Read about sailing on a Lightning!

Skip Hirsh Says Farewell.  In March, 2007,  long-time Fleet 50 crew Skip Hirsh will leave the DC area and head for the mountains of North Carolina.  Here is his farewell message.

Fleet Captain's Presentation at the SCOW Meeting 4/10/06.  Fleet Captain David Thompson gave a 20-minute presentation at the April meeting of the Sailing Club of Washington (SCOW).  View his PowerPoint slides. (1 MB file)

First Annual Fleet 50 Short Story Contest, December 2005.  13 excellent stories were submitted. Check them out!

Racing Rules: go to the US Sailing web page to find a copy of the Racing Rules of Sailing for 2005 - 2008.

Manual of Instruction: One of our skippers has written a manual of instruction for his crewmembers.  This explains in detail what to do when crewing on a Lightning.  To download a copy of this 81-page, 922 KB PDF file formatted for 2-sided printing, right-click here (and select "save target as...").

Caveat: Some skippers do some things differently!  Always discuss techniques with your skipper beforehand.

If you have suggestions for improvement of this manual, send an email to the author.

Organized cruise: Last summer our downriver cruise took us to Ft. Foote, on the Maryland side of the river.  Here is the report.

Daysail adventure: Denise Malueg went on a daysail to Mt. Vernon last summer and got more excitement than she had planned on.  Here is her report.

Regatta excitement:  Tonya Topolewski crewed on Lord Jim at the 2003 Doc Gilbert Memorial Cup and had an interesting experience.  Here is the story.

Phil Rowan Remembers Us.  Phil Rowan, a self-described vagabond sailor, sailed with Fleet 50 during fall season 2002.  He wrote a very nice article that we posted on our website.  It's worth re-reading.  Click here to check it out.

visits since 3/8/04