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And if not, why not?

One of the great benefits of knowing how to sail is access to gorgeous yachts in beautiful places. Clear green water, steady trade breeze, warm evenings with a  piña colada. Mmmm. Oops, sorry, I drifted off there for a minute.

You’ve seen the tantalizing beauty shots in sailing magazines. At the next AYC monthly meeting, Tom White of The Moorings yacht charters will tap into your wanderlust and show you how to make the fantasy come true.

Tom will be our monthly meeting speaker Tuesday, March 13, beginning at 7pm (but arrive early for dinner). Monthly meetings are held at Aces restaurant (that’s apparently what they’re calling it now) at Rolling Hills Golf Course, 1415 North Mill Avenue, Tempe, AZ 85281-1205 (map) and both members and non-members are welcome to attend.

A Moorings charter catamaran saunters through a typical BVI backdrop in a typical BVI breeze.

The Caddy Shack overflowed Tuesday night (1/9) to hear sailing legend Gary Jobson talk about his projects, the America’s Cup, and sailing in general. Punctuated with funny stories and lots of video, Gary’s presentation brought the audience to its feet for a closing standing ovation.

The next night Gary offered some of the same presentation to the New York Yacht Club, which has announced that it will challenge for the America’s Cup next time around. He told us he would urge them to commit to two challenges, since the recent pattern has been that the defender would successfully defend the first time and might be defeated the second. He said that NYYC had raised an impressive amount of money to mount the challenge and could be a serious contender.

Gary Jobson with the AYC monthly meeting. Photo: Mike Ferring

Lots of good stories for entertainment. Photo: Mike Ferring

Gary Jobson takes over the room. Photo: Mike Ferring

The bar lineup. Photo: Mike Ferring

Before the monthly meeting, Gary Jobson met with the kids in the juniors program. Photo: Mike Ferring

Gary Jobson

Gary Jobson is certainly America’s most famous sailor.

He was inducted into the first class of the Sailing Hall of Fame and everything flows from there: college sailor of the year twice, tactician for Ted Turner’s winning America’s Cup campaign, winner of oodles of races, offshore and on, all of which vaulted him to his role as author, commentator, TV producer, speaker (over 2,600 lectures he says),  President of US Sailing, and now VP of World Sailing, the international governing body of the sport (formerly called ISAF).

Gary will be our January monthly meeting speaker Tuesday, January 9, beginning at 7pm (but arrive early for dinner). Monthly meetings are held at the Caddy Shack @ Rolling Hills Golf Course, 1415 North Mill Avenue, Tempe, AZ 85281-1205 (map) and both members and non-members are welcome to attend.

This will be Gary’s third visit to AYC and if you were at either of the first two, you know what an entertaining speaker he is—and how popular he is. Because of the expected large turnout, we’ve arranged with the Caddy Shack to reduce the menu options that night to three (hamburger & fries, chicken fillet sandwich & fries, and Greek salad) in order to make sure we can serve everyone who would like to eat.

Like more details on Gary’s amazing list of accomplishments? Click over to his website for a quick briefing.

Got 15 minutes to spare? Watch Gary’s ESPN story on Ted Turner’s 1979 Fastnet victory.

Donna Benson marvels at the size of the Daisy Spanker. Photo: Mike Ferring

The “Daisy Spanker” gift was the hit of the night, a “sail” fashioned from some giant-sized women’s undies, first received by Donna Benson, then Buccaneer-claimed by Deb Heisler, and finally pirated by Gene Walentiny (who denied speculation about what he planned for them).

Sharon Bell confessed to gifting the Spanker and to cooking up the colorful description of the origin of the “sail,” reprinted below.

The event was the annual AYC gift exchange, emceed by Tom Errickson, and rich with the usual assortment of alcoholic beverage gifts, including a couple we’re still trying to figure out. Velvet Falernum anyone?

Then the meeting turned to the serious business of choosing the “winner” of the Blunder Bucket, a tradition almost as old as the Daisy Spanker. Two worthy nominations were submitted: George Tingom for leading the Governor’s Cup until he decided to round the wrong island and Paul Liszewski for toppling overboard Rolling in the Deep when racing. Paul’s crew had refused all inquiries about what happened, claiming some kind of crew-confidentiality agreement, but James Morphis was an eyewitness and embellished the nomination with great detail.

George Tingom, proud recipient of the Blunder Bucket. Photo: Mike Ferring

Still, it would be hard to deny George the honor for booting the Governor’s Cup, the crowd loudly applauded and he proudly accepted.

