Jericho Sailing Centre "in the wind" August 30, 2007

Ahoy JSCA Members:

Here is what's "in the wind", coming events and items of interest at the Jericho Sailing Centre, your ocean access community centre, for August 30-September 6, 2007 and beyond:

September is a Summer Month at Jericho!
Three quarters of September occurs in the summer season. Despite that fact many of our members traditionally go into maritime hibernation following Labour Day-but wait, don't put that boat away just yet. September is often the best month for ocean activity in Vancouver. The transition of seasons from summer to fall brings a bountiful harvest of wind over the bounding main. Water and air maintain their summer composure, temperature wise, and although twilight progressively dwindles down to the shortest straw of summer days, there is still time to slip in a quick session on the briny between the end of toiling for dollars and the end of the day.

The Jericho Sailing Centre will be on the water busy, hosting 16 event days in September including the largest of our 90+ events this year the 3,000 participant UBC Rec "Day of the Longboat". Our schools will be busy teaching ocean kayaking, dinghy sailing and windsurfing to hundreds of Grade 11 & 12 Community Recreation students from high schools all over the Metro Vancouver area. In a summer where fair weather has been rarer than a skinny rat in a strike struck Vancouver alley we need to milk this one all we can. Get out and enjoy your boat, this year September will surely be the best part of summer.

Canadian Laser Masters Championship Regatta
This Labour Day Weekend. This is it, the Granddaddy of all regattas, the 2007 Canadian Laser Masters Championships runs this weekend Sept. 1-3. Participants must be at least 35 as of Sept. 1. There are four divisions as follows: Apprentice 35-44; Masters 45-54; Grand Master 55-64; Great Grand Masters 65+. Radials are welcome. For the Notice of Race beam over to our website at http://www.jsca.bc.ca. For information on this event or anything to do with Lasers contact Andy Hunt at bclaser@hotmail.com

NO Sunday Racing this Sunday or Next - 2007 Sunday Racing Finale September 16

Tasar BC's September 8 & 9
Vancouver Triathlon Sept 16
Sunday Racing Last One Sept 16
UBC Day of the Longboat-Clinic Sept 22 & 23
UBC Day of the Longboat-Event Sept 29 & 30

UBC Old Boys Kick Off Their 33rd Season Sept. 29
Rick Bourne was just a pimply faced teenager when the UBC Old Boys Rugby Football Club kicked off their inaugural season in 1975. Shortly after that they came on board with the Jericho Sailing Centre and developed the Surf & Turf room as their in season clubhouse. A lot of balls have been burped out of their scrums since then and the Old Boys have established a longstanding tradition of character and success on the playing field. After suffering an off year in 2006 where their schedule was adversely affected due to extreme weather and field closures, and they failed to make the playoffs, the Old Boys Ravens are chomping at the bit to get back on track. Today the Grand Old Man of Old Boys Ravens rugby, their Vice-president Rick Bourne, is the only remaining member of the original team. Rick confidently predicts that the Ravens will rebound this year and make a strong drive into the playoffs. For more info. on UBC Old Boys rugby, drop kick the ball over to www.ravensclubhouse.com

Tuesday Night Racing
Special Coaching Edition with Dave Thomas. Many thanks to former Canadian Olympic Sailing Team Coach Dave Thomas for volunteering his time and expertise to this past JSCA Tuesday Night Racing program. Dave conducted an informative pre-race clinic, on water analysis during racing and après race debrief. Dave is also co-owner of the MacSailing School here at the Jericho Sailing Centre. MacSailing has been enjoying it's most successful season since it was opened by Ross and Marcia Macdonald almost 10 years ago and is committed to further developing junior racing programs at the Centre. A team from MacSailing is currently competing in the RVYC Commodore's cup junior regatta. The team is also sponsored in part by the JSCA.

JSCA Membership Cards
Our chip ship has finally come in. For those new JSCA members who have been patiently awaiting the arrival of our proximity chip membership card stock, the shipment has finally arrived, come on down!

Volunteer Workparties
Battle of the Blackberries- Saturday & Sunday @ 1000H.

