Category Archives: News

News

Fall Series #5: If you went home early, you missed some great sailing!

I’ll admit, I was the first to think that we’d never sail on Sunday.  Having seen the forecast, the glassy calm river on my drive along the GW Parkway, and the somber faces at the marina, it seemed clear that we’d postpone a bit, then end up grilling and going home.  Well, let me just say that if you went home early, you missed some of the best racing that we had all season.  The wind filled in around noon, we headed out to the river, and Mike Heinsdorf and his RC did a great job of getting us 3 excellent races!

I’ve included here a wrap up of the days racing (which proved to be quite challenging and exciting) from Jeff Storck in the Lightning fleet.  Jeff, Becky, and Bruce on Team Ariel won the day with two seconds and a spectacular bullet in the second race, and Jeff has sent along an excellent writeup of his “view from the front” – a view that he enjoyed far more than most of us on Sunday!  I highly recommend that you click the “continue reading” link below to read Jeff’s reflections on Sunday’s racing; as always, I’ve learned something from Jeff’s account of the racing, and I’m sure that you will as well.  It’d be great to hear from anybody else that was out on the river, as we did have a couple of Albacores, a Buc, and a handful of Hobies out racing as well.

Continue reading Fall Series #5: If you went home early, you missed some great sailing! →

News

Fall Series #4 Wrap-Up

The PRSA Fall Series #4 was primarily a Lightning class affair, with 5 boats coming out to race and 2 taking care of RC duties (and another 7 representing Fleet 50 up in Annapolis at the Frigid Digit regatta).   For the second weekend in a row we had great conditions for racing, with a 12-15 knot SW breeze that allowed PRO Frank Gallagher and his RC to get us four races.  Jeff Neurater came out to represent the Buccaneer fleet, Mike Heinsdorf was out in his Albacore, and a trio of Hobie Cats also came out to play.

Keep reading for some more details from Sunday’s Fall Series #4 (from my vantage point in the Lightning fleet), and be sure to post your own comments and observations from the day (just click the little “speech bubble” next to the title of this post, above).  You can also scroll down a bit to see a separate post with details from the action up in Annapolis at the Frigid Digit.

Continue reading Fall Series #4 Wrap-Up →

News

Fall Series #3 Wrap-Up: We Had Breeze!

For the first time since the President’s/Leukemia cup we had very good breeze for our racing!  The steady NW breeze (which had a lot of left shift in it at times) gave us great conditions, and PRO Jim Graham and his RC did a fantastic job in getting us three races.  Eight Lightnings, six Albacores, two Buccaneers, a Laser, and a Hobie came out to play and after a solid day of racing we all enjoyed a great BBQ (thanks to Red and Susan for bringing burgers!) in the picnic area afterwards.  Carrie Quinn took some amazing photos from the day, and I’ve posted some of my observations below from the Lightning fleet below.  Keep reading for more details from the day’s racing, and make sure to post a comment with your own thoughts, recollections, and tall tales from the day — especially if you were in one of the other fleets!

Continue reading Fall Series #3 Wrap-Up: We Had Breeze! →

Announcements, News, Videos

2011 Albacore Internationals

The 2011 Albacore Internationals were held from 16-23 September in Toronto, Canada.  Over sixty boats from three different countries participated, with wind conditions ranging from extremely light to a steady 20 knots with puffs up to 30 knots.  PRSA and Potomac River Albacore Fleet member Barney Harris, with crew David Byron, won the event, with a net score of 22 after 12 races (with two drops).  See video coverage of the event here: http://www.youtube.com/user/albacoreusa.  You’ve got to see what happens when we find a boat somewhere it shouldn’t be here, in a short video we call “An Albacore on Castaway Bay”, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1JuVx2vlxM.

News

President’s/Leukemia Cup Photos!

Follow this link for some excellent photos of the racing taken by Carl Schaefer during the 77th Annual President’s/Leukemia Cup.  Many thanks to Carl for volunteering his time, as well as to Whit Overstreet from Potomac Riverkeeper for the use of their boat as a photograph platform during the regatta.

If you wish to use these pix for marketing, for posting online, or for any other commercial purpose other than for private viewing, please contact Carl (cgschaefer@gmail.com).  At a minimum, picture credit should be attributed to Carl G. Schaefer, Jr, Copyright 2011.

News

Fall Series #2 Wrap-Up

Greetings PRSA Sailors!  As many of you know, I’ve been writing reports from our spring/fall series racing for the Lightning fleet over the past year.  We’re going to start posting these write-ups here as well, in the hopes of starting a conversation among all the fleets and sailors out for our regular races.  I’ll do my best to capture what I see on the racecourse each Sunday, but here is where we need your help: if you are sailing in one of the other fleets, go ahead and post a comment with your own experiences from the racing (just click the little “no comment” link above the post to add a comment).  We definitely want to hear from you, and we hope to start a pattern of weekly postings and emails (via our listservs) that recount the day’s racing and generate some enthusiasm for the next event.  So read on to hear about Fall Series #2, but more importantly, feel free to chime in with your own voice!

