What's New at Y-Knot Sailing

Join us for Boat Work Day Sat, April 28

noreply@blogger.com (Spencer Raggio) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 15:19:00 +0000

Y-Knot annual Boat Work Day is scheduled for 9am through 4pm at YMCA Camp Chingachgook on Saturday, April 28. You provide a little elbow grease, we'll provide lunch. We need to get our fleet of Martin 16s ready for the 2012 sailing season. Help us scrub, wax and repair. We'll check rigging and sails, and in general make sure the boats are shipshape. This is a great opportunity to rReconnect with old friends after the long winter, spend the day at the lake, and help out Y-Knot. Hope you see you there!

Minutes from Feb. 28, 2012, Y-Knot Board Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (Friends of the Penguin) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 03:42:00 +0000

Minutes from the Feb. 28, 2012, Y-Knot Board of Managers’ meeting at the Southern Saratoga YMCA, Clifton Park, NY, are submitted for consideration as follows:

In attendance were Mark Carnevale (President), Keith Edwards (YMCA Camp Chingachgook liaison), Dan Kennedy, Spencer Raggio, Don Miller (Vice President), and Dan Byrnes (Secretary).

This meeting was originally scheduled to be held Feb. 21 but was rescheduled from last week because of a winter storm and illnesses.

The Board welcomed long-time volunteer Dan Kennedy to his first Y-Knot Board meeting.

Minutes from the Jan. 17 meeting were read and approved.

The Capital Area Model Boat Association gave a presentation by Peter Meixner, who was kind enough to come by and tell us about his Soling One Meter radio controlled model racing sailboat fleet (Web site http://www.orgsites.com/ny/camba/). They race Tuesday and Friday afternoons 2:00-4:00 P.M. at the Crossings, Clifton Park. Mark Carnevale agreed to talk with Peter off-line to pick a date when he would lead a Y-Knot delegation to attend one of their sessions.

North Country Access will be Friday, July 13. We like to take boats and attend this semi-annual event because it’s a good showcase to show people what the Martin 16 can do. Plus, it’s near Fort Drum so there are Wounded Warriors in the crowd. Don Miller and Dan Kennedy are planning to go and Keith Edwards will be taking two sailboats. Mark Carnevale says he would like to attend if he can find accommodations suitable for his needs with the wheelchair. He will be bringing a friend of his, Dan Mueller, along also to participate.

Regarding the 2011 budget, Keith reorganized the income categories to reflect the reality that there are no membership dues as we operate presently. Spencer Raggio said that it appears that the monies from the Moon and Whalen Memorial Funds have not been reflected yet in the operating budget. When those are applied to the income sheet, then we would expect these monies to go to the Designated Fund along with the $107 surplus recorded from 2011 activities.

The next meeting will be held Tues., Mar. 20, at the Clifton Park YMCA.

Submitted by Dan Byrnes, March 20, 2012.

Minutes from Jan. 17, 2012, Y-Knot Board Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (Friends of the Penguin) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0000

Minutes from the Jan. 17, 2012, Y-Knot Board of Managers’ meeting at the Clifton Park Library are submitted for consideration as follows: In attendance were Mark Carnevale (President), Spencer Raggio, Don Miller (Vice President), Scott Stewart (Vice President), Keith Edwards (YMCA Camp Chingachgook liaison) and Dan Byrnes (Secretary).

Minutes from the Nov. 12 meeting were read and approved.

The Y-Knot Sailabration Annual Dinner netted $1,117 in November. On other financial matters, the 2011 budget was reviewed and the Board noted that other income from Memorial Funds (Moon and Whalen) are not reflected under income. Some donations are also still miscategorized from errors we identified last meeting. The Board estimated that anywhere from $4,000 to $6,000 may need to be moved around. Keith Edwards agreed to look into these matters, review the budget and bring a resolution back to our February meeting.

Regarding boat covers, Keith said we are on track to get 3 more tarps so all 6 Martins will have one to help keep water out between sail days. We are also getting No Limit’s roller furling jib out for repairs. Keith said we are scheduled as discussed last meeting to get one new set of Martin sails for about $1,900. The purchase of the Guzzler bilge pumps are in progress also, so we will have some boat work to do in the spring.

The topic was raised of whether we should change the date of our Regatta (Sept. 8-9, 2012) to increase participation from sailors who have conflicts and would otherwise be able to attend our Regatta. There’s a bicycling event for example in Burlington, VT, where monies are raised for a disabled association (Northeast Disabled Athletic Association). Keith said we cannot do Sept. 17 because it is a women’s weekend at the Camp. The two weekends following are J/24 events on Lake George, which won’t work because we depend on J/24 crew for volunteer staff to run the Regatta. We can’t move the Regatta up to an earlier date because Camp is in session. The Board agreed it makes sense to keep the current date for the Y-Knot Regatta.

Regarding radios for the Martins, Keith said the Camp is going to try to get 6 more radios on the Camp frequency for use at the waterfront. The Board agreed that Y-Knot would be willing to help underwrite some of the cost of the radios which Keith estimated would be about $200 each.

The Board discussed a proposal to conduct frostbite racing in the spring and/or the fall using the Capri 14s in Camp. Keith said that the boats are in such poor repair, that we would need all new boats before the Camp could let them out to charter for a spring or fall series. In addition, the Camp’s motorboat insurance policy doesn’t cover anything after Oct. 30. We agreed to discuss with Camp Director George Painter whether Y-Knot can be involved with a frostbite program. The Board sees this as more of a Camp issue than a question for Y-Knot.

Keith reported that either July 13 or July 20 (both are Fridays) would be the date for the North Country Access event in Clayton, NY. We are committed to taking two boats up for the event. Don Miller has committed to volunteering and Spencer Raggio said he thinks he can make it. Keith said he plans to go and will tow the two boats. North Country Access has promised to offset some of our expenses for the event.

The next meeting will be held Tues., Feb. 21, at the Clifton Park Library.

Submitted by Dan Byrnes, January 26, 2012.

"AssistiveTouch" Helps Disabled to Use iPhone

noreply@blogger.com (Spencer Raggio) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 17:26:00 +0000

David Pogue in the NY Times takes a look at Apple's AssistiveTouch technology which helps make the iPhone more accessible to those with disabilities.

"One new feature, called AssistiveTouch, is Apple’s accessibility team at its most creative. When you turn on this feature in Settings >> General >> Accessibility, a new, white circle appears at the bottom of the screen. It stays there all the time. When you tap it, you get a floating on-screen palette. Its buttons trigger motions and gestures on the iPhone screen without requiring hand or multiple-finger movement. All you have to be able to do is tap with a single finger — even a stylus you’re holding in your teeth or fist."

