Conestoga Sailing Club

Nacra Catamaran

ben — Mon, 14 May 2012 23:59:20 +0000

Announcing the new addition to the sailing school fleet this season, the Nacra 16 foot play cat. The boat is a resin hull and comes with a trapeze and a jib. The play cats are coming to the club as a part of a special program from the good people at faster boats, Ontario’s Nacra dealer. The boats will be used in the sailing school and will be available for members to try. There will be 4 boats in total and they should all have arrived at the club in early June. Conestoga will be competing in the Ontario championships with the newly founded play cat fleet in July. There will also be a play cat start line at the warm water regatta June 9th and 10th.

Dock Launch and Open House

ben — Mon, 14 May 2012 23:45:51 +0000

On Saturday May 26 2012 we will be formally recognizing the donors who helped make the Club’s 50th anniversary dock upgrade a successful project. All club members are encouraged to come out and show support for the many donors and volunteers for the project. A special recognition will be given to the Kitchener Waterloo Community Foundation, Kitchener Sports Association, Cities of Waterloo and Kitchener and the many other donors who made the replacement of the 40 year old docks a reality. Members from local City councils and staff and from the Kitchener Waterloo Community Foundation will be in attendance. Ribbon cutting will take place at a 11:30 ceremony at the water front. We will also be launching our first new Narca 16 foot catamaran. In the afternoon there will be an opportunity to take guests sailing and introduce people to the sport. There will be a light lunch immediately following the dock launch ceremony.

Agenda
11:30 AM Welcome by the Commodore
Recognition of major donors for the dock
Greeting from dignitaries and donors
Ribbon cutting for the docks
Launch the Catamaran(s)
Lunch: Hotdogs and hamburgers supplied by the club, bring your own salad to share with others and our visitors
Afternoon sailing and open house.

Club Opening and the New Dock

ben — Sun, 06 May 2012 02:33:52 +0000

The new docks are now in the water and they look great! Despite the water being a lot lower then what is typical for the end of April the new docks were easily moved. Some of the old dock sections made there last trip down our beach. All of the old dock sections should also be going to good homes. Three sections have gone to a cottage just a little further up the lake on the same shore as the sailing club. Many thanks go out to the members that came out on April the 28th. Everyone worked together clearing the boats out of the club house and using ancient techniques to roll the docks down to the edge of the water.

The good news about the lake levels is that the water has risen since the club opening. Watch the blue line rise on the GRCA water Level Graph below. Link to the GRCA river data.

See you out on the water.

Membership renewal 2012

ben — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 20:17:43 +0000

Spring has been with us for a while in Waterloo region and again it is time for membership renewal at the Conestoga Sailing Club. This year we are able to accept payment for membership renewal and membership applications on-line. The on-line forms can be found on the 2012 registration page. Since it took a little more time to get the on-line registration page operational we are going to extend the early bird registration discount until May the 15th. You may also bring a cheque to the Spring General meeting on April the 19th. If members would like to update any of their contact or boat information they can do so at any time by emailing registration@kwsailing.org.

If you will not be returning as a club member this season we ask that you please return your keys in the mail so that they can be reused.

Spring General Meeting Announcment

ben — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 01:00:27 +0000

On Thursday April the 19th the Conestoga Sailing club will be hosing the spring general meeting at the Waterloo Knights of Columbus hall. The purpose of the spring general meeting is to talk about the upcoming sailing season and events that we are planning for the club over the summer. With the successful finish of our dock last season we plan on switching our project focus to the club owed boat fleet and some small projects for the club house. The boat repair projects will give and opportunity for new members to learn some boat repair and maintenance skills.

We will have a presentation form guest speaker Scott Ramsay Talking about adventure camping with your sail boat. Scott own’s Wayfarer St. Brendan, (W8263) which he has trailered to lakes in Algonquin park and Georgian Bay. Scott will be talking about his experience and what he has learned on these trips.

There will be short presentations from each member of the board. We will have some chips and snacks as well The Knights of Columbus is a licensed venue with a cash bar.

After the jump there is a short survey about what you value about the sailing club. We are looking for critical feed back. Your comments would be greatly appreciated.

