Thank you to everyone who made the 1^st ever Point Endurance Sail a success.  Even if you didn’t sail, all of you helped by telling a friend, shooting a picture, showing up at Fly Creek, sending an email, or just inquiring about the sail.  I think everyone agreed that it was a huge success and something we can build on in the future.  If you weren’t sailing, you missed a PERFECT day with steady NW winds.  I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to post those times again!  The entire event went smoothly due to everyone’s relaxed attitude.  AWESOME!  I made some good friends.

The winners were:

Jack Rabbit- Marion McPherson

Salty Dog- Dean Koch

Rascal- Michael Brodbeck

Eeyore- Shepard Partridge

Well, where do we go from here?  Here are a few suggestions for next year-

-Affiliate with a conservation group.  Continue to not charge a registration fee, but possibly an “optional donation” to help raise money for a non-profit.  (M. Cummings knows of a great group.)

-Narrow the starting window.  It was suggested 30mins- 1 hour. (Some Sunfish left earlier to be able to complete the sail, while others waited.  Possibly have everyone mandated to leave by 10:30 or 11:00.)

-Develop more awards to better suit the variety of boats. (Cats, Sunfish, etc.)

-Get the word out sooner.  (FYC really helped with this, but I did not contact them until a week prior to the sail.  Contact them earlier next year.)

-Use buoys for markers, especially at Stedman’s Landing.  (FYC members have agreed to help with this for next year.)

I got a ton of pictures from about four places.  There were some great action shots.  Currently, I’m working on uploading them to photobucket and sending everyone links.  However, this is taking a lot of time.  I could chisel the Declaration of Independence on a stone tablet faster than my computer’s satellite internet connection and molasses processor upload files.  However, if you’re interested in pics of your boat, let me know and I’ll pick out some of the best and send them to you.  I firmly believe in keeping this a free event, meaning no registration fees, no picture fees, and no outside groups making money on this.  One thing I learned last Saturday is that we all have different specialties that we can “chip in” to help each other out.

I have decided that next year’s PES will be the Saturday following Memorial Day weekend.  Why change something that works?  Go ahead and mark your calendars.  I will begin putting the official word out at the beginning of April 2010.

Lastly, if anyone needs a crew member, or you’re just going for an afternoon sail and you want to try to match the speed of the Hunky Dory, PLEASE shoot me an email.  I’m always ready to sail.

-ellis