Read the entire article

Apple's Accessbility page

Minutes from Nov. 12, 2011, Annual Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (Friends of the Penguin) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 01:00:00 +0000

Minutes from the Nov. 12, 2011, Y-Knot Board of Managers’ annual meeting at YMCA Camp Chingachgook, Pilot Knob, NY, are submitted for consideration as follows: In attendance were Mark Carnevale (President), Spencer Raggio, Becky Bonn, Don Miller (Vice President), Dave Whalen, Scott Stewart (Vice President), Rick Irvine (Treasurer), Keith Edwards (YMCA Camp Chingachgook liaison), Billy Rankin (YMCA Camp Chingachgook) and Dan Byrnes (Secretary).

Minutes from the June 14 and August 18 meetings were read and approved.

Rick Irvine provided the Treasurer’s report and said the program ended up on the positive side by $2,508. Rick pointed out that some donations (Stewart’s Shops, for example) were listed under Member Dues. We agreed that those monies would need to be re-categorized.

We discussed one matter that at the Regatta, the program was charged $35.00 for each volunteer, for example, whether or not a person actually ate at the camp during the two-day Regatta. After discussion we agreed that this was a convenient way to account for the terrific food the Camp provides. This method of compensating the Camp for the food was better than trying to hand out and collect tickets or check names off of lists. Any difference in funds would be negligible.

Regarding boat maintenance, Keith said that on Oct. 4 when Mark Carnevale came up to the Camp to charter one of the Martin 16s, another pintel failed in a gudgeon disabling the boat’s rudder. We may be looking at a situation where we’ve reached the fatigue limit on that particular part for all of the boats, because we had the same failure during the Regatta. (Keith, by the way, had that gudgeon repaired and the boat back on the water in about an hour.) We agreed to pick up the topic of preventative maintenance at future meetings.

As to sailing operations, right now Y-Knot uses radios provided by the Camp. They work fine and are waterproof, but they use the same system as local fire and police departments use, not the frequency shared by the Camp’s operations. Spencer suggested we should just use ordinary Marine Radios and use Channel 16, which is what the nearby marinas monitor. We discussed the matter and decided to ask the Camp to commit to new water proof radios for Y-Knot to use that share the private frequency that the rest of the Camp staff listens to.

Keith proposed installing a new, larger bilge pump in each Martin 16, but placing it within reach of the companion in the rear seat. If the companion can pump without having to lean over into the front seat, then it would be possible to handle water coming in over the cuddy or gunwales more readily. Keith has his eye on a Guzzler 500 gpm pump that costs about $30 each. He said they have a very short stroke. We agreed that this is a great idea.

We have to replace one of the slings we use to lift sailors into and out of the boats, because it is torn. Keith would like to propose we get 3 new slings to enhance our ability to get all the boats out racing at the same time. Right now we have 6 slings, 3 mediums and 3 larges. Keith quoted a price of $250 each from Bruce Jackson, at a company called Barrier Free. The Board gave Keith the go ahead to spend $750 on three slings, two large and one medium.

The Board discussed a field trip to Piers Park Community Sailing Center in Boston, which also has an adaptive sailing program run by Maureen McKinnon-Tucker. We would like to charter a bus as it may be worth an overnight trip. Everyone agreed this is something we may try to schedule for next summer.

Do we need new sails? There were complaints about the sails used during the Regattas. The problem is that we bought three new sails two years ago, but there was still one boat at the Regatta that had a poor set of sails. We would like to buy at least one new set of sails, which would cost roughly $1,300. We also need to replace the roller furling jib on No Limit, and some of that cost can be shared by the Camp from its waterfront boat repair budget.

Dave Whalen brought up the Freedom auto helm with its battery motor that mounts on the tiller. It was made by BJ, a friend and volunteer of Y-Knot’s and allows joy stick control of the Freedom. Dave said want to tell more people about it and he’d like to see more people use it. It needs a 12 volt marine battery, and Keith said we have a couple of extra ones lying around. Dave asked that we arrange to have some photography or video taken so we can promote the use of it. The Board thanks BJ for his initiative and work and agreed the use of the auto helm should be promoted.

We also discussed getting the sip and puff controller into greater use. There’s a trick to zero-ing out the settings for the job and main sheets. Jennifer Davies sent a video on how to do that.
Keith presented a schedule of sailing days for 2012. We will host regular sailing days on Sat., May 19; Sun., May 27; Sat., June 9; Sat., June 16; Sun., July 1; Tues., July 3; Sat., July 7; Sun., July 15; Tues., July 31; Sat., Aug. 11, and Sun., Sept. 16.

The Board agreed to the following eight dates for its 2012 meetings: Tues, Jan. 17; Tues., Feb. 21; Tues., Mar. 20; Tues., April 17; Tues., May 15; Tues., June 19; Tues., Aug. 21; Sat., Nov. 10.
Our next meeting will be Tuesday, Jan. 17, at the Clifton Park Library, at 6:00 PM.

Submitted by Dan Byrnes, January 17, 2012.

Note: http://piersparksailing.org/adaptive-sailing is the URL for the Adaptive Sailing program at the Piers Park Sailing Center, Boston.

Y-Knot Sailors in Flight

noreply@blogger.com (Spencer Raggio) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 19:25:00 +0000

A report from Steve Mintz on a recent adventure for some Y-Knot sailors:

"On Oct. 8, Fritz Smith, Dave Whalen, Mark Carnevale and myself took advantage of the opportunity to ride and, indeed, pilot a real SAILplane. This opportunity was made possible by an organization, Freedom's Wings International. The fact that all four of us are still alive speaks for itself! For me, and I assume for the other "pilots", it was an exhilarating experience, to say the least! There was no charge for the experience. The actual glider is pictured with Mark at the "stick" (helm). What struck me as absolutely amazing, a SAILplane is very happy in light or dead air. WOW! Something to do on calm days too. The organization might consider basing a sailplane here at the Saratoga County Airport. An expression of interest might help the cause. There was no problem boarding. A Hoyer Lift was available, but passengers were lifted aboard. Also, the glider was adapted for the disabled. An experienced instructor is aboard to handle any controls that might be difficult. It was a relaxing activity for me."

Mark Carnevale is pictured above, and you can check out additional photos on the Adirondack Soaring Site.

Y-Knot Volunteer and Sailor Rex Moon has passed away

noreply@blogger.com (Spencer Raggio) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 19:17:00 +0000

Rex Moon, a long time Y-Knot volunteer and board member, has passed away. His family has named the new Y-Knot dock for memorial gifts. Here's the obituary in the Glens Falls Post Star.

Aug. 18, 2011, Board of Managers' Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (Friends of the Penguin) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 20:51:00 +0000

Minutes from the Aug. 18, 2011, -Knot Board of Managers’ meeting in Clifton Park are submitted for consideration as follows:

In attendance were Spencer Raggio, Don Miller (Vice President), Mark Carnevale (President), Steve Mintz, Rick Irvine (Treasurer), and Dan Byrnes (Secretary).

Regarding boat repairs and maintenance: Three of the six boats (Martins) we use for individual sailing now have tarps. We discussed getting three more, but took no action at this time.

