Archive
November, 2011
I hope everyone got in some fall sailing. The weather has been hit or miss. The past couple of weekends have been blowing with gust to 30. Which as we all known can be a handful for an afternoon cruise. We are now moving into winterizing. Take care of those engines can make for an expensive spring if you do not. I do not know about the rest of you folks; I get those sail off also. This can take some wear and tear off your rig. Getting your sails off gives you a chance to get a close look at them and at the price of sails why not get them below for the winter.
There is an article in the November Spinsheet covering the Middle Potomac Sailing Association and the St Clements Race. Take a look. The results are slightly different depending on whose results you check. There are links to pictures from the race on the MPSA web site.
The last race of the MPSA season was held October 8, off Colonial Beach. It was a beautiful day with temperatures in the 70’s and a building breeze. We had a very light turn out with only 2 boats. This is the smallest turn out we have had for any event. There were a couple of issues of a hurricane threat a couple weeks earlier so a number of boats were pulled early. It was also the weekend of the boat show which may have pulled a couple of additional boats. And maybe it was not advertised as well as past races.
This leads to thoughts on better ways to communicate among the group. This web site does not support a bulletin board. Google’s answer to that is a separate site such as we had. But it is not as easy to use as some of the other sites like Twitter or Facebook. Having a site where people could post about the races, who plans to attend and generally post anything the group may be interested in would be a benefit. If anyone has any suggestions let me know.
There is a building interest in trying to start a “Little Maryland Governors Cup”. Shawn Moore with The Barnacle Sailors out of Brenten Bay has proposed this. There is interest upriver from Quantico and Washington DC Sailors. The course is being batted around at this time. The biggest issue right now is to get in the Green Book as high point race for the 2012 CBYRA Season. This would likely be a race starting south of the 301 bridge. With a starting at the same time as the Maryland Gov Cup In Annapolis. With an effort to have the yachts arrive on Saturday morning with the yachts coming down the bay.
At this point we are looking at how many boat would participate in this race. If you are interested contact Shawn Mooremd1073bk@yahoo.com
We can now look forward to next season make plans to get out there. If you have suggest that will help make this work let me know.
Happy Holidays,
Dwight
October 4, 2011
The Middle Potomac Sailing Association will be holding the last race of the season on Saturday October, 8. The race will be held off Colonial Beach with a rendezvous off YN at 2:00. We will be running the Colonial Beach Short Course so that everyone can get everyone off the water before dark. The course is available at https://sites.google.com/site/middlepotomac/home under the heading courses.
The conditions for Saturday are looking good with sunny skies and temperatures in the mid 70’s. This is a holiday weekend so get out while the weather is still nice. If you have not come out for any other races do not let this stop you from coming out.
There is also a race in Dahlgren Sunday, The Under the Gun Regatta information on this race can be found at http://www.dahlgrenyachtclub.org/ under the heading Racing…Invitational Races.
See you on the water
September 24
The Middle Potomac Sailing Association held its 5 race of the season on September 17. The race was the St. Clements Raft Up which was sponsored by the Dahlgren Yacht Club. This is a 21 mile race from Dahlgren to just inside St Clements Bay.
The race has become one of the more popular events of the season. DYC did a good job of providing wind this year. There was a turnout of 9 yachts with 4 boats from Cobb Island, 3 boats from Dahlgren and 2 boats from Colonial Beach
At the start we had NE wind at 8 knots. As the race continued the breeze continued to build. The fleet was pretty much together at the first mark rounding, minus a couple of late starters. Shorty after this the fleet started to split in 3 packs. As the race continued one yacht decided to forgo the race and headed straight for St. Clements Bay. As we neared the halfway point of the race the wind began to build to 15 knots with gust. Shorty after this we lost 3 other boats to gear or sail problems, it was a good day for West Marine also.
As we passed St Clements Island the winds began to build a bit more. With the winds the chop also began to build. There were a couple of single hands sailors who were wishing they had crew to help reef a main at this time. Now is the time to hang on it is a couple of miles to HI and we can turn down wind to the finish.
With 9 yachts starting only 3 finish the race. It would have been 4 but the lead yacht Utopia failed to round the last mark HI. Not knowing the course can be one of the drawbacks of being the lead boat. The results are posted under the heading Race Results on the MPSA web site.
The next race of the MPSA Series will be held on October 8 off Colonial Beach. This will be the last race of the season. There are a couple of other events you may interest in.
