A message from the new fleet captain, and his first mate…

By Brad

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season with family and friends. As many of you know my wife, Amanda, and I had our baby girl, Molly, on December 10^th just in time to have her first Christmas.  It was a wonderful blessing and we could not be happier to be her parents.  I have told Molly that #9509 is hers, and when she starts sailing it I get a brand new one!  We will see if that plan holds true, maybe the old boat can move home for a few years and I can get the new one broken in while she grows up…

 

  

The weather has been up and down but I know that never stops Fleet 20. Living in this area it is so great to be able to experience some real winter weather and then be sailing the next weekend on a 70 degree winter day.  I have been kind of busy with baby duties on Saturday mornings, but have gotten the green light to sail. Today’s New Years Eve sail was fabulous, even if my fore stay lost a ring ding and my mast came down.  I will be picky on weather reports and try to get the most out of the times I make it to the lake, no under 50 degrees less than 5mph days for me this season.

I am excited about the year to come and honored that the fleet would elect me to be captain for a year.  I have truly enjoyed the past two seasons I have been sailing with Fleet 20 and can honesty say it is some of my favorite times I have had on a boat.

For those who don’t know me yet, the following is brief introduction and how I became involved with Butterfly fleet 20.  I grew up sailing at White Rock Lake with my Grandfather who was a member at CSC form 1972-1998.  He had several different boats, including a Butterfly before my time until he settled on the Flying Scot #566.  He was told by someone at a previous sailing club on the East coast that he was to nice of a person to race boats.  I think he agreed as well and never wanted to mess with all the rules, so he primarily sailed on lazy afternoons with his family.  I stepped foot on his boat around the age of 3 and have great memories of swatting wasps that would live under the bow, sitting on the deck with my hands turning white from the flaking gel coat, and most of all making the boat move with only the power of the wind.  We never really got into the physics or philosophy of sailing back then, we just knew what made the boat go and did it.  I spent a few summers in the junior program at CSC in the opti and then laser, but never really got into racing either.  After an afternoon sail while in high school # 566 began to take on water and sank just of the junior pad at CSC.  My cousin and I bailed it out only to come back from lunch with it full of water again.  With us leaving for collage, my grandfather decided that was enough and donated the boat to the sea scouts.  The boat was never seen again, until several years later, Sunfisher Tony found it in a field with a tree growing in it and fully restored it to racing conditions. It now sits at CSC again, just waiting to be sailed.



Me at CSC in the early 80's

 

On my Grandfather's Scot, with my older brother Scott...



  





After college my wife and I moved back to the Dallas area and I quickly ound a boat from a coworker.  An O’day Javelin would sit in our driveway for three years and we would spend weekends tailoring it to WRL.  After a weeklong bare boat charter in the BVI’s my wife wanted to learn more about sailing.  We joined CSC and took the beginners class together.  We will never forget when butterflyer Frank wanted to split us up on the first lesson day.  She was kind of intimidated to not have me aboard but Frank assured us it was best for everyone.  We could not have agreed more after the class.  Amanda was so excited to tell me everything she learned on Frank’s Flying Scot that evening and was eager to attend the class for the next month.



BVI's 2009



Enjoying WRL



I had been approached by another butterflyer, Bob, always on the lookout for new members to help serve on race duty.  I said sure and joined him a few Saturdays on butterfly race duty, still never sailing one in my life.  Bob kept telling me I needed to get with Tom to take out a fleet boat and get in a race.  I had picked up the basics from the few race duties I served, so I went for it one Saturday morning.  I had a blast and came back for more the next Saturday, and the next…  After three in a row, fate would have it #9509, a previous national champion winning boat, came up for sale.  A deal that was too good to pass up was offered and I became the proud new owner of two boats!  I sailed the next two seasons with the fleet rarely missing a Saturday.  I have picked up on the basics and advanced my skill level.  I still do not take the competition as serious as many; I just enjoy when I can improve from previous mistakes, and actually understand how the boat responds to different adjustments.  Any time I am on the lake is a joy for me.

 

#9509



I have developed a life long passion for White Rock Lake and also have the great fortune to be involved with planning and design of amenities at the lake.  I work as a Landscape Architect for a large interdisciplinary firm in Dallas.  We are currently working with the City of Dallas on several projects around the lake, including the dog park renovation and trail expansion on the east side.  I thoroughly enjoy working and playing at WRL.

As I said previously, I really look forward to this year as it looks to be a special one for the fleet.  We are currently finalizing a date to hold the Butterfly Single Hand Nationals once again at White Rock Lake.  Details should be complete soon, NOR and SOI’s will be posted in the appropriate locations.  It is my goal to enjoy another great year together and advance the local fleet as well as the butterfly class. 

Happy Holidays and have a great New Year!

Brad