Before it can be launched back into the water, Martin 51 will need a light gel coat repair after it returned from Montreal. Apparently during the trip it had slipped off of one of the supports.

Rick reported that the decals are on one boat and we're waiting to see how they hold up. We may need to laminate over a decal to make the artwork hold up. All the boats will have decals by the start of next season.

Mark brought up the new dock plans. The new dock will allow Y-Knot to schedule more racing days and have more sailors.

Regarding fund-raising, the Board discussed putting up something on the Web inviting people to purchase Y-Knot merchandise by calling the camp. Rick offered to mock up something for review at the next meeting.

The Board discussed the Martin 16 that is being offered for sale in Rochester for $16,995. The Board reached a consensus that while we'd like to have a seventh boat, we don't really need it at this time.

The Board made a unanimous decision to name Mike Hall volunteer of the year. He made every outing this year, including volunteer training day, and was often one of the first persons to show up. We are going to present him with a gift certificate to West Marine for $75.00. Dan volunteered to pick up the certificate for the Sailabration Banquet, Nov. 12.

Regarding Regatta favors, on the last two outings we've run out of bottled water. In Toronto at the 2009 Mobility Cup, they gave out water bottles and had jugs to fill them up. Rick offered to make arrangements to engrave water bottles to be handed out as

Y-Knot has heard several requests from people to move its Regatta back by a week or so in September so it doesn't compete with other events in the disabled sailing calendar, such as the Mobility Cup at the end of August and a disabled bike race in Vermont usually the first week after Labor Day. The question was raised of whether we would actually consider doing it later next year, in 2012. No decision was made to make a change at this time.

We discussed repairs that are needed to one sail. Volunteer Bob Flanagan has told us that he has an industrial strength sewing machine and would be able to work on Dacron sails. We're going to coordinate whether the sail is Dacron and we can get some patch material for Bob to effect repairs.

We have a windlass for automatically trimming sails using a servo control, but we are not sure that anyone knows how to hook it up. Spencer is going to contact Steve Albee in Canada about getting a second autohelm into our inventory.

Our next meeting will be Nov. 12, 3:00 p.m., with the Sailabration Banquet to follow at 5:00.

Submitted by Dan Byrnes, November 12, 2011.

June 14, 2011, Board of Managers' Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (Friends of the Penguin) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 20:47:00 +0000

Minutes from the June 14, 2011, Y-Knot Board of Managers’ meeting minutes in Clifton Park are submitted for consideration as follows:

In attendance were Scott Stewart (Vice President), Spencer Raggio, Don Miller (Vice President), Mark Carnevale (President), Keith Edwards (YMCA Camp Chingachgook liaison), Trish McCluskey, Dave Whalen (via Skype), Steve Mintz, and Dan Byrnes (Secretary).

Don moved to accept the April 19 and May 17 minutes. Scott seconded and the motion passed.

Keith had the budget report, and he said we had about $525 of new donations in the last month. Don told us that Eric Rose said he would inquire about a grant from Vermont Country Stores and Keith said we’ve received some donations from that company before.

Regarding boat maintenance, Keith said the tarps are finished. Mark said he’s seen them and they look great. Graphics have been put on some of the boats and will be applied this year, but the ones for the transom need to be tweaked a bit. Rick Irvine will be working on the new dimensions for that. Our goal is to get one more done by the time AQVA happens in July.

Regarding the new waterfront plans, Keith says he now has dredging permits from the Lake George Park Association.

The Americaid raffles went pretty well, Keith said. We participated in three days of raffles and look forward to receiving a check for about $3,000.

At the Americaid rally, Keith said he spoke with Joan Faron who publishes Lake George Guide. She offered to list Y-Knot activities in their online information resource: http://www.LakeGeorgeGuide.com/ and in the magazine.

Keith said we’ll be testing out the new deck mounted compass on Saturday.

Regarding plans for the Y-Knot Regatta in September, Don said we won’t be able to attract a critical mass of 2.4 meter boats to our Regatta because of a class nationals conflict that weekend. We decided we may put a 2.4 meter event on the schedule for next year.

While attending one of our sail days, Karen Malcolm proposed that we should have the slings washed. Karen offered to do that, but she wasn’t sure what kind of turn around she could deliver. Keith said the slings can be washed at camp and he’ll do that. Thank you, Karen, for letting us know they could be washed.

We have 3 people confirmed for the Ti Race this weekend. Steve will call Kyle Lavoy to make sure the race committee knows there are at least 3 Martin 16s coming over from the Camp.

The Board all agreed that Billy Rankin’s regular Monday morning recaps of what happened the previous sailing day has been a great addition to the communications program for Y-Knot.

Our next meeting will be August 16, at the Clifton Park YMCA.

Submitted by Dan Byrnes, November 12, 2011.

May 17, 2011, Board of Managers' Meeting Minutes

noreply@blogger.com (Friends of the Penguin) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 20:05:00 +0000

Y-Knot Board of Managers’ meeting minutes in Clifton Park are submitted for consideration as follows:

In attendance were Scott Stewart (Vice President), Spencer Raggio, Don Miller (Vice President), Mark Carnevale (President), Steve Mintz, Rick Irvine (Treasurer), Keith Edwards (YMCA Camp Chingachgook liaison), Billy Rankin (YMCA Chinghachook Director), Trish McCluskey, Dave Whalen (via Skype), and Dan Byrnes (Secretary).

Rick reported that there is $9,500 in the bank. Donations include $1,000 from Stewart’s Shops and $2,000 from Powermat for a matching grant. In addition, we received $1,720 from the Pauline Whalen Memorial Fund. Don mentioned that the Rainbows used in the spring Learn to Sail community sailing classes looked great and we thanked Keith for his work in boat repair.

We have been invited to attend Nyack this Friday, but no one from this group is able to attend.

Regarding boat repairs, Pathfinder backed into the port side of No Limit during the spring sailing class two Sundays ago. A patch from a repair some years ago popped off and it will need repairs subsequently this fall.

Tarps are being built with a lot of extra space for signage which could be used to tell visitors to the camp about Y-Knot. Tarp costs will be $230/each, for a total of about $1,500. Our canvas maker Bill Weatherbee has done a great job with the tarps.

Rick Irvine showed a printed banner that can be used as a table runner. It says Welcome Y-Knot Sailors and Volunteers to Camp Chingachgook on Lake George.

Rick and Keith showed pictures of artwork for graphics that are going to be applied to the hull's freeboard and transoms of the Martins. They look great.

We plan to acquire the hyphenated URL Y-KnotSailing.org, but Spencer wanted to remind everyone whenever we write down or print our URL, it is best to be consistent and use YKnotSailing.org without the hyphen.

Keith reported that he bought a Ritchie Navigation sailing compass to try out to see if it’s going to work for us. Keith plans to Velcro it just behind the mast and in front of the splash board. They are $58/each, from Port Supply (West Marine).

