Author Archives: Aaron

Spring Series #6: A Blowout!

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The wind was a bit too gusty for most folks on Sunday, though a few boats sailed around the cove, and a couple of Albacores braved the river to blast around.  Here’s a quick summary of the day from Laura Lake:

On the river, five Lightings showed, four Lightnings splashed, but I believe only one (Chessie) left the dock to sail around in the lagoon for a bit.  I am not sure, but it looked like they might have had a technical issue that forced them to stay in.  One Buc and one Catamaran also left the dock, though they opted not to come up to Haines point to race.  One of the Albacores was still going out but was short crew, I switched over and sailed with Nick in in three races against Barney.   Barney was providing Nick with tips and tricks of the trade, rather than truly racing, it was a lot of fun.  The wind was probably 15-20, with the occasional gust higher than that.  Many thanks to race committee (there were more people on race committee than sailing)-it was a fun day to get to be out on the river.

No Gas 2013: From Calm to Carnage

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I only sailed the first day of the No Gas Regatta (with Rick & Lisbet) and Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day — about 8-10 kts of consistent breeze for most of the day with flat water.  We did fairly well on Team Sinistra, with a couple of top-10 finishes in the 18 boat fleet (a fleet filled with some rock stars, no less).  A brief spell of rain and a calm spot came through the race course during the third race, but it quickly passed and overall we had a sunny day and a great afternoon and evening for celebrating after the racing and for the Olivia Constants Foundation Fundraiser & Celebration.

It sounds like day 2 of the regatta was a much different matter.  Text message reports from Lisbet, who stayed to sail with Gary Hurban (along with Jess Harrington) keep using the words “carnage” and “mayhem.”  Apparently Gary, Jess, & Lisbet capsized on the way to the racecourse amidst very breezy and puffy conditions, and opted not to race (as did a number of other boats).  I hear reports that Steve Constants turtled and broke his mast, and that one crew member from a different boat was taken to the hospital with hypothermia concerns, but is OK.  I hope everybody is safe, sound, warm, and dry now!

Fantastic Sailing at the 2013 Doc Gilbert Potomac Cup Regatta!

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What a great weekend!  Two straight days of good breeze (10-15 from the E/NE throughout the weekend) gave us some tight racing on the course and some hungry and thirsty sailors for the legendary steak & salmon BBQ on Saturday.  Those of us that camped at the park enjoyed two beautiful nights out in nature along with our annual pilgrimage to Tim’s for some extra libations on Saturday evening.

Congratulations to Team Constants (Steve, Mike, & Dave) for a strong performance and the overall regatta win.  Team Shadowfax (Nabeel, Laura, & Jess) took 5th overall after a great 3rd-place finish in the final race, and thus earned the honor of top Fleet 50 finisher.  Full results here: 2013 Potomac Cup Results

Overall we had 24 Lightnings and 2 Flying Scot’s compete, making for a great turnout!  We’ve posted a couple of photos below (with links to more) to whet your appetite, and a full writeup will also be posted soon, so keep checking the website!  Finally, and perhaps most importantly, many thanks to our sponsors — Yuengling and Annapolis Performance Sailing — and to all of the volunteers that made this regatta such a success — we really could not have done it without you!

 

Photos from both days of racing from Bruce Heida (thanks Bruce!): https://www.dropbox.com/sh/sjz5bf93g9m3i2j/LigKjtzCRB

Photos from day two from Lindsay Bach (thanks Lindsay!):
https://www.dropbox.com/sc/fr6dkt0w3181lmm/iuKXrpsyaP#/

George Shapiro Memorial No Gas Regatta: May 11-12

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Our friends up at SSA in Fleet 329 will be hosting the No Gas regatta on May 11-12. Mark your calendar and make plans to attend now — it would be great to have a strong Fleet 50 showing at this regatta! The full NOR with links is posted below.  You can download registration form from and fill out one copy at http://severnsailing.org/racemanagement/entryform.pdf

Please note that the No Gas is being held in conjunction with the 1st Annual Olivia Constants Foundation Fundraiser.  Competitors are invited to attend the Fundraiser for dinner on Saturday evening. Advanced tickets are recommended and can be purchased at http://www.oliviaconstants.org

Here are the links for the 2013 No Gas NOR and for information on the 1st Annual OCF Fundraiser.

