15Welcome

Welcome to Leatherlips Yacht Club, located on the northwest side of Columbus, Ohio (USA). We’re a casual sailing club with a membership made up of racers, pleasure sailors, and those learning to sail. New members are always welcome!

2010 Banquet not for Land Lubbers!

Thanks to the Lidos for a great annual dinner and awards banquet!

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Docks Out 2009

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January 2010 Mainsheet

The January 2010 Mainsheet is now available! Download here: January 2010 Mainsheet

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50 Years with the Division of Watercraft: Then & Now

Boating as a recreational activity was popularized by sailing regattas held on Lake Erie in the late 1800s while land-locked Ohioans flocked to the rivers for recreational boating and fishing. The production of the first outboard motors over a century ago opened the doors to modern recreational boating, but participation was limited to relatively few people because of its expense. Economic conditions in the 1930s followed by the war years further limited exposure and growth of this leisure activity.

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Do you know your US SAILING membership benefits?

US SAILING added Excess Accident Medical Insurance and Death Benefit to each US SAILING membership. The insurance covers injuries sustained in the following US SAILING activities:

  • Participation in a sailing activity (including a regatta) that incorporates the rules and regulation of US SAILING. 
  • US SAILING fund raisers, banquets, and meetings. 
  • Travel to and from US SAILING activities.

The program is underwritten by Chubb, and managed by the marine insurance experts at Gowrie Group, the official insurance agency of US SAILING.

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Thistle Fleet 21 News

Paul Kreitler

2010 is here and the 2009 sailing season is only a memory. But before those fond memories are too stale in our minds, I want to take a glimpse in the rearview mirror.

2009 was our second season with the Thistle Day format and the first season we scored the Days as a series. The Thistle Day Series 2009 consisted of 8 days of sailing with 18 races. We had 11 fleet members compete with 9 guests joining us on various days. Of those 11 competing fleet members, 6 qualified for the series by participating in at least half the sailing days. Three participants, Holzaepfel, Bartz, and Kreitler were on the water for 7 of the 8 days. Dick Harmon and Evan Rodgers were out for 6 out of 8. Bob France rounded out the group of qualifiers with 5 days. Hess, Savage, Isern, and Krause were out there for 3 days, which was just one day short of qualifying.

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US Sailing Annual Meeting & Board Election

US SAILING held its Annual Meeting in Houston, TX last October. Gary Jobson was elected the new president along with three members of the Board of Directors - Walter Chamberlain, John Craig and Tom Hubbell.

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Did you know…

O’Shaughnessy Dam (Ohio)

The O’Shaughnessy Dam is located on the Scioto River near Dublin, Ohio, United States. The dam forms O’Shaughnessy Reservoir, which is a major source of drinking water for the city of Columbus. It was completed in 1925 following  recommendations of then superintendent Jerry O’Shaughnessy (for whom the dam was named). At the time, the reservoir was described as “the finest inland waterway in the United States.” Located 10 miles upstream of the smaller Griggs Dam, it provides a large area for various forms of recreation in addition to its water supply duties. The reservoir holds 6.3 billion gallons (24 million cubic meters) over a surface area of 845 acres (342 hectares). The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is located on the east bank of the reservoir, near the dam.

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Learn to Sail Boat Repairs

John Lawmon

Work is starting to ramp up at Joe McHenry’s (All Fiberglass and Marine) to fix and tune up the Learn To Sail boats. The fleet now includes FJ’s, Lidos, Optimists, a Day Sailor, Lasers and a Thistle. So far we have two FJ’s and one Lido inside at Joe’s, with two lasers lined up outside.

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Successful Recycling Season

Sheila & Dave Seifert

Thanks to the cooperation of the sailors at Leatherlips, we collected approximately 171 cubic feet of recycling (enough to fill our current dumpster). Much of that was aluminum cans which were given to the Shriners to help support their burn hospitals. Good job everyone! We’ll be continuing our efforts next year.

