FROM THE EDITOR...

By Steve VanderVoort, Telltale Editor

Our fleet will soon be going down the river to our winter storage facility at the Canal Street Marina. But that doesn’t mean the work stops. There’s still a lot involved in putting our boats to bed for the season. Check out the volunteer positions page on the my.sailchicago.org website and sign up to be part of a boat team. It’s a great way to learn about our boats and find some sailing buddies for the following boating season.Our stalwart boat teams would really appreciate some help.

And don’t forget that we’ve got a couple of social activities coming up in the fall and winter (see articles below). The End of Season Banquet and silent auction is coming up in a couple of weeks and we’ve got a visit to Chicago’s Maritime Museum shortly after the first of the year. We hope to see you at both events.

END OF SEASON DINNER AND SILENT AUCTION OCTOBER 20

By Deb and John Griffin, Social Coordinators

Sail Chicago will be welcoming members and their guests to Columbia Yacht Club for our 2022 End of Season Dinner & Silent Auction on Thursday, October 20! Join us for a buffet dinner, cash bar, and a chance to celebrate a successful sailing season with fellow Sail Chicago members. This year, the event will include our sixth annual silent auction fundraiser. Proceeds will benefit the Sail Chicago scholarship program. Winners of the silent auction can pay via cash, check or credit card.

Did you take some great sailing photos this year? Submit your sailing pictures to this google drive for inclusion in a rolling photo presentation at the dinner!

Submit Photos Here

The event is open to members, and each member may bring 1 or 2 guests. If you are bringing a guest, please register them separately so we can pre-print name tags. Registration and payment will end at 6:30 PM on October 14th so we can give a final count to Columbia Yacht Club. To register, click here.

CONGRATULATIONS TO SAIL CHICAGO'S NEWEST BKIs

By Monte Lewis

Sail Chicago added two new Certified Basic Keelboat Instructors to its ranks in early September. Instructors Iwona Awlasewicz and Scott Schaedel passed U.S. Sailing's rigorous evaluation program and have both received their BKI certification. The course description by U.S. Sailing states in part, “To become a U.S. Sailing Instructor, a candidate must be a confident and competent sailor able to sail anywhere in the U.S. and handle the vast range of situations and different models of boats encountered in sailing courses.” Congratulations Scott and Iwona on this outstanding achievement!

SAIL CHICAGO WELCOMES NEW 2022 COLGATE SKIPPERS

By Matt Stuczynski, Lead Instructor

Many hearty congratulations to this season's new Skippers: Diana Armacanqui, Dominik Arndt, Aravind Athiviraham, Tamar Heitz, Ashley Lutterly, Christina Mosnick, Chad Skarpiak, Doug Sink, Jake Sprecher, Jacob Worely-Hood (returning) and Jan Vit. Instructor Daniel Hazlett has organized a New Skippers Happy Hour on Sunday, October 16th from 6-9 p.m. at D4 Irish Pub. Hope to see you new SC Skippers along with "Skippers in progress" there that night!

As a new Skippers, keep in mind that you must sail with another Sail Chicago Skipper and crew appropriate to your skill level and experience during your first twelve months as a Colgate 26 Skipper. More than anything, simply getting time on boats and then time on the tiller, getting practical hands-on experience is the best thing to do. Of course, that goes hand-in-hand with more book-learning about sailing skills and best boat handling practices that you can learn on your own time whenever you can.

For boat time, please think about Sail Chicago programs such as Tiller Times, Share-a-Sail, Member Cruise Outings, help with Maintenance crews/deliveries and, of course, our Racing Program. For book learning, try to become as familiar as you can with the Sail Chicago Rules and Regulations, on-the-water Skipper Skills Standards, the U.S. Sailing Basic Keelboat text, videos and other material on the U.S. Sailing website, weather apps. etc. When you sign the "Sail Chicago Keelboat Skipper Personal Statement", you agree to the idea that receiving Sail Chicago Colgate Skipper status does not guarantee that you are a great skipper, but rather, indicates that you are "trusted to continue learning while sailing the Colgate 26". Sailing is a thinking-person's sport where the learning never ends, which I believe, is why so many of us love sailing so much and it makes us want to continue learning for a lifetime. See you on the water; we all look forward to continuing learning with you.

VISIT TO THE CHICAGO MARITIME MUSEUM JANUARY 21

We are planning a get together at the Chicago Maritime Museum in Bridgeport on January 21! Details to follow, but mark your calendar now.

SPOTLIGHT ON VOLUNTEERS

Norris Larson is on vacation. His column will be back in the November issue of The Telltale.

SAIL CHICAGO REMINDERS

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