BYC SEMAPHORE - November 2022

SEMAPHORE

A Desire to Promote the Sport of Sailing

Message from the Commodore Fellow Bayview Members

As I reflected upon the past year while preparing to write this final article, I was trying to figure out how on earth I was going to recognize the countless people involved while highlighting some of the most memorable moments. So, I chose to look no further than the title of our newsletter to find inspiration! sem·a·phore /ˈ semə ˌ fôr/ noun: a system of sending messages by holding the arms or two flags or poles in certain positions according to an alphabetic code.

Bayview: Sailing, it’s what we do, it’s who we are. Between an expanded Thursday Off the Dock series, packed Hitchhiker Thursdays, sold out ALTS, over 70 Junior Sailors, successful Mackinac, BOD, WOW, D Cup, Long Distance, and North Channel Races, hosting multiple championships, supporting multiple traveling BYC teams, and approving the budget to hire a full time Sailing Director, sailing was definitely at the forefront of our year.

Active: Throughout the course of the year, we gained momentum by continuing to hire more staff, acquiring the rest of our furniture and smalls etc. (finally), and utilizing our amazing new Clubhouse’s variety of spaces. A shout out to the entire Renovation Team and our staff who worked [and continue to work] to bring our operations up to full capacity and create the right look and feel. We also saw great success with the “Party Passport” events driven by an incredible team of volunteers. These new events added to the on the water camaraderie.

Your Club: On top of a full harbor and a calendar jam packed with racing and Club sponsored events, we also saw an uptick in private parties and member driven events. Matt, Mike, and Marta are a great trio and with the support of the entire F&B Team, the team executed dozens of remarkable events. So, whether you have a birthday party to plan for your 16 year old, want to come and sail our Remote Controlled Lasers, want to plan a pre game dinner before a Red Wings game, want to throw a watch party for Sail GP, or have an idea for a dinner party around the fireplace, give the office a call and let’s get it on the calendar!

Volunteers: It takes a team to execute world class regattas and other traditional Bayview events such as the Summer Party and Fashion Show and our Members continue to step up week after week. There are too many to name here [and I am sure to miss one]. So, THANK YOU to each and every one of you who have made 2022 an unbelievable year. Your kindness, time, and dedication to Bayview is greatly appreciated.

Invaluable: We are blessed to have such selfless Members who have stepped up over the years to run for office and be a flag officer or chairperson. Without the foundation created by these exceptional leaders, we would not have seen the great successes achieved this year. I also personally can’t express in words the gratitude I feel for those who’ve answered the phone, replied to texts / emails, and took the extra time while at the Club to provide insight and guidance throughout my time on the Bridge. Thank you.

Extraordinary: I’ve been asked to summarize my time as Commodore. In one word, it was Extraordinary. It would not have been possible without the extraordinary leadership of our General Manager, the extraordinary collection of talents on this year ’ s BOG, and the extraordinary level of support from my friends and family. When you surround yourself with extraordinary people, extraordinary things happen. Raise a glass and please give thanks this holiday season to all of those who made this an extraordinary year.

Warm: To so many of us, Bayview is our home away from home and the friendships created here often mirror (and sometimes even surpass) ones with blood relatives. I am fortunate to have gotten to know so many more of you over the past years and am honored to have served you. May this holiday season bring you and your family happiness and joy!

Commodore Lynn Kotwicki

It has been an incredible year for Bayview. We have hosted national regattas, our sailors continue to carry the Bayview burgee across the country and internationally, our Junior Sailing program is growing, we sold out both sessions of Adult Learn to Sail, 13 countries were represented in the D Cup, the WOW Regatta continues to attract multi-generations of sailors, the BOD produced one of the busiest weekends of the year, and we had two BYC Commodores win the Mackinac Race.

