Frostbite, Lasers, Lasers, Results

2024-2025 ILCA Frostbite #7

Well today was our first true frostbite day of the season.  The temperature was ok while the sun was out but during the second race, the sunshine went away and everything started freezing.  All my knots were frozen when we got on shore and all my control lines needed some extra help to release while racing.  The main sheet got icy and continually shed small ice chips from the block with every trim.

Thanks to John and Min for running races on the worst day for RC this year!  They were able to get 4 races off before getting too cold (and the wind died so we were all happy to go in).  We had a mostly west wind that was very shifty but not terribly gusty.  The first two races seemed to have a nice breeze around 12 knots with some occasional puffs but the shifts mostly were persistent which made for calmer sailing and few capsizes.  Then the wind started to drop off and had really come down by the end of race 4 and our sail in.  The water was much lower than normal with all the wind earlier in the week blowing it out of the river.
My day started rough with a reminder to make sure you dump the water from your mast step at the end of sailing.  I put my sail up and noticed that my mast was about 3 inches higher than needed.  Luckily Tom loaned me his sponge on a stick (something I am buying tonight) and a water bottle to get hot water from the marina office bathroom to pour in to melt the ice.  Otherwise the most important advice from today was watching the wind shifts and using them since they were more persistent.  As for boat things, mostly just deal with the ice and help lines move.
We will see what the cold temperatures this week provide us to see if sailing next weekend will be possible but let’s all hope for no ice!
Farley
Frostbite, Lasers, Frostbite, Lasers, Results

2024-2025 ILCA Frostbite #6

This was my first windy day of this season! I tend to do better when it’s windy and today followed that trend. I usually attribute my better races in the heavy stuff to my height and weight, this helps but I’m sure there is also some technique in there. I had my outhaul pretty tight and was working my cunningham pretty hard, very tight up wind to depower and looser downwind for what I hoped gives some better shape. I also loosen my vang before the windward mark as I find the looser vang really helps with bearing away. Mostly I know the laser likes to be sailed flat which is a ton of work in heavy breeze. I’m not in as good shape as I have been in past seasons, so I definitely had some “fade” over the races. I was flat and fast in the first race to two, then I had to depower more and was not as sharp as the races progressed.

I like the triangular and olympic courses as the triangle legs require different strategy than the straight downwind legs. The first leg is more about staying in line and not getting rolled. The second leg is more aggressive, seeing if you can go above those in front to get an overlap and steal some wind. Nabeel managed to cruise past me to leeward once, the opposite of how it should work, which was very impressive. I find I’m not as fast downwind as others, but I can make up for it upwind (see flat and fast).

Lastly on windy days I try to minimize my tacks, for me this is a good way to get caught in irons or otherwise lose ground with a bad tack. James Jacob snuck past me with a much better tack near the end of the 5th race.

Thank you Kaitlyn and Lars for running RC and taking care of us out there!

Tom Hutton

24-25 Laser Frostbite Series #6

News

2024-2025 ILCA Frostbite #5

Due to that fateful combination of blissful triumph and outright shame on the race course today, it’s City Swan here with the time-honored third place write-up.

 
First, a big thanks to Laura, Steen, and Romeo for running four races in another light wind day. The first two races were W1s, and the last two races were W2s.  Winds were relatively steady from the NE, and ranged from 4-8mph over the day.  Tide was outgoing for about half the afternoon, and started coming back in before the end of racing.  These conditions were not inconsistent with what the season has delivered us so far, so sailors were prepared for battling the light breeze and current.
 
Each race today I staked out the boat end of the starting line, and especially in the first race when it was heavily favored.  Going up wind I noticed breeze would come back from the northeast, therefore spent most of the time on the right side of the course.  An exception was race three when there were glassy patches closest to the channel, and I made sure not to sail in the direction of those.  In the last two races when the breeze was fuller, I was constantly deliberating whether it was advantageous to cover boats or to follow some mini-lifts and slight pressure differentials – the latter two indicators were the way to go.
 
Downwind – as Farley tipped me off to post-racing – was all about finding your lane, even if that wasn’t the inside.  In the third race I did this successfully by gybing over to starboard despite being the most windward boat to the mark.  In contrast, I did this very unsuccessfully in the last downwind leg of the final race, by gybing to port too late – and then gybing back (any gybe over one midway through a downwind leg is telltale you’re trying to get out of a predicament).  A whopping six boats past me on this leg, so lesson learned!  Something that may have helped during downwind legs in today’s relatively light conditions and when the tide was coming in, was raising my centerboard nearly all the way out of the water to reduce drag from the current.
The first race was hands down our most challenging, and a shout out to Connor for conquering it, Jim G. for holding his ground in second place throughout, and to Dan for capturing the coveted third spot – a lot of us were vying for that one.
A reminder that next week we skip a Sunday, but hope to see you all at the Marina’s holiday party Saturday evening.  Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, and Happy Holidays to all!
Kaitlyn
News

2024-2025 ILCA Frostbite #4

Sunday was another lovely day of sailing on the Potomac. The temperatures got up into the high fifties with wind into the high teens – overall a wonderful day for a sail. I didn’t feel great about my racing today, but here are a few tips from your returning champion third-place finisher regardless.

