PRSA
Spring Series #8
June 4, 2006
Lightning Class Series Summary
| Pl |
Sail # |
Crew |
Boat Name |
Tot |
32 |
33 |
34 |
| 1 |
15142 |
Nabeel Alsalam, Lisbet Kugler & Geoff Bishop |
Shadowfax |
6 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| 2 |
14566 |
Frank Gallagher, Matt Fitzsimmons & Maryann Gallagher |
Resistance is Futile |
7 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
| 3 |
14553 |
Rick Welch, Aaron Boesnecker, Ben Bruce |
Sinistra |
10 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
| 4 |
14222 |
Russ Roberts, Vince Wawrzynski & Craig Huzway |
Windchaser |
11 |
5 |
1 |
5 |
| 5 |
14592 |
John Butler, Ben Forman & Tim Olson |
Beedobeat |
12 |
2 |
6 |
4 |
| 6 |
12416 |
Robert Astrove, Bob Whitehead |
Pandora-II |
23 |
7 |
5 |
11\DNF |
| 7 |
15256 |
Jeff Storck, Rose Gentile & Cathy Bleakly |
Ariel |
24 |
6 |
7 |
11\DNF |
| 8 |
11767 |
Harry Keith, Maria LiCalzi & Katie Keith |
Thunder |
25 |
10 |
9 |
6 |
| 9 |
11792 |
Bobby Fulton, Brendan Walsh, Matt Hussey |
Rogue |
26 |
9 |
10 |
7 |
| 10 |
14532 |
Rob Tompkins, Hank Chaukly & Robin Deykes |
Boonoonoonoos |
27 |
11 |
8 |
8 |
| 11 |
14187 |
Laurie Duncan, Red Fehrle & CJ Fisher |
Vaya Chica! |
33 |
8 |
14\DNS |
11\DNS |
| 12 |
15228 |
David Thompson, Joe Kimak & Catherine Calvin |
Blue Two |
34 |
12 |
11 |
11\DNF |
|
R.C.Chair: Dave Huber
Drivers: Bob Wilbur, Pat McGee
05 June, '06, 19:36
St. Pete Scorer
The
last one for the
2006 spring series! The river flow was down, at 4,100 CFS (gage height 3.2
ft) and the water had warmed up to seasonable 77 degrees; and we had an
incoming tide all day. The forecast had called for northwesterly winds at
10 kts, but the actual winds for a time were greater than that, with higher
gusts, and shifts that kept us on our toes on a mostly sunny day with a high
of 75 degrees. What a great day to end
the 2006 spring series!
Race Committee Perspective
by Pat McGee
A north wind in June –
interesting and thankful. Now that we have set our course further North the
game has changed. Once again the puffs seem to come from both sides of the
course as they have done all spring. Here are my observations primarily
concerning races 1 and 2 from the crash boat, hanging out by the leeward
mark. So, I really could not completely see what was happening much beyond
Roaches run at the windward mark.
UPWIND --- start to windward
mark:
The starting line appeared
just South of Roaches run, I believe it was in line with a little point off
the airport.
During both starting sequences
I could view the committee boat flags pointing towards the middle of the
bridge, meanwhile I looked over to the North airport windsock and
checkerboard roof and witnessed a 30 to 40 degree lefty. There seemed to
occur in 5 to 7 minute intervals (just guessing, but it was measurable and
consistent) and seemed like it took a few minutes for the lefty to work
across the committee boat then blow across the river.
While these gyrations where
occurring the right was bringing in big puffs as well – The right side was a
totally useless place to be from the starting line to the windward mark.
The Rightys would have been a zero mark on the compass, meanwhile the leftys
would have made you +30.
DOWNWIND --- Windward mark to
starting area – The airport was the place to be again, however after one
proceeded a little past the starting area towards the leeward mark things
changed.
DOWNWIND – starting area to
leeward mark:
Just past Roaches Run and
South of the starting area things changed. The place to be positioned was
the DC side, beyond the middle of the course. The rightys (Puffs straight
down river or more from DC) had greater frequency and greater pressure – as
good as the leftys North of the starting line. (The leftys on this part of
the course just didn’t reach this far down river. I only witnessed one
airport side downwind run that was successful – meaning they carried
pressure the whole route. The holes on that side of the course South of the
RC were consistent with every leg and rarely were filled – smaller puffs
occasionally filled it, but you pretty much were stuck. The DC side was
much more consistent with fewer wholes and the puffs were making it
through.
