Category Archives: News

PRSA Happy Hour: January 30, 5-8 pm, Alexandria Bier Garden

Join us for a PRSA Happy Hour at Alexandria Bier Garden this coming Tuesday (Jan. 30), 5-8 pm.  PRSA members, their families, and friends (especially those seeking to get more into sailing!) are welcome. The beer garden is kid friendly with a variety of food and beverage options, and the address is 710 King St, Alexandria.  
 
Please RSVP to our new Social Chair, Natalie (natalierehberger@me.comjust so we have a good estimate of attendees—and many thanks to Natalie for organizing this opportunity for us to get together!  I hope to see you there!

PRSA AGM Wrap-Up

It was wonderful to see so many sailors, friends, and family members at our 2023 Annual Genera Meeting & Awards Ceremony at Port City Brewing!  In case you missed it, here is the agenda handout and racing results summary.  Huge thanks to Melissa for her work in organizing the event, and to all who pitched in for setup, cleanup, and other tasks in between to make our AGM a success.  Here are a  few key highlights:

  • The high point of the evening had to be, in my opinion, our opportunity to recognize Jim and Susan Graham for Honorary Membership (for life) in PRSA in recognition, per our PRSA Bylaws (Article III, Section D) of “…meritorious serve to PRSA, the sport of yachting, or for outstanding performance of seamanship.”  This was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the Grahams, who emphasized that they are by no means done with sailing or supporting PRSA (and for that we are immensely grateful!).
  • Recognition of series award winners and perpetual trophy awardees (see posted summary)
  • Recognition and thanks to our outgoing PRSA ExCom Members and Volunteers (Stew Harris, Vice Commodore; Kyra Tallon, Secretary; Melissa Morgan, Social Chair) along with congratulations and thanks to those who stepped forward to fill various roles (Dave Coughlin, Vice Commodore; Melissa Morgan, Secretary; Natalie Rehberger, Social Chair; Josh Seely and John Van Voorhis, Website Development).

Looking ahead, we are still seeking a few volunteers to help with some 2024 initiatives: reviewing our membership & dues structure and heading up sustainability initiatives (huge thanks to Stas for taking this on in addition to his Fleet Captain role through 2023!).  Let me know if you might be interested.

Finally, now is also a good time for everybody to review our PRSA RC policies and procedures (RC & Boat Instructions, and Risk Assessment & Decision to Race, in particular).

I look forward to seeing you all on the water and around the marina!

2024 Dues Are Due!

Hello PRSA Sailors!  A quick reminder that your 2024 dues are due now! You can pay your dues and/or check your dues status here: https://potomacriversailing.org/dues-rc-duty/Dues must be paid on or prior to January 15!

The full terms of our dues are set out in our PRSA Bylaws (https://potomacriversailing.org/about-prsa/prsa-bylaws/ — see Article III, Section 3).  Paying dues on time is important for you, but also for your fleets!  Per the PRSA Bylaws, a fleet needs at least five or more paid members (active, junior, or life) by January 15 to qualify as an active one-design fleet for the year.  Being an active fleet, per the Bylaws definition means, among other things, that your fleet will have a fleet representative on the PRSA Executive Committee and that boats in your fleet will be scored as a Fleet in your racing series (https://potomacriversailing.org/about-prsa/prsa-bylaws/, Article VIII, Section 1) .  Long story short, make sure that you’ve paid your 2024 dues!  (Note that the information in the “Payment Received” column doesn’t update instantaneously when you renew.  When you pay your dues, you will receive an email confirmation, so make sure to look for that email confirmation of your renewal and payment).