JSCA Notice of AGM Tuesday October 23 at 1900H
The Jericho Sailing Centre Association's 34th Annual General Meeting will be held Tuesday, October 23, 2007 at 1900H in the English Bay Banquet Room of the Jericho Sailing Centre, 1300 Discovery Street, Vancouver, B.C. The 2006/2007 J.S.C.A. Board and Committees will report on their accomplishments this past year and the challenges for the future. Please plan to attend and participate in the future direction of your ocean access community centre.

Call for Nominations
Voting will take place to elect eight members for a two-year term to our 15 member Board of Directors. The J.S.C.A. Board meets once a month to set policy and determine Jericho's direction. Interested members who have time and expertise to offer are invited to submit a letter indicating their experience and areas of interest to the J.S.C.A. Nominations Committee c/o the Jericho office no later than 1700H, Tuesday, October 9. The signed nomination letter must include your name, address and telephone number. For additional information contact Mike Cotter, J.S.C.A. General Manager 224-4177 or email mike@jsca.bc.ca.

Ground Craft Storage Space Wanted
Not using your ground stored craft? The JSCA will buy your spot back. We currently have boats on our waiting list and we would like to accommodate them all. At this time our staff is taking stock of inactive craft populating the compound. If necessary, under the terms of our Boat Storage Policy, storage rights for these craft may be withdrawn. We are currently asking members who may wish to voluntarily relinquish their ground storage to contact the office to arrange a refund on the unused portion of their storage fees. This offer does not apply to rack storage.

LAUNCH Dolly Etiquette
We would like to reminder members that JSCA launch dollies are for everyone's use. Please show consideration of your fellow members by using dollies only for launching and retrieval. Dollies used to launch boats must be immediately returned to the fence and not left on the shoreline.

Weekly Events at the Jericho Sailing Centre
Jericho Folk Club Tuesdays 2000H through Sept. 25
Sunday Racing Last one Sept. 16
Tuesday Nite Racing Tuesdays 1815H through to Sept. 18
Ecomarine Thursday Night Paddling Thursdays 1800H through to Sept. 13

Upcoming JSCA Meetings:
JSCA Safety Committee September 5 @ 1900H
JSCA Operations Committee September 6 @ 1900H
JSCA Board September 10 @ 1900H
JSCA AGM October 23 @ 1900H
JSCA Office Hours - 0900H-2100H to Saturday Sept. 2. 0900H-1800H Sunday & Labour Day Monday.
September Hours After Labour Day 0930H-1730H Weekdays. 0900H-1800H Weekends.
Gates open at 0700H and are locked at Dusk. (approx. 2000H and fading fast).

Amphibious Tadpoles? - Kids Fun Run at Jericho
The organizers of the Subarau Vancouver International Half Marathon will be conducting a FREE Kid's Fun Run on Saturday, September 15 at 1530H starting adjacent to the parking lot of the Jericho Sailing Centres. If you can pry your small fry out of your boat for an hour or so this sounds like great landlubber fun. World class triathletes will be on hand to help your tadpole find their land legs. For more info. hoof over to http://www.lifesport.ca

Big League Triathlon Coming to Jericho in September
The Subaru West Coast Triathlon Series comes to the Jericho Sailing Centre on Sunday, September 16, 2007.
Be part of the action and join the 2007 Volunteer Team! If you're interested in getting involved in an exciting Half-Ironman event or know someone who is, please swim/cycle/run over to www.lifesport.ca to register now or contact Volunteer
Director, Adria McCrindle (adriamccrindle@hotmail.com or 604.880.4640) for
more information.

Safety is Your Responsibility
As the skipper of a vessel YOU, and you alone, are responsible for the safety of yourself and your crew as well as ensuring your craft meets the minimal legal requirements. Last Friday night two sailboats sailing from the Centre were caught after dark kilometers away from Jericho in the doldrums, the sudden shut off of the wind which often occurs in the hour before dusk-WITHOUT PADDLES. These skippers should have been aware of the legal requirement for paddles, and should not have been out there at that time. Luckily, an alert member caught our Rescue/Safety officer Rory Johnston, as he was leaving for the day. They re-launched the Rescue boat and brought the members in. A minute or two later and this story could've had an entirely different outcome as the boats were heading for the open waters of the Georgia Strait on an outgoing tide in the dark with no navigational lighting.

Fair winds,

Mike

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