Here’s Sharon’s account of the origin of the “Daisy Spanker.”

Webster’s Dictionary “spanker”

1. a fore-and-aft sail or a mast that is aftermost in a sailing vessel
2. something outstandingly fine or large

The “Daisy” Spanker is a light air reaching sail, where the apparent wind has a significant effect to create angles less than 90 degrees. It is guaranteed to gain interest and pause your competition long enough for you to finish first in your fleet.

The idea for this sail was conceived by Robert “Black Heart” McDoogle in 1865. To many people, he was as cold as a well-diggers toe in January, but he loved his wife (Daisy) who was of voluptuous size and suffered an unfortunate tendency to pass gas after eating certain foods. One day after a particularly forceful series of emissions he had an idea, rushed on deck with Daisy’s bloomers and hoisted them off a loose line on the aft mast. Low and behold, the bloomers filled with wind and held tight while the ship lurched forward. Captain McDoogle named the new sail a “Daisy Spanker” in honor of his wife.

The 2017 Christmas party was presided over by the snowbear. Photo: Mike Ferring

December’s monthly meeting brings the annual AYC gift exchange, a gift exchange with a twist. You might say twisted, even. The meeting is at 7 pm, Tuesday, December 12, at the Caddy Shack @ Rolling Hills, 1415 North Mill Avenue, Tempe.

Here’s how the gift exchange works:

• You bring a wrapped gift valued at about $20.
• You pick a number from a hat to determine the order in which we select gifts.
• We’ll have two people called to the front of the room at the same time.
• Each person can choose to pick a wrapped gift from the pile or play pirate and take the gift from someone who’s already opened one.
• Gifts can be “pirated” only twice before they’re safe from further theft.

Some of the gifts can be pretty weird, but if you’re looking for a prized gift suggestion: Liquor always seems to bring applause!

What’s the Christmas gift exchange like? Here’s what happened in 2015.

Victor Felice holding tight to a gift in 2015. Photo: Mike Ferring

It all started with the legendary J/24.

Jeff Johnstone recounted to the AYC November monthly meeting how his father Rod chose the size of the J/24 40 years ago for one critical reason: he could build a 24 foot long by 7 foot wide boat in his garage. Anything bigger wouldn’t fit. When they rolled it out, it not only floated, but beat all comers with a family crew on board.

Since then, there have been over 14,000 boats with the famous J/ on the side, a record of success they could never have imagined back then. Jeff recalled the path from J/24 to J/121, the company’s latest offering, a 40-footer designed for comfortable ocean cruising and racing with a smaller-than-typical crew. Instead of six crew hiking, the J/121 has water ballast that Jeff says “you never have to feed.”

Jeff made a lightning fast trip to Arizona for the Tuesday night meeting, flying in Monday, working in his hotel room Tuesday morning, playing a round of golf at Rolling Hills in the afternoon and then taking the red-eye home in order to make it to a scheduled sailing session in Rhode Island Wednesday morning. AYC members showed their appreciation by filling the room at the Caddy Shack.

What kind of event brings out large numbers of boats? Jeff ran through the list of some of the most-attended regattas in the world, regattas that bring hundreds: the Fastnet, the Around-the-Island (the island of Wight), the Chicago-to-Mac, the Bridges race in San Francisco Bay and several others. How about a 600+ mile race in the Grenadines? Jeff says people buying the J/121 are looking for interesting races in interesting places and that doesn’t have to mean wet and cold!

Jeff Johnstone recounts the history of J/Boats, from the legendary J/24. Photo: Mike Ferring

That’s the famous Fastnet rock, the rounding point of one of the most popular sailboat races in the world. Photo: Mike Ferring

Every performance sailor knows J/Boats, the premier company for fleets of fast boats that began with the legendary J/24 and continues today with a host of sailboats that start with the letter “J.”

J/Boats President Jeff Johnstone

On Tuesday, November 14, the president of J/Boats, Jeff Johnstone, will be our meeting speaker. He’ll trace the path of the company from the groundbreaking J/24 to the latest hull #1 of the new J/121 (which I know you’ll want to order immediately).

It was Jeff’s father Rod who started it all with $400 worth of fiberglass and wood plus some leftover rigging from brother Bob’s Soling. The result was Ragtime, which proved an amazing race winner and launched a series of J/24s that eventually sold an astonishing 5400 boats.

Since that beginning, the brand has produced 7,000 more J/Boats. A total of six of Rod and Bob’s sons keep the company in the family and sailing fast.

