All posts by Tom Hutton

Announcements

PRSA Annual General Meeting (end of year social gathering)

The end of the year is approaching and the AGM is coming up on November 12th. This year it will be held at Port City Brewing Company, in their Lighthouse Lounge from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm. There will be heavy appetizers served as well as the delicious beer of Port City. There will be plenty of non-alcoholic drinks for those that don’t partake. Tickets are going to be $35 each and this will cover the space, appetizers, and dessert. Kids 10 and under don’t need a ticket. Tickets also get 1 (maybe 2) Port City beers, these are being donated and not covered under the $35 ticket cost.
The link below is a google form to sign up so we have a good head count going into the meeting.
Location Address:
Port City Brewing Co
3950 Wheeler Ave
Alexandria, VA 22304

Port City is a family friendly brew pub. Please note that Port City is only licensed to serve the beer they produce, no outside alcohol is permitted.

News

Safety Preparations for Fall

Last winter several members completed a safety study for the club. The report is linked here. Please pay special attention to page 9 as it lists the new requirements and recommendations for safety.
Some of the recommendations are for individuals or skipper. I wanted to get these out to the members in time to get prepared for fall sailing, which starts on September 11th. Please read the points below and take appropriate action.
  • All competitors are strongly encouraged to carry both a safety whistle and a rescue knife in or tethered to their PFD.
  • PRSA sailors are strongly encouraged to have a VHF radio on board for use in case of emergency.
  • PRSA sailors are strongly encouraged to carry a cell phone (in a waterproof case) for emergency use.
  • All vessels should have the following on board:
    • an extra line suitable for towing
    • a bucket or other appropriate device for bailing.
  • PRSA sailors should assess the condition of their safety equipment (i.e., PFD’s) prior to the season and at regular intervals throughout the season, to ensure that they are in good condition and properly sized for the crews that will be sailing the boat.
Thank you again to the members who worked so hard on this study to put all this together.
News

Friday Night Concert/Jazz Sail

The Friday Night Capitol Riverfront Concert Series is kicking off on June 10th, this Friday! It’s a free concert on Friday nights at The Yards Park; which is on the Anacostia near Nationals Stadium. The concerts start at 7:00 pm and the first band playing is La Uncia who play Irish Latin Rock. There are more details about the bands and concert if you follow the link below.

The Yards Park is about a 45 minute sail from WSM, give or take the wind levels. The plan would be to leave the docks around 6:15pm to give time to sail over and listen to the first half of the concert.  On June 10th the sun sets at 8:32 pm and nautical twilight until 9:44 pm. Leaving after the first half should give enough time to sail back to the marina with plenty of light.

Boats under 7 meters (23 feet) are required to “keep ready at hand an electric torch or lighted lantern (flashlight) that shows a white light”. So skippers should keep this in mind and bring a flashlight just in case getting back takes longer than planned. It’s also suggested to bring an anchor, as there may be other boaters and being able to stop and listen is helpful.

https://www.capitolriverfront.org/do/friday-night-concert-series-1

Announcements, News

Safety Review Committee Report Completed

Earlier this month the Safety Review Committee complete their review and report on Safety and Standard Operating Procedures at PRSA.  They took a deep dive into what we do for safety, and what we need to look at to increase safety and reduce risk going forward. There are new safety rules that will be going into effect in the Spring Series.

  • All members of the RC are required to wear PFDs or buoyancy aids at all times.
  • All competitors are required to wear PFDs or buoyancy aids while racing.
  • If water temperatures are below 50 degrees Fahrenheit full wetsuits or drysuits are required for all competitors and for all RC volunteers.
  • Competitors leaving the racing area must notify the RC (verbally or via VHF).

There are also a number of recommendations that we’ll be looking to implement going forward.

The report itself is a very good read and a compact 12 pages so I’d suggest

Safety Review and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) Committee Report

Thank you to Aaron and the rest of the committee for your many hours of work and dedication to the safety of your fellow sailors.