UPWIND – from leeward mark to
starting area – as you all figured the middle was always the correct
choice. If the lefty made it through, you would crush the guys that hung it
out on the right(DC). The guys who dug deep to hit the airport took to big
a hit to get over there and were crushed every time – they would be so
overstood.
Synopsis – go left to windward
mark, stay on that side of course back to starting area, drive hard across
the middle to DC, round the leeward mark and play the middle until you
reached the starting area, then bang the airport hard left to windward
mark.
Pat |
PRSA
Spring Series #7
May 21, 2006
Lightning Class Series Summary
| Pl |
Sail # |
Crew |
Boat Name |
Tot |
23 |
24 |
25 |
26 |
| 1 |
14566 |
Frank Gallagher, Matt Fitzsimmons & Keith Hankins |
Resistance is Futile |
4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| 2 |
14553 |
Rick Welch, Aaron Boesnecker & Rose Gentile |
Sinistra |
9 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
| 3 |
15195 |
Patrick McGee, Paul Maher & Red Fehrle |
It's the Water |
11 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
R.C.Chair: Benjamin Forman
Drivers: Steve Parsons; Jim Greenwell
Helpers: David Thompson; Emily Tant; Genie Williford; Emilie
Pavilon; Jacob Donkersloot; Mike Heinsdorf
22 May, '06, 19:36
St. Pete Scorer
Two Fleet
50 Lightnings were at the No Gas regatta in Annapolis, and 3 more
Lightning skippers were on RC, plus the NWS weather forecast of
winds 15 - 20 kts, with gusts to 30 kept more of the fleet at
home, so as a result only 3 Lightnings came out to race. They
were joined by 3 Albacores and 3 Hamptons. That was unfortunate,
as it turned out to be a good day for sailboat races. with winds
from the WSW at 15 - 17 MPH, and no rain. PRO Benjamin Forman set
a triangular course with the leeward mark about 50 feet west of
the main navigation channel and the windward mark southwest of it
about 100 yards from the airport, and kept things moving right
along to get 4 races started before 2 PM.
The Committee Boat crew of
Benjamin, Emilie Pavilon, Genie Williford, Jacob Donkersloot; and
Mike Heinsdorf, with Mark boat crew of Jim Greenwell and Emily
Tant, and crash boat crew of Steve Parsons and David Thompson, had
a great time on the water, as did the skippers and crew who raced.
Actual winds at National Airport were:
 |
10 AM SW 17
|
|
11 AM WSW 15
|
|
Noon SW 13
|
|
1 PM WSW 17
|
|
2 PM SW 13
|
|
3 PM WSW 14
|
|
4 PM WSW 13
|
|
5 PM NW 21
Winner's Perspective
‘Buy low, sail high?’
By Matt Fitzsimmons
Frank and I, as well as Rick and Pat and
their crews, agreed that the day’s wind was promising enough
justify heading out and turning back when and if necessary. It
turns out that the wind off Reagan National Airport was mostly
square, not terribly gusty, and quite a good ride the whole
afternoon. I guess we can’t always believe the weathermen, but
I will testify that by 7 or 8 o’clock, a slightly gustier
breeze had come across the region, albeit just 4 or 5 hours
later than the forecast.
With only a few boats on the water, our
day’s tactics involved a great deal of match racing strategy:
during the sequence, at the line, and around the course. Our
starts were tight and dancing, and getting the optimal
“inside” or “high” spot at the committee boat was not
required, but rather a perk.
At no start did we truly place ourselves
“in front” off the line. Instead, we focused on reading the
slight wind shifts, and acting upon those variations with
quick tacks in order to achieve that “front” position.
Downwind, the same mindset applied: running a shallow slalom
up in the lulls and down in the puffs, and gibing when
appropriate.
Rick and Pat were always there ready and
waiting for us to screw up. Your two boats definitely kept us
on our feet, and looking back. Fortunately, our sheet handling
was clean around and between the marks, and Frank’s steering
was assertive throughout the course.
Frank and I were thrilled to have a
hot-shot Brown University sailor taking the middle seat this
weekend. Keith Hankins [‘Chiquita’ Lightning owner] hopped
into the job like a pro. Most notably is his attentive control
over the traveler upwind so as to spill the breeze out of the
mainsail in the puffs. Frank has used the traveler the entire
season on nearly every tack, but having a bright sailor who
knew the effect of maneuver allowed Frank to focus on his
driving and simply say “traveler” and get what he wanted. His
handling of the chute downwind was also stellar.
