Tag Archives: PRSA Spring Series

2015 Spring Series #3

Well, Spring Series #3 was certainly far different than the previous week’s “puff and shift festival” (to quote Bobby Astrove).  Instead of 15-25 from the east we were greeted with a light and variable wind and plenty of sunshine when we arrived at the marina.  At first it looked like the forecast breeze (NE 8-10, shifting to N and then NW) would fill in as predicted.  However, the breeze shut down completely as we tried to make it up to the race course, prompting PRO Nich Allen and skiff driver Stew Harris to organize tows up to the course.

Continue reading 2015 Spring Series #3

2015 Spring Series #2

Today was an awesome day on the water and the weather gave us exactly the opposite from last weekend.  The breeze was out of the east/south east and was blowing around 16 most of the day.  As is typical of an east wind, the conditions were quite puffy and shifty.  The race committee set us up a triangle course and was able to get 5 races off (3 T2s and 2 O2s).  The conditions gave us some nice long reaching legs that were quite fast at times.  We had 3 Albacores, 2 Buccaneers, and 6 Lightnings and decided at the skippers meeting to just have everyone start together which provided fun races and competitive starts.

2015 Spring Series 2 – Albacores

2015 Spring Series 2 – Buccaneers

2015 Spring Series 2 – Lightnings

2015 Spring Series #1

The opening day of PRSA’s 2015 Spring Series arrived clear, blue and still: the river was glass smooth and only faint wisps of breeze out of the north were all that remained of the frontal winds from the day before. Race Committee PRO Jim Graham pulled everyone together for the skippers’ meeting at ten and announced a one hour delay, noting that we all had to be off the water for the PRSA BBQ scheduled to begin at 3PM. Four Lightnings were present– Frank Gallagher, Nabeel Alsalam, Bob Astrove, and Lindsay Bach– along with groups of three or four each of Albacores, Buccaneers and Interlake Scows. So everyone milled about for an hour or so when Jim came walking through the clusters of sailors blowing his whistle, announcing another one hour delay. About halfway through the second hour, Jim decided we should all splash and the RC would tow the boats up to the course. This took about about three quarters of an hour during which time the the scows dropped out. The wind was still mostly absent though the forecast was calling for the breeze to come up out of the South sometime around one o’clock. So the fleet drifted and bobbed for about another three-quarters of an hour in the luxurious sunshine until a faint southerly breeze of about 3 mph began to fill in, right on schedule, a little after 1:00 PM.

Continue reading 2015 Spring Series #1

PRSA Spring Series #7 Recap

We had fantastic sailing for Spring Series #7.  PRO Chris Kozel and his crew set a nice windward-leeward course in a somewhat shifty S/SW breeze and did a good job getting us four races for the day.  Most of the Albacores were down in West River for a regatta, but we did have 11 Lightnings on the line as well as a couple of Bucs, Albacores, and Cats.  Scores will be posted soon.  You can click here to read what I observed from Sinistra in the Lightning class.  As always, feel free to add in your own comments and observations as well!

2014 Spring Series 7 – Albacores

2014 Spring Series 7 – Buccaneers

2014 Spring Series 7 – Catamarans

2014 Spring Series 7 – Lightnings

PRSA Spring Series #6 Recap

What a crazy day!  The river was absolutely ripping after several days of rain.  Although there was not much debris in the water, the ferocious river flow made things challenging for the competitors and the RC alike.  I was on RC duty this weekend, and I thought I’d have the chance to get some nice observations of the racing.  Instead, we were kept on our toes, first towing boats up to the course against the river flow as we waited for the breeze to fill, and then dashing around the course to reset marks as they were repeatedly breaking free in the combination of river flow and WNW breeze that filled in over the afternoon.  The breeze was extraordinarily spotty and shifty, moving from due north to nearly due west and back in various phases.  That, combined with the fact that the pressure would simply die off at points and then pipe back up, made for some very tricky sailing as the competitors fought against the river flow.  We did manage to get 4 races off for the Albacores and 2 for the Lightnings and Cats.

