The PRSA Fall Series starts this Sunday! Now is the time to make sure that you have your crew organized, that you have paid your PRSA dues, and that you have signed up for (or already fulfilled) your PRSA race committee obligations. Remember to review the Sunday Series NOR and Sailing Instructions as well. I look forward to seeing you on the water on Sunday!
Tag Archives: Lightning Class
PRSA President’s Cup
The 2015 PRSA President’s Cup Regatta, sponsored by Annapolis Performance Sailing, will be held September 19 & 20 at Washington Sailing Marina, continuing the long tradition of competitive one-design racing started by the President’s Cup in 1934. The regatta will be sailed on the Potomac River on two courses. One-person dinghies (Lasers, El Toros, Penguins) will race on Saturday in the cove near Washington Sailing Marina (WSM) or off of the power plant just south of WSM. Other classes (Albacores, Buccaneers, Catamarans, Flying Scots, Lightnings, I-20s, etc.) will race Saturday and Sunday on the north course between Hains Point and Gravelly Point (with the Capitol and national monuments as a backdrop). Register now for the 2015 President’s Cup and view the NOR and other race information. Registration fees increase after September 12, so make sure to register and pay online before September 12 to save yourself a bit of cash!
Special thanks to Annapolis Performance Sailing for sponsoring the regatta and providing some additional prizes. This year we will also have a spectator boat – the schooner American Spirit – thanks to the generosity of DC Sail and the National Maritime Heritage Foundation! Make sure to tell your friends and family about this fantastic opportunity to view the sailing from the water on Sunday, Sept. 20.
Important Fall Schedule Information
I’m writing with a couple of important announcements about our fall racing schedule:
- We need to staff our Race Committee for the fall! Please Sign up now if you have not already done so.
- We have decided to move the President’s Cup to Sept. 19-20 (a weekend different than the LLS Fundraiser). More details are provided below.
- The PRSA Dinghy Open is back by popular demand, and will be held on October 4.
I’ve posted more details on these important changes below. Please don’t hesitate to contact your Executive Board if you have any questions.
PRSA Photo Contest
PRSA is once again partnering with CalendarLink (http://www.calendarlink.org/prsa/home.html) to produce a 2016 tide calendar. These calendars show the actual tides predicted for the Potomac River at Washington National Airport on the Potomac River!
This year we are having a photo contest to select photos to include in the calendar. All PRSA members are encouraged to enter their very best photo. Each PRSA member may submit one photo for consideration. The winning photo will become the cover photo for the calendar and the winner will receive a FREE 2016 PRSA Calendar.
Here are the requirements for calendar photo submissions:
- Photos must be horizontal images from digital cameras.
- Photos must be a minimum of 300 DPI width of 10.3 inches, height 8 inches or 3100 x 2400 pixels or a 1.3 to 1 ratio.
- Photos may be submitted in JPEG, GIF, or PNG format.
- Photos need not be from the current calendar year.
So get out there and start taking pictures! Then, figure out which one is your best picture and enter it into the contest. Email your photo to Jeff Neurauter (jmnsailor@yahoo.com) no later than November 1, 2015.
Summer is Wednesday Night Sailing Season!
It is summer, so that means that it is Wednesday Night Sailing Season! Stroll down to Washington Sailing Marina and look for our PRSA sailors in the dock/crane area around 5:30 each Wednesday. If you’re new, simply introduce yourself! Wednesday night sailing is very informal, with short races in the cove and lots of fun/practice sailing. We rotate people in and out of boats right off the dock, so everybody gets to take a turn!
2015 Spring Series #7
2015 Spring Series #6 on May 30
We had a beautiful day on the river with a 10-12 kt. southerly blowing steadily all day long. Will Phillippe and his RC crew set a nice long racecourse and gave the various classes a mixture of “T” and “W” courses. The great breeze meant that we finished 4 races in no time and I think most sailors were happy to head to shore to relax, stretch out, and enjoy a beverage with some BBQ after a great (but exhausting) day of sailing.
2015 Spring Series 6 – Buccaneers
2015 Spring Series 6 – Lightnings
2015 Spring Series 6 – Multihulls
2015 Spring Regatta Wrapup
What a fantastic turnout for the PRSA Spring Regatta! We had nearly fifty boats and almost 100 sailors out racing over a fantastic Memorial Day weekend. Even though Saturday’s wind conditions were light and spotty we still got in 3 races on the upper course (and more on the lower course), followed by a wonderful BBQ put together by Lee, Lisa-Marie, and Jim. It was great to see so many friends and family members at the post-race BBQ. Our patience on Saturday was rewarded with a nice 8-10 kt southerly breeze on Sunday. After 3 more fantastic races on Sunday we enjoyed another nice BBQ.
2015 Spring Series #5
Although there was no wind when the sailors arrived at the marina, PRO Bob Astrove made the call to two boats up to the racecourse. It was a good decision, as a nice southerly filled in allowing the boats to get in three good races before sailing back to the marina and enjoying a nice BBQ under sunny skies. You can read the great writeup of the day’s action from Will Phillippe in the Lightning fleet on the Fleet 50 website.
2015 Spring Series #4
Sunday turned out to be another predictable day sailing on the Potomac. You were completely assured that whatever breeze you were currently sailing in would quickly increase or decrease in velocity, or completely change direction. Once again, our PRO and RC for the weekend (Dan, Barney, Lee, and Jim) deserve praise for focusing on running races in the dynamic wind conditions.