There is a race sponsored by our friends from Breton Bay, The Barnacle Cup Sailors. They often come to sail in MPSA events it would be good if we could support them with this race. This is the 4th Annual Leonardtown Wharf Regatta. This race is on October 1, the NOR and Sailing Instructions are located WWW.BARNACLECUP.COM
Dahlgren Yacht Club is hosting the Under the Guns on Oct. 9
The Dahlgren Cup has been rescheduled to Oct. 29. This is one last race before putting the boats up for the year. Additional info on the DYC events is at http://www.dahlgrenyachtclub.org/
September 7
The next race of the Middle Potomac Sailing Season is the St.Clements Race & Raft Up. This is the one distance race of the MPSA series. This race is sponsored by Dahlgren Yacht Club. If you plan to participate in this race you need to send a race entry form toracecom@dahlgrenyachtclub.org . This race will held on September 17 with a start time of 10:30 the sequence will begin at 10:24. The start for this race will be Red nun “2” off Black March between Barber Point and Stoney Point. The NOR and the sailing instructions are posted on the MPSA Web Site https://sites.google.com/site/middlepotomac/home under MPSA Documents.
The start of this race has been changed from a pursuit start to a single start. This is the first time I am aware this race has been a single start. There was often a feeling that everyone did not sail through the same conditions. It will be interesting to see how this affects the finish. It will certainly be a more interesting start.
This has been a popular event for both the race and the raft up. The raft up is a good time for everyone to meet and share a race story over dinner. If you have not come out for any other race do not let this stop you. There is no entry fee so get busy and send in your race form.
There is also a race sponsored by our friends from Breton Bay, The Barnacle Cup Sailors. They often come to sail in MPSA events it would be good if we could support them with this race. This is the 4th Annual Leonardtown Wharf Regatta. This race is on October 1, the NOR and Sailing Instructions are located WWW.BARNACLECUP.COM .
Come out for a fun day of sailing, have a few beers & maybe dinner at Fitzies Pub afterwards and then anchor out by St. Clements Island in the evening to watch the Blessing of the Fleet Fireworks after sunset.
Proceeds from this race benefit the St Mary’s Ryken and Leonardtown High School Sailing Teams.
August 16, 2011
The 4th race of the MPSA Season was held on August 13 off Cobb Island. Due to vacations, summer camps and such this race was not well advertised thus the turnout was low. There were 3 boats Evergreen from Breton Bay, Shadowfax from Dahlgren and Ullr out of Cobb Island. Ullr was to start the race but due to a minor motor issue they were a little late. This worked out, just as they arrived there was a weather alert for strong thunderstorms. These storms were coming down river at this time Shadowfax headed for shelter. The race was abandon.
Sailing on the Potomac in the summer is difficult often there is good wind, often there is no wind and between the 2 there are often strong thunderstorms. This season had been tough our last three races have been abandon due to light air or thunderstorms. We are now moving in to later summer early far which is often the better part of the season, except it is hurricane season.
As we move into the fall racing season there are a few of races coming up you may be interested.
August 27 Dahlgren Yacht Club is sponsoring the Dahlgren Cup this is a around the buoys race. There were two boats down from Quantico Yacht Club last year. They will likely run a spin and non spin class.
September 17 is the St Clements Race this is the next race of the MPSA series. This race is also sponsored by Dahlgren Yacht Club see http://www.dahlgrenyachtclub.org/ for addition information. If you plan to participate you will need to follow the race instructions this race. It will be scored by MPSA and DYC. I will be posting the NOR as it becomes available. It will likely be the same as past years. This is one of the most popular races of the season with an overnigh raft up in Canoe Neck Creek.
October 8 is the MPSA Race which will be held off Colonial Beach
October 9 is the Under the Guns Regatta which is also sponsored by DYC.
If you have not made any of the other races do not let this stop you from coming out. I will be posting additional details as we get closer to these events.
July 20, 2011
Our third race of the season was held on July 9 off Colonial Beach. We had a chance to try out our new yellow markers which gave us a start and finish marker. This also gave us a bit of a more a race look and made things a bit more organized. We had 8 yachts turnout with 2 from Cobb, 4 from Colonial Beach and 2 from Dahlgren.