Meeting details:
7:00pm Thursday April 19th
The Knights of Columbus Hall
145 Dearborn Place Waterloo
Length 2 hours

Thanks

If you do not see the survey hit refresh on your browser.

2012 Calender of Events

ben — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 08:50:12 +0000

The calendar has been set for the major sailing club events of the 2012 season at Conestoga lake. We will update the calendar though out the season with additional events. The dates for club closing will be updated in august when we have a better picture of the seasons water levels. The Calendar page holds a detailed calendar of events that includes all the sailing school sessions and regattas that are away form the club.

2012 Club Events	Date
Spring AGM	April 19
Club Opening	April 28
Dock Launch and Open House	May 26
Warm Water Regatta	June 9/10
Wellington Cup (Host: Guelph Lake Sailing Club)	June 24
All Arms Race	July 8
Club Championships	August 25/26
Club Closing	TBD
Commodore’s Banquet	TBD

Sailing School Registration is Online

ben — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 12:00:37 +0000

New for this season, the Conestoga Sailing School will be accepting on-line registrations via the registration page on our website. The sailing club has partnered with pay-pal to enable students and members to securely purchase sailing lessons with a credit card or a pay-pal account. The paper registration forms are also still available for anyone wishing to pay with a cheque as in past seasons. On-line Registration will be open until 2 days before the start of a sailing school session. If you would like to register after on-line registration is closed please email registration@kwsailing.org and call the club between 9:00AM and 4:00PM The goal of the on-line registration pages is to make registration more convenient for our students and free up our volunteer hours for other projects. The sailing club and sailing school registration is run by 100% volunteer effort.

If you have any questions about the sailing school programs and registration please feel free to contact us at registration@kwsailing.org

January 2012 BOD Meeting Minutes

ben — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:00:47 +0000

The conestoga sailing club board of directors met on January 12th 2012. Highlights of the meeting were setting the event dates for the 2012 season and the sailing school update. A link to the meeting minutes is here (January 2012 meeting minutes.)

Winter Curling Event

ben — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 02:42:49 +0000

Apparently it is winter in Canada. It certainly doesn’t feel that way here in southern Ontario. Especially since it would not be too hard to find some open water to go out for a sail. If anyone is feeling crazy enough let me know and I will bring a camera. At least for the next few months the club house will still be in hibernation. But the social side of the club will be holding some events on frozen water in the mean time.
The annual Conestoga Sailing Club curling event is on Saturday February 11 from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm at the KW Granite Club – Curling Rink on the Park – Seagram Drive, Waterloo. This event is best described as a pick-up game of curling. No curling experience is necessary and the only piece of equipment you need is a clean pair of shoes. Clean high grip shoes (tennis style shoe are excellent substitutions) that will allow you to safely walk on the ice surface are best. The cost of the event is $12.00 per person which is paid directly to the Granite Club. We will reserve three sheets of ice which 24 people.
For more information and RSVP – Al or Carol Nichols 519-896-0238 alnichols@sympatico.ca.
There is usually a group that dines at a local restaurant after the event. If you would like to join the gang just let Al or Carol know when you RSVP.

2011 AGM and Banquet

ben — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 03:22:17 +0000

Thank you to everyone who made the 2011 Commodore’s Banquet and AGM a success. We had a full room for the Conestoga School of Culinary Studies students, who served an excellent dinner. We also had a very entertaining pair of guest speakers – Stephan and Nancy Lefneski. We heard about their humble start sailing Albacores on Conestoga Lake. From there they eventually scaled up to a 49 foot ocean worthy boat that took them on adventures literally around the world. Their route started in the Great lakes,then heading through the Erie canal, down the Atlantic coast and on to the Pacific via the panama canal. They kept sailing west for 3 years until they made it back to Canada. Logging many nautical miles and tons of adventure, they have come away with some amazing stories about tropical islands and close calls with pirates. Everyone at the dinner was toughly impressed and entertained.

We also recognized this seasons award winners. The recipients are regatta champions or are just champions of the club for their volunteer efforts this past season.

All Arms Race (Dwight Aplevich and Ken Nethercott)
Club Championships (Bill McLaughlin)
Race Captain’s Award (Jan d’Ailly)
Shore Captain’s Award (Mike Burton)
White Sail Award (Jesse Macgorman)
Bronze Sail Award (Rachel Miller)