The Big Daddy of the AYC regattas is the Gran Prix qualifier Windermere  Regatta June 9-10. This regatta features buoy racing, karaoke and legendary AYC hospitality. Moorage 75% off, complimentary champagne after racing Sunday, camping at the marina, clean heads and showers(don't forget quarters!). Each class winner qualifies for the Seattle Yacht Club invitational Gran Prix Regatta in October each fall. Racers from Victoria, Vancouver, Bellingham, the San Juans, Oak Harbor and even competitors from as far as Olympia on their way home from Swiftsure are known to appear. Sign up now to make it easy on the organizers.The following weekend is Saturday Womens Regatta and Sunday singlehanded race if you are interested in a Two'fer. In other news:
Steph and Andy Schwenk will stage the battle royale @ Swiftsure this year as Andy steps aboard last years winning ride, Doug Fryers Night Runner, on the other tack will be Stephanie on board Bravo Zulu the Beneteau 40.7 she plans to race in the Vic Maui this summer, they will compete in the long course against Kevin Welch and the star studded crew of ICON.
Birthday Boy John Sanford rallied from a dip in the drink last week to place second aboard his own Juan Pequeno this week. Emoyeni scored the first PMS (it's not what ya think) of the season. People are starting to talk on the dock wondering where the Maher's yacht is hidden. Capt. Dr. Gunn is tenaciously holding on to a 1`point lead headed into the final race of the Corinthian Series. B fleet has a 3 way tie for third. If you see Ian and Joy at the bar buy them a drink and thank them for handling RC duties in a tricky first series of the year. Did I mention it's time to surf on over to the Windermere site and get signed up!!!

Another beautiful weekend and the boats are out...and lots of activity at AYC.    Friday night's General Meeting (with 70+ in attendance) was highlighted by an absolutely spellbinding program by Mark Schrader....a fascinating synopsis of his OCEANWATCH circumnavigation of the Americas in 2010.
And then yesterday was our longest distance race of the Tri-Straits Series...Hein Bank (& only CAT SASS made it back in time to complete the course).   But 14 boats enjoyed sun and the challenge of zephyr winds and big ebb tides.
Coming up are Wednesday night Races & food, Garrison Bay Cruise (Memorial weekend), Waterfront Festival (June 2-3), Windermere Regatta (June 9-10) and Gen'l Meeting devoted to Clubhouse expansion (June 15).
And PLEASE, bartenders are needed for all, boats are needed for free rides for Waterfront Festival and volunteers are always needed!!!!
Watch the website and stay tuned and involved.....lots of fun in store!!!!

21intrepid captains and their crews challenged the wind and elements for an evening of derring do. Well maybe not so much in the wind category but it did blow from two completely different directions so that makes it a little tricky. Results are posted but of course they don't tell the whole story. Chef Jerry proved that after raising five kids he can flip burgers with the best of them. Junior member Gabe Hill was the highlight of the dessert cart by providing locally produced Lopez Island Creamery ice cream for the entire club. Gabe says they plan to start a tradition so please support these fine sponsors and eat lots of that delicious stuff! MarKay Neumann and Mr. Jewett held down the bar and Ian and Joy covered RC duty. D fleet is open to any boat that shows proof of insurance and wants to come out and see what this wackiness is all about.
In other news: Passepartout departs at 9am this morning to go to Astoria for the Oregon Offshore race with AYC members Andy Schwenk and Jerry Vanderveen aboard. Surfin Bird, Wild Rumpus and the mighty ICON travelled to Sattle last weekend for the Race to the Straits. Long story but Surfin Bird is likely the only boat to complete both days, standby for results.... Windermere registration should be open this week!

