10 May 2021

With the completion of the Couples / Double Handed Regatta this past Saturday we have finished up our 2020-21 SPSA Racing Season.  Read on for the results and more information about what’s ahead in the summer months.  For those of you are relative new to the SPSA, our year runs July 1st through June 30th.  We are pretty much dormant during June through August because it’s just too hot. During this time there are other ways to get out on the bay.

• Couples / Double Handed Results:  The day could have had a bit more wind.  It was a G3 – G1 – Lil” J – G3 triangle.  We had nine boats cross the starting line in light air with the last bit of a flood tide.  Five boats made it around and escaped from G1 taking the wind with them.  It didn’t totally die, but the 4 of us left behind were on life support.  Slack tide saved us from double dispare.  Thanks to the leaders for waiting for us at the 5 PM after party.  We arrived just before 6.  Taking the day’s trophies:  Couples: 1st Tack Tick, 2nd Silver Surfer and 3rd Sonar Lewis; Double Handed: 1st Cayennita III.
• Thanks to Dan and Noreen Dawson for pulling together the post party feed; hot calzones, salad and dessert.  There was a low humidity cool breeze flowing under the tree and it was really nice. 
• Vice Commodore Penny reports we have a good group of cruisers pulling together plans for the coming year.  Get involved and stay tuned if you’d like sailing somewhere besides around the marks.
• The King of the Bay winner for April was Surge.  Her run on the 17th, with a corrected time of 45:26 was also the 3rd fasted corrected time in the history of the KoB.  Look for updated results with a 10 May 2021 date.  On the SPSA Home Page click the King of the Bay – Results line on the Racing drop down.
• Our 2021-22 dates have been submitted for the Tampa Bay Yachting master Calendar.  You can expect our first event to be the Classic Regatta on September 11th followed shortly with our annual meeting on Sept 17th and the kick off of the SPSA Series on Sept 25th.  We have 13 racing events planned over our 9 month sailing season. 
• In the meantime, the SPYC’s Twilight Series runs every Friday evening and the King of the Bay.  This is a great event that runs all summer.  You can also pull a crew together and run the King of the Bay course.  We award KoB flags for the best corrected time every month.
• You will also be hearing about membership dues and opportunities to get involved in the year ahead.
• Thanks to all SPSA members for keeping the SPSA alive this year, making our 2020-21 events a success and helping the SPSA grow.  Even in a tough year, it was nice to be a part of the St Petersburg Sailing Association.

2 May 2021

• Tuesday May 4th at 6 PM Vice Commodore Penny Simone will be hosting a meeting to kick-start a SPSA Cruising Calendar.  If the group does not put your favorite gunk hole on the list and you did not attend the meeting, you have no grounds to complain.  Email Penny to get the Zoom information.  pennysimone@gmail.com
• Wednesday May 5th at 6 PM will be our SPSA Board meeting.  On the agenda: final planning for the Couples and Double Handed Regatta, planning for the 2021-22 SPSA events, and other stuff.  We always talk about other stuff.  All SPSA Members are invited to Zoom in.  Send me a message and I’ll send you the meeting connect information. TreinenRch@aol.com
• Saturday May 8th 2 PM  Couples and Double Handed Regatta.  This is the last racing event in the 2020-21 SPSA Calendar.  This will be a pursuit race with staggered starts.  The first boat, the theoretically slowest boat, will start at 2 PM.  Start times and the course to be sailed will be posted and emailed no later than 10 PM on Thursday May 6th.  Cruising chute declarations, should your crew agree to that, are required by midnight on Wednesday May 5th.  Post race we will meet up under the tree for trophy presentation and we will be serving a hand holdable Italian item. That would be a calzone and salad for two.  Everything else is BYO.  Chairs are recommended as fire ants may be hungry too. The entry fee to cover the post race food is $20.  There may still be Sonars available through the Sailing Center.  Qualified Yacht Club members can check out J-70s.  You can view the racing documents and register using the link https://spsa.us/racing/regattas/

