Tag Archives: Albacore Class

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

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.

Fall Series #1 Results – 09-18-2011

The skies were grey with a threat of rain so I think a lot  of people decided to stay home. What a shame, it turned out to be an excellent day of sailing. The breeze was out of the NE for the most part with some huge right shifts throughout the day. It came in at about 12kts while we were standing around on the docks for the skippers meeting and slowly faded as the day progressed. The RC, ably headed up by Nathan Marsh and the Albacore fleet, set up a nice Windward-Leeward course running diagonally across the river. Four Albacores, Four Hobies, and Seven Lightnings came out to play in the shifting breezes. With the big right shifts, Jibe Sets were the order of the day for the Lightning fleet which made good crew work a premium. We got four races in before the dying breeze gave up for the day. A good day was had by all. Here are the scores:

Albacore Results

Hobie Results

Lightning Results

 

Spring Series #8, 06/05/11

Well the Spring Series is now a wrap. We had great turnout on the last day of the series with Albacores, Buccaneers, Hobies, and Lightnings all coming out to play. The weather was… Well it was… what? A bit cloudy, hot, the breezes were light to non existent, and generally east except for the thermals coming off the airport. The current was a major factor. The RC, headed by Nathan Marsh did a good job in some trying conditions. The first race was almost time limited, but most boats managed to finish. The next two races were better, but all in all it was a painful day for everyone. Still a rough day on the water is better than a day spent doing anything else. Here are the scores:

Albacore Spring 8

Buccaneer Spring 8

Hobie Spring 8

Lightning Spring 8

PRSA Spring Regatta 2011, Upper Course Results

Another great day of sailing with south winds of 12 to 13. I wish the whole summer would be like that. Khin & Thant , Bill Buck, Dan Miller, and scorer/recorder Jen gave us 3 W2 races. Several more sailors came out to join the fun. Jim Graham gave us another nice picnic.

Results:
PRSA_spring11_Albacore
PRSA_spring11_Buccaneer
PRSA_spring11_Hobie
PRSA_spring11_Lightning

The Katherine Hearst award to the woman who beat the most boats in her class went to Kyra Tallon.
The Len Penso award to the sailor over 50 who beat the most boats in his/her class went to Nabeel Alsalam.

Pictures Upper course and Lower course

Spring Regatta, Day 1 Results for Upper Course

What a beautiful day to be sailing! Winds were around 10 from the S and SSW all day long. The very edge of a squall came through late and gave us just a few drops of rain and a little extra wind. Khin Thein gave us 4 races including a W2, two W3s, and another W2 or W1.

Come on out and join us on Day 2. It isn’t too late!

(The results for day 1 are attached.)
PRSA_spring11_Albacore_Overall
PRSA_spring11_Buccaneer_Overall
PRSA_spring11_Hobie_Overall
PRSA_spring11_Lightning_Overall

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.

Spring Series #6, 05/15/2011

Well if you did not make it out this past Sunday, you missed the best sailing day of the year so far. Seven Lightnings, three Albacores, and three Hobies came out to play on a beautiful day that sported winds from the South @ 10-12 kts all day. PRO Nathan Marsh and his team set up a nice long Windward Leeward course off the Airport and got us four great races. See Aaron Boesneckers Lightning write-up here. Judging from all the big grins I saw around the cranes after racing, a good time was had by all. Here are the scores:

 

Albacore Spring 6

Hobie Spring 6

Lightning Spring 6

Spring Series #5 05/08/2011

Yesterday the Laser fleet conducted races for 3 Albacores, 2 Buccaneers and 3 Catamarans. Racing was conducted in the cove due to light winds, forecasted rain, and race committee boat problems. Wind for the first race was light and from the NNE, after the start of race 1 the wind shifted 90 degrees to the east and was fairly consistent thereafter. We ran 2 windward-leeward and then 3 Olympics races for the Albacores and Buccaneers for a total of 5 races. The Catamarans opted to start with the other fleets, but then raced into the river and completed 2 races. Winds steadily increased throughout the day and the forecasted rain never arrived.

Albacore Spring 5 050811

Buccaneer Spring 5 050811

Hobie Spring 5 050811