CLRA End of Year Party Tomorrow Night...

[budster]

Hi All!

The CLRA End of Year Party is tomorrow night at the Club Classic. The night will have:

Live Entertainment
Slide show of this year's action
Cash Bar
A (sit down) dinner buffet
Awards and Door Prizes
Preview of 2010

The format is pretty much the same as its been in years past:

6:00 Cocktail Hour with a performance by David Swope
7:00 Buffet Dinner (Brad has arranged for us to be able to sit down together and share a meal)
7:45 (or so...) Trophy Presentation begins:

Shirts to Race Committee members
Shirts to 2008 Class Champions and crews (Ike delayed)
2009 Class End of Year Awards
Most Improved Perpetual Trophy
Best Crew Perpetual Trophy
Boat of the Year Perpeual Trophy
Sportsmanship Perpetual Trophy
Fleet Champion Perpetual Trophy

Afterwards, a few words about next year... preparation has already begun...

Cost is $15 if you register online today at http://www.clearlakeracing.com/index.php?pageID=115, and $20 if you wait to pay at the door. So far not very many have registered, and that has me a little worried that the Club Classic is going to prepare too much food...

Let's get together to share one last evening together in 2009!

[ChrisK]

*bump*
See you tonight!

[Charles]

I'll be there. 
Charles

[ChrisK]

Good party last night!

Congratulations to the Wednesday Night 2009 ballot winners:

Vincent Ruder: Sportsman, J22 #365 and sometimes Sunfish
Dylan Doss: Crewperson, J22 s/v Mental Loss
Jermey Voyer: Most Improved,  J24 s/v Dirty Girl

All are very deserving!

Of course, congrats to Brandt with his newlywed crew Emma and Dylan on winning The Championship.

HUGE thanks to Buddy and his RC for putting on 25+ races so we all can have an excuse to leave work early Wednesday and (for many of us) show up late on Thursday

For certain, Buddy's efforts over the years has brought up the standard of sailboat racing in the Houston area.

Thanks Buddy, your RC crew, and your sponsors for another great year!

We're already looking forward to April 7th, 2010, and maybe even a few practice Wednesdays at the end of March...

[Christopher]

HUGE thanks to Buddy and his RC for putting on 25+ races so we all can have an excuse to leave work early Wednesday and (for many of us) show up late on Thursday

For certain, Buddy's efforts over the years has brought up the standard of sailboat racing in the Houston area.

Thanks Buddy, your RC crew, and your sponsors for another great year!

We're already looking forward to April 7th, 2010, and maybe even a few practice Wednesdays at the end of March...

Mega kudos to Buddy and crew.  More fun than not was had by all, through out the year, thanks to you.

[budster]

Many thanks for the great turnout last night!

Speaking for myself and the entire Race Committee (Rick Hasler, John Butler, Scott Tuma, Christina Johnson, Andrea Todaro, Jim Crate, Dwight Bengston, Gerhardt Wittich), we appreciate your kind words...and beyond that, your efforts to grow and compete in this incredible sport. Wednesday Night competitors have improved much over the past decade and a half: boat positioning, weather prediction, tactics, wind shifts, strategy, the rules, sail shape, teamwork, sportsmanship...and watching it happen makes our effort very worthwhile.

However, watching yacht racing grow on Galveston Bay would be the ultimate reward for us all. I realize that every boat on the race course represents an impressive investment in time, effort, and money. To lose a single one is a terrible loss. To gain another is cause for celebration. One of the most effective ways to grow our sport is for those who have been crewing for awhile to purchase a boat of their own. Doing so opens a position on their previous boat and creates positions on a new one. A Wednesday Night boat can be as inexpensive as a Sunfish, Laser, or V15, and I'll bet there are a number of small keelboats available for a small cash outlay (Hint: Go One Design!). Perhaps you can charter a boat for next season. There are about six months to put a new campaign together. Now is the time to get started!

How about you? Is it time to take the leap?

Find a boat and grow the sport!

Call me if I can help...

Buddy