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Here are archived reports of fleet doings since 2000. They are presented as is, I merely added the following hyperlinks to allow you to browse those glory days more easily. |
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POTOMAC RIVER
HAMPTON FLEET ARCHIVE
Potomac
River Spring Series Reports 2002
PRSA Spring Series Report # 3
I admit
it. When I showed up at the marina on Sunday morning, with a chilly
breeze and gray skies threatening to rain, I
secretly hoped
that no one else would show. But they did show: Lars first, then
Tom and Jocelyn, and then Latane and Patty.
And as everyone
arrived, I thought I saw in their faces a twinge of disappointment as each
person's fantasy of cancelled races
and a warm,
leisurely breakfast was replaced with the reality of wet, windy sailboat
racing.
But race we
did. And it turned out to be a fine day.
The river was
high, with an unusual amount of driftwood and debris. Winds from the
North-Northeast required the RC to set a
fairly short
cross-river course. Moderate breezes put Lars out on the trap maybe half
the time; Patty and Jocelyn were
probably out there
for most of the beats. The wind was nice, remaining remarkably steady and
even for the Potomac (yes, tall
for a midget, fast
for a turtle, etc.). I've noticed this before: decent winds often
accompany overcast, drizzly weather on the
upper Potomac.
We sailed two
races with multiple short legs -- RC wisely added some extra sausages to the
standard gold-cup course. Given
the short courses
and many roundings, a premium was placed on boat
handling and tactics. And we were presented with
unusual problems
such as what to do when you're reaching around in the pre-start sequence and
suddenly 3 racing catamarans
are bearing down
on you, each flying a hull on a screaming reach (answer -- get out of the way).
Though Tom &
Jocelyn and Bill & Lars each led for part of the first race, Latane sailed some wickedly good runs and 712
ended up
winning. The wind slackened a bit for the second race, but Latane pulled into the lead shortly after the start and
stayed there
through the finish -- though each boat finished within about 6 lengths of the
next.
Meanwhile, the
drizzle that had begun falling just before the start of the second race had
settled into a steady rain, and we
decided to call it
quits while we were still dry and comfortable. Though it didn't look
promising, it actually turned out to be a
nice day of
sailing.
So
. . . . Here are the results to date.
Sail
Sailors Cumulative
Points
712:
723:
Carnell/Florio
13
684: Ballantine/Scheffel 4
706: Twinn/Cassidy
4
638: Propst
3
693: Kistler/Kistler 1
657:
Riley
1
The Right Stuff! PRSA Spring Series Report # 2
5 Hamptons showed up for the second PRSA Spring
event. The roster featured a number of creative
pairings.
New boat owner Ed Cassidy crewed for Ian Twinn in
#706, Team Justice-regular Jocelyn Scheffel
sailed with
Stephen Propst in the newly refurbished #638 and
Steve Kistler teamed up with prospective new
fleet member Sean Reilly as he test drove #657.
#712 and # 723 featured the regular Montague and
Carnell/Florio pairings.
The
balmy calm that existed as we launched gave little indication of the battles against
Mother-nature that
lay
ahead. The wind filled in nicely from the
kts over the course of the two lap windward-leeward
course. The
started
second, after the 15 boat Lightning fleet. Most of the fleet got a off to
a fast start but #712 was slow on
the gas and
got flushed out the back and tacked to port to clear. Port tack was
lifted, and with clear air, 712
got back in
the thick. Sean Reilly showed extraordinary prowess in his first ever
boatspeed in a borrowed boat, and good overall tactics with
Steve Kistler keeping the rig in one piece.
Sean
gave Ian & Ed a run for their money, but ultimately Ian showed that his
stand-out performance at the
Leukemia Cup
was not a fluke and pulled away for a strong second place finish behind Patty
& Latane. Bill
and Lars
kept the pressure on and moved into third. While Propst and Jocelyn used their experience to get
around Sean & Steve for fourth place on the final leg.
The wind began to build as we waited for race #2 and by the time it started
full trapeze conditions were in
effect.
The fleet all had good speed in the breeze and everyone stayed in a tight pack
that marched out left
into the
channel. 712 was barely able to cross 657 after
tacking near the port layline. They rounded 1
and 2
with
Ian and Ed in a close 3rd, and #638 close behind. #712 pulled away a bit
on the run, and #706 got
around #657. According to the weather service, the wind was averaging
between 10-15 kts early in the
second race but by
Near the
bottom of the run 706 flipped-over gybing for the
leeward mark. Suddenly the wind seemed even
stronger and
water much colder. 706 did not come right back up and was sideways to the
breeze and waves,
so Patty and
I circled back to help. With Ed and Ian on the board, they could not
right the boat, and it was too
rough to
swim the bow into the wind. The mast tip had sunken out of reach and may
have been lodged in the
mud. By this time, several other boats in the other classes had flipped,
and there were now roughly 3
disabled
boats for every crash-boat on the water. A Lightning went over
about 100 yards west of #706. The
chase boat
came but was unable to maneuver effectively in the chop and made pass after
pass after pass
trying to
get Ed a line for the bow. I considered throwing them a line from
712. It was ridiculous. Eventually a
line was
attached to the bow to pull it into the wind, but it promptly snapped.
The chase boat left to go find
another line (!?). By this time Sean and Steve had also abandoned their
race to give assistance. They
dropped
their main and focused on the Lightning while we stayed with 706. The
chase boat returned later
and divided
its time unproductively between the two downed boats as we continued to sail
circles around #
706 and
retrieve the "bits" and monitor their comfort level. Eventually
we sailed up to the RC and told them
they needed
to abandon station and work as a crash boat. 4 Albacore sailors had taken
refuge in the main
committee
boat. There was an old man sitting motionless on the floor in the back
covered in blankets. He
had been removed from one of the Albacores.
When we returned to 706, Ed Cassidy was in the
chase boat. He had been in the water for nearly 30
minutes, no
shoes, no wetsuit. Bruised, but not
broken. There was nothing left to do but get ourselves safely
off the
water. As we hardened up for the long beat it was very painful to look
back at Ian bobbing up and down
on his
centerboard. At that point I thought the boat would have to be abandoned
where it lay. I did not think
that his
boat would be returned in one piece, and I was not sure that the mast and
shrouds were still intact.
Ian had
just picked the boat up from Eddie Williams' shop and it was flawless when he
left the dock. Had
Ian's girlfriend been watching all this unfold from the Gravely Point as
planned?
Equally
sickening was the site of 657 reaching back and forth with just its jib, and its
mainhalyard flying off
the mast
head like a streamer. How were Steve and that rookie skipper ever going
to get the main back up
for
the 3 mile beat home? With Patty shivering uncontrollably we hardened up
and began the long sail
around the airport
to the marina. Would she ever sail with me again? #723 and #638 had
wisely headed
back in as
the carnage began to mount to reduce the number of disabled craft. As we
approached the old
windward
mark, we saw just a sliver of a sinking yellow Albacore that had been
abandoned. It had an orange
buoy tied on to mark the spot.
