Join the Potomac River Sailing Association to race in the largest one-design regatta on the Potomac with the National Capitol and monuments as a backdrop, and to carry on the tradition of competitive one-design racing that started with the 1934 President’s Cup! All one-design classes 20 feet or under are invited.
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.
2022 Spring Series Results
We had 20 races over 8 Sundays. Not all classes competed in all 20 races. To qualify, the boat must have sailed in 50 percent or more of the races in which at least one boat from the class competed. Boats that did not qualify have an # by their number.
These are preliminary pending corrections and interpretation of the NOR.
2022 Spring Series #8 (Jun 5)
Kyra Tallon ran the races with help from Jeff Witten.
It appears the winds were from the east and dying.
This is being posted late. Sorry.
Notes:
Laser 177053 competed but I don’t know who she is. That sail number is not registered or signed in.
2022 Spring Series #7 (May 22)
Dana Howe ran the races. Thank you!
This is being posted late. Sorry.
Races 15-17
Notes:
Sail number 806 is listed twice on the finish sheet for I-20s in race 3. I recorded the first finish.
Sail number 67 is listed on the finish sheet for Lightnings race 2, but I don’t have that boat registered.
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 #6
The weather looked like it was going to be a gray bummer but the wind came up to 8 mph and the sun came out. It ended up to be a beautiful day for sailing and we got 5 races in. We started with a 1lap race when the wind looked like it might not fill it, then switched to 2 laps once the wind and sun came out. Each fleet got another 1 lap race to end the day. There were 3 Albacores, 3 Buccaneers, 3 Lightnings, and 6 I-20s. Thanks again to Jess, Dana, and Eva for helping out on RC.
— Tom Hutton
PS: The protest was about using kinetics, i.e. rocking the boat to gain speed.
Leesylvania Volunteers
Eleven Fleet 50 sailors and friends met at Leesylvania State Park last Saturday and spent an easy couple of hours working and chatting while we worked.
It was really good to see Bob Gotthardt back and looking strong after his health event last year.
Jim and Bob used the small amount of available paint to freshen up the kitchen in the pavilion. The rest of us traded off the four available rakes to clean the camping area next to the pavilion of gum balls.
In return, the park gives us the pavilion to use free of charge for our regatta (normally $700).
Spring Series So Far
This spring started off with two very heavy wind days, followed by a near zero wind day, and finally a moderate wind day. Below are the cumulative results so far.
Next weekend is the Potomac Cup and then four more Spring Series Sundays and the PRSA Spring Regatta on the river. Nearby on the bay we have the Dixie Districts/No Gas. Lots of sailing opportunities before the hot summer settles in on us. Plan to get out as much as you can. You won’t regret it.