Even with all of the action on the RC we still managed to capture some video on the GoPro that we had on the 16′ skiff: a leeward mark rounding for the Albacores, a start and upwind leg for the Lightnings, and a few finish line shots from the first Lightning race as boats struggled to make it up to and across the line.  Scores are posted below, and you can find the video links here: http://lightningfleet50.org/?page_id=2047

2014 Spring Series 6 – Albacores

2014 Spring Series 6 – Catamarans

2014 Spring Series 6 – Lightnings

2014 Spring Series – Albacores – Cumulative Through May 18

2014 Spring Series – Buccaneers – Cumulative Through May 18

2014 Spring Series – Catamarans – Cumulative Through May 18

2014 Spring Series – Lightnings – Cumulative Through May 18

Spring Series #5 – May 11, 2014

Spring Series #5 brought us a tricky day on the river, but PRO Jeff Neurater and his crew still managed to get us 4 races in a spotty, shifty, WNW breeze.  The day looked very promising at the outset.  We had a nice northerly breeze of about 10 knots blowing as nine Lightnings, six Albacores, and a Hobie Cat headed out of the cove and up to the race course.

The RC started the first sequence right on time, only to have the wind cut out altogether with about 2 minutes to go in the sequence.  The river was high and the tide was flowing out, so most boats drifted away from the starting line even as they tried to sail upwind.  Another breeze line was visible up at the windward mark, though, and soon enough it filled in and we were off racing.  The boats that were close to the line got the breeze first, go a big jump, and ended up with a huge lead for the entirety of the Olympic course.

That same pattern pretty much repeated over the next three races — another Olympic course, and then two shorter Triangle courses.  Finding breeze was of the utmost importance, and this meant looking up towards the bridge to see where the next line was forming even as you were hunting for the patches of breeze that had made it to the racecourse.  In general, the breeze would fill from the left side of the course…but that wasn’t a guarantee, and there were times when boats that went out to the right going upwind came out ahead, despite battling the current in the channel.

It was great to get out on the water, even if the conditions were tricky.  After the racing we all gathered in the grill area to enjoy some great food, beverages, and the last bit of a fine sunny afternoon.

 

2014 Spring Series 5 – Albacores

2014 Spring Series 5 – Lightnings

2014 Spring Series – Albacores – Cumulative Through May 11

2014 Spring Series – Lightnings – Cumulative Through May 11

Spring Series #4 – May 4, 2014

With the Lightnings out for Doc Gilbert, we had a lighter than normal turnout.  But the weather still provided us with a very fun day of sailing.  Temps were in the low 70s and winds out of the west ranging from 10 mph to 25 mph and gusts up to 35 mph.  PRO Jim Graham was able to get in 5 races using a new “Figure Four” course that Barney Harris came up with.  We did 1, 2 and 3 lap races.  The course is a modified triangle that provides long hot angle reaching legs, one of which rounds the start pin to starboard and provides a downwind leg.  We ended up with 3 Albacores, 1 Bucc, and 1 Laser making it out for the races.  The course provided some awesome reaching legs with lots of planing.

Results:

2014 Spring Series 4 – Albacores

2014 Spring Series – Albacores Cumulative Through #4

Spring Series #3 – April 27, 2014

Sunday (April 27th) was a beautiful spring day. The breeze was from the northwest. It was patchy and would turn off and then on to as much as 15 mph, but, hey, that’s the river. I often saw good breeze in the middle and so tried to work it but when the breeze died it always came in first from the left so people who set themselves up near the airport always gained.

Jim Antonovich, Marc Carre, and Bob Etheridge ran the races. The first race was a long W3 and gave us all ample opportunity to look very smart and then very dumb as we tried to figure out the patchy wind.

The first two links below are to Sunday’s race results. The other two, I believe, are the cumulative results for the series where each day counts as one “race”. We didn’t have any races on Spring Series #1 but everyone present will get their average position in the other days they sail as redress and that should help them get the required days sailed to qualify.

– Nabeel

2014 Spring Series 3 – Albacores

2014 Spring Series 3 – Lightnings

2014 Spring Series – Albacores Cumulative Through #3

2014 Spring Series – Lightnings Cumulative Through #3