Fleet 50 Report for
2006 ILCA Yearbook

Last updated 02/27/06
by David Thompson
2213 words

 

Modernizing the Fleet (continued)

2005 saw Fleet 50 continue its modernization program that started in 2004, with several skippers moving up to new boats.  First, Marian Bruno joined the fleet in January, bringing her newly acquired 15117, Shamrock, to the marina; then Fleet Captain Jeff Storck purchased 15256, Ariel, hoping to have her here in time for the Spring Regatta, but missing that date by two weeks. 

But that was not all!  Steve Gregg left the fleet in June, heading for a new job in Boston, but leaving behind his beloved 14222 Bathtub Gin, that was quickly picked up by new skipper Russ Roberts.  Ben Forman, previous owner of the legendary 12081 Swill Dog , returned to Washington and promptly bought a share in John Butler’s 14592 Beedobeat.  Bob Wilbur sold 13317 Witcher and purchased 14395 String Theory from Jeff Storck.  New skipper Greg Virgin acquired 14588 Tijuana Taxi and brought her to Washington from Florida; and later in the season Rob Tompkins purchased 14522 Boonoonoonos, from Bob Harkrider and brought her into the fleet.  Earlier Paul Maher had sold his rust red Rogue 11792 to the duo of Bobby Fulton and Brendan Walsh, who promptly painted her a new, and very attractive midnight blue; and new skipper Keith Hankins obtained the bright yellow 12743 Chiquita from Jay Gray, and sailed her aggressively this summer before heading back to Brown University for fall semester.  Sam Zadeh found that between his new business and a new bride he no longer had time to sail, and graciously donated his yellow 12416 to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to be auctioned as a fundraiser at the Leukemia Cup.  Bobby Astrove, deciding that owning one Lightning was not enough, turned out to be the high bidder and brought her home for a restoration project.  We did have thoughts of conducting a bright-yellow-only regatta for the quartet of Bobby's new boat and Chiquita, Tijuana Taxi, and Jim Greenwell’s 10226 String Cheese, with of course an invitation extended to Starling Mikell of the Susquehanna fleet to bring 15118 Yellow Boat  down for the competition.  Maybe next year.

In the meantime, David Thompson sold 10745, EGV, to Frank Gallagher as a fixer-upper, which Frank did before selling her to a Doug and Kelly Palmer, from Brookeville, MD.

Regattas (running and sailing in)!

For Fleet 50, 2005 was the year of the Regatta!  Every spring, on the first weekend in May, we run the Doc Gilbert Memorial Potomac Cup on the Potomac River south of Washington at Leesylvania State Park, where the river is three miles wide.  This year that weekend spanned the April 30/May 1 dates, and saw a turnout of 30 Lightnings from as far as Buffalo NY and Wilmington, NC.  We had great winds -- although potentially severe thunderstorms were predicted for Saturday, they never materialized -- and we had great sailing in 8 - 12 MPH southeasterly breezes under overcast skies.  On Sunday it was even better, sunny with good, if gusty 15 - 20 MPH winds from the northwest.  Jeff Storck headed a race committee of highly skilled PRSA skippers, including Frank Gallagher, Bobby Astrove, Red Fehrle, Rob Tompkins, Cathy Bleakly,  Latane Montague and Bill Kleysteuber, who showed us how a regatta should be run.  Dick Hallagan won the event for the sixth year in a row; Pierce Barden took second place; Steve Constants third; Jamie Brickell fourth.  Pat McGee took fifth, and was the top Fleet 50 finisher.  Mark Grinder from Buffalo won the trophy that recognizes the skipper who came the farthest; Phil Lange and Dan Pope from Rochester won the "middle of the Fleet" trophy.

Then in June we ran the 2005 Dixie District Championships on the Potomac on our home course right in front of Washington National Airport.  This was the first time ever for Fleet 50 to host the Dixie Championships, and it was a roaring success!  31 boats competed, including 14 from Fleet 50. The weather was outstanding -- highs both day around 85 degrees under sunny skies with southerly winds 12 - 13 on Saturday, and 13 to 16 on Sunday.  Allan Terhune from Pine Beach NJ, sailing with his spouse Katie and sister Kristen, took first place with 4 bullets and a second. Neal Fowler, sailing with Todd Johnson and Katie Offerman finished in second place.  Nabeel Alsalam, sailing with Lisbet Kugler and Scott Bradford finished fifth.  Two Fleet 50 skippers qualified for the North American championships in August.  Jeff Storck brought the same Race Committee that we had organized for the Potomac Cup, and Regatta Chair David Thompson drew on the same organizing talent that brought success to the Doc Gilbert.  New crewmember Kristen Lopez assisted with Race Committee work while taking 312 action photos of the racing over the two days, posting the results on the Internet for all to see.