I switched up my own routine this week
upon Frank’s observation of the Georgetown guys onboard last
week. As if I was back in high school on a 420, I handled the
foredeck job from the cockpit. Rather than dancing across the
deck keeping the pole in control, I simply released the pole
on the high side, let it hang during each gibe, ducked like a
mad-man while throwing over the boom, then reattached the pole
on the new guy. It was quick, efficient, and most importantly,
successful at keeping my weight low and in the boat.
I also have been employing the
barber-hauler ever-increasingly over the course of the season.
I have found the line, upon Frank’s suggestion, to give the
jib more draft even at surprising moments. Even while sailing
nearly abeam to the windward mark, the line shifts the leech
outbound enough to add extra pressure to the sail for a split
3 or 4 seconds for the rounding.
We take our hats off to the race
committee as well for setting a square course in a slightly
variable wind, and for getting races off swiftly one after the
other. The double triangle – double hot dog course was a good
challenge and provided the fleet with a decent length of
course given the location of the river in which we were
sailing.
A reoccurring lesson, or more
specifically, a repeating affirmation, of our past weeks’
performances stands in the testimony that sailing to the wind
is the key to taking the bullet at the finish line. More than
once, we took a “low” position off the start, yet by staying
with the opponent, establishing a lee-bow situation, and then
blasting over to the opposite tack on the first glimpse of a
solid header, we were able to power in front and sail on the
“high” side of the fleet to the mark. |
|
PRSA
Spring Series #6
May 14, 2006
Lightning Class
Series Summary
| Pl |
Sail # |
Crew |
Boat Name |
Tot |
15 |
16 |
17 |
| 1 |
14566 |
Frank Gallagher, Mike Callahan, Dan Esdorn |
Resistance is Futile |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| 2 |
15142 |
Nabeel Alsalam, Scott Bradford & Geof Bishop |
Shadowfax |
8 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
| 3 |
14222 |
Russ Roberts, Vince Wawrzynski & Craig Huzway |
Windchaser |
10 |
6 |
2 |
2 |
| 4 |
14592 |
Benjamin Forman, John Butler & Peter Sunderland |
Beedobeat |
11 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
| 5 |
7603 |
Robert Astrove, Billy Astrove & Matt Klise |
Pandora-II |
19 |
4 |
8 |
7 |
| 6 |
14588 |
Greg Virgin, Christine Virgin & Dustin Hayes |
Tijuana Taxi |
19 |
5 |
5 |
9 |
| 7 |
14395 |
Bob Wilbur, Carolann Brumfield & Kristen Lopez |
String Theory |
21 |
8 |
7 |
6 |
| 8 |
11767 |
Harry Keith, Henry Keith & Katie Keith |
Thunder |
21 |
7 |
6 |
8 |
| 9 |
15195 |
Patrick McGee, Ian Macleod Paul Maher |
It's the Water |
23 |
9 |
9 |
5 |
|
R.C.Chair: David Thompson
Crash and Mark Boat Drivers Joe Warren, John Hart
Assistants Rob Tompkins; Aimee Storm; Barb Thompson; Joe Kimak; Adrienne Kimak; Caitlin
Kimak
Scorekeeper Russ Roberts
St. Pete Scoring
15 May, '06, 19:17
St. Pete Scorer
Nine
Lightnings came out on a cool cloudy day, including
first-time-this-spring Tijuana Taxi, with Greg and Christine
Virgin and newly-recruited middle crew Dustin Hayes. RC elected
to use the lower course, in front of the Alexandria power plant,
because the winds were from the east and because of the forecast
for afternoon thunderstorms, and the thought that, from there,
it would be a quick ride back to the marina if we needed to
scramble. With a short course of three triangles and one
windward/leeward loop, we got in three races and were back at
the dock by 2 PM, giving us time to put away the boats and cook
our hot dogs before the thunderstorm arrived at about 3:30.
Lighting fleet members
Joe Warren, John Hart, Aimee Storm, Rob Tompkins, Joe Kimak, and
Barb and David Thompson served as RC (David was PRO). Special
thanks are in order to Rob Tompkins and Joe Kimak, who answered
last-minute calls to fill in vacant helper slots and who saved
the day be being there.
Joe brought daughters Adrienne, who helped on the mark boat, and
Caitlin who was a quick study with the flags on the line boat.
