Category Archives: News
2022-2023 Laser Frostbite #8
You should have been there. It was a beautiful winter day for frostbite sailing. The temperature was in the low 40s. The sun was out. According to sailflow the winds were in the 15 to 20 range with higher gusts but it did not feel that high to me. There were waves that were not aligned with the wind when we first went out but they flattened out.
My goal was to sail conservatively and stay upright. I succeeded! One time I “tea-bagged” but I I kept my cool and my feet in the hiking straps trimmed in and bore off some and the wind pulled me back up. I did lose a boat but it could have been worse!
Jim Klein and Michael Liss ran the races for us and they set an olympic for the first race and two-triangles for the next four probably because they wanted to keep us from sailing dead downwind, rocking and rolling (and capsizing).
The course was skewed left, so that starboard was the long tack upwind. I started every race at the boat end with speed and was able to use starboard rights to keep people to leeward of me from crossing me. My vang was pulled to the block-to-block mark and I kept the mainsheet eased a bit so that I could sail relaxed, flat, and fast. This worked as I was first to the windward mark four of five times. Plus, I noticed a left shift as I got closer to the Virginia side which was perfect for tacking and getting up to the layline.
Downwind, I was conservative. At the windward mark, I was careful to bear off and gain speed before bearing off more. I did not completely ease the vang. I did not bother easing the outhaul or raising the board. I wanted to feel and respond to the gusts instead of messing around fine tuning. At the gybe mark I experimented staying on port and extremely by the lee. It felt fine and stable but probably a bit slow.
The weakest part of my sailing was rounding the leeward mark. With the extra pressure from the wind, I pulled in the mainsheet with my left hand only instead of using both my left and right arms, so it took what seemed like an eternity to get up to close hauled. Something to work on.
Nabeel
2022 Fall Series #8 (Nov 6)
Kyra Tallon ran the races.
The day’s results:
(Races 37-39)
And the final results for the Fall Series:
To qualify a boat must have sailed in 50% of the races and performed RC duty.
# indicates not enough races.
$ indicates not enough RC duty.
(Race 24-39, best 50 percent, e.g best 8 of 15 or 16 or best 7 of 13 or 14 or best 6 of 10 or 11)
2022 Laser Frostbite Series Starting Now!
The Laser Frostbite Series for 2022 begins November 13th! We will race every Sunday except December 25th and January 1st for the series until March 19th. Come join in the fun!
Drysuits or wetsuits are required. Use your radial or standard rig!
2022 PRSA Fall Series # 7 (Oct 30)
Unfortunately, the wind gods did not favor us.
Nabeel Alsalam postponed on-shore and Lars & Dylan Rathjen went out on the river looking for any kind of sailable breeze. It wasn’t there and Nabeel after consulting with assistant-PRO Dana Howe.abandoned the day’s races at 11:30.
That was too bad as 6 Lightning, 5 I-20s, 2 Albacore, and 2 or 3 Laser skippers were present.
2022 Fall Series – Cumulative Results Through #6
We only have a few Sundays left. Come on out! You need to sail 50% of the races to qualify and do some RC.
2022 Fall Series #6
Mike Tellep ran the races. He and his team ran four W2 races.
(October 23, Races 33-36)
2022 Fall Series #5
Eva Hogan was in charge of the races. Unfortunately, no wind come in. No races.
2022 Fall Series #4
Frank Gallagher ran the races with Michael Bors and Ben Cole on the Georgetown RBI.
The wind was generally westerly, but kept teasing that it would shift south and then a big puff would come in from the north.
(September Oct 9, Races 29-32)
2022 Fall Series #3
Dana Howe ran the races. Oops, he tried, but the wind only tortured him.
(October 2, 2022)