Category Archives: Announcements

PRSA at the Annapolis and DC Boat Shows!

PRSA Sailors: I’m excited to share that PRSA has been invited to participate in the Annapolis Spring boat show, April 28-30, and the First Annual Washington DC Boat show May 5-7.  Both shows are showcasing local sailing / boating clubs, which gives us a great opportunity to promote our club and fleets.   Many thanks to our PRSA Secretary, Kyra, and to Melissa for all of the organizing work here!  Please take a moment to read the details below and then let us know if you might have some time to volunteer to staff the booths at one or both shows.  If you plan on stopping by just to visit the shows, let us know as well (and be sure to wear some PRSA gear!).
  • The Annapolis Boat show — April 28-30 — is providing our members a discount code, “PRS23”. This will get you admission to the show for $12. Spinsheet has coordinated the club showcase, and will be taking photographs through the event, so wear your PRSA gear, especially if you are willing to volunteer at our PRSA booth.
  • The DC Boat show (May 5-7) will be held at National Harbor.  We will be there with other local clubs to promote sailing on the river and collaboration among our area clubs.

2023 Spring/Fall Series Registration, NOR, Sailing Instructions, and RC Duty

PRSA Sailors:

We are just 2 weeks away from the start of the PRSA Spring Series!  We are writing now to provide information on some important changes that are going into effect this spring.  Please make sure to read through these details carefully so that you’re prepared to race as our Spring Series kicks off on 30 March.

First, you will need to register for the series in advance.  Use this link to register: https://forms.gle/9riR85toVRbdvZ976When you register, you will be prompted to sign up for at least ½ of your required Race Committee (RC) slots.  We have had a difficult time filling RC slots in recent seasons and this change will help to address the issue. We will be providing opportunities to help train RC and will look to pair individuals with less RC experience with those that can mentor.  

In 2023 all skippers of multi-person boats are responsible for the same amount of RC duty: 4 slots over the Spring & Fall series.  Skippers of single person boats are responsible for 2 slots over the Spring & Fall Series. Each skipper may serve your 4 slots all in the Spring, all in the Fall, or spread throughout the spring and the fall.  If you bring your crew or friends to help you, make sure to enter the last name of the skipper receiving credit for these volunteers on the RC spreadsheet. You can find the link to the RC Service Signup Sheet here: http://potomacriversailing.org/dues-rc-duty/.  And remember, serving as PRO for any race day or as Regatta Chair for one of our 2-day regattas counts as 2 slots.

Second, make sure to review the NOR and the Sailing Instructions for the 2023 Spring and Fall series racing (posted here: http://potomacriversailing.org/spring-fall-sunday-series/).  We have made several important changes on scoring that should both bolster participation and enable sailors to travel to away regattas to still compete in, and be competitive for trophies, our Sunday Series races.  In brief:

  • The new scoring rules eliminate the minimum “races sailed requirement.” There have been many cases where skippers are only a race or two below 50% threshold and don’t qualify. Since days get canceled due to weather and/or due to lack of RC, it isn’t always in the skipper’s control that they end up not sailing in 50% of races. Adding DNC to bring those skippers up to 50% participation would have seen those skippers ranking higher than boats that qualified.  We will still only calculate a boat’s series score based on their top 50% finishes in the series(effectively everyone gets to drop their worst half of their scores).  
  • We are also modifying how DNS, DNF, & DNC are scored and how races conducted while on RC are calculated so that all races can be scored. Our goal is to reward people on RC, incentivize people to race in the conditions that they feel comfortable and at least show up to the Marina before making a final decision.  

These changes were discussed at the AGM and then refined through input provided to Tyler, our Rear Commodore, by members and at the 23 January Race Program Committee Meeting.  On behalf of the PRSA Executive Committee, I want to thank Tyler in particular for all of the work that he has put in to update our NOR and SIs and to streamline the organization of our Spring and Fall series.

Summary of relevant links:

Please make sure to review the NOR and the SIs and to register so that you are all set to start racing when the 2023 Spring Series begins on 30 March!  We look forward to seeing you on the water!

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.

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

2021-2022 Laser Frostbite 11

David Metcalf and Carlo Sdralevich ran the races.  It was their first time doing it.  Thank you!

The wind was generally over 10 mph and relatively steady. The last race the wind picked up briefly to over 15 – no whitecaps but close. The racers were beating block-to-block for the most part, and they enjoyed the relatively steady wind. Some looked worn out by the 5th race, I know I would have been.

The low tide was lower than usual and setting a course in line with the wind in the deep parts of the river was challenging. For most of the races the pin end of the starting line was favored, the best starts were made from the middle of the line, away from traffic. Tom Hutton got in a groove and finished 1-1-1 in the last three races.

— Dave Metcalf

Results (Race 31-35)
LaserFrostbite2122_11

2021-2022 Laser Frostbite 6

Gray day with a soft rain and a southwest wind in the 10-15 mph  range.    Air and water temperature both around 41.

John Van Voorhis and Jim Graham ran the races.

Day’s Results

LaserFrostbite2122_6  (races 26-28, January 9)

Thoughts from Farley —

Sunday was an interesting day on the river.  The front mostly came in as expected and the wind built throughout the 3 races.  It was a little different though because while the wind built, it continued to be mostly a southerly.  The wind did generate some waves that were definitely surfable and it was still kind of puffy.  Each race the wind built and started around 10 and was definitely gusting above 20 by the last race.  Oh and it was raining the whole time.  A huge thanks to Jim and John for doing race committee on a nasty day and putting a triangle mark to give us olympic courses!

For myself, I was struggling a bit with my first day out on the laser with high wind in basically 2 years (last year was decidedly not windy for the days I sailed).  The first race I started near the pin and that did not work too well for me since the course was starboard tack and boat favored (I was running late and did not check anything).  I did have some fun downwind tactics in the first race with Ethan where I was able to use the waves and wind to pass him on the inside right before rounding the leeward mark.  The second race the wind had picked up a little more and I was starting to get overpowered.  I snugged up my vang, outhaul, and cunningham to depower and stopped sheeting in quite as much.  I got a little lucky and passed some people that capsized in that race.  Some people went in for the last race.  In the last race, it was getting windy.  This was my “bad” race.  I got stuck in irons 2 times during tacks and capsized 3 times during the race and was generally exhausted by the end (and glad it was the last race).  For the stuck in irons, I did not think my vang was on too hard but I let it off and got the boat moving again before resetting.

All in all it was still a fun day but definitely harder than I was ready for!

So far this season, 30 boats have sailed and 15 have sailed half or more.  Farley is learding the qualifiers, but Steen is way out front among the non-qualifiers and is likely to reach the quali fying threshold.

Cumulative Results Through #6

LaserFrostbite2122_thru6