Hello HBYC Members,
2026 Commodore Carla Smith & Gentleman Dave
This is my first Commodore’s Corner, yeah! I’m Carla Smith, along with my husband Dave, we grew up in Sandusky and were high school sweethearts. We now live in the Columbus area, where we’re part of the Hoover Sailing Club and also have our powerboat on E-Dock here at Safe Harbor Sandusky, truly the best of both worlds!
For those of you that missed our Winter Rendezvous in January, we started off on Friday night in our Hospitality room where Dave & I hosted. We served small bites & beverages. Saturday began with a brunch meeting in the hotel where we held our Changing of the Guard ceremony and provided a few updates. We then witnessed an icy battle involving the Columbus Blue Jackets and many of us went on the ice following the game to take a shot. It was more fun than I imagined (maybe because mine went into the net, while Dave’s didn’t!). We enjoyed dinner and drinks, then went back to the Hospitality room.
Celebrating my goal and Dave’s MISS!
P/C Sean Leengran celebrates his hockey goal while Lady Laura gets ready to shoot hers.
Our AYC themed room! (HBYC/APYC banner on right wall)
Rockin’ Party in the Lobby!
Our next event was the AYC Ball Weekend held in Romulus, MI in mid-February. Our club co-hosted a themed room for the first time, partnering with All Ports YC, Nugent’s Canal YC, Put In Bay YC, Catawba West Harbor YC (these are all the Eastern clubs in AYC). Rear Commodore Chris Malott created the design for our banner that was used to decorate the room, and the other clubs did similar ones based on their locations. The rooms offered free beverages and food. Our contribution was from a “Basket of Cheer fundraiser” we held last year. Many of us there worked shifts in our hospitality room, which was fun, but I think Kathy Trask took the prize for working the longest shift, which was most of Saturday! We plan to partner with these same clubs for the next few years to sponsor a room together. We had a lot of fun, so if you haven’t been to this event yet, plan to go next year!
All the chairpersons have been busy getting ready for the upcoming boating season! You should have received our Cruising Schedule/Signup and hopefully you have returned it already. If not, it is due by 3/27/26. Since people seemed to favor a set schedule, our Socials will again be held on the 3rd Saturday of each month, from May – September. Our first one will be held May 16th following our membership meeting at 5:00. We plan to again hold some races and fundraisers throughout the season as well. Keep your eyes on the Event Schedule here on the website to stay up to date!
2026 HBYC Bridge: (L-R). Chris Malott - Rear Commodore; Marc Phillips - Vice Commodore; Carla Smith - Commodore
A BIG THANKS to Marc Phillips and Chris Malott (our Vice and Rear Commodores) along with Rick Billheimer, Dave Makoroff, and Larry Hurst, our Directors for Cruising, Socials, and Racing, respectively!! They have been busy so we can enjoy a great boating season! It takes a village to run a yacht club! Hope to see you in May if not before then!
Carla Smith
2026 Commodore