Category Archives: News

Frostbite Series, Frostbite Series, 2014, News, Results, 2015

Laser Frostbite Series #6

When we first got out I was psyched to see the wind from the South at about 10-12 knots.  As someone on the taller/heavier side I like it when the wind is up and, in my experience on the river, Southerlies tend to be stable both in velocity and direction.  Apparently, though, that was not the Southerly we had today.  The first two races saw big shifts at the start and then the breeze died off for the second two.  The first race it went way right making a boat end start critical.  The second race it went way left.  The puffs, it seemed, were coming in predominately from the right and tended to be right shifts, so I gambled with a midline start and headed right.  Whatever I may have gained from being on the right, however, did not make up for missing the first big shift and not being at the pin.  As the wind dropped off for the last two races finding the breeze became the overriding consideration and it seemed almost as likely to be on the left as the right.  We had an ebb tide for most of the day, but the current seemed negligible.  Justin did a great job as RC finding us enough water to sail in and getting the races off.
Great to get out on Laser again and to see so many new faces.  Looking forward to next Sunday.
Jason Ipe
#175537

2014-2015 Laser Frostbite Series 6

2014-2015 Laser Frostbite Series – Cumulative (Through 1/4/15)

Frostbite, Frostbite Series, 2014, News, Results

Laser Frostbite Series #4

Laser Frostbite Fleet,

Today was a great day on the water. We had a very shifty North West breeze which was deceiving upon arriving to the club. I thought today would have been light but instead, we had strong breeze with significant velocity and directional shifts today allowing for lots of passing opportunities. Days like today are reminders of just how demanding the laser is. We sailed out in the river and the tide was fairly slack, I didn’t pay much attention to it today. The starting line and mark roundings were exciting and busy with 25 lasers out! Today it was important to stay in the middle of the course and tack on the headers, have all controls trimmed for the breeze that you were in and hike hard. I trimmed the vang, outhaul, and cunningham much more than i usually would given the wind velocity was constantly changing. It is exciting to have such a large group out, I look forward to the next one.
Cheers everyone.
-Jamie Moran
Frostbite Series, 2014, News, Results

Laser Frostbite Series #1

I have won the highly coveted 3rd place write-up for the day.  Below is my summary and the scores are attached.

First off I would like to congratulate Jim Klein for tying Len for first place for the day.  I believe that this is his first time winning a day.

Today was a gorgeous day for frostbiting.  Temps were in the 50s and the wind was around in the 5 range with maybe some puffs near 8.  The RC was able to get off 4 races.  We did a little of everything starting with a triangle, 2 olympics, and a final windward leeward.  The breeze slowly died off as we stayed out on the water.

As for sailing, the races that we run for frostbiting are relatively short races so the start is important.  You can screw it up a little and make out OK but in general you need to come off the line with speed and clean air.  On a light air day like today, finding the breeze and staying in clean air are paramount.  At the starts of the first 3 races, I decided that the pin end of the line was favored and went for it.  It worked fairly well in all three races for me and with each race, more people joined me at the pin end.  The last race had a small shift  (from my view at least) and I think the line was very even.  But the shift came in the last 30 seconds of the start so everyone was stuck where they were.  Other than starts and clear air, the important thing on light air days is to be patent with your boat and not get frustrated.

I look forward to seeing all the new people out on the water the rest of the season.  And remember that we are still sailing next Sunday!

Farley

2014/2015 Laser Frostbite Series 1

News

2014 AGM Wrap-Up

It was great to see so many fleet members at the 2014 PRSA Annual General Meeting and Awards Banquet!  A very special thanks to Lee for all of the work that she did in preparing our amazing feast, and to Dave for allowing us to use the Potomac Room at Marina Towers for the event.

The Executive Board report indicated that the state of the Association is good, with membership higher in all categories than in 2013.  At the same time, we need to do more work in getting our  members out on the water (sailing participation in the fall series was down a bit, in particular) and we need to start thinking about the powerboats and engines as we approach 10 years of usage on our skiffs and outboards.  The PRSA Executive Board will consider these questions as part of their regular meetings in 2015 and report back to the Association at the 2015 AGM and Awards Banquet.