The inaugural OhBarf (Orcas Oakharbor Bellingham and Anacortes Racing Federation)Regatta, an organization to build unity between Oak Harbor, Orcas, San Juan Island Anacortes, and Bellingham Yacht Clubs, sailed the OIYC Spring Regatta last weekend. One boat from each fleet except Oak Harbor were represented. Three races were sailed Saturday upon the waters of West Sound.  The sun was out and the wind shifted to all quarters at one time or another in fact in one race there were no leeward marks...Action was tight at the start with the good doctor spinning circles and the Red Eye Express found PMS (premature start) for those scoring at home. The fleet was split in two for scoring but started as one. Orcas won both big Ptolemy and little Cray Dr Guru White. 2nd for big went to Buckle Up outa Bellingham and second little Wild Rumpus sailing for the scarlet letter yacht club. 3rd big to Sabra from SJIYC and third little to Ziggy and the Foam followers from Orcas. The OIYC clubhouse hosted not only scrumptious BBQ but also nautical trivia. What was the name of the designer of Australia II that won the Americas Cup? What was his original name? What was the losing American boat named? What was to be placed at NYYC as a result? On and on it went from Uffa Fox to Buddy Melges to Paul Elvstrom to Dorade to Dragons to Lasers to kicking straps to hash browns....Wonderful times OHbarf travels to Windermere next then  PITCH.
In other news AYC split North and South again with Cat Sass traveling to the International Regatta in Blaine and ICON and the Iconians in Seattle for the Smith Island Race. Meanwhile the Commodore and the missus traveled internationally to the CFSA opening day in Esquimalt.
Join the fun this Wednesday at 1830 as we kick off our evening series,questions???? To get on a boat or help out Call Andy Schwenk 360 770 7035

Those of you who didn't come...you missed a wonderful one!!!   Kudos to Warren Walz and Cruise Chair Bill Chowanec for this weekend's Sucia Race-Cruise....23 boats, 60+ of your fellow members, GREAT hors d'oeuvres, more steaks than you've ever seen, wine, wonderful conversation, good weather and a great race up on Saturday (PANGAEA won!). Don't miss the next one...Garrison Bay Memorial Day weekend....and in the interim, $5 night this Friday the 27th and then we're into May....Wednesday night Races, Gen'l Meeting with Mark Schrader, etc!!!!!   So again, those of you who missed this weekend, don't make the same mistake again!! This is what your Club's about!!!

Northern News Report:
Where are all those Ugly Hawiian Shirts coming from? In a fleet of 24 racers and cruisers that invaded Sucia last weekend Steve Dubnoff carried away a chocolatey victory, even over a former champion, and a stuffed entrant with a wardobe malfunction. The ever growing jigsaw puzzle of rafted boats at the dock ranged from 18' to at least 100'. (That's what my crew thought!) Coffee was shared in the morning after a terrific night of potluck BBQ, cribbage, wifi TV, marshmallows, and some wine. At the start of Saturdays race the competitiors decided to motor North to the windline and Rough n Ready skippered by California Chris and Sheila fired off the starting guns somewhere off Jack Island. According to inside sources in the revised results The Commodore and the missus carried the day with a new paint job and old sails. The Wild Rumpus with the most Pop Tarts on board ever carried at sea was second. Passepartout slipped in for third, The Walt and Jerry show Syndicat 4th and the Family Affair Emoyine 5th. Three cheers for cruise chair Capt. Chowanec!

Southern News Report:
Kevin Welch and Ian Sloan took their training dinghy for ICON, the Melges 24 Mikey, to the CYC Puget Sound Spring Regatta (PSSR) and after the smoke cleared; 12 races over two days in a star studded fleet of 15 boats they came back with the first place pickle dish. To come out of the rainy season and start out with a win is commendable. The entire crew has been training and cross training and have their sights set on the Worlds next year in San Frncisco.

Wednesday night at 6pm at AYC there is a get together for everybody interested in the Wednesday night racing program. We need Race Commitee volunteers, help in the kitchen, bartenders and of course skippers and crew. We will have sign up sheets for skippers looking for crew and vice versa, or bring your own. Bring a neighbor or a friend or friend that is a neighbor! Come on down and have a glass of cheer and find out what it is all about!