Back on land I ran to my car like a fireman, and put on my wetsuit so that I
would be ready for salvage
operations. Bill Carnell and I went to find PRSA's
13-foot Whaler. Meanwhile Propst, Lars, Jocelyn
and
Patty
hauled 712 and 638. This was a team effort. The whaler would not
start. We pulled and pulled the
starter rope, with the image of Ian & Ed and Steve & Sean out there
bobbing, but it would not even fire.
Eventually,
we went back to the riverside planning to flag down one of the main chaseboats so that we could
replace the original crew when they came in.
As we
approached the dock, we saw an incredible site, two
glory. It was simply miraculous to me that these guys got both boats back
on their feet and home on their
own
power. After all the time they spent in the cold water and how futile
things looked when we had left them,
this was truly amazing. These guys have -
The Right Stuff.
Thinking
quickly, Jocelyn and Bill formed a beer search-party so that we could welcome
the soggy sailors
home
appropriately with . . . The Right Beverage. In the end, both boats were
fine. The worst part for Ian was
Ed reporting
to Ian's girlfriend Vicky (who had come all the way from England for the
weekend) that the whole
time Ian was standing on the centerboard he was screaming "UGH, I CAN'T
GET IT UP ! "
The best
part for all of us was that Sean Reilly was not phased by the adventure in the
least, count him in,
he's got your back and of course, The Right Stuff.
PRSA
Spring Series # 1
On Sunday, April 7, the PRSA spring series got off to a great start.
Though we feared the worst, the weather turned out
well: clear skies
and moderate winds, and while we might have preferred a few more degrees it was
not uncomfortably cold.
Winds were from
the south at 6-12, with a few gusts up to about 15.
Tom & Jocelyn (684), Latane & Patty (712) and
me and Lars (723) made it out to Hains Point and
sailed two gold cup
style races
(triangle - sausage). Steve Kistler was the
on-duty engine mechanic aboard the comittee
boat. The RC had some
difficulty setting
the race course due to unfavorable wind conditions (it's always hard to set a
course on the
southerly winds,
and there appeared to be a persistent counter-clockwise shift). As a
result, the beats were basically one-tack
and the reaches
and runs were a bit unconventional as well.
We started with the Albacores (3 of them and 3 of us). Latane won the first start, successfully port-tacking the
entire fleet,
and went right,
along with 684. By the first rounding, the order had been reversed: 723,
Tom & Jocelyn in a close second
place, 712.
Not coincidentially, given the way the windshifts played out, that order is the same as our respective
positions,
from left to
right, across the racecourse. 712 made up some distance on the reaching
legs and we rounded the leeward mark in
the same order
that we ultimately finished: 723-712-684. Needless to say, Lars and I
were pumped.
In the second race, we all seemed to have decent starts, and again the shifts
favored those who went left. Somehow again
723 rounded the
mark slightly ahead of 712, and (in part because these were one-tack beats,
which made it hard for them to
tack off) we always
somehow managed to stay between Latane and the next
mark, so that we again finished 723-712-684.
After the second race, by mutual assent we all called it quits and sailed in
for a late lunch at
in the basin, Propst and Kirsi had launched
late, but still (they thought with good reason) in time to make the second
race.
After leaving the
dock and sailing down into the basin to stow gear, etc., they turned back to
beat up the channel.
Unfortunately Propst got a little too close to the big bulkhead near the
restaurant: though one would think that the bulkhead
extends as far
below water as it does above, there's actually some major stone/concrete
obstructions in there that can damage
your boat at low
tide. Stephen smacked unto such an obstruction at full speed, had to jump out
into the 58-degree water and
remove his damaged
rudder, and generally put on a show for the brunch crowd. Fortunately
there's no serious damage, but
638 never made it
to the race course.
So . . . after Spring Series #1, the standings are:
723 - Carnell/Florio: 6
712 - double Montague: 4
684 - Ballantine/Scheffel: 2
693 - Kistler (for RC duty): 1
638 - Propst (for being ready, willing, but unable):
1
Potomac River
Spring Series Reports 2001
PRSA
Spring Series # 6
The PRSA
Hampton Fleet enjoyed another Sunday of windy conditions on May
13 for
Spring Series event #5 . National Airport
reported winds between
12-19 mph
sustained, and gusts over 23 mph throughout the period of the
races.
5 Hamptons braved the chilly northly
winds: Team Propst, teaming
up with
regular mate Melissa Rickard, the Kistlers, Bill
& Ian (Team
Trans-Atlantic),
Tom & Jocelyn and Patty & Latane. The
sail out to the
course was a
challenge, and Team Propst was taken out by gear
failure
shortly
before the start of Race #1. Apparently, the bolt holding the
mainsheet
ratchet block (Ronstan) sheared in two in a puff.
On the
first beat of Race #1, it was clear that the preceding windy
weekend had
allowed everyone to improve their heavy air boat speed
considerably.
The preceding weekend, #712 was sailed consistently flatter
and faster
than the competition. The last time out, #712 also seemed to
sail 2-3
degrees higher than everyone else. The difference seemed to be
that the
other boats were just not using enough sheet tension on both
sails when
the breeze was on. Yesterday, everyone seemed to be able to
depower better, and sail closer to the wind. Upwind
speeds seemed pretty
even across
the fleet on the first beat. Everyone started the race on
Starboard,
but port tack was clearly the favored tack to the mark. 712
was the
first to tack onto port and was the first to get to the veering
oscillation
at the top of the course. I must admit that as we looked back
towards the
mark for the layline, I did a double take as I
noticed that
the whole
fleet was basically right there in the thick of it. "Maybe I've
given these
guys one too many tips," I muttered, almost falling out of the
boat.
At some point on the second beat of the windward/leeward course,
Team Justice
(#684) and Team Trans-Atlantic (#662) decided that the real
excitement
was in a match race for second place. The ensuing match-race
tactics let
#712 get away into the stronger breeze on the right side of
the course,
and even let an Interlake get by as the litigants pushed each
other out
past the laylines on each windward leg. With
gusts over 20 kts
and a good
race under our belts most of us decide to plane in and save our
equipment
for season-opening Trapeze regatta next weekend. Bill Carnell
and Ian
stayed out reveling in the breeze, and garnered an extra series
point for
their heroics. After the racing we all enjoyed beer and burgers
out on the
deck and watched the windsurfers out making the Daingerfield
Basin look
like the The Gorge. BIll
Bavin showed up after the racers were
safely off
the water ;) and began preparing his boat for the trip down to
the Trapeze.
This may
well have been the last Spring Series event for Patty and I
with
regattas and
holidays on the horizon. (Trapeze (5/19) and Wolcott Memorial
Regattas (6/2)
coming up on either side of Memorial Day weekend) Looking
back on the
season, it has really been impressive to see how much better
the fleet
has gotten over the last 6 weeks. The Kistler's
clearly have
made the
most progress, and have truly reinvented their program for 2001
with a new
boat (#693) and a commitment to spending time on the water in
it.
