Lime Fleet Update

Hello Lime Fleet Families!!

Practice Sunday 10/2/16

All Sailors - arrive by 11:30 to get your boat down & rigged before we start at 1200!!

Please eat lunch before you arrive so we can get straight into the week's Sailing! Wind permitting we'll be working on going around a short race course!

WEATHER

Looks like it will be chillier this weekend (high temp of 70), sailors should come prepared with a fleece, or insulating layer (not cotton!) and windbreaker layer. Don't forget a change of clothes in the event your sailor gets wet.

SCHEDULE Sunday 10/2/16

1100 - Coaches on hand to help with rigging

1200 - Rigged & Ready,

1201 - Classroom Chalk Talk

1220 - Dockside Demonstrations, rig checks

1300 - Sailing!!

1500 - Land & Derig

1530 - Debrief

1600 - Depart

Upcoming Regatta: Halloween Spectacular (Spooktacular)

1. Starting this weekend, we'll be making recommendations to parents as to who is ready to sail in their first Green Fleet Regatta in October (Halloween Spooktacular). Some are ready, while, despite my best efforts, others are not quite there yet!  We want everyone to have a GREAT, POSITIVE experience at their first regatta, so we'll make sure we bring those who are really ready.
2. Deadline for Registration is October 12, so all recommendations will be made by Sunday, October 9.
   
   

STEPS to REGISTER :

1st- You MUST complete and send the attached entry form to Will Howard (HowardW@cityoflakeforest.com) or Morgan Collins (collinsm@cityoflakeforest.com) by October 12th to register.

2nd- Once registered for the event, you MUST sign up on the CYC Opti Blog.  This enables us to plan for boat transportation.

Reach out with any questions!

-Coach Amy

USODA MIDWEST CHAMPS LOGISTICS

Opti Team,

I hope everyone had a relaxing Labor Day! This weekend we are headed to USODA Midwest Championship in Pewaukee! Tomorrow (9/7) we will be loading boats after practice at 6pm. Parents please arrive at this time to help us load.

Schedule for the weekend:

Friday Sept 9^th

1pm Opti Trailer arrives in Pewaukee

3-5pm Opti Practice at Pewaukee

5-6pm Competitor and Coach Check-in

Saturday Sept 10^th

7:30-8:30am Competitor and Coach Check-in / Continental breakfast

8:30am Rigged and Ready

8:45am Coaches Meeting

9am Competitor, coaches, and Parents Meeting-Mandatory

10:30 First Warning -Championship Fleet

Lunch on the water

After Racing Competitor Dinner

Sunday Sept 11^th

7:30-8:30am Continental Breakfast

8am Rigged and Ready

8:15 Coaches Meeting

8:30 Competitors, Coaches and Parents Meeting—Mandatory

9:30am First Warning—Championship Fleet

Lunch on the water

After Racing Awards Ceremony

Please read over the NOR before the weekend. Also, do not forget to pack sailing gear, a WATCH, plenty of water, healthy snacks, and sun protection.

2016 Opti Fall Season Meeting Notes

2016 Opti Fall Season Meeting Notes

Thank you everyone who attended our parent meeting on Wednesday! We went over a lot of information so below is an outline of everything that we covered. 

Communication

Our primary way of communication will be through the Chicago YC Opti Blog. If you are not already subscribed, enter your e-mail address in the "Follow by E-Mail" box (top right) to get posts e-mailed to you. Also use this blog as a reference for calendar updates, regatta signups and debriefs. If you have trouble subscribing, please let me know.

Practice

Practices will start this weekend for all fleets! Practices are held at the Sailing School located at Belmont Harbor, 300 W Belmont Avenue. 

Please note we have added additional practice hours for for Green Fleet on Saturday. If this does not work with your schedule please let me know. 

Championship Fleet (RWB)- Wednesday 4-7pm / Saturday 9am-4pm / Sunday 9am-4pm

Green Fleet- Wednesday 4-7pm / Saturday 9am-4pm / Sunday 9am-4pm

Lime Fleet- Sunday 12-4pm

Sailors should arrive early enough to be rigged and ready by the start of practice. 

Lime Fleet should arrive at 11am on Sunday. On the first day we will assigning charter boats. Lime parents should plan on being there to help take their child's assigned boat off the rack and then arrive around 3:30 to help put boats back on the rack. Sailing is not a drop off sport. 

Please let us know ahead of time if a sailor is going to be late or not going to be attending practice. 

Calendar

Please refer to the Calendar tab on the Blog under the calendar page. This calendar includes practice schedule, deadlines, meetings, etc.

Charter boats

Those who are chartering a boat must fill out the charter agreement. Please bring $100 check on Sunday with this form if you are chartering a boat. If you are a member we can bill your account. Coach Amy will be there to collect your charter agreement and checks when you arrive. 

Sailors chartering a boat will find a boat assignment sheet posted in the cubby room. These will be there boat assignments for the entire season.

Regattas

You can find the Fall Regatta Schedule for the season here. Regattas are designated for Green and Championship Fleet. 

On this calendar you will find the early registration deadlines in the right column. Registering by the early deadline will save you money! 

After you register for the event you must also sign up for the regatta on our signup sheet on the Blog. You can find signup sheets under the Regatta & Clinics tab on the Opti Blog.  Please look at your calendars this weekend. We ask that you sign up on the Blog for all regattas you plan to participate in no later than Monday September 5th.

Please note that when there is a scheduled regatta there will be no CYC practice. 

Lime fleet is scheduled to participate in one regatta this season. Halloween Spectacular is hosted by Lake Forest on October 29-30. This will be a very fun event and a great first regatta for these sailors. We encourage all lime fleet sailors to participate in this regatta. There will be no Lime fleet practice on the 30th during this regatta. There will be Lime fleet practices on Sept 4,11, 18, 25, Oct 2,9,16, 23, and Nov 6. You can find the sign up sheet for Halloween Spectacular regatta here on the Blog. 

We will be sending information about the travel logistics for each event prior to the regatta. Usually this weekend goes out a week before the event. 

Additional Information

The Opti Survival Guide is a useful document for new Opti parents. If you didn't pick up at the meeting you can get one at practice.

Evaluation checklists are what we will be using to assess when a sailor is ready to move to the next fleet. Coaches will be completing these throughout the season and will hand out to sailors at the end of the season. These will serve as progress reports for sailors to understand exactly what areas they need to work on.

Lime Fleet Evaluation 

Green Fleet Evaluation 

Championship Fleet Evaluation

What to Bring to Practice

Please note that many of these items are optional but highly recommended. In our meeting we discussed scheduling a gear swap day so you may not need to purchase some of these items. 

Write you name on everything!

• Gear bag to keep everything in
• personal floatation device (PFD) type 3 with whistle
• bathing suit (for under clothing)
• towel
• watch w/ timer setting to count down
• re-usable water bottle
• hat / beanie for colder days
• sunscreen
• sunglasses
• rash guard
• spray top, spray pants (wind and water proof)
• change of clothes
• gloves 
• sailing booties/ neoprene socks 
• fleece layers
• wetsuit (shortie or long john)
• running shoes (Green + RWB)
• notebook (Green + RWB)

All of the documents on this page can be found on the Program Documents Page located on the Opti Blog. We look forward to a great fall season of sailing! Please let me know if you have any questions.

Julia Melton

Sailing School Director