The 2011 Albacore Internationals were held from 16-23 September in Toronto, Canada. Over sixty boats from three different countries participated, with wind conditions ranging from extremely light to a steady 20 knots with puffs up to 30 knots. PRSA and Potomac River Albacore Fleet member Barney Harris, with crew David Byron, won the event, with a net score of 22 after 12 races (with two drops). See video coverage of the event here: http://www.youtube.com/user/albacoreusa. You’ve got to see what happens when we find a boat somewhere it shouldn’t be here, in a short video we call “An Albacore on Castaway Bay”, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1JuVx2vlxM.
President’s/Leukemia Cup Photos!
Follow this link for some excellent photos of the racing taken by Carl Schaefer during the 77th Annual President’s/Leukemia Cup. Many thanks to Carl for volunteering his time, as well as to Whit Overstreet from Potomac Riverkeeper for the use of their boat as a photograph platform during the regatta.
If you wish to use these pix for marketing, for posting online, or for any other commercial purpose other than for private viewing, please contact Carl (cgschaefer@gmail.com). At a minimum, picture credit should be attributed to Carl G. Schaefer, Jr, Copyright 2011.
Fall Series #2 Results – 09-25-11
I can’t add too much to what Aaron says below. I’ll just say it was one painful day…
Here are the scores:
Fall Series #2 Wrap-Up
Greetings PRSA Sailors! As many of you know, I’ve been writing reports from our spring/fall series racing for the Lightning fleet over the past year. We’re going to start posting these write-ups here as well, in the hopes of starting a conversation among all the fleets and sailors out for our regular races. I’ll do my best to capture what I see on the racecourse each Sunday, but here is where we need your help: if you are sailing in one of the other fleets, go ahead and post a comment with your own experiences from the racing (just click the little “no comment” link above the post to add a comment). We definitely want to hear from you, and we hope to start a pattern of weekly postings and emails (via our listservs) that recount the day’s racing and generate some enthusiasm for the next event. So read on to hear about Fall Series #2, but more importantly, feel free to chime in with your own voice!
The PRSA Fall Series #2 was another day of tricky river sailing. Light and variable NE winds combined with a strong current and stiff tidal flow made for challenging strategic and tactical decisions. If you went south to get a patch of breeze, you then had to fight your way back north against the current to get to a mark. If you sailed to far into the NE corner under Hains Point you found yourself being pushed down the river with no breeze to power you across the way to the leeward mark. As with any given Sunday, there was an element of chance involved…but in talking to folks afterwards, it became clear that the boats that did well also made good decisions–most notably, in “connecting the dots” between patches of breeze. Overall, we were thrilled to see Chris Kozel and his team (Palmer Phillips and Chris Lewton) win their first race in Lightning Fleet 50 on Sunday–congratulations Chris! It was also great to see a few new faces out on various boats, and to welcome back some folks that we hadn’t seen in a bit. Keep reading for a detailed wrap-up of the day’s racing and post-race fun, and be sure to post your own comments and stories from the weekend here!
Fall Series #2
As we conducted the Skipper’s Meeting there was no noticable wind on the river, so we discussed the merits of delaying on shore or towing boats out to the race course. Ultimately, the Lightnings decided to take a tow and the Hobies and Albacores otped to wait for the wind to fill in. As we arrived at the upper race course, the wind filled in right on schedule. The race committee quickly set a course and sent the Lightnings around the course as the wind fluctuated between 2 and 5 knots. As the Lightnings sailed around the race course, the Hobies and Albacores worked their way out the race course. As soon as they arrived, the RC started them. The light winds hung around long enough to get two races off and then everyone went back to shore for some well deserved beverages and grilling.
