By Emory Heisler
AYC’s 64th birthday celebration had beautiful warm days, great meals and beverages, and clear nights of revelry with friends under the stars. Perfect! Right? What more could sailors ask for at a Birthday Regatta & Leukemia Cup?? Oh….WIND.
Yes, we’ve all been through light wind days at Lake Pleasant, but the wind god “Paka’a” was seriously absent this weekend, especially on Friday. In total we finished only 43 races across 9 fleets in 3 days. ZERO races were scored on Friday. And fifty-six, yes 56, TLE scores (Time Limit Expired) were recorded. (RACING RESULTS).
Light wind. No wind. Those conditions certainly favored the small boats. Vipers, Sunfish, Bucc’s, Lasers and Portsmouth fleets all finished five or more races by “ghosting” around the PHRF boats and by waiting it out for the south breeze that finally arrived late Sunday afternoon. On the other end of the scale, our condolences to the PHRF Jib & Main fleet that “finished” only two races all weekend, and one of those had all but one sailor as TLE. Ouch.
On land however, Mother Nature did her best to make up for our on the water doldrums. Perfect picnic weather greeted the sailors, visitors and volunteers all weekend. And it was a good thing given that we had no tent and we were out in the elements on the grassy “Spinnaker Point” ramadas area. So despite “drifting with purpose” on the water, fine times were enjoyed shoreward all weekend thanks to the perfect weather – AND GREAT VOLUNTEERS.
Speaking of VOLUNTEERS, Debbra Heisler (AYC Commodore) and her Shore Crew of 60+ volunteers, PLUS Wendy Larsen (PRO) and her “Dream Team” Race Committee, PLUS the LPSC Breakfast crew…and more…you all ARE AWESOME! Sailors, make sure you say thanks and buy a beverage for them whenever you cross paths.
As our Commodore, Debbra Heisler has often mentioned, “Volunteers are the wind in our sails.” And for this event that is an understatement. This event takes MANY HANDS! We counted 60+volunteers and if by chance we missed you, we apologize. Many of the participants jumped in when asked to help with one or more of the thousands of tasks needed to make this a successful weekend.
Here’s the photo link from the event.
Joanne Aspinall, our event photographer took over 1000 images and sifted through them to provide you with over 600 pictures. Thank you, Joanne!
Bruce Lee & Aaron Rodriguez (A-Rod)
Race Committee Volunteers(13+)
- Wendy Larsen – PRO
- Rob Gibbs – Scorer
- Dave Christensen
- Dianna Andress
- Carol Anne Byrnes – NM
- Pat Byrnes – NM
- Crystal Combs
- Jo Grijalva
- Mark Kane
- Ted Merritt
- Lori Reger
- Mark Trainor
- Greg Ullrich
Shore Crew & Other Volunteers (40+)
- Bruce Andress
- Joanne Aspinall – Photos
- Dawn Berg
- Jeff Bryant
- Melinda Charlton – guest
- Jeff Coulter
- Bill Feil
- Maryellen & Mike Ferring
- Debbie French
- Mike Gellar
- Wess Gray – guest
- Stacey Haggart
- Deb & Emory Heisler
- Lynna Holland – Flagstaff
- Ed & Debbie Huntsman
- Jim Irwin – Michigan
- Olivia Jackman
- Megan Koopman
- Bob LaBine
- Al & Sandy Lehman
- Cedric Lorch
- Martin Lorch
- Dennis Lynde
- Bob Naylor
- Dave Nowak
- Erika & Mike Parker
- Scott Picquet
- Fay Powell
- Lori Reger
- Peter Schweizer
- Johnn Spence
- Greg Ullrich
- Ralph Vatalaro
- Marshall Williamson
- Vanessa Wisbaum
- Jessica Zornik
The Lake Pleasant Sailing Club crew of 8-10 was led by Crystal Coombs and they provided a delicious breakfast on Saturday morning. Thank you LPSC!!! And thanks again to everyone that helped make our 64th Birthday celebration a success!
Emory Heisler – Regatta Chair
Debbra Heisler – Commodore & Shore Crew
Wendy Larsen – Principal Race Officer
Cindy Pillote – LCR Fundraising Chair
The Leukemia Cup Regatta (LCR) FUNDRAISING CONTINUES!
We are still RAISING MORE THAN A SAIL! As of this writing, AYC sailors, friends, families and our sponsor partners have raised OVER $20,000!
Check out our Leukemia Lymphoma Society fundraising ONLINE AUCTION HERE. Great stuff for sailors and more. Also you can donate directly to LLS through the AYC website, HERE.
Watch for more LCR fundraising news coming soon about our fundraising sponsors, donors and overall fundraising progress.
THANK YOU SPONSORS!