The race started as usual about 10 minutes late with one boat pushing us to get the show on the road. We started with about 6 to 8 knots of winds. The breeze held through the first leg then unfortunately the light wind and current took over. Shadowfax the Merit 25 from Dahlgren was able to make it to the second mark they were making their way back towards the finish when the race was abandon. This was after a couple of other yachts had withdrawn and the remaining 3 boats were not making progress to the mark for over 2 hours.
Our next race will be held on August 13 off Cobb Island. The start time will be 2:00 with a start between buoy 25 and 26. The courses for the races are posted on the MPSA web site. We are due for some breeze after our last two races. We had a turnout of 12 boats with our Cobb Race earlier in the season it would be great if we could do that again.
See you on the water
July 3, 2011
The Middle Potomac Sailing Association is holding the 3rd race of the season on July 9. This race will be held off Colonial Beach with a start off Y N at 2:00 PM. Courses and race updates will be posted on the MPSA web site at https://sites.google.com/site/middlepotomac/home
Check out the July issue of Spinsheet page 68 would be a good place to start.
http://issuu.com/cdeere/docs/jul_ss_2011
See you on the water,
June 21, 2011
On Saturday June 11 MPSA held its second race of the season off Colonial Beach. The long course was called which started at N with a first mark off Popes Creek at J, a second mark of 27, and then returning to the finish at N. The 5 minute countdown was started at 14:15 with a clear start of the race at 14:20.
Five boats participated with 4 from Colonial Beach and 1 from Dahlgren. As the first boats approached J, the RC was notified of a strong line of red cells running NE/SW near Culpeper and moving eastward very fast. Three Boats retired immediately to return to Colonial Beach the race was abandoned shortly thereafter. All boats but one made it back before the storm hit with a fury. That boat suffered damage with shredded main and rattled nerves, fortunately no bodily injuries. The 3rd race of the MPSA season will be on July 9.
Keep an eye out for the July issue of Spin Sheet Magazine. The race results and brief write on the May Race was submitted and will be published in the July issue.
May 27, 2011
The Middle Potomac Sailing Association held their first race of the 2001 season on May 21. The race was held off Cobb Island, we had a turnout of 11 yachts. The race started with 8 knots of wind and an outgoing current that could wash you out to the bay if you were not careful. Unfortunately the breeze did not hold. Within an hour of the start the wind nearly vanished. The fleet continued to ghost along with the yacht Ten Ounce finishing first in 2 hours 39 minutes on a shorten course and the last yacht finished just over 2 hours later, OUCH! Results are posted under the heading Result on the left side of the MPSA web site.
The Middle Potomac Sailing Association was put together to bring together sailor from the surrounding area. This race was just that with 4 yachts from Breton Bay, 3 from Colonial Beach and 3 out of Cobb Island.
The next race of the MPSA season will be June 11 and will be held off Colonial Beach. This is also the same weekend as Potomac River Days in Colonial Beach. I am working to post pictures from the last race; hopefully I will get that done in the next few days. Thanks to everyone that came out, hope to see everyone on June 11. I expect we will see addition boats this should be a good event.
Enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend
Dwight
May 13, 2011
Hello all,
Due to the current weather forecast we are postponing Saturdays May14 race to May 21. There is a 80% chance of thunderstorms Saturday which will be increasing as the day goes on. These races are for fun and to bring everyone out that is a little competitive. Racing in the rain is one thing going out in thunderstorms is a bit more extreme. All of the other details will be the same for May 21.
See you on the water
Dwight
dw.mpsa@gmail.com
May 1, 2011
The first MPSA Race is May 14. If you plan to participate please send in an entry/release form. You can save this form as a text file then fill it out email it or print, scan and resend. If you take the .txt file route you will not be able to sign it but the fact that you sent it from your email address should cover that. I will also post a .doc file if that will helps. Courses for the Cobb Island Races are posted at https://sites.google.com/site/middlepotomac/home .
The posted courses show the start between buoy 25 and 26. As most of you know there is a string or red and green buoys in this area and any of them will make a good start/finish area. We can move the start/finish location and still use the same course. For the May 14 race the start will be moved to buoys 19 and 20. This will allow for the easy use of courses A or B which are the prefer courses. This will help accommodate the boats coming up from down river. I believe we have 4 boats that are planning to come up from Brenton Bay. I am not aware of any boats coming down river to the race other than from Colonial Beach, if there are and this impacts you let me know.
