PRSA 2021-2022 Frostbite Final Cumulative Results

The middle part of the season was cold and on several Sundays there were no races due to ice.   The end of the season was breezy!

59 races in all, so it took 30 races to qualify (half of 59 rounded up) and your best 30 were averaged to calculate your score.

The top three were very tightly packed.  Laura Windecker passed Tom on the last day of racing to win the series.   And Farley tied Tom but won the tie breaker.   Poor Tom doing RC fell from 1st to 3rd.    The top five were rounded out with Brian Joseph in 4th and Jim Klein in 5th.   Congratulations all.

Race 1-59, best 30 averaged

Pl	Sail #	Sailor	Avg.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59
1	167248	Laura Windecker	2.23	1	1	(5)	(5)	1											3	1	3	3	2	5	4	5	(9)	(6)	(9\DNS)	2	(9\OCS)								1	1	1	1	1	1	(9)	4	5	4	4	2	1	2	2						1	2	1	2
2	498	Farley Will	2.3	3	(6)	1	1	(7)	1	1	1	1	4	2	3	2	1	(8)											3	(5)	4			2	1	3	3	4						3	1	(5)	3	3	3	3	4	(10\DNS)	(10\DNS)						3	1	3	1
3	144151	Tom Hutton	2.3	4	(5)	2	2	(5)	(8)	5	2	2	1	1											3	3	3	(12\DNS)	2	3	2	(6)	5	3	4	1	1	1						5	2	2	2	2	1					1	1	(9\DNS)	2	1
4	209747	Brian Joseph	3.87	(12)	3	(9)	(7)	(9)							6	(11)	(19)	7	4	(13\OCS)	5	4	(8)	6	(9)	(12\DNF)	7	7	4	(8)	(9\DNF)			5	2	7	4	3	2	3	5	3	4							4	(10\DNF)	(10\DNS)	(10\DNS)	2	2	2	3	2	2	3	2	3
5	829	Jim Klein	6.03	(11)	(12)	(12)	(9)	(12)	(9)	(12)	8	(11)	3	6	7	8	(22\DNS)	(11)											5	7	9\DNS	2	4	6	7	9	7	7	(10)	7	(13)	(15\DNS)	(15\DNS)	(10)	7	7	8	8	6	(10\DNF)	(10\DNF)	(10\DNS)	(10\DNS)	3	4	4	4	4	4	7\DNS	7\DNS	6
6	168421	Jim Graham	6.33	(10)	9	7	(17)	4	(10)	4	(10)	3	8	9	(10)	6	8	(12)	9	7	9	9	9	(12)								3	1	4	6	5	6	6	5	8	7	7	(15\DNS)											4	3	6	9\DNS	9\DNS
7	8603	Tyler Phillips	6.9						(11)	9	6	10	(11)	(12)	(15)	(16)	5	6	5	9	11	10	11	7	8	7	8	8																6	10	8	7	5	7	5	5	3	10\DNS	9\DNS	5	3	1	3
8	177347	John Van Voorhis	8.1	9	10	6	10	2	6	7	3	5	2	7											10	12\DNF	12\DNS	12\DNS				1	2						7	2	4	(15\DNS)	(15\DNS)	9	13\DNF	13\DNF	13\DNF	13\DNF	13\DNF	10\DNF	10\DNF	10\DNS	10\DNS
9	236	Kaitlyn Lucey	10.97	15	(17)	(19)	(18)	(16)	(16\DNF)	14	12	13	12	13	14	4	9	(22\DNS)																8	8	8	11\DNS	11\DNS	11	15\DNF	15\DNS	15\DNS	15\DNS	11	8	13\DNF	9	13\DNF	13\DNF					5	7	9\DNS	9\DNS	9\DNS
