MEMBERS FROM PLATTSBURGH AIR FORCE BASE
Anyone who has lived in Plattsburgh most of their life will not now recognize many names of Valcour Sailing Club members appearing in the twenty year list (Appendix A). But over the years, the Club has had many active members who flew USAF SAC bombers all over the world as well as sloops on Lake Champlain. The records are replete with reference like "Dick {Richard Sowers} is in Thailand on assignment and I will be staying in Plattsburgh." These members, with their strong values of team effort, camaraderie, and social grace have added much to the success of Club activities down through the years and were some of the most active members while stationed in Plattsburgh. A few served their final tours here and subsequently chose the Lake Champlain Valley area as a retirement home. Typical of the many references to our members who also served the national defense of our country was this item in 1974.
"BAD NEWS: One bit of bad news and that is the departure of our Vice Commodore, Bob McCracken, and his charming wife Kay. The McCrackens are being assigned in England where Bob will fly F-111Es. We will remember the contributions that Bob and Kay have made to our club, especially last year as the social chairman. Also the gentleman like sportsmanship Robert had on the water as well as his competitive spirit. Have a safe trip, good flying, and tremendous sailing." (VSC Bulletin #2, May 27, 1974)
MANY VERMONTERS JOIN THE VSC
A review of the membership list down through the years reveals the names of many Vermont based skippers/boats. Because the waiting list for membership in the Lake Champlain Yacht Club and the Mallett's Bay Boat Club was quite long, many Vermonters wishing to enter Lake Champlain Racing Conference, many Vermonters joined the VSC. This, from an LCRC letter of March, 1974:
"Some boats raced with us last year and in previous years even though they did not belong to a club on Lake Champlain. The two Vermont clubs have had waiting lists, but it is possible for those of you who do not now have membership in either of the three clubs to join Valcour Sailing Club. If you want to compete and be eligible for trophies you must belong to one of our clubs on the lake."
ADDITIONS TO THE FLEET OF 1974
THE VALCOUR SAILING CLUB BURGEE
"NAYRU {NORTH AMERICAN YACHT RACING UNION} MEMBERSHIP AND THE CLUB BURGEE -- Bill Florich presented the burgee to the club for approval. It was approved and it and the VSC will be registered with Lloyds. Bill has also been seeking NAYRU membership for the VSC and should have both tasks completed by the next club meeting." (Minutes of Meeting, June 6, 1974)
Lloyd's Register of American Yachts
17 Battery Place
New York, N. Y. 10004
25 November 1974
Gentlemen:
Enclosed please find 2 copies of "Particulars of Club", 2
descriptions and drawings of burgee, and my check for $37.45.
Kindly include Valcour Sailing Club in your 1975 issue.
Please mail 1 copy of the Yacht Register to Valcour Sailing
Club, c/o David B. McDowell at the above address, when
published.
Very truly yours,
David B. McDowell, Commodore, Valcour Sailing Club
THE VSC COMMITTEE BOAT ca. 1970s
The records in the 1970s are filled with references to the VSC power boat used by the racing committeee and Officers of the Day. Stock was sold to members of the Club to raise revenue to purchase the boat and motor and log entries show annual dates to launch and haul it. Most of the old time members of the Club can easily come up with a story or two about the committeee boat over the years. One recurring problem seemed to be that the boat, unattended on its mooring, would fill with water from a rain storm and subsequently sink or capsize. Peter Hornby and Dave McDowell filled the void of the hull of the committee boat with styrofoam so that it would not turn over. These entries, typical of many, were included in the VSC Bulletin #3, June 10, and Bulletin #4, late June, 1974.
"DISASTER -- Our committeee boat overturned during the night of June 6th. Thanks to Peter Hornby, Skip Barnett and Joe Garcia for helping me with the salvage operation. Thanks also to Dave McDowell for the use of his power boat and dock. Wayne K. Hostetter, Commodore VSC".