The start time for the May 14th race is 2:00. The start will be over the radio, monitor 68. The courses will be one of the posted courses. The course will be called out as A, B, C or D you will need to print the course and bring them with you. We will not be calling the course marks out over the radio this seems to create an equal amount of confusion. There will be an announcement or two that we are preparing to start after that there will be a 5 minute start sequence. The number of horns or countdown announcements will be up to the RC boat. A 5 minute a one minute and start horn is typical.
There is an area on the MPSA web site Crew List if you are looking for crew check there. If you are looking to crew send me an email of what you want posted and I will take care of it. Remember these races are for fun and to bring people out sailing, sail safe, enjoy.
Dwight
dw.mpsa@gmail.com
April 22, 2011
Course for Cobb Island are posted under the link for courses. Take look if you see a problem let me know. Print these courses and put them on a binder on your yacht. In future races we will reference the course by the letter Course A, etc. Hopefully this will clear up some of the confusion of calling course marks out over the radio. It will also make doing the start easier for the Race Committee boat.
Check the schedule our first race will be May 14 off Cobb Island.
See you on the water
April 9, 2011
The 2011 Middle Potomac Sailing Association sailing season will be here is no time I all. I hope everyone has their bottom paint on and are back in the water or have a date set. Middle Potomac Sailing Association is gearing up for a new season. Last year we had a successful season, the season ended with a race off Cobb that included the Barnacle Cup Sailors from Brenton Bay. I think everyone was excited to have that many boats on the start line and with the prospect of doing this again.
I proposed the option of having races every other Saturday or continuing with the second Saturday of each month May through October. I was hoping to get a bit more input on the 2011 schedule but have not. The few I have spoken to generally indicate every other weekend maybe a bit much. We will hold the first race on May 14, after this race if there is a enough input and support to hold races every other weekend we can do so. Otherwise I put together a schedule of races the second Saturday of each month.
This is a new web site for the Middle Potomac Sailing Association, https://sites.google.com/site/middlepotomac/. Take a look there are useful links and information on the upcoming season. We will have all information for each race posted there. Entry/release forms for the 2011 season are poster there please fill out the form and send it to the email address on the bottom of the form.
We will work to get a few courses posted and standard start locations posted in the next couple of weeks. If you have any suggest please let me know.
See you on water
Dwight
dw.mpsa@gmail.com
February 28
I have a schedule set for races every other Saturday, May through October. This is a 13 race schedule. The race locations are tentatively alternated between Cobb and Colonial Beach. This will change with at least a race moved closer to Dahlgren and a race moved to St .Clements. I also did not include the St. Clements race which is sponsored by Dahlgren Yacht Club. They have not posted a schedule for 2011 yet, we can adjust for that.
To do this many races we will need a few others to organize the start. Josh said he will continue to do the results. He or I will post them. We need to set a standard starting buoy for each location and create courses. We have a few courses that we need to update with a starting buoy and diagrams. Allen Hopkins will keep up with everyone entry/release forms as he has done in past years.
Please take a look at this and let me know what you’ll think. If every other Saturday is too much let me know we can go with one race a month. I think we are looking at more boats on the line with Dennis having Shadowfax back in the water; also the Brenton Bay Sailors expressed interest in coming up to race. Plus there are few new boats in the group.
I would like to hear if there is enough interest to pull this off before we firm up the dates . Feel free to contact me.
Dwight
October 9
We held the last race of the 2010 Middle Potomac Sailing Season on October 9. The weather was clear with temperatures in the upper 70’s. We had a turnout of 6 yachts there were a couple of others that planned to make it but motor issues and a issues with a very low tide that morning held them up
The race started with very light air but shortly in to the race it began to fill in. The winds built to the mid teens for next two legs which made for a good race. A effort was made to set marks for a start and finish off N, but who would guess that the marks were gone when we got back. There were very few people on the water that day so it was a real shocker that someone took the marks. The results are posted below under Oct-9-2010 .pdf .
The group from Breton Bay, Barnacle Cup Sailors would like to organize events which include our two groups. They also have a race scheduled for Oct. 30 below is the invite.
Our last race will be on 30 Oct 10. Now while not exactly on Haloween it is close enough. The race will start out at the HI bouy 1200 hrs. Last year the weather was not the greatest but we all had a great time. If anyone wants to take part please be at the HI (near St. Clements Island) at start time. Everyone is welcomed.
Shawn
As we go into the end of the sailing season if you come up with any ideas for next year let me know. I will be making some changes to the MPSA Google group. We missed a few races this year due to bad weather do we want to look into re scheduling races that are canceled?
