Tag Archives: PRSA Dinghy Open

PRSA Dinghy Open: 14 October

PRSA Sailors — this weekend we take a break from our regularly scheduled fleet racing of the fall series for our dinghy open.  The NOR and SIs are posted at  http://potomacriversailing.org/nors-sis/  The basics are the same, 10 am skipper’s meeting, 11:30 first warning, and après-sail pot-luck cook out, but this week you get to pit your skills and tactics against sailors in the other fleets!

If the forecast holds we should have another beautiful fall weekend, so come out for the sailing and stay for the cook-out! PRSA will supply soda and beer, please bring some snacks/grill treats to share.

PRSA Dinghy Open — All Classes, All Boats, One Winner!

We held the Fall PRSA Dinghy Open on Sunday, 15 October.  With 7 Lightnings, 2 Buccaneers, 2 Albacores, and 1 WETA we had a nice mix of classes on the course.  PRO Bob Bear and his RC Crew did a nice job in setting up 4 fantastic races (an O2 and 3 O3 races) in a steady S/SW 10-15 knot breeze.  It was a fantastic chance for all of us in various classes to square up against one another on one start line and on the same course!

Instead of presenting a writeup from just one person, I’ve asked all of the skippers and crews to send in a line or two describing what they saw on the course, what they were thinking about, or what they learned.  I’ve started the thread with the first few contributions here.  Please feel free to add your own thoughts as comments, or email them to Aaron to have them added to the main post.  Scores are posted here, but keep reading for some of the fun details and observations from the weekend!

From Nic and Connor on their Buc:   Connor and I, after getting in the mixing bowl with everyone else for the start of Race 1, decided, for races 2 and 3, to hang 10-20 yards below the starting line, going across on starboard from midway of the line at about the 1 minute horn. Then we slowly headed up with the goal of starting right at the pin at full speed. And it worked! We were leeward to everyone as we got to the line and so had a great position and got 2 really good, fast and clear starts (before our jib issues half way through race 3  led to us going in).  Also, at BNAC we learned how to use the spinnaker pole to wing out our jib on the downwind legs when wind speeds made us a little nervous to fly the spinnaker. Winging it out lets you sail right at the mark and to take advantage of any surfing possibilities that come up when you’re going directly with the waves . I think that we were as fast, maybe ever faster, to the mark (VMG) as most boats around us. We put the pole on the jib sheet and then lower the pole to stretch out the jib to expose as much surface area as possible.

From Aaron, sailing with Dana and Blake on Aaron’s Lightning: from the beginning we thought that the right side of the course would be favored (having observed some wind shifts at the line and the puffs along the airport shore).  Contrary to Nic’s strategy described above, we made a point of fighting for a boat-end start for each race.  It paid off for us — we were either off the line and leading early, or we had the room to tack right and then tack back to go south.  We gained each time we went right, though we had to be careful.  There was a nice righty (lift on starboard tack) as you approached the windward mark each time.  At the same time, you could make nice gains by staying middle or a bit left after rounding the leeward mark.  It was most important to get right in the upper 1/2 to 1/3 of the windward leg.  Beyond that, we focused on boat balance.  Sailing a Lightning flat (windward chine just barely out of the water) is very, very important.  When we did this well we could point 3-5 degrees higher than our competition and still keep our speed.  Doing this off of the start allowed us to hold lanes against Albacores and Bucs, and to pinch off boats to windward.  Flat is fast!!!

PRSA Dinghy Open Results

We had a great turnout this past Sunday with about 20 boats in a number of classes (Albacores, Buccaneers, Force 5, Lasers, Lightnings, Multihulls, and Sunfish)  racing in the 3rd Annual PRSA Dinghy Open.  The weather conditions were fantastic with a nice southerly blowing at about 8-12 knots the whole day.  PRO Bob Bear and his crew did a great job in getting us 5 fun races (all O2 or O3 courses) and we still had enough time for a wonderful BBQ in summer-like conditions after the racing.  Full scores will be posted soon.  In the meanwhile, here are the top 4 (the teams that earned hardware this past Sunday):

  1. Nabeel Alsalam (Lightning)
  2. Aaron Boesenecker (Lightning)
  3. John VanVoorhis (Lightning)
  4. Barney Harris (Albacore)

It was great fun racing against all the classes using the Portsmouth Yardstick (time/wind condition) scoring format.  Starts were especially interesting as we ran one big start for all,  meaning that you had to negotiate the different timing and starting strategies (and different maneuvering capabilities) of a whole variety of classes.  Definitely something new and different for us, but worth doing once or twice a year to shake things up and have some fun!

PRSA Dinghy Open

On October 16 PRSA will host the 3rd Annual PRSA Dinghy Open Regatta.  This is your chance to compete against all dinghy classes in a series of “boat-on-boat” races, so don’t miss out!

Sailboats of any class 20’ and under are invited to participate. Sailboats may be organized and compete in three divisions – Spinnaker Division, Non-spinnaker Division and Multi-hull Division. Based on the number of boats present at the Skipper’s Meeting, Divisions may be combined.  All races will be scored according to the Portsmouth Yardstick system.

The NOR and Sailing Instructions are posted below.  Questions should be directed to the Aaron at apb99@mac.com.

PRSA Dinghy Open NOR

PRSA Dinghy Open Sailing Instructions

Important Fall Schedule Information

I’m writing with a couple of important announcements about our fall racing schedule:

  1. We need to staff our Race Committee for the fall!  Please Sign up now if you have not already done so.
  2. We have decided to move the President’s Cup to Sept. 19-20 (a weekend different than the LLS Fundraiser).   More details are provided below.
  3. The PRSA Dinghy Open is back by popular demand, and will be held on October 4.

I’ve posted more details on these important changes below.  Please don’t hesitate to contact your Executive Board if you have any questions.

Continue reading Important Fall Schedule Information

2014 PRSA Dinghy Open

On September 14 PRSA will host the first annual PRSA Dinghy Open Regatta.  This is your chance to compete against all dinghy classes in a series of “boat-on-boat” races, so don’t miss out!

Sailboats of any class 20’ and under are invited to participate. Sailboats may be organized and compete in three divisions – Spinnaker Division, Non-spinnaker Division and Multi-hull Division. Based on the number of boats present at the Skipper’s Meeting, Divisions may be combined.  All races will be scored according to the Portsmouth Yardstick system.

The NOR and Sailing Instructions are posted below.  Questions should be directed to the Regatta Chair, Jeff Neurauter (703-350-9666, jmnsailor@yahoo.com).

2014 PRSA Dinghy Open NOR

2014 PRSA Dinghy Open SIs