Actual winds recorded at National Airport
were:
|
10 AM: ENE 14 |
|
11 AM: ESE 9 |
|
Noon: E 15
|
|
1 PM: E 14
|
|
2 PM: ENE 16 |
|
3 PM S 20
|
|
4 PM S 14
|
Winner's perspective for 5/14/6
By Frank
Gallagher
Everybody should
have some sometime…
It’s was Mother’s
Day, but it seemed like Frank’s birthday…
Matt Fitzsimmons, my regular hotshot
foredeck was up visiting his mother in Rhode Island, and Maryann
was down visiting our daughter in Atlanta, so I was scratching
around looking for 2 crew again…long story short, I ended up
with Mike Callahan, Georgetown U. head sailing coach, in the
middle, and Dan Esdorn, Georgetown U. team captain, on the
foredeck. There was lots of history about how this came
together, but wow …did they make it look easy!
It looked nasty out
there, so we got out a little early and got the bag up with 20
or so gybes and 3 or 4 takedowns under our belt.
It was close to the start, so “the team”
took over…run the line…shoot the wind… they babbled incessantly
about pressure, and righties and lefties and predominant
patterns. They agreed beforehand to stay left early, eat into
the headers then ride the big lift to the weather mark….and we
hadn’t even heard a gun yet….
Finely we got a starting sequence. Mike
walked me thru the start…most of the time we approached on port,
pushed the fleet to the right, then tacked back at 20 -30
seconds ….up a little, off a little. …speed, speed, speed, and
bang…we nailed the start!
They started the
talk about pressure and righties and lefties again, all the
while keeping the boat dead flat. We went a little too far
right and Pat found a big lift to the left and rounded 1st
with us second. Bing, bang, boom the bag went up and was flying
like magic. We made a big mistake and let a couple guys behind
us go high and take out air but Mike kept us calm and the damage
was minimized by keeping the inside and gybing inside most of
them, then going fast and high to get them all back except for
Bobby, who was without a chute…just waiting for me to try to run
over him like Mike wanted me to -- not again Bob -- once this
year is enough! We rounded the drop mark 3rd and
started heading back to weather.
Again they continued discussing the
pressure and righties and lefties…but we pulled away from the
fleet, and only Pat was still ahead of us at the weather mark.
The chute went up like magic and we were off to the reach mark,
staying a little high this time. Pat went way low and by the
time we got to the reach mark we realize he had gone to the
leeward mark in error…we gave thanks and did our gybe… Dan was
doing the gybes from inside the boat -- release the twing;
unhook the pole off the mast, duck down and pull over the boom,
stand up again on the new high side, put the pole on the new
guy, put the other end on the mast while Mike re-twings -- and
were done. I was going to tell Dan how it works better if he
does the gybes up on the foredeck…but he made it work so
easy….who am I to complain….(I’m seriously thinking about this
as my standard gybe for the future.)
We were in 1st
place then, cruising on auto pilot to the finish…when anyone got
close, we were ruthless about tacking to cover…even eating some
sizeable headers to not let them get away…all tacks were BIG
roll tacks…I just followed along. These guys know so much, even
when something goes wrong, it’s not a big deal. Once our
spinnaker went up in a huge nasty twist…Mike started working on
it from one side and Dan, up on the foredeck in a flash, was
untwisting it from the other side. What could have been a major
problem…turned out to be a 15 second inconvenience. I never had
to say a word !!!!.....WOW…!!!!
The next 2 races
were similar to the 1st, except we get better and
lead at almost every mark…
Long story short
again….these guys were pro’s…
They had the course
figured out before hand …
They nailed the
starts …
They kept the boat
moving fast…always anticipating the next move…
Sorry…you guys never
had a chance.
If there was a website to hire rock star crew, I know what I
want for my birthday, next year.
