TELL TALES (Mar. 11, 2009)

·         BIRTHDAYS: We will have two birthdays Friday. Cara Patete, a Red Fleet skipper, will turn 15, and Katie Paolillo, a Portsmouth Division sailor, will be 17. Best wishes to both of you.

·         SCHEDULE: 

Mar. 14 – Spring Series race 2, JGR meeting, trophy presentation and boat load

Mar. 21 – Leukemia and Lymphoma Cup Regatta, Isles Yacht Club, Punta Gorda

Mar. 28-29 – Sailfest. Sarasota Sailing Squadron, Sarasota

Apr. 4 – Spring Series race 3 and boat load

Apr. 6-10 – Scout Week

Apr. 11 – Jabbo Gordon Invitational Regatta, Englewood

·         ADD SCHEDULE

1.       This coming Saturday is a busy day. In addition to regular sailing including Spring Series race 2 and a boat load, the JGR committee will meet in the Venice Yacht at 12 noon. A trophy presentation for the Winter Series is slated for 1 p.m.  Saturday also is the deadline for signing our list for Sailfest, which will be Mar. 28-29. The discount deadline is Friday.

2.       For those not going to Punta Gorda or Sarasota, there will be no sailing here Mar. 21 or 28.

3.       We have posted a sign-up sheet for the Jabbo Gordon Regatta, which will be in Englewood on Apr. 11. Again, there will be no sailing here that day. Deadline for that event is Mar. 28.

·         SCOUT NEWS

1.       Michelle Thomas will teach our Scout Week program during Spring Break, Apr. 6-10, 1 to 5 p.m. If anyone knows someone who wants a sailing merit badge, ask them to contact Jabbo.

2.       Samantha Woods is selling Girl Scout cookies. Please order some from her.

·         REGATTA RESULTS: Carla Johnson won the Green Fleet at the annual Allison Jolly Regatta in St. Petersburg last weekend.  She scored a first and a second to take the title from 15 other boats. Samantha Woods came in sixth place with 11 points. Sami Tornese tallied 15 points and took fourth place in the Laser 4.7 class. Michelle Thomas finished fourth and Chloe Dietrich was sixth in the Laser Radial division. Cara Patete was ninth in the RWB category and sixth in Red Fleet. Alicia Muscato came in 23rd out of 30 overall and 13th in the Blue Fleet. Winds were light Sunday.

·         SUMMER CLASSES: Two two-week sessions are scheduled in June for our sailors. A 420 class will run June 2-13 and a special Optimist class is slated from June 15-26. We need a minimum of four in each group to hold the classes. Times will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The cost is $100.

·         ATTENDANCE DOWN: Several sailors have been missing more sessions than they make. We have notified the worst offenders. This is important because we will reassign our Optimist class boats at the end of May and a primary consideration is attendance. Second, sailing counselor positions will go to skippers who care enough about the program to appear regularly on Saturdays.

·         SAILING COUNSELORS: Add Andrew Sosa and Stefan Johnson to our list of prospective counselors. If a skipper wants to serve, he or she – not a parent -- must contact Jabbo. The sailor is the person who is going to be working, not Mom or Dad. It’s time to take that responsibility.

·         STAYING OVER: If you say that you intend to stay over and sail in the afternoons, you must stay or run the risk of not being able to stay in the future. We can allow for folks to change their minds once, but that’s all. Be prepared to answer the question in the mornings when you arrive.