-Tom Hutton

Announcements, News

AGM Announcement

The AGM will be Saturday November 14th, 3:00 pm at the Washington Sailing Marina.
We chose to hold the event outside so we can social distance. The 3PM “happy hour” start time allows 2 hours before sunset (approximately 5 PM); we’ll have the AGM first, then a general socially-distant hang out.
There is no ticket cost for the event. We’ll provide single-serving snacks, please bring your own beverage(s). Please wear a mask when you’re within 6 feet of others and be generally respectful of distancing requirements.
Given that the event is weather-dependent, we’ve scheduled a backup date of November 21.
We’re hoping you’ll join us for some safe, socially-distant socializing.
Finally, head over to the results page to see the fall series season winners!
2020, Announcements

Fall Season Race Committee Signup Ready

The RC signup sheets have been to the new limited fall schedule. Click here to get to the signup sheet. Due to social distancing requirements we are looking to have members sign up for RC with people from their household or social bubble. The boats are too small to adequately social distance for the 3-4 hours typically spent on them. We are also not requiring members to sign up for RC like we normally would. Trying to compel people to come out during these circumstances would be ridiculous. There are quite a few folks that can’t meet the household requirement or are not comfortable traveling to the marina. Lastly members are welcome to sail even if they can’t sign up for RC. Please take a look at your schedule and see if you can sign up for RC this fall.
Announcements, News

PRSA Fall Season Updates

PRSA has plans to sail this fall!  We are scaling back our usual fall series as we anticipate limited RC and Mark Boat crew availability. We will be looking to have RC and the Mark Boat crewed with members of the same household or social bubble. There will also be other practices we put in place due to covid-19.
—
Fall Series 1 – Sunday September 13th
Presidents Cup Regatta – Saturday September 19th
Fall Series 2 – Sunday September 27th
Fall Series 3 – Sunday October 4th
Fall Series 4 Distance Race – Sunday October 11th
Fall Series 5 –  Sunday October 18th
—
Series Dates for 6, 7, and 8 have been kept on the schedule in case we have any weather cancellations or other changes to the schedule. Lastly we are keeping in mind that things can change depending on how the pandemic changes.
News

PRSA Season Updates

The PRSA Board met Thursday, May 14th and decided to cancel both the Spring Regatta and the Spring Series. We hope that we will be able to return to our regular Fall Series racing which is scheduled to start in September. We’re hopeful to have some organized events over the summer pending the ongoing pandemic situation. We will continue to monitor the situation with Covid–19 as it develops and provide updates to the club.

2017, Frostbite, Lasers, Results

2017-2018 Laser Frostbite Series #2 11/26/2017

This was the first racing of the 2017-2018 Laser Frostbite series. It is traditional for the sailor who finished 3rd to do a write up of the weekend. I have no intention of deviating from this tradition, however, we don’t have the contact info on the sailor that got 3rd and my 4th isn’t that far off.  Next week we’ll get to the 3rd place finisher faster to let them know about their finish and duty.

The weather cooperated and was at the higher end of the fun scale, 8 to 10 with gusts at 15 to 18 blowing from the northeast.  RC set a good Olympic course and got a whopping 6 races in with 20 sailors turning out.  The wind slowly dwindled as the afternoon went on so the first races were all speed and hiking then the later races were searches for the big gust to keep speed up.

My first 2 starts were my best and I worked the left side of the course.  Not really for any strategic reason but in higher winds I’m looking to minimize tacks as those sometimes go poorly for me.  I think the left side of the course had more wind all day so this generally helped me being on that side of the course.  I didn’t have any issues at the marks so these finishes were solid.

The third race saw my best and worst start.  I had a great boat end start that got cancelled due to a general recall.  The second attempt I botched by getting into irons on the wrong side of the committee boat.  I ended up playing catchup with some pretty successful upwind legs as well as a windward mark rounding that paid off.  In a big crowd I try to remember that over standing is better than getting close.  Lots of boats make bad air and in the past I’ve sat barely fetching the mark with other boats sail around me.  Not today! I got to be the boat sailing around others

The last 3 races saw lower wind and some second row starts.  My plan with a second row start is to work to clear air then get on the right tack ASAP. Second rule with a second row start the laylines are off limits; boat ahead will tack on them and you’ll have to eat their bad air.  In the last race I spent a little time on the right side of the course thinking I had the lifted tack.  I got to watch the smarter folks go fast in the more regular puffs that came down the left side of the course.

Overall the day was very fun and I was only a little sore.  20 sailors turning out over thanksgiving weekend is encouraging.  We had some new faces which are great to see out!  I’m sure the rest of the fleet will welcome them as we see them out racing more.  See everyone next week!

Tom Hutton

 

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