All posts by Aaron

PRSA Photo Contest

PRSA is once again partnering with CalendarLink (http://www.calendarlink.org/prsa/home.html) to produce a 2016 tide calendar.  These calendars show the actual tides predicted for the Potomac River at Washington National Airport on the Potomac River!  

This year we are having a photo contest to select photos to include in the calendar.  All PRSA members are encouraged to enter their very best photo.  Each PRSA member may submit one photo for consideration.  The winning photo will become the cover photo for the calendar and the winner will receive a FREE 2016 PRSA Calendar. 

 Here are the requirements for calendar photo submissions:

  • Photos must be horizontal images from digital cameras. 
  • Photos must be a minimum of 300 DPI width of 10.3 inches, height 8 inches or 3100 x 2400 pixels or a 1.3 to 1 ratio.
  • Photos may be submitted in JPEG, GIF, or PNG format.
  • Photos need not be from the current calendar year.

So get out there and start taking pictures!  Then, figure out which one is your best picture and enter it into the contest.  Email your photo to Jeff Neurauter (jmnsailor@yahoo.com) no later than November 1, 2015. 

President’s Cup Results

We had a fantastic turnout for the 2015 PRSA President’s Cup Regatta: 58 boats, over 130 sailors, and nearly 30 people on the Sunday spectator cruise aboard the American Spirit!  Final results are posted here and a more detailed writeup of the action along with links to photos will be coming soon.

A huge thank-you to all of the volunteers that made the event possible, including Lee for all of her hard work with providing food for so many sailors, Jim for beverage duty, Lisa-Marie for registration and merchandise management, Nabeel for managing equipment and scoring, and not least our fantastic Race Committee volunteers (Farley as PRO on the lower course, and Rolf Zeisler and his crew on the upper course).  Thank you all around–we couldn’t have hosted such a fantastic regatta without you!

President’s Cup Spectator Cruise

Thanks to the generosity of DC Sail and the National Maritime Heritage Foundation we are able to offer a 3-hour spectator cruise (11:30-2:30 pm) aboard the schooner American Spirit on the Sunday of the President’s Cup Regatta for just $20/person.  Click here for complete details on the cruise and click here to purchase tickets via the President’s Cup regatta website.

Also, remember that it is not too late to register for the 2015 PRSA President’s Cup Regatta!

Fall Sailing Starts Sunday!

The PRSA Fall Series starts this Sunday!  Now is the time to make sure that you have your crew organized, that you have paid your PRSA dues, and that you have signed up for (or already fulfilled) your PRSA race committee obligations.  Remember to review the Sunday Series NOR and Sailing Instructions as well.  I look forward to seeing you on the water on Sunday!

PRSA President’s Cup

prsa logo triangle2 The 2015 PRSA President’s Cup Regatta, sponsored by Annapolis Performance Sailing, will be held September 19 & 20 at Washington Sailing Marina, continuing the long tradition of competitive one-design racing started by the President’s Cup in 1934.  The regatta will be sailed on the Potomac River on two courses.  One-person dinghies (Lasers, El Toros, Penguins) will race on Saturday in the cove near Washington Sailing Marina (WSM) or off of the power plant just south of WSM.  Other classes (Albacores, Buccaneers, Catamarans, Flying Scots, Lightnings, I-20s, etc.) will race Saturday and Sunday on the north course between Hains Point and Gravelly Point (with the Capitol and national monuments as a backdrop).   Register now for the 2015 President’s Cup and view the NOR and other race information.  Registration fees increase after September 12, so make sure to register and pay online before September 12 to save yourself a bit of cash!

APS-Logo-OrangenoText                          DC Sail

Special thanks to Annapolis Performance Sailing for sponsoring the regatta and providing some additional prizes.  This year we will also have a spectator boat – the schooner American Spirit – thanks to the generosity of DC Sail and the National Maritime Heritage Foundation!  Make sure to tell your friends and family about this fantastic opportunity to view the sailing from the water on Sunday, Sept. 20.

 

Important Fall Schedule Information

I’m writing with a couple of important announcements about our fall racing schedule:

  1. We need to staff our Race Committee for the fall!  Please Sign up now if you have not already done so.
  2. We have decided to move the President’s Cup to Sept. 19-20 (a weekend different than the LLS Fundraiser).   More details are provided below.
  3. The PRSA Dinghy Open is back by popular demand, and will be held on October 4.

