The PRSA Lightning Fleet had their annual invitational regatta at Leesylvania State Park on May 30 and 31 — the 40th Anniversary of the Dillard-Gilbert Potomac Cup.

The Albacore Fleet ran the races: Jim Graham at PRO, Barney Harris as Mark Boat Captain with assistant Dan Miller on Saturday and Mike Chabala on Sunday.  Maryann Gallagher help Jim Graham on the line boat both days.  They did a super job.

The weather on Saturday was sporty.  The winds were in the mid to high teens with gusts up into the mid 20s.  The wind from the north came down a long fetch and set up big waves that were surfable even on a Lightning but also could get the heart pounding.  There was only one capsize.

The weather on Sunday was much much calmer, maybe bit too calm.  But the RC got off two races for us.  So, in a sense, perfect weather for a regatta – a range of wind and waves to test the skills of the sailors.

Trevor Prior from the Susquehanna Yacht Club is the Potomac Cup Champion for 2026.   The local team of Nabeel Alsalam (me), Tom Hutton, and Ryan Barone were one point behind after day 1 but had an OCS and fell another point behind on day 2, but was that enough to finish second.

Results

Start and first beat on Saturday

Light air spinnaker douse and rounding on Sunday

Successful port tack start

More at the Potomac River Sailing Association facebook page

Tom Hutton stepped up to PRO the day.  He was assisted by Kate Selly.  Jim Greenly stepped up to run the mark boat and was assisted by Ed Ryan.

“Ah, it was a fun but exasperating day with many group meetings at the marks in slow wind. ” — a competitor

Albacore-SS5

I20-SS5

Lightning-SS5

Mike Scardaville was PRO with assistant PRO Dan Miller.  Lloyd Leonard and Natalie Rehberger ran the mark boat.   They gave us four races.

It looked very light to start, but a nice breeze from the southwest filled in.  It was patchy which gave the sailors something to think about.

Lightning-SS4

I20-SS4

Buccaneer-SS4

Dane Pedersen was the PRO and Dan Miller was the mark boat captain.   They ran five races.

Only Albacores came out — 8 at the skipper’s meeting and 5, at most, on the race course.

Was the weather horrible?  (I was not in town.)

Albacore-SS3

It was one of those days that rewarded individuals who went outside to enjoy it! Winds were steady in the low teens and we had glimpses of sunlight throughout racing. We were able to get in three to four races per fleet, and what was best was the Lightnings, I-20s, and Albacores – and one ILCA! – all showing up. In fact, the Albacore fleet grew throughout the day! We’ll do it again next weekend!

Kaitlyn

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I20-SS2

Lightning-SS2

Spring 1 started the morning with gusts to 40+   Driving to the marina I seriously doubted we’d launch any boats.   A couple of minutes before the skippers meeting the rain began.  We had five Albacores that wanted to try to race, so we opted for a 1 hr. On shore post postponement.

Winds moderated, still raining, but at 11 the committee left the dock, and about 12:15 the first of 3 races started.   As predicted the rain stopped about noon.  I knew I wanted to be in by 3, as the winds were forecast to crank up again.  But that was enough of a window to get in 3 races.   At the second competitors meeting we discussed the lower course and off the landing lights, however opted for our regular Hains Point venue.

As you can the part of the day  we actually sailed winds were 10 to 13 with some gusts hitting 20.  “Sporty” for an Albacore.   One boat did flip, PRSA rescue boat (Mike Scardsville (Albacore) and Justin Harler (I-20) were right there, but not needed,   Other assistant today on the RC was John Hart (Lightning)

Again, early in the morning I figured the first day of the PRSA season was going to be a disaster.  In the end it was a ½ decent day for racing sailboats.

We do it again next Sunday, hope to see all there.

– Bob Astrove

It was a glorious day.  It started off very blustery but settled down later.  The race committee of Jim Schuster, Barney Harris, and Laura Albert gave the racers 6 fun races.

Afterwards, a team of volunteers headed by Laura Windecker and Steen Byskov gave the racers and race committee a great cookout dinner.

Day 1