Dwight
September 27
Upcoming Events
The final race of Middle Potomac Sailing Association 2010 season is coming up on October, 9. This race will be off Colonial Beach we will be moving the start time up 1:00 so that everyone can get home before dark. We will rendezvous off GC27.
Even if you have not made any of the other events you can still come out for this race. For those that do come out please try to be on time also check your email and the MPSA Google Group for any last minute changes. The race officer will monitor channel 68 as with our last race everyone should be prepared to take their own GPS time when finishing and announce it over the radio.
Dahlgren Yacht Club will sponsor The Under the Guns Regatta. Sunday, October, 10. Rendezvous will be 12:00 near Back Channel Red Nun #2 downriver from Upper Machodoc Creek.. The NOR for the race is located http://dahlgrenyachtclub.org/
These events will be an opportunity to get 2 today’s of racing as we near the end of the sailing season.
St. Clement's Race
It is with great regret that I missed the St. Clements’s Race. A little joke there it was a tough day on the water. Of the years I have done the St. Clements Race and Raft Up that was the lightest air race I am aware of. I believe 3 years ago it blew 15 plus with guest above 20. I got lucky the Friday before the race while taking Rheaultien out to clean the bottom the oil sensor that starting throwing oil. I was lucky to have this happen while close to home as compared to finding this out while trying to make the start Saturday morning. I feel for everyone that did the race this was a Dahlgren Yacht Club event it was their responsible to order the wind. We will try to make sure we have wind available for our next MPSA event.
The following was provided by Denis Bessette
The Saturday race started in very light winds. The first three boats to the first mark (29) reported difficulty rounding as the current was strong and the boat speeds were low. Hatmut reported that one time they were going backward. However round it they did and proceeded down stream to 25, carried by the current a much as the wind.
Us guys in the later starting fast boats, had difficulty gauging the start as it first looked like we would never get there for lack of wind, and then get a puff and be in danger of being over early. But start we did, and had a three boat drifting match to 29. As we approached 29 we had good news and bad news. The good news was the current was less, the bad news was the wind was even more anemic. So we approached it at about 0.5 knots. The exciting highlight of the day was upon nearing 29 La Chassueresse caught some wind and passed us. Then we got some and we both rounded together, Two big boats barely under control at 0.25 knots!
The key to the race appears to be that although the early starters had to struggle to pass 29, they had good current to help after that.
Us late starters had less current, and most likely a little less wind. We all gave up by 3:00 as there was no way we could even make the short course.
Pierre went home to Cobb Island to find a new pipe, and Zenful Wind and That Amore motored on to St Clements.
Sundays race was abandoned due to non existent winds at the start. Never much wind after that either.
The weather was great, and the post race raft up party was even greater, so all in all it was a great day, even if there was no wind.
Denis Bessette
September 6, 2010
Upcoming Events
There are 2 upcoming events everyone may be interested in. The first is sponsored by The BARNACLE CUP SAILORS they are located in the Breton Bay area, they joined us on our last race. They have a race on September 10. This race is also a charity event to help support the St Mary’s Ryken and Leonardtown High School Sailing Teams. We are working to bring boats out for the event. I know of a couple of MPSA Boats that are planning to attend. It would be great if you can make an effort to attend doing so will help bring together additional sailors to our group and help out some young sailors. The NOR is located http://barnaclecup.shutterfly.com/
The second event is the St Clements Race on September 18 this race from just outside Dahlgen to St. Clements Bay with an overnight raft up in Canoe Neck Creek. This race is sponsored by Dahlgren Yacht Club http://www.dahlgrenyachtclub.org/ The race has been a popular event with MPSA sailors. If you plan to participate in this race contact Dahlgren Yacht Club. The race is a pursuit start; each boat has its own start time all PHRF adjustments are made at the start. Your finish time is your adjusted finish. DYC would like to know who is racing so that they can put together the start sequence. The NOR is located at St Clements Race & Cruise-In Flyer
August 24, 2010
I was sent the following from Shawn Moore of the BARNACLE CUP SAILORS. The BARNACLE CUP SAILORS are located in the Breton Bay area, they joined us on our last race. They have an up coming race on September 10 they are trying to build interest in. This race is also a charity event to help support the St Mary’s Ryken and Leonardtown High School Sailing Teams. We are working to bring boats out for the event. Let me know if you are interested in motor sailing up for this race. It would be great if we can make an effort to bring together additional sailors to our group. The NOR is located BCR final.doc
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Attached is a copy of the agenda for the Sept 11 2010 race. This race is being held to benefit the local sailing programs. So the more boats we have the more money we can give the programs. So please talk it up among your members and at your marinas. We of course will do the same for your events as well.