Commodore Kotwicki has had an unbelievable year at the helm of Bayview. She has served the Club well leaving us in a better financial position than when she started, tackled projects in the harbor, grown membership in key demographics, selflessly told her story about being the first female Commodore to better Bayview and not herself, and did a tremendous job of managing her leadership team to produce results, to name only a few. On behalf of myself and our staff, we thank Commodore Kotwicki for her tremendous service!

Please check the member calendar as there are so many events coming up for the holidays. Santa will be here on December 4th for the Children’s Christmas Party and we are working with Grosse Pointe North High School Choir to have some of their students here caroling throughout December. Family Christmas Dinner is December 18th. Chef Mike and his team are creating an amazing menu for this special night when many of us have family coming in town to share this meal.

Throughout the winter months we are working hard to plan a wide variety of events. Trap will be in full swing by late November. There will be monthly wine/beer/spirit dinners with food pairings, movie nights for adults and for families, and game night has already started on Wednesdays. Chef will be hosting some cooking classes with different themes. There will be multiple different specials and features like the $20 menu we did last winter and Chef specials over the weekend. We will host a New Year’s Eve dinner and New Year’s Day potluck.

Our Controller’s contract came to an end in September and both parties agreed it was best to move forward in different directions. We are currently looking for someone part-time to handle the Accounts Payable role which we believe is about a 20-hour position weekly, working out of the office. We are thrilled that Trish Kirkman, our Treasurer for the past year, has accepted an offer to oversee the Club’s month end, preparation of financial statements, taxes, and to support the year end audit with UHY.

Thank you for all the support you have given this summer to myself, the staff, and our club.

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

HELPFUL INFO FOR NEW

Accessing the BYC Member Website

MEMBERS

The BYC Member site is a great resource for information about all things Bayview. From coming events, to educational opportunities, to upcoming races, you'll want to make sure you ' re visiting regularly. You should have received a copy of the instructions for setting up your BYC

account with your welcome letter. If you have any trouble setting up your account, reach out to our Communications & Membership Manager for assistance

Check Out the Member Central Calendar

Once you have set up your BYC member website account, be sure to check out our Member Central calendar for details about upcoming events and registration The calendar can be found on the Member Central menu

Watch for Weekly Communication

Our first line of communication is our weekly email updates. These typically go out on Wednesday or Thursday of each week. These updates will be full of information about coming events, club news, names of people posted for membership, and more If you are missing them, be sure to check your spam or "promotions" folder and reach out to our Communications & Membership Manager if you still need assistance. We also publish this Semaphore newsletter quarterly and the Burgee magazine biannually.

Join the BYC Members Only Facebook Group

In addition to our weekly updates and quarterly newsletters, the

is another great place to get BYC news as well as to interact with

Electronic Monthly Statements

Bayview Yacht Club Members Only Forum

fellow BYC Members

Your monthly statements will be delivered to you electronically at the email address you have on file. PS. If you are a long time member and still receiving printed statements, contact us to go paperless! Save a tree AND maximize the reach of your monthly dues by saving on postage expenses #winwin

Adding Your Spouse to Your Account

If you have a spouse and would like for them to have access to the club, please contact our Membership & Membership Services Chair so that we can add them to your account. Spouses added to a member account will receive a member ID card, privileges to bill to your BYC account, and access to our email distribution list Spouses are not automatically added to a member account when you join unless you indicate it on your application and the request to add a spouse must come from the BYC member.

Host

Your Next Event at Bayview

Now that you ' re a member of Bayview, you have access to our facilities for all of your special occasion needs! Contact our Food & Beverage Director to make your plans early.