• The St Petersburg Twilight Series is going strong.  If you haven’t participated in one of these Friday races, you are really missing out.  Contact Brian if you need crew or are looking for a boat to jump on.  Membership.Chair@spsa.us  Racing starts at 6:30 PM, registration is next to nothing and racing continues through August every Friday evening. Click here for the registration page  https://yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eid=14354
• St Petersburg’s plans for the Municipal Marina.  Big changes are on the waterfront.  This is a very controversial development plan being pushed by the city to fix years of maintenance issues, neglect in my opinion.  But don’t take my word for it.  Google “St Petersburg Municipal Marina upgrade” and read all the viewpoints yourself.  One thing is certain, keeping a boat at the Municipal Marina is not going to be wallet friendly.
• The ranks of non-boat owners on the SPSA board took a hit.  Penny and Robert Simone, that’s Vice Commodore Penny, purchased an Ericson 32.  They picked Bumbugo up on the Atlantic side of Florida last week and 4.5 day cruised to her new home at the St Pete Municipal Marina.  This was a good hit, beautiful boat, they knocked it out of the park.

19 April 2021

 

 

Here’s a summary of the Spring Series Race Day 4 winners and information about the Spring Series in general.  You’ll also find information about coming our May 8th event, the Couples & Double-Handed Regatta, and of course other stuff.

 

• Spring Series Race Day 4 was a beautiful day to be out on the bay.  We had great wind and our RC, Cayennita III, set a great course and ran the race in a very professional manner.  I’m guessing having 3 US Sailing race certified PROs on board may have helped.  Thanks Tony!
• Taking the liquid honors on Race Day 4 was a highly contested affair.  In the Spinnaker Class Warrior and Tack Tick split the 1st and 2nds, and were tied at 3 points.  As tie breakers go, Tack Tick takes the rum having finished ahead of Warrior in the last race.  In the Cruising Class it was even tighter, 1st and 4th place were tied with 3 boats each.  Tied for 1st were Desiderata (3&1), Legacy (1&3) and Sonar Lewis (2&2).  Had this been poker a pair of 2s would win.  It’s not and Desiderata pulls the rum to her side of the table.   All scores for the Spring series can be found by clicking this link.  http://spsa.us/racing/regattas/   Click  Results  on the 2020-21 SPSA Spring Series Line
• Full Spring Series Spinnaker Class (7 competitors):  1st Tack Tick (7 points), 2nd Warrior (7 points) and 3rd Sonar Gill (24 points)
• Full Spring Series Cruising Class (16 competitors): 1st Cayennita III (8 points), 2nd Surge (14 points) and 3rd Hula Girl (15 points)
• Scoring and tie breakers:  You can read how these are applied in the SIs and US Sailing Rules of Racing.  
• We award pennants for the Series winners at the annual meeting every September.
• This was a very good event this year.  Our participation is growing as the virus wanes.  Thanks to all the old and new members of the SPSA.  Being part of a three boat mark rounding while overlapped is exciting, even if you were the outside boat.  I’m looking forward to a quad overlap.

• May 8th, 2 PM Start.  This is a pursuit race with an awards dinner following the race.  There is a $20 entry fee to cover the cost of a freshly cooked and hand holdable Italian style meal.
• There are two classes:  The Couples Class, a man and a woman, has been a long standing event held by SPSA for many years.  We have expanded the format to now include anyone who wishes to participate in the Double-Handed Class.  
• Here’s the link to register http://spsa.us/racing/regattas/   Click  Enter  on the 2021 Couples & Double-Handed Regatta line.  If you intend to sail with a cruising spinnaker, remember to declare your cruising spinnaker before midnight on May 5th.
• Watch for more details as the race day approaches.  That would be your start time and the marks you need to find and round.  