Their convincing second place finish in heavy air last weekend is
clearly a
hint of things to come for Team Kistler. Tom
and Jocelyn have
also shown
that they will be contenders. Team Justice has established
great
teamwork and boat handling in short order, and have also
demonstrated
exceptional racecourse savvy for a team claiming so little
prior racing
experience (hmm?, didn't I seem Tom & Jocelyn on the back of
one of those
Americas Cup boats last year in NZ?). With a quick boat in
#684, and
talent to scale a steep learning curve, they should be also be
competitive
at the season's bigger traveling regattas. I expect that the
best sailing
is still ahead for the fleet's more experienced teams, who
were not
able to get out as consistently this spring. Nevertheless, each
veteran team
also had at least one or two dominating days over the course
of the
series showing the benefits of having spent some time on the
Baywide regatta circuit over last two seasons.
Next
weekend is the season opener for the Summer's
Chesapeake Regatta
Circuit
which kicks off down in Hampton at the HYC Trapeze Regatta. The
Wolcott
Memorial follows the weekend after Memorial Day on June 2. From
here on out,
the focus for racing activity will shift to the Traveling
regatta
circuit for weekend racing. Locally, the PRSA Wednesday evening
series has
already begun. The Hampton Fleet is welcome to join in as soon
as the fleet
develops a consensus to get out there. Patty and I promise
to be
regulars on Wednesdays, but we will let someone else carry the ball
for
orchestrating that.
Here are the finishes and season scores:
Series #5
1. 712
2. 662
3. 684
4. 693
5. 638
(finish order/order of retirement)
Season Totals
1. Team
Matrimony, 41 pts.
2. Team
Justice, 28 pts.
3. Team Propst, 24 pts.
4. Team
Trans-Atlantic, 18 pts.
5. Team Kistler, 17 pts.
6. Team Bavin, 4 pts.
PRSA Spring
Series #5
Finally some
wind! After 4 Sundays of light and fluky air, race day this
week dawned with a
moderate to fresh northeasterly. NWS reported winds
between 11-17 mph
(15kts) at
Laura and I
showed up to an empty marina: the Lightnings were all
off down
the river for
their annual Potomac Cup, at which most of the Albacore fleet
was serving as
race committee. By the time the skippers meeting rolled
around we had a few
catamarans and Albacores along with four
skippered by Ballantine, Montague, Propst, and
myself (Kistler). The
Mobjacks were on RC duty and ran
three races on an Olympic style course.
After a pre-race
briefing from Latane on some heavy air safety and
speed
tactics, we ripped
up the river to the race course on a screaming plane to
the race course.
Latane and I both had a good start for race #1 and headed up the
left side
of the beat into
favorable wind and current. Propst and Ballantine were in
a hot race for
third all the way to the mark, which was set out toward the
channel where the
wind seemed even more gusty and shifty. After everyone
got around the
windward mark the race turned into a game of follow the
leader, with Latane and Patty crossing the finish line with room to
spare.
Laura and I were very psyched to finally put some boats behind us.
In the second
race the first leg again proved to be the deciding factor. By
now all four boats
seemed to get into the heavy air groove, and all four
crew looked great
out on the trapeze. At the first mark and at the finish
it was Montague-Propst-Ballantine-Kistler. The fleet stayed fairly
close
together for most
of the race, although we did seem to get separated a bit
by some lighter
air at the leeward mark, which was set fairly close to the
airport runway.
The start of
the third race was hampered a bit when the race committee flew
the catamaran flag
for our sequence. Some of us managed to figure this out
right away; Laura
and I only realized we had started when we saw Patty leap
out on the
trapeze. After the crazy start this race looked a lot like the
previous one, with
all four boats finishing in the same order. The race
committee then
called it quits and we all headed in together. The four
have been quite
site to all of the folks loitering about the docks.
Unfortunately we
noticed on the way in that the hydrilla has started
to
return to the
Latane, Patty, Stephen P., Rene, Laura, and I retired to the
Afterdeck Cafe
for burgers and
beers, while Tom and Jocelyn practiced out in the basin. 684
looked fantastic
out among all of the beat-up Flying Scots and small
cruisers
struggling in the breeze. When all was said and done the results
were:
Series #5
Race #1
1. 712
2. 693
3. 684
4. 638
Race #2
1. 712
2. 638
3. 684
4. 693
Race #3
1. 712
2. 638
3. 684
4. 693
1. Patty & Latane, 37 pts.
2. Jocelyn &
Tom "Team Justice", 25 pts.
3. Team Propst, 23 pts.
4. Laura &
Steve, 15 pts.
5. Ian & Bill,
13 pts.
6. Team Bavin, 4 pts.
See you next week!
Steve
PRSA
Spring Series Regatta Report #4
It was the best
of days, it was the worst of days. Mild temperatures.
Pristine,
hydrilla-free water. Not a single
cloud to mar the brilliant
azure sky.
Six beautiful
In attendance
were boats driven by Ballentine, Bavin,
Carnell, Kistler,
Montague & Propst.
The race out to
the race course proved to be a harbinger of things to come:
we launched in
light breeze at about
died we weren't
able to drift all the way out to Hains Point until
about
where, happily,
the tide was flowing strongest -- and passed much of the
fleet. Bavin got the short end of the stick as he sailed down
river a good
bit out of respect
for the sand bar and then, as the wind died, he was made
late for the first
race.
The first race
gave us conditions ranging from very light breeze (maybe 2-3
knots) to pure
drifting. As we approached the start, the Lightnings
had
barely drifted
over the line and proved to be quite the obstacle course.
Montague &
Carnell started more or less together, while Propst, Kistler and
Team Justice were
stuck behind some "obstacles" and Bavin
valiantly sought
to make his way
upriver from the power plant. Montague pulled ahead of
"Team
Trans-Atlantic" (Carnell/Twinn) on the first
beat and remained there
for pretty much
the entire race. Leeward roundings in the
Olympic-style
course proved to
be bizarre orgies of stalled and drifting boats as the
fleets piled up in
light winds.
For the second
race, the wind picked up a bit and veered off about 45
degrees from the
south to the southwest. But the engine on the committee
boat refused to
cooperate and thus the marks remained unmoved. So the
course became
something like a NASCAR oval, as everyone made the weather
mark in one or
three tacks, and the "downwind" leg looked more like a broad
reach.
Starts were generally better this time, with Montague, Propst
and
Team Justice all
vying for the lead at the mark. But the first weather mark
rounding more or
less established the final order. Tide was pushing against
the wind, so it
was a bit hard to begin making downwind progress as one
rounded the
mark. A Lightning stalled out right at the mark as he tried to
pop his chute
prematurely, and began drifting backwards with the
uncompromising
tide. Everyone else had to sail around and into a huge
mixing bowl, while
Carnell/Twinn (who had been last) took a gamble and
were
able barely to
squeeze between the Lightning & the mark, and thereby sailed
into clear air and
first place. Montague established overlap on the next
leeward rounding,
and stayed in first for the rest of the race.