Please join me in congratulating the recipients of our PRSA Perpetual Awards as well as the volunteers who will serve on the PRSA Executive Board in 2015.  I’ve listed these individuals below, and included links farther down to the AGM agenda and the summary of race highlights for each fleet in our major sailing events.

2015 PRSA Perpetual Award Winners

  • Founder’s Trophy: Jeff Neurauter
  • Fleet Captain’s Award: Michael Heinsdorf
  • Yates Dowell III Award: Nabeel Alsalam
  • Nabeel Alsalam Award: Lee Sayasithsena

2015 PRSA Executive Board

  • Commodore: Aaron Boesenecker
  • Vice Commodore: Nabeel Alsalam
  • Rear Commodore: Farley Will
  • Treasurer: Yates Dowell
  • Secretary: Nich Allen
  • Social Activities & Outreach (co-chair): Lee Sayasithsena
  • Social Activities & Outreach (co-chair): Lisa-Marie Lane
  • Member at Large: Stew Harris

2014 PRSA AGM & Awards Banquet Agenda

2014 PRSA Racing Results

Fall Series, News, 2014

Fall Series #8

Today provided some nice weather and we were able to get in a few races.  2 Albacores, 3 multihulls and 2 Lightnings showed up.  The breeze began to build by 10:30 and stayed until about 12:30.  The last race was cut short due to lack of wind.  Many thanks go to Yates Dowell and his RC for stepping up and volunteering this week.  Scores are below.

2014 Fall Series 8 – Albacores

2014 Fall Series 8 – Catamarans

2014 Fall Series 8 – Lightnings

Final Fall Series scores are below.

Albacore

Buccaneer

Catamarans

Lightnings

Fall Series, News, 2014

Fall Series #7

Yet again we were given another windy day.  This time with cold temperatures.  Two brave Albacores came down to the marina but the decision was made to attempt a practice day instead of running races. Also as it turns out, the water level of the river was too shallow to launch the crash boats from the ramp.  After launching the 16 and 1 Albacore, the decision was shortly made to cancel the “practice” and call it a day.

The last series of the fall is next weekend.  In order to sail, we need to have someone sign up for RC!  Also there are several boats that need 1 more day to qualify for the fall.  Check your Series scores and make the decision to come out next week.

2014 Fall Series – Albacore

2014 Fall Series – Buccaneer

2014 Fall Series – Catamarans

2014 Fall Series – Lightnings

Fall Series, News, 2014

Fall Series #6: Breezy Fun!

It was already blowing in the 10-15 range when we arrived at the marina on Sunday, and the forecast was for the wind to build towards 20 mph steady with gusts predicted up to 30.  That forecast may have kept some teams away, but 4 Lightnings, a Buc, and a Laser did splash their boats and the Hobie Cat RC crew led by Yates agreed to set up shorter courses (they had little choice with a WNW wind) and keep a close eye on everybody.    The wind did continue to build as we sailed up to the race course, and we definitely saw some gusts in the 20s in the first race according to the handheld wind readings taken aboard the signal boat.  One Lightning retired before the racing started, another (sailing doublehanded) retired after the first race, and the remaining two called it a day after the second race, choosing to sail home rather than keep match racing and possibly breaking something.  We saw some even bigger gusts and some fantastic rides on a plane on the sail back to the marina and everybody enjoyed some hot dogs and drinks after we dried out our boats (and selves).

2014 Fall Series 6 – Lightnings

News

PRSA Email List Moving to Google

We are moving our email list from Yahoo! over to Google Groups.  This is our new group:

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/potomacriversailing

If you’d like stay on the email list, please click on the link above to send us a join request (assuming you have not already been sent an invitation or subscribed).  To send an email the new list, simply send a message to potomacriversailing@googlegroups.com.

We hope to see you on the new list!

Fall Series, News, 2014

2014 Fall Series #5

Fall Series #5 provided us with a very windy day.  Mostly out of the northeast with some big shifts out of the east.  Mostly sustained around 18 but gusts up to 30.  However it did not seem as windy as that.  Lloyd Leonard and crew put on 4 races for the 3 of us that made it out.  Barney Harris, Jeff Neurauter, and Farley Will went out.  Jeff headed in during the second race after capsizing.  But there were only 2 capsizes for the day which was pretty good considering the conditions.  Barney took the day.