2022 President’s Cup Results

93rd Billy Heintz Regatta Hosted by West River Sailing Club

The 93rd Billy Heintz Regatta hosted by West River Sailing Club took place September 3rd and 4th 2022. Thirteen Albacores competed over two days of racing. Day one of racing had 5 windward leeward races in light breeze with a sunny blue sky. The breeze ranged from seven to ten knots in shifty conditions which was better than the predicted forecast. At times there were 30-degree shifts, which kept the fleet on their toes. Some boats lost while other boats gained in the shifty conditions. Downwind for the fourth and fifth race was tuff with the light breeze and the sun blasting competitors. The only controversy from day one racing was when AL 7492 fouled AL 7970 at the start of a third race in a port starboard incident at the start of the race. This caused a few boats to pile up at the pin of the start line and sailors to ponder why other boats do what they do at times.

Day two of racing brought five races and more breeze than day one. The breeze ranged from eight to fifteen knots with crews hiking upwind all day. Boat traffic was another added element during day two racing. At times it looked like rush hour with non-racing boats zipping through the race course to the dismay of racers.

Ten races total were raced for the event. In addition to the top three Albacores receiving awards another award was given out to an Albacore. The Billy Heintz Memorial perpetual trophy was awarded to first place finisher in the class with the largest number of registered competitors for the regatta.  And a shoutout to Scott Titus for bringing his boat up from Ware River for the event.  We look forward to seeing more Ware River boats traveling to events!

Top 3 and Billy Heintz Memorial Perpetual Trophy
1st AL 8162 – Barney Harris & Ernest Ayukawa
2nd AL 8122 – Farley Will & Celeste Karpow
3rd AL 7984 – Khin Thein & Thant Thein (best looking boat unofficial award)
Billy Heintz Memorial Perpetual Trophy – Barney Harris and Ernest Ayukawa

2022 Billy Heintz WRSC Results

While camping with a low of 76 degrees overnight is not my favorite thing to do, the Corsica River Regatta did not disappoint.  We had 7 Albacores show up including Elvin with his boat looking like it came fresh off the assembly line (at least from how shining the white gel coat looked).  There was actually a fair bit of breeze too which was unexpected with the highs of 98 the weekend promised.

CRYC had us race just before the mouth of the Corisca River into the Chester river which gave us some pretty nice wind coming off the Chester River that did not appear to actually be in the Chester River.  At the end of the first day racing was quite tight with a tie for first place.  The second day began with an on shore postponement but the wind filled in around noon around 5-10 knots but was a bit more shifty coming off the land.  With the high temperatures, the Race Committee was watching out for all the sailors and had us do 3 races each day.

As usual, the Corisca party was a lot of fun.  A blue grass band was playing when we got back on shore and played through dinner.  The dinner was very tasty and the libations were flowing.  Hanging out at their club area under the ceiling fans was quite nice.  Camping was better than it could have been with a little bit of breeze most of the night.  Other than being a little warm (except Barney who claims he froze himself since he could not figure out how to turn off the AC in Spot) for the camping the regatta was a great time!

2022 CRYC Annual Regatta Results

For Tyler and I, Albacore North Americans in Toronto was a lot of firsts. It was the first time visiting Toronto for both of us and Tyler’s first Canadian passport stamp. It was our first time racing an Albacore together, actually our first time sailing one together – and if I’m being honest- it was my first-time seeing one in person, so everything was new!

After a 10-hour overnight drive, we quickly rigged, set some goals for the weekend (have some fun and don’t come in last!) and tried to get a practice sail in. The wind had other plans and we just bobbed about for 30 minutes so Friday’s race was truly my first Albacore sail: first time with the layout of the lines, first time figuring out the whisker pole, first time using a tactical compass, first start and first finish in this class. It didn’t take too long to settle in to the basics but even as our comfort grew as skipper and crew, we pushed ourselves, trying for more aggressive starts.

The result was a couple nice line positions on general recalls and one unbeknownst OCS that prompted our first hand-held radio purchase (nothing like returning home to some freshly delivered online orders!). We had some light wind frustrations on Saturday during a major wind shift and a raised rudder on Sunday which was kindly pointed out to us near the windward mark and explained our confusion over our lack of speed and inability to point, but otherwise we felt good. We had a couple mid-fleet finishes and even managed to beat some boats overall! While we still have plenty to work on and practice, we achieved our goal: had fun and didn’t come in last!