The marks were
moved for the third race, but the width of the river
constrained the
length of the racecourse. The wind continued to shift
towards the west
so again there was a minimum of tacking upwind, and the
second
"reach" was the true downwind leg. Montague sailed off by
himself,
while Propst and Kistler engaged in a
brutal match-race that saw them finish
in 3rd & 4th
within two boatlengths of each other.
And, finally, the Budweisers in the parking lot were cold.
So. Final results for PRSA Series #4 are:
Race #1:
1. 712
2. 662
3. 638
4. 684
5. 693
6. 681
Race #2:
1. 712
2. 662
3. 638
4. 681
5. 684
6. 693
Race #3:
1. 712
2. 662
3. 638
4. 693
Season Totals:
1. Patty & Latane, 25 pts.
2. Jocelyn &
Tom "Team Justice", 19 pts.
3. Team Propst, 16 pts.
4. Ian & Bill,
13 pts.
5. Laura &
Steve, 10 pts.
6. Team Bavin, 4 pts.
PRSA Spring Series Regatta Report #3
Here is
the PRSA Spring Series Report #3 from this week's winners Tom
Ballantine & Jocelyn Sheffel (who recently bought Will Keyworth's
boat).
There was not
report on Series #2 because we had almost no wind and did not
get in any races.
A Diverse Coalition of Wind Directions & Speeds
Three
season. The
gorgeous sunny day started with 100% clouds & winds out of the
Southwest at maybe
5 knots. But the forecst called for winds of up
to 16
and the weather
complied by many strange paths.
The boats were
as follows: Steve & Laura Kistler in 693, Stephen Propst &
Rene Brown in
Stephen's newly varnished hull, & Jocelyn Scheffel
& Tom
Ballantine in 684. Each of
the three races finished with 684 in the lead,
followed by Team Propst, then 693. Here are some details.
The first race
was, by unaninmous agreement, way too long for the
conditions.
As the entire Hampton Fleet drifted in a tight bunch toward the
downwind mark,
Steve Kistler expressed his desire for a good
book. About
then, we all saw
the Lightning fleet bearing down on us with spinakers
flying. We
thought this strange since they were theoretically on a beat.
Soon the windshift reached us and we started our second beat on the
second
leg.
The second race
had the steadiest wind conditions of the three, which wasn't
saying much.
I thought the port tack was heavily favored from the start.
Team Propst did too and sat on us right off the line. We
tacked away, the
wind shifted, we
tacked back, I considered another tack, but before I could
make that rash
move, Jocelyn pointed out that we were on the layline.
The third &
final race was in trapeze weather, which was v. fun, and just
this side of too
exciting.
Thanks to everyone for a fun day!
Here are the current Series standings:
1. Jocelyn
& Tom, 14 pts.
2. Patty & Latane, 9 pts.
3. Laura &
Steve Kistler, 6 pts.
4. Team Propst, 6 pts.
Tom &
Jocelyn
PRSA Spring Series Regatta Report #1
Three hearty
teams showed up for the first PRSA Spring Series event and
braved chilly 40 degree
temps and light rain to find
surprisingly good
race conditions in a light 2 - 6 knot ESE breeze. The
lightnings had an excellent
turnout with 9 boats while the Albacores had 2
boats. Several
folks from both the Albacore and Lightning fleets came up to
me after the races
to say how impressed they were with the young
fleet's
participation level on Sunday and last Fall. The
catamaran fleet
served as RC and
got in three short Olympic course races using the new Rule
26 starting system
which worked well. Jocelyn and Tom were extremely
impressive in
their first outing and showed that #684 will be a boat to beat
this year by
consistently winning all three starts, showing good speed
upwind and down
and excellent teamwork, especially with the whisker pole.
The first race
was a match race between #684 and Patty & Latane
in #712.
After falling
behind at the start, 712 managed to pass 684 about half way up
the first beat,
but was unable to shake 684 until well down the first
reach
when the boats
encountered some power boat wakes that brought both boats to
a near stop in the
light going. 712 heated it up after the wakes had passed
and was able to
get moving again a little quicker than 684 and that seemed
to decide the
race.
For the second
race, Steve Kistlers sailing with Ian Twinn showed up in the
breathtaking #693
which can now easily be mistaken for a brand new boat with
its new deck paint
job. 693 and 712 were well behind the starting line for
the second start
and were again blown away at the start by Tom and Jocelyn
who were right on
the line with good speed at the gun. The first beat was
again quite close
with all three boats showing good speed when the breeze
was up, around 5-6
kts. In the lulls, 712 seemed to shift gears a little
quicker and pulled
ahead on the beats. In the lulls, Patty, with cat-like
stealth, would
move outside the coaming on the low side to maintain
leeward
heel, and would
ease the jib about 1-3 inches from the 6 kt. setting.
I
would ease the
main about 3 inches and move inboard if necessary. In the
light stuff it was
also important to keep the skipper's weight forward of
the traveler bar
to reduce wetted surface. In these conditions the jib luff
wire should have
been loose and sagging to leeward 3-4 inches at midpoint,
no vang, no cunningham, outhaul on
hard, ram up 1-2 inches above neutral for
some prebend, and traveler to windward to allow the end of the
boom to get
near centerline,
without putting too much downward tension on the main leech
with the main
sheet.
In the third
race, 693 got most of these trim issues straightened out and
was noticeably faster
upwind than in the previous race. 712 had a good
start at the
upwind committee-boat end and had a small early lead. 693 and
684 duked it out for second with
several lead changes. The pack held tight
down the first
reach. 712 and 684 pulled away from 693 on the second reach,
but Steve and Ian
had a great tactical beat and gained back at least 50
yards on the last
full beat by sailing left, out into the favorable tide.
At the windward
mark the three
had passed about
half of the Lightning fleet which had started 5 minutes
earlier. The
the run and
finished in the vicinity of the winning Lightnings.
Here are
the current
standings after last weekend, based on one point for each race
started and one
point for each boat beaten.
1. Patty & Latane 8 pts
2. Jocelyn & Tom 5 pts
3. Kistlers 2 pts
4. Everyone else is in a 5-way tie right about here.
Other Fleet
Business
Ian, Propst, Patty & Latane, the Kistlers and Carnells met last
Friday night
at the DC
Chophouse to make plans for 2001. It was decided that we should
keep last year's
participation oriented scoring formula for the Spring
series, and
collect fleet dues at $25 a piece to buy 4 places worth of
engraved trophies
for skipper & crew. The issue of additional fleet
expenditures for
beer and fleet parties was raised, but it was decided that
people would
prefer to collect that on an ad hoc basis, or just take turns,
although it was
acknowledged that in the past, the burden of those expenses
had not always
been equitably distributed among the participants. It was
also resolved that
we should look into buying a perpetual Potomac Fleet
Championship
trophy to be awarded for both the Spring and fall
series.
Susan and Patty
agreed to be form a search committee for an appropriate
piece of trophy
hardware and will spearhead the social committee. Money for
the perpetual
trophy will be collected separately. The group also agreed
that we should
consider having a fleet openhouse later in the Spring to
recruit more
folks.