|
|
PRSA
Spring Series #4
April 30, 2006
Lightnings Class Series Summary
| |
Sail # |
Crew |
Boat Name |
Tot |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
| 1 |
14566 |
Frank Gallagher, Matt Fitzsimmons & Steve Parsons |
Resistance is Futile |
9 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
| 2 |
15142 |
Nabeel Alsalam, Kimberly Brickell & Scott Bradford |
Shadowfax |
11 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
| 3 |
14222 |
Russ Roberts, Kinh Thein & Craig Huzway |
Windchaser |
12 |
7 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
| 4 |
15256 |
Jeff Storck, Rose Gentile & Cathy Bleakly |
Ariel |
22 |
2 |
5 |
6 |
9 |
| 5 |
14592 |
Ben Forman, Tim Olson & Peter Sunderland |
Beedobeat |
22 |
5 |
4 |
9 |
4 |
| 6 |
7603 |
Robert Astrove, Billy Astrove & Tara Dwyer |
Pandora-II |
24 |
6 |
6 |
7 |
5 |
| 7 |
15195 |
Patrick McGee & Paul Maher |
It's the Water |
25 |
2\SSC |
10\SSC |
6\SSC |
7\SSC |
| 8 |
11767 |
Harry Keith, Henry Keith & Katie Keith |
Thunder |
28 |
10 |
7 |
4 |
7 |
| 9 |
14395 |
Bob Wilbur, Emilie Pavilon & Susan Buckley |
String Theory |
34 |
8 |
10 |
8 |
8 |
| 10 |
15228 |
David Thompson & Catherine Calvin |
Blue Two |
43 |
12 |
8 |
12 |
11\DNS |
| 11 |
14037 |
Joe Warren, Carolann Brumfield & John Hart |
Bony Buns |
43 |
11 |
11 |
10 |
11\DNS |
| 12 |
14187 |
Laurie Duncan, Justine Faulkenburg & CJ Fisher |
!Vaya Chica! |
45 |
9 |
12\DNS |
13\DNS |
11\DNS |
| 13 |
15117 |
Marian Bruno, Gary Roberts & Ethan Roberts |
Shamrock |
46 |
13\DNS |
12\DNS |
11 |
10 |
Thirteen
Lightnings came out on a very nice spring afternoon, with sunny skies and
a high temperature of 67 degrees. Northeasterly winds were erratic,
generally 7 - 9 MPH, but with flat spots followed by gusts of 15 - 20,
accompanied in some cases by wild 50-degree direction changes. One gust
hit just as boats were crossing the start line at the beginning of the
second race, sending Laurie on her first seasonal capsize. Impressively,
Laurie and crew got the boat righted and sailing again before the last
boat crossed the start line, but the boat full of cold water put a damper
on their enthusiasm, and they retired from the race. Ben sailed on top of
his spinnaker on the triangular leg of the second race, but somehow got
it back in the boat and recovered.
Actual Winds at National Airport:
| 10 AM NE 8 |
|
11 AM NE 9 |
|
Noon NNE 7 |
|
1 PM NNE 8 |
|
2 PM NE 8 |
|
3 PM ENE 10 |
|
4 PM ENE 14 |
Winner's Perspective
By Matt Fitzsimmons (sailing with Frank Gallagher)
With the outgoing tide and variable
surface breeze, King Neptune often had more to say than the God of Wind:
“Wind!” “No wind?” “Current!” “Wind?” “Current!” “No wind!” The dialogue
aboard Resistance is Futile
shared the same sentiment: “Wind, there!” “Wind, where?” “Why the current
now?”
Trying to polish up our chute work before jumping into the first start
sequence, we found ourselves at the 5 minute warning down at the leeward
mark, albeit just 60 or 70 yards below the line. Exactly ten minutes later
we cross the start. Yes, that was us if any of you were still wondering
which lightning crew was bright enough to start with the Albacores.
Onboard, the day was a mixed bag. Our starts were not stellar, and our
leeward legs involved less decisive action overall than weeks past, but
our finishes yielded a reward for looking ahead for opportunities.
Cheers to Steve for hopping onboard Sunday morning and taking the
middle-man spot last minute. We do no crews justice by dropping them
day-one between Frank and myself. Without much pre-race practice, our
sheet handling was not quite as clean as we had intended, but Frank’s
direction kept us on path.
As Frank has mentioned to me many times, ‘opportunity sailing’ is the way
to success. Opportunities are never lost; they are taken by others. Keep
your eyes on the sail, your heart in the sea, and your mind on what every
other boat is up to. If any of you are looking for a new name for your
next boat, “Course of Opportunity” might look good across the stern.
