July 12, 2021

With the club back open in full racing operation for what looks to be a robust and exciting season, I thought it would be a good time to re-introduce us all to our racing fleets. We’ve got a new fleet, the Offshore Fleet, but we also remain fully committed to our existing fleets of Lasers, C-Scows and Larks.

I reached out to our fleet gurus and we’ve written a little feature on each fleet; I hope you enjoy them. If you’d like to lean more about racing, or participate, you can put your name on our potential crew list at the website/in the clubhouse or drop us an email at sailing@erieauyachtclub.com.

-John Kerr
EYC Commodore, ’21

Q: What kind of Fleet is it? What size are the boats and how many are in the EYC Fleet?
The Offshore Fleet is made up of keel boats, typically ranging in size from 24 – 36′ (7.3 – 11 M). We currently have 10 boats but would welcome more!

Q: Where do you race and what is the race course like?
The weekly Offshore Fleet races are held on the lakeside, just off the village. Our regular course is about 7 miles in length, but there will also be one 20 mile Morpeth distance race during the season. Course details are always gone over pre-race at the skippers’ meeting.

Q: When are the races?
The races are held on Saturdays from June thru August, with a special distance race planned for Labour Day. The schedule is available on the EYC website. In the event that conditions are not favourable for a Saturday race, we try for one on Sunday.

Q: How is it officiated? How is it scored and are there trophies?
We use the honour system, with each boat recording its own finish time and the figures adjusted appropriately to account for starting line positioning. We haven’t quite figured out the awards situation yet. It could be trophies, pennants or maybe something different to commemorate achievements.

Q: Who can join as crew and who can join with their own boat? What skills sets are needed to be eligible?
Obviously you need the right size boat and crew as well as the proper sailing experience to race. In addition, the PHRF rating of your boat will also need to be taken into consideration. While handicap racing enables any boat to be competitive on corrected time, the tighter the range of ratings, the better the race will work out. One reason being: if boats are really spread out, the ones at the back of the pack often experience very different conditions than the ones at the front. For better or worse. If anyone has questions on specifics of eligibility (either to join with your own boat or to crew on a boat), we would be happy to talk with you.

Q: What is different about this fleet from the other EYC fleets?
The Offshore Fleet is composed of larger keel boats and does its racing on the lakeside. What is different about the races aside from the different size and shape of the boats are the racing conditions themselves. There will be no support boats on the water for this fleet. No committee boats, no crash boats, etc. The fleet monitors a VHF channel, so they can communicate as necessary. The main thing to realize is that each boat is basically on its own for the duration of the race.

Q: How can I get more information on the Offshore Fleet?
The person to talk to to get more information or to get your name out there as a potential crew is our Offshore Fleet Captain Hugh Liebner at liebners@hotmail.com.

Q: What kind of Fleet is it? What size are the boats and how many are in the EYC Fleet?
The Laser Fleet is a One Design dinghy recognized as one of the most popular boats in the world, with more than 200,000 active worldwide.

Q: Where do you race and what is the race course like?
The Laser Fleet races are held on the Bayside along with the Larks and C-Scows. The course is set each week and course details are confirmed at the weekly skippers’ meeting held before each race.

Q: When are the races?
The races are every Sunday morning at 11am. The Larks and C-Scows race at the same time, but the the Lasers have their own start.

Q: How is it officiated? How is it scored and are there trophies?
The Laser Fleet is officiated by EYC race committee, who kindly organizes the race course and starts each week. It wouldn’t be EYC races without their commitment! Just like the other One Design Fleets (C-Scows and Larks), competitors get pennants for 1st, 2nd and 3rd, and work towards winning seasonal trophies.

Q: Who can join as crew and who can join with their own boat? What skills sets are needed to be eligible?
The utilization of crew on Lasers is frequently weather dependent. On heavy wind days, specifically for newer sailors, having another person in the boat can be helpful. However, the Laser is a fairly small boat and is most effective when raced single-handedly. The boats do capsize easily, so confident swimming skills and comfort on the water is necessary. EYC has Lasers available to be raced, but you can also bring your own Laser to join in the races! As with the other Fleets, members in good standing can race in registered boats.

Q: What are the selling points of the Laser?
The Laser is a high-performance, Olympic-class boat, so the regulations of the boat design are very rigid. The tight class regulations eliminate differences in hull, sails, and equipment creating a competitive racing environment focused solely on sailing skills. The handling of the boat and the sail trim are fairly straightforward. They are a great boat to start out your racing career because of the flexibility of being sailed single-handedly or used for double-handed sailing.

Q: How can I get more information on the Laser Fleet?
To get more information on participating in our Laser fleet races email sailing@erieauyachtclub.com.

Q: What kind of fleet is it, what size boats and how many?
The C-Scow is a catboat rig (single sail) first designed by Johnson Boat Works of White Bear Lake, Minnesota. They are sailed all over the Mid West United States and in Erieau, Ontario, Canada. They are a one design class meaning all aspects of the C-Scow are strictly regulated. They are 20 feet long, weigh 650 pounds and have a sail area of 216 square feet. We usually have thee to five C-Scows racing on a Sunday and are always looking to recruit more!

Q: When and where will you race and what is the race course like?
We race every Sunday at 11am in Rondeau Bay. We sail a windward leeward course. Meaning there is one upwind mark and one downwind mark. This creates extra strategy as the downwind leg requires timely jibes in order to gain an advantage as going straight downwind is usually the slowest.

Q: How is it officiated? How is it scored and are their trophies?
Our fleet is officiated by the EYC race committee. We follow the race and rules set by the Canadian Sailing Association. We score our races using a lowest point for first system. Meaning, if you place first, you will receive one point, you will receive two points for second, three for third and so on. The boat with the lowest total points at the end of season will win that year. We will have one or two throw out races depending on how many races were completed for the year. There is a trophy for the boat that wins the whole season. We also sail a special race in which the winner receives a trophy called the Lakeside race. The C-Scows will start in the bay, race into Lake Erie and finish in the bay.

Q: Who can join as crew and who can join with their own boat? What skills sets are needed to be eligible?
Anyone with a C-Scow can race. On heavy wind days, anything over 15 to 18 knots, most C-Scows will require three people to race. Therefore, there is an opportunity to crew if the winds require it. However, C-Scows can be difficult to race in heavy winds and usually require the crew to have experience in sailing and/or racing.

Q: What are the selling points of this fleet?
The C-Scow travels well. There are regattas all over the Midwest United States throughout the summer. In 2019, The EYC held its debut International C-Scow regatta hosting five boats from the states including Iowa, Indiana, Idaho and Michigan. We were able to complete six races and on Sunday we raced in Lake Erie. It was a wonderful event and we had even more success in 2022. We’re looking forward to our third one this June!

Q: How can I get more information on the C-Scow Fleet?
The governing body for the C-Scows is the National C Scow Association. However, for information regarding the Erieau Yacht Club C-Scow fleet, you can visit our web page at www.erieauyachtclub.com or you can email Matt Poile at mattpoile11@gmail.com.