Dana Howe ran the races. Oops, he tried, but the wind only tortured him.
(October 2, 2022)
Category Archives: News
2022 Presidents Cup Results and Writeup
This past weekend 15 of 18 registered Albacores competed in the President’s Cup Regatta in Washington, D.C., with around 50 boats of various classes in total. We had a good turnout with a few people from other countries and from nearby states. The regatta took place over the course of two days on the sunny Potomac with the D.C. skyline always in view. It was beautiful to see many sailboats with colorful spinnakers sailing about with the sunlight glistening on the water.
Saturday had very light wind and the races were cancelled, though everyone seemed to be in good spirits regardless. Sailing teaches you that while you can’t control the conditions, you can control how you respond to them. I enjoyed simply being on the water and talking with my skipper. As a less experienced sailor, I find that I learn a lot about sailing (and life in general!) from crewing with more experienced sailors. After sailing, everyone gathered for Mexican food at the picnic tables and there was a visible sense of community. On Sunday, the wind picked up and conditions were ideal for racing. Because of the gathering storm clouds, we went back to the docks a little early for the awards ceremony before the rain set in.
Thank you to everyone who participated and to the Ware River volunteers!
Natalie
2022 Fall Series #2
David Metcalf ran the races with his team of Joshua as recorder and Jim Greenly and Joe as mark boat. He reports:
The wind was a steady 10 mph (per Windalert), 81 degrees, A beautiful day to be on the water.
Jim and Joe in Mark Boat set up a very good course, each race took 30 to 40 minutes. We were able to run 5 races for the Lightnings and Albacores, we ran 4 races for the combined lasers / buccaneers / I-20.
We used the VHF radio and about half the boats were able to get updates via radio.
(September 18, Races 24-28)
Safety Preparations for Fall
Last winter several members completed a safety study for the club. The report is linked here. Please pay special attention to page 9 as it lists the new requirements and recommendations for safety.
Some of the recommendations are for individuals or skipper. I wanted to get these out to the members in time to get prepared for fall sailing, which starts on September 11th. Please read the points below and take appropriate action.
- All competitors are strongly encouraged to carry both a safety whistle and a rescue knife in or tethered to their PFD.
- PRSA sailors are strongly encouraged to have a VHF radio on board for use in case of emergency.
- PRSA sailors are strongly encouraged to carry a cell phone (in a waterproof case) for emergency use.
- All vessels should have the following on board:
- an extra line suitable for towing
- a bucket or other appropriate device for bailing.
- PRSA sailors should assess the condition of their safety equipment (i.e., PFD’s) prior to the season and at regular intervals throughout the season, to ensure that they are in good condition and properly sized for the crews that will be sailing the boat.
Thank you again to the members who worked so hard on this study to put all this together.
Friday Night Concert/Jazz Sail
The Friday Night Capitol Riverfront Concert Series is kicking off on June 10th, this Friday! It’s a free concert on Friday nights at The Yards Park; which is on the Anacostia near Nationals Stadium. The concerts start at 7:00 pm and the first band playing is La Uncia who play Irish Latin Rock. There are more details about the bands and concert if you follow the link below.
The Yards Park is about a 45 minute sail from WSM, give or take the wind levels. The plan would be to leave the docks around 6:15pm to give time to sail over and listen to the first half of the concert. On June 10th the sun sets at 8:32 pm and nautical twilight until 9:44 pm. Leaving after the first half should give enough time to sail back to the marina with plenty of light.
Boats under 7 meters (23 feet) are required to “keep ready at hand an electric torch or lighted lantern (flashlight) that shows a white light”. So skippers should keep this in mind and bring a flashlight just in case getting back takes longer than planned. It’s also suggested to bring an anchor, as there may be other boaters and being able to stop and listen is helpful.
https://www.capitolriverfront.org/do/friday-night-concert-series-1
PRSA Spring Regatta Writeup and Results
Another Win for the Red Boat at the PRSA Spring Regatta
By Steph Mah
A few weeks ago, Barney Harris made Raines an offer to come down and race in the Potomac River Sailing Association’s Spring Regatta. It was one of those offers Raines couldn’t refuse – Barney was providing his Republican red boat, his house, pick up and drop off from the airport, and a lot of beer. Raines asked me to tag along knowing that I wouldn’t be able to resist getting into political arguments with Barney and possibly wind up epoxied to a dock.