Regarding the DisAboom.com Web site directory listing, Spencer contacted them about listing Y-Knot Sailing. He never heard back. Spencer also contacted U.S. Sailing, who got back right away with a positive letter and Y-Knot is now listed in the directory there.

Don said that when he was at Havastraw, NY, a few weeks ago, someone there offered to bring a 2.4 meter boat up for our Regatta in September. Spencer said we could put the word out and see if anyone else would like to bring other boats in so we could get a racing quorum of at least 4 boats. Don said he would get in touch with his contact with the 2.4 meter boat to see if he’d like to put something together.

The Americade Raffle is coming up and the sponsors have asked us to fill some spots for the raffle on June 7-11, 11-2 and 2-5 PM. He’d like us to have 8 people to fill these slots. One or two people need to go to the training session on the 6th and Keith will represent us at the training session.

No Limit’s furling jib is starting to wear out, Keith said. Spencer suggested at least a 100% jib to replace it. Our sailmaker Ed Trombley asked for $550 including the cover. The Board told Keith, go ahead.

Keith asked if people can register to volunteer earlier using the web site. We decided to try to make a greater effort to use the email addresses to gather reservations and that Billy was going to step forward and make that happen in conjunction with the weekly email updates he promised to send out.

Eight volunteers showed up for volunteer training day. Six were new.

Don brought up the idea of member dues which have been a source of income in the past. Spencer suggested, pay so much get a membership, a little more, get a membership and a hat. Rick agreed to make up a sign that would be used to remind people to support Y-Knot Sailing by becoming a member and buying our merchandise.

Submitted by Dan Byrnes June 14, 2011.

April 19, 2011, Board of Managers' Meeting Minutes

noreply@blogger.com (Friends of the Penguin) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 20:03:00 +0000

Minutes from April 19, 2011, Y-Knot Board of Managers’ meeting minutes in Clifton Park are submitted for consideration as follows:

In attendance were Scott Stewart (Vice President), Spencer Raggio, Don Miller (Vice President), Mark Carnevale (President), Steve Mintz, Rick Irvine (Treasurer), Keith Edwards (YMCA Camp Chingachgook liaison), Dave Whalen (via Skype), and Dan Byrnes (Secretary).

Keith reported that we received a matching grant from GE for a donation that Herm Lintner gave Y-Knot last year. Y-Knot also received a $3,000 grant from the YMCA for its Reach out for Youth activities.

Rick has new graphics for the boats we use including No Limit.

Mark said he, George Painter (YMCA Camp Chingachgook Director), and Mike Peluso went to visit State Senator Betty Little about the $100,000 grant that expired last year. She was called away at the last minute for a meeting with the lieutenant governor, but they met with members of the Senator’s staff. They were sympathetic and said there may be an opportunity to restart the grant, but nothing specific was discussed.

Mark said only about 3 people have responded to the idea of holding a Chowder Cup, so the benefit of holding that in conjunction with a 15-year celebration might be kind of slim. Mark said the concept was to race at the camp and have the “lunch” right at the camp. The question was raised of whether we have enough water to allow the draft of a J/22.

Spencer commented that he thought the sailing crowd is sort of in the habit of signing up at the last minute and that he thought we’d get 15-20 boats if we held the Cup. In the past it’s been held in May. The Lake George Club doesn’t start up until the end of June, so there’s kind of excitement in May about having an event to open the season. A tentative date of May 21 was brought up, which would coincide with the first day of sailing for Y-Knot.

Curt Leatherbee sent a request asking for help promoting a disabled sailing regatta in Newport, RI, http://www.sailnewport.org/regattas/newportRegatta/, at the start of July. Keith and Mark said they could take two boats down each, for four boats. That would still leave two Martins and the Freedom (No Limit) for use at the camp by Y-Knot’s other program.

Spencer mentioned that Y-Knot now has a Facebook page and that he and Pierre Richard from Montreal both subscribed as friends.

Regarding sailing dates, Markproposed moving our regatta from 9/11-12 to 9/17-18. That weekend though is the Alexanderson Cup, so it’s hard for us to move the event and find an open date before it gets cold in October. We plan to leave the event for 9/11-12. The July 9 date will remainin the schedule, even though some of our most active sailors may be travellingwith some of our boats to Newport, RI.

Regarding new business, Keith Edwards said he’d like to re-register all members of the Y-Knot mailing list. We want to look friendly and sending bulk emails out to people who don’t want to hear from us any more isn’t very friendly. Plus people’s email addresses change, and it’s hard for us to update the list. Spencer proposed replacing the Camp’s list with the Google Group’s list, where people can sign up and unsubscribe on their own. There are 160 people signed up at Google Groups. Spencer offered to merge anyone from the camp’s list into the Google Groups’ list.

Don said Susan Zebriski invited us back to Clayton for 2012 North Country Access.

None of us have heard anything from Nyack so it’s not clear that there’s going to be any event there this spring.

This year’s New York State Governor’s Expo for the Disabled was cancelled. We’re looking for other events to get the word out.

Submitted by Dan Byrnes, 2011-06-14.

Mar. 15, 2011, Board of Managers' Meeting Minutes

noreply@blogger.com (Friends of the Penguin) — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 21:12:00 +0000

Minutes from the Mar. 15, 2011, Y-Knot Board of Managers’ meeting in Clifton Park are submitted for consideration as follows:

In attendance were Mark Carnevale (President), Rick Irvine (Treasurer), Scott Stewart (Vice President), Keith Edwards (YMCA Camp Chingachgook liaison), Trish McCluskey, Spencer Raggio, Don Miller (Vice President), and Dan Byrnes (Secretary).

Minutes from the meetings of Jan. 25 and Feb. 15 were read and accepted.

The Treasurer Rick Irvine said there was no budget news to report.

Rick also reported that the graphics are done for No Limit. He asked how much we wanted to do, to make it a billboard or something more limited. He said our logo looks good on the web, but not so good on a boat. We’ve agreed the graphics on the transom will read, “YMCA Camp Chingachgook, Lake George.” Rick asked what words we might want on the hull freeboard. The sail will read yknotsailing.org. We’re looking for something to put on the hull to explain the program a little bit while it’s on the trailer. Relative trade offs of words such as disabled and accessible were discussed. Dan suggested a slogan, “Making sailing accessible.” Mark suggested, “Y-Knot: Disabled & Community Sailing.” Don said “accessible sailing” was enough.

Regarding fund raising for the new waterfront project, Mike Peluso, Mark Carnevale and YMCA Camp Chingachgook Camp Director George Painter made a connection to a person with the state who had information about a little known Federal grant for people with disabilities. Her name was Nancy Stoner and she provided a package which George has in his possession.

Don found grant opportunities form the Glen Falls Foundation and the Charlie Woods Foundation, which he turned over to Keith.

