Dean Williams is our Vice Commodore for the 2005 sailing season. Thank you, Dean, for agreeing to serve the Bald Eagle Yacht Club. We look forward to your autobiography being posted soon!

When I was younger I used to run and hide whenever the wind blew as a result of seeing my parents returning from their sailing excursions covered in bruises, those Hobie 16s can flip in any direction. Somehow my parents always seemed to find me and drag me down to the beach crying the whole way. Yes, I was a real scaredy-cat. Then finally we tipped over, mainly because the boat was overloaded I suppose, and I realized that tipping over was a lot of fun. Mom and Dad had to right the boat while my brother and I went swimming wherever we happened to land.

My Father and I sailed in our first regatta on Big Marine Lake in 1995. We had a blast, and even took home some hardware in Hobie 16 "C" fleet. Two years later my Dad and I entered the Bald Eagle Regatta a second time. The wind was really howling that day and boats were upside down all over the lake, one in particularly. There was a white Hobie 18 that seemed to be having an especially bad day. Turns out the skipper had left the hull plugs out and was trying to race a boat with two hulls full of water. My Dad and I never did flip that day, and as it turned out I married the guy on the Hobie 18 a few years later. We have been racing together on Bald Eagle and around the Midwest together since 1997. The first year we crew on a 30ft Beneatu and raced the 18. After we got married we bought a new Hobie 20 absolutely love it.

Brent encouraged me to give Race Captain a shot; he said it would be no problem. The scoring spreadsheet is working, the raft has had so many repairs in the last year what could possibly go wrong with that. Well...it hasn't been too bad. I enjoyed putting the calendar and schedule together last winter. Brent has already begun work on the individual trophies for the fall awards banquet. And so far we have been able to keep the scores up too date on the website, and hope to continue with that so members can learn to depend on the website for current information.

The yacht club has a long tradition of sailing and social events. I am proud to be a part of that tradition as Sailing Captain, as a sailor and someone who enjoys hanging out at the lake with friends sharing a few stories over a beer or two.

The 2004 sailing season will be the seventh year John has served as the treasurer for the Bald Eagle Yacht Club. John can best be described as Shore Crew. Even though his wife and youngest two daughters are Hobie sailors, John stays on shore and prepares food. Of course occasionally you may find him as a crew for a scow sailor.

John has been involved with the yacht club in some form or another for the last twenty years. He also has assisted with many Bald Eagle Regattas over the past few years (note: you will find him on shore preparing food).

John enjoys the opportunity to be a part of the yacht club, and since he is treasure it guarantees that he will be at any function that requires a registration or payment.

The major words of advice John would like to share with either present or future members of the club would be: "Pay your dues, if you want your races to count."

Shelly Suchomel is the latest addition to our roster of officers. Thanks, Shelly, for agreeing to serve! Her bio and pic will be posted here soon!

Kevin has been the Commodore for Hobie Cat Fleet 52 for the past 6 years. Fleet 52 is a member of Hobie Cat Division 7, a seven state region within the North American Hobie Class Association. As Fleet Commodore I act as a liaison between the Division 7 executive team and our Fleet members. I also act as the point person to organize and coordinate our annual Fleet Sponsored Regatta. The Fleet is actually a subset of the Bald Eagle Yacht Club members who sail Hobie Cat one design boats.

Being a past Commodore, Vice Commodore, Race Captain and Treasurer of the Bald Eagle Yacht Club I have had the privilege to meet and get to know so many of the wonderful people who make up the Bald Eagle Yacht Club and the Hobie Fleet. As a Fleet Commodore, I am able to take that one step further and get to know sailors from all over Division 7 which cover a seven state region.

Although I have been a resident of Bald Eagle Lake for 27 years, I have only been sailing for about 17 years. The first time I got on a Hobie Cat I was hooked, I was hooked on the speed, hooked on the wind and hooked on flying a hull. The Bald Eagle Yacht Club quickly became center of many social activities. My wife and I purchase our first Hobie 16 before we were even married and have sailed as a team ever since.

As novice sailors, many BEYC members helped us learn to sail, gave us pointers, hosted sailing seminars and encouraged us to attend. They had a real interest in helping my wife and I become better sailors. After a couple of years in the back of the pack, we began to move up and win some races. Through sailing at a number of Division Regattas in the 7 state region we gained much needed experience racing against some great sailors at different lakes, all the while have a blast of good time. Over the years we moved up to A fleet and even won Class Champion a couple of times. This past year wife and daughter teamed up because I was working a lot and I am proud to say, that my wife and daughter won the Hobie 16 Class Championship! Wow, that's a long way from being afraid to sail in high winds.

The helpful and friendly spirit of the BEYC has always been that of friendly competition and social fun. That was true when the club started in 1899, it was true when we became members and learned to sail, and it's true today. It's what make the BEYC so special and wonderful. This same spirit is not only also part of Hobie Fleet 52, but you will find it to be common thread throughout the North American Hobie Class Association and part of what makes up the "Hobie Way of Life".

Have a Hobie Day!