Tag Archives: Lightning Class

News

Annual General Meeting & Awards Banquet / Call for Awards Nominations

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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 sooner (rather than later!) 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 soon, though, to help us out as we plan the event!

As you think about the AGM and reflect on our 2024 racing season, please consider nominating fellow sailors for our PRSA Awards.  Use this form – https://forms.gle/Gaf4GRMzYhyTbA526 – to nominate individuals (award descriptions are provided on the nomination form) by Monday, November 4.  After nominations close, we will send out an online ballot (all dues-paying members of PRSA are eligible to vote) to select the award winners.  Award winners will be announced at the 2024 AGM & Awards Ceremony.

Finally, we are still seeking nominations for some vacant and soon-to-be Vacant PRSA Executive Committee Positions.  I’m pleased to announce that we have one nominee for the Secretary position.  If you are interested in serving as Vice Commodore or Treasurer (or Secretary), please let us know.  Nabeel, currently serving as Treasurer, has offered to move over to Vice Commodore if we find somebody to serve as Treasurer.  You can read the position descriptions in Article IV of our PRSA Bylaws at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hTChVfws3VvGSUgKhIOBLU5gaqIOs2Xr/view?usp=sharing.  


Cheers,
Aaron
News

2024 Fall Series #4 Oct 6

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With nothing but glass as far as the eye could see, Dana Howe (PRO) postponed for an hour at the dock. At noon he sent the mark boat out to look at the ripples starting to appear to the south. It was still glassy looking north. The sea breeze kicked in, boats put in, and a building southerly carried the fleet up to the race area. At 1315 boats were racing in winds steady from the south at 10 in “it don’t get any better than this” conditions. ”

Many thanks to Gonzalo helping Dana on the signal boat and to Justin and Nic for spectacular mark-boating and boat towing!  Nic also took some great photos–thank you!

Albacore-FS4

I20-FS4

Lightning-FS4

Announcements, News, 2024

Call for Executive Committee Officer Nominations

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PRSA Sailors,

We are seeking nominations for vacant and soon-to-be vacant Executive Committee positions.  Specifically, Vice Commodore and Secretary.  You can read the position descriptions in Article IV of our PRSA Bylaws at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hTChVfws3VvGSUgKhIOBLU5gaqIOs2Xr/view?usp=sharing.

As an all-volunteer organization we rely on the idea that everybody steps up to take a turn at volunteering for our various positions so that we can spread these service obligations around, learn from new people in new roles, and not be reliant on the same small cast of individuals each year.  Without folks willing to donate a bit of time and effort, we would not exist.  Please let us know if you are interested.

The election for ExCom positions will be held at our Annual General Meeting & Awards Ceremony (November 16; precise location and time TBD))

News

PRSA Fall Series #3 (29 September) CANCELLED

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PRSA Sailors:

Due to several unresolved maintenance issues, including the motor on the 19′ skiff (it is not pumping/spitting water) and issues with some of our other equipment, we will have to cancel racing this Sunday.  I know this is disappointing, but it is also a consequence of being reliant on a very few people (who also have full regular lives and full time jobs) to keep everything up and running.

I really want to thank Nabeel Alsalam, Bob Gotthardt, and Will Phillippe for the extra time they have volunteered over the past weeks to try to diagnose and replace/repair various things.  Unfortunately we’re not there yet with the motor on the 19.  Hopefully we can get things repaired to resume racing on October 6 with Fall Series #4 (note: we also need a PRO for October 6).

Looking ahead, we will need some extra volunteer hands to help with equipment maintenance (including some more basic tasks such as patching marks, replacing some lines/tackle on marks, and more–we’re compiling a list).  Please let us know if you can help.

