• This is a night race.  Please do all the things needed to keep your crew safe.  Working running lights turned on and PFDs are at the top of that list.  
• Record your finish time and who finished ahead of you and behind you.  The official clock is your cell phone time.  Text your finish data to 918 766-1515 and also bring it to the Courigans post race gathering.  We need the seconds too!  Here’s a link that shows that.  https://liveclock.org/fullScreen.php 
• Those of you who enjoy reading SIs and the NOR can find them in the documents page of the SPSA web site.  You need to log on first. 
• No one declared a Cruising Chute by midnight on Wednesday.
• There is no race committee.  As always your honesty is on display for all to see.  That includes the guy up in Bay Front Tower watching the start with his binoculars.  
• We may have a guest boat joining us.  Exfil is a Beneteau 461 from Windward Point Yacht Club of Columbia SC visiting St Petersburg.  Exfil is on her way to Belize, departing April 26th.  Say hello to Mac Smith on any close encounter.
• Post Race gathering at Courigans.

• The SPSA Series Racing for 2021-22 completed the last two races on April 2nd.  Thanks to Mike Reed as RC, Vanessa Goodrum for the use of Good Times and the rest of the RC for a job well done.  The trophies for this event will be awarded at our September annual meeting.  1st, 2nd and 3rd place pennants are awarded for the Fall Season and Spring Season as well as for the combined Series.
• King of the Bay winner for March was Galene.  Her time corrected time of 43:03 came as as the 4th fastest of all time.  To date we have had 61 times reported on the King of the Bay course and 24 monthly winners.
• Our Full Moon Regatta is set for this coming Saturday evening, April 16th, with a first start to be at 7:30.  This will be a pursuit race with the Highest Handicapped boat starting 1st, that would be the slowest boat, and the fastest boat starting last.  First boat boat back to the finishing mark wins.  With sunset at 7:56 and moonrise 9 minutes later, this promises to be a glorious night out on the bay.  Watch for course details and your start time (dependent on the wind conditions).  Here’s what you need to know now.

• Cruising chute declarations are due by 10 PM this Wednesday April 13th TreinenRich@aol.com 
• No money involved.  This is a just show up event.  Spinnaker and cruising classes.
• This is a pursuit race.
• Start and finish will be at G3.
• Sailing Instructions, course and start times will be posted on the SPSA web site no later than 6 PM on Friday April 15th.  There is even a possibility they will be emailed to all members about the same time.  Maybe even a little bit earlier.  
• Post Race party will be held at Courigans at 1st Avenue SE and Beach Drive

Looking for crew or a deck under your feet?  We will do what we can.  Send an email to Brian at Membership.Chair@spsa.us  You can also make your case on our SPSA Members Facebook page.  Not a member yet?  Search for us and ask to join.  This is an SPSA Members only page.  

One other thing.  Consider this your 1st Official Invitation to run for an SPSA Officer Position.  All interested parties should send me a message and I will send you a listing of the officer positions and responsibilities.  There are benefits we do not announce.  TreinenRich@aol.com  

Here’s the event info you need for this weekend and a little bit beyond.

• Saturday is Spring Season Races 7 & 8 day.  Mike Reed, of Amber Looe, is our race committee assisted by Vanessa Goodrum and myself.  We will be on Vanessa’s Good Stories, a Pearson 38.5.  See you at 11 AM for the first start.  We will be somewhere out on the bay, most likely just east of the Pier.  Listen or call on VHF 72 if you can’t find us.  Our post race gathering is at Courigans.
• SPSA Board Meeting on Tuesday April 5th 6 PM at the Yacht Club Marina Table.  Our board meetings are open to all SPSA Members.
• Full Moon Pursuit Race 16 April  – details to be announced later.
• Couples Regatta & Awards Party 7 May – details to be announced later.
• Need crew or a deck under your feet.  Contact Brian  Membership.Chair@spsa.us 

• Yacht Club Twilight Series  We have 4 members racing in the J-70 fleet, 3 in the Spinnaker fleet, 1 in the non-spin fleet and 9 in the cruising fleet.  With two races in the bag, the SPSA boats are sitting in 1st place in the spinnaker, non-spinnaker and totally dominating the cruising fleet.  However there are lot of races still to be sailed.
• Pusser’s Rum Cup  Nine members participating.  Notable SPSA Member results: Cruising A:  1st Surge, 3rd Galene.  Cruising B: 1st Legacy, 2nd Cayennita III.  Spinnaker: 3rd Warrior 
• Pennington Cup  Five members participating.  Notable member results.  Cruising:  2nd Legacy.  Spinnaker: 1st Warrior.

Wasn’t the weather absolutely beautiful all February.  I hope you were out on the bay as many times as possible.  A few of the SPSA members were, the stories can be found below.  A few boats took this time for a bottom job tune up.  You’ll t get good look at their transoms for the next month or so.  For those that missed out, there will be many more great days in the months ahead. Get out on the bay!  Here’s a listing of our upcoming events followed by the news.

• Spring Season Races 5 & 6.  Saturday March 19th 11 AM start.  Hula Girl II will be our race committee, Catalina 36.  After party to follow.
• St Patrick’s Day After Party.  Saturday March 19th 3 PM maybe a little later. There will be a $5 charge for members. Drag your non-member crew along for $10 each.  Pay at the door but you must RSVP.  That’s right, you must RSVP.  nursenory@yahoo.com See the flyer on our Facebook page and website for for details.  Note the parking detail.
• Spring Seasons Races 7 & 8.  Saturday April 2nd 11 AM Start.  Amber Looe will be race committee. We are looking for an experienced race committee to train Amber Looe and her crew.  Post Race at Courigans.
• Board Meeting Tuesday 5 April 2022 6 PM at the Yacht Club Marina.  Last month it was a little chili which led to an efficient meeting.  This meeting is open to all members.  If you are a new member and do not know what any of us look like, here’s your chance.  This is also a good opportunity to see how we run things and if you like it, you could become an officer at our Annual Meeting in September.  We will have two open positions.
• Don’t forget about the SPYC Twilight Series.  Beginning Match 18th with a 6:30 start and returns every Friday until the end of August.  The registration cost is next to nothing – it works out to be close to 50 cents a race.  https://yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=14941  
• Full Moon Pursuit Race 16 April  – details to be announced later.
• Couples Regatta & Awards Party 7 May – details to be announced later.
• SPSA Sailors shine in the NOODS:  We had 15 entries with the following notable finishes.  ORC A: 4th Warrior.  North Sails Rally – Cruising: 1st Legacy, 3rd Cayennita III, 4th Amber Looe and 5th Surge.
• Check out our SPSA Members Group on Facebook.  This is a members only page where we control who gets in.  Search for SPSA Members Group and submit a request to join. 
• Is one email address not enough for our members reading this email blast?  Send me a note with your second email – maybe your spouse – and I will add to the distribution list.  TreinenRich@aol.com 
• February’s King of the Bay is Bumbugo.  Her corrected time was 49:13 was just fast enough to knock Libèlula out of the top ten best runs. See the results on the SPSA web page.