The PRSA Fall Series #2 was another day of tricky river sailing.  Light and variable NE winds combined with a strong current and stiff tidal flow made for challenging strategic and tactical decisions.  If you went south to get a patch of breeze, you then had to fight your way back north against the current to get to a mark.  If you sailed to far into the NE corner under Hains Point you found yourself being pushed down the river with no breeze to power you across the way to the leeward mark.  As with any given Sunday, there was an element of chance involved…but in talking to folks afterwards, it became clear that the boats that did well also made good decisions–most notably, in “connecting the dots” between patches of breeze.  Overall, we were thrilled to see Chris Kozel and his team (Palmer Phillips and Chris Lewton) win their first race in Lightning Fleet 50 on Sunday–congratulations Chris!  It was also great to see a few new faces out on various boats, and to welcome back some folks that we hadn’t seen in a bit.  Keep reading for a detailed wrap-up of the day’s racing and post-race fun, and be sure to post your own comments and stories from the weekend here!

Continue reading Fall Series #2 Wrap-Up →

News

Fall Series #2

As we conducted the Skipper’s Meeting there was no noticable wind on the river, so we discussed the merits of delaying on shore or towing boats out to the race course.  Ultimately, the Lightnings decided to take a tow and the Hobies and Albacores otped to wait for the wind to fill in.  As we arrived at the upper race course, the wind filled in right on schedule.  The race committee quickly set a course and sent the Lightnings around the course as the wind fluctuated between 2 and 5 knots.  As the Lightnings sailed around the race course, the Hobies and Albacores worked their way out the race course.  As soon as they arrived, the RC started them.  The light winds hung around long enough to get two races off and then everyone went back to shore for some well deserved beverages and grilling.

2011, Announcements, News, Regattas

77th Annual President’s/Leukemia Cup Regatta

Hello PRSA members, just around the corner is our annual 77th
President’s/Leukemia Cup regatta Sept 10th and 11th. Information
including the schedule of events, NOR and pre-registration are on our
Web site located here:

http://www.potomacriversailing.org/PresidentsLeukemiaCups/

If you planning on racing, please take a moment to pre-register. If you
are interested in raising money for the L&LS indicate that on the
pre-registration form and they will contact you with additional details.

We have been working closely with L&LS to make this a more enjoyable
event for our members this year. For instance for the Saturday party
they are not going to start serving food until 4:15 and will be holding
back additional food for those that arrive late. There will also be
awards (half hull trophies) for 1st and 2nd place for Saturday.

If you have any questions Aaron Boesenecker is our liaison to L&LS,
Nabeel Alsalam is our upper course PRO and Jim Graham is our lower
course PRO. Or you can always ask me…

Also we are still looking for a Regatta Chairman (or woman) for this
event. The primary responsibility is to organize the party Sunday after
racing. Deciding what food to have, purchasing it, cooking it if
necessary. You can certainly plan to sail Sunday and do this job, I
have done it before, just requires some planning. If your interested
please let me know. Thanks

Scott

News, Regattas

Annual Spring Regatta Next weekend!!

Next weekend is our annual Spring Regatta. Information including the schedule, NOR and pre-registration is located on our Web site here:

http://potomacriversailing.org/SpringRegatta/

Sailing Instructions:
Upper course: 2011 PRSA Spring Regatta Upper Course SIs
Course board: Courses – simplified no graphs

Lower course: 2011 PRSA Spring Lower Course SIs

As always we will be having both an upper and lower course. Lower course will be racing Saturday only. After racing Saturday there will be a BBQ. If you are planning on sailing, please take a moment to pre-register. You can Pay online through PayPal or bring cash or a check Saturday. Hope you can make it.

Saturday:3 (or 4) races are planned

Registration: 9:00 to 10:00 near the cranes
The skipper’s meeting is at 10:00 a.m. near the cranes.
The first warning signal is at 11:30 a.m.
No warning signal after 4:00.
If sailing conditions are good on Saturday, the RC may run a 4th race, especially if the forecast for Sunday is poor.

Sunday:3 (or 4) races are planned

The first warning signal is at 11:30 a.m.
No races will be started after 3:00.
Four races will be attempted if 2 or fewer races were completed on Saturday or if sailing conditions are particularly good.
Awards as soon as possible after the last race.

2011, Lasers, News, Regattas, Results, Videos

PRSA Hangover Regatta – January 1, 2011

What a day! We had our biggest Laser regatta ever today, 33 boats. Thanks to all that traveled to join us to help us push over the 30 boats mark. The weather could not have been better with temps in the 50’s and a south breeze 7-12 mph. We sailed in the river with the current coming in throughout the racing. There were 5 races.

Tim Zimmerman was untouchable with four firsts in five races and won the regatta handily.

Special thanks to our RC for the day Nabeel Alsalam, Rob Young, Collette Bolton, Mike Heinsdorf & Tom Berlin. Thanks also to Adam Dolezal who provided hot dogs for those who stuck around after racing.

— Erich (Laser Fleet Captain)

Some of the 2011 Hangover Regatta Sailors

Continue reading PRSA Hangover Regatta – January 1, 2011 →