Sail Chicago Tell Tale

Issue 2: February, 2024

Unfortunately February isn't the best time of year for sailors, but it IS great time to plan your Sail Chicago participation! So consider a run for a board seat, sign up for winter maintenance and mark your calendar for our social events. It's a time to stay warm and plan for a great season of sailing.

Meighan Depke, Editor

Annual Meeting March 5

By Gerry Stacy, Board Chair

The Sail Chicago Annual Meeting of the Membership will take place on Tuesday, March 5 from 7:00-9:00pm and is a chance to learn about the state of our organization from program leaders and get a preview of what's ahead for Sail Chicago in 2024. The annual meeting is when terms begin for new Sail Chicago board members. Online voting for the board will start on February 27 and end at the start of the Annual Meeting. Only members in good standing can vote. You must have paid your membership fee for 2024 and met your service time requirement — or paid the waiver — for 2023.

If you are thinking of running, it's not too late! Nominations for the board are due February 11. Application instructions can be found here. We encourage everyone to consider this opportunity to participate in the leadership of our organization.

Attention Maintenance Volunteers!

Maintenance Season has begun! Please Sign up for a maintenance position and activate your Slack Channels. Unsure what position to choose? Contact Rich Costello in Slack for assistance.

Volunteer Sign Up

Work will be performed on Saturdays in March and April with a few February dates if weather cooperates. Sundays will be added if needed. Watch for announcements in Slack. Also, our Second Annual Open House in The Boat Yard is scheduled for April 6 so save that date. The goal is to get all boats in the water and commissioned to sail by mid-May. See you in the yard!

Improved Tiller Time

Sail Chicago's Board unanimously passed a motion to improve Tiller Time by creating a committee to recommend changes to TT eligibility and sign-up procedures based on feedback from members in 2023. The committee will meet in February and March (three 2-hour Zoom meetings are proposed). We will review the process, brainstorm new ideas, and propose changes. Please contact Shawn Joseph to join the committee and lead the efforts to improve process for the 2024 season. Past TT participants, instructors, and aspiring future TT instructors are encouraged to join!

CPR/First Aid Class

Learn or review first aid skills in this four-hour course, Sunday, February 25 from 8:30am-12:30pm at Columbia Yacht Club in the Upper Salon.

Learn how to administer CPR, how to administer a shock from an AED, and other basic first aid skills. These skills are invaluable because they allow you to help injured people until you can connect with an emergency medical services team. There is no charge for Instructors, and a $110 charge for Sail Chicago members who are not instructors. Re-certification of your US Sailing BKI requires CPR/First Aid every three years.

Sign up for the class at my.sailchicago.org > instruction > course availability. You’ll need to sign the general waiver and then enter the code CPR2024-G under the specific course to register. Class size is limited to 20 participants so sign up soon! Please contact Monte Lewis with any questions.

2024 Scholarship Program

The DEI Committee is continuing our scholarship program as part of Sail Chicago’s commitment to increase diversity, equity, and inclusivity among its members within the organization as well as in the sport of sailing. The goal is to promote the sport of sailing to groups that have historically faced barriers to participation, such as people of color in the United States and people from low socioeconomic households. These barriers have included racial segregation in/exclusion from boating clubs, actual or perceived lack of access or acceptance, and/or high costs of participation in the sport.

The application is live through March 8, 2024. Recipients will participate in SC’s beginner Crew classes (including Pre-Sail Orientation and US Sailing Basic Keelboat online course fees), have membership fees covered, along with priority access to class sign up. Scholarship recipients will also have Racing sign up fees covered if they complete their Crew course and would like to try Racing!

Please share within your network to all who may be interested in applying!

Social News

The Bonus Round Cafe happy hour was a great time! The games were fun and the food and drinks were delicious. We challenged our brains playing games called Hues and Cues, Codenames, and Unemployed, among others.

Other 2024 Social Events

Casual midday meetup on the Riverwalk: Saturday April 27th. Salute the season start to watch the bridges raise for the masted sailboats. If you've never experienced this, it is a sight to see! Time and exact location to be determined, watch this newsletter and SLACK for details.

Kickoff party at ColYC: Saturday, May 11th, 3-6pm

Tall Ship Windy Educational Tour: Saturday, June 8th, 11am. This 90-minute hands-on learning experience is a great way to enjoy physics, history and storytelling while taking an active part in sailing the vessel. Learn about maritime heritage on the Great Lakes as historycomes alive with an exciting educational adventure for curious minds of all ages. Cost is $35. Children under 18 are $25.

Windy Sign Up

Friends and Family picnic: Saturday, July 20
Happy Hour events: August and September date TBD
End of Season Dinner at ColYC: Thursday October 24th

Have comments, feedback or ideas?
Email them to newsletter@sailchicago.org.

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