The forecast was for light air on Saturday and even less on Sunday – but if you didn’t want to hike (like me), this wasn’t a bad thing. Unfortunately, like pollsters, weather forecasters can be completely wrong with no consequences, and what we actually got on Saturday was a gusty 10-15 knots with a small craft warning in effect.
An albacore is an albacore is an albacore – unless it’s Barney’s, which has about 99% more control lines than what we’re used to. Writing down what some of the lines did was helpful, but that didn’t stop us from falling down a couple of times during tacks and gybes. It seemed like going left was the payoff move, but being Canadian and polite, we went right to stay out of everyone’s way. Eventually, with some skill (from Raines) and luck (being the ant infestation in the boat Barney was using), we got ourselves settled and Barney’s red boat squeaked out a bullet in the last race over Barney’s other boats,
giving us the lead for the day. Dinner was a huge spread of tacos, nachos, salads, cookies, and beer.
Sunday was one of those days where you discovered how cruel or kind the RC was. The wind was looking bleak (except for when the planes were landing), so the only decision was whether they would postpone us on land or make us go out. Fortunately, they went with the former, giving Barney more time to murder ants, and eventually they called the day off to the relief of many. And more tacos and nachos were served!
We got some very nice prizes, but the real champions of this regatta were the volunteers. I understand there was a four(!!!) person regatta committee with many more hands that pitched in to pick up the food, pack it away, set it back out, run the races, get the prizes, get the ice, and the list goes on and on. And it was an amazing event – there was a ton of good food, coolers full of Hapco-sponsored beer (that Raines orbited like a little moon), and lots of helpful and friendly people. It made me feel welcome and made me want to come back. I hope the volunteers all know how much the sailors appreciated the work (and plan to pay it back), and how proud PRSA should be of them.
Again, a huge thanks to everyone for their work on this regatta, and the biggest thanks to Barney for making this happen and for not watching us while we took 40 minutes to de-rig his boat.
2022 Spring Series #4
John Van Voorhis ran the races with Jim Greenly on the signal boat and Tim O’Brien and Pam Maple on the mark boat.
John reports “Nice south breeze as we set up switched to SSE. Edited first start and then to ESE for second start. ”
John sent us home at the end of the third race as the western sky was looking ominous. That front sucked up all the wind as the sailors made for home. Paddles came out on some boats. Then a gentle rain helped the sailors clean their boats before putting them away. 🙂
Congrats to the I-20 fleet for fielding five boats, their largest start to date.
2022 Spring Regatta registration now open
Join us this Memorial Day weekend to race! All one-design classes 20 feet or under are invited. Bring family and friends to enjoy lawn games at the Marina while we’re on the water, and we’ll celebrate the regatta and the holiday with dinner Saturday night! Registration is now open for the 2022 Spring Regatta here: https://www.
Photo credit Nic Bogren
Safety Review Committee Report Completed
Earlier this month the Safety Review Committee complete their review and report on Safety and Standard Operating Procedures at PRSA. They took a deep dive into what we do for safety, and what we need to look at to increase safety and reduce risk going forward. There are new safety rules that will be going into effect in the Spring Series.
- All members of the RC are required to wear PFDs or buoyancy aids at all times.
- All competitors are required to wear PFDs or buoyancy aids while racing.
- If water temperatures are below 50 degrees Fahrenheit full wetsuits or drysuits are required for all competitors and for all RC volunteers.
- Competitors leaving the racing area must notify the RC (verbally or via VHF).
There are also a number of recommendations that we’ll be looking to implement going forward.
The report itself is a very good read and a compact 12 pages so I’d suggest
Safety Review and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) Committee Report
Thank you to Aaron and the rest of the committee for your many hours of work and dedication to the safety of your fellow sailors.
-Tom Hutton
2021 Lightning Fall Series 5
Winds from from the NW, strong, and gusty. Only Frank went out with Tom Hutton and Scott Bradford as crew – very experienced crew though. His competition was Barney in the Albacore but Frank decided not to fly the spinnaker because of the gusts.
Only three more Sunday to race. Come out to make sure you are over the 50% threshold to qualify.
(October 17, races 64-66 in the championship series)