SSC Members and Friends,

A new singlehanded sailing event has been organized by members of the Great Lakes Singlehanded Society (GLSS) on Lake Erie and running out of Vermilion, Ohio, on Saturday, September 26th. It is the inaugural Vermilion 45005, which will utilize NOAA Weather Buoy 45005 as its first mark (hence the name of the event). The triangular course, which will include rounding one of entrance buoys at Huron, Ohio, before returning to Vermilion, is approximately 42 NM long, but the course may be shortened in the event that there is a severe lack of wind. 

This event was created to give sailors on Lake Erie, who have been considering entering a GLSS-sponsored singlehanded challenge, an opportunity to sail a course of manageable length with a fleet of other singlehanded boats. In this inaugural year, we are also welcoming doublehanded and crewed boats to participate, so that after the event, we can gather on the lawn at Vermilion Boat Club, have a nice steak dinner, exchange sea stories and ramp up interest in singlehanded sailing (the ultimate in social distancing).

Registration is available through Yacht Scoring (https://yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eid=13196), but we will be collecting fees at the event instead of having entrants pay online. The registration fee is only $50 per boat, which includes one dinner at VBC. Guests (and crew) are encouraged to join us for dinner, which will be provided for $25 each. Because of the uncertainty of the fleet's finishing time, VBC will be providing all of the food, including 16 oz ribeye steaks, but we will grill them ourselves on VBC-provided grills. VBC will have live entertainment and the bar open for us until 2200 on Saturday night. 

There will be a limited number of docks available for visiting boats at or near VBC, so we encourage those who are interested to call Jim Otton, Event Chair, at (330) 417-0417, to make arrangements for a dock. Also, in order for VBC to order the right amount of food, please provide Jim with your dinner count by 1200 on Wednesday, September 23rd. 

We hope to see you there and kick off this new Lake Erie event in grand style.