Best,
Aaron

P.S. — if you do decide to go for a sail on Sunday, please be aware that a power boat rally is scheduled to make its way up and down the river on Sunday afternoon: https://piratesguidetoboating.com/trump-boat-parade-sept-29/
Regattas, Results

PRSA President’s Cup Results

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Over 40 boats across 6 different fleets participated in the 2024 PRSA President’s Cup Regatta.  PRO Nelson Pemberton and his RC crew worked hard to get each class 9 races–no easy feat!  We had a nice moderate southerly breeze on Saturday and then a shift, somewhat fickle easterly on Sunday (making the RC’s job even harder!).  Many thanks to all of the volunteers who made the event possible as well as all of the sailors–especially those who traveled some distance to participate!

Results: https://nextsailor.com/app/scoring/view_regatta/736 

News

PRSA President’s Cup This Weekend!

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We have our signature fall 2-day regatta this weekend!  Make sure you are registered, and make sure that you’ve spread the word to all of your friends in area clubs/classes.  We expect multiple classes, visiting boats, and 2 days of great racing!

Registration is open!

The PRSA President’s Cup is open to one-design dinghies: Albacore, Buccaneer, Flying Scot, I-20, Laser, Lightning.

SI's & NOR's, Announcements, News

Get Ready for the Fall Series!

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We are just one week away from the start of our Fall Series!  Please make sure that you are registered for the series and that you’ve signed up for RC duty, using the links provided below.  In addition, we will be holding a “Running Races at PRSA” Webinar on September 5 (details below).  Finally, make sure to sign up for the PRSA President’s Cup, our signature fall 2-day regatta.  Keep reading for all the links and details!

Prior to the start of the Fall Series, we will hold a Running Races at PRSA Webinar on Thursday, September 5, 7:30 pm (on Zoom: https://american.zoom.us/j/99437900322?pwd=EQCvuR2F7Ml6whtDdoR2qZORelIGHb.1).  No matter whether you have extensive experience running races or are just learning, this is a good opportunity to review our procedures at PRSA so that we can have safe, fast, and smooth racing each Sunday.

Fall Series#1: with hopes of good weather, we are planning on grilling out after the racing.  I’ll bring some extra brats and beverages.  Please make sure to bring something for your crew and feel free to invite friends and family for the post-race fun!

PRSA Fall Series: Our PRSA Fall Season starts on Sunday, September 8.  Please keep the following in mind as you prepare for the series:

 

  • Registration and RC Service: if you didn’t in the Spring, don’t forget to register for the Fall Series! In addition, make sure that you have signed up for Race Committee service.  As a reminder, you’ll need to fill at least one RC slot to be scored for the series and two to qualify.  The complete details are available here. Thank you for taking the time to volunteer to help run races, without your support and time PRSA would not be possible!
  • NOR and Sailing Instructions: there are no changes to the NOR and SIs.
  • Crew Connection: as you prepare for the fall season, remember to post to the PRSA Crew Connection (link on our homepage) and to peruse the postings there.  We’ve had a number of new people interested in sailing with us join the Crew Connection forum since May.  If you are interested in crewing, please go ahead and put up a short post with your experience and availability.

PRSA President’s Cup: our signature fall 2-day regatta will be held September 21-22, and registration for the President’s Cup is open!  Visit https://nextsailor.com/regatta/PRSAPresidentsCup2024 to register.  Mark your calendars, organize your boats and crew, and spread the word to sailors you know at other clubs!  We’d love to welcome visiting boats in all of our classes for a great regatta.  Many thanks to Tyler, who will be serving as Regatta Chair.  Finally, if you’re interested in some President’s Cup history, check out this Regatta Program from the 1955 President’s Cup: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2wMQVqjmo-XODh0Z1NHWEVYUTQ/view?usp=sharing&resourcekey=0-iYyMWIjUUpp4oDwrGCC7Kw (this booklet was spotted in a secondhand bookstore by Bobby Astrove’s son several years ago—a great find!).

Albacores, Lasers, Buccaneers, Inland-20s, Flying Scots, Lightnings, Lasers, Announcements, News

DISC Three Bridges Fiasco on Saturday, July 13!

Greetings all,

We’ve got 5 dinghies registered for the DISC 3 Bridges Fiasco race this Saturday.  Who else is interested?  If you need crew, or are looking to crew, don’t forget about the “Crew Connection” (link on our PRSA Homepage).  Fleet Captains: please forward this reminder to your Fleet listservs.  This is a really fun race and the weather forecast for Saturday looks promising.