The Camp has and would like to sell a 15-foot white Potter which is in really great shape, probably worth $3,500, with a cutty cabin that can sleep 2 and a trailer. There’s also a 22-foot 1964 Hurley with a bilge keel that needs work, but also with a trailer. There are also 3 Lasers (hulls) no spars, dagger board or rudders. Proceeds from sales of these boats would go to the club.

Regarding our involvement to promote disabled sailing at Sail Newport this summer in Rhode Island, Keith said that Curt Leatherbee says they are unable to help underwrite costs for Y-Knot to attend. We could get a start time for two days of racing, but Curt couldn’t tell us whether they could help us with a chase boat or any other support for the event. He said he might be able to find 2 or 3 people to participate. Curt said he’s comfortable we can find lodging in the area in July for $99/night. Steve Mintz has gone to these sort of events in the past, but he doesn’t require the kind of healthcare support other sailors might. In addition, Keith said we couldn’t even count on dock space so we would have to hoist boats at the end of the day. The Board decided we would get in touch with Curt and tell him our budget doesn’t allow our involvement this year.

Mark produced a draft of an email announcement about the April 2 social event at Diamond Eight. We’ll just say that food and beverage service will be available. Rick will send out the announcement. The chalk talk will begin at 12:30.

Learn to Sail is May 8, 15 and 22 (Sundays).

Our next meeting is April 19 at the Clifton Park Library.

Racing Chalk Talk at Clifton Park Y April 2

noreply@blogger.com (Spencer Raggio) — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 19:58:00 +0000

Y-Knot sailors, volunteers and guests — join us for a pre-season get together at the Clifton Park YMCA, Community Room C. We'll provide pizza and drinks, and talk sailing with a racing chalk-talk focusing on starting strategies. We'll be starting around noon on Saturday, April 2. Please RSVP to Marc Carnevale by March 26. See you there!

Feb. 15, 2011, Board of Managers' Meeting Minutes

noreply@blogger.com (Friends of the Penguin) — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 21:06:00 +0000

Minutes from the Feb. 15, 2011, Y-Knot Board of Managers’ meeting minutes in Clifton Park are submitted for consideration as follows:

In attendance were Scott Stewart (Vice President), Keith Edwards (YMCA Camp Chingachgook liaison), Trish McCluskey, Spencer Raggio, Don Miller (Vice President), Mark Carnevale (President), and Dan Byrnes (Secretary).

Keith reported that we received a matching grant from GE for a donation that Herm Lintner gave Y-Knot last year. Y-Knot also received a $3,000 grant from the YMCA for its Reach Out for Youth activities.

Rick has new graphics for the boats we use, including No Limit.

Mark said he, George Painter (YMCA Camp Chingachgook Director), and Mike Peluso went to visit State Senator Betty Little about the $100,000 grant that expired last year. She was called away at the last minute for a meeting with the lieutenant governor, but they met with members of the Senator’s staff. They were sympathetic and said there may be an opportunity to restart the grant, but nothing specific was discussed.

Mark said only about 3 people have responded to the idea of holding a Chowder Fest or Cup, so the benefit of holding that in conjunction with a 15-year celebration might be kind of slim. Mark said the concept was to race at the camp and have the “lunch” right at the camp. The question was raised of whether we have enough water to allow for the draft of a J/22 or J/24.

Spencer commented that he thought the sailing crowd is sort of in the habit of signing up at the last minute and that he thought we’d get 15-20 boats if we held the Cup. In the past it’s been held in May. The Lake George Club doesn’t start up until the end of June, so there’s kind of excitement in May about having an event to open the season. A tentative date of May 21 was brought up, which would coincide with the first day of sailing for Y-Knot.

Curt Leatherbee sent a request asking for help promoting a disabled sailing regatta in Newport, RI, http://www.sailnewport.org/regattas/newportRegatta/, at the start of July. Keith and Mark said they could take two boats down each, for four boats. Accommodations in Newport … That would still leave two Martins and the Freedom (No Limit) for use at the camp by Y-Knot’s other program.

An April 2 winter get-together at the Diamond Eight in Latham is being considered as a combination chalk talk and social gathering, from Noon until 3:00. Mark will ask Rick if he’ll draw up a flyer to announce the event. Dan volunteered to do a short presentation on how to use our Y-Knot sailing days to practice for racing, and Spencer agreed to give a chalk talk on how to win sail race starts. Keith said he’ll bring a white board, easel and magnetic sailboat markers we can use for the discussion. The meeting will be open to the public, and we’ll promote it to the Google Groups general email mailing list Y-Knot maintains.

Spencer mentioned that Y-Knot now has a Facebook page and that he and Pierre Richard from Montreal both subscribed as friends.

Regarding sailing dates, Mark proposed moving our regatta from 9/10-11 to 9/17-18. That weekend though is the Alexanderson Cup, so it’s hard for us to move the event and find an open date before it gets cold in October. We plan to leave the event for 9/11-12.

The July 9 date will remain in the schedule, even though some of our most active sailors may be travelling with some of our boats to Newport, RI.

Regarding new business, Keith Edwards said he’d like to re-register all members of the Y-Knot mailing list. We want to look friendly and sending bulk emails out to people who don’t want to hear from us any more isn’t very friendly. Plus people’s email addresses change, and it’s hard for us to update the list. Spencer proposed replacing the Camp’s list with the Google Group’s list, where people can sign up and unsubscribe on their own. There are 160 people signed up at Google Groups. Spencer offered to merge anyone from the camp’s list into the Google Groups’ list.

Don said Susan Zebriski invited us back to Clayton for 2012 North Country Access.

None of us have heard anything from Nyack so it’s not clear that there’s going to be any event there this spring.

This year’s New York State Governor’s Expo for the Disabled was cancelled. We’re looking for other events to get the word out at.

Our next meeting will be March 15 at the Clifton Park Library.

Submitted March 15.

Push-Pull Levers for Rough Terrain Wheelchair

noreply@blogger.com (Spencer Raggio) — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 23:24:00 +0000

Amos Winter, armed with an MIT PhD in Mechanical Engineering, worked with Whirlwind Wheelchair International, a group that designs wheelchairs for disabled people in developing countries, to create this clever hand-powered chair.

Jan. 25, 2011, Board of Managers' Meeting Minutes

noreply@blogger.com (Friends of the Penguin) — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 22:01:00 +0000

Minutes from Jan. 25, 2011, Y-Knot Board of Managers’ meeting minutes are submitted for consideration as follows:

In attendance were Mark Carnevale (President), Don Miller (Vice President), Rick Irvine (Treasurer), Becky Bonn, Scott Stewart (Vice President), Steve Mintz, Keith Edwards (YMCA Camp Chingachgook liaison), Spencer Raggio and Dan Byrnes (Secretary).

The Oct. 30, 2010, minutes were reviewed and then approved by the Board for posting on the web blog.

Keith asked that the Board consider donating this year’s (2011’s) projected operating surplus to the new waterfront project, which is still facing a shortfall of about $80,000. The amount of the surplus right now is about $1,000. The question was tabled for now. Mark made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s report, Becky seconded it, and the report was accepted.

