Nabeel Alsalam, Mark Rickling, Natalie Rehberger, and Jon ran the races. (Lindsay Bach got a pass when RC decided to take only one boat out due to lack of motor peeing.) The wind was east-northeast which is a challenge on the river. So they set up the windward mark at the mouth of the Anacostia and a gybe mark half the distance to Roaches run. The wind took big shifts left and right.
Nevertheless, it was a great day to be on the water and the sailors got five O-2 races (triangle, windward-leeward). The Lightnings had a hard carrying their spinnaker on the reaching legs depending on the phase of the wind but the Albacores got in some reaching fun.
Mike Heinsdorf, Dave Huber, Tim Dickson, and John Van Voorhis ran the races.
11 Albacores, 1 Buccaneer, 3 I-20s, 2 Lasers, and 4 Lightnings competed. All 5 fleets were able to compete in the first 3 races, after we started the 4th race for the Albacores the wind died so we opted to send the rest of the fleets home. The early high winds were a bit too much for the I-20s.
The first 2 races were W2, the last 2 races were W1.
We’ve got 5 dinghies registered for the DISC 3 Bridges Fiasco race this Saturday. Who else is interested? If you need crew, or are looking to crew, don’t forget about the “Crew Connection” (link on our PRSA Homepage). Fleet Captains: please forward this reminder to your Fleet listservs. This is a really fun race and the weather forecast for Saturday looks promising.
The NOR and the registration link are both posted at https://discsailing.org/ (scroll down a bit to the “Upcoming Events/Registration” area. The SIs will be posted soon.
I’m also including here some informaton from DISC Commodore PEte Fanta, who will also run the RC on Saturday. From Pete:
“I will be the RC for the Three Bridges this weekend. The RC boat will be the Georgetown Sailing Team Boat. My intention is to follow in the powerboat, as best as possible, the majority of boats around the course to render assistance as needed.
The start times will be set using Portsmouth Handicaps on a Pursuit Race. This means the slowest boat will start first and can sail the course designated in either direction, as long as they round the correct marks. The fastest boat will start last. When we do this with only the PHRF boats, there can be as much as a 15 minute gap between first starter and last starter. The boat finishing first across the line after sailing the course…wins. The appropriate ratings are taken into account by the start times. This method allows us to sail a Laser against an Albacore, against a Flying Scot, against an S2 7.9. I understand that in some conditions certain boats are hard to beat, but that is the nature of handicap racing.
John Van Voorhis and team ran Spring Series #8. A front came through and we had a westerly with strong gust from the northwest and a strong current running out. A line of thunderstorms caused the RC to send us home after two races. The storms broke up but its better to be safe rather than sorry.
Key Rules for Scoring the Series:
For the series total, I asked the program to exclude each sailor’s worst 50% of races — if there were 13 races, 6 were excluded.
If you registered on shore but did not start a race you should get the number of finishers + 2.
If you started a race but did not finish you should get the number of finishers + 1.
If you did not sign up on shore and did not race, you get the number registered in the series + 1.
Spring Regatta racers had a great two days on the water! Yesterday winds ranged from 10-15mph and were ideal Potomac conditions for five races. Albacores, however, earned the eye flag for their starts after two general recalls to start the day – currents pushed many boats across the line and were strong both days. Today we fit in one race before winds emptied to then fill in from the South after we got off the water. There was a lot of paddling and taking advantage of the airplane wash to get back to shore.
Eva Hogan and team ran the races. The winds came in earlier and stronger than forecast. Plus, the big puffs came in from the right — not good when you are flying a spinnaker. Frank capsized on such a shift and puff.
If you are interested in volunteering to help out with some regatta organization, please let Regatta Chair Kaitlyn Lucey know. This is a great chance to get involved with one of our events, learn more about regatta organization and operation, and help out PRSA!
On April 9th the fleet had an AGM and BBQ at the Washington Sailing Marina, Despite cooler temperatures it was a nice day and picnic. Eva Hogan was voted in as the new Fleet Captain and awards were presented!
2021 Awards: Fleet Booster Award – Bob Bear Freshman Booster Award – Tyler Phillips Most Improved B Skipper Award – Eva Hogan Jib Tender Award (Best Crew) – Kaitlyn Lucey, for getting Dan Miller’s boat out on the water all year and to some away regattas! Most Abused Crew Award – Barney Harris Six Deep (Capsize) Award – Nich Allen
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