There is one change from the Notice to race that I sent out earlier and that is the skippers meeting is being held at Fitzies. For those who dock at the Town Wharf or other site please let us know and we will pick up the crew and skipper and shuttle them to Fitzies.
For those members of the media who may wish to join us we can place you on one of the BCR boats or on the committee boat if you wish. Either option will allow you to have some unique views of the race.
If there are any questions please feel free to call Buzz Ballard at 240 298-1211 or myself (Shawn Moore) at 301 247-7238.
August 16, 2010
The Middle Potomac Sailing Association had our 2 second race of the season on August 14. We had 2 other events we were forced to cancel due to weather conditions. Saturdays race was one of our better the weather was great with winds 10 to 15 and tempters in the upper 80’s. We had a turnout of 10 boats. This included 2 boats from Dahlgren, 2 from Cobb Island, 3 from Colonial Beach and 3 from Breton Bay. There were 4 new boats on the starting line.
We had a bit of confusion at the start as we often do. Much of this is due to yachts coming out with out the course. The courses are posted on the MPSA Google Group. Please check the site before coming our so that you will have the correct course. Having to call the courses out over the radio only adds confusion. We are we still working to have standard rendezvous points at our primary race locations. We have moved these spots around a bit to help accommodate yachts coming from other locations.
We were joined Saturday by a group of sailors from Breton Bay. They race in the general vicinity of St. Clements Island. The group is Barnacle Cuphttp://barnaclecup.com . They have pictures posted from Saturdays race at their site. Among their other events is a race on Sept 11, Leonardtown Wharf Race. This Regatta will benefit the local junior sailing programs in Leonardtown, and Ryken High School. The NOR is located at http://barnaclecup.com
A boat that has not raced with us before made a great showing their first time out. Although it was being raced by a few old salts that have done well in the past. The Catalina 27 Anastasia out of Dahlgren took first in non-spin and second over all. The results from Saturday’s race are posted at AUG142010race2 .
Pictures from Saturday race are posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/dw.mpsa/August142010CobbIsland# . Thanks to Allen Overstreet for providing the pictures. A big thanks goes out to Allen for getting the race started while helping to get everyone organized.
Our next event is the St Clements Race on September 18 this is a race from just outside Dahlgen to St. Clements Bay with a overnight raft up in Canoe Neck Creek. This race is sponsored by Dahlgren Yacht Club http://www.dahlgrenyachtclub.org/ . This race has always been a pursuit start we are looking to change this to a standard start. More information will be provided as we get closer to this race.
August 11, 2010
The next scheduled race is Saturday August, 14 with a start time of 2:00. The weather forecast is currently calling for tempters in the upper 80’s with winds from the E at 5 to 10 knots. Let’s hope for the winds closer to 10 knots than 5. We have a couple of courses set up for Saturday. These courses are located at the bottom of the page under Files it is titled MPSA AUG 2010 Cob.doc
The second course is the preferred course it is 8.28 miles with a start at Buoy 25 and 26 the course can be run in either direction the start/ finish will be between Buoy 25 and 26 with the finish going straight through the start/finish line. There will be no button hooking the finish despite how you may have rounded the other marks. I hope that does not cause additional confusion, if so think about it a little longer.
We are expecting a good turnout. There are a group of sailors from Breton Bay planning to participate in Saturday’s race. They have been racing nearby St Clements and plan to come a bit more north for this race. We are happy to have them and look forward to the additional boats. I will add additional info on their club Barnacle Cup Racers in my next update to this group.
As with the past races this will be a rolling start with the count down over the radio, channel 68. Each yacht will be taking their own finish time then announcing it over the radio. We expect everyone has access to GPS time.
If you have not raced in the past please send in a release form we can not give you a rating with out this or score you. These forms are located under the heading Files and is titled Standard Yacht Race Entry Form 2010
We are looking forward to seeing everyone on the water. It should be a great day, be safe, keep an eye out for other boats there will likely be a few extra boats on the start line.
