The Park City Sailing Association joins sailors across the globe for the international event, Summer Sailstice, on the Jordanelle Reservoir Saturday, June 18th.
Executive Director of Sail Park City Scott VerMerris says the event is to celebrate the sport of sailing and an opportunity to see what it’s like to sail the Jordanelle.
“So it's a global annual celebration of sailing that is held on the weekend nearest to the summer solstice. It's a way for sailors to unite worldwide and it's a way to help the non-sailing world discover sailing. And so for us, it's a member appreciation event. And it's also an opportunity mostly to draw new people in and give them opportunities to see what we're all about and get involved and try it out to we're going to be doing some demos, and it'll be a full social events, and lots of ways to gain information and, and just see how easy it is to become a sailor and and start at any age here at our spot.”
VerMerris says they will have music, games, food, a gear swap and plenty of chances for people to get on the water.
“So, it'd be an open house and boat demo. That means that people can go out for rides and different types of boats. If anyone's ever wondered what a laser is all about, or an Elliot six meter or J 22. We'll be having that as an option. We'll be doing a laser rigging clinic. That's an Olympic class boat that we race on Tuesday nights for people that maybe are new to it or want to get into it, or do a little race clinic with that as well.”
With the multi-year drought in Utah, the Jordanelle’s water levels have dropped. But VerMerris says he is optimistic about the water levels for this season.
“The water has come up more than expected. It's quite high compared to what we had anticipated. It's looking really good here. And according to the park, we're going to keep most of the water. Usually we kind of peak early June and then it will slowly go down throughout the season. This year, we're going to hold apparently, we're going to hold on to a little bit more water than usual. It won't drain as fast because they're working on the dam at Deer Creek. So I asked the folks at the park yesterday, they said that we were going to hold on to most of it a little bit will go down. But we're actually very optimistic and happy at the way things look right now to be honest.”
Sail Park City is a non-profit association that offers scholarships to the junior sailing camps. VerMerris says they work with adults as well and they want as many people to get on the water as possible.
Summer Sailstice is Saturday June 18th from 11am to 4pm. – three days before the actual solstice. Admission is free, but there is a fee of $10 per car to enter Jordanelle State Park.
For more information visit http://sailpc.org