Fall Series #1 Results – 09-18-2011
The skies were grey with a threat of rain so I think a lot of people decided to stay home. What a shame, it turned out to be an excellent day of sailing. The breeze was out of the NE for the most part with some huge right shifts throughout the day. It came in at about 12kts while we were standing around on the docks for the skippers meeting and slowly faded as the day progressed. The RC, ably headed up by Nathan Marsh and the Albacore fleet, set up a nice Windward-Leeward course running diagonally across the river. Four Albacores, Four Hobies, and Seven Lightnings came out to play in the shifting breezes. With the big right shifts, Jibe Sets were the order of the day for the Lightning fleet which made good crew work a premium. We got four races in before the dying breeze gave up for the day. A good day was had by all. Here are the scores:
President’s/Leukemia Cup 2011 – Day 1 results
It turned out to be a beautiful sailing day despite all the rain we had leading up to it. The river was remarkably clean. Only the occassional log showed up — I saw maybe 4 all day long. The current was strong but the NW breeze was enough for the sailors to sail against it. Downwind & down current the sailors flew. There were enough shifts to keep the sailors thinking about strategy. We did 4 W2 races. Below are the preliminary and interim results:
Albacore Day 1 results
Buccaneer Day 1 results
Catamaran Day 1 results
Flying Scot Day 1 results
Lightning Day 1 results
77th Annual President’s/Leukemia Cup Regatta
Hello PRSA members, just around the corner is our annual 77th
President’s/Leukemia Cup regatta Sept 10th and 11th. Information
including the schedule of events, NOR and pre-registration are on our
Web site located here:
http://www.potomacriversailing.org/PresidentsLeukemiaCups/
If you planning on racing, please take a moment to pre-register. If you
are interested in raising money for the L&LS indicate that on the
pre-registration form and they will contact you with additional details.
We have been working closely with L&LS to make this a more enjoyable
event for our members this year. For instance for the Saturday party
they are not going to start serving food until 4:15 and will be holding
back additional food for those that arrive late. There will also be
awards (half hull trophies) for 1st and 2nd place for Saturday.
If you have any questions Aaron Boesenecker is our liaison to L&LS,
Nabeel Alsalam is our upper course PRO and Jim Graham is our lower
course PRO. Or you can always ask me…
Also we are still looking for a Regatta Chairman (or woman) for this
event. The primary responsibility is to organize the party Sunday after
racing. Deciding what food to have, purchasing it, cooking it if
necessary. You can certainly plan to sail Sunday and do this job, I
have done it before, just requires some planning. If your interested
please let me know. Thanks
Scott
Spring Series #8, 06/05/11
Well the Spring Series is now a wrap. We had great turnout on the last day of the series with Albacores, Buccaneers, Hobies, and Lightnings all coming out to play. The weather was… Well it was… what? A bit cloudy, hot, the breezes were light to non existent, and generally east except for the thermals coming off the airport. The current was a major factor. The RC, headed by Nathan Marsh did a good job in some trying conditions. The first race was almost time limited, but most boats managed to finish. The next two races were better, but all in all it was a painful day for everyone. Still a rough day on the water is better than a day spent doing anything else. Here are the scores:
PRSA Spring Regatta 2011, Lower Course Results
If you missed Saturday you missed a great sailing day with a south breeze 10 mph and warm temps. We had sixteen boats with a few people who have not sailed in quite sometime. Steve Parsons sailed with us for the fist time in about a year and Cheryl Taylor has not sailed in over a year.
The day started out with a very solid breeze with very few wind shifts (unusual conditions for the river) but by the fourth race the river had found its wind shifty groove.
Cary Comer came out of the gate rounding all of the marks in the first race in first and finished fourth on the day. Len Guenther warmed up after the first three races and finished with a 3-1-3-4 and good enoguh for third place overall. Justin Pollack was very consistent and finish the day with a first in the last race and second in the overall standings. Erich Hesse loved the steady southerly and took the first place honors.
Thanks to Jim Graham for organizing the regatta. Big thanks to Rick Welch, Aaron Boesenecker (thanks for the pictures) and another Lightning crew member for great RC and crunching the numbers by hand afterwards. Thanks to Steve Parsons, Len, and Farley with helping flipping burgers and rolling hot dogs. I think a great time was had by all.
Erich Hesse (Laser Fleet Captain)
2011 PRSA Spring Regatta – Lasers
Pictures: Lasers on the Lower course