July 24, 2010
The next scheduled MPSA Race is August 7 we will be moved to August 14. The race was incorrectly scheduled. We make efforts to schedule all of our races on the second Saturday of each month from May thru October. The one exception is the September St. Clements Raft Up the race is scheduled for September 18 with an overnight raft up in Canoe Neck Creek. The race is sponsored by Dahlgren Yacht Club. Additional information can be found at http://www.dahlgrenyachtclub.org/
The August 14 race is a Cobb Island event. The start will be at G17 we will use N18 as the other end of the start line. The course will be announced over the radio. The start time will be at 2:00 please be on time. It is unlikely there will be race committee boat. The start sequence will be done over the radio with each yacht taking their own time as they cross the finish line then announcing it over the radio. There will be multiple people recording finish times.
There are a couple of other events you may be interested in. The Maryland Governors’ Cup in a race from Annapolis to St. Mary College. There are group of local sailors that do not do the race but come down to St. Mary’s College for a raft up and the after race festivities. Most sail down on Friday evening anchor up for the night then get up early and watch the boats finish Saturday morning. Most then stay over to Sunday morning then head back. Depending on the wind there will be boats finishing from the wee hours of Saturday morning to late Saturday afternoon. Additional information can be found at http://www.smcm.edu/govcup/
Dahlgren Yacht will be sponsoring the Dahlgren Cup on August 31. This race is open to anyone you will need to register with DYC prior to the race. There no entry fee. Additional information can be found at http://www.dahlgrenyachtclub.org/ There is usually a get together after the race at Dahlgren Yacht Club with and finger food and awards.
July 18, 2010
The next scheduled race of the Middle Potomac Sailing Season is August 7. I will be looking at re-scheduling this race due to the Maryland Governors Cup. The August 7 race is scheduled as a Cobb Island start. The start will be at G17 we will use N18 as the other end of the start line. The course will be announced over the radio. The start time will be at 2:00 please be on time.
The July 10 race was abandon due to rain and a forecast of thunderstorms. This race was a Dahlgren event. The race was canceled at 8:00AM emails went sent to the race representatives of each location it is consider their job to let others in their area know that the race has been abandon.
The race did come close to taking place there were 3 Colonial Beach boats and 1 Dahlgren boat that showed up for a race. Josh on Night Moose was in the process of moving his boat from Dahlgren to Colonial Beach. He was passing through Colonial Beach at the 2:00 start. He contacted the other yachts and prepared to start the race as a dark cloud appeared over Colonial Beach. There was also a small front that came through the winds quickly picked up to 20+. Everyone then made the sensible decision to head for cover.
Our August 7 race also coincides with the finish of the Maryland Governor’s Cup. The Maryland Governors Cup is an overnight race from Annapolis to St. Mary College. This is a 70 mile race. It is a 3 part race, part one round Thomas Point and head down the bay to Point Look Out, part 2 turn up the Potomac, part 3 is up the St. Mary’s River to St Mary’s college. There are quite a few boats from our area that sail down just for the finish and the after race events. I know of at least 3 boats that the owners will be doing the MGC including myself and 1 to 2 others that will likely sail down for the after race events. This will limit the number of boats available to pull off a race.
I will send out an email prior to August 7 to announce a change if needed.
June 27, 2010
The Middle Potomac Sailing Association held it first event of the 2010 season on June 12. We raced off of Colonial Beach. It was a pleasant day with near perfect sailing conditions winds were in the 10 knot range temps in the upper 80’s. We had a turn out of 7 yachts with 2 boats from Cobb, 2 from Dahlgren and 3 from Colonial Beach.
We used a new starting sequence for this race which seemed to work well. This is what I would call a running start with one of the race participants doing the start over the radio with each boat taking their own time as they cross the finish line. I did the start for the race, keeping track of the sequence and getting your boat on the start line was a challenge. After doing this blowing a horn or two may have helped but other wise it went well. I expect this will become our new starting standard. Having a race committee boat is nice but in our type of racing it is not necessary.
I think everyone that came out had a great time. We held the start for 10 minutes for a couple of late arrivals. As we were finishing there were threatening clouds on the horizon. Everyone made it home before the small storm blew through.
The uncorrected results from the last race are:
PEGASUS: 15:22:50
SEA YA: 15:24:20
UTOPIAH: 15:35:40
VENTO 15:47:45
RHEALUTHIEN 15:51:15
Jelicat Cat 15:53:39
Spare Change 15:57:03
We have a few photographs from this last race they are posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/dw.mpsa/MPSA61210#
The photographs were taken and submitted Allen Overstreet
We have our second race planned for July 10. This race will also be held off Colonial Beach. Allen Overstreet on Vento has volunteered to do the start. We will do this start the same as our last race using GPS time each participant is to take their time and announce it over the radio. If someone is over early we request they come back and start properly.