In
our three-in-a-row
situation this winter, so now the fleet parking lot
strategy should
probably be oriented towards marching closer to the hoists
by getting on the
upgrade waiting list. Steve Kistler and I, who were
on
the full-year slipholder waiting list, were able to move up to rows very
near the hoists
this weekend, so I highly recommend getting your name on the
slip move-up
waiting list for the future. I think Bill Carnell and Patrick
Traylor were also
on that list, so they may want to see if any movement was
generated by April
1 renewal cycle.
2001 Write-Ups
The PRSA
Hampton Fleet enjoyed another Sunday of windy conditions on May 13 for Spring Series
event #5 .
mainsheet ratchet
block (Ronstan) sheared in two in a puff.
On the first
beat of Race #1, it was clear that the preceding windy weekend had allowed
everyone to improve their heavy air boat speed
considerably.
The preceding weekend, #712 was sailed consistently flatter and faster than the
competition. The last time out, #712 also seemed to
sail 2-3 degrees
higher than everyone else. The difference seemed to be that the other
boats were just not using enough sheet tension on both
sails when the
breeze was on. Yesterday, everyone seemed to be able to depower better, and sail closer to the wind. Upwind
speeds seemed pretty
even across the
fleet on the first beat. Everyone started the race on Starboard, but port
tack was clearly the favored tack to the mark. 712
was the first to
tack onto port and was the first to get to the veering oscillation at the top
of the course. I must admit that as we looked back
towards the mark
for the layline, I did a double take as I noticed
that the whole fleet was basically right there in the thick of it. "Maybe
I've
given these guys
one too many tips," I muttered, almost falling out of the boat. At
some point on the second beat of the windward/leeward course,
Team Justice
(#684) and Team Trans-Atlantic (#662) decided that the real excitement was in a
match race for second place. The ensuing match-race
tactics let #712
get away into the stronger breeze on the right side of the course, and even let
an Interlake get by as the litigants pushed each
other out past the
laylines on each windward leg. With gusts over
20 kts and a good race under our belts most of us
decide to plane in and save our
equipment for
season-opening Trapeze regatta next weekend. Bill Carnell and Ian stayed
out reveling in the breeze, and garnered an extra series
point for their
heroics. After the racing we all enjoyed beer and burgers out on the deck
and watched the windsurfers out making the
the Trapeze.
This may well
have been the last Spring Series event for Patty and I with
regattas and holidays on the horizon. (Trapeze (5/19) and Wolcott
Memorial
Regattas (6/2)
coming up on either side of Memorial Day weekend) Looking back on the
season, it has really been impressive to see how much better
the fleet has
gotten over the last 6 weeks. The Kistler's
clearly have made the most progress, and have truly reinvented their program
for 2001
with a new boat
(#693) and a commitment to spending time on the water in it. Their
convincing second place finish in heavy air last weekend is
clearly a hint of
things to come for Team Kistler. Tom and
Jocelyn have also shown that they will be contenders. Team Justice has
established
great teamwork and
boat handling in short order, and have also demonstrated exceptional racecourse
savvy for a team claiming so little
prior racing
experience (hmm?, didn't I seem Tom & Jocelyn on the back of one of those
Americas Cup boats last year in NZ?). With a quick boat in
#684, and talent
to scale a steep learning curve, they should be also be
competitive at the season's bigger traveling regattas. I expect that the
best sailing is
still ahead for the fleet's more experienced teams, who were not able to get
out as consistently this spring. Nevertheless, each
veteran team also
had at least one or two dominating days over the course of the series showing
the benefits of having spent some time on the
Baywide regatta circuit over
last two seasons.
Next weekend is
the season opener for the Summer's Chesapeake Regatta
Circuit which kicks off down in
Wolcott Memorial
follows the weekend after Memorial Day on June 2. From here on out, the focus
for racing activity will shift to the Traveling
regatta circuit
for weekend racing. Locally, the PRSA Wednesday evening series has
already begun. The Hampton Fleet is welcome to join in as soon
as the fleet
develops a consensus to get out there. Patty and I promise to be regulars
on Wednesdays, but we will let someone else carry the ball
for orchestrating
that.
Here are the finishes and season scores:
Series #5
1. 712
2. 662
3. 684
4. 693
5. 638
(finish order/order of retirement)
Season Totals
1. Team
Matrimony, 41 pts.
2. Team
Justice, 28 pts.
3. Team Propst, 24 pts.
4. Team
Trans-Atlantic, 18 pts.
5. Team Kistler, 17 pts.
6. Team Bavin, 4 pts.
The weather for Sunday's
PRSA Spring series was beautiful. It was sunny with
highs in low 70's and
unlimited visibility. However, looks can be
deceiving. The overnight
frontal passage left us with very unstable wind
patterns. As reported by
Leigh in Hampton and other friends racing in
Annapolis, the unstable breeze
which occilated between 5-15 kts
was found
all over the bay. The
other sailors also reported the frequent 30 degree
windshifts we encountered here on the
Caroline came up to sail
with me in #638, Bill Carnell and Ian Twinn teamed
up again, and Jason Stephens
and Tom Unger (the Motely Fools) were out in
#657. All of us found
the conditions challenging. There were numerous
capsizes in almost every class
and the post race hob-knobbing, indicated
that everyone, even the most
experienced Lightning and Albacore sailors
found the conditions very
tricky. Everyone felt like they learned alot.
Ian and Tom really started
getting the hang of Trapezing and both of their
skippers were amazed at how
much faster they went, and how much easier the
boats were to sail once they
got their crews out on the wire.
I think the lesson there is
that the faster you go, the more stable the boat
gets, and the easier it is to
sail (for example you can feather in bigger,
longer chunks if you have more
speed/momentum). Without the leverage of
someone on the trap you
constantly have way too much weather helm and not
enough lift off the rudder to
steer effectively. (without the trap you also
end up flogging the heck out
of your sails which is both expensive and slow)
In general everyone including
# 638 could have used more tension on the
mainsheet and vang up-wind and perhaps more cunningham - at least in the
puffs.
Barring thunderstorms I
think everyone is planning on sailing this
Wednesday. Rumor has it Propst is back in town and eager to get out in the
recently retuned #638!
The Trapeze regatta is this weekend. This is the
first big travel regatta, it
is just one day, in
have 10-15 boats. Look
for more information on the global
list. Since this is an
early season regatta, one idea might be for those
who are interested in going to
team up and share boats/trailer hitches, etc.
At least until people get
their programs nailed down, you may find that the
best
good bit of crewing in the
beginning and learned alot (the easy way) from
old salts. If anyone has any logistical questions about where to stay, how
to get to
Leigh w (703)
255-1300
Latane w (202) 637-6567
Spring Series IV
The Potomac Hampton Fleet
sailed another of its spring series on Sunday the
Seventh. Despite
conditions that seemed more like mid-August than early
May, a good time was had by
all. Temperatures topped out in the mid-'90s,
with clear skies and light
winds. Sunscreen and Gatorade suddenly seemed
more valuable than all the
sextuple-purchase Vectran boom vangs
in the
world.