The NOR and the registration link are both posted at https://discsailing.org/ (scroll down a bit to the “Upcoming Events/Registration” area.  The SIs will be posted soon.

I’m also including here some informaton from DISC Commodore PEte Fanta, who will also run the RC on Saturday.  From Pete:

  • “I will be the RC for the Three Bridges this weekend.  The RC boat will be the Georgetown Sailing Team Boat. My intention is to follow in the powerboat, as best as possible, the majority of boats around the course to render assistance as needed.
  • The start times will be set using Portsmouth Handicaps on a Pursuit Race.  This means the slowest boat will start first and can sail the course designated in either direction, as long as they round the correct marks.  The fastest boat will start last.  When we do this with only the PHRF boats, there can be as much as a 15 minute gap between first starter and last starter. The boat finishing first across the line after sailing the course…wins.  The appropriate ratings are taken into account by the start times.  This method allows us to sail a Laser against an Albacore, against a Flying Scot, against an S2 7.9.  I understand that in some conditions certain boats are hard to beat, but that is the nature of handicap racing.
  • SIs will be posted soon.”

I hope to see you out on the water on Saturday!

Cheers,

Aaron

Albacores, SI's & NOR's, Lasers, Buccaneers, Inland-20s, Flying Scots, Lightnings, Lasers, Regattas

PRSA Spring Regatta May 25-26

Registration is open for the PRSA Spring Regatta!  Sign up now and help us spread the word about our signature spring event:  https://www.nextsailor.com/app/page/regatta/672.

If you are interested in volunteering to help out with some regatta organization, please let Regatta Chair Kaitlyn Lucey know.  This is a great chance to get involved with one of our events, learn more about regatta organization and operation, and help out PRSA!

Announcements

PRSA Spring Series: Important Information!

The PRS Spring Series is underway!    Please make sure that you’ve registered for the series, signed up for spring RC dates, and read through the rest of the information included below.  Please don’t hesitate to let us know (prsaboard@gmail.com) if you have any questions.

  • Sign up for Race Committee: Skippers must fulfill RC obligations in each series that they wish to be scored in Frostbite, Spring or Fall. Skippers that do not sign up for at least half their slots before the series begins may not be scored for the series. PRO still counts as 2 slots. Starting this season, Skippers must fill 2 slots in the Spring and 2 slots in Fall. This changes the practices of doing all your RC in one series and racing in the other–a change that was requested at the AGM. Skippers may carry over 1 RC slot from the Spring to the Fall series. Non-Lasers Skippers must fill 2 slots for the Spring Series (Lasers only 1).
  • Post-Race Potluck: we will be grilling in the grove after racing on each Sunday.  We encourage your friends and family to join us for these BYO post-race BBQs!  Hanging out around the grill is a great opportunity to reconnect with everybody and perhaps even introduce some new folks to PRSA.  Please remember to bring something for you and your crew for the grill and to drink.
  • Sail Upcycling: we will collect used sails for the Sea Bags sail upcycling program on April 14th.  If you have used sails that you want to donate, bring them to the marina and drop them at drysail slip C-17 (Stas Burgiel’s I-20).  PRSA receives a tool bag or tote bag made from each donated sail that we can use or sell (and the rest of each sail is sold by Sea Bags in support of various good causes in sailing).  Now is a good time to clear out that inventory of old sails and support a good cause in doing so!
  • Email lists: now is a good time to make sure that you and your crew are subscribed to all of the relevant email lists.  If you are receiving this note, you are on the PRSA Google Group (potomacriversailing@googlegroups.com) but you should also make sure that your crew or others you sail with are members.  Instructions on joining are on our website: https://potomacriversailing.org/contact-page/.  You should also make sure that you are on your fleet email list (reach out to your fleet captain for info).

Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions.  I look forward to seeing everybody on the water and then at the post-race BBQ (along with your friends and family!) on April 14!