PICYA Navigator, the new monthly newsletter goes out every Tuesday of the week following a delegates meeting. It has a distribution of nearly 1,000 recipients of yacht club members throughout the Bay and Delta. If you would like to share information on upcoming events at your club or items of interest to boating, send the information to PICYAnews@gmail.com. If you would like to subscribe, just go to http://picya.org/Navigator and click “Subscribe”.

The PICYA Youth Regatta was held in conjunction with BAYS 3  hosted by Sequoia Yacht Club and PYSF on July 23 & 24. 

PICYA Foundation received 27 applications for the PICYA scholarships (a record number this year). The four winners were announced and presented at the August Delegates' meeting at the Sacramento Yacht Club on August 1st.

20th Annual PICYA Margo Brown Wheel Chair Regatta will be held September 24, 2016 at Encinal Yacht Club. This event will once again provide veterans, many confined to wheelchairs, with the rare opportunity to experience a power boat cruise on the Oakland Estuary and San Francisco Bay along the San Francisco City front. On their return, our guests will be treated to a picnic luncheon and entertainment on the grounds of Encinal Yacht Club. Most of our honored guests are U.S. Veterans residing in Northern California Veterans’ Homes and Hospitals.

Fall PICYA Management Conference is being held on October 15th at the Loch Lomond Yacht Club on Saturday October 15th. We will have a representative from California ABC to give information on how bars should be managed in clubs and updates on new laws. Also Loch Lomond YC is planning on hosting an all club cruise-in so folks can bring their boats in on that Friday into their newly-dredged marina and stay for the conference and then cruise out on Sunday.  More info on this as we get closer.

PICYA APP: We have a new free APP for PICYA. You can download it from Google Play or the Apple Store. (more information below)

Again this year I am encouraged by the quality of the young people who are applying. I only regret that we do not have more scholarships to present. My personal appreciation to Staff Commodore Liz Allison for her donation of the “Andy Desin Memorial Scholarship”; and to Pittsburg Yacht Club’s Treasurer Sherry Flatter for her donation of the new “Estella McGrath Memorial Scholarship and the “William ‘Bill’ Flatter Scholarship” in remembrance of her late husband.

I deeply regret my health issues which have prevented me from bringing this year’s Scholarship awards to their deserved conclusion.

However, I want to thank the 2016 committee for their commitment to the process. I especially want to thank Jack Michael and Roger Beebe for stepping up to bring the presentation to conclusion.

I would like to recognize the Board of the Scholarship Foundation.

S/C Fred Rutledge – President
S/C Mike Billington – Treasurer
David Breninger – Secretary
S/C Vern Bendsen – Director & Past President
S/C Jane Brennan – Director

Vern is also a member of this year’s Scholarship committee and was instrumental in establishing this program.

I would also like to introduce the committee that rated the applicants and chose this year’s Scholarship recipients
S/C Vern Bendsen   S/C Joan Marsh
Linda Gordon  Roger Beebe
Shirley Guidera  Patti Mangan

This is not an easy task. We had 27 very qualified candidates and 4 scholarships to award. The committee had 15 days to evaluate and grade all of these submissions.
We made a few changes in the process this year. I feel it necessary to share them with you.

The process is:
The chair receives the applications, assures the applicants are qualified, makes master copies, redacts identifying information, and sends copies, with an electronic grading sheet, to the committee members.
They committee recorded their grades on the scoring sheet and e-mailed it back to the Chair.
The chair then totaled the scores and, in this year’s case with 4 scholarships to award, identified the 4 highest scorers. The chair then sent regret letters to the applicants who did not prevail and notified the winners and their parents inviting them to the awards dinner.

The scholarships are funded by donations from the “Worldwide Boater’s Safety Group”, who were instrumental in establishing this program as successors of “Westmar Insurance” under the leadership of Its founder Joe Cecchini.
Other Scholarships are funded by donations from Yacht Clubs of the Organization and donations from member clubs.

The first Scholarship was presented by Barry Paulson, WBSG (Worldwide Boater’s Safety Group) to Dylan Meade representing Richmond Yacht Club and San Francisco Yacht Club.

Several years ago; Staff Commodore Liz Allison established A Memorial Scholarship in the name of Andy Desin. That scholarship Was  presented by Liz to Wilson Lautner representing Petaluma Yacht Club.

Sherry Flatter, a member of Pittsburg Yacht Club, has Donated Two Memorial Scholarships.

The first is in honor of Past Commodore Estella McGrath which was presented by Gary McGrath to Monica Graves representing Sequoia Yacht Club.