May 22, 2010
The race that was scheduled for May 8 was abandoned due to lack of organization. This race would have been abandon due to conditions. The winds on May 8 were steady at 15 mph with gust to 38 mph. There were reports of power poles being blown over in Westmoreland County on the 8th. Due to the type of racing we do with light crew, we would have considered these to be unsafe conditions to race in. This certainly would not have been a pleasant day on the water or made for a very good shake down race.
Our next event is scheduled for June 12, it will be held off Colonial Beach. The start time will be 2:00 PM with a rendezvous off G27. The course is posted at the MPSA Google Group. We are requesting all participants to submit a Standard Yacht Race Entry Form 2010 you can submit this to Allan.M.Hopkins@irs.gov or dw.mpsa@gmail.com. All racers are expected to monitor channel 68 we also expect everyone have GPS time as you may be taking your own finish time and announcing it over the radio as you finish. There will be multiple people recording the finish times. This all depends on if we use a Race Committee Boat for this event.
I know everyone has their own level of competitiveness, these races are being held to bring people out and enjoy the camaraderie of sailing with other local sailors. There is just as much competition in the back of the fleet as the front. So come out enjoy and maybe learn a little more about your boat.
The Potomac River Festival is also being held the same weekend addition information can be found at http://www.colonial-beach-virginia-attractions.com/potomac-river-festival.html
Comments and suggestions are welcome.
Dwight
May 5, 2010
Sailing season is upon us, I apologies for not sending out something sooner. I hope everyone has gotten their bottoms painted (no pictures please) and any other tasks completed that you hoped to realistically accomplish. I say this because I have a few of those other tasks that go beyond painting, waxing and changing oil.
The Middle Potomac Sail Association is going to make another effort at pulling off a series of races. This will be our third season. We are planning a schedule similar to last years with one race a month on the second Saturday running from May 8 through October 9. We will be abandoning the first race of the series due to me not getting the word out earlier. I have heard from a number of people over the past week wanting to know if there will be a race Saturday. Due the late notices there is not adequate time to get release forms straight, a course and all of the other things it takes to pull this off. So as I said we will be abandoning the Saturday May 8 race.
We are still requesting that each participant submit a Standard Yacht Race Entry Form 2010 this is located at the MPSA web page on Google Groups. Please send your release form Allen Hopkins at Allan.M.Hopkins@irs.gov
One is the hardest things to do when setting up a sailboat race is getting some one to do committee boat other wise know as Race Committee. In any organized event there is a boat that starts the race and stays on position to take the times of the boats as they finish. Of course they are other responsibilities like calling boat that are over early, getting the race started and possible shorting the course if there is not enough wind to finish the posted course for the event. This is not a difficult task it can be an enjoyable day on the water and a learning experience. Getting a feel of how races start gives you a better understanding of the sport in general also seeing the sail settings on different boat helps you understand why one boat is fast or pointing higher. All of these things can improve your sailing skills also.
Up to this point it has generally been the same folks taking this responsibility for each event. I am asking anyone that participates to take race committee for an event. We have tried a couple of other options of the RC starting the race then taking their own start time then having the first boat to finish take the finish times for the other boats. This can work under certain conditions but starting the race 10 minutes on more after the other boats is not nearly as much fun as starting with the rest of the fleet.
We will be trying some other start options this year such as having a rolling start over the radio and each boat taking this own finish times and announcing it over the radio as they finish. If we do a start a race this way we will expect everyone to carry some type of GPS time. A GPS is recommended but many cell phones can do this as well I am looking forward to trying a start and finish such as this. We are also looking for suggestions on a better way to communicate maybe one of those Social Media Sites. We are open to suggestions so please speak up and participate.
The courses for the races are posted on the Middle Potomac Sailing Association Google Group. The start is generally at 1:00 or 2:00 PM the start time is up to the location sponsoring the race. Most of the events are held off Colonial Beach this is a central location and there are more buoys in the area which makes setting up courses easier.
Again I am sorry about the late notice for Saturday’s Race. We will start the series on June 12 with the first race off Colonial Beach. I hope to see everyone then.