Men of the Island Estates Yacht Club hosted their second event, the IEYC Regatta, where each crew answered trivia questions to progress their sailboat forward throughout the course. Twenty-one members and five guests attended the regatta, arriving at the venue and following channel markers to the event space. Once in the event space, tables were adorned with customized sailboats for each crew and the regatta course setup in the middle of the room for all to see.

 

Fleet Captain John Speck struck six bells to start the event and announce Commodore Lefebvre to the podium.  During his introduction, Commodore Lefebvre recognized Arnie Shal and Harry Bickford for performing the duties of the Officer of the Deck, meeting and greeting everyone entering the room. John Speck was announced as the Fleet Captain for the year and Don Prokes as the Boatswain for the event—to ensure all crews maintained order and discipline for the regatta.

 

Commodore Lefebvre discussed the importance of members bringing guests, and the importance of new members to the club.  He then introduced the guests of Harry and Carol Bickford, Ted and Janet O’Brien, and prospective members Glenda Creasy and Mike and Marilyn Kaufman to the club.

 

Prior to the invocation, Commodore Lefebvre shared that the maritime tradition of the ringing of eight bells signifies the passing of a mariner’s life. A moment of silence and reflection was observed while eight bells were struck in honor of the passing of club member, and past Commodore, Eileen Gunther.

 

After the invocation, the members enjoyed a buffet that included vegetarian eggplant parmesan, butter crumb crusted cod, and a fresh carved steamship round of beef with a bountiful desert bar.

 

Each crew chose a boat captain with Sara Speck captaining the green boat, Arnie Shal the yellow boat, Mike Kaufman the white boat and Jim Ostrosky the red boat.  Trivia questions were passed to all tables to answer and then collected and correlated.  Fleet Captain Speck struck four bells to begin the regatta.  Commodore Lefebvre read the questions and answers while Bosun Prokes moved the boats around the course. The white team went into irons early in the race and fell behind, never fully recovering. The yellow and green boats kept fighting for the lead while the red boat strived to keep in the running. At the end of the first round of the course there was no clear leader, and throughout the second loop the race continued with the red, yellow, and green boats vying for the lead; however, at the last moment the yellow team gained momentum and burst through to finish first!  Fleet Captain Speck struck four bells to conclude the regatta. Club members Harry and Carol Bickford, Arnie Shal, Mary Reinhardt, and Angie Traupman each received a voucher to use towards the next event, “A Night of Jazz at the IEYC Speakeasy.”

 

After everyone was thanked for their participation, six bells were struck announcing the conclusion of the event.

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Submitted by Scott Lefebvre