First, I will once again advocate for standing up and scanning the course before the race. I will beat this drum until I see everyone do it before every race. In the first race, I stood up at the two-minute gun and saw the breeze was stronger on the left. Lo and behold, I started at the pin, stayed further left longer than everyone else, and was first to the top mark. I managed to hold on to my lead almost the whole way and won the race. The first leg is a) the most important leg and b) the leg you can prepare for most. Use all the tools available to you before the start.
As an addendum, check the forecasted wind and tide before you hit the course as well. The tide was coming in during that first race and we as sailors know that current is stronger in deeper water. I made good ground on downwinds in that first race by sticking left and letting the stronger current in the middle of the river push me to the mark. Farley also saw that the wind was supposed to shift left as the day went. As the day progressed, he started to take more and more advantage of those lefties. Consequently, Farley scored very well today. Preparation isn’t a guarantee of results, but it sure does help.
As I was pulling my boat out of the water, Len (who lost the honor of penning this column by beating me on tiebreaker) told me that in the lighter wind races, he was able to make ground on me because I moved my body and my boat too much going downwind. Disturbing your rudder can induce drag, which is lethal to your boatspeed. I’ll note that my two best downwinds of the day were the ones where I committed to a line early and only really made serious course adjustments when gybing to a puff. Keeping my boat more static on off-wind legs is going to be a focus for me next week.
Finally, winds on the Potomac are variable as hell in my (limited) experience. That means that no race is over, ever. I made crazy ground on boats in front of me by trying to sail to the puffs and keep my speed up on some of the screwy final legs today. There may have been a lucky shift or two as well. Never give up, folks, especially not in these races.
Thank you to race committee Jim Klein and Kevin Cowley for being good sports and resetting the course five (!!) times in four (!!!!) races this afternoon. Congrats to Farley on his victory for the day. I hope to see everyone out next Sunday.
-Connor
Frostbite, Lasers, Lasers, News

2024-2025 ILCA Frostbite #3

Frostbite, Lasers, Lasers, News, Results

2024-2025 ILCA Frostbite #2

Well today was a tough day.  We had a mostly westerly that seemed to have oscillating directions of about +/-45 degrees at times and velocity chances from 2 to 10.  Generally speaking the breeze was out of the west at about 5 knots I would guess though.  The shifty conditions made racing tough with lots of position changes throughout the race and no one really owning the day.

Eva and Dan did a nice job running races and were able to get 4 races off in the tough conditions.  They adjusted the windward mark and line after the first race which made things a bit more even for the shifts.
I do not really have any great tips for the day but would like to highlight a decision that Tom Hutton made in the last race.  There were several of us stacked up at the leeward mark rounding and Tom and I rounded in 4th and 5th with 3 boats ahead of us.  I had a nice tight rounding and managed to not be getting bad air from the 3 boats stacked in front of us and Tom was outside of me on the rounding.  He chose to foot off some and get to clear air for the “upwind” beat which was mostly just point at the mark and get there.  Several lifts occurred on the leg and I eventually found myself in bad air from the 3 boats ahead of me.  Tom on the other hand had clear air all the way to the mark and won the leg and race due to his choice at the leeward mark.  Just a reminder that pointing high and being inside at the mark is not always the best choice!
I hope that everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving and look forward to seeing who shows up on Sunday for Series #3!
Farley
Frostbite, Lasers, Series, Frostbite, Fleets, Lasers, Results

2024-2025 ILCA Frostbite #1

On a puff and a shift: First 3rd place write-up of the season

To those who are new to frostbiting, it is our tradition that whoever gets 3rd place circulates a short write-up about the day, and I volunteered to do this first one. It was great to see 18 boats on a day when the forecast wasn’t exactly promising. Also great to see both familiar and new faces. The first gamble of the day was whether to race at all, and we gave it a go. After bobbing around with no wind from changing directions, we ended up with a slowly building southernly light breeze and had three good light-air races. Good on Farley and Tyler for calling when the wind direction stabilized, resetting the course, and getting us going. A few lessons from the sailing today:

Starting well and not early with light breeze and the current pushing us to windward is tricky.  My plan was to stay a bit behind the line and make sure I have space to build up speed before the start. I didn’t execute any of the starts particularly well including being the sole boat across the line in race three – thanks to Farley or Tyler who called out a crisp “405”.