Will Hilborn, Junior Junior Dr Danielle DeLuca Pytell, Jim Denner, Lara Scheibner Miller

Sophia Worden, Junior Junior Dr Danielle DeLuca Pytell, Lance Smotherman, Dane Christy

Benjamin J. Stevens, Junior Senior G. John Stevens, J. Greg Muliett, Nathan Hollerbach

Alida Sawicki, Intermediate II Lindsay Horvat, John Harper, Tim Prophit

Jay Zawislak, Active Andrew Miller, Hans Brieden, James Cassidy

Laura Muma, Non Resident Jennifer Lech, Tim Prophit, Dave Scully

Trey Sheehan III, Non-Resident Karl Kuspa, Nathan Hollerbach, Eric Petersen

Alan Carlyle, Active Arnie Newsome, Jim Pappas, Sandy Fullerton

John K. Quinlan, Non Resident Lance Smotherman, Steve Best, Mark Symonds

Clarke Hughes, Intermediate I Harold Stackpoole, Cindy Ross, Eric Petersen

Tyrone Golden, Active Kenneth Brown, Doug Scheibner, Trish Kirkman

Michael Sheehan, Non-Resident Eric Petersen, Timothy D. Kelly, Kurt Hohn

member

How to Successfully Sponsor a New Member, Redux

In light of discussions that occurred at the Special Meeting on June 6, 2022, the Board reaffirmed our commitment to ensuring that prospective membership applicants align with Bayview's Sailing culture. As such, we must comply with the membership application procedures as outlined in Article 1, Section 13 of our Bylaws which states:

“…This sponsor shall submit a written request for an application (available from the club office) including the applicant's sailing resume to the Membership Chairperson of the Club The Membership Committee shall consider each request for application and investigate each applicant for membership. After review by the Membership Committee the applicant's sponsor will either receive an application to be completed by the applicant, or the request for application will be presented at the next Board meeting for review.”

The quality of candidates submitted for membership falls primarily on the Chief Sponsor who is responsible for coordinating the collection of the required membership documents This flowchart provides further clarification of sponsor responsibilities

Step 1: BYC Member Submits Request for Membership Application & Prospective Member's Sailing Background for Review by Membership Committee

Step 2:

Membership Committee Invites Prospective Member to Complete Application for Membership

Each prospective member must submit a completed Membership Application along with a photo of themselves to membership@byc com

Step

3: Help Prospective Member Identify Two Sponsors & Two Board Members to Sign in Support

Each prospective member will need two additional sponsors and signatures from two current Board members. The Chief Sponsor is responsible for shepherding the prospective member through the application process, including introducing them to other BYC members who can serve in this capacity. Once those individuals have been identified the Chief Sponsor will also help ensure they each complete the necessary Sponsor Questionnaire as well as the Sponsor Contact & Board Signature form.

Step 4: Submit All Documents of Support by the Monthly Deadline

All application documents are due no less than one week prior to the monthly board meeting. Membership application files that are incomplete as of the monthly deadline will not proceed to the monthly meeting

BAYVIEW TEAM

If you ’ ve been following team Bayview’s progress over the past several years you ’ ve heard us talk about demographics often. We simply didn’t have many club members with children of age to participate in our program. Simultaneously, we ’ ve been focused with the Bayview Board to support and align with the vision to make everything about our club better. We’ve made small upgrades to our fleet and the John S. Barbour Small Boat Center, but many of our more ambitious projects have taken a back seat to “small projects” like building a brand new clubhouse

2022 was a strong and tell tale year of what is to come. We once again had nearly 80 students up almost 4 times what we had just 5 years ago, but with two big differences from the past few years. First, we had substantially more member children and second, we had a 30% jump in students who were enrolled for the full racing season. Why is this important? Simply put “the reinforcements” are here!

In 2022 we took a big step forward with getting Team Bayview sailing outside of the DRYA and competing at the next level. This was as much a function of engaged parents as it was motivation and organization from the Team Bayview Board and coaches. We’ve sent more families and sailors to more events than we have in any of the past 10 years. Events included: Chubb Qualifiers, Lake MI Championships, Great Lakes Opti Championship, Sugar and Orange Bowl Regattas. We also hosted Eggs & Optis at BYC this Fall, the first local post DRYA season regatta in a very long time.

It is now time for us to get serious about taking our program to the next level to support this next wave of Bayview Talent. This includes our facilities, coaches, boats and support for sailors who have the desire to travel and represent Team Bayview outside of our area.