From never having heard of Albacores two months ago to now, North Americans has sold it to me, hard not to with a fun boat, a good group of sailors, and the excitement of a spectacular racing venue. Tyler and I have a long ways to go but this weekend was a lot of firsts, not the finish-gun kind unfortunately, but the this-seems-like-the-beginning-of-something-good kind, and that is just as exciting.

-Eliza Pearce (& Tyler Phillips)

Albacore 7373

2022 Albacore North Americans Results

Last weekend, Farley and I sailed Albacore 8122 in the annual Dave Irey regatta at West River Sailing Club (WRSC). There were 8 Albacores registered and it was great to have a new team with a new boat on the water racing. WRSC is one of the prettiest venues to sail at on the Chesapeake Bay and it’s convenient coming from Washington DC because you don’t have to cross the Bay Bridge.

Saturday started off light and the Race Committee postponed on land which gave me the opportunity to catch up with some other sailors and play Wordle overlooking the view. After one quick course location change, we sailed 4 great races Saturday afternoon. The Race Committee balanced getting races off after our postponed start which I enjoyed. We forgot our compass so we were reading the shifts based off feel on starboard tack and the shoreline on port tack. The sea breeze filled in throughout the afternoon which led to hiking and waves. Given the short races, strong starts seemed to be important. Also, Saturday afternoon brought motor boat traffic and with the breeze, I was conservative with our centerboard going downwind.

The race committee postponed on land again Sunday but for the opposite reason, there were gusts of 25-30 knots. As forecasted, the breeze subsided as the day went on and we raced later in the afternoon. We sailed 3 races Sunday. We found the course was skewed to favor port tack so we tried to start at the pin end allowing us to tack to port soon after the gun. There were other larger sailboats on the race course which impacted our tactical decisions to avoid or minimize the wind shadow as we approached the windward mark. Our downwind legs seemed to go well sailing wing to wing. After sailing and derigging, I took the opportunity to swim twice before heading back to the city.

WRSC put on a great regatta, we had made dinner reservations but the catered dinner looked great. Race committee by Constantine was excellent and I always appreciate the friendly faces from the WRSC members and volunteers. We look forward to sailing at WRSC again!

Celeste
#8122

2022 Dave Irey Regatta Results

Another Win for the Red Boat at the PRSA Spring Regatta
By Steph Mah

A few weeks ago, Barney Harris made Raines an offer to come down and race in the Potomac River Sailing Association’s Spring Regatta. It was one of those offers Raines couldn’t refuse – Barney was providing his Republican red boat, his house, pick up and drop off from the airport, and a lot of beer. Raines asked me to tag along knowing that I wouldn’t be able to resist getting into political arguments with Barney and possibly wind up epoxied to a dock.

The forecast was for light air on Saturday and even less on Sunday – but if you didn’t want to hike (like me), this wasn’t a bad thing.  Unfortunately, like pollsters, weather forecasters can be completely wrong with no consequences, and what we actually got on Saturday was a gusty 10-15 knots with a small craft warning in effect.

An albacore is an albacore is an albacore – unless it’s Barney’s, which has about 99% more control lines than what we’re used to. Writing down what some of the lines did was helpful, but that didn’t stop us from falling down a couple of times during tacks and gybes. It seemed like going left was the payoff move, but being Canadian and polite, we went right to stay out of everyone’s way. Eventually, with some skill (from Raines) and luck (being the ant infestation in the boat Barney was using), we got ourselves settled and Barney’s red boat squeaked out a bullet in the last race over Barney’s other boats,
giving us the lead for the day. Dinner was a huge spread of tacos, nachos, salads, cookies, and beer.

Sunday was one of those days where you discovered how cruel or kind the RC was. The wind was looking bleak (except for when the planes were landing), so the only decision was whether they would postpone us on land or make us go out. Fortunately, they went with the former, giving Barney more time to murder ants, and eventually they called the day off to the relief of many. And more tacos and nachos were served!

We got some very nice prizes, but the real champions of this regatta were the volunteers. I understand there was a four(!!!) person regatta committee with many more hands that pitched in to pick up the food, pack it away, set it back out, run the races, get the prizes, get the ice, and the list goes on and on. And it was an amazing event – there was a ton of good food, coolers full of Hapco-sponsored beer (that Raines orbited like a little moon), and lots of helpful and friendly people. It made me feel welcome and made me want to come back. I hope the volunteers all know how much the sailors appreciated the work (and plan to pay it back), and how proud PRSA should be of them.

Again, a huge thanks to everyone for their work on this regatta, and the biggest thanks to Barney for making this happen and for not watching us while we took 40 minutes to de-rig his boat.

Thanks to everyone who showed up.  We had a great turnout with 15 Albacores on the water!

Results are here!