~~~~~~~ 2009 ~~~~~~

2009 Activities

Sunday, Nov 29, 2009. Did anyone attempt to sail on this windy, rainy day? Not I. (Ralph)

Sunday, Nov 21, 2009. Nine Skippers Sailed at Delco Park. The weather was great. Wind started out at about 8 mph and got down to ~4mph for good sailing all afternoon.  We used three throw out markers for the course and practice raced without keeping score.  Aside from the 54 degree temperatures it was perfect day.

Saturday, Nov 21, 2009, 5:30 pm. AWARDS DINNER. The KMSC held the Fall/Awards meeting at the MCL Cafeteria at 4485 Far Hills Ave, Dayton, OH 45429. The first five Places for the entire season received a beautifully framed awards made by Dave Eckard. Thanks, Dave.

1st Russell Hardie
2nd Ralph Kanko
3rd Jose Garcia
4th David Eckard
5th Dave Kovaks

Russell Hardie was the only skipper that sailed in every scored race we held.

An extended business meeting was held. The most significant decision was to host the 2010 V-32 National Championships. Our Race Director, Steve Pratt will lead the planning committee and needs volunteers for various planning tasks. A date will be established soon. Need to coordinate with communitiy agencies to find a appropriate weekend in Aug or Sept, that does not conflict with other events. Meeting minutes were sent to all members. We plan to hold another meeting in Feb or March to finalize Regatta plans and close a number of issues we tabled at this meeting.

DIRECTIONS: The MCL Cafeteria is located at 4485 Far Hills Ave, Dayton, OH 45429. Ph (937) 299-9009. This is on the NW corner of Far Hills and David Road, but the cafeteria is not visible from that intersection. MCL is located on the west side of the parking lot behind the bank, and it is the southern most business in the strip mall.

Sunday, Nov 15, 2009. The forecast called for 4 to 5 mph winds. When we got there, it was so quiet we began to wonder if someone had snuck out in the middle of the night and laid a mirror on the pond. Two eager skippers sat and visited while waiting for a gust, maybe a breath, even a sigh of wind to grace the water. No such luck! The temperature was nice; the sun was out, but no wind! After an hour, we went home. Aren't you glad you didn't come out today?

Sunday, Nov 8, 2009. Six skippers sailed today in nice weather. Temperatures in high 60s and winds were at 5-7 mph. We raced around the throw-out marks and had a good time.

Sunday, Nov 1, 2009. Fun/practice day as will be all the rest of the Sundays until the weather chases us out. Four skippers sailed today, and Jerry brought his star 45.  Although some skippers failed come out because of the light wind, the wind was very nice. Sometimes it was low, but there was always wind.  The park had removed the marks on Friday, so there was nothing to race around. Not much fun without buoys.

Sunday, Oct 25, 2009. This was our last scored day of the season. Ten V-32s raced in beautiful weather. The sun was shining most of the afternoon with temperatures in the mid 60s. The wind was very cooperative, ranging from about 5 to 8 mph, with its normal behavior of switching direction at unexpected times. Russel took the honors today of having the best score, but he was not the only one to cross the finish line in first place. Seven of the ten skippers had at least one first place.

Sunday, Oct 18, 2009. Eight V-32s sailed on this Fun sail day. Weather was a just a little over 50 degrees, but it it was fun. We did not have the starting recording so rabbit starts were used.

Sunday, Oct 11, 2009. Eight boats sailed on this scored race day. The wind was very light, so we used a shorter course. Scores have not been sent out yet, but I am pretty sure Russell is in first place today.

Sunday, Oct 4, 2009. We had nice weather and five V-32s sailed the waters in moderate to strong winds with very few lulls.  We sailed practice races with the starting tape, and had a good time. We did some sail trimming on Dale's new boat and it was sailing better by the end of the session. The Star 45s sailed a scored day today, so some of our V-32 skippers were gone.

We quit a little early because three boats were out of commission  One boat had the transmitter batteries go low, another had the rudder block come loose, and a third boat was T-boned which punctured the hull about an inch below the deck line.  Did not notice when it happened, but that boat was sailing very low in the water and almost sank. Water was already up to the servo mount rails!  It was very heavy to lift out of the water.  All items are repairable.

Sunday, Sept 27, 2009. Eleven boats were out racing on this scored race day. The wind was very strong, at times the boats just seemed to lay down and could make no headway. There were a few little whirlwind gusts that actually tacked some boats from port to starboard and back to port without changing course. The V-32s are tough little boats, none were damaged due to wind. First place was taken by five different skippers on various races, and I think everyone has noticed that it is very hard to get to the sweet spot at the starting line, since so many skippers seem to know where it is and managed to be there. Results were mailed out to all members.

We had one boat lose its sail rig--it was due to the screw at the bottom of the mast unscrewing itself. Recommend that the screw at the bottom of the mast be examined, and if it has little or no friction to turning you should use some method to lock it.  Check the ease with which it screws when the mast is NOT ON THE BOAT. We have seen this problem occur on several occasions. 
Here are some ways to stop that screw from unscrewing:

        1.  Add a lock nut made from nylon or use a nut with the self locking nylon insert feature. You need to use something that resists turning.  Snug it up against the bottom of the mast each time before you sail.  Recheck if this nut actually stays where you put it, or if it, too, starts moving.