The second  donated by Sherry Flatter is in memory of her Husband William “Bill” Flatter”.  was presented by Roger Beebe to Kelsey Tostenson representing Tuburon Yacht Club and  Richmond Yacht Club

The candidates were all outstanding students and citizens. There were no losers, we just ran out of scholarships. I would be proud to present a scholarship to every one of them.

Thank you all.

Ed Stetson
PICYA Scholarship Chair

 

Photo courtesy - Larry Mayne

The PICYA Youth Perpetual Cup Regatta was held in conjunction with the BAYS #3 Regatta on July, 23-24 hosted by Sequoia Yacht Club and the Peninsula Youth Sailing Foundation. There was a separate scoring based on the age and year in school requirements of the PICYA Deeds of Gifts for the Youth Regatta. Based on that the results are as follows:

Division A, age up to 10 years old (under the age of 11 during 2016) PICYA Delegates Perpetual Youth Sailing Trophy
1. Omar Alami,  Sausalito Yacht Club
2. Gavin Murphy PYSF/SeqYC
3. Mark Xu  San Francisco Yacht Club

Division B, age up to 13 years old (under the age of 14 during 2016) San Francisco Bay Sailing Association Perpetual Youth Sailing Trophy
1. Tor Svendsen St. Francis Yacht Club
2. Lucas Kasper  PYSF/SeqYC
3. Dylan Wondolleck Encinal Yacht Club 

Division C, age up to 16 years old (under the age of 17 during 2016) PICYA Perpetual Youth Sailing Trophy
1. Sarah Young  San Francisco Yacht Club
2. Ryter Ulrich  Encinal Yacht Club

Division D, for double-handed teams, competitors must be in grades 8 through 12 during 2016, Dave Diola Memorial Cup (for the winner) and the Jan Horne Memorial Trophy* (for the first all girl team).
1. Jasper Reid skipper, Derek Nelson, crew        Encinal Yacht Club
2. Chris Hopkins, skipper, Lily Imani, Sat. crew, and Jordan Imani, Sun. crew  Encinal Yacht Club
3.* Kiera Cullen, skipper, Nina-Katreen Hipkins, crew      Half Moon Bay Yacht Club

The PICYA Staff Commodores Perpetual Youth Sailing Trophy, awarded to the Club with the best combined score for all four (4) divisions - Encinal Yacht Club

Thank you for all of you assistance over the last couple of days. Your presence was important and made a positive impact on the sailors, coaches, parents, and all of the volunteers, especially me. With your help the more sailors were able to participate in the PICYA Youth Regatta. PICYA Commodore Erich Schoenwisner, PICYA Rear Commodore Winston Bumpus and PICYA Director and Race Committee Chair Bill Gargon, thank you for getting all the forms to all those kids. Erich you were a great help on the outside Race Committee boat, checking in, scoring, and keeping the sail numbers straight on Sat. Winston and Bill, the breakfast did not have a lot of attendance, but your help made the event easy and fun. Bill, you got the right stuff to keep the outside Race Committee Boat running.

Cheers,
Larry Mayne
Past Commodore - Sequoia Yacht Club

PICYA is hosting its Twentieth Annual Wheelchair Regatta. This event will once again provide veterans, many confined to wheelchairs, with the rare opportunity to experience a power boat cruise on the Oakland Estuary and San Francisco Bay along the San Francisco City front.

On their return, our guests will be treated to a picnic luncheon and entertainment on the grounds of Encinal Yacht Club. Most of our honored guests are U.S. Veterans residing in Northern California Veterans’ Homes and Hospitals.

In order to make this event successful, powerboat skippers/owners are needed to donate their time and boats to host one or more guests aboard their vessel.

[Click here to Register your vessel]

Volunteers from each of our PICYA member clubs will make this a most memorable day for our guests, and for those donating their assistance as well. Many volunteers are also needed ashore to assist in welcoming, boarding, preparing and serving lunch, and entertainment.  It will give you a great feeling and gives veterans a fantastic day.

We need kitchen crew, hosts (Wheelchair pushing), and tax deductible donations.  There is something for everyone to do.

[Click here to Volunteer or Donate]

The MBWR has a limited amount of space for disabled veterans who are being cared for outside the VA hospitals.  For disabled veterans who would not otherwise be able to enjoy a cruise on the Bay or the camaraderie of his fellow veterans, please refer them to Linda Blue.

[Click here to Register to be considered for Attendance]

We are looking forward to another rewarding event!

If you need additional information or have any questions, please call Linda Blue at (510) 851-4387 or e-mail: linda.a.blue@gmail.com

You can download the Free App in Google Play for Android or at the Apple Store for IOS. Available soon will be the ability to modify this for your own club for a small annual fee. Stay tuned...