"COMMITTEE BOAT - The committeee boat almost sank again. Thanks to Don Ireland, who bailed it out, the tragedy was prevented. The committeee boat is the responsibility of all club members, so if you see that it is about to sink please take five minutes of your time and bail it out. It has been brought to my attention that the committeee boat is being used for pleasure, therefore, I would like to approve or disapprove the use of the boat for other than scheduled VSC races and emergencies. Wayne K. Hostetter, Commodore."
The fact that the committeee boat was not to be used for pleasure must have perplexed those of the race committeee and the OD staff who tried to find some joy in running a race. It is also interesting to note that the Club members had to be entreated to bail out the boat if it were on the brink of sinking. One member remarked that a cover for the boat, which would shed rain water, might have alleviated the accidental sinkings. Students of organizational behavior are familiar with the dangers of giving unspecified people the responsibility for getting anything done on a continuing basis. It is a tribute to concerned members of the Club that the committeee boat survived a single season.
THE PERFORMANCE CUP
Every once in a while some member of the Club would throw out an idea which seemed simple on first blush. Inevitably, the idea would be added to the racing schedule in some innocent way which did not fully explain the exact intent of the writer, and which did not realistically anticipate all of the probable scenarios that could happen out on the water. From time to time, races had to be thrown out or emergency executive committeee meetings held to address problems of misunderstanding that left skippers less than fully satisfied with the goings-on in the club. {RdF - I have generally not included these hot and heavy letters of protest, often characterized as "sour grapes" by the person that had to deal with the matter. Some of these dead horses are best left lying in the musty old records.} But one example, which seems innocent enough, is included here as an illustration of traps that can easily wreck the best of ideas not precisely stated in the yearbook or sailing instruction. Now this, from the minutes of the Executive committeee Meeting of August 12, 1974.
"THE PERFORMANCE CUP - There was considerable discussion about this item. For the benefit of those who do not recall, the Performance Cup was a trophy which the VSC executive committeee voted to award to the individual class winner in the Valcour Race, held June 15th and 16th , who won by the greatest margin over the second place boat. The discussion centered about the fact that there seemed to be a great deal of confusion on the part of the members of the executive committeee as to what was meant by 'greatest margin'. This confusion was heightened by the fact that, in addition to the obvious ambiguity in the stated criteria for awarding the trophy, there seemed to be no clearly outstanding performer in the race and no mechanism was established for determining to whom it would be awarded. That which follows is the award criteria which evolved after much heated debate:
- The candidates for the Performance Trophy are individual class winners.
- The Performance Trophy shall be awarded to the individual class winner who has the greatest algebraic sum of the corrected time differentials for the two legs between that class winner and the skipper of the boat which performed best in that class exclusive of him in each leg.
The Race committee chairman was directed to make the necessary calculations which are to be presented at the next executive committeee meeting."
It is supposed that that explanation cleared everything up and no further misunderstanding could occur. Each crew could include a lawyer and mathematician to keep the skipper straight on the rules. And the Race Committeee could include a Justice of the New York Appellate Court to rule on any further sticky problems.
{RdF - The Yearbooks tend to be longer and more carefully worded as the years go by. In 1986, the yearbook dealt with a similar problem by stating: "... is awarded to the class winner that beats the average of the second and third place boat in her class by the greatest margin in corrected time." Even this was suspected of being ambiguous until a club mathematician proved by algebraic equation that the average of the corrected differentials between the class winner and the next two boats in that class was identical to the corrected time differential between the class winner and the average of corrected times of the next two boats in that class. One cannot be too careful in these matters.}
WRAP-UP OF THE 1974 SEASON
In an article in the Press Republican of November 22, 1974, coverage of the Club's annual fall banquet on November 17 th summarized the sailing season as well as projected plans for 1975. Extracts of that article are:
SPRING SERIES
Class A:
1st D. McDowell
2nd Schneider
3rd T. Brown/J. Grant
Class B:
1st Hornby
2nd P. Laramie
3rd McCracken/Garcia (tie)
FALL SERIES
Class A:
1st Ric Schneider
2nd McDowell
3rd Twining
Class B:
1st Paul Laramie
2nd Garcia
3rd McCracken