        2.  Use blue locktite on the screw. This will need to be reapplied about once every five to eight sailing sessions, depending on how much you screw the adjustment.
        3.  Add a loop of string that goes from the side stay eyelet and hooks over the little tab to keep it from unscrewing.  I have two boats with this currently installed. Cheap, easy, and reliable.
        4.  Tape the tab to the deck with electical tape.
        5.  Use a plier to damage the screw thread so it binds a little and resists screwing. This method is not recommended because unlike the other ways to do this, damaging the bolt threads will also cause damage to the internal threads and you will soon have the same loose problem in addition to damaged threads on both parts.
        6.  Some skippers are lucky and there is just enough corrosion and rust that the bold never does get loose.  Unreliable.
        7.  Devise another clamping method and let us know how good it works.

Sunday, Sept 20, 2009. Fun Sail day. The early rain probably prevented many from coming, but it turned out to be a good sailing day after the morning rain quit. Five V-32s practice raced.  The wind was steady, about 6 to 8 mph, and did not stir up waves. Very nice.  A little rain shower chased us out about 5 pm, when most planned to leave anyway. No scores were kept. Dale sailed his newly built boat for the first time. Nice job on the boat, Dale! Next Sunday is a scored day. See you out there!

Sunday, Sept 13, 2009. Scored day. Five skippers sailed on Sunday Sept. 13. The Skies were nice, but the wind was fickle. Congratulations to Russell for taking top place, he as almost unbeatable, winning 14 out of 15 races. Jose won one race and I gave him one also as I couldn't get enough wind to cross the finish line. Scores that count toward the final standings were sent out.

Sunday, Sept 6, 2009. Fun Day because it is the Labor Day weekend. Scores were recorded by the four skippers and the results were sent out to all members. These scores do not count toward season standings.

Sunday, August 30, 2009. Fun Day racing, but we kept score just for reference. Ten skippers sailed in winds that were light at times, and even died out occassionally, but never for long. Jose came back to sail after four weeks absence and complained about being "rusty," then went on to take first place for this day. Don't we all wish we could get rusty like that? We had a great time!

Sunday, August 23, 2009. Scored day. We had a very nice day of sailing today. Great weather! Big change from 90 last week to 72 degrees today. Eleven V-32s sailed, and we completed 15 races. Thanks to everyone for coming out today. Wind was light and as always, a bit variable. We had some real crowded conditions on the start line, as well as some crowded marks. Russell came in first place again by a large margin of 23 points! Good job Russell--another day like this and you will be in first place for the season. We also had a number of different sail numbers taking first places--skills are improving. Good deal.

Sunday, August 16, 2009. This was a SCORED DAY-- a make-up for last weekend's cancellation due to high wind. I want to thank everybody who came out on such a hot day. We sailed 15 scored races with five boats. Aside from a few short lulls, we always had wind, but it was never from the same direction. Many times I went from a port tack to a starboard tack without changing heading. We had a good time even though it was quite hot. We had more than our share of pile-ups at the marks, and quite a few "rafts." Russell: Congratulations on taking first place on Sunday. Can I tune your boat for you?

Sunday, August 9, 2009. Scored sailing cancelled due to high winds. 13 to 14 mph predicted. Actual gusts reported as 21 mph at 4pm. We are collecting input from skippers to determine if we should make next Sunday a scheduled race day or try to make-up this scored day during the week. The votes came in and we will be sailing on Sunday as a Scored Day.

Sunday, August 2, 2009. The weather was perfect on this practice day. Temperature was about 82 degrees, winds were a nice 6 to 9 mph with a few healthy gusts. There were six V-32 Skippers out sailing and raced one race after another. We varied the course a few times, and swapped the lead and last place positions around quite a bit. It was a great time.

Sunday, July 26, 2009. I want to thank all the daring skippers who braved the rough seas and raced on our scored race day. We had nine boats today.  The wind was quite strong, but less than our agreed upon limits.  Winds were averaging about 9.6 mph with gusts up to 14.  We discussed the option to not do scored racing, but everyone seemed to agree..."I am here to race, let's go!"  There were several times when the boats all laid down and we could make no headway, but that only lasted five or ten seconds.  Actually, there were a few times when the entire fleet was moving backwards.  We had no serious crashes, no boats damaged, no failed parts, and no radio failures. GREAT DAY! We had a good time...and just about when we were leaving, the wind went down to 7 mph...

Sunday, July 19, 2009. This was fun sail day at Delco Pond. Don't believe anyone sailed today. Recovering from yesterday's regatta.

Regatta Report, Saturday, July 18, 2009.

The First Annual Ohio V-32 Invitational regatta at Delco Park in Kettering was a success. We got to sail our boats in competition and met a lot of great sailors from the club in Indianapolis.  I want to thank the Indy Admirals for coming over to Kettering and participating in this regatta.  Thirteen skippers attended this First Annual Ohio Invitational Regatta.  Five Indianapolis Admirals raced with eight Kettering Model Sailing Club members. We raced all thirteen boats as a single fleet. This establishes a new record for the number of V-32s on Delco Pond.

