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Hampton Roads Sailing: April 1

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Ron and Greg

Well, we are into the home stretch, with only one month left in the series, and the eighth weekend saw the return of several Hampton Roads stalwarts: Richard Biggs, a series regular who was away for a few weekends; Ron Thompson, who just a week before had a solid 5th place finish out of 22 at the Cap City Regatta; Aaron Applegate, who continued to move up the fleet with some very nice finishes and good starts; and Greg Lanese, who reminds everyone looking for adventure this fall to keep the Ocean-venue Neptune race in mind.

And once again, the wind made a pleasant appearance, too, bringing about 8 patchy, shifty knots to the course out of the north and northeast. At least the water was warmish (shorts weather for the frostbite hardened) and the air temperatures climbed up into the 60s. It was the kind of day where you had to stay in the pressure, and the pressure kept moving around. But that made it kind of exciting, with a lot of lead changes and a lot of names in the winner’s circle – if only for one of the five races.

Photo Finish

We ran windward leewards again on a half-mile course, with downwind finishes. This is a really convenient setup for the committee, since it involves setting only two marks, the winward and the pin/leeward mark. And the downwind finishes make for some very interesting battles and close calls. The photo above shows another hotly contested battle at the finish line. Greg Lanese took it to finish third, but it was so close that Ron Thompson and I, who were leeward of the line and watching the action, though Richard had taken it. Oh well, next time, Richard. It was a good race.

There is an excellent video of the racing posted on YouTube by Lisa, who did the honors as race committee and brought her camera along. Check it out here if you have a moment. It’s short.

Pos. Sailor Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Total
1 Robert Suhay 1 2 2 3 1 9
2 Andrew Newbold 2 5 1 2 2 12
3 Ron Thompson 6 1 5 1 3 16
4 Greg Lanese 3 3 4 5 5 20
5 Aaron Applegate 4 6 6 4 4 24
6 Richard Biggs 5 4 3 6 6 24
7 James Shook 7 7 7 7 7 35

Thanks again for everyone who came out and made the event a success. And Lisa, thanks for doing RC duty. And thatnks again to Old Dominion University Sailing for making it all possible.

Hampton Roads Sailing: March 18

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We had some more excellent racing Sunday on the Elizabeth River in Norfolk, Va., with the wind gods delivering a (fairly) steady 8 to 10 knots from the North, warm air and water and party cloudy skies. Ace Mike Moore returned to the fleet after a vacation in the BVIs (“It seems so long ago now,” Mike said) and shook off the dust in no time to put together a string of firsts and the low score for the day. Nice job Mike.

Hampton Roads speed demon Ron Thompson also felt the temperatures had climbed enough to get back in the saddle. He joined the crew to clear the rust before this coming weekend’s Cap City regatta. (Both Ron and I will be heading up to D.C. And hope you can join us to represent HR. Details of the regatta and the SI are attached below.)

Ron had some excellent races, and after saying he just didn’t have enough left in the tank to do race 6, he went ahead an won it. Of course, there is a back story. I was able to leebow Ron in the previous race to take a place form him. Ron was paying me back by pinning me out to the left – and we just happened to sail into the pressure and favorable current that put us both out in front by a country mile at the weather mark. I got inside Ron on the downwind leg, (we were running half-mile windward leeward courses with a downwind finish) but in trying to box him out at the leeward mark, pointed to high. Ron was able to get some clear air to leeward and forced me to tack out – giving himself the lead again and a clear victory. Nice job Ron. And I get schooled again.

The fleet would like to extend a welcome to Mark Newbold, who came out for the first time this week, stepping in for his son Andrew who was busy running the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach along with Neil Ford and David Tunnicliffe. We missed them on the water, but are happy for their success on the roads.

Race regular Aaron Applegate also made a return after some illness and family obligations. Aaron has been steadily moving up the ranks and put together solid tactics, speed and boat handling to hang tough in all of the races, stealing a place from overall winner Mike Moore in a squeaker on the line in the last race. Way to hold him off, Aaron.

There is an excellent video of the racing posted on YouTube by Lisa, who did the honors as race committee and brought her camera along. Check it out here if you have a moment. It’s short.

A reminder to the fleet: There will be no racing at ODU this sunday, March 25 as I will be heading up to Washington for the Cap City regatta. Racing will resume the following Sunday, April 1.

The results from Sunday (regatta 7 in the series) were as follow:

Hampton Roads Sailing: March 11

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Onboard with Robert Suhay

Another light forecast. Another great Sunday of sailing. What started looking like a skunk turned into an excellent morning session with series favorite Neil Ford racking up another bundle of firsts in 6 to 8 knots of southerly winds that provided great tactical sailing.

The series was a little light on racers this week, with only three able to attend. Vacations-smacations. But know you all were missed. Andrew Newbold also took a bullet with smart tactics on the course. There is an excellent video of the racing posted on YouTube by Lisa, who did the honors as race committee and brought her camera along. Check it out here if you have a moment. It’s short.

We look forward to the whole group returning to the water. The air and water temperatures are climbing fast. The water isn’t even cold anymore. Neil wore shorts over a springsuit this weekend and didn’t suffer so far as anyone could tell.

This Sunday coming up is looking very good too, with temperatures in the 60. And there is still a call out for the weekend of the 24-25 for those who want to organize a trip up to DC for the PRSA regatta. I am planning to go and I believe Ron Thompson is as well. The more, the better though. Represent, Hampton Roads.

Pos. Sailor Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Total
1 Neil Ford 1 1 1 2 5
2 Andrew Newbold 2 3 2 1 8
3 Robert Suhay 3 2 3 3 11