Mark proposed that since the Mobility Cup is so late this summer (August 29-Sept. 2) that we contact AQVA and see if it would be better if we moved our Regatta date (Sept. 10-11.) Mark will contact AQVA to find out. The Cup is in relatively nearby Hamilton so there may be an opportunity for some sailors to take part in both events.

Y-Knot has two sailors who have already expressed an interest in attending.

Regarding boat repair, Keith reported that all the repair work needed for this year has been finished. The projected Martin tarps are going to need hooks or snaps, two or three of them on each side, to hold the tarps down with shock cord. Keith is working with Bill Weatherbee who is making the tarps to come up with a good solution that will avoid anyone catching hooks or snaps when they slide into the Martin.

Regarding sail graphics, Rick Irvine says he is waiting for good weather to test out our decals for hulls and sails. Keith will send out an email when that day comes along.

Regarding the waterfront upgrade and capital fundraising for that project, Mark said a meeting has been scheduled with YMCA Camp Chingachgook George Painter to meet State Senator Betty Little in February about restoring the funds that were lost last year for permitting delays. We’re hoping those funds haven’t been re-allocated despite the budget problems the state is having.

Don Miller has been researching new sources of funding from Foundations. Dan and Don will meet Saturday Feb. 5 at 2:00 at Mocha Lisa to investigate.

Regarding other fund raising activities, Mark made inquiries both at the Sagamore and the Algonquin to see if tieng in with the Chowder Cup Regatta appeals to anyone. The Sagamore said, no, and the Algonquin’s answer is still out. Mark is pursuing other options including possibly the Lake George Club.

Winter chalk talk session is schedule as a social event at the Diamond Eight’s billiard hall--tentative date of Saturday, Apr. 2. Becky will check into the availability.

The Board reviewed this year’s schedule. Keith said the volunteer training day on May 14 is fine, but the boat work day will be Saturday, April 16. The question came up of whether having a racing day on the same day as the Fort Ticondaroga Race is a conflict, and Keith said last year it was not.

The Helen Hayes Hospital contacted Keith about participating in the Adaptive Sports and Recreation Expo on Apr. 16, 11:00-3:00, in Haverstraw, near Nyack. We’re going to look at getting somebody to go there and represent Y-Knot sailing.

AQVA will be held 7/30-31 in Montreal.

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011, at the Clifton Park library.

Oct. 30, 2010, Y-Knot Annual Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (Friends of the Penguin) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 20:59:00 +0000

Minutes from Oct. 30, 2010, Y-Knot Board of Managers’ meeting minutes held at Camp Chingachgook are submitted for consideration as follows:

In attendance were Scott Stewart (Vice President), Keith Edwards (YMCA Camp Chingachgook liaison), Don Miller (Vice President), Rick Irvine (Treasurer), George Painter (YMCA Camp Chingachgook Director), Spencer Raggio, Mark Carnevale (President), Tricia McCluskey, and Dan Byrnes (Secretary).

The August 17 minutes were reviewed and then approved by the Board for posting on the Web blog.

The Financial Summary for 2009 as of Oct. 30, 2010, was reviewed. Keith said there was one past donor that had not donated yet this year, and we were expecting more donations. Three years ago, Sen. Little gave the YMCA a $100,000 member-item state allocation for construction on the waterfront project. Since then, it’s taken two years to get the permits, and the project has yet to get underway. The state closed all member items that weren’t submitted. We were able to use about $20,000 but we lost $80,000 and now we have to make that up.

Additional funding sources will be needed no doubt as the state budget situation is tight and we can’t expect to see that item in the budget again anytime soon. As a step toward making up the shortfall, George Painter said that he’d like to hear about anyone we might know who would be in a position to give $5-10,000.

Regarding boat repairs, Keith is repairing a few lines and some other things on Martin #48. The rub rail and furler on No Limit (the Freedom 24) need some work. The autohelm has been repaired after it broke in the Regatta.

Rick will be working on the boat graphics and getting them on the Martins during the off-season.

Regarding tarps to cover the Martins, Keith talked with our canvas guy, Bill Weatherbee, who said it would cost about $150 each for 6 tarps to cover the cockpits and prevent rain from filling the boats. These will keep most of the water out of the interior of the boats and prevent algae from building up. Keith would be doing the snaps on the hull. Don moved that we approve the expenditure, Mark seconded it and the expenditure was approved.

Learn to Sail this year, which is open to the public, will be held May 8, 15, and 22. Spencer Raggio will head that program up again.

The question was raised about future regattas and how we handle conflicting requests or reservations for specific boats. Do we want to establish a lottery or do we want it to be treated as a first come, first served arrangement. The same is true with regards to sails. We don’t believe there is a performance difference among the six Martins, but there is a perceived difference. Do we need a policy?

We will continue to honor the existing policy, which is that special needs people will get their needs met first. So, someone who needs the autohelm, for example, will get a boat that is rigged for an autohelm. After that, we’ll handle reasonable requests for specific boat and sail preferences as they come up. This represents no change in policy. Getting to the starting line on time, Spencer said, picking the right side of the course and just learning to sail fast is more important than which boat you pick. Keith added that we shouldn’t even be thinking in terms of rating the boats.

Regarding the Chowder Fest Regatta, Don has been in touch with Kyle Lavoy who has a contact from the Algonquin Hotel. Mark is going to put out an email inviting people to see who might be interested and whether we can make this a successful fundraiser.

Regarding new business, Keith talked with Curt Leatherbee and he said there’s one other boat beside his in Newport, RI, and he’s wondering if there’s some way we could get two boats down there for an event so that boat could get in the water. So if we can find a date, we may be able to create an event that would be exciting. Spencer suggested you can do it earlier or later than mid summer because it’s warmer there. Keith is going to follow-up.

At this time, the makeup of the Board for next year will remain unchanged.

Our first meeting for next year will be Tuesday, January 18, 2011, at the Clifton Park library.

Submitted by Dan Byrnes, 2010-11-03.

Post Star Announces Expansion of Chingachgook Dock

noreply@blogger.com (Friends of the Penguin) — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 21:53:00 +0000

Here's a local story in the Glens Falls Post Star about plans for expansion at Y-Knot Sailing:

FORT ANN — After a stroke in 1992 weakened the left side of his body, Stephen Mintz thought his new disability had simultaneously forced him into an early retirement from his job and his lifelong hobby. "Sailing was one of my first loves of life, you know like how some people play golf ..

August 17, 2010, Board of Managers Meeting Minutes

noreply@blogger.com (Friends of the Penguin) — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 21:04:00 +0000

Minutes from August 17, 2010, Y-Knot Board meeting in Clifton Park.

In attendance were Scott Stewart (Vice President), Mark Carnevale (President), Don Miller (Vice President), Rick Irvine (Treasurer), George Painter (acting YMCA Camp Chingachgook liaison) and Dan Byrnes(Secretary).