Temperatures were a very nice 70 degrees as we sailed under cloudy skies in winds of 4 to 8 mph with infrequent lulls. A big, dark cloud passed to the south of us and for a while it looked like we were going to get rained out--but we never got rain at all.

Congratulations to the three Indy Admirals who earned first, second, and third place! Here are the top five skippers who received trophies: 1st Brian Brozek    Indy Admirals 2nd Gene Wisner   Indy Admirals 3rd Pete Pippen     Indy Admirals 4th Russell Hardie  Kettering Model Sailing Club 5th Ralph Kanko    Kettering Model Sailing Club Photos of July 18 Regatta are posted on Mark Camden's website.

Sunday, July 12, 2009. Today was a great day of racing with TEN boats. The weather was a nice 83 degrees with winds of 6 to 9 mph and gusts even higher. We raced almost the same course all afternoon, because the wind stayed mostly from the NNW. We had some very close races--one race had ten boats crowded at the first and second marks--everyone got there at the same time! At one turn at the f a a a a r mark, I could not see my boat and gave no rudder commands, but since it was in the middle of the pack, it just got turned with everyone else and came out sailing in the right direction. David invented a new rule violation call today: "RAFTING!" A raft is when three or more boats get "stuck" together and can't seem to get free. I think we set a record with a six boat raft today. could not find a discussion on "rafting" in the rules, but IMHO the proper end to a raft is the windward boat does a 360.

Sunday, July 5, 2009. Seven skippers and approximately 30 geese sailed the waters on Delco Pond today, July 12. We started out with some pretty strong winds, and by 5 pm there were a few good lulls. We raced for fun today, and with the wind as strong as it was, we even used the far yellow mark. Don't know how many races we did, but it was hard to quit. The pond was very nice at 5 pm with 4-5 mph winds. Had a great time, temperature was warm, but not too hot.

Sunday, June 28, 2009. Scored racing was cancelled due to winds exceeding 12 mph.

Sunday, June 21, 2009. Sadly, no one was nice enough to their father on this Fathers' Day to bring them out to the pond and say, "Dad, if this is something you would like to do, we sure would like to buy you one of these boats." No one!

What a great day! Six V-32 skippers showed up at the pond today, and we practice raced in near perfect conditions.Nice winds, but variable as always. That nasty green marker still gave us a lot of trouble. The wind gets pretty mixed up behind the windbreak caused by the gazebo and tree; it appears the wind is coming from a completely different direction when you move as little as 5 feet.

We ran about 14 practice races with the recorded countdown. There were a number of races where we were really spread out at the finish, then there were several where we all showed up at the finish in a nice, tight group.

I have to compliment our KMSC V-32 skippers. Although many V-32 skippers are relatively new to RC sailboat racing, as a group, we have shown good sportsmanship in keeping clear when required and being pleasant when called to take a 360 when a mistake is made. Most of the actual collisions happen near the marks when the wind is shifty, the view of the boats is blocked, or the mark is so far away you need binoculars. Of course, there was the T-bone Ralph did on Jose's boat which was none of those. (Sorry, Jose, the 360 penalty I took was well-deserved. -Ralph) Playing by the rules makes the afternoon a good time for everybody.

It is no longer easy for the old skippers to get the choice positions on the starting mark every time, because everyone is getting better at being in the right place when the bell goes off. No, I didn't say everyone is at the line at the bell....I said we are getting better.

Sunday, June 14, 2009.. The scored racing was cancelled today. The wind was less than 3 mph at 1:00pm. Eight skippers showed up anyway for fun sailing at 2:30. The winds were very light and we spend a lot of time in lulls. We set up a very short practice course and sailed anyway. The wind gradually got better until we got rained out at 4 pm. Someone asked if we should postpone this scored day to next weekend. No, we will not because next Sunday, June 21, is Father's Day. We will not schedule scored races on holidays and special Sundays such as Father's Day, Mother's Day, Easter, etc., since many have family events on those days. We will look at the calendar and see if we can make this up on another day--or just let it pass.

Sunday, June 7, 2009.. We had a great time sailing on Sunday.  The weather was perfect. Nice 5 to 8 mph winds with an occasional big gust and very few lulls. The sky was overcast so the sun did not beat down on us... temperature about 80 degrees. Seven boats practice raced.  No one counted or kept score, but we must have done about 15 to 18 races. Because of the good wind conditions we were able to set up an interesting zig-zag course instead of going round and round.  Brian suggested it and then took a first place.  He said he really liked that course!

Sunday, May 31, 2009. We had a great time today. KMSC set a new record for the number of V-32s racing.  We had ten boats, even with three of our regulars missing.  Thanks to all those who came out. Results were sent out to all on the KMSC mailing list. The wind and temperature where perfect. Two different courses were followed--one to avoid the fishermen and then a little different when they left.  There were quite a few pile-ups at the marks.  The wind was variable, maybe averaging 6 mph, but there were some lulls and a few good, hard gusts. We had one start where the wind changed about 90 degrees right at the starting bell, and the boats seemed to drift off in many strange directions.

