Category Archives: News

Commodore’s Cup Results

Commodores Cup Winners  18 October 2020

Spinnaker
  1. Tack Tick
  2. Schock Therapy
  3. Sonar Dee
Cruising
  1. Galene
  2. Cayennita III
  3. Desiderata
Tight racing in a good breeze.  A 2 hr & 20 min race, and everyone crossed the finish in a 14 minute window.  
Another great day on the bay!

Commodore’s Cup Postponed to Sunday Oct 18th.

Hey Sailor!

We have just learned there is a political boat rally planned for Downtown St Petersburg Saturday Morning from 10 AM to Noon.  The expected number of boats participating is between 1000 and 1200.  We expect there could be great difficulty crossing the parade to reach the starting area or even transiting in and out of the marina entrances.  There will also likely be an extraordinary number of vehicles and vehicles pulling boats in the vicinity and traversing all approaches to the Demen’s Landing boat ramp as well as overwhelmed parking anywhere near a boat ramp.

  • We have postponed the Commodores Cup to Sunday 18 Oct 2020.  
  • First Start will be at 11 AM.  
  • Post Race Brat’s will be at 3 PM under the tree.  
  • Watch for start times to be posted by 10 PM Friday Oct 16.  
  • Cruising Fleet spinnaker declaration deadline is now 10 AM Friday Oct 16.

Sunday’s weather still looks good.

Lets Go Sailing on Sunday!

Details of the Commodore’s Cup and Post race Grilled Brats

Hey Sailors,


Here’s the latest bit of information about Saturday’s Race and Grilled Brats

  • Your start time and the course to be sailed is not in this message.  The course and start times will be posted by 10 PM Thursday Oct 15th.  There will be an email blast to all members and the times will be posted on the news page of the SPSA and placed in the  Docs  link for the Commodore’s Cup.
  • The NOR and Sailing Instructions can be found by punching the  Docs  button for the Commodores Cup.  You’ll find it on the SPSA web site Regattas page.  Here’s a link.  http://spsa.us/racing/regattas/
  • Cruising spinnakers are approved for the cruising fleet for this race.  A couple of our members had requested this option.  We are giving it a try.  A cruising  spinnaker rating has been set for all boat that had indicated an interest in flying a cruising spinnaker.  Those boats will find two start times, one for main and jib and a second one for cruising spinnaker.  This class of spinnaker must not be flown from a bow sprit or a pole.  It must be attached to the deck like a jib.  If you intend to race with a cruising spinnaker you must declare your intentions by 10 AM on Thursday October 15th.  If we do not have a cruising spinnaker rating on record for your boat, we will provide one ASAP with a corresponding starting time.
  • Cell Phone Time  Record your finish time, who finished ahead of you and who finished behind you.  Report your information at the tree or email me.  TreinenRich@aol.com
  • The Best News.  The concrete barriers of the Grand Prix will not block the entrance to Demen’s Landing until Wednesday.  That’s what the Sailing Center is saying.  I sure hope they are correct.
  • The Free Food.  We will be serving grilled brats with a little bag of potato chips. The logistics of providing potato salad and red cabbage got too complicated.  Sorry about that.  Get a plan together with your crew for your sides.  If you are planning on eating a freshly grilled and delicious brat, racing or not, you had better let me know you are coming. So far I’m only cooking 25 brats. You’d better tell me real quick.  Thanks to everyone that has already done so.  TreinenRich@aol.com  
  • You’ll find us at the tree on the east end of Demen’s landing after the race.  Approximately 3 PM.
  • The forecast is looking really good.  It’s going to be a great day on the bay.  That’s what the SPSA is all about.

Let’s Go Sailing!

Commodores Cup, Free Food and Board Mtg Highlights

Hey Sailor,


Here’s the plan for the Commodore Cup, our post race gathering and a few highlights from last evening’s board meeting.

Commodore’s Cup

  • Saturday Oct 17th 11 AM Start for 1st Boat
  • This is a pursuit race where your handicap is reflected in your start time.  Slowest boat crosses the starting point at 11 AM. Fastest boat starts last.  First boat to cross the finish line is the winner.
  • Your start time will calculated once the wind conditions are known and the course length is set.  The calculation uses your Time/Distance PHRF rating.
  • We will post the start times and course on Friday Oct 16th.  They will be email blasted out to the membership and posted on the News Page of the SPSA Web Site.
  • There will not be a committee boat for this event.  All boats will record and report their finish time.  Use your cell phone clock time.  Please also report who finished ahead of you and behind you.  Your honesty is on trial in this event and will be freely discussed at the post free food event.
  • There is no fee to enter this race.  You can wake up on Saturday and if it’s a great day call the crew and go.  
  • However, we would like to know if you and your crew will be attending the post race gathering under the tree.  We do not want to run out of food.


Post Race Gathering Under the Tree

  • Saturday Oct 17th after the Commodore’s Cup.
  • This is a grilled brat’s event.  Since we did not have our Oktoberfest last Saturday we are doing it for the Commodore’s Cup.
  • It would be nice if a few sides just happened to show up.  We will have potato salad and red cabbage.
  • All SPSA members are invited.  This is a BYO event – lawn chairs and drinks.  Please be discrete with your drinks.
  • What time?  That’s easy, after the race.  Put your boat away and get over to the Tree.
  • What if you are not racing?  3 O’Clock might be good.  
  • Where is the Tree?  It’s in the center of the circular parking lot at the east end of Demen’s Landing.  There is free parking all around the tree and more free parking on the northside of Demen’s Landing adjacent to the marina and and a little farther north by the boat ramp.
  • The cost?  For you, nothing.  Treasurer Richard Boler reports we have plenty of money to handle this.  If you plan to attend, let us know you are coming so we have enough food.  TreinenRich@aol.com
  • By the way, we have asked the city to kill the fire ants.


Board Meeting Highlights – Last Evening Wednesday Oct 7th.

  • Our membership sits at 98.  That’s is very good considering all stuff going on this year.  Just a few years ago we were a little short of 50.
  • Our financial position is strong.
  • We have new members without boats and new members with boats.  That’s a good mix if you don’t have a boat or if you need crew.
  • The first two races days went well.  We still have a few bugs to work out. People are getting out on the bay and that is good.  
  • You should have received your 2020-21 Membership packet.  It was either handed to you at the annul meeting or just arrived by US Mail, or maybe it will come next week.  This is important because the new racing placard is included and our racing marks have new names.  Don’t panic if all you have is last year’s placard.  The new “Government mark” names and old “Alpha” mark names are on that placard.
  • We talked a lot about our handicapping system.  If you’ve ever been involved in these talks you know they can get a cantankerous. Surprisingly that did not happen last night.  We even had a few good laughs.  We use the WSIEH system where a boat’s handicap is adjusted after every race based on it’s relative performance. It’s not perfect, no handicap system is.  In our current implementation of WSIEH we have found a “new to the fleet” boat’s rating jumps uncomfortably up and down over the first few races.   With more race results it settles down.  We are looking more closely at the adjustment calculations.  Maybe we can make it a little better.  At some point we will seek the the input from our skippers before we do anything.  In the end the objective of our sailing club is for everybody to get out on the water and have lots of good laughs with new friends.  With all the crap going on around us, that is a good day.  Let’s have lots of them.