For 2023 we ’ ve added new faces and energy to our board, and I will be turning over the lead to John VanTol. In the coming weeks and months Team Bayview will roll out our plan to accelerate our collective investment in our future Junior Sailing at Bayview The list includes a new floating dock system, a new enlarged and improved storage shed, improvements to the interior of the John S Barbour building and external facelift to help blend with and match the high bar that has been set across the canal. We will also be recruiting coaching from a wider pool to enhance our local talent and continuing to replace our power and sailboats as they reach the end of productive use.

It is never too soon to start with our fundraising, so if you would like to get a jumpstart, please visit our new website to donate today! Stay tuned for more exciting details on our plan, schedule and how you can get involved. As always thanks so much for helping make Team Bayview the organization that can make us all proud!

Sincerely, Todd Riley

Pictured: Positioning for the start at the Opti Great Lake Championship on Lake Ontario

Greetings from the 2022 Sailing Committee,

As we wind down our year, we reflect on the great things we did this year on the Sailing Committee. We helped organize several class championship regattas. We hosted great match racing events and a clinic. We also helped organize the BYC classics such as BOD, WOW, North Channel, Long Distance, Alumni regatta, and Hitchhiker Thursday. Most of our committee members were new to their roles. We all learned a lot about how much work and attention to detail are needed to pull off successful Sailboat racing at Bayview Many committee members especially the regatta chairs worked on ‘playbooks’ to bring year to year continuity to events and activities. We recognize how important volunteering is at Bayview. We need more help!

We are thrilled the Board is committed to hiring a full time Sailing & Regatta Administrator in 2023. This will help us continue the progress we made this year and build on it. The U20 Club boat program will sure to be better next year as well as Adult Learn to Sail.

What’s next for us? We plan to build on our volunteer program by offering more incentives, improved communication, training, and management of volunteer data. Can you help us coach Adult Learn to Sail next year? We barely had enough instructors last season, and we would like to add more classes in 2023. Are you interested in the U20 Club boat program? Are you looking to get more involved in volunteering at Bayview? Please let us know!

I would like to formally thank my hard working committee for all their time and help this year:

Committee Chair - 2022 Fleet Sailing & Regatta Director - Laurie Bunn

Committee Member - Secretary - Robbyn Martin

Committee Board Liaison Steve Young Committee Member Thursday Night Races Mica Reardon

Committee Member BOD Chair Jim Morphew, Melissa Wenzler Administrator

Committee Member Advisor on ALTS Greg McQueen, Glenn Burton Committee Member WOW Regatta & Hitchhiking Robbyn Martin

Committee Member Match Racing Lance Smotherman

Committee Member North Channel Race Ryan Farrell

Committee Member BYC Long Distance Race Terry Larivee

Committee Member Alumni Regatta Todd Jones & Nathan Hollerbach Committee Member Trophies Brian Shenstone

Committee Member Race committee organization and development Mica Reardon Committee Member Junior Sailing Liaison Steve Young (Temp) Committee Member Historian Ralph Richards Committee Member Sailing Bosun Dan Bommarito

Committee Member Race Equipment Matt Smith

Committee Member James Motschall Coast Guard Permits Committee Member U20 Chairman/Club Boat Program TBD (Peter Petersen Advisor) Committee Member DRYA Representative Terry Larivee

Committee Member Jim Denner

Committee Member Katie Barbour

Committee Member - David Bennett

2022 BYC Fleet Sailing & Regatta Director

Laurie Bunn

January 16, 2023

April 30, 2023

May 1, 2023, 1700 hours June 1, 2023, 1700 hours

June 9, 2023, 1700 hours

June 15, 2023 July 1, 2023

July 13, 2023 July 14, 2023 July 15, 2023 July 18, 2023

Bayview Mackinac Race Foundation

Your GenerosityMakes a Difference

The Mackinac Race Foundation's purpose is to ensure that the annual Bayview Mackinac Race continues on forever.

