Hello Sailors, Rowers, Kayakers and Stand-Up Paddleboarders (SUP). 

I continue to be thrilled to see so many new faces. Just this Wednesday we had 11 Scots in the water with several new Learn-to-Sail in attendance as well as first-time guests.

Shown above, we'll be posting upcoming events to include local area sailing regattas for youth and/or adult. I'll also post these events on the weekly adult sailing newsletters.

Kenny Corsig (1st place Opti Red Fleet/Overall), Travis Tucker (1st Laser Radial), Alex Jones (Sunfish), Sully O'Donnell (Opti Blue Fleet), Hogan O'Donnell/Catriona Gomes (1st Place, 420)

SAYRA REGATTA AT CYC WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH: On August 2-3rd, youth sailors seen above from Lake Norman sailed in the SAYRA Open Regatta. From NCCSR, Hogan and Cat won the 420 fleet. Sully sailed in the Opti Blue Fleet. All of the sailors dealt with scattered thunderstorms and rain, with no sailing on Sunday. Fun weekend regardless. Nice group of kids.

Closed Toe Shoes a Must

SAFETY TIP: Pictured above is a photo of a toe where the toe nail is completely gone. This child lost his toe nail at another waterfront camp on Lake Norman...stubbed his toe on a log. Here at NCCSR, we have coast line that occasionally has fish hooks float up, along with various other things that can hurt you. Hence our closed toe show policy for kids. This is the image I think of when people send their kids to us without closed toed shoes.

SUP's A HIT: We are strongly considering buying another 6 SUP's because of the popularity of these boards. In particular, we love how the SUP's are attracting families/young people!

Here are a few reminders that will help us enjoy the SUP's for years to come:

• Avoid resting the SUP on its fin, which can break. Simply hang the end of the SUP out over the water when launching from the dock.
• I'm noticing the boards are getting dinged up a bit. Take care when transporting the SUP's to and from the rack, especially when kids are involved. We bought durable SUP's, but they are not impregnable.
• The red 11' 6" SUP  fits in the slots to the right on the rack...doesn't fit in the same slots as the 10' 6" blue boards.
• Be careful not to step on/bend the paddles. When this happens, they cannot be adjusted anymore. Speaking of paddles, spend a minute to tidy up the buckets of SUP and kayak paddles when visiting the paddle/oar shed. Lock up as if you're the last person on site (you might be!).

MOVE PLASTIC STORAGE SHED: This shed was erected right in front of an electrical panel which may not be the best place. Reply to this email newsletter if you're interested in helping me move this shed and its contents to another location on our property. As we dismantle it, we may find that it is structurally not good...and so we may end up simply moving all the contents to the middle container (10 feet away) and discarding the shed altogether.

Summer Youth Sailing Regulars Hogan, Katie, Michael, Jonathon, Hank/"Disney", Connor, Ben, Sydney, Dusty, Cole, Instructor Eli

YOUTH SUMMER SAILING DONE: We enjoyed a hot dog picnic this past Friday, marking the finish of another great summer of sailing fun. For anyone who's interested, that is a "cake pop" in Katie's hand, sent in by the Rink family. Special thanks to our instructors who do a great job...tolerating heat, humidity, blaring sun, Larry, lots of different types of kids, challenging weather...all while maintaining safe conditions. They are:

• Sarah Chambers...back to Eckerd College
• Shaynah True...senior at PLP high school
• Eli Jones...heading to NC State
• Matt Peterson...heading to Eckerd College
• Cam Darland...heading to UNC Wilmington
• Jordan Wiggins...junior in high school

Report needed boat repairs to: [email protected] 

  

Larry Vitez, NCCSR Founder & Board President

  

Sean, Christy, and our part time staff along with a legion of volunteers are making this our best year ever. Our season pass holders are now at 150 and that represents 50% growth since the beginning of the year. 200 pass holders this year is not unrealistic. If you purchased a pass last year that will expire in the coming months please renew it as you would with any other membership organization. It is my hope that pass holders will view their purchase as a way of supporting NCCSR and not just buying time on a boat or board.

Volunteer instructors under Sean's guidance are on schedule to teach sailing to more than 100 adults in Scots and Sunfish. We have successfully raised the bar improving the quality of our lessons and the overall customer experience.

The paddle boards have been very popular and we are finding some people are buying our pass just for access to the boards and kayaks. We will work to continue this trend and on a Sunday morning in late October we will load up our kayaks and rowing shells and travel 15 minutes down the road to Mountain Island Lake for a social paddle/row. You will be hearing more about this so stay tuned. It will be the first of many excursions.

We need your help to help us grow. We're not very visible to the community and there's little we can do to improve are physical visibility but there is much we can do to spread the word about the value of the opportunities we offer the public in a way of sailing, rowing, paddle boarding, and kayaking. Please go out of your way to tell your friends about NCCSR. Do it on social media and even better invite a friend to sail with you or your child.

This is the time of year to get wet, so get out on a Sunfish or a paddle board! 

 

Larry Vitez

NCCSR Board President 

 

 

 

   

  

  

Opti Learn to Sail (Sun):                                                 $200

Skills Development (Wed):                                             $200

 

Click here for a flyer you can give to your friends and neighbors.

ADULTS

 

• September 6:  Sailors With Special Needs. The second of two events offered by Cornelius PARC and hosted by NCCSR. Click HERE to volunteer. For more information about the event, please go to the 
  Cornelius PARC website.

• September 13-14: Flying Scot Learn to Sail Class ($250) and Sunfish Learn to Sail Class ($150):  Click HERE to Register. (Once you click the  link, click on Adult Sailing on the left hand side of the page.)

• September 20-21: Flying Scot Learn to Sail Class ($250): Click HERE to Register. (Once you click the link, click on Adult Sailing on the left hand side of the page.)

A big thank you to all who volunteer your time, energy and knowledge!  We are growing because of you.

 

We are looking forward to seeing you all again.  Please call or email us any time with questions.

 

   

RACERS CORNER

 

 

 

Going fast is fun, going faster than your competitors is more fun.  In our learn-to-sail and learn-to-race programs Sean and I have consistently stressed the importance of proper weight distribution and steering technique. I have included this photo taken at the Flying Scot National Championships last week to make my point.  Notice these things;

 

1. Skipper and crew are forward and side by side near the midpoint between bow and stern. This reduces rocking and keeps the boat flat from bow to stern.
2. They are all hiking out with rear ends on or beyond the rail.
3. The skippers all hold the hiking stick (tiller extension)in front of the body and like a microphone with palm down, just like we teach kids at an early age.
4. Skipper and crew have main and jib sheets in hand.

 

These actions by the crew are fundamentally important to maximizing speed and apply to all  boats and become increasingly important on smaller boats.  On a sunfish where the crew weighs more than the boat it is even more critical than on a Flying Scot where the crew weight is about half the boat weight.

 

Learning how to make your boat go fast is the first and easiest step toward winning races or just finishing in front of you buddy.