PRSA
Spring Series #3
April 23, 2006
Lightnings Class Series Summary
| Pl |
Sail # |
Crew |
Boat Name |
Tot |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
| 1 |
14592 |
John Butler, Ben Forman & Diane Reilly |
Beedobeat |
12 |
7 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
| 2 |
14553 |
Rick Welch, Aaron Boesnecker, Ben Bruce |
Sinistra |
14 |
5 |
1 |
4 |
4 |
| 3 |
14566 |
Frank Gallagher, Matt Fitzsimmons & Rose Gentile |
Resistance is Futile |
18 |
2\SSC |
13\DSQ |
2 |
1 |
| 4 |
14096 |
Drew Hudson, Jennifer Watson & T. Graham Fisher |
Grey Ghost |
18 |
6 |
4 |
3 |
5 |
| 5 |
7603 |
Robert Astrove, Billy Astrove & Jim Greenwell |
Pandora-II |
20 |
9 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
| 6 |
11767 |
Harry Keith, Katie Keith, Bob Wright |
Thunder |
24 |
3 |
8 |
6 |
7 |
| 7 |
15195 |
Patrick McGee, Paul Maher & Ian McLeod |
Its the Water |
28 |
8 |
5 |
9 |
6 |
| 8 |
14187 |
Laurie Duncan, Rob Tompkins & CJ Fisher |
Vaya Chica! |
31 |
4 |
9 |
10 |
8 |
| 9 |
14395 |
Bob Wilbur & Henry Cheng |
String Theory |
34 |
10 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
| 10 |
14037 |
Joe Warren, John Hart & Aimee Storm |
Bony Buns |
36 |
12 |
6 |
7 |
11 |
| 11 |
15228 |
David Thompson, Joe Kimak & Carolann Brumfield |
Blue Two |
42 |
11 |
10 |
11 |
10 |
| 12 |
15256 |
Jeff Storck, Rose Gentile & Steve Dewer |
Ariel |
43 |
2 |
13\DNS |
14\DNS |
14\DNS |
R.C.Chair: Nabeel Alsalam
Crash and Mark Boat Drivers Tim Olson, Russ Roberts
Scorekeeper Russ Roberts
St. Pete Scoring
Twelve Lightnings came out on a day where the winds did not exactly
match the weather forecast, but which nevertheless ended well. Winds
were southerly on the way up to the race course, but for the first
race they started out northerly, then switched to easterly. They were
southerly, more or less, for the rest of the day, light at times,
averaging around 7 MPH, but up to 12 MPH at one point. By 2:30 we had
sunny skies and a temperature of 64 degrees.
PRO
Nabeel Alsalam and crew Lisbet, Craig, and Scott; with Russ Roberts
as Mark Boat driver, did an outstanding job of keeping up with wind
changes, and got off 4 races before 3 PM.
Winner's Perspective
By John Butler
What great conditions we finally
had for the last 2 races! Quite a change after the cool drizzle of
the first race. Just goes to show that you never know how things are
going to turn out. That was my lesson of the day.
I'm not sure how Frank did in the second race. I suppose he would
have won the day if he hadn't fouled Laurie. It may have been
something about the conditions on Sunday, but it seems that a lot of
boats throughout the day came in pretty close to the pin on port tack
(how Frank fouled Laurie). That's one thing I tried to avoid. Of
course you want to also avoid overstaying the lay line by much far out
on starboard tack (like we did in one race). Mark roundings are
important. Overtaking or loosing a boat or 2 can easily happen there.
Was it 2 or 3 times around for the first race? I don't remember, but
it was long enough to help us recover some boats after finding
ourselves dead last 3/4 of the way up the first windward beat. We
decided to tack over to port right after the start because it seemed
such a favored tack. However, there were too many starboard tack
boats we couldn't clear and had to duck and it ended up not being a
good move. We weren't in last yet, but I didn't focus well and got
out of phase with those shifty conditions we had and sailed too much
on the right where there was probably more adverse current early on in
the day. At one point way up the beat, I assessed our position and
figured we had worked ourselves into dead last! Thankfully, Benjamin
encouraged me to keep sailing and we finally got it together and
sailed well enough the rest of the race to pick up boats as the race
progressed. That, combined with doing well in the remaining 3 races
(thanks, Nabeel et. al. for getting in 4 races even with 2 postpones)
made the day for us.
We all know how important starts are. Well, it wasn't a particularly
good day for starts for me. In all the races, it was a matter of keep
the boat going, stay focused and don't worry about our current
position.
I want to thank my crew for their excellent crew work. It definitely
helps during crowded mark roundings (there were several of those).
And it is great to have someone aboard as crew who is an excellent
skipper to help with tactics.
There sure is some great competition out there for fleet 50 Sunday
series racing. I think that's great! Also great to see so many boats
on the line!