Sunday, May 24, 2009. Six V-32s practice raced in very light winds. A few times there were some decent gusts, but mostly it was a real drifter. We quit at 4 pm. A new skipper sailed with us for two hours. Dale, we were happy to have you sailing today. Chris tried a boat for a few minutes. Nice to see people stop by and be interested in our hobby. Hope to see you again, Dale and Chris.

Sunday, May 17, 2009. Eight skippers showed up for this scored day. We had a great time. Results were sent to all members. Wind was quite strong at times, and often laid our boats over. At other times the wind was light. Steve's mast came off--the bottom of the mast was split and the adjusting screw assembly was gone. Fortunately it happened near the starting line and the boat drifted to shore in a convenient place.

Sunday, May 10, 2009. We had six skippers out sailing practice races this Sunday. The weather was outstanding--fair temperature and good wind. Some of the guys with shorts wished they had some warmer clothes. We had mostly light winds, a few hard gusts and a few almost calm times. This was a much better turnout than I expected on Mother's Day. Phil and Mark brought out their boats for the first time. Mark got his boat from Victor already built; Phil built his boat. Very nice to see new skippers and new boats out there! We had the interest of a number of the folks who walked by.

Sunday, May 3, 2009. Today was a great day of sailing at Delco Park, Kettering. Thanks to all those who came out today. The temperature was perfect, and the sun was not hot. We had six skippers and boats at the pond, but only five sailed at one time due to a battery problem and a late arrival. This was our first Scored Race Day. Nine heats were sailed in light winds that were very shifty. A few times it became calm, but never lasted more than a few minutes. The marks were laid out so we could start in any direction, and the wind cooperated with our plan--it came from every direction.

Sunday, April 26, 2009. Scored sailing was cancelled due to winds of 14 to 20 mph. Three V-32 skippers sailed at the pond from 6:00 to 8:20 PM. Winds lightened up quite a bit and by 8:00 it was calm close to the south shore.

Saturday, April 25, 2009. This visit to Indianapolis is cancelled due to high winds. The Indianapolis Admirals will be sponsoring a V-32 invitational regatta on April 25, 2009 at Avon Park. V-32s sail at 1:30.

Sunday April 19, 2009. Eight V-32s practice raced at the pond today. Mark brought out his new V-32 still in the box, but it did not get wet today. Raul came out at 3:30, just when we were quitting due to rain. So we only had 1 1/2 hours of sailing in cool,temperatues (55 degrees), but beautiful 8 to 10 mph winds. It was fun. We sailed the new marks. Looks like the green mark moved about sixty feet from where we originally put it. Need to have it moved back. We were missing three of our members--We are going to have quite a crowd if all 12 show up!

We finalized plans for attending the Spring Fling at Avon Park, Indiana, next week. Five skippers have agreed to go early so we can watch the US1M boats sail at 10:30 am. Here comes TEAM OHIO!

Sunday April 12, 2009. Two V-32 skippers were at the pond, but did not sail..Most skippers did not show up this day. The weather was cool and windy, and it was Easter Sunday.

Thurs April 9, 2009. 2 pm. Kettering Park personnel put out five marks for our course. The marks are located a little closer to shore than before, and provide a number of options to set our start line perpendicular to the wind. Thanks to Russel for working out a new course layout and also to Steve for helping get the marks in the right positions.

Sunday April 5, 2009. 2 to 4:30 pm. Four V-32 skippers sailed in nice weather with ideal winds. We set up the throw out marks and sailed an inverted V course to avoid a fisherman who was fishing from our favorite rock.

Sunday, Mar 29, 2009. Sailing cancelled due to high winds.

Sunday, Mar 22, 2009. 2 to 5 pm. Four skippers showed up for a great day of racing. We used the tempoary marks again. Hope to get the permanent marks put in by the end of the month. Wind was light to moderate. We had more than a few interavals of no wind, however, they were short lived, and we never had to swim for a boat.

Sunday, Mar 15, 2009. 2 to 5 pm. Four skippers met at the pond for our first fun sail and racing practice. We threw out the temporary markers, Dave brought an extra marker, so we had two end points and two markers for a starting line. The weather was extremely nice. 61 degrees and nice 4 to 10 mph winds with only a few gusts that may have exceeded 15 mph. It was a nice initiation of the new season. We post some pictures soon.

March 14, 2009. 4:00 to 6:30 pm. We had our Spring meeting at the MCL cafeteria. Fourteen attended including spouses and family members. Russell did a fine presentation of the Rules of Racing, focusing on the ones that most of us seem to have trouble with. Four skippers said they will attend the April 25 Spring Fling in Indianapolis. We discussed the course arrangement and laid out some basic plans for an Invitational Regatta in June.

Feb 12, 2009. We have a new boat owner. Raul has been sailing with us last summer and has obtained a boat to race this season. Rumor has it that this boat did pretty good in last year's standings. Watch out! Welcome aboard, Raul.

January 17, 2009. We held a KMSC Dinner meeting at the MCL Cafeteria in South Dayton. Fifteen people attended including spouses and children. After a fine meal, we awarded certificates to the top four skippers, elected officers, and made plans for the 2009 racing season (See 2009 Racing Schedule). The top four skippers for 2008 are:1st Ralph Kanko, 2nd Jose Garcia. 3rd Russell Hardie. 4th Jerry Kunk.

