Well, I don't think the Park WANTS to be involved in enforcement. I think they expect you guys to enforce things among yourselves. And, as I said, it would probably be better all the way around if the Park doesn't get hassled about any of this.

I'm sure many sailors would agree with me, based on their experience working with government agencies.

Sounds great in theory, but, sadly, does not always work. People don't want to be accountable for their actions anymore. It could be the Park's responsibility to boot out those who don't behave (they have done it in the past for other infringements). I agree with what Wouter from NL wrote about how things are handled there.

Best advice I can give is to get your insurance carrier to pay up. Let the insurance carrier then pursue these self absorbed people with the their resources not yours.

Last year a neighbor's tree limb fell on my boat. The insurance carrier told me "to go after her and make her pay". I called the state board of insurance who inturn explained to my agent to pay up. The insurance carrier did so after two months and then sued the neighbor for full damages paid plus attorney's fees.

Your boat will be fixed quicker and without alot of hassle this way7.

thom

Which park do you sail out of?

CatWoman
If you need some help with repairing your boat PM or email (krisu13atyahoo.com) me. Next month I will be fixing my N6.0 some fiberglass work and gell coat.

What boat do you have?

I live in Chicago too.

Catwoman and Kris...

I've always wondered why I never run into anyone from the Chicago area when traveling around to regatta's. We are about 4 hours South of Chicago in Carlyle, IL. We have an active cat fleet. We hold a regatta every year in Sept. We would love to invite you folks down to our regatta. It's always a fun get together.

Back to Catwomans issue. At our club the owner of the boat that was not tied down is responsible for their boat. If the issue is not resolved between the two parties the board of directors can kick the offender out of the club. How I would handle it would be to ask the offending person to pay a resonable amount for the repair (meaning the amount I actually intended on spending to repair it myself). If they would not pay or contact their insurance to pay I would contact my insurance and they would cover the problem. I would then contact the board of directors at my club to have this person barred from the club.

Mike Hill
www.stlouiscats.com

Mike-

I'm only a former member of our sailing club, but the aggrieved party is a friend of mine who has been a long-time member.

You probably won't see any sailors from our club anytime soon - I don't believe there any serious sailors in this club anymore. It seems to be more of a social drinking organization with occasional impromptu sailing races when the wind is either almost non-existent or pretty moderate. They usually don't race when it is really blowing hard or very gusty off-shore. Although they still have some very good sailors in the group, most members are older now, have other priorities in their lives, and don't take sailing or racing too seriously anymore. Their fleet consists only of H16s, and during races there are usually no more that 7 or 8 boats max. They seem to have a really hard time recruiting young members.

This club used to be very serious in its heyday during the 1970s, and they even organized big regattas then - until the Park District put and end to that because there really wasn't any space to have that many people trailer in from other clubs.

It seems like the new young (very good) sailors we have at our beach are not interested to join any club, and they are getting into more interesting boats such as the F18s, Nacra 6.0s, I17s, Tornados, etc. Or they are getting into kitesailing. A couple of years ago we had 2 guys practice on their F18HT (Bimare) in the hope to participate in the Worrell 1000, but the race was cancelled.

Since none of the 400+boats on our beach is trailered in, the boats are parked there all summer. For that reason we really don't have that many expensive racing-type cats.

I wonder whether they have much better winds in Indiana or Michigan during the summer?? Unfortunately, we are often plagued by extremely gusty off-shore SW winds (e.g., say, 10knots w/gusts to 40knots - no fun!) in the summer (or none at all.

So, our beach is mainly a family beach with recreational sailors.

So, we do have a big sailing beach, but no real serious racers other than a small, close-knit "drinking" group, LOL!

You have 400+ boats on your beach?? How many of them are catamarans?

What is the name of the park or beach? And what is the name of your club?

I've PMd you a message, Mary. Don't want to name any club or locale in public for understandable reasons

Doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out which park it is.

Starts with a "W" and ends with an "ette"

I raced there a couple of times in the mid '80's

TOUCHE!

Do they still have the 18 foot rule there. Last time I went by there they told me "no boats over 18 feet allowed!". I've always wondered about that club with so many boats and no racing or travelling by them. When I was there, there was quite a waiting list to get in.

Really nice beach area.

Mike Hill
www.stlouiscats.com

They do have a space for 20-footers now. Several people are using them for a Tornado and Nacra 6.0na. The other spaces are taken by 18-footers. There still might be a waiting list but there's always a good chance to get a spot if you are attending the annual lottery. People are always moving in and out. Good luck!

Yes, we DO have a lot of cats there - almost too many for the actual beach frontage. The Park District uses this as a pretty good source of revenue.

...I was going to mention that this is a recreational sailing beach mainly. The sailing association comprises only a few of the people using the sailing beach. There might not be more that 30 actually active members in that club (maybe a bit more or less). Their races are very laid back & casual affairs, they do a race when more than 4 or 5 boats show up.Then they have a picnic during the summer season at the beach. That's about all. They do not seem to be traveling to other races. They used to be much more serious & active in the 70s and 80s, with national & regional regattas. Now it has dwindled to mothing. Cannot be at all compared to the CRAM (MI) or CRAW (WI).

I use 2-4' long ground anchors. They are $10 each. The ground is very hard, it took a good 20 minutes to put them each in using 4 feet of leverage and sometimes two people. I should have left them up from the ground surface 6" instead of flush, so I would hit them less with the fleet mower.

Just before Isabele came through the boats down by the water moved up by the rest of us "backfleeters". One of those parked next to us and used 4-#3 reinforcing bar about 6" long and drove them into the ground and tied them to their boat at each conner. I was very skeptical about how well this would work. Our commodore said that we would be fine. He was right. The surge never made it that high, but almost. Ground anchors are cheap, insurance deductibles expensive.

Do you think there is an opportunity for an infusion of new blood to revitalize the sailing scene there? Is membership / beach access limited to local residents?

No Mark--beach access is not limited to residents. I would guess that the majority are non-residents, even.

If you are REALLY interested, the sailing lottery is tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, the non-residents' lottery is 1hr. after the resident lottery, so you are not necessarily assured to get in this year. You'll have to get a number & put it in a bucket for drawing.

Check the Wilmette Park District website for info on time etc.

Mark
I called them today for the beach boat storage. Lottery is one thing that you have to worry and 595$ per season is another, if you do not live in Wilmette.

I forgot to ask them whether they will allow trailer boat launching and how much they charge for it.

BTW – where do you launch your boat & sail?

Kris

Mark-

You live up north--aren't there any beaches closer to you in Wisconsin? Or what about Zion? Waukegan? Glencoe? Lake Forest (even more expensive for non-residents, though)?

Wilmette does get very crowded on summer weekends, and I don't know whether they allow trailing in cats. It's really only worth it if you have a space there. I'm extremely lucky and live only 2 blocks away.

8187 miles away. Approximately.



I have only been in Chicago a while. Most of my sailing in recent years has been on my annual vacation in NZ, which is also where I keep my boat.

Did you get my PM back in January?

Mark.