With six boats racing,
sailed in the basin (instead
of the traditional race course in the channel),
providing extra eye candy to
all the picnicking families gathered on the
headlands. We managed to
get in one good race and before the wind
completely died.
Leigh Morgan in her
aptly-named Summer Wind won the start. But then Latane
Montague (sailing Stephen Propst's 645) turned on his turbo-thrusters sailed
out to a dominating
lead. From then on, it was a battle for second place.
Those of us in the back of the
fleet struggled to make headway while Latane
managed to find enough wind to
carry Caroline Taylor out on the trapeze.
The name of the game turned
out to be spotting the wind shifts and keeping
the pressure on the
sails. With imported talent from
Carnell and the Lazarus-like
Bionic Boat managed to be on the right side of
a few shifts and stayed in
second for a couple roundings. Crewman Ian Twinn
was later heard remarking that
sailing on the
Bill Bavin
(with Jesse Vogelson) passed Carnell on the second
beat, playing
the shifts like a
fiddle. Leigh rounded the mark just behind Carnell, with
Jason Stephens hot on her
trail.
The downwind legs sailed
more like reaches than dead downwind, but the basin
was full of jibes and pole
sets/stows as everyone tried to work with the
shifts. Bavin didn't like where the leeward mark was placed, so on
the
final rounding he fastened it
to his rudder and dragged it several yards
closer to what would have been
dead downwind. This unexpected turn of
events threw Carnell (who was
following about two or three boatlengths
behind) into a state of
disarray. Leigh navigated between the Scylla (of
Bavin's 720) and Charybdis
(of the flurry of tangled sheets, whisker poles,
centerboard pins, anvils and
16-ton weights coming from Carnell's direction)
and took second.
Demonstrating yet again the
virtues of home town, informal racing (where
"there's always next
week"), the RC called off the second race even as the
undaunted fleet sculled
towards the starting line. Thus, the race results
became the regatta results as everyone
retired to the Afterdeck café for
cold air and colder Budweiser.
Final Stats:
1
Montague
2 Morgan
3 Carnell
4 Bavin
5 Stevens
6 Traylor
Steve Kistler
showed up after the dead calm had been replaced by a nice
south westerly breeze and
practiced out in the basin for his first regatta.
The rest of the fleet by that
time had taken in enough sailing (and
Budweiser) to last for a
while, so we did the next best thing to sailing: we
stood around and talked about
ways that someone else could rig his boat.
Three big items dominated
the discussion at Monday's PRSA meeting. The
first doesn't really concern
the
money and needs people who
haven't done so to pay their dues. A number of
kind remarks were made about
the
largest PRSA membership.
The second item was the
Spring Regatta on May 27 and 28. This should be a
great time. Multiple
trophies will be awarded, for example the "Daphne
Byron Trophy," which goes
to the best female skipper over the age of 50, and
which Ms. Byron has won every
year since she endowed the award. Someone has
a "junior class"
trophy in his closet, which hasn't been awarded since the
1970s-the last time we had any
junior sailors. I proposed redefining
"junior" to include
anyone under 40, but everyone else seemed to think we
could actually find some kids
to give it away to. Keep your eyes open.
We're supposed to provide
one or two people for Race Committee for just one
of the two days. of the Spring Regatta. Anyone?
Anyone? On a related
note, we need to help with the
RC for the spring series on the weekend of
the 21st. I realize some
people will be at the Waterman's regatta. These
are important obligations for
us to fulfill, though.
Finally, it looks like
we'll be doing a "Helmsman's Regatta" for the
champion/designee of each
class. This will take place in mid-June, and will
involve skippers rotating
among Lasers, Albacores and Interlakes. There's
a
move afoot to start a new
trophy for this event, which is sure to become a
perennial favorite.
There are four more
scheduled regattas in the Spring Series, but if that's
not enough we should bear in
mind that we can organize fleet events with a
small bit of advance
preparation, and use the PRSA equipment to run our own
races if we care to.
Don't forget the next race
on Sunday. I plan on sailing in it but of course
some of you will be travelling back from the Aquaman's
regatta down in
Also, the Wednesday night
series has now started, and will continue until
the end of summer. It's
as simple as it sounds. Show up at
every Wednesday and take part
in the races that we'll be having right off
the end of the docks.
It's a nice way to spend an evening and a great way
to log some time in the boat.
The PRSA Spring series
resumes this Sunday, this is event # 4 but really
just the second installment
for the
have talked to is planning on
racing (5-8 boats). Bill Carnell has 662
almost completely back
together and is planning on re-launching Blue Streak
this weekend with a new mast
and new sails. Caroline and I are finally
putting our "Defender
2000" program back together and are determined to sail
in the same boat this weekend,
Radio Flyer is still in the shop but we are
prepared to get
creative. We would love to see some more
come join us this
Sunday. Let us know if you need directions or more
information. You may
have to pay something to launch (its a park service
facility)
but the racing is free for any Hamptons who
want to join us from
start of the first race is
scheduled for
The PRSA Wednesday evening
racing starts next Wednesday. Those races will
be extremely low-key, and
feature lots of refreshments and spectating. I
don't believe anyone keeps
score (unless you want to). This is a great
opportunity to break-in new crew or introduce your non-sailing
friends to
racing.
The Potomac Hampton Fleet's
Spring Openhouse and cookout was a blast, which
is really quite remarkable
given that we had almost no cooperation from
mother
nature.
Saturday, 5 boats launched
around
shortcourse races before the breeze dropped
out. Around
returned to the floating docks
to rotate in some of the curious on-lookers
who were gathering on the
docks. Before we could get back out, a total
calm fell over the
about 30 people stopped by to
drink beer and look at the boats, which formed
a rather impressive sight all
tied up in a row with sails raised but
motionless. Around
beer. About 20 of us
then had dinner at
of not getting rained on.
Sunday's PRSA spring series
event began with similarly dismal looking
conditions. To humor the
race committee, everybody (6 boats) launched
although we were incredulous
that anyone could actually make it to the race
course in the flat calm.
Patrick Traylor sailed with Ian Twinn, our latest
crew recruit who is straight
from the dinghy Mecca of Great Britain. Bill
Bavin was also packing heat with the
owner of the J-30 he races on out of
crew Caroline Taylor for his
first Hampton Regatta. Finally, Stephen Propst
sailed with 1998 Collegiate all-american Lori
Plum. Leigh and Latane
managed to get kicked off the
race committee just before they left the dock
and joined forces at the very last
minute in Summer Wind.
Around
in nicely out of the
south. Bill Bavin was quick out of the blocks
and led
Leigh around the first lap of
what they thought would be a one lap race.