The June 15 minutes were reviewed by Spencer and approved by the Board.

Keith Edwards' synopsis from the North Country Access Clayton event and Marc Carnevale's report on AQVA in Montreal have been posted on the web site.

At Clayton, Don says he took out about 6 people and there were other volunteers there who took out maybe another 20 people. Don reported that two paraplegic sailors from Buffalo took the Martins out at the same time. The wind built from mild to the 15-20 knot range and they turned out to be knowledgeable about bringing on the Cunningham and outhaul and began racing very seriously. Don said that was pretty impressive to see these sailors pushing the boats this way.

Marc Carnevale reported based on a report from Keith Edwards that donations for this year appear to have been pretty strong. George Painter confirmed that we're in good shape this year as in previous years — including a $1,200 Americade Lake George Rotary grant.

Participation is just about the same as last year, George said, in terms of sailing days. Expenses for traveling to regattas is up a little. Sailors are going to more regattas and that's good.

Don asked whether there was budget flexibility to help with VHF radios or tarps for the boats. As it is now, the boats fill with rainwater between uses and they're getting a lot of algae in the bottom and the running rigging. We have covers for traveling, but not for at the docks. George said the answer is we have a budget for equipment and since expenses are pretty much on track, we could spend for equipment whatever the board deems is necessary. The camp has nice tarps on Rainbows and other boats, and we could have something custom made. George thought that would be a good investment while the Martins are sitting at the dock. George agreed to have Keith Edwards check into that.

VHF radios were also discussed. We decided that since sailors sail within sight of the dock and there's also at least one crash boat on the water at any time, we would be better off keeping track of the sailors visually.

Rick Irvine reported that he and Keith proposed the slogan ("Accessible Sailing") in six-inch high letters on a 40-inch wide banner to attach to the sails. Keith suggested (Rick said) that we should put the website URL (yknotsailing.org) on the hull. The phrase "Camp Chingachgook, Lake George" will appear on the transom.

Discussion came up with options such as Y-Knot Sailing or YKnot Sailing. George said it makes sense to put our web address up on the sail. We agreed to put yknotsailing.org on the sail.

George said that if we put "Camp Chingachgook" anywhere in our art work, it should be presented as YMCA Camp Chingachgook.

Spencer Raggio agreed to look into registering the domain name Y-KnotSailing.org and having it point to yknotsailing.org, to take care of the hyphenated alternative spelling.

Don brought up telltales and whether we could do anything to place them somewhere else on the sails, perhaps lower down, so our sailors could see them more easily. Don agreed to work with Keith to make sure sailors have telltales where they can see them, on shrouds as well as at the luff of the job.

Don said Yankee Marine has agreed to lend us three pontoon boats again and a group will be there again for fishing using two for the pontoon boats.

Also Don asked if we are going to insist on everyone being a companion, or will we let people go out alone if they want. At past regattas, Spencer said, the organizing authority (Y-Knot) has not taken any extra steps to enforce the weight rule, but that the weight rule will be in effect. If anyone were to file a protest, it would be handled according to the Racing Rules of Sailing.

Rick agreed to create a lanyard or a carabineer for a participation gift at the regatta, along with the awards.

Don said that Kyle Lavoy approached him about doing something with the Chowder Cup, a sailing event previously sponsored by the Sagamore and held Memorial Day Weekend. The event was a fundraiser for Y-Knot and tied in to a dinner at the Sagamore Hotel that weekend. It was proposed that if we wanted to organize an event, there's an opportunity. Don said Kyle thought possibly the Algonquin might be interested in doing something similar. Do we want to form a committee to organize it and promote it? Mark agreed to take the lead and contact possibly interested parties.

Spencer suggested that we should have a formal warning for rare events where a sailor may disregard safety in one way or another. Spencer offered to write a first draft of a generic sort of letter and we will review it at the next meeting.

We discussed the upcoming Volunteer of the Year award and what gift we would select this year. Dan and Rick agreed to research the selection of the recognition gift.

Mary Ellen Rudolph reported to Dan that she had taken the initiative to make small business card sized handouts that invite people to sail with Y-Knot. Dan said he would contact her about getting those into the hands of Don Miller for distribution.

Our Fall Banquet will be at the camp November 6, 2:00, followed by dinner. We will call it SailAbration and have another silent auction. Spencer will contact Nate Dickerson about whether anyone from Corinthian would like to attend. [Note: THIS DATE HAS BEEN CHANGED TO OCTOBER 30, 2010.]

George Painter thanked the board for volunteering and for its time. He presented the latest waterfront plans in development for 6 years where there would be a platform for Y-Knot accessible sailing use. He showed renderings and photos with observation area, accessible via a lift to the 2nd floor. There are plans for 3 hoists, tool storage, and a control center--enough space to possibly handle 40 people in wheelchairs.

It would allow us to double our regatta size — 40 sailors, 20 boats, 2 fleets, even when the YMCA Camp is in session with 250 kids on a summer day. A representative from the NYS Commission on Advocacy for People with Disabilities was acknowledged during George's presentation.

Plans are under review by the Lake George Park Association and Adirondack Park Agency. The Agency staff did a beautiful job in preparing their recommendation to park commissioners. There will be a hearing and also it will go to the town of Ft. Ann for site plan review. [UPDATE: the site plan has been approved.]

From a volunteers vantage point and working within the club, the space isn't adequate at all. We spend hours on a hot dock, crammed together. Sometimes people spend an hour waiting to get into a boat. There's also potential for other water activities — canoes with outriggers, water skiing, with the expanded shore-side space.

George said from the disabled sailors' perspectives, they want their family and friends to come along and be able to watch. There's only so much room on a spectator boat. So we need the second floor, and we need a roof for sun and other elements. Both allow for active participation, whether you're sailing or not, for family members to watch you and for friends to cheer you on. We have 2,000 kids/year at the camp, and now we'll be able to have 40 people in wheel chairs at a time enjoy beautiful Lake George.

With the new structure, George said, we could have sailing any time the campers are there. So we could sail more often.

Read about the plans in the Glens Falls Post Star.

Dan suggested that Lake George really suffers by lacking a community sailing center. George said this facility would become such a center.

Submitted by Dan Byrnes, 2010-10-29

Sailabration Set for Oct 30

noreply@blogger.com (Spencer Raggio) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 02:08:00 +0000

Please join us for the annual Y-Knot Banquet — Sailabration — at YMCA Camp Chingachgook on Saturday, October 30. Details and reservation info on the Sailabration flyer. And with the recent approval of plans for a new, improved accessibility waterfront, we've got something to celebrate!

New Y-Knot Dock, Pavilion Approved

noreply@blogger.com (Spencer Raggio) — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 18:08:00 +0000

An updated on the approval process from George Painter: "The Town of Fort Ann Planning Board has approved our design. That was the final step in a two-year process to get approvals from seven regulatory agencies for dredging our sailboat docking bay and building an innovative sailing pavilion that is accessible to people with disabilities. We will now re-bid the modified project (there is no roof on the second floor) and look for funding to complete the facility. Estimated completion in 2011 or 2012."