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From the Helm

JP Clowes

Seasons Greetings! The Holiday season has just passed us and now we settle into our long winter’s nap. At least that’s what most people would think about a sailing club. However, I happen to know differently. Several people have been working behind the scenes to prepare for the next sailing season, only about 90 days away. The board has already met and made good progress to try to define and interpret some of the constitutional changes that we made at Docks Out. We have also started some of the preliminary planning to build a kayak storage area. I’ll take this opportunity to welcome Bill McDonald, Rosalie Kinney, and Jim Thomas, (who is returning to the board after a season away) as the newest members of our board. I’m looking forward to a great year. Keep a watch out for some exciting changes to our website that are coming soon. Mike Carr, our new webmaster gave the board a preview of some of the changes he is planning for the website. Those changes could be happening any time now, so check back often. The website will soon be much more interactive, and useful both to the membership, and to potential members.

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Leatherlips Daysailers to Host 2010 National Regatta

Kevin Flanagan

The week after July 4th weekend next year will be a busy one at Leatherlips as the Day Sailer Fleet will host the 2010 North American Championship Regatta. All of the social activities are being held at Leatherlips, but the actual racing will be at Alum Creek. The event will span July 6 through 10 2010, with registration and measurement beginning on Tuesday July 6. A Junior Regatta for ages 18 and under will be held on Wednesday, and championship racing will begin on Thursday and run through Saturday. Please contact a member of the Day Sailer Fleet if you are interested in racing or if you would like to help with the organizing of the event. We’ll put you in a boat, we’ll put you to work, or both! We are hoping to find places for all the out-of-town sailors and families to stay for the week. If you are interested in allowing out-of-town participant to stay in your home during the regatta, please contact Kevin or Molly Flanagan (614) 267-9257.

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Thistle Fleet 21 News

Paul Kreitler

There were six boats on the starting line Sunday for a beautiful afternoon of sailing. On Sunday morning, it looked like we were going to have 8 boats, but Dick Harmon and I lost our crews because of various illnesses and the Hesses couldn’t make it. So, we dropped to 6 boats, which was still respectable.

On the starting line, we had Team Savage with Rick at the helm with his son Mike, Team France with Bob at the helm and John Myers as crew, Team Bartz with Dick and Annette, Team Lido with Steve Moore as skipper, John Lawmon in middle, and Kathy Muenz in front, Team Holzaepfel with Kit at the helm, daughter Laura in front, and Noel Thurber in middle, and Team Kreitler with yours truly at the helm and Dick Harmon learning how cramped the front of a Thistle can be.

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Laser Inland Classic 2009 Regatta

We had three out-of-towners, for a total of a dozen registered boats. The first two races were breezy and shifty from the south, with occasional white caps. It settled a bit after lunch with wind from the west. We enjoyed pizza and beer afterward. Thanks to John Rupert, Christie Whitt, Mike Clowes, and Tami Chapman for RC duties. Thanks to Mark Hess for beautiful trophies, John Myers for room set up, Sarah Giesman for food prep, and Bob France for registration. Kudos to Victor Sergent for spirit. He kept sailing despite numerous capsizes. The same for newish sailor John Myers, who returned to racing after draining a bunch of water from inside his boat hull.

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Comet Fleet 27 News

Dick Harmon

No one in the fleet traveled to the New Jersey coast for the Comet Internationals this year. We heard there were a record number of our old Bermudian friends in attendance and we certainly missed seeing them.

For the Pigskin regatta, the Comets experienced nearly identical wind conditions to those of the Lido regatta one week earlier. Stronger gusts were from the north-northeast and lighter spots from the east and even south. The wind was better than it sounds, mostly in the range of 5-9 mph. Conditions kept the fleet close, which resulted in two ties and four boats within one point!!! In one race, all the boats finished within 100 yards of each other.

Particularly exciting was the participation of two crews age 10 or under. Rachel crewed for her father Eric and Caleb George crewed for grandfather and Hoover 505 sailor Dave Seiple. Dave Seifert would have had another young crewmember (12) but his day started badly with the news Pablo had suddenly become ill and could not participate. Rosalie Kinney thankfully stepped forward to help Dave. After racing, the fleet retired to El Vaquero to swap great sea stories.