The leaders
got totally lost after crossing what they thought was the
finishline and Stephen and Lori rocketed into
the lead and never looked
back. The results looked
something like this:
1. Stephen/Lori
2. Bavin/Bob Rutsch
3. Leigh/Latane
4. Jason/ Caroline
Shortly before race #2 we
were joined by Patrick Traylor, and Dorsey & Gail
Owings. The Owings are
J-30 racers from Annapolis/Eastern Shore who have
gotten back into
from Karen Alt. They
have the boat looking great and obviously knew their
way around the race
course! Now with six boats, we were the second biggest
fleet. The lightnings
had 7 boats, Hobies 4,
Albacores 4, Interlakes 2.
Too be honest I was a little
too hung over to remember much of the next two
races, but it believe Stephen
& Lori had a great start and lead most of the
way, only to be ground down by
Leigh who was now sailing with Ian shortly
before the finish.
Overall the fleet was extremely close around all the
marks, infact
the racing was so close that I am almost certain that I have
some of the finishes wrong but
here's a try. Feel free to publicly correct
me if this unofficial summary
shorts you a point or two, I am sure the PRSA
folks recorded the correct
results.
1. Leigh/Ian
2. Stephan/Lori
3. Bavin/Rutsch
4. Traylor/Montague
5. Jason/Caroline
6. Dorsey/Gail
1. Leigh/Ian
2. Jason/Caroline
3. Bavin/Rutsch
4. Stephan/Lori
5. Dorsey/Gail
6. Traylor/Montague
It was great to have the
Cambridge/Annapolis fleet out to support our
efforts, we look forward to seeing more of
you in the future! The PRSA
Spring Series resumes the
after Easter, Sunday, April 30.
We had another meeting of
the PRSA Exec. Comm. last night. Not a huge
amount to report. The
clear highlight of the meeting was the chance to
discuss at length the
circumstances of my recent
excursion, and to compare and
contrast that incident to the experiences of
everyone else at the meeting
and their friends, family and fleet companions.
Moving on to more mundane
items, we talked about finances (we don't have
much money) and equipment (we
need money to keep it up). There are a few
volunteers who devote a whole
lot of time and energy into keeping our
committee and chase boats
running: time in which they otherwise could be
replacing their frambulator guys with dacron-jacketed
Spectra, or otherwise
performing dinghy
optimization. If and when you use those boats, be
respectful.
The SPRING REGATTA is
coming up over the Memorial Day weekend. This should
be a blast-and it's a real
CBYRA-sanctioned regatta in our own backyard.
There's a pretty good throwdown in the works: classic Memorial Day cookout
fare (burgers and dogs, etc.),
plus a couple kegs with which to toast our
fallen countrymen at land and
on the sea. I haven't figured out whether
I'll be here that weekend, but
if you're in town you should definitely go
sailing.
We (as a class) need to
provide some Race Committee help for the Spring
Regatta and also for the
Leukemia Cup. This is in addition to the day we're
doing RC for the spring
series. We're supposed to provide two people, but
we really need at least one so
as not to look like complete slackards. The
helpers don't need to be
sailors-just people to hang out on the water for a
few hours and take down boat
numbers and such. This is seriously something
to think about if you know
someone who might want to participate in the race
without racing, and partake in
the apres-sail shindig.
Probably the biggest item
on the agenda was whether we should raise entry
fees for the Leukemia
Cup. The Leukemia Society wants us to give them a
bigger donation. The
rest of the Committee seemed surprised when I pointed
out that Hampton Annual,
course I didn't mention other
regattas where you had to pay to enter, plus
lunch, plus dinner, plus $2
per beer, plus t-shirts, plus lodging). They're
talking about an entry fee of
$30-40 for double handed boats, which
includes a party and two
dinner tickets. They might float the idea with the
membership, but regardless of
how it comes out it's an awesome deal. I just
hope we can get more
come for the Cup this year.
If anyone has anything
interesting that could go in the newsletter, feel free
to submit it. Someone
asked if the Albacores could do up a little item on
"how to build a
one-design fleet".
Anyway, the spring series continues next Sunday. See you all there?
This Sunday's Spring Series
# 2 featured a race down to the
fasten boats to
trailers. Several non-Hamptons literally
got blown off
their
trailer's.
Stephen and I checked on all the
fine, although I am now
inclined to make strapping my boat on to the
trailer a regular part
of my unrigging ritual. Reports from the 505 and
Interclub fleets in
on the Bay this
Sunday. The good news is that although none of us have
completed any of the Spring series races, we are all still tied for first.
On Saturday, Steve Kistler arrived with the beautiful #675, which he
recently purchased in
St. Michaels. 675's original owner called both of
us last week attempting
to repurchase the boat, but was beaten to the
punch by Steve and is
apparently now planning on buying a new boat
instead. #675
looks great, with a nice British racing green paint job and
matching green cover and
trailer. Steve and his wife look like they will
be great additions to
the fleet, they showed up with a huge tool box and
some serious experience
with high-performance classics - Steve also
owns/maintains a 30 year
old MG.
On Saturday, Stephen & I were down installing a new pole
storage system
on the boom of 638,
while Patrick Traylor upgraded his rig with a new
shroud, and shaved
ounces aloft with new aluminum airfoil spreaders, and
super high-tech spectra
trapeze "wires". Bill Carnell was down surveying
the state of 662 and
preparing her for her new Proctor mast. Last report
from Leigh was that she
had collected Bill's new mast and two suits of
almost new sails from
Eddie Williams at the Quantum loft in Hampton and
was due to arrive with
the goods and Summer Wind late Sunday.
Next weekend should
be big. On Saturday we will have the rescheduled open
house. On Sunday, with
better luck on the weather front, we will have the
first installment of the
PRSA Spring series. Next Sunday, the
class is scheduled to
handle RC with the Interlakes. The current plan
is
for Bill Carnell, Leigh
and I to do RC, that should be all the fleet needs
to provide, which will allow the rest of the fleet to race
at long last.
Leigh and I plan to lend
out our boats so we should still have good
numbers. It
sounds like a few
may race Sunday so we
should have 6-7 boats even though we will also be
providing RC.
Depending on the
weather, some folks have expressed interest in venturing
out, Friday after work
to shake the rust off before Saturday.
The first race of the
spring series was basically cancelled due to the cold
water temps and a nasty
off-shore southwester that was extremely shifty and
strong (gusts to 23 mph at
While the rest of us were
waiting for our crews to show, Bill Carnell and
Mike Geer headed out to the
race course on-time. Unfortunately, they did
not get the chance to benefit
from the cold-feet the rest of us got upon
watching Bill and Mike lose
their Capsize-Virginity in the shipping channel
just south of the
airport. While the wind was deceptively calm in the lee
of the shore, the puff's were ripping across the
hard to be sure what happened
in those final moments, 665 was apparently
screaming up the river on a
full plane when she touched just enough bottom
to be sent into a wild broach.
The rest of the fleet
watched helplessly from the
and two fire/rescue/police
boats with blazing sirens sped to the scene.
After righting her a few
times, the exhausted and nearly hypothermic team
abandoned ship for the warmth
of the ambulances that were waiting ashore at
Bolling Air Force Base on the east (far)
side of the river. After about an
hour of futile attempts by the
fossil fuel-oriented water cops, and without
the stewardship of her loving
owner, 665 was mercilessly towed up-side down
into the marina at Bowling
AFB.