Great news indeed! The new waterfront headquarters will allow Y-Knot to serve more sailors, better accommodate spectators, and will provide a safer and more efficient platform from which we can run our sailing days, races and regatta.

Y-Knot at AQVA in Montreal

noreply@blogger.com (Spencer Raggio) — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 03:00:00 +0000

Notes on the regatta from Y-Knot President Mark Carnevale:

As in past seasons, AQVA put on a very well run regatta at the Point Claire Yacht Club in Montreal on Saturday and Sunday, 24 and 25 July 2010. With AQVA’s Paula Stone coordinating all aspects of the regatta, the gold and silver fleets had an enjoyable and successful sailing event both days in spite of the very different weather and sailing conditions. The Y-Knot participation of handicapped sailors was by myself and Steven Mintz, Y-Knot’s most experienced sailor and king of all things sailing.

On Saturday, things started with the gold fleet in the morning and silver in the afternoon; both fleets had very limited air to work with, 3 to 5 knots at most. However, this can make for interesting sailing when factoring in things like the current in the St. Lawrence and occasional clumps of seaweed that can foul a keel and rudder. Yes, I do mean “seaweed,” something we seldom see on Lake George.

In spite of the light wind on Saturday, two races were completed in each fleet. Steve and I both competed in the silver fleet. There wasn’t too much action in the light wind, neither Steve or I finished higher than fifth out of nine boats in either race that day. We did have fun watching the fish jumping out of the water after insects on the surface. Some fish looked to be 24 inches long. Maybe we should have fished during the race, I don’t think it would have slowed things much more. It was still a good time: warm hazy sun, lots of scenery and fresh air.

Sunday was quite different. A cooler weather front came through in the night with significantly higher winds — at least 10 knots with gusts to 15 knots. No time to watch fish that day. There were only two races completed in each fleet because of delays due to windy conditions. Things got so hectic that the silver fleet in the morning had three collisions during the race. I’m glad to report that no Y-Knot boats or others were damaged and there were no injuries, just some embarrassed sailors who are now more experienced. I had a fifth and seventh place finish with the help of Y-Knot volunteer and boat rigging specialist Peter Hogg who was my able-bodied sailing companion that day. Steve had a second place in the first race but was disqualified in the second race for an early start.

Final results for the Gold Fleet: first place to Aaron Wong-Sing, second to Marc Villeneuve, and third to Erick Poirier. Silver Fleet results were first to Guyves Actari, second to Elizabeth Winkelaar, and third to Laurent Kendirgi.

All things considered it was a great time with good friends and great competitors who particularly appreciate that Y-Knot Sailing brings four Martin 16s to the event. Along with their three AQVA boats and two private Martins, we had a solid field of nine boats for a good competitive regatta.

Y-Knot on the Road

noreply@blogger.com (Spencer Raggio) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:02:00 +0000

From Keith Edwards on our trip up north: "We had a great time going out to the North Country Access event in Clayton, NY. This year the event was held at the Antique Boat Museum. Their facility is incredible and is very accessible to all abilities.

"The event attracted over 100 participants; including individuals from the Wounded Warriors and Fort Drum. We were able to offer sailing in the two Martin 16 accessible sailboats that we transported to the event. As well as sailing, antique motorboat rides, kayaking and outrigger rides were offered. The weather was nearly perfect with sustained winds from the south all day. Thank you to Don Miller and Mark Carnavale for making the trip so successful.

"We now venture up to Montreal for the AQVA regatta with four Martin 16s this weekend and then to the Burlington Regatta the following weekend. Thank you to all the volunteer support that we receive to be able to attend these events."

June 15 Board of Managers Meeting Minutes

noreply@blogger.com (Spencer Raggio) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 13:47:00 +0000

June 15, 2010, 6:00 pm at the Clifton Park YMCA
Board Members present: Mark Carnevale, Spencer Raggio, Rick Irvine, Don Miller, Keith Edwards; also Y-Knot member Steve Mintz

President Mark Carnevale called the meeting to order at 6:15pm.

Reading of the May 15, 2010 minutes (Dan Byrnes)
No report given

Treasurer’s report (Rick Irvine)
Keith reported that Learn To Sail brought in $900, the mailing fund drive is at approximately $2,300, and $100 was sent to AQVA for the Mark Landry Memorial Fund.

OLD BUSINESS:
Boat Repairs
It was noted that the lines and jam cleats for seat adjustment on the Martins need to be inspected and replaced if needed. Steve Mintz asked if the jam cleats for the main and jib hailers could be inspected and replaced if needed also.

Sail Graphics (Rick)
Much discussion was given to putting the Y-Knot web address on new sails (YknotSailing.org). Consensus was putting the URL on the sails would be too much. It was decided that it would look better on the hull along with the Camp Chingachgook logo. Keith and Rick are to work on getting new labels to identify all the jam cleats on the Martins. They will also look into a rules of the road decal to be placed on the splash board along with rules of racing.

New Water Front Area (George Painter)
Keith reported that the round table meeting with all permit agencies involved is scheduled for June 22. Report will be given at the August meeting.

Ti-Race (Having all 6 Martins participate)
Mark reported that he had 5 racers willing to race in the Ti Race. He was still waiting to hear from Eric Rose. Still need some more volunteers for the race.

North Country Access July 16, 2010 in Clayton, NY. (Keith Edwards)
Mark, his companion Dan Muller, Keith and Don are going to bring two Martins out. Mark has reserved two rooms for two nights at a motel outside of Clayton. Mark has also registered everyone. Final travel arrangements will be made at a later date.

15-year celebration of Y-Knot in 2011.
Mark is still working on ideas for the 15th annual celebration.

NEW BUSINESS:
Paralympic sailor Maureen McKinnon coming to give a talk (Dave Whalen)
No report given

Pete Hogge’s operation
Steve reported that Pete had his operation and is doing well. He should be back on the water soon.

Scott Stewart emailed a comment on the travel reimbursement component of the Travel Regatta Policy. He suggested the policy should be changed to reflect actual gas usage (receipts) rather than mileage. After much discussion the board decided to leave the policy unchanged, as it would be both easier and fairer to reimburse using the camp's standard mileage rate.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:35pm.

Respectfully submitted
Don Miller, Acting Secretary

2010 Mobility Cup in Vancouver Sept 13-17

noreply@blogger.com (Spencer Raggio) — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 16:22:00 +0000

The Disabled Sailing Association of British Columbia (DSA BC) and Royal Vancouver Yacht Club will welcome 40 sailors from around the world for the event, which will be held in Vancouver, BC Sept. 13 – 17. Participants will take part in two fleets, 20 sailors in Gold and Silver respectively, according to experience, using the fully accessible Martin 16 sloop. Spaces are still available in both fleets.