We greatly missed Pete Yeh and Scott Ranney.

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O’Shaughnessy Reservoir is now a Lake

The EPA recently determined that the six-mile stretch of the Scioto River known as O’Shaughnessy Reservoir is no longer a reservoir or river, but now a lake. The reason? This stretch fits the definition of having a depository for nutrients, suspended solids and chemicals from the surrounding landscape. As a lake, the state will be able to use federal money to test it – as part of a $170,000 grant. For more information, go to: Griggs Reservoir Now a Lake

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“Learn Sailing Right” Now Available

Learn 2 Sail has copies of US Sailing’s latest beginning sailing book for sale. Learn Sailing Right is clear and well-illustrated and would make a great birthday or Christmas gift for the
aspiring sailor. The price is only $10—cheaper than Amazon! We also have a few copies of the more extensive Start Sailing Right for $11. Contact Janet Rupert at 262-3798.

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Proposed Constitutional Changes

The following constitutional changes will be considered at Docks Out, Sat. Nov. 7th.

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Commodore’s Column

Yes, this is the obligatory “nearing the end of the season, get ready for docks out” column, and everyone knows the drill. But just in case, please plan to be at docks out on Saturday, November 7. It seems to me that the season just started. Yes, yes, time flies as we age, and I’m getting it, but I always hate to see the season end. There is sadness to winterizing the boats and the clubhouse. But, in a few months, spring will renew our spirits and we’ll be off to new adventures in sailing.

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October 2009 Mainsheet

The October 2009 Mainsheet is now available. Click below to download:

Mainsheet_2009_10.pdf

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Merit Badge Camp a Success

August 2nd and 3rd, 24 Boy Scouts from the Buckeye and Delaware districts, 6 Sea Scouts, 6 (and sometimes more) adults participated in the first ever Small Boat Sailing Merit badge camp hosted by Sea Scout Ship 280 at Leatherlips Yacht Club. Through a series of water and land instruction these scouts completed the requirements for the merit badge.

This event required 72 hamburgers, 50 hot dogs, 18 pounds of lasagna, 9 dozen eggs, 160 sausage links, 144 fresh baked cookies and 10 gallons of lemonade as well as a lot of planning. Between staff and participants we had about 50 people for most meals. All staff should be very proud of our accomplishment. We started and ended on time, covered all the material and gave each crew almost 5 hours of time on the water to learn, practice and perfect their skills under LYC’s typically varying wind conditions.

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Sailing Merit Badge 2008

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Sea Scout Ship 280 Headed to Rendezvous

Ship 280 is off to the area Sea Scout Rendezvous at Alum Creek State Park on August 15th to 17th to meet with other area Sea Scouts, Venturers and older Boy Scouts for fun on the water. Competitions (both individual and group) will include boat and canoe races, knot tying, swimming, volleyball, etc. The ship has been working hard to get their boat, the Venture ready for the event. The boat has been cleaned, minor repairs, registration updated and new tires on the trailer.

If you are interested in attending this event, even if you are not a member of Sea Scout Ship 280, please contact Mr. Lime (614-848-4816) asap to get registered.

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Thistle Spring Coaching/Tuning Session

Paul Kreitler

Saturday, April 11th, Skip Dieball of Quantum Sails Toledo came to Leatherlips YC to run a coaching/tuning seminar for the Thistles.  Approximately 30-sailors converged on the club house around 10 AM for an excellent presentation on Thistle sailing while enjoying hot coffee and bagels from Panera Bread.  For an hour and forty-five minutes, Skip covered a wide range of topics ranging from boat set up to sailing the Thistle flat and fast.  He spent a lot of time discussing the dynamic bending of the Thistle (and other boats) mast and how this dynamic bend influences sail design.  He talked about how important mast set up is on land, but how you can’t really tell if a mast is set up correctly until you’re on the water.  He showed a number of photographs of Thistles with either too much dynamic bend or too little to demonstrate how the mast set up effects the sail shape on the water.  Skip also mentioned that it is very difficult to see the nuances of the sail shape from inside the boat and that pictures from outside are the best analysis tool.

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