all club events-family and friends welcome. Please be sure to have any guests (non-members sign a waiver) The forms are in a file box on the shelf by the men’s bathroom.
April 6-General Membership Meeting at HSA starting at 4 pm. Come down and sail before the meeting. We will do a potluck meal afterwards. Please bring something to share.
April 7. Reilly’s Run. 12:30 skippers meeting. 1:30 start racing around the course. Followed by potluck cookout. BYOB. Anyone have a meal theme to suggest?
April 19. April TGIF. Meet at HSA at 5 pm. Keith Amaro will do a weather brief, sailing plan and set up skippers and crews and SAIL! Followed by appetizer potluck & music. BYOB.
April 20th. April Fleet Race. 12:30 skippers meeting. 1:30 racing. starts. Followed by potluck cookout. BYOB.
Adult sailing classes start in April! We will set a work day if needed to finish prepping any Sunfish or Capris.
On-Going Monthly Events
Every Wednesday-Weekly Windward Women Sailing 2-4 pm
Every Thursday-HSA Workday
Every Saturday-Youth Sailors 9-4 pm
20th of Every Month-Deadline for entries in the following month newsletter
Chris Herbster-ERAU Club Affiliate
The club has been active in college sailing, and will be competing at our conference championships in Charleston, SC on the weekend of 4/6-7. April 13-14 we send our Women to their conference championships in Jacksonville, with another team headed to Wilmington, NC for the Azalea Bowl. We finish the season on 4/20-21 with the Sailpack Oriental, with races in Oriental, NC hosted by NC State.
Locally, the club has hosted Learn to Sail events every month, and hope to have another one, or two, before the semester ends.
ERAU Offshore Sailing Team
The club has been running practices on the river, with the occasional trip to the ocean on our Evelyn 32.
Racing begins locally when the Smyrna Yacht Club hosts the Lipton Cup, April 20-21. The club will be participating in the races that are hosted by HRYC over the coming months.
2024 HSA Board Members
Lisa Herbster-Commodore lisa.herbster@gmail.com
Keith Amaro-Vice-Commodore
Tonya Sands-Secretary Ltsands@bellsouth.net
Chuck Wright-Membership Vice-Commodore cwright1351@gmail.com
Caroline Martin-Treasurer
Kathy Sinnett-Events Vice-Commodore and Windward Woman kathysinnett1@gmail.com
Chris Sinnett-Training and Education Vice-Commodore jcsinnett25@gmail.com
Daniel Biringer-Fleet Vice-Commodore dano1252@hotmail.com
Peter Burg-ex officio (past commodore) peter.burg@rocketmail.com
David Dunn-Youth Sailors Representative
Chris Herbster-ERAU Club Affiliate chris.herbster@gmail.com
Steven Chaco-OST ERAU Club Affiliate