Actual Winds at National Airport:
| 10 AM WSW 6 |
|
11 AM S 9 |
|
Noon E 7, light rain |
|
1 PM S 6 |
|
2 PM S 7 |
|
3 PM S 12 |
|
4 PM SSE 8 |
|
5 PM SSE 3 |
PRSA
Spring Series #2
April 9, 2006
Lightnings Class Series Summary
| Pl |
Sail# |
Boat |
Crew |
T |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
| 1 |
15142 |
Shadowfax |
Nabeel Alsalam, Lisbet, Geoff |
8 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
| 2 |
14222 |
Windchaser |
Russ Roberts, Craig, Vince
|
10 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
1 |
| 3 |
7603 |
Pandora-II |
Bob Astrove, Billy, Matt |
10 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
| 4 |
11767 |
Thunder |
Harry Keith, Katie, Carolann Brumfield |
17 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
3 |
| 5 |
14395 |
String Theory |
Bob Wilbur, Emilie, Henry Cheng |
20 |
5 |
6 |
4 |
5 |
| 6 |
14592 |
Beedobeat |
Ben Forman, Ann Cody, Sumi Shane |
23 |
8
/DNS |
4 |
3 |
8
/DNS |
| 7 |
15226 |
Blue Two |
David Thompson, Catherine Calvin, Aimee
Storm |
26 |
6 |
7 |
7 |
6 |
R.C.Chair: Pat McGee
Crash and Mark Boat Drivers Bill Buck, Steve Yelland
Scorekeeper Russ Roberts
St. Pete Scoring
7 Lightnings
came out on a day when the weather forecast was right on -- northerly winds 12
- 14 MPH, sunny skies, and a high temperature of 56 degrees. The winds
were shifty and gusty, with a few no-wind holes that provided some exciting
moments on spinnaker runs downwind. It was a tad bit chilly -- Ben
Ackerman found some ice on his mooring cover when uncovering his boat.
PRO Pat McGee and his crew, with helper Greg Virgin, did a great job on
RC, setting a very long leeward-windward course the length of the river, and
getting off four races before the end of the day.
Winner's Perspective
By Nabeel Alsalam
I don’t feel like the winner
of the day for last Sunday. The Windchaser Team of Russ, Craig, and Vince had
two firsts and a second and were in first when they had a freak capsize.
Despite the capsize, they quickly recovered and finished. The Astrove Team
had a 1-2-3, but after a disastrous start in the last race had a 4th.
So the Shadowfax team was simply a little more consistent than the other
teams. I guess it pays to be consistent.
It was a cool day with the
wind straight out of the north. It was shifty. The compass readings on my
TicTac varied from 285 to 330 on starboard with shifts between 300 and 320
being common. Puffs and deadspots were all over the course too. The
puffs often came from the right and the area near right shore was glassy and
to be avoided.
Predicting the shifts and
puffs wasn’t possible, so it was a matter of trying to put yourself into a
position to take advantage of them. With big shifts and no obvious
differences in wind across most of the course, I think the best strategy
(which I did not follow) was to sail up the middle of the course and when
headed do a quick mental calculation of the tradeoff between sailing on for
the patch of wind ahead or tacking and hoping that a another patch would
descend on you at the right moment. In the last race, we had the lead on the
second upwind leg but lost it to the Windchaser Team when we sailed too far
left and they went up the middle. A big right shift came and with too little
time to wait for it to go back, the lead was history. In an earlier race, we
were behind and near the windward mark but this time to the right of our
competitors when a huge puff from the right descended on us and instantly
catapulted us to the mark and into the lead.
I sailed as if there was no
current. Afterwards, some people said that in the later races the flooding
tide (and very little downstream flow) meant for a strong current. In
retrospect, I do think it was best to sail downwind down the left side (and
out of the current), and upwind maybe the people who sailed further right than
I would have dared given the glassy areas over there benefited from the push
of the current. In the race Bobby won, I remember him doing that and
expanding his lead dramatically.
Without planning it, Team Shadowfax got a lot
of good practice with spinnaker sets without a pole. At the first windward
mark in the first race, Lisbet hangs the pole and it drops to the deck – the
topping lift wasn’t cleated. But worse, there was no stopper knot in the end
of the line and it disappeared up the mast! It took us a while to figure out
how to deal with this situation, but eventually we realized that we just
needed to set the spinnaker without the pole as if we were doing a gybe-set,
provide a human pole for a while, and then put up the pole. The wind was
normally strong enough to keep the pole from dropping. When the wind died
back, Lisbet would manually hold it up.