~~~~~~~ 2008 ~~~~~~

Nov 2, 2008. Had a great time this Sunday. Six boats sailed in very light wind--we had a lot of dead time, but then we had some nice wind as well. The wind was so light when we got there, we all agreed not to score the day's races. We just had fun. This was the last sail of the season.

Oct 26, 2008. The Scored sailing for day for Sunday Oct 26 was cancelled. The wind was forecast to be 22 mph. Not even hiding in the valley at Lafino Park on Grange Hall could protect us from that. Our sailing plan calls for cancelling scored days when the wind is greater than 12 mph.

Oct 19, 2008. Great day for sailing. Seven skippers practice raced today. The sun was warm and the breeze was gentle. Had a lot of practice sailing in light wind, then suddenly we would have a good 6 mph for a few minutes. Had a few lulls, but generally good wind all afternoon. Had lots of shifting wind direction--which made for interesting sailing. We could sail the same course several times, and it would never be the same.

Oct 12, 2008. Wow! What a great day of sailing! We had nine boats racing, in near perfect conditions. Thanks to everyone who came out. Great temperature and the wind was pretty steady almost all afternoon. The wind was from our backs, so there were only little waves riled up at the windward end of the pond where we sailed. We had a few lulls, but not long lasting. The winds did not seem as difficult as usual because the wind approached the pond from the soccer fields where no stands of trees or other obstructions caused the wind to swirl in circles.

I guess it was one of the best attended with the best sailing conditions we have had all year! No boat failures or leaks, but Steve had to leave early. We varied the course about four or five times to make it interesting. I will have to bring out a white board so we can post the course....a number of us went for the wrong next mark too many times.

Oct 5, 2008. Well, attendance was not so good today. Not even the wind showed up. Four of our group were out of town for various reasons, and the Star 45 Fleet had their scored day today. So Brian and I were the only two who sailed. Ah, we can still tell people we sail every Sunday! The temperature was fine but the wind was just few thermals scooting different directions. We gave up on the wind and quit at 3:30.

CHECK YOUR BOATS: Brian's boat took on quite a bit of water sailing in calm winds. We found the keel box was loose, so the keel could easily be shifted from side to side. The plywood vertical that goes from the keel box to the underside of the deck had come unglued on the top. That probably caused some cracks in the joint at the bottom and let water in. Makes me want to add epoxy to that top joint when I seal the bottom joints on a new boat.

Sept 28, 2008. We had a great time on Sunday, Sept 28. The weather was great for this Scored race day. The wind was extremely cooperative with some variation. We had some hard gusts and light wind, but I don't recall the wind ever quitting altogether. We had several interested people stop by to talk. (No, the boats don't have motors)

Nine boats showed for the race. Steve's boat had a transmitter problem so he did not sail. Jerry's boat developed a leak which he discovered after the third race. He had about a half cup of water or more to drain. Jerry did not sail anymore. So we sailed with seven boats the rest of the day. We missed those of you who were not there!

