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Even the occasional log canoe has flopped down in the middle of a race, which is akin to watching the parting of the Red Sea as every other boat desperately peels off out of their way. Round Bay Sailing Association took unorthodox in another direction with a between-series race that broke all the rules. Each boat was given its own pre-race package with different rules for each boat— three horns may mean change direction for you, but the guy in the Beneteau must do a 180—and loaded with sponges to lob at other boats for points. Hit their main, and they have to pull a 540. Crab nets were also supplied to foil sponges aimed at you. Oddly enough, no collisions were reported.
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How To Get Into Racing
ign up for SpinSheet’s online Crew Listings at spinsheet.com to find a boat to sail on. Beginners are welcome! Check out the 170 clubs listed in SpinSheet’s Club Directory at spinsheet.com, and call a few of them in your area to see how you can get involved.
uthin’ could be finer” than sailing on the Upper Potomac, says Gary Hauptman of the Dangerfield Island Sailing Club (DISC). A club with about 100 members, DISC runs Tuesday night keelboat races, with competing boats as small as a Montgomery 17, with many Catalina 25s, on up to 35-footers. “We have a pretty active program,” says Hauptman, who sails on various boats—one of the joys of being a social animal as well as a club officer. “We’ll have thirty or more boats on a weekday regatta. It’s our most popular activity. It’s a short trip, and to have a congenial evening on the water has a lot of appeal.” The club’s “home waters” are well-defined by bridges, with the Woodrow Wilson Bridge being at the southern end, the 14th Street Bridge at the northern end, and a bridge over the Anacostia River should they choose to head northeast. As is the case for any sailing venue, it all depends on which way the wind blows. The current is the challenge on the Potomac. “It can really rush through, especially if it’s been raining. The successful ones have learned to work with that current, even the northward current,” says Hauptman. “We have a great sea breeze after 5 p.m. in summer.”
Weeknight Sailing Tuesdays—Keelboats with DISC (discsailing.org) Wednesdays—One Designs and Albacores with Sailing Club of Washington (SCOW, scow.org)
Other DC Sailing Clubs Pentagon SC (pentagonsailing.org)—sails with DISC on Tuesdays Potomac River SA (potomacriversailng.org) Have we missed any? Please fill us in if so. We’d like to hear more from our DC sailing friends! Write to molly@spinsheet.com.
For ideas on how to meet sailors or find clubs, pick up a free copy of our Start Sailing Now new sailor guide, distributed at outdoor retailers and other likely sailor hangouts, or find the entire guide online at startsailingnow.com.
Shown here at the Cherry Blossom Regatta, DISC hosts Tuesday night racing on the Potomac. Photo by John Hickey
86 May 2009 SpinSheet
Weeknight Sail in the City
“Borrowing” a boat is an option if ownership has become too much. SailTime fractional sailing memberships allow you to sign up for a Hunter ahead of time for whenever you feel the need to race, which includes booking just a few hours on a Wednesday as well as week-long trips out of Baltimore, Annapolis, Cambridge and Havre de Grace. The J/Port Chesapeake Boating Club in Annapolis offers memberships as well. Or hop on a pal’s Hinckley with your Martha Stewartstyle picnic basket and watch the races free of injury and insult. A relaxed summer evening on the water is about as good as it gets around here, when it’s all about the brie and bubbly as you bob about. So get your gear in order and find yourself a boat (or crew) by signing up for SpinSheet’s online Crew Listings at spinsheet.com to get racing inserted into your week. The days of pale skin and no calluses are over. Your hibernation is done. About the Author: Elizabeth B. Wrightson was born and raised in Oxford, MD, sailing her Penguin as a peewee, moving up to scows and skipjacks as an adult. After a seven-year stint at Sail Magazine in Boston, she is excited to be back sailing on the Bay.
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