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)
It was a cloudy day with nice winds were from the NE. Our course was from near the airport shore to the mouth of the Anacostia, twice around. The finish line was an obstruction that could not be sailed through which created a strategic question about which way to sail around it.
Frank started off slow but ticked off three bullets after the first race. He banged the right each time and even though we thought there were some shift worth taking to the left his strategy prevailed.
(October 10th and races 60-63 in the championship series.)
It was a very windy day and only 5 boats raced. They all started together and Barney showed that Albacores are faster than Lightnings in those winds. Well, to be fair Frank did not fly his spinnaker — wind was too gusty.
Results:
(October 17, race 51-54 in the PRSA Spring & Fall Series)
The Albacore had their North American Championships Saturday – Monday and PRSA raced on the same course on Sunday. Nelson Pemberton ran the races from the bridge of a large cabin cruiser. The wind was from the NE, so Nelson set up the start line fairly near the airport and the windward mark was almost in the Anacostia.
The finish line was an obstruction that could not be sailed through which created a strategic problem of which way to go around it. And occasionally someone simply forgot about it and was disqualified.
It was cloudy with a nice breeze.
Results:
(October 10th, races 47 to 50 of the Spring and Fall series.)
Liz Williams was out with her new boat. (She bought Huma Huma when Mike & Angie Darrah moved to the California coast.)
Great job on RC yesterday, Jeff and Stas and helpers! Somehow, you conjured up the most beautiful of fall winds.
And Aaron’s homemade pickles after were a treat.
51 boats registered for the 40th Annual Laser Masters at Fishing Bay Yacht Club. Just like on the Potomac the weather was beautiful and the winds were fine if not a bit on the light side for my tastes.
James Jacob was third beating out three whipper-snappers who had to take extra points for being young. (James apologized to them.)
Jim Graham took second place in the Legend Division. Yes, for the first time this year there was a division for those aged 75+ .
Lloyd Leonard Steen Byskof had a great last race finishing 5th and 6th, respectively. I was crushed on day 1 but pulled myself up by my bootstraps and managed a respectable 15th in the last race.
Next year, this event will again be the first weekend in October — put it on your calendar. BTW, the US Laser Masters will be in Norfolk in September and the Laser Words in Mexico (Puerto Villarta) in August.
Will Phillipe & team ran RC.
It was a beautiful day to sail today with sunny skies mid 70s and wind to sail in. As PRO I was certainly challenged today with our NNW winds moving to WNW. I made use of the Postpone before Race 1 because we needed a few extra minutes to get setup (remember as PRO the postpone is your friend). The forecast of NW winds with a later shift to WNW came earlier than I expected so race 1 the windward mark was off. We moved it closer to Gravelly Point to be more NW but it continued to move WNW and the gusts putting it closer to West. I was torn about trying to adjust the course and to get races off but with it shifting back and forth I opted to leave and keep running races.
Results:
Three – John Van Voorhis, Piercarlo Brunino, and Lindsay Bach — sailed on the Potomac.
Three – Tim O’Brien, Lisa-Marie Lane, and Jeff Witten – sailed on the Bay in the Frigid Digit.
I see new first names with familiar last names. I expect the younger generation took over. I see only 4 completed races on the Bay. Was it too windy?
From Will Phillipe, PRO on the River:
It was a beautiful day to sail today with sunny skies mid 70s and wind to sail in. As PRO I was certainly challenged today with our NNW winds moving to WNW. I made use of the Postpone before Race 1 because we needed a few extra minutes to get setup (remember as PRO the postpone is your friend). The forecast of NW winds with a later shift to WNW came earlier than I expected so race 1 the windward mark was off. We moved it closer to Gravelly Point to be more NW but it continued to move WNW and the gusts putting it closer to West. I was torn about trying to adjust the course and to get races off but with it shifting back and forth I opted to leave and keep running races. —
The Frigid Digit is coming the weekend September 25th and 26th at SSA and the PA Gov Cup is the following weekend October 2nd and 3rd at SYC. Tim O’Brien and Jeff Witten will each be going to the Frigid Digit. Registration for Frigid Digit will close this Friday September 24th, so please consider coming if you are on the fence! But as Bobby Astrove says, if you aren’t going to travel to Frigid Digit you can sail in the PRSA Fall Series race on Sunday.