Sept 21, 2008. What a great time sailing! We had nine (9) V-32 boats out practice racing today and a Star 45 as well. This is another new record attendance for our club. Thank you everyone for coming out. The wind was light with moderate gusts. Sometimes the wind died and we had to wait a few minutes for the wind to come back, but it always came back. We missed the rest of you who were not there.

Sept 14, 2008. CANCELLED. Sailing was cancelled due to the residue of Hurricane Ike moving into the Ohio area. Winds of up to 75 mph were experienced in Dayton, OH. As a result, damaged power lines left hundreds of thousands of residents without power for periods ranging from a few days to as much as two weeks. This really impacted our ability to charge our batteries.

Sept 7, 2008. A good day for sailing. Very nice 4 to 8 mph winds, nice temperatures, and not much wave activity. Four skippers practice raced until about 5:30. We missed all of you that have been attending in the past.

Aug 31, 2008 Fun Day. Sunday was a great day to sail. There was plenty of wind--and once in awhile a few gusts too much. We had a good time practice racing using chase-the-rabbit for starting. Some of the newer skippers in the club are getting better and starting to take away a few of the first place heats from the usual leaders. That's good! We had eight boats out there battling for room at the mark.

Aug 24 Scored Day. Beautiful sailing day! Light wind, heavy wind, and it was fairly hot except during the short rain shower. We established a record number of boats racing in our club. We had 8 boats racing! Lots of mix ups on who was getting first place. We had two visitors. Steve is looking for a new boat. David has ordered a kit. Raul is ready to sail next week with us as well. After 14 heats the standing was Ralph 1st; Russell 2nd; and Jose 3rd. We quit when we heard thunder.

Aug 17, 2008 Fun Practice. Had a great time today. Five boats were practice racing. Hugh brought his new V-32 out for its first sail. After a few adjustments of rigging, and installing a new grommet at the main sail clew, we were ready to go, except he needed to borrow a few batteries. The rechargeables were discharged. Hugh did sail his boat and it DID NOT leak.. Installed a spare receiver in Dave's boat, and he sailed all afternoon. Weather was nice. Light to moderate winds, always shifting. Lots of fun doing chase-the-rabbit starts.

Aug 10, 2008 Scored Race Day. The weather was great. Mild high 70s temperatures, clear sky, AND we had wind. We had some very high gusts at times, but overall it was very good. The varying gusts sure changed the position of the boats as each heat progressed. We had seven boats racing. After 15 heats the standings for the day were Ralph-1st, Jerry-2nd, and Russel-3rd.

There were some very close races--and some very far apart ones as well. The biggest problem seemed to be boats unable to get around a mark. That far mark is very hard to judge and a few times we had several boats making repeated passes at the same mark.

Three boats had radio problems. One boat had a faulty sail servo that caused glitches. The radio is quite new and we hope Victor Model Products will provide support in fixing this issue. The other two skippers have not reported the causes. Regretfully, this happened on a scored day....

Aug 3, 2008 Fun Practice. Had a great time sailing with six boats! Winds started strong and by the time we quit at 5 PM, it was almost calm. Had a new skipper, Hugh out with us--still waiting for his new boat from Victor--Welcome Hugh! Also had a first time visitor sail one of our boats; I hope you come back and sail with us again, David. We practice raced all afternoon, playing rabbit for the starts.

July 27, 2008 Scored. Six skippers raced 15 heats in light and variable winds. Sun was warm, but a good time was had by all. This was a scored day. Congratulations to the three fastest skippers: 1st Jose, 2nd Russell, 3rd Jerry. This was the first day for Russell with his new boat--we gotta watch this guy!

July 20, 2008 Fun Practice. What a great day of sailing! Since it was a fun day, we brought out a few other classes of boats. We had four V-32s, a Soling 1 Meter, a Star 45, a Footy, and a Nirvana II, but we were able to sail only seven of the eight at one time. We sailed heats for fun, using chase-the-rabbit for starts. The larger Soling and Star 45 gave the other boats about a 100 foot lead, then we were all in the race. The wind was a bit high for the V-32s, gusting as high as 16 mph. We passed the transmitters around so everyone had a chance to try other boats. No one asked to sail my Footy. :-( It did not sail well in those waves; however, those conditions for that size boat are equivalent to a typhoon. The forecast thunderstorms never did appear, but we quit when we had a little shower about 4:15 PM, then hung around and visited for the next 45 minutes anyway. Thanks to everyone who showed up and helped make this a great day!

July 13, 2008. Very good Scored Race Day. We had five boats that raced 15 heats. The wind was strong, but the boats held up very well--only one boat had an eyelet pull out of the mainsail. There was one real difficult mark due to swirling winds from the gazebo and trees. Had to call a short time out to drain water.