Register Now for the 2013 Doc Gilbert Potomac Cup Regatta

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Our Fleet 50 flagship regatta will be held May 4-5 at Leesylvania State Park in Leesylvania VA.  Mark your calendars, make your plans, and sign up now so we know who is coming!  We already have 25 boats registered and more on the way.  As always, the regatta will feature our signature steak & salmon BBQ on Saturday, and you can also tent camp at the park if you would like.

All of the details as well as the sign-up link are available on the regatta webpage.

Fleet 50 Members — please also take note that our annual park cleanup day is Saturday, April 27.  This day of service is our contribution to the park so that we can use this extraordinary facility for our regatta.  Please let Jim Dillard know if you are able to help out with the park cleanup.

Dues: A Lot for a Little!

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With the beginning of sailing season quickly approaching now is the time to pay your Fleet 50, PRSA, and ILCA Dues. By paying your dues you help ensure that we have well maintained RC boats, flags and buoys for racing, funds for awards and prizes each year, and occasionally some beverages to go around after sailing. Given what we all get for the very reasonable dues paid to each organization, this really is a bargain. Help keep all of us sailing on the Potomac by paying your dues now so we’re set for the season!

Lightning Fleet 50: $20 for Skippers, Membership forms can be found on the Fleet 50 website http://lightningfleet50.org/?page_id=17

Potomac River Sailing Association (PRSA): Information about dues and the online form can be found here http://www.potomacriversailing.org/applications/membership/MembershipApplication.php

International Lightning Class Association (ILCA): Membership options are listed on the website http://www.lightningclass.org/membership/joinRenew/membershipOptions.asp

US Sailing: Support the sport we all love nationally by becoming a member or renewing your membership http://membership.ussailing.org/

Finally, remember that membership is mandatory to participate in many events throughout the year. See you out on the water soon!

Annual Meeting & Awards Banquet Wrap-Up

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Our Fleet 50 Annual Meeting & Awards Banquet was this past Saturday, February 9, 2012. A very special thanks to Rose Gentile for hosting all of us in her home for another fantastic potluck dinner.  We enjoyed some great food, good cheer, and a nice celebration of the 2012 racing season.

2012 Fleet Championship
We had an excellent season, with a total of 62 races run. On any given Sunday there were different winners with several skippers earning that elusive first bullet over the course of the season.  As is usual, racing on the Potomac was always exciting, with hard fought starts, crazy shifts, boats in covering duels, and fights for that crucial inside overlap.  This year we were pleased to capture a good deal of the action in photos and in GoPro footage, so make sure to check out our photo & video archive.

Congratulations to Rick Welch, Aaron Boesenecker, Piercarolo Brunino and Lisbet Kugler of Team Sinistra! They were the model of consistency putting Sinistra on the line for the vast majority of our 62 races and finishing with an impressive 1.4 average! Team Ariel (Jeff Storck, Bruce Heida, Rose Gentile) finished second with an average of 3.1. Team Resistance is Futile of Frank Gallagher, Bob Gotthard, Mladen Karcic, and some other assorted crew over the season (including Maryann Gallagher!) placed third with a 3.9 average.  Team String Theory (Chris Kozell, Liz Williams, Nicole Didyk) were forth with an average of 5, and Team Shadowfax (Nabeel Alsalam & assorted crew over the season) placed fifth with a 6.7 average.

Fleet Awards
For each of the crew and skipper awards, I have included the award description here as well as the great things that the nominating individual(s) wrote about our winners.  Take a moment to read through these nomination statements, and make sure to congratulate our 2012 award winners when you next see them!  Keep reading for a detailed breakdown of the awards and winners:

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2012-2013 Annual Meeting and Awards Banquet

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Greetings Fleet 50 Sailors!

Mark your calendars for the 2012-2013 Fleet 50 Annual Meeting and Awards Banquet, which will take place on Saturday, February 9, 6:00-9:00 pm!  Rose Gentile has generously offered up her home once again for a potluck evening (thanks Rose!).  Please bring a dish to share, some beverages to share, and your favorite folding chair to sit on.  Below you will find a link to a sign-up sheet where you can list the number in your party along with the food you are bringing so we get a good mixture of main courses, salads, side dishes  and desserts.  The fleet will provide a bit of beer and soda, but it’d be great if everybody could contribute some drinks as well.  Keep reading for all of the details!

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