The Foundation depends entirely on contributions, bequests, and endowments to accomplish its goal to guarantee the financial security of the Mackinac Race in perpetuity. Thus, it is the Foundation's investment strategy and policy to invest the net principal of all monetary contributions and donations and to use only the earning in its support of the Mackinac Race each year.

Now, more than ever, we need your support to serve as a guarantee for the future of the Mackinac Race. Please think of us now or in your future estate plans. Every single contribution of any amount is always truly appreciated.

of

grand tradition of the Bayview Yacht Club Mackinac Race,

Foundation website.

The Mackinac Race Foundation is a 501c3 Charitable Organization.

TALES FROM DEAD MAN'S CURVE

What follows is one of several articles from Bayview’s historical files about past Bayview Mackinac Races, club events, and personalities. I hope you enjoy viewing the past. Ralph Richards, BYC Historian

ANOTSOWARMWELCOMETOHAVANA

Event:1952StPetersburgtoHavanaRace

Author:GeorgeE.Van/March11,1952

DETROITSAILORSTAKENFROMCUBA

KEYWEST,Fla.,March11TwoofusfromtheDetroityachtBenBow,whichwasfiredupon andhitinyesterday’sCubanrevolt,wereamongthefirstAmericanstobeevacuatedfrom Havanabythecoastguardlastnight

CarterSalesoftheMurrayW.SalesCo.andIarrivedherejustbeforemidnightwith30other AmericansaboardthecutterNemesis.TheNemesisimmediatelyreturnedtoHavanaHarborto bringoutotherAmericans

OTHERSSAILBACK

TheDetroitersintheBenBow’screwaresailingtheyachtbacktoPalmBeachafterthe AmericanconsulatewarnedthemitwouldnotberesponsiblefortheirsafetyinHavana.

BeforetheevacuationwewererestrictedtotheconfinesoftheInternationalBoatClubaspolice cars,armoredcarsandtanksrumbledupanddownthewaterfront.

Cabdriversrefusedtobravethedisorderandgunfireofthetowntodriveyachtsmenintothe hoteldistrict.

AndthesailorsfromthevesselsintheSt.PetersburgHavanaracewerejustashappytostayout ofthethickoftherevolutionafterhearinghowmachinegunbulletsrippedthroughtherigging oftheBenBow

DIFFERENTFIREWORKS

Afusilladeof50calibermachinegunbulletsgreetedusaswecrossedthefinishlineatdawn yesterday.

Iwasatthetillerandthoughtatfirstthebulletswere“fireworks,”partofthereceptionwehave cometoexpectatthefinishoftheseraces

Butthe“reception”washardlyonfriendlyterms.

WhenoneofthebulletslodgedintheBenBow’smainspar,Idecideddiscretionwasthebetter partofvalor.Iheadedouttoseafast!

SeemslikeGen.FulgencioBatistapickedtheprecisemomenttheBenBowwasfinishingthe historicracetostagethecoupthroughwhichheseizedcommandoftheCubanarmy

TheshotskilledtwopolicemenandscaredthedaylightsoutofmeandthefellowDetroiterswho weresailingGeorgeBass’BenBowtotophonorsamongschoonersinthebigraceforthesecond timeintwoyears

SkipperBasshe’stheBirminghamconstructionengineerjustbackfromadeepseafishing expeditioninPeru-seemedtosizeupthesituationinajiffy.Hescreamed:

That I did, and we lay a half mile from shore until the shooting stopped, then cautiously moved back into the harbor

There we found all members of the committee that takes the time of every finisher crouched in the bottom of their small craft.

From the finish line we could see the Morro Castle. It was swarming with truckloads of soldiers, bristling with rifles and machine guns.

Aboard the Ben Bow as crew in addition to Sales were Insurance Broker Bob Neesley; Walt Whitman, retired businessman from Grosse Ile; and Clarence (Moon) Baker, operator of the bar out on Livernois near Eight Mile Road.