10	176978	Michael Liss	12.07	(20\DNS)	(18)	17	16	14	16\DNS	15	15	15	14	14					13\DNS	10	12	13\DNS	10	10										11\DNS	11\DNS	11\DNS	8	11\DNS						13\DNS	13\DNS	13\DNS	13\DNS	13\DNS	8	10\DNS	10\DNS	10\DNS	3
11	206405	Steen Byskov	1.39#																1	4	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1													2	3	1	1	1	2	1	2	1	1
12	194937	Len Guenther	2#																															1	3	2	2	2
13	162301	Michael Renda	2#																						1	2	2	3
14	166874	Ethan Merril	4.46#												2	9	14	1	2	3	7	2	3	2					6	4	3
15	126613	Lloyd Leonard	5.9#	2	7	8	8	3	16\DNS	3	7	4	5	3	22\DNS	3	7	5	6	2	2	6	4	9					9\DNS	6	9\DNS								4	5	2	2	2
16	216553	Nabeel Alsalam	6.44#	14	2	11	3	6	4	8	9	7	9	8	4	7	10	4	13\DNF	5	6	5	7	4	5	4	4	2
17	169503	Nick Allen	6.7#						5	2	4	6	6	4											12\DNF	12\DNS	12\DNS	4
18	194621	Marc Carre	8#	6	8	4	6	11	2	6	11	12	13	5	8	14	15	16	8	6	4	7	6	3	7	12\DNF	5	5
19	414	Carlo Sdralevich	8#	8	14	3	4	10							11	15	12	9														4	3						9	15\DNS	9	6	5											6	6	5	5	9\DNS
20	1	Eva Hogan	8#												22\DNS	5	6	17																11\DNS	11\DNS	4	9	5												6	3	4	10\DNS						5	7\DNS	7\DNS	4
21	36151	Chris Bolton	8#												13	12	4	22\DNF																										4	6	3	4	7	5
22	217190	Adrian Burde	8.65#	16	4	14	14	13							5	13	2	18							6	6	6	12\DNF				5	6						6	4	3	15\DNS	15\DNS	7	4	6	6	6	13\DNF
23	140708	Celeste Will	9.1#						16\DNS	13	14	14	16\DNF	16\DNS																				7	5	6	5	8																9\DNS	8	1	9\DNS	9\DNS	7\DNS	7\DNS	7\DNS	5
24	194508	Kevin Cowley	9.2#	7	11	10	13	20\DNS							9	18	3	3	7	8	8	8	5	8
25	175118	Lars Rathjen	9.43#	5	13	15	11	20\DNS							22\DNS	1	13	10																					3	6	6	4	3
26	550	Dan Miller	10.65#	13	15	13	12	8	7	10	5	8	10	10	1	10	18	15																					8	10	10	15\DNS	15\DNS
27	2023	Dave Metcalf	11.38#						3	11	13	9	7	11	18	22\RET	11	13																					15\DNF	9	12	5	15\DNS	8	5	13\DNF	13\DNF	13\DNF	13\DNF
28	5118Y	Lewis	11.4#																																				12	11	11	8	15\DNS
29	892	Jacob Donkersloot	12.75#												12	20	17	2
30	187995	Bob Bear	13.6#																																				15\DNS	15\DNS	8	15\DNS	15\DNS
31	211158	Greg Carlson	14.36#	17	19	18	19	15											13\DNS	13\DNS	10	11	12	11
32	895	Jolie Roetter	16#												17	17	16	14
33	3839AERO	Rudy Hildado	18.44#	20\DNF	16	16	15	20\DNS							16	19	22\DNS	22\DNS