Actual winds at National Airport were:
|
10 AM N 13
|
|
11 AM NNW 9
|
|
Noon NNW 12
|
|
1 PM NNW 14
|
|
2 PM N 14
|
|
3 PM N 13
|
|
4 PM NNE 13
|
|
5 PM N 10 |
Spring Series # 1
April 2, 2006
Lightnings Class Series Summary
| Pl |
Sail # |
Boat |
Crew |
T |
1 |
2 |
| 1 |
14566 |
Resistance is Futile |
Frank Gallagher Matt Fitzsimmons, Mike Beavin |
2 |
1 |
1 |
| 2 |
15202 |
|
Todd Johnson, Lisbet Kugler, Geof Bishop |
5 |
2 |
3 |
| 3 |
7603 |
Pandora II |
Bob Astrove, Billy Astrove, Tara Dwyer |
6 |
4 |
2 |
| 4 |
14592 |
Beedobeat |
John Butler, Diane Reilly, Ben Forman |
8 |
3 |
5 |
| 5 |
14553 |
Sinistra |
Aaron Boesnecker, Ben Bruce, Matt Wallace |
13 |
5 |
8 |
| 6 |
14395 |
String Theory |
Bob Wilbur, Emilie Pavilon, Genie Williford |
13 |
7 |
6 |
| 7 |
11767 |
Thunder |
Harry Keith, Henry Keith, Katie Keith |
16 |
9 |
7 |
| 8 |
14222 |
Windchaser |
Russ Roberts, Craig Huzway, Vince Wawrzynski |
16 |
12/OCS |
4 |
| 9 |
15256 |
Ariel |
Jeff Storck, Cathy Bleakly, Rose Gentile |
17 |
6 |
11 |
| 10 |
15195 |
It's The Water |
Pat McGee, Paul Maher, Doug Palmer |
18 |
8 |
10 |
| 11 |
14532 |
BooNooNooNos |
Rob Tompkins, David Thompson |
21 |
11/SSC |
10/SSC |
| 12 |
14187 |
!Vaya Chica! |
Laurie Duncan, Justine Faulkenburg, CJ Fisher |
23 |
11 |
12 |
R.C.Chair: Peter Duncan
Crash and Mark Boat Drivers Tim Olson, Jim Greenwell
Scorekeeper Russ Roberts
St. Pete Scoring
What a great
weather day for a season opener! 12 Lightnings came out on a day with sunny
skies, a high near 70 degrees, and northwesterly winds that started out strong
and gusty and then settled down for the first two races before dropping to 0 MPH
before the third. After a tow back to the docks the cold beer and hot dogs sure
tasted good.
RC set a very long
triangular course with the windward mark up near the 14th St bridge, and
the rounding and leeward marks about a mile south of the windward mark.
Winds at National Airport were:
| 10 AM NW 16
|
| 11 AM NNW 14
|
| Noon NW 9
|
| 1 PM N 10
|
| 2 PM NW 7
|
| 3 PM Calm
|
| 4 PM S 6
|
| 5 PM ENE 5
|
High tide was at 11:46 AM; Low tide at 7:16 PM. River flow 4,110 CFS ( Gage
height 3.2 ft); water temperature 61 degrees; high air temperature 68 degrees
Winner's Perspective:
by Frank Gallagher
Hhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmm……..Reasons we did well…..
I
sailed all winter in lasers…..
I lost
some weight…so I’m a little more nimble in the boat…
Having
sailed very sporadically last year, and with my longtime regular crew
(Christy, Skip, Lolita) moving on the other life adventures…(how dare
they…!!!), I knew I needed some real help in the boat this year….
So I
signed up hot-shot laser sailor Matt Fitzsimmons to do foredeck for the
year…
We went out and
practiced a few times then sailed the Lightning the previous week in the
PRSA frostbite regatta…we picked up big boat sailor Michael Beavin for
that day and signed him to do middle for the year...and got in some good
practice together…
We went out again
this past Saturday…blowing 15-30 and got the chute up once during a 3
minute screaming reach down to Alexandria. We didn’t get in much quality
sailing and broke several things…but now we were ready for Sunday….
The only one more
prepared than us was Nabeel…just returned from the southern circuit….
….and he wasn’t there.
Really though….the
main thing is having really enthusiastic team who was ready, willing and
able to “go for it.” We weren’t always the fastest boat on the course,
but we were quick to take advantage of opportunities to move up…and the
weather provided us plenty of shifts to do that…
We had lots of fun…lots of
fun….!!!!
|