Greg Fisher approaches the finish line on a downwind finish at the 2005 Dixie Districts.  Photo credit: Kristen Lopez

Crewmember Skip Hirsh provided this remembrance of the event:

Fleet 50 also saw increased participation in local and regional regattas this year.  Ten Fleet 50 boats competed in the PRSA Spring Regatta, with Nabeel Alsalam taking first place.  Fourteen Fleet 50 boats participated in the Dixie District Championships, and Nabeel had the highest Fleet 50 finish, a 5^th.  Two Fleet 50 boats went to the Atlantic Coast Championships in Wrightsville Beach NC; two to the Wooden Lightning Get-together in Syracuse; and two to the North American Championships in Sheboygan.  Two fleet 50 boats went to the Duck Challenge in Havre De Grace, which was won handily by Nabeel.  Then, to kick off the Fall season, fourteen boats competed in the Presidents Cup/Leukemia cup regatta on the Potomac, won by Rick Welch.  Three Fleet 50 boats journeyed to Solomons Island later in September to participate in the Southern Maryland Sailing Association’s Small Boat regatta, and Nabeel took first place there.  Six Fleet 50 boats entered the wild Frigid Digit regatta in Annapolis in October; three went to the Borderline regatta; and three to the Hampton Fling in November, scoring a second, a third, and a fourth in that event.

Pat McGee won the PRSA Spring series, with Rick Welch in second place and Nabeel Alsalam in third place.  Nabeel Alsalam won the PRSA Fall series, with Ben Forman/John Butler in second place and Pat McGee in third.  For the season, Nabeel took first place, Pat McGee took second, and Rick Welch took third.  An analysis of the results revealed that, for the top twelve finishers in the 51-race Championship series, eleven of the top twelve were within 10 points of each other (low point scoring).  Contrasting this from earlier years, in 2002 only six of the top twelve finished within 10 points of each other; in 2003, eight of the top twelve did.  The closeness of the finishes in 2005 shows how much more competitive the fleet has become, and reflects the results of the fleet modernization program.

An analysis of PRSA racing records for the 2005 season revealed that 97 different individuals served as Lightning crew at least once during the season, sailing on 24 different boats, in racing events including the PRSA Spring and Fall series; the Doc Gilbert Memorial Potomac Cup Regatta; the PRSA Spring Regatta; and the Leukemia/Presidents cup regatta. 

This year as in last, Joe Warren and Frank Gallagher served as coaches for the Maryland Special Olympics regatta.

Kudos to Nabeel Alsalam who stepped up to the role of Dixie District Commodore; Jeff Storck who was elected Commodore of the Potomac River Sailing Association; and Drew Hudson, who won the PRSA Fleet Captain's award for his outstanding work in running Race Committees this year.

Annual End-of-Season Banquet

The following awards were presented at the annual end-of-season banquet in February 2006 :
Marian Bruno; Russ Roberts; and Greg Virgin won recognition as new skippers for 2005.   David Thompson was named the most improved skipper, and his crew of Barb Thompson and Catherine Calvin were named as most improved crew.  Nabeel Alsalam took away top honors with the Iron Skipper award, having raced in a Lightning on 42 total race days; Lisbet Kugler won the All Weather Crew award for her participation as crew on 44 different race days.  High Impact Crew nominees were Cathy Bleakly; Joe Kimak; Paul Maher; and Vince Wawrzynski, with Cathy and Paul winning.   Best New Crew nominees were Henry Cheng and Geof Bishop, with the award going  to Geof.

The Crew's Choice awards went to Frank Gallagher (Mr. Hospitality); David Thompson (Mr. Congeniality); Bob Astrove (Skipper of the Year); with Bungle Buckets awarded to Pat McGee and Laurie Duncan.  Pat was recognized for hoisting a spinnaker on approach to the finish line (upwind finish) in a desperate attempt to block the wind for his closest competitors, only to discover that the maneuver froze his boat in her tracks, allowing five trailing boats to slip by and finish ahead  of him.  Laurie was recognized for a bad day on the water (that was still better than a good day in the office).

The Bloody Rudder perpetual trophy went this year, forth fourth year in a row, to Nabeel Alsalam. This trophy goes to the Fleet 50 skipper with the lowest number of points (low point scoring) in out of town regattas; Nabeel accumulated  just 35 points over the seven regattas he sailed in; Rick Welch was second, with 94 points.

New officers were elected for 2006, including Fleet Captain David Thompson; Fleet Secretary Marian Bruno; Treasurer Bob Astrove; Fleet Lieutenant for racing Rob Tompkins; Fleet Lieutenant for  the Wednesday Night Summer Series Joe Warren; Scorer, and Potomac Cup Chair Russ Roberts.

Gains and Losses

Steve Gregg moved to Boston, but Marian Bruno, Greg Virgin, Bobby Fulton, and Keith Hankins joined the fleet to help swell our ranks.

2006 should be an exciting year for Fleet 50, following a very exciting and satisfying 2005.

Fleet Officers:

Fleet Captain                                               Jeff Storck

Fleet Secretary & Webmaster                 David Thompson

Fleet Treasurer                                           Frank Gallagher

Fleet Lieutenant for Racing:                   Rob Tompkins

Fleet Lieutenant for Development:        Nabeel Alsalam

Fleet Lieutenant for Scoring                   Russ Roberts

Potomac Cup Regatta Organizer:        David Thompson

                                                           Fleet Roster: