Keep reading for some more details of the racing from my vantage point on Sinistra, and add your own comments in if you have them!

There may have been no wind, but we still had our share of adventures on Team Sinistra. These started as we put the boat in the water.  We’ve gotten pretty good at stepping the mast and rigging the boat in 20 minutes or less…but Sunday we did this so fast that we forgot to attach the Windex to the top of the mast!  After a bit of hemming and hawing about whether to do without it, to re-step the mast, or to try something else we decided that we absolutely needed the Windex on such a light wind day, and that a “creative” solution was our best plan.  With the tide fairly low, we dropped the boat in the water and then pushed the hull out away from the crane, with Piercarlo holding stern lines on one dock and me holding the bow line on another dock.  With enough shoving and tilting we were able to get the boat heeled enough so that Rick, standing up in the parking lot, could attach the Windex.  Voila!  Apart from a bit of water that got in the boat, it worked like a charm.

Out on the racecourse, we all figured out that finding the breeze first was going to be key.  There was a fairly decent right shift as we went through our starting sequence in the Lightning fleet, and that meant everybody stacked up at the boat end.  Rick did a great job of parking us right below the line with 40 seconds to go, and holding that spot until we could accelerate away.  We avoided the chaos right at the boat (I heard lots of yelling!) and got off fairly well, with Bobby below us and the College Boys above us after they did a great job winning the boat end.  We went left until we saw pressure from the right, and then tacked over.  It was the right move, but we held it too long and missed a shift that would have taken us back to the windward mark, so ended up rounding behind the College Boys, Bobby (sailing with Tree and Jonathan), and Frank (sailing with Bob and Mladin).  A really quick jibe at the top, though, put us right back out in front.  I can’t emphasize enough how being able to jibe quickly (especially when there is lots of right phase in the breeze, making port jibe the favored one) is key to escaping from, and hopefully passing, a pack at the top mark.

Having jibed we were on top of the fleet and the farthest south, which was great since the breeze continued to fill from the S/SE.  We had to reach pretty hard to keep the boat going, meaning we were well south of the leeward mark when we jibed back over to starboard, inside of Bobby, to reach back up to it.  I was up front, so after getting the jib up, pole down, and chute down, I glanced up to see where we were…and saw the leeward mark going by on the starboard side of the boat!  Holy Bizzaro World, Batman!  In a moment of complete backwardness, Rick had taken the mark to starboard instead of port.  We were bow-to-bow with Bobby, who had cone around on the correct side.  After avoiding a slow-speed head-on collision, we turned around and went back around the mark in the proper order.  Since we had been inside the 3 boatlength circle for the whole time, we managed to push most other boats outside of us despite the extended time taken to round, though Frank did sneak inside of us.

Good tactics on the next upwind leg (find the pressure!) allowed us to get by Frank, and then pass Bobby by ducking him and heading back South as he carried on left up the river a bit.  Bobby ran out of breeze and we stayed in it on the right (south) side of the course.  The folks on String Theory did an even better job of staying South and finding the breeze, as they cruised by us and rounded the windward mark just ahead of us.  We followed, and neither of us put up the spinnaker in the light air, preferring instead to jib reach.  String Theory stayed to the left (south) of us going downwind, and should have been in better position to take advantage of the breeze.  But this also meant that they’d have to turn down more to get to the leeward mark, and we managed to keep a slightly better angle and carry a puff in to eke ahead of them at the rounding.  We didn’t see it at the time, but this was also the finish as the RC had (wisely) decided to shorten course and finish us at the leeward mark.  Good thing we got that last little puff!  Unaware at the time, we kept racing, picking our way to different patches of pressure until we crossed the original finish line, at which point the RC folks let us know that we had, in fact, already finished (and no, we couldn’t earn two bullets for crossing two finish lines!).

After about an hour of drifting the RC abandoned the day and we broke out the beverages and the tow lines.  Dan, Nabeel, and Keith did a great job stringing boats behind the 19, with something like 11 or 12 boats on two tow lines.  Back on shore the sun came out and we had a great post-race BBQ!

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.

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!

2013 Fleet Championship Preliminary Standings 050913

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#/

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.

The nominations from Corky Gray and Doug Dixon.

Mr. President,

I would like to place in nomination for the Carl Smither Award a life long Lightning sailor and mentor to the people working on Classic Lightnings, Bob Astrove. Carl Smither’s ( Mr Lightning to us) Corinthian spirit, support of the Lightning Class and mentorship is recognized by the St Petersburg Yacht Club by presenting the Carl Smither Award to the Lightning sailor best representing these ideals.

I first met Bob forty years ago when I was a councilor teaching Lightning sailing at Camp Seagull. All ready cutting his teeth crewing for local Lightning sailors back home on the Potomac I could see that he was going places. After college he began racing the Dixie District In a succession of glass boats. With career and family growing he put the Lightning aside. With national interest in classic wooden boats growing he soon was seeing himself back in the Class in a gentlemen’s classic woodie. Sailing #7603 he was soon back on top in the wooden boat racing and a tough competitor in fleet 50.

Following Craig Thayer’s lead he set up the popular Wooden Lightning Yahoo Group. Open to both wooden and glass classic Lightnings it has become one of the most positive faces of the ILCA. Bob tirelessly fields questions and shepherds the folks new to the Lightning through the steps of restoration. Bob’s work on the site and on the water is at its best when it’s introducing young folks to the Lightning. It’s a Dad in western NY needing help restoring a glass Lippincott #9235 to teach is son to race. A young man in Michigan wanting to build a Lightning for a graduation project. Helping a Philadelphia intercity youth program restore several wooden Lightnings. And we all have seen him in Charleston with collegiate sailors crewing a Lightning for the first time.

All these things are in the spirit of Carl Smithers love for the sport and the Class. A hard act to follow I think Bob is right on his transom.

Corky Gray

John,

I would like to “second” this nomination. While Bob has been a key Lightning Class member, sailor, racer, Dixie District Commodore, Fleet Captain (PRSA & SSA), and mentor to other new Lightning sailors for other 40 years as Corky notes, all of which alone would be justification for this award, he has gone above and beyond with his contribution to restoring interest in and activity among Classic Lightning Sailors. This has included editing the regular “Classic Lightning” section of Flashes, organizing and maintaining the Classic Lightning Yahoo Group, organizing annual Classic Lightning events, a key organizer of the Classic portion of the Lightning Class 70th Anniversary event in Skaneateles, and most importantly being the mentor for those who have been brave to enter the restoration world of Classic Lightnings.

Like Corky notes in his proposal, Bob is an outstanding example of Carl Smither’s Corinthian spirit and well deserving of this award.

If it was not for Bob, my #584 may way still be rotting in a barn as “wood” along with many other Classics if it was not for him.

Doug Dixon

 Bob Astrove exemplifies all the characteristics of this award. I first met Bobby in the fall of 2006 when I joined the Potomac River Sailing Association and started crewing in Fleet 50 racing Lightnings in the Sunday series. I was most impressed to see Bobby sailing wooden 7603 every week knowing the labor of love necessary to maintain a wooden boat and impressed to watch how fast he could make it go even in the lightest of breezes while frequently coaching up new crew. Off the water he’s always busy in the background supporting the fleet as Treasurer, helping organize the Potomac Cup, and last year serving as the Regatta Chair and Chief Everything for the 2012 Dixie Districts or helping secure other people’s boat in preparation for a hurricane.

Congratulations on your well-deserved recognition!

We left mid Friday afternoon when I picked the guys up from the Vienna Metro a little after 3:00. I attempted to go down 29 at Gainesville but by that time the afternoon rush had started so I diverted back to 66 to go down 81 to Roanoke. We stopped in Staunton at Mrs. Rowe’s so I could introduce Brian and Alex to some southern style cooking, the super saturated sweet tea, and of course the famous pies. We made it out to VISA later in the evening and after unhitching the boat enjoyed a few hours relaxing in the cockpit.

Saturday was the sun was out and a nice breeze of 10-12 with some higher gusts. We had 7 races between noon and 3:30 or so.   It was the typical lake sailing with shifty and spotty winds. Frank started off great with two 3rd place finishes.  Unfortunately, at the beginning of the 3rd race a port tacker did not seem Frank who was on starboard on the windward quarter of another starboard tack boat and T-boned Frank at full speed.   Resistance Is Futile had to retire and spend the day watching the races from the veranda smelling the dinner cooking. Team Shadowfax had a second and the crew of 14376 managed a third in one of the races.

On Saturday evening we enjoyed some locally brewed beverages along with the 70 lbs of pulled pork and beef brisket that had been smoked sincee 5:30 Saturday morning. The cuisine alone is worth the trip down to VISA.

Sunday morning started still and cool which is great for camping but not so much for sailing. The postponement flag went up on shore at 9:30 as we sat on the veranda sipping coffee and eating bagels.  At 11:00 the abandon flag went up.   Hill Billy crystal (mason jars on pedestals) was handed out to the winners and we reluctantly hitched the boat up to head home after a relaxing weekend.