It is summer, so that means that it is Wednesday Night Sailing Season! Stroll down to Washington Sailing Marina and look for our PRSA sailors in the dock/crane area around 5:30 each Wednesday. If you’re new, simply introduce yourself! Wednesday night sailing is very informal, with short races in the cove and lots of fun/practice sailing. We rotate people in and out of boats right off the dock, so everybody gets to take a turn!
If you are interested in seeing an authentic replica of an 18th century tall ship the French frigate Hermione will be in Alexandra Virginia at the Alexandria Marina behind the Torpedo Factory from Wednesday June 10 – Friday June 12, 2015. She will also be in Annapolis, MD, from Tuesday June 16 – Wednesday June 17, 2015 before making her way further up the eastern seaboard.
The vessel on displa is a reconstructed replica of the 18th century French frigate Hermione (Air-mee-on). The original Hermione brought Gilbert du Motier the Marquis de Lafayette to George Washington with news of French military aid in 1780 during the American Revolutionary War. It was a Concorde class 32 gun frigate that participated in the naval blockade of the British contributing to the defeat of General Cornwallis by Washington and Rochambeau in the siege of Yorktown, Virginia.
The British captured the Hermione’s sister ship, La Concorde in 1783. Before putting it into their service they made a study of the La Concorde including making drawings and plans. These plans were preserved and formed the basis for the Hermione replica. Construction on the replica ship began in 1997. The ship has sailed from France and is expected in Yorktown, VA on Friday June 5.
Tickets are no longer available to reserve in advance for the tour in Alexandria but some tickets will be available to the public at 8:30 AM and 12 noon each day. Other events will be occurring pier-side 9 AM to 7 PM Wednesday through Friday.
Learn more at:
http://hermione2015.com/voyage2015/alexandria
http://www.visitalexandriava.com/calendar-of-events/hermione-in-alexandria/
Chris Bolton with the help of Lindsay Bach ran the line boat while Bill Kleysteuber & Frank Gallagher ran the mark boat. The water was so low in the river from the previous two days of strong northerly winds that Chris was forced to set us up in the cove. The wind was very patchy and could switch 180 degrees between the windward and leeward mark. The lead boat around the leeward mark often lossed that lead on the short beat to the finish as a result of big wind shifts that would lift the 2nd boat to the finish while leaving the lead boat stranded.
Len Guenther managed the conditions with patience and won the regatta.
What a fantastic turnout for the PRSA Spring Regatta! We had nearly fifty boats and almost 100 sailors out racing over a fantastic Memorial Day weekend. Even though Saturday’s wind conditions were light and spotty we still got in 3 races on the upper course (and more on the lower course), followed by a wonderful BBQ put together by Lee, Lisa-Marie, and Jim. It was great to see so many friends and family members at the post-race BBQ. Our patience on Saturday was rewarded with a nice 8-10 kt southerly breeze on Sunday. After 3 more fantastic races on Sunday we enjoyed another nice BBQ.
Although there was no wind when the sailors arrived at the marina, PRO Bob Astrove made the call to two boats up to the racecourse. It was a good decision, as a nice southerly filled in allowing the boats to get in three good races before sailing back to the marina and enjoying a nice BBQ under sunny skies. You can read the great writeup of the day’s action from Will Phillippe in the Lightning fleet on the Fleet 50 website.
Back by popular demand, we will be holding the 2nd Annual PRSA Rookie Regatta this coming Sunday! This one-day regatta has two purposes:
Continue reading The 2nd Annual PRSA Rookie Regatta: Sunday, May 10
Today was an awesome day on the water and the weather gave us exactly the opposite from last weekend. The breeze was out of the east/south east and was blowing around 16 most of the day. As is typical of an east wind, the conditions were quite puffy and shifty. The race committee set us up a triangle course and was able to get 5 races off (3 T2s and 2 O2s). The conditions gave us some nice long reaching legs that were quite fast at times. We had 3 Albacores, 2 Buccaneers, and 6 Lightnings and decided at the skippers meeting to just have everyone start together which provided fun races and competitive starts.
2015 Spring Series 2 – Albacores
We are just over a week away from the start of our Spring Sailing Season. Take a moment now to make sure you are ready for the season by doing the following:
If you take care of these things now, you’re all set to enjoy the season. See you on the water soon!