The Pacific Coast Yachting Association, with the approval and encouragement of the Horder family, will recognize an outstanding youth sailing program for 2016. The trophy is awarded annually to the PCYA member organization (PICYA is a member organization) whose submission detailing a member club’s youth boating program is determined by a PCYA committee to be the most deserving.

The trophy, a famous Currier and Ives print of the sail/steam vessel “San Francisco”, is over one hundred years old and occupies a prominent mantel location at St. Francis Yacht Club. The original trophy will remain at the St. Francis Yacht Club. Each year an engraved plaque inscribed with the name of the honored program is added to the list of awardees. A “take home” copy of the trophy will be presented to the winning PCYA organization.

For more information and how to submit your club as a nominee, CLICK HERE

PCYA Staff Commodore Charles A. Langlais first won this trophy in 1926 sailing the R class boat, “Lady Gay,” in that year’s Championship Regatta of the Pacific Coast Yachting Association.

Mr. Langlais later rededicated it in 1976 to be awarded once in any calendar year to an individual for “exceptional, outstanding, and meritorious service to the sport of yachting.”

You can read more about the Langlais Trophy deed of gift and submission guidelines and the history of the “R” class boats (the latter written by St. Francis Yacht Club Historian, Robert C. Keefe). To see the deed of gift and submission guidlines, CLICK HERE

Does your yacht club want to be part of the state’s largest volunteer and family oriented event? Keep reading because this article will tell you how your yacht club can organize and participate in a fun and unique event:  The 2016 California Coastal Cleanup Day (CCD) Sat., Sept. 17, 2016, from 9 a.m.–Noon.

CCD is an international annual beach and shoreline cleanup event that has seen participation from more than 1.3 million volunteers who have collected more than 22 million pounds of debris since 1985! In CA, this event is led by the California Coastal Commission (CCC).

In 2011, The CCC and the California State Parks Division of Boating and Waterways (DBW) in partnership with Sequoia Yacht Club, Port Royal Yacht Club, Heal the Bay and the San Mateo Countywide Water Pollution Prevention Program helped launch a pilot program to further engage the boating community. Together these clubs and their 63 enthusiastic volunteers collected 1,267 pounds of trash and recyclables from the shoreline and on the water with non-motorized vessels. Since 2012, and based on the success of the pilot project, CCC and DBW started promoting this program among boating facilities.

Considering the fact that CCD supports PICYA’s mission of environmental stewardship and promoting safe, enjoyable, and environmentally sound boating, this program has been endorsed by your organization since 2012. Yacht clubs participating in this statewide event receive points towards the nomination of the Club of the Year under the community service category.

In 2015, 36 boating facilities and more than 620 volunteers cleaned 48 miles and collected 10,847 pounds of trash and recyclables on land and from the water using 87 vessels (kayaks, canoes, and dinghies). Statewide more than 68,000 volunteers participated in CCD removing over 1.1 million pounds of trash and recyclables from our waterways, beaches and lakes. We would like to thank the 9 Northern CA yacht clubs already participating and we hope to see the rest of your 98 clubs out there this year!  We know many more clubs want to make a difference and be part of this international event.

Your yacht club can easily be part of this event. To get involved follow these simple steps:

1. Watch this video of Sequoia Yacht Club's Coastal Cleanup Day.

2. Contact the Statewide Coastal Cleanup Day Boating Program Coordinator or Outreach Manager:

Vivian Matuk
Environmental Boating Program Coordinator
California State Parks Division of Boating and Waterways
California Coastal Commission
(415) 904-6905
vmatuk@coastal.ca.gov

Eben Schwartz
Outreach Manager, Public Education Program
California Coastal Commission
(415) 904-5210
Eben.Schwartz@coastal.ca.gov

3. Become a Site Captain for your facility, work with us and your County Coordinator on planning your event.

4. Participate in the event and be part of the solution to marine pollution!

We hope your club can be part of this great event!

Yacht clubs are always looking for great and FUN educational opportunities for their members to support their stewardship.  To support this goal, the California State Parks Division of Boating & Waterways, the California Coastal Commission and the San Francisco Estuary Partnership would like to offer you a FREE an Exciting Clean Boating Presentation For Your Yacht Club. This unique free seminar will bring to your club and members great and FREE educational resources including boater kits (attached photo), maps and tons of valuable clean boating information to support your clean boating efforts.

During this FREE seminar will review some simple environmentally-sound boating practices you can implement related to oil, fuel, trash, sewage and marine debris.  Seminar participants will receive a free boater kit including an oil absorbent pillow, information about environmental boating laws, oil related disposal site information, ABCs of Boating laws and the San Francisco Bay and/or delta Clean Boating Map.

To schedule a free seminar at your club Call Vivian Matuk at (415) 904-6905 or email at vmatuk@coastal.ca.gov