Hello Sailors:

"Summertime, summertime, sum, sum, summertime…"  "When it rains it pours"

As I write this we are in the middle of one of our summer storms. It's been building all afternoon and came on with the typical wind and thunder and torrential rain. The cat hid under the courch and the power flickered for a moment. I was reminded of  summer storms here when I was a kid in the seventies. A storm like tonight's almost certainly resulted in a power outage. Flashlights and candles were always at the ready.

Speaking of the 70s, SPSA is entering into its 53rd year as a sailing club. Founded in 1972 to encourage participation in the noble art of sailing. 53 years later we are still a vibrant sailing club racing and cruising in the Tampa Bay area. 

• July 1, 2024 marks the beginning of our new year and it's time to renew your membership. Thanks to everyone who has already committed to the 2024-25 season. If you haven't renewed your membership yet, please do – go to spsa.us.

• Big news – although some of you may have already heard – SPSA is working with the Dolphin Cruising Club on a merger of the two clubs. The 2024-25 season will be a trial period – more information is forthcoming, but look forward to some cruising events showing up on the SPSA calendar. If you'd like to meet members of the Dolphins they have a social event scheduled for this Tuesday evening,  7/16 at Tiki Docks at the Maximo Marina, 5 pm to 7:30 pm. This will be a good opportunity to meet other sailors and find out more about the Dolphin Cruising Club and its history.

• Sailing opportunities this summer. We of course have the SPYC Twilight racing happening every Friday night, and this coming weekend we have a full moon. Let's do a group KOB on Saturday July 20th. Sunset is at  8:26pm. This will be a self timed event. report your finish times and the course you sailed to commordore@spsa.us. We also have another opportunity for a summertime KOB sunset sail in August – on Saturday the 17th. 

• Our Annual Meeting and Award Dinner is scheduled for Friday evening September 6th at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club. Details are forthcoming. As a warmup to the traditional annual meeting trivia contest here's a question for you – Who wrote and first recorded the song Summertime, Summertime. Extra points for those of you who can answer the question without Google.

Whew! That was a lot of info. Let's go sailing!

See you out on the Bay!

Hello Sailors,

If you haven't heard about the Summer Sailstice its an International Celebration of Sailing. It takes place annually in June celebrating Summer Solstice – the longest day of the year.

The Celebration will take place on Saturday June 22 (solstice is on June 20). We've been trying to come up with an event and Yowza we have one! A Sailing Trifecta

1. SPYC Twilight Race on Friday – June 21
2. Sail to Boca Ciega Bay and take part in the BCYC Pot Luck Dinner at their clubhouse in Gulfport.
3. Race in  BCYC's Club Race on Sunday. The Race starts at noon.

BCYC has officially invited SPSA members to join in the Club Race on Sunday and the Pot Luck on Saturday.  Here's the details:

Penny Simone

Hello Sailors,

Summer is upon us. The temps are starting to climb and afternoon storms are starting their daily cycle (we do need the rain though). But there are still good sailing opportunities for all of us. The SPYC Friday night Twilight racing is underway, full moon sailing opportunities and of course the King of the Bay.

Your Board of Directors are busy planning for next season. We are working with the other Tampa Bay clubs to develop a schedule that optimizes opportunities for racing and cruising. SPSA's final schedule should be out soon.

We are also seeking sponsors to advertise in our annual Membership Directory.  If you are interested in placing an ad email secretary@spsa.us. 

• Board Member – we do have a couple of board position open for our upcoming season
• Race Committee – we are seeking to establish a group of members to learn the skills needed to assist with Race Committee for our races. Not for every race necessarily, but when needed. 
• Event volunteer – work with our Rear Commodores to assist with SPSA event planning and set-up.

Hello Sailors,

• This Saturday, May 4th is our Couples/Double-handed race. Open to all members – any combination of two sailors. It is a pursuit race – 1100 first start. All start times will be posted by Friday afternoon, 4/3. Post-race celebration at the Sailing Center with awards and a light meal with a Cinco-de-Mayo theme will be provided to all racers. Please RSVP to by replying to this email or secretary@spsa.us by Friday morning. * If you're not racing on Saturday and would like to volunteer to help with the post race event please let me know. We could use one or two folks to help out.*

• Update to the scoring/order of finish for our last Spring Series race on April 13th. 

            Spinnaker – 1st is Tack Tick

                                2nd – Gimmie Shelter

                                3rd – Mojo

            Cruising w/Spin (no change) – 1st – Charisma

                                                             2nd – Legacy

            Cruising – change to the order of finish do to a scoring input error

                     1st place is Slow Bell

                     2nd – Cayennita III

                     3rd – Desiderata

            Sonar (non-spin) – 1st is Sonar Burney skippered by Wendy Reeve

                                           2nd – Sonar Hare

• Thanks everyone for a great season! Keep sailing through the summer – the best way to keep your boat and crew tuned is by running the KOB – don't forget to report the times to commodore@spsa.us.

• Our next Board of Directors meeting is Tuesday May 7, 6:00PM at the Sailing Center. Our meetings are open to all members, please let me know if you plan to attend.  If you are interested in participating in the leadership of SPSA this would be a good meeting to attend or you can reach out to me and I can provide more information.

See you out on the Bay!