The meeting is Tuesday, November 14, beginning at 7pm (but arrive early for dinner). Monthly meetings are held at the Caddy Shack @ Rolling Hills Golf Course, 1415 North Mill Avenue, Tempe, AZ 85281-1205 (map) and both members and non-members are welcome to attend.

Consider this sentence from the NY Times: “Sea Shepherd… describes itself as an eco-vigilante group, flies a variation of the Jolly Roger on its ships and often cites the motto, ‘It takes a pirate to catch a pirate.’” Sea Shepherd tries to stop bad guys from wiping out endangered ocean species or nail them for illegal fishing.

Sea Shepherd’s David Hance

David Hance is the Chief Operating Officer of this group and he’ll be our January meeting speaker. He’ll brief us on their efforts in the northern Sea of Cortez, where they’re working with the Mexican government and other groups to protect the critically endangered Vaquita Porpoise, which they estimate now numbers just 60.

In fact, Sea Shepherd has just stopped six fishing boats illegally fishing in the Sea of Cortez, turning them over to Mexican authorities.

The meeting is Tuesday, January 10, beginning at 7pm (but arrive early for dinner). Monthly meetings are held at the Caddy Shack @ Rolling Hills Golf Course, 1415 North Mill Avenue, Tempe, AZ 85281-1205 (map) and both members and non-members are welcome to attend.

A shot of the crew of one of Sea Shepherd’s “vigilante” ships.

Professional stand up paddle boarder Chase Kosterlitz told the October AYC monthly meeting that he’s trying to bring order out of chaos for the young sport of SUP racing. Chase showed a video of the start of the world’s most prominent event in 2013, with a herd of paddleboarders pushing past the supposed start line, edging up to the water (keeping up with the “first cheater,” he said) and then crashing into each other as they started, looking for room to put their boards.

A sport without rules is not a sport, he said, describing what he’s tried to do with the Stand Up Paddle Athletes Association (SUPAA), which he founded. He said he’s now trained about 50 officials worldwide in an attempt to stabilize the sport and make it more fair for all competitors.

“I live in San Diego,” says Chase, “where I surf, hike and train in between traveling around the world looking for adventure. I got into water sports as a professional kiteboarding and stand up paddle instructor, where I learned to kiteboard in 2005 and began stand up paddling in 2008.

“After a collegiate basketball career, I became an avid water sports enthusiast–dedicated to living and promoting an active lifestyle on the water. This passion led me to establish my Florida-based business, Water Monkey, in order to promote this lifestyle. In five years of competition I have several championship titles and multiple wins across the United States and around the world. In addition to competition I enjoy writing and traveling to find new and challenging places to paddle, surf, kitesurf and explore.”

For more information visit SUPathletes.com. And here’s his personal website.

Chase showing the AYC meeting the wild start of a SUP race. Photo: Chris Smith

Yes, standup paddleboard is a physical sport!

Would you like to know how to launch your boat with the trailer still attached? Like some tips on how to attract the attention of law enforcement while boating?

Maricopa County Deputy Sheriff John Ramsay has seen it all in his 30 years of lake duty and he’ll bring a bag load of stories, both comical and serious, when he joins us for the next AYC membership meeting.

Not only does Deputy Ramsay have vast experience with the craziness on our local lakes, but he also trains others to deal with it. He’s one of just 25 officers nationally to be certified to train lawmen on the water.

The meeting is Tuesday, September 13, beginning at 7pm (but arrive early for dinner). Monthly meetings are held at the Caddy Shack @ Rolling Hills Golf Course, 1415 North Mill Avenue, Tempe, AZ 85281-1205 (map) and both members and non-members are welcome to attend.

Lake Pleasant Vista. Photo: Mike Ferring

Suddenly alone. Now what? You’re suddenly by yourself on your boat, scanning frothy waves for your crew. Now what do you do?

In July, sailing safety expert Bruce Brown will talked us through this frightening scenario. Bruce is the main presenter of US Sailing’s Safety at Sea seminars, seminars that are both very helpful and entertainingly delivered.

Here’s Bruce’s handout, a list of essential skills for anyone heading out on big water in a small boat. It’s fine for the skipper to know how to rescue someone, but what happens if it’s the skipper who goes for a swim? Can your crew execute a MOB recovery or call on the VHF in an emergency?

Bruce has been a prominent member of the sailing safety community for many years, a former president of the US Marine Safety Association and a member of the US Sailing Safety at Sea Committee since 2010.

July speaker Bruce Brown