Second Wednesday Racing Series has begun for the next 7 weeks
Racing Team: Mark Witte
Wind was much heavier than predicted and we saw sustained 20+ with gust to 50+. Ripped main, lost battens in the jib, but still managed to finish under jib alone only a short distance behind the first boat.
Raced in all 7 A-Series events
The original plan was that our boat would be back in the water ready to go....well that didn't happen. The folks doing RC for this race asked for our assistance, so we helped them to run race #2
Rakali kicked off racing for calendar 2024 with Race Committee duties from shore, complete with tailgate party
10/29/2023: Raced in the first of the four Frostbite races on a day that was more like summer that fall.
11/05/2023: Raced in the second of the four Frostbite races. Beautiful day to be on the water.
Great day to be on the water. Had a great start. Winds picked up as we crossed the bay with max winds between 25-32 kts. Less than 2 miles from Hooper Lighthouse, we jibed at which time the mainsail decided to rip even with the sail reefed. Oh well...next year.
Great day on the water. Managed to turn in an acceptable performance and win the Portsmouth Fleet.
Raced from Solomons to Battle Creek (~10 miles) which concludes with a raft-up
Sailed Annapolis to St. Mary's for the 50th anniversary
The last of the Wednesday night series'
Long day on the water with very light winds.
Great racing in Solomons with plenty of wind 2 out of 3 days
Took out club skiff to set marks for the Thursday night races
CBYRA sanctioned keelboat Summer Invitational race.
The longest of the SMSA middle distance series at ~44 miles
Dinghy distance race named after a boat who's rudder broken in the inaugural event. Sailed with my crew John Tersoni.
Sailed my VX One with my crew Hali Kilbourne in this annual SMSA event
Mid Summer Wednesday night series races
10-mile distance race which starts near the Gazebo on Solomons Island, up the Patuxent River and back.
Great turnout in Solomons at SMSA for this event.
Spring Invitational Race for Keelboats, not to be confused with the invitational associated with the smallboat program.
Race from the mouth of the Patuxent River up to the Little Choptank and back.
Wednesday Night A-Series consists of 7 races which were from April through the end of May
Managed to get the boat in the water on time to compete in the final 2 Spring Frostbite Races after doing race committee for the first 2 races of the season.
Kicked off the 2023 SMSA Racing Season as RC
Racing Rules Seminar led by Dan Trammell
Guest crew on the J111 Bad Cat for the Fall Frostbite Series.
Unlike the previous day for the distance race, we finally had some wind for the invitational. Enough wind that the RC decided to move us back into the river rather than be out in the bay.
A definitely floater. Not much wind, most boats decided to retire due to the lack of wind, setting sun and cold temperatures.
Participated in the Smallboat Invitational.
Compete in the AYC to Solomons race in the one design J105 Fleet vice the handicap fleet. Great day of racing.
A race up the Patuxent River to Battle Creek with only a mixed couple allowed to sail the boat, this is one of the most popular races as it it followed up with a raft up and overnight with the participants.
Managed to get in a few Thursday night races
Competed in all of the B series races for Wednesday nights
Participated in the 30th Screwpile Regatta
Participated in the Summer Invitational Race and we actually had wind for this one.
The longest of the distance races at SMSA, competed in the Smith Point Race which starts at the entry to the Patuxent River and heads south to Smith Point and back.
Missed the first 2 races of this series as we were sailing in the Bahamas, but competed in the remaining 5 races.
Competed in the Frost Goode Race which starts near the Gazebo on the island, takes us ~5 miles up the Patuxent River and then back.
4/13 - 5/25: Competed in the SMSA Wednesday Night A Series (7 races)
3/27 & 4/3: Competed in the last two Spring Frostbite Races as we did RC for the first two races
3/13: Did RC for the first Frostbite race of 2022