“#” = Not Qualified22-Mar-22, 07:16:18
St. Pete Scorer

Frostbite #11 Photos by Carlo Sdralevich

NYCC 2020 Fall Frostbite Results

Yesterday was our final Fall Frostbite at Norfolk Yacht & Country Club, the next Series ( Winter ) starts December 6 – February 14 and the Spring Series February 21 – March 28 2021.

The Series that ended yesterday had twelve Lasers on the line, with trying conditions (wind 3-10), three races were sailed, results should be posted on NYCC’s Website shortly . Those of you that were hesitant about sailing in the Fall because of water temperature being too cold . I can attest it’s not , water might be a little chilly as I turned over backwards in 3-5 mph of wind but water not bad. I have to give credit to Alex and Wilson for running three races for us under trying conditions , Thank you – Britt

2018-2019 SSA Frostbite Series 2 Results

Severn Sailing Association Laser Fleet completed their 2nd Frostbite Series with 9 race days.

Division: Laser (20 boats)

Pos	Sail	Skipper	1	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total Points
1	214620	Waiting, David	[4]	3	[7.6/RDG]	1	1	[21/NoFin]	[21/DNC]	2	7.00
2	184116	Williamson, Scott	1	2	2	[4]	2	[21/NoFin]	[21/DNC]	[4]	7.00
3	92	OHare, Gavin	2	[7]	4	3	[8.4/RDG]	1	[21/DNC]	[21/DNC]	10.00
4	198025	Shingledecker, Luke	[3]	[5]	[12]	2	[21/DNC]	3	2	3	10.00
5	53	Petty, David	[8]	4	[9.3/RDG]	[21/DNC]	3	2	[21/DNC]	6	15.00
6	175881	Jacob, James	6	[11]	1	5	6	[21/NoFin]	[21/DNC]	[10.1/RDG]	18.00
7	184618	Anderson, Charles	9	6	[21/DNC]	[21/DNC]	4	[11.9/RDG]	1	[21/DNC]	20.00
8	213962	Holweger, Mark	[21/DNC]	[13]	5	7	[21/DNC]	[10.7/RDG]	3	5	20.00
9	58	Fishback, Bryan	7	1	[21/DNC]	[21/DNC]	[21/DNC]	[21/NoFin]	13.3/RDG	1	22.30
10	209698	Emmet, Rob	[14]	[15]	8	[10.9/RDG]	[21/DNC]	5	4	9	26.00
11	4	Poirier, Donald	[11]	9	3	11	[11.9/RDG]	[21/NoFin]	[21/DNC]	7	30.00
12	212611	White, Matt	[21/DNC]	[21/DNC]	6	6	[21/DNC]	4	14.3/RDG	[21/DNC]	30.30
13	2018	Burls, Natalie	[13]	8	[12.3/RDG]	8	7	[21/NoFin]	[21/DNC]	8	31.00
14	156631	Johnson, Eric	10	14.9/RDG	[21/DNC]	[21/DNC]	5	[21/NoFin]	5	[21/DNC]	34.90
15	152989	Futcher, JuneRose	[15]	[12.2/RDG]	[21/DNC]	10	10	7	[21/DNC]	10	37.00
16	7	Cabrall, William	[14.4/RDG]	14	7	[21/DNC]	11	6	[21/DNC]	[21/DNC]	38.00
17	166870	Empey, Bruce	12	[21/DNC]	9	[21/DNC]	[14.4/RDG]	[21/NoFin]	6	11	38.00
18	197136	McVeigh, Rich	[21/DNC]	15.6/RDG	[21/DNC]	9	9	[21/NoFin]	7	[21/DNC]	40.60
19	182815	Reinke, Eric	5	12	11	16/RDG	[21/DNC]	[21/NoFin]	[21/DNC]	[21/DNC]	44.00
20	209702	O’Connor, Sean	16/RDG	10	10	[21/DNC]	8	[21/NoFin]	[21/DNC]	[21/DNC]	44.00

Division: Radial (10 boats)

Pos	Sail	Skipper	1	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total Points
1	203955	Haldeman, Dorian	[1]	[11/DNC]	[11/DNC]	1	1	1	1	[2]	4.00
2	206106	Filter, Henry	[2]	1	1	[2]	[11/DNC]	[2.9/RDG]	2	1	5.00
3	180536	Cofer, Steven	[6.3/RDG]	[11/DNC]	2	4	2	[11/NoFin]	[11/DNC]	3	11.00
4	153006	Westphal, Sandy	[6.6/RDG]	2	3	[11/DNC]	[11/DNC]	5	3	[11/DNC]	13.00
5	200585	Young, Christopher	3	4	[11/DNC]	[7]	3	[5.3/RDG]	[5]	4	14.00
6	180488	Boyle, Kaitlyn	4	3	[11/DNC]	3	[6.9/RDG]	[11/NoFin]	[11/DNC]	5	15.00
7	0	Richardson, Griffin	5	[6.7/RDG]	5	6	[11/DNC]	2	[11/DNC]	[7]	18.00
8	175591	Millar, Jennifer	[11/DNC]	[11/DNC]	[11/DNC]	5	[11/DNC]	3	4	8/RDG	20.00
9	178857	Myhre, LeAnn	[11/DNC]	5	4	[11/DNC]	4	8.1/RDG	[11/DNC]	[11/DNC]	21.10
10	208036	Paufler, Pam	[11/DNC]	[11/DNC]	[11/DNC]	8	8.9/RDG	4	[11/DNC]	6	26.90

 

2018-2019 SSA Frostbite Series 1 Results

SSA completed their 2018-2019 frostbite series 1 with 6 days of racing.  Here are the results:

Division: Laser (37 boats)

Pos	Sail	Boat	Skipper	1	2	3	4	5	6	Total Points	Pos
1	58		Fishback, Bryan	1	[38/DNC]	2	[3]	[38/DNC]	1	4.00	1
2	213965		Williamson, Scott	2	1	[7]	[14]	2	[4]	5.00	2
3	175881		Jacob, James	[4.2/RDG]	[4]	3	[9]	3	2	8.00	3
4	198025		Shingledecker, Luke	[8]	[38/DNC]	[5]	5	1	3	9.00	4
5	8629		Falsone, Jesse	[10]	[8]	1	2	8	[38/DNC]	11.00	5
6	166908		Cole, Andrew	7	[18/RDG]	[38/DNC]	1	6	[38/DNC]	14.00	6
7	311		Burman, Ian	4	[18/RDG]	4	[38/DNC]	[38/DNC]	6	14.00	7
8	196023		Tan, Robert	[38/DNC]	3	[12/RDG]	[7]	5	7	15.00	8
9	92		OHare, Gavin	3	[38/DNC]	6	[18.4/RDG]	7	[38/DNC]	16.00	9
10	213962		Holweger, Mark	6	6	[11]	4	[7.4/RDG]	[10]	16.00	10
11	53		Petty, David	[11]	2	[38/DNC]	6	[13.2/RDG]	9	17.00	11
12	212611		White, Matt	5	5	[20]	[13]	[17]	12/RDG	22.00	12
13	701		Brady, Chris	[38/DNC]	11	9	[38/DNC]	4	[20/RDG]	24.00	13
14	182815		Reinke, Eric	13	7	[38/DNC]	[20.2/RDG]	[38/DNC]	5	25.00	14
15	156631		Johnson, Eric	12	[21.2/RDG]	8	10	[38/DNC]	[38/DNC]	30.00	15
16	207150		Lawson, William	[38/DNC]	9	[15]	11	[17.6/RDG]	15	35.00	16
17	177036		Gales, Geoff	14	[19]	10	[38/DNC]	11	[38/DNC]	35.00	17
18	171577		Montagnet, John	9	[38/DNC]	[22.6/RDG]	16	[38/DNC]	12	37.00	18
19	2018		Burls, Natalie	[17]	15	12	[18.6/RDG]	[38/DNC]	11	38.00	19
20	166870		Empey, Bruce	[23/RDG]	10	21	8	[38/DNC]	[38/DNC]	39.00	20
21	180536		Cofer, Steven	[15/RDG]	14	14	[17]	12	[18]	40.00	21
22	70		Poirier, Donald	[22]	[38/DNC]	16	12	[20.4/RDG]	14	42.00	22
23	179156		Ryan, Chris	16	[19.8/RDG]	[18]	[38/DNC]	10	17	43.00	23
24	197136		McVeigh, Rich	[17/RDG]	16	[19]	[20]	14	16	46.00	24
25	152989		Futcher, JuneRose	[23]	18.6/RDG	[23]	[19]	15	13	46.60	25
26	188095		Schoene, David	[38/DNC]	12	26.8/RDG	[38/DNC]	[38/DNC]	8	46.80	26
27	209702		O’Connor, Sean	[38/DNC]	[38/DNC]	[38/DNC]	15	9	27.6/RDG	51.60	27
28	194512		Daigle, Jeff	20	13	[38/DNC]	[25.6/RDG]	[38/DNC]	19	52.00	28
29	8888		Herzog, Timothy	15	[38/DNC]	[38/DNC]	[38/DNC]	18	20	53.00	29
30	184620		Gay, Brendan	19	[26.4/RDG]	[38/DNC]	24	13	[38/DNC]	56.00	30
31	183855		McKenna, Marty	21	17	[26.4/RDG]	18	[38/DNC]	[38/DNC]	56.00	31
32	200405		John, Edward	[24]	20	[22]	20.6/RDG	16	[21]	56.60	32
33	209698		Emmet, Rob	25	[27.8/RDG]	13	25	[38/DNC]	[38/DNC]	63.00	33
34	212124		Smith, Stanton	18	[38/DNC]	17	29.8/RDG	[38/DNC]	[38/DNC]	64.80	34
35	7		Cabrall, William	[26]	[38/DNC]	25	22	19	[26/RDG]	66.00	35
36	747		Struse, Richard	31/RDG	18	[38/DNC]	23	[38/DNC]	[38/DNC]	72.00	36
37	192031		Linares, Carlos	27	[38/DNC]	24	21	[38/DNC]	[38/DNC]	72.00	37

Division: Radial (10 boats)

Pos	Sail	Boat	Skipper	1	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total Points	Pos
1	203955		Haldeman, Dorian	[1]	[11/DNC]	[11/DNC]	1	1	1	1	[2]	4.00	1
2	206106		Filter, Henry	[2]	1	1	[2]	[11/DNC]	[2.9/RDG]	2	1	5.00	2
3	180536		Cofer, Steven	[6.3/RDG]	[11/DNC]	2	4	2	[11/NoFin]	[11/DNC]	3	11.00	3
4	153006		Westphal, Sandy	[6.6/RDG]	2	3	[11/DNC]	[11/DNC]	5	3	[11/DNC]	13.00	4
5	200585		Young, Christopher	3	4	[11/DNC]	[7]	3	[5.3/RDG]	[5]	4	14.00	5
6	180488		Boyle, Kaitlyn	4	3	[11/DNC]	3	[6.9/RDG]	[11/NoFin]	[11/DNC]	5	15.00	6
7	0		Richardson, Griffin	5	[6.7/RDG]	5	6	[11/DNC]	2	[11/DNC]	[7]	18.00	7
8	175591		Millar, Jennifer	[11/DNC]	[11/DNC]	[11/DNC]	5	[11/DNC]	3	4	8/RDG	20.00	8
9	178857		Myhre, LeAnn	[11/DNC]	5	4	[11/DNC]	4	8.1/RDG	[11/DNC]	[11/DNC]	21.10	9
10	208036		Paufler, Pam	[11/DNC]	[11/DNC]	[11/DNC]	8	8.9/RDG	4	[11/DNC]	6	26.90	10

 

PRSA 2017 Frostbite Series Results

The overall final scores from frostbite series. Furthermore, congratulations to Will Summers for winning our endurance
award this year with the most races sailed!

PRSA
2016-2017 PRSA Laser Frostbite
Nov 2016 to Mar 2017
Laser Class, All 37 Boats
SERIES SUMMARY

Fi	Sail	Sailor	Avg.
1	937	Len Guenther	2.2
2	817	Will Summers	2.5
3	057	Farley Will	2.6
4	151	Tom Hutton	3.8
5	503	Nich Allen	4.4
6	829	Jim Klein	5.6
7	530	Claus Actrup	6.1
8	508	Kevin Cowley	6.1
9	719	Nabeel Alsalam	6.6
10	118	Keith Barron	6.8
11	610	David Tabor	7.3
12	892	Jacob Donkersloot	8
13	060	Katherine Martin	9.9
14	928	Francisco Abriani	11.2
15	795	Bob Bear	11.3
16	881	James Jacob	3.1#
17	537	Jason Ipe	3.6#
18	329	Cary Comer	3.8#
19	347	Adam Croglia	4.1#
20	301	Michael Renda	4.6#
21	098	Steve Yelland	5.3#
22	FRISO	Friso Grolleman	7.6#
23	458	458	9.2#
24	945	Jolie Roetter	9.9#
25	50	Dan Miller	11.4#
26	6151	Chris Bolton	11.6#
27	509	Cliff Bartlett	13.3#
28	046	Jay Pokorski	14#
29	175	Bill Klystueber	14.9#
30	LM	Lisa-Marie Lane	15.2#
31	984	Dirk Grolleman	15.5#
32	789	Jim Lane	16.3#
33	195	195	16.8#
34	708	Frank Gallagher	17.1#
35	346	346	17.3#
36	990	Jeff Ward	18.3#
37	MM	Melissa Morgan	20.8#

“#” = Not Qualified

3/19/2017, 19:36:03

360 View of SSA Frostbiting

Dave Waiting is at it again with some cool SSA Frostbite Videos – this time with a 360 camera that you can pan and see in any direction as he sails.  Click to view directly on YouTube to get the panning functionality.

SSA’s December 18 Laser and Laser Frostbite After-Action Report Now Available

SSA has posted the after-action report describing the events of December 18, 2016, when a strong gust front affected the standard Sunday-afternoon Laser and Laser Radial frostbite series. Thanks to all of the sailors, race committee members, and other SSA members who contributed to the report, and who are already implementing some lessons learned from the day to raise the bar on safety at SSA.

SSA’s December 18 Laser and Laser Frostbite After-Action Report

Aerial Video of SSA Frostbiting

Dave Waiting did some great aerial video of a SSA Frostbite Race.  The first video is just the highlights and the 2nd is a full race start to finish.  Ted Morgan is the sail with the color on it.

2017 Hangover Regatta Results

January 1, 2017

 

Pictures:

• Kyra Tallon
• David Tabor
• Jim Lane & Dan Miller

PRSA
Hangover Regatta
Jan 1, 2017
Laser Class, All 22 Boats
SERIES SUMMARY

Fi	Sail #	Sailor	From	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	T
1	199937	Len Guenther	PRSA	8	1	2	2	13
2	187767	Jerrzy Slewinski	MCSC	4	4	3	3	14
3	184533	Dan Dunham	PRSA	13	6	1	6	26
4	194118	Keith Barron	PRSA	7	11	7	1	26
5	187795	Robert Bear	PRSA	11	8	4	4	27
6	180550	Dan Miller	PRSA	3	10	14	7	34
7	38530	Claus Astrup	PRSA	9	15	6	5	35
8	98712	David Cliffel	MCSC	5	16	5	12/TLE	38
9	170817	Will Summers	PRSA	1	14	16	8	39
10	144151	Thomas Hutton	PRSA	14	3	10	12/TLE	39
11	177997	Prior Trevor		12	12	8	9	41
12	9318	Rob Emmet	SSA	6	7	19	11	43
13	188098	Steve Yelland		18	5	12	10	45
14	145386	Randy Blough	MCSC	2	17	15	12/TLE	46
15	194508	Kevin Cowley		15	2	20	12/TLE	49
16	30	George Fallon	MCSC	10	20	11	12/TLE	53
17	184538	Lane Lisa-Marie		19	9	18	12/TLE	58
18	51	Dave Tabor		17	13	17	12/TLE	59
19	175945	Jolie Roetter	PRSA	21	19	13	12/TLE	65
20	168421	Jim Graham	PRSA	20	18	9	23/DNS	70
21	36151	Chris Bolton	PRSA	16	23/DNF	21	23/DNS	83
22	TBD	Robert Young	Harpers Ferry	23/DNS	23/DNC	23/DNC	23/DNC	92

 

SSA Laser Frostbite Weather Event, December 18, 2016

Sunday, December 18 – SSA Laser Fleet was hit with some severe weather – here are some of the updates on it:

From SSA:

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

We want to thank everyone for their concern for the safety of our sailors during and after the events of Sunday, December 18. The most important highlight is that all of 22 sailors returned to shore safely within roughly a half hour of the sudden onset of the 40+ knot winds, and there were no injuries. Each of the sailors competing was wearing the required dry-suit or full wetsuit, and a personal flotation device. During the rescue effort, 10 boats were left out on the Severn River; all were recovered by 2 p.m. on Tuesday, December 20.

While the rescue and subsequent boat retrieval efforts have gone exceptionally well, SSA is working to glean “lessons learned” for the future. SSA sailors, race committee, and staff are developing an incident report that will include a full timeline of events and identify lessons learned. While SSA policies and procedures already in place enabled the safe return of 22 sailors and five race committee staff; SSA is collaborating with responding agencies and meteorologists to help us further raise the bar on safety practices. Our intent is to share those lessons learned with other sailing clubs that conduct frostbite racing (including Potomac River Sailing Association, which encountered a similar scenario on December 18) so that they can benefit from SSA’s experience as well.

During SSA’s Laser Frostbite sailing series, two SSA motorboats are on the water. Sunday’s safety boat had two operators wearing dry-suits of their own, one of whom happened to be a Coast Guard helicopter pilot. The Race Committee boat was staffed with three experienced boaters who were competitors in the series, but not racing that day. The racing was taking place in Annapolis Harbor, less than a half mile from our dock.

SSA is a dinghy racing club where members and guests compete in sailing small racing sailboats. We have members who compete in a variety of different types of boats and at local, national, and international events. During the winter, some members who want to continue to sail get together on Sunday afternoons to sail Lasers, a class of 13 foot singlehanded boat that is also used in the Olympic sailing competition. The competitors who race during the winter are experienced sailors. The younger sailors in the series are among the most experienced and accomplished competitors in the group.

We do not permit anyone to race during the winter without appropriate safety gear. The race committee and safety boat are staffed each weekend with sailors who are participants in the series. This means both the committee and safety boat are staffed with active sailors who are familiar with the boats, the sailors racing, and the typical conditions.

As experienced sailors, our winter sailing competitors expect to capsize occasionally, and are all prepared and properly equipped to do so. The Laser is a self rescuing boat, and typically a capsize is followed by a quick righting of the boat and sailing away. Our races are supported by safety boats to assist sailors should their boats breakdown or should they need other assistance. Our on-site safety boats are capable of providing support to multiple capsized boats. When weather conditions change rapidly, and our on the water support is no longer capable of ensuring the safety of all competitors, we are able to get additional safety boats from SSA to the racing area in a very short time (on Sunday two additional safety boats were on station within minutes). It is unprecedented in our series to need assistance beyond this to safely support winter racing.

As sailors, each of us monitors weather forecasts and conditions. Our race committees cancel racing when forecast conditions are unsafe or when conditions change and become unsafe. During any event, our race committee continues to monitor multiple forecasts and weather reports. We all understand conditions can change and earlier forecasts may not remain accurate or true to the conditions that actually occur. Our race committee is charged with cancelling racing any time forecasts or actual conditions indicate that severe weather may occur in the racing area during the event. In such event, competitors would be notified and required to immediately return to harbor.

The conditions initially forecast for Sunday were for light winds increasing to windy, but within the range of typical winter conditions that we sail in, and have been sailing in for many years. A photograph from the Race Committee boat at 2:01 p.m. showed flat calm water with barely a breath of air. Conditions remained so for several more minutes. At approximately 2:15 p.m., the wind began to pick up to a moderate breeze of approximately 10 miles per hour, however after that, conditions deteriorated so quickly, with winds over 40 miles per hour coming straight down the Severn River and large waves rolling down the river, that by 2:17 p.m. the Race Committee had radioed the United States Coast Guard and was in the process of calling local first responders for assistance.

The response by the United States Coast Guard, Annapolis Fire Department, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Maryland State Police, Annapolis Yacht Club, and several private boats that were in the area, was nothing short of amazing. Within minutes of the distress call, the mouth of the Severn River was covered with responding vessels. Because the extreme conditions persisted instead of subsiding, 10 sailors were pulled from their overturned boats and from the water. The other 12 sailors sailed their Lasers to shore. By approximately 2:48 p.m. all sailors had been accounted for and confirmed safe. The last sailor out of the water was likely out well before that.

In collaboration with the U.S. Coast Guard and Maryland Natural Resources Policy, SSA staff and members carried out a number of boat recovery missions on Sunday late afternoon, Monday, and Tuesday following the event. This was done not only to return boats to their owners, but to minimize the hazards to navigation for other mariners. As of 11 a.m. on Tuesday, December 20, nine of the 10 Lasers had been recovered, and a search for the final boat was continuing.

Severn Sailing Association is extremely grateful for all who rendered assistance. Making a call for assistance is something we hope never to have to do, and is not a call we make lightly. The fact that all sailors returned to shore safely resulted from a combination of the precautions taken by the competitors and Severn Sailing Association, particularly the mandatory safety gear, and the prompt and professional coordinated response of several agencies’ first responders, whom we again thank for their able assistance.

From WBAL-TV Baltimore

Initial SSA Post

Report from the Baltimore Sun

Report from the Capital Gazette