PRSA Annual General Meeting: Nov. 18, 1-4 pm at Port City Brewing

Greetings Sailors!
The 2023 Potomac River Sailing Association Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on Saturday, November 18, 1:00-4:00 pm at Port City Brewing Company (3950 Wheeler Ave, Alexandria VA, 22304).  Please use this form to RSVP: https://forms.gle/2nDrCkt7XbuKHvuE7 
Here are a few AGM details:
  • $35 per person (cash, check or PayPal); no charge for children 10 and under.
  • Fantastic food from Lebanese Taverna followed by Melissa’s famous cookie bar dessert
  • 2 drinks per person courtesy of PRSA; non-alcoholic beverages are also available (please note: no outside beverages).
Brief Agenda:
  • Officer Reports
  • Awards: racing awards, perpetual awards, and a few special recognitions
  • Election of Officers
  • New business/discussion
We’ve also added in a couple of fun items this year, stemming from our used sail upcycling effort through Sea Bags, which got us a selection of tool bags and tote bags made from parts of the sails that were upcycled (see photos, below):
  • 1 drawing for a PRSA tote bag. Any member who donated to the PRSA Commodore’s Club is eligible and will automatically be entered.
  • Silent auction for 1 PRSA tool bag and 1 PRSA tote bag.
And there is more fun news to share!  Thanks to Melissa’s hard work, PRSA has established a merchandise option with Lands’ End so that you can order Lands’ End merchandise with the PRSA logo embroidered on it!  Here’s how:
  • Navigate to – Homepage (landsend.com)
  • From there pick out any item you would like to have the PRSA logo embroidered on.  (Please note some items require a minimum purchase amount).
  • Pick the color and size of the item you wish to purchase.
  • Hit the Apply Logo button on the bottom left hand side of the website
  • The Lands’ End website will allow you customize the logo and the location of the logo.  (As of right now we only have one Logo but in the future we will add iterations of logos that will highlight classes and items that will present well on different fabrics and colors).
  • Add the item to your cart.  The price for the embroidery will be reflected there.
  • If you have questions or run into problems, you contact Lands’ End: Contact Us | Lands’ End Business Uniforms (landsend.com) or 1-800-587-1541
A more detailed agenda and set of notes will be provided at the AGM.  I look forward to seeing you all there!

2023 Fall Series – Nov 5

Dane Pederson and team ran four races for us on a beautiful late fall day, which was the last of our fall series.

The wind was absent until about noon when it filled in gently from the north and by the third race there were stronger shots from the NW.

21 boats were on the water — racing and running them.

Lightning-2023-11-05

Laser-2023-11-05

I20-2023-11-05

Buccaneer-2023-11-05

Albacore-2023-11-05

(races 18-21, but mis-numbered the races for Albacores and Lightnings which are numbered 18, 20-22)

2023 Fall Series – Cumulative Scores thru 10-29

November 5th will be the last of the fall series.

The cumulative scores below are intended to motivate you to come out.  Please do!

A few notes about the scores:

The race dates and race number are out of order:

Sep 17    races 8-11
Oct 1  races 1-3 & 17
Oct 8  races 4-7
Oct 15 races 12-13
Oct 29 races 14-16

To be counted as a race for your class, there must have been 1 or more finishers

Half, rounded-down, of your worst scores are thrown out

If you were on RC when there was a race in your class, you will get RDG but that has not been calculated yet.  Plus, I often did not know who (sail numbers) were on RC.

I20-thru 10-29 three TOs no RDG for RC

Laser-thru 10-29 4 TOs no RDG for RC

Bucs-thru 10-29 4 TOs no RDG for RC

Lightnings-thru-10-29 seven TOs no RDG for RC

Albacore-thru 10-29 seven TOs no RDG for RC

2023 Fall Series – October 8

Stew Harris and team ran the races.  He reports:

A blustery day of racing. Results and sign-in attached.
Frank Gallagher capsized but got himself up and went in immediately.

I need some tips on best location for reaching mark with Olympic courses. At first, I was trying to imagine best location for symmetrical spinnaker but when they didnt open chutes I had trouble finding the right location so they could reach well. Less room for error when the winds are up.  It took a couple races before I got close.

Also very interesting. I got reports the windward mark was seeing massive 60 degree shifts. Upon reflection, this may have been due to proximity to the airboat hanger on the shore of the airport. In the future, faced with  westerlies, I will set the windward mark farther north or south of the hangar.

Albacore-2023-10-08

Buccaneer-2023-10-08

I20-2023-10-08

Lightning-2023-10-08

PRSA/Lightning Fleet 50 Sailors Represent at SSA Frigid Digit Regatta

Several PRSA / Lightning Fleet 50 sailors took part in the Severn Sailing Association’s Frigid Digit Regatta this past weekend!

Aaron Boesenecker, Piercarlo Brunino, Jeff Witten, Tim O’Brien, and Ed Stacey were all on the water. It was tough competition, with former NA Champs, the USA Team for the PanAm games, and other top-notch racers on the water. Congrats to Team Beedobeat (USA 14592) on taking 7th in a tough fleet after 5 days of great (and very choppy!) racing in Annapolis! (Photo Credit: Bertie Werley, Pymatuning Yacht Club).  View the scores and read the full regatta report here: https://www.lightningclass.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=93488&module_id=552596