I’ve posted more details on these important changes below.  Please don’t hesitate to contact your Executive Board if you have any questions.

Continue reading Important Fall Schedule Information

PRSA Photo Contest

PRSA is once again partnering with CalendarLink (http://www.calendarlink.org/prsa/home.html) to produce a 2016 tide calendar.  These calendars show the actual tides predicted for the Potomac River at Washington National Airport on the Potomac River!  

This year we are having a photo contest to select photos to include in the calendar.  All PRSA members are encouraged to enter their very best photo.  Each PRSA member may submit one photo for consideration.  The winning photo will become the cover photo for the calendar and the winner will receive a FREE 2016 PRSA Calendar. 

 Here are the requirements for calendar photo submissions:

  • Photos must be horizontal images from digital cameras. 
  • Photos must be a minimum of 300 DPI width of 10.3 inches, height 8 inches or 3100 x 2400 pixels or a 1.3 to 1 ratio.
  • Photos may be submitted in JPEG, GIF, or PNG format.
  • Photos need not be from the current calendar year.

So get out there and start taking pictures!  Then, figure out which one is your best picture and enter it into the contest.  Email your photo to Jeff Neurauter (jmnsailor@yahoo.com) no later than November 1, 2015. 

Summer is Wednesday Night Sailing Season!

It is summer, so that means that it is Wednesday Night Sailing Season!  Stroll down to Washington Sailing Marina and look for our PRSA sailors in the dock/crane area around 5:30 each Wednesday.  If you’re new,  simply introduce yourself!  Wednesday night sailing is very informal, with short races in the cove and lots of fun/practice sailing.  We rotate people in and out of boats right off the dock, so everybody gets to take a turn!

Wednesday Night Sailing 24 June 2015
Wednesday Night Sailing 24 June 2015

Replica French Tall Ship Hermione in Alexandra, VA on Wednesday, June 10 – Friday June 12

If you are interested in seeing an authentic replica of an 18th century tall ship the French frigate Hermione will be in Alexandra Virginia at the Alexandria Marina behind the Torpedo Factory from Wednesday June 10 – Friday June 12, 2015. She will also be in Annapolis, MD, from Tuesday June 16 – Wednesday June 17, 2015 before making her way further up the eastern seaboard.

The vessel on displa is a reconstructed replica of the 18th century French frigate Hermione (Air-mee-on).  The original Hermione brought Gilbert du Motier the Marquis de Lafayette to George Washington with news of French military aid in 1780 during the American Revolutionary War. It was a Concorde class 32 gun frigate that participated in the naval blockade of the British contributing to the defeat of General Cornwallis by Washington and Rochambeau in the siege of Yorktown, Virginia.

The British captured the Hermione’s sister ship, La Concorde in 1783.  Before putting it into their service they made a study of the La Concorde including making drawings and plans. These plans were preserved and formed the basis for the Hermione replica. Construction on the replica ship began in 1997.  The ship has sailed from France and is expected in Yorktown, VA on Friday June 5.

Tickets are no longer available to reserve in advance for the tour in Alexandria but some tickets will be available to the public at 8:30 AM and 12 noon each day. Other events will be occurring pier-side 9 AM to 7 PM Wednesday through Friday.

Learn more at:

http://hermione2015.com/voyage2015/alexandria

http://www.visitalexandriava.com/calendar-of-events/hermione-in-alexandria/

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32350305

2015 Spring Regatta Wrapup

What a fantastic turnout for the PRSA Spring Regatta!  We had nearly fifty boats and almost 100 sailors out racing over a fantastic Memorial Day weekend.  Even though Saturday’s wind conditions were light and spotty we still got in 3 races on the upper course (and more on the lower course), followed by a wonderful BBQ put together by Lee, Lisa-Marie, and Jim.  It was great to see so many friends and family members at the post-race BBQ.  Our patience on Saturday was rewarded with a nice 8-10 kt southerly breeze on Sunday.  After 3 more fantastic races on Sunday we enjoyed another nice BBQ.

Race Results

Continue reading 2015 Spring Regatta Wrapup