It is the middle of summer and the sailboat racing program at Sagamore Yacht Club is thriving, but so are other activities. Several groups of friends at the club have already taken their boats to neighboring ports, on long cruises, on fishing trips, and on nearly every day with nice weather there are raft-ups and overnight gatherings at the club moorings in Oyster Bay Cove and West Harbor. Sunday brunch is also a popular family activity typically followed by an afternoon rendezvous on the boat.

A lot of members love to take their boats out and explore different harbors and waterviews. Bob and Shelley-Sue Williams always seem to be cruising to another interesting place on their boat Sail La Vie. They also volunteer at Sagamore to organize day trips, overnight excursions, and a winter trip to the southern islands. Over a dozen people are already making plans in early January for a flotilla in the British Virgin Islands. Sagamore members will fly down to the area and rent yachts and sail to different destinations each day for festive dinners or some pre-planned event.

Joe and Doris Gentile of Epicure like to make frequent trips to Block Island and other points out east. Their boat has central air conditioning that makes it very comfortable to go nearly anywhere they please. Jack Bernstein and his son Neil of Luff Story just returned from an annual cruise along Long Island Sound to neighboring ports and yacht clubs. Of course, Jack scheduled his trip so that he missed only two less important sailboat races out of the whole racing season. Jack is once again defending his "sailor of the year" award for winning the most club races last year. Commodore Dave Roach and his family have already taken Hibernian on a few extended cruises.

There are also many avid fishermen at Sagamore. Sagamore has several fishing derbies throughout the season, including a junior flounder derby for the kids. At the end of the contests, when the winners have been determined, the fish caught is cooked for the membership. Several of the fishermen also participate in the Oyster Bay Anglers Club and some frequent tournaments run by Oyster Bay Marine Supply, a local boating supply and bait store. Nearly every day Phil Savader of Reel Happy is out looking for the next big fish. He is also very willing to share tips with fellow anglers and teach people how to fish. Over the last few months Phil has taken a few trips with fellow anglers Jim Messineo, Rob Casale, Karl Stiene, Derek Murphy, and a few others to Montauk and other sport fishing points to catch larger fish.

At the end of the month Sagamore is hosting its popular annual luau. Nearly everyone dresses in Hawaiian attire. A traditional entertaining skit performed at the luau is a Hawaiian dance by a few of the brave men donning props like coconuts and hula skirts. Last year Sagamore even hired some professional dancers to entertain the crowd.

Many members are anticipating the annual "race to dinner" on Aug. 20. This is one of the most fun sailboat races of the year. At about 1100 hours a race will commence in the Long Island Sound and the course will take the racers over to Huntington Bay by about 1500 hours. From there the boats will continue on to Centerport Yacht Club on Centerport Harbor for an afternoon by the pool followed by a formal sit-down dinner. Many powerboaters either join the racers by following behind the race or will drive over by land. In most recent years this race has also been destined toward Sea Cliff Yacht Club and Stamford Yacht Club. Sagamore has very good reciprocal relationships with these yacht clubs and their members can visit each other's clubhouses and pick up moorings to stay overnight or hang out for the day.

For more information about the Sagamore experience contact Dockmaster Phil Rhoads at 922-0555, visit www.sagamoreyc.com, or look up SagamoreRacing on Yahoo!Groups.