8 April 2021

• Spring Series Race Day #4 is April 17th  Our regular monthly Saturday race days are always on Saturday.  It’s not on Sunday April 18th.  Those races are never on Sunday.  Thanks to all of you that did not send me a message.  Thanks to the one person who did.  That is a very efficient way to let me know I screwed up.
• Spring Series #4 Post Race will be under the tree.  BYO everything.  
• The NOODs  How about this stellar performance from our SPSA Sailors.

• 1st Place North Sails Double Handed: Silver Surfer (Harvey Ford)
• 1st Place Cruising World Rally Race – Cruiser: Cayennita III (Tony Sanpere).  SPSA had 6 boats running in this class
• 1st and 3rd Place PHRF 1:  1st Tack Tic (Mike Siedlecki) and 3rd Warrior (Grant Dumas).  SPSA had 4 boats sailing in this class.
• 3rd Place PHRF 2: Backoff (Tony Barrett)
• 5 of our 14 SPSA Boats racing finished in the trophies!

Cruising in the SPSA  At last evening’s board meeting we discussed running organized cruising activities.  We recognize that many of the membership have an interest in adding cruising to their sailing lives.  In the past our cruises have not been planned far enough in advance for many interested parties to prioritize their schedules.  Our Vice Commodore Penny Simone (and new boat owner) will be organizing a group of SPSA Sailors to work the details of scheduling and providing leadership.  If you have an interest in participating and/or helping to get this going, contact Penny.  pennysimone@gmail.com 

Twilight Series  The Yacht Club’s Friday evening racing series is going strong.  Get your boat out on the water for this delightful every Friday evening event.  Need more feet on your boat or a boat under your feet?  Contact Brian Membership.Chair@SPSA.us   Here’s a link to register for the Twilight Series https://yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eid=14354

1 April 2021

 

 

 

• April 7th 6 PM Board Meeting  Another Wednesday Zoom event, all SPSA members are invited to participate.  Email me and I’ll send you the Zoom information. We are winding down our year with only two more events left on the calendar.  The main task is to start planning for next year.  Any one interested in helping out is encouraged to contact me.  TreinenRich@aol.com
• April 17th Spring Series Race Day #4  This is the last of the 2020-21 Series Races.  Tony Sanpere, Cayennita III, is our Race Committee.  He has recruited Chuck Goes and his boat to help out.  We’ve had great turnout so far with 21 boats registered and nearly 15 on the start line most days.  Even if you haven’t participated yet, get a crew together and get in the last series race.  Look for Chuck’s boat, Anything Goes out on the water.  
• 9 May Couples Regatta 2 PM Start.  We are pulling together the plans for this two person race which in years past has had a dinner served afterwards.  Additional details will be posted once we figure out what we are going to do.
• March 2021 King of the Bay Results  Warrior posted the best corrected time on March 20th.  Warrior started and finished at G1 running clockwise.  Her corrected time of 49:55 also stands as the 5th best of all time. Here’s a link to the current King of the Bay Standings.  Here’s how to see the KoB Standings.  From the SPSA Web Page http://spsa.us/  click Racing on the blue bar and select  King of the Bay-Results
• SPYC’s Twilight Series is under way.  We have 14 SPSA members participating and more to come.  Yacht Club membership is not required.  This is an every Friday evening race around the buoys runs through August (except April 2nd).  The action kicks off at 6:30.  Register with this link  https://yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eid=14354  It costs next to nothing.  Need crew?  Brian can help you out Membership.Chair@spsa.us   Looking for a boat to jump on, same guy.  When you get out on the bay listen in on VHF 63 and look for Gloria on Coast Pilot, it’s a white cabin over a blue hull.
• Since this month’s report is short, here’s a joke.  Usually my jokes are preceded by parents taking their young out of the room.  Not this time.  A 10 year old became annoyed at her parents because they spelled out words trying to keep her from understanding. “I know exactly what your are saying.  Please stop it.” she said.  Her mother smiled and replied “ Ok .  . . a  . . . y.”  The next time you will need to remove the innocent.