Being fast upwind required staying alert while the boat imitated the motions of a crib lulling you to sleep. I had the vang slightly looser than 2-blocked, a deep curve from the outhaul, and absolutely nowhere near using the cunningham. Finding clear air, doing your best to roll tack, not having to duck others unless really necessary helps. But the big gains were on calling the puffs and the shift.  In my read, the puffs were particularly important, and they’re easier to spot than the shifts.  It’s always a gamble whether you get it right, but you can improve the odds by looking at the water down river and at the boats ahead of you.

Downwind legs felt long with the current against us, but they seemed more predictable to me than the upwind legs. Speed came from keeping the wind flowing across the sail either by the lee or on a broad reach, i.e. avoiding going dead downwind, and keeping that slight windward heel that avoids weather helm. Also, with 18 boats, being on the left side is tactically helpful when you approach the mark.

Racing on the Potomac in light air has a crapshoot element, so take the knocks in your stride – sometimes it really works out.  At the last leeward mark of the last race, I was well behind Jim and Laura.  A strong puff and a nice shift helped me catch up so much that Jim had to yield to me on starboard just before the finish line, and I barely crossed the line ahead of him.  I surely didn’t deserve that one, but it will help me feel better next time the puffs and shifts don’t go my way.

Altogether a nice and easy kick off to the frostbite season, and thanks to Farley and Tyler for running the races today.

Steen

PS: don’t forget to sign up for RC duty!

24-25 Laser Frostbite Series #1

Announcements, News, 2024, Results

PRSA AGM & Awards Banquet Summary

Greetings Sailors,

The Potomac River Sailing Association held its Annual General Meeting and Awards Ceremony on Saturday, November 16, at Alexandria Bier Garden.  We had a wonderful time celebrating the 2024 racing year and planning for 2025 (things are always more fun with Bier and Bratwurst!).  Many, many thanks to our PRSA Social Chair, Natalie Rehberger, and our PRSA Secretary, Melissa Morgan, for all of the work that they did to organize a fantastic event!

You can read a summary of the meeting proceedings here.   You’ll also find some fantastic photos taken by Kaitlyn on Facebook.  Final racing results from 2024 are posted on our results page.  I’m grateful for all of the people who stepped up to volunteer time, effort, and knowledge this year and am grateful for those who have stepped up for the coming year.  Here are a few highlights from the meeting:

Perpetual Trophy Awardees

  • Founder’s Trophy: Nabeel Alsalam
  • Nabeel Alsalam “More Boats on the Water” Award: Stew Harris & Mike Scardaville
  • Yates Dowell III Award: Aaron Boesenecker
  • Fleet Captains Award: Nelson Pemberton
  • Norman C. Shaller Award: Marty Hublitz
  • Len Penso Award: Barney Harris
  • Katherine Hearst Award: Eva Hogan

Your 2025 PRSA Executive Committee

  • Commodore: Aaron Boesenecker
  • Vice Commodore: Nabeel Alsalam
  • Rear Commodore: Tyler Phillips
  • Treasurer: Mike Scardaville
  • Secretary: Ed Ryan

Good luck to all of our frostbite sailors as the frostbite season starts.  Please keep an eye on your email and on this website for more updates from PRSA!

Announcements, News, 2024

PRSA Annual General Meeting & Awards Ceremony / Vote for PRSA Service Awards

The Potomac River Sailing Association Annual General Meeting (AGM) & Awards Ceremony will be held on Saturday, November 16, 12:00-3:00 pm, at the Alexandria Bier Garden (710 King Street, Alexandria VA, 22314).  Please RSVP if you have not already done so using this link – https://forms.gle/AzjqNR4UQSq3a2tf7 – so that we can scale the food order appropriately. The cost is $30/person, which covers the buffet. Beverages (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) may be purchased at the bar.  We will have great food, awards, some nice and well-deserved recognitions, and more! Children are welcome. Please do RSVP ASAP, though, to help us out as we plan the event!

Also, please take a moment to cast your vote for the PRSA Service Awards!  Paid members may cast their vote using this ballot: https://forms.gle/bJZ91n6BmZyPKPWeA.  The ballot will close at 8:00 pm on Friday, November 15 and the award winners will be announced at Saturday’s 2024 AGM & Awards Ceremony. 

Cheers,
Aaron