Recently representatives from Anacortes, Bellingham, Orcas and Oak Harbor Yacht Clubs met at the Brown Lantern to discuss how we can promote sailing in the Northern Salish Sea. As a result of this OOHBARF was born to represent the aforementioned clubs. The first race in this championship series is April 28/9 in West Sound. Goto www.oiyc.org for all the details. OIYC is a terrific club. The NOR has 20.00 entry and 15.00 dinner. Sailing in West Sound is a blast and we need at least 3 AYC boats to form a team. Windermere is the second race and PITCH is the third in this interclub Admirals Cup type format. Come join the fun and be able to brag you were there when it all started!

It says on our Facebook Forum..BGDYCITWWW!!!...and we are!   This weekend's Tulip Regatta was as close to a perfect event as anyone could imagine, so I sat down tonight to thank people who made it so. I started with page 1 of the roster and on every page, from Abelman to Wood was someone who contributed as a volunteer...food prep, club cleaning, ordering, window washing, bar tending, cooking, race management on and off the water, scoring, chairs & tables in and out, etc, etc.  I swear at least one third and perhaps one half of our members were involved....44 boats from all over, 6 classes, 6 races, 190+ people fed Saturday night (superb salmon!!).  So it's impossible to name everyone, but you, and most of us, know who are and we REALLY appreciate all you did!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!   Weekends like this are what a Yacht Club should be about.  

Heck you know what I mean! Grab your binoculars or your spyglass and a few snacks and head to the top of Cap Sante. The bay is going to be filthy with ragbaggers competing in the Tulip Cup. If you're fortunate enough to still be a yacht owner in this economy grab your neighbor and take them for a 3 hour tour. While on the water get to leeward several boat lengths from a leeward mark or to weather several boat lengths from the weather mark, make way for the photo boat! Cheer on your AYC favorites! 2477 in the multihulls is Ian and Joy hanging from wires. The triple deuce 222 is Tom Stockton in your favorite dessert. The newlyweds Eric and Jordan still jetlagged from their honeymoon are in 171. Colin Emsley all the way from Sandpoint by way of Torquay but still a hometown boy is on the stick of 159. The Handyboys will be looking to take out Jerry and his harem aboard SIN d cat. Make some noise out there, we need a twelfth man, let's not let those pirates from Bellingham empty our trophy case. The racing starts at ten and goes all day, if you gotta mow your lawn and demoss the roof come on down to the club for a glass of racer red this evening. On Sunday there will be an auction after the awards ceremony for the Jennifer Bowman original currently on top of the barback.

Southern Straits regatta held on Good Friday each year seems to have a split personality of late. In 2010 it blew so hard one boat was sunk and the race was cancelled, the last two years have been a true test of light air sailing skills and patience. Each year the band and the Easter bunny show up underneath the Lion's Gate bridge, they serve up some pancakes and the fleet gets a rousing send off. For the second year in a row Kevin Welch skippered Icon to a first to finish. They are off to an excellent start on their quest to win the Pac Cup in July.This year the wind filled in behind them and they corrected to third overall. You can goto www.southerstraits.ca to check out their track. Very tricky sailing with many sail changes due to fickle localized breezes and ever changing significant currents. In the world of yellow boats the Wild Rumpus failed to complete the course for the third year in a row.....ughhhh. Stephanie Schwenk sailing aboard Bravo Zulu held on for 2nd in div, 6th overall.
In other news the permanent marks have been replaced and refurbished. 29 Tulip Cup entrants so far. (Plus you know Blackfoot will be there) Special racer meeting Wednesday April 18th @ club at 6pm. Please come down to club and learn how to operate chase boat, light BBQ, do RC duty, and the like, you don't need an invitation or even a boat we will hook you up. On April 25th we will an open house for new racers and skippers looking for crew so schedule your haircut now.