July 6, 2008 (Holiday weekend) Fun Practice. Had a great day of sailing. Four boats! We did practice sailing using Chase-the-Rabbit starts. Wind was light to moderate--and very nice temperatures. Dave brought his new boat out for the first time, and it looks great. Welcome, Dave!

June 29, 2008 Cancelled due to weather.

June 22, 2008 What a great day of sailing! Five skippers showed up for this scored day. We waited about 30 minutes for a dark cloud to pass by before starting, and had no rain all afternoon. The winds and conditions were perfect for sailing. First three standings for the day were Ralph 1st; Jose 2nd; Jerry 3rd.

June 15, 2008. A lot of skippers had family responsibilities this Fathers' Day. Jose, Sharon, and Ralph sailed for a 2 1/2 hours in perfect weather. We had an extra boat for visitors, but had no skippers to try it out.

The Kettering Parks placed six marks on the water for us this spring and we have had a lot of fun using them in both scored and practice racing. Two years ago the marks had 3 lb anchors and we had two of them dragged to shore by unknown means. This year we have 10 lb anchors--solid steel cylinders with welded attachment rings.

June 8, 2008: Scored day. Three skippers showed up and the standing for the day after 15 heats was: 1st Jerry Kunk; 2nd Jose Garcia; 3rd Ralph Kanko. Good job, Jerry!

~~~~~~~ 2007 ~~~~~~

Sunday, Oct 28, 2007 was a pretty good sailing day. The wind was decent and three of us had a good time just sailing for fun. No marks this time.

Sunday Oct 21, 2007. Wind was 12 mph gusting to 25. We weren't interested in having our boats beat up in that kind of wind so I don't think anyone was sailing.

Sunday Oct 14, 2007. A very quiet afternoon. Although the forecast was for 5 mph, the wind was about 2 or 3 mph. No matter... four of us sailed a number of slow races and had a good time.

Sunday Oct 7, 2007. The wind was very light at 2:30, but by 3:30 it was around 3 or 4 mph. Nice sailing! Of course, I was out there by myself. Had Lou and Antonio stop by--Antonio tried my boat and found he is a pretty good sailor! The weather forecast was for 1 mph winds, but I saw a leaf move, so I just packed them up and went sailing. I was sailing a Star 30. Great boat for light wind.

Sunday 30 Sept, 2007. Another great day of sailing. We had five skippers racing around three marks. Don't know how many races we did. We had a Soling 1M sailing with us as well. It was nice to see another boat out there--even it it was faster than the V-32s. The weather was very nice. Good wind and quite variable.

Sunday Sept 23, 2007! What a great day. Six skippers and seven boats! If you had come we could have loaned you that extra boat. We got there at 2 PM and put out markers. Starting at 3PM five of us ran about 10 or12 practice heats, but no one counted for sure, We had some decent 6 mph winds and a number of quiet conditions when the wind stopped. We were all sorry the day had ended, and we all left about 6 PM. We hope to repeat this next Sunday on Sept 30. Come join us--whether you have a boat or not...

Sunday, Sep 9, 2007. Brian, Connie and Ralph sailed for almost three hours. The weather was perfect. After a slight drizzle quit at 2:30 when we drove up, the weather was dry with a very nice wind blowing. A few clouds flew over and looked ominous, but no rain. Temperature was perfect.

Sunday, Sept 2, 2007. Another good afternoon. Jose and Brian were out sailing and had a great time.

Sunday, Aug 26, 2007, was a great day for sailing. Brian sailed his boat for the first time. We had three or four boats out.

Sunday Aug 19, 2007. We had four boats out on the water on Sunday and had a good time sailing with some first time skippers. Bryan and Connie sailed for the first time and enjoyed it. Bryan plans to bring his new V-32 out next Sunday.

We had a good time sailing on Sunday, July 29, 2007 from 2:30 to 5:00. We had only two boats, but we set up markers and practiced for the V-32 Nationals (see below).

We sailed a few times in May, but the weather has not been cooperative during the last two weeks in May, so we have not been sailing as much as we would like. If the weather is good on Sunday afternoon, we may be out there

Sunday April 29,2007. Another great day of sailing from 2:15 to 5:45 PM! We had four boats out on the water. The temperature was very comfortable and sky was blue. The wind went from very strong to almost nothing, and came from various directions at different times, so sailing was fun and full of surprises. Several visitors spent some time at the helm of some of our sailboats. John has been sailing a number of times on Sunday AM and also a few times during the past few weeks--so we have more activity on the pond than we report here on this page.

Sunday, April 22, 2007. Wow! What a great day of sailing. 79 Degrees and 8 to 12 mph wind! If you were not out sailing in this weather, then you missed the best day of sailing since last Fall! We had three boats out, and they were shared by a number of visitors who stopped by and sailed with us. Since the weather was so nice, the park was full of people having a good time. Sorry you missed it. We will try to see you next Sunday...okay?

Saturday, April 21, 2007. We sailed on Saturday even though the wind was very light. What a beautiful day! Warm sun, green grass, and lot of ducks quacking and geese honking, for us to get out of the way. The fish were not biting , so I strongly recommend you change your hobby to sailing! That way you can sit out all afternoon by the pond watching all the activities, and not have to make excuses to friends and relatives about not catching anything.

April 13, 2007. We had three boats out sailing. It was a pleasant day with many, many folks using the fine facilitates at Kettering Delco park. There was jogging, fishing, dog walking, dog swimming, and as always, some very nice folks stopped and chatted while we sailed our boats.

March 17, 2007. Jose sailed in some cool and windy conditions. Jose gets the award for the first V-32 sailor out on Delco Park in 2007.

Friday, Nov 24, 2007. Sailing was great! Five boats out there from 1:30 to 4:45! ...and please don't argue that it was only 4 1/2 because one boat was a Footy! The weather was the best for sailing--60 degrees, sunny, and 5-6 mph winds.

On Nov 24, 2007, we discovered one of our markers was removed from the pond. Apparently it was dragged to shore by a fish line. Park personnel had collected the stray marker and returned it to us. It was damaged beyond repair.

Friday, November 10, 2007. Had a great time sailing with three boats when the temperature was about 68 F and nice 8 mph winds.

