It was cold – air below freezing and water just above freezing. And the wind was gusty and shifty from the northwest. Nevertheless, 12 sailors rigged and launched their ILCA dinghies.

The first thing they and the race committee noticed was that there was very little water. The race committee (Nabeel & Barney) had to hunt for an area with enough water for the centerboards. It wasn’t easy.

The second thing the sailors noticed was that their control lines seemed very slippery and the cleats were not holding. A sheet of water was freezing on all the control lines. The sailors adapted. If the vang cleat was not holding, one solution was to bring it back to the mainsheet cleat. Outhauls were left in whatever position they froze in.

The third thing the sailors had to contend with is very shifty breezes which not infrequently resulted in a capsize.

Despite the challenges the sailors did their best and nine completed the four races.

Three members of the Jacob family were there: James, Alex, and Erin. It was good to see them all.

Mark Sanford came down from Pennsylvania. Thanks, Mark.

After sailing and after the boats were put away, we fired up a vintage Coleman gas camp stove and heated up a gallon and a half of cider. Mount Gay rum was available to those who wanted a dollup.

The top two finishers – Alex and James – finished every race in those positions. It was a contest for third place and Skeen captured that.

Finally, thanks to Jacob D. and Dan M. for volunteering for RC, helping get the boats and marks ready to go, and helping sailors get launched.

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John Van Voorhis, Nic Bogren, Kyra Tallon, and Nick Allen ran the races.  The wind was light which could have resulted in no races or few races, which plagued the earlier fall series, but they were able to get off four races — good for them!

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Nabeel Alsalam, Maryann Gallagher, Eva Hogan, and Kaitlyn Lucey was your RC.   The winds were light and from the north or northwest.    Being optimistic, we set up a pretty long course for the first race, but the wind was light and it took almost an hour and a half for all the sailor to complete the course.  We pulled in the windward mark for the second race but the winds fell to almost nothing.  So we shortened the race at the 2nd windward mark.

After the racing, the sailors congregated in the grove. Lee Mullins brought chilli and hot dogs were plentiful on the grill.  It was a pleasant afternoon and, of course, the breeze seemed to pick up.

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John Van Voorhis and team ran the races.    The day started off with challenges: 19’s battery was low, and the pee tube wasn’t producing.  And none of the inflators were working.  So initially racing was cancelled.  But then Witt came to the rescue to blow up the marks and clear the pee tube.  Racing was re-instated.

The winds were from the N and NE.

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Nabeel & team of Aaron Boesenecker, John Van Voorhis, and Cathy Clarke were ready but the wind wasn’t there.  At 10 there was about 2 or 3 knots of winds. The tide was ebbing reinforcing the river current which would have made it difficult to sail up current.  So Nabeel postponed on shore for an hour.   Around 11 Aaron & John went out to the river–the wind near the launch area can be more than out on the river due to a near shore thermal.  They found even less wind and then it shut down.   Racing was cancelled for the day.

Stew Harris and Laura Albert ran the races from the line boat.

It was a breezy day but not too breezy.  The Albacores were in Annapolis doing the Helly Hansen regatta.

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Lloyd Leonard and his team were ready, but there was too much wind–Barney wasn’t there.  We decided not to sail.

Frank Gallagher and John Van Voorhis ran the signal boat.  Dana Howe and Natalie Rehberger ran the mark boat.  It was a windy start to the sailing season.

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