Others in our crew are Gordon Herrick, Bill Scholtes and Jack Hargreaves, the captain.

Oh, yes, Caribbee, Carleton Mitchel;’s 60 foot Annapolis yawl, won the race in the field of 29 starters. We were tenth in overall competition.

“Head her out to sea, George.”

JUNIORMEMBER

ACTIVELIFE living the

When the Troy Sailing Team was presented the opportunity to compete in the MISSA Girl’s Championship Qualifier, we were ecstatic. At Pontiac Yacht Club, the club we sail from, Troy was the only team with enough girls to compete. Since sailing is such a male dominated sport, finding opportunities like that can be a difficult task, especially in Junior Sailing.

Wepracticedforweeksleadinguptothequalifierand felt confident when we arrived in Chicago to compete The competition was rough, and our confidence was waning; all the teams were very close in skill level, but we did end up qualifying for the ISSA PCISAAllGirl’sInvitational(nationals).

Again, we practiced for a long time leading up to nationals. However, there was an issue. At Pontiac YachtClub,HighschoolsailingonlyconsistsofC420s. At nationals, which was in San Diego, California, we hadtosailonFJs.

At the time, I was the only sailor on the girl’s team that had sailed an FJ before. I’d done some college sailing in Florida, where they mainly sail FJs Still, I had only sailed on FJs a few times, not enough to be highlyskilled.

Thedaybeforetheregatta,therewasanopenpractice time at the hosting yacht club (Mission Bay Yacht Club).Troydecidedtotakethisopportunityandused all time given to us by the host to practice on the FJs. They are similar to C420s, so the team was able to adapt quickly with some guidance from our coach andmypreviousFJexperience.

The day of the regatta came, and races began. My skipper and I were set as our A fleet, and as we were both in the positions we specialized in, we felt confident. We did well, but unfortunately did not perform our best on day one In FJs, the crew sits backwards,whichwasanewconcepttotherestofmy team I told them to try and if things weren’t going well, the crew could sit facing forward and sail like it was a C420. That seemed to work better for the girls, and while we may have gotten some looks, it helped our performance significantly. By day two we could tell we weren’t getting podium, as competition was extremely tough, and most teams had been sailing on FJsforfarlongerthanus.However,wedidn’tgiveup

and still put our all into every race We performed much better on day two, moving up the ranks at a surprisinglyfastrate.Westartedplacingbetter,andwe learnedsomethingneweveryrace

Unfortunately, we did not get a podium placement when it was time for awards. However, we didn’t get last, and we were honored that we had the chance to compete in nationals at all. Every one of us learned valuableinformation,asyoulearnmorebylosingthan youdobywinning.

Nomatteryourskilllevel,thereisalwayssomethingto be learned On the Troy team, we value taking every opportunity presented to us, and we saw the ISSA PCISA All Girl’s Invitational as an amazing learning opportunity Our team learned valuable information about our team and skill, and we had fun along the way.

After awards had ended, I had some spare time before my flight back home to Michigan My parents wanted to show me the San Diego Yacht Club, as my father had been there before and said it was beautiful. My father had been there years ago to watch the America^3 all women ’ s team compete in America’s Cup. We decided to see if we could get in to look around At security, we asked if we could get in through reciprocity, as I had recently received my Junior Junior Membership from Bayview Yacht Club The guard said that was fine and asked to see my membership card. I presented it to him, and he let us inwithoutanyfurtherquestioning

The San Diego Yacht Club really was beautiful, and I felt like a fish out of water in such a large and expansive place. We walked around for about an hour, awing at trophies and even getting a tour of the Junior sailingcenter.

Manymembersdonotrealizetheycangetintoalmost any yacht club through reciprocity. The next time you areoutoftown,tryusingyourmembershiptoexplore someyachtclubsandmakenewconnections!

SOPHIA WORDEN (pictured far left) is a new 17 year old Junior member at Bayview and as you can see already an accomplished sailor who knows how to put her membership to work for her!