Meanwhile at the
moment of silent prayer for
their fellow mariners lost at sea, up walked
Bill and Mike like ghosts, in
dry hospital scrubs no less, grinning from ear
to ear! Clearly the cold
water had killed a few brain cells (or just frozen
their pre-capsize grins onto
their faces) - but for whatever reason, their
spirits were not broken.
Inspired by the embattled heroes' resilience, the
fleet rallied for a search and
rescue operation for the missing
Stephen Propst,
Caroline Taylor and Latane set out by motorboat,
while Bill
and Mike deployed by car for
Bowling AFB. Ultimately 665 was found floating
(barely) on her back in the BAFB
boat basin. With knives ablazing the crew
cut loose the stray rigging and righted the
boat in the calm of the basin.
The mast was bent nearly in
two about four feet above the deck, but the hull
was still remarkably
unscathed. With rig dismantled the now nearly 1,500
Pound Hampton (the inner hull
was punctured and full of water; she was
floating on only her foam
buoyancy) was towed back across the wind whipped
sustained remarkably little
damage and should be ready for another 30 years
of action with a new stick and
some minor glass work around the mast
partner.
Amen!
The PRSA pre-season
frostbite last Saturday was a great time and a nice showing for the
regatta and National YC
hosting a well attended Penguin event. There was
also a nice throng of bikers
and picnickers out to watch the action which added to the festive ambiance at
the marina.
The
bullet was hotly contested
between Traylor/Montague in 665 and Bill Bavin/Caroline
Taylor in 681 and was ultimately decided only after Bavin/Taylor
attempted a pass a wee bit too close to windward and made contact with 665's
whisker pole on the run- a la Paul Cayard and
America-One. Stephen Propst was planning for the future and was out training a
hot new crew prospect which will certainly pay-off down the road when the real
racing season starts.
The 2nd and 3rd races were
free-for-alls with two Interlakes and 3 or 4 Lightnings all starting on the same line. The breeze
was light and the
composite fleet of 10 boats to
win race two and got 2nd(?) in the third race which
was a bit of a drifter. Traylor's torrid debut was cooled off by his snacktician's tactical blunders on the starts of races 2
and 3. Apparently the snacktician was so busy
congratulating himself and the new
skipper (or passing out the
sandwiches) that he managed to miss both the following starts by 30seconds and
1minute respectively. The tactician has provided several different
explanations for the blunder, and is apparently still perfecting his excuses.
Nevertheless, 665 proved fast in the light breeze and passed 6 boats to get
third in race 2 and picked up sportsmanship points for race three by completing
the race in near drifter conditions.
The action continued with
burgers and beers on the deck of the
The spring series Officially starts next Sunday. Several folks are looking for
crew for this weekend. Skipper's meeting is at
New Member
Congratulations to Patrick
Traylor who just officially joined the Washington
Hampton Fleet this evening by
buying #665 from Todd Kana!
Patrick will be picking her
up this weekend and may be out on the water as
soon as this Sunday depending
on the weather. Leigh and Stephen are also
planning on bringing their
boats back to the roost this weekend. I am also
very close to taking the
plunge on a Potomac-based
renting five different parking
spaces at the
the last year it is probably
about time to actually have my own boat there.
New Website
Leigh just set up our own
website, check it out at:
http://www.shorenet.net/hamptonone/potomac%20fleet.htm
The plan is keep this up to
date, with the latest scores, schedule and fleet
specific links so that it can
be an effective clearing house for all
information relevant to our
New Season
It looks like there will be a
total of 6 Sunday afternoon races in the
regular Spring Series.
We have taken a bye for the weekend of May 21 since
that
conflicts with
the Hampton Trapeze which is the first big away-regatta
and the traditional season
opener for the Bay-wide
that many of us will want to
make. PRSA does trophies and scoring for both
the Spring
and Fall series. We will have trophies for the top 6 places in
the Spring Series. I
propose that we pick some a percentage - like the best
4 or 5 out of 6 for the
over-all series scoring for the fleet. Let me know
what you think about that
proposal. I have spoken to Jack Rosemere and Wil
Keyworth this week and they are both
interest in supporting some of our
Spring Series events with
boats from the
Jack and Wil
have almost finished the "New-Millennium North Hampton Sail
Design" and are looking
forward to having us all check out the new designs
in April. The prototype
seen on the
start! I also have
spoken with Joe Jennings and a couple of other folks
from the long-lost St. Mary's
Hampton fleet who claim to be interested in
coming up to sail with us.
New Crew Database
OK, "database" may
be a little over the top, but we are trying to come up
with a good contact list of
prospective trapeze tacticians for the our fleet
this season. Send me
leads soon, so that we can invite everyone to the
Fleet Kick-off Party/Cookout
we are planning for April. (Caroline, Jesse,
y'all have are got any
twins/clones you haven't told us about yet?)
At your earliest
convenience please check out the following National Park
Service web site: http://www.nps.gov/gwmp/boathouse
The site discusses an
environmental assessment being done to determine the
site for a rowing
facility.
being looked at. There is
another site on 4 Mile Run. Both sites may or may
not impact the water use in
the immediate vicinity of the marina. Your
membership may be interested
in commenting pro or con to the Park Service
before the deadline of
and comment form.
It's almost March and time
to start thinking about sailing. Rumor has it
that the Washington Hampton
fleet has retained the services of a
professional Boat Location Specialist
("BSL") who even now is inspecting the
conditions of the parking lot
and determining our collective optimum slip
placement.
Latane and I just attended the first
"Executive Committee" meeting of the
'00 PRSA racing season.
I think everyone was really happy to have the
applications and five $65
checks we handed in. We arranged to get a
link on the PRSA web page, and
we'll have a "welcome to the fleet" blurb in
the next newsletter. We
can also put some hot XXX live-action
on the web page--just have to
get some together.
The main item on the agenda
was the 2000 racing schedule, which is below.
We have race committee duty on
April 16, which is sort of our sweat-equity
dues, and something we should
try to do a good job with. There are two RC
"how-to" sessions offerred by some national RC guru right here at our very
own WSM, 4/5 or 4/12, both at
with deadly accuracy.
The Spring Series starts in
about a month. I plan to try and make as many
of these as possible.
It's basically a series of one-day regattas that are
low-key enough to be fun, but
competitive enough to be worth it: real race
committees and real courses
right in our back yard. Isn't that what we
bought our boats for?
Plus, this is a great way to develop racing skills
before the "real"
summer season, so we can all go to the lower bay and look
like a real fleet.
The Spring Regatta is over
Memorial day, so people might have other plans.
The fall regatta is the
Leukemia Cup, which you all remember from last year
was a huge blast. I
propose we make sure we all are able to go, and try to
get as many other
go.
They'll send out a
newsletter pretty soon to everyone who paid dues, which
will have more complete race
information, but here's the preliminary scoop,
and hopefully enough to get
everyone motivated to start doing sit-ups and
maybe invest in some spring
sailing gear.