~~~~~~~ 2006 ~~~~~~

October 1, 2006. We had a good time sailing on Sunday afternoon. Four skippers were sailing boats on the water in best weather we could get for sailing. Warm , nice mild breeze, and sailboats--what more could a man ask for?

One of our club members sailed a few times during the week in the afternoon and early evening during the week of 25 to 29 September.

September 17, 2006. Three boats on the pond on Sunday from 2:30 to 5 PM. We had a great time. The wind was blowing steady and the temperature was very comfortable. Not many good days like this left before it gets cold. We will try to repeat this performance next Sunday. Bring your boat and join us. What? No boat? Then come out anyway and we can help you find out just how much fun sailing is with one of our boats.

Friday August 25, 2006, 2:30 to 5:00 PM. Two V-32s sailed the lovely waters of Delco Park alone, unhampered by fishermen or other boats. The wind was steady and the temperature wasn't too hot if you sat in the shade.

Sun, August 13, 2006, 2:30 to 5:00 PM. Two skippers had the entire pond to themselves! The wind was brisk and fairly steady, The temperature was pleasant. So we started talking. Since it is so easy to hit a far mark when rounding it, what would a race be like if each mark had to be hit before you could continue to the next? We tried it! The course was from the starting line, to the downwind mark, to the mark at the far end of the starting line, to the upwind mark, and then to the mark on the close end of the starting line. You know what? It is harder to hit the mark than it is to go around it--especially the far mark! Jose won. You missed a great day of sailing! :-( We had a third V-32 show up, but the skipper did not sail today.

Sat, August 12, 2006, 2:30 to 5:00 PM. Great weather--about 78 degrees and the wind provided us with a full range of conditions from 0 to 9 mph. Four of us sailed today. Conrad brought out his new V-32. It is white/white/white with a black double pinstripe and looks very nice. We ran about 15 races using the AMYA 1 minute CD for starting. Everybody sailed to first place in at least one race. We sure had our share of over the line early, missed marks, hit marks, and even minor collisions. Great fun.

Tues, August 8, 2006. We had a great time sailing with three skippers. We ran practice races from 6:40 to 8:00 PM. The wind was variable with gusts from 0 to 5 mph--if you call 0 mph a gust. Very pleasant weather after the heat wave we had last week.

Sunday August 6, 2006. We had five boats out from 2 to 4 PM. Paul Thompson the AMYA V-32 Class Secretary sailed along with us. Thanks for visiting, Paul! It was HOT. The wind was great--and then it wasn't--and then it was. We ran practice races and did some fun sailing.

Saturday, August 5, 2006, 2 to 5 PM. There were at least five boats out on the lake today, although not at the same time. We saw two Fairwinds and three V-32s. John sailed his V-32 earlier in the day. We had one visitor who sailed a V-32 for three hours and really enjoyed it.

Thursday, July 27, 2006. A team of seven Kettering Park personnel came to the pond with three trucks and a boat. They installed the markers, and were very nice about it, despite that fact that it was windy with a light drizzle. Thank you Kettering Parks for the support.

KMSC Dates to Remember

July 16, 2006. KMSC sancitioned by the AMYA as club #237.

July 19, 2006. The charter members sign the KMSC Constitution and bylaws.

July 27, 2006. Kettering Parks places the course marks on Delco Park Pond. Three yellow marks to mark the course and two green marks for the starting line.

August 6, 2006. The AMYA V-32 Class Secretary, Paul Thompson visits our sailing site.