We had an excellent day of racing as two fleets raced each other, and raced to get in as much racing as possible before the weather turned nasty.  We set a short windward/leeward course and got off a few races.  Below are the results.

Flying Scot Fleet

Skipper                    Hull#             Race 1           Race 2          Score         Overall

Chris Cookson        4105                    1                      1                  2                  1st

Garland Hanson    5661                    2                      2                  4                 2nd

Pete Hollberg         4868                   3                       3                  6                3rd

Thistle Fleet

Skipper                    Hull#         Race 1       Race 2     Race 3      Score   Overall

Rob Perera              1696                1                1                 2              4           1st

John Suddreth         279                2               3                  1              6           2nd

Bill Kitchens           3187                3               4                  3              10        3rd

Kevin Schulz           1705                4               2                  4              10        4th

GRSA's annual Around the Island Regatta is a fantastic, family friendly race event and is always well attended.  This year was no exception with 13 boats entered and 11 boats finishing.  This is our only distance race, around a small island located on the far end of the reservoir. Despite technical difficulties with the committee boat, we had a clean start.  The winds were blustery but our skippers managed to keep their boats upright and crew mostly dry.

Race Results (scored on Portsmouth handicap):

Skipper             Boat              Elapsed Time        Handicap Finish

Bill Kitchens       Thistle            1:22:36                        1st Place

Dave Upton         Flying Scot    1:30:38                       2nd Place

Pete Cookson      Flying Scot    1:31:30                        3rd Place

Garland Hanson Flying Scot    1:31:49                        4th Place

Kate Gomes         Flying Scot    1:32:27                        5th Place

Bruce Koch          Flying Scot    1:32:38                        6th Place

Peter Patnaude   Flying Scot    1:34:22                        7th Place

Kaitylyn Reilly    Flying Scot    1:40:24                        8th Place

Carlos Rudge       Hobie 18       1:34:06                         9th Place

Mike Hogeland     Flying Scot    1:43:26                        10th Place

Barry Carter        APB                 2:32:00                       11th Place

I'd rather be sailing than working any day, that's for sure.  Today we had a mix of clouds and sun, which made for a pleasant day on the water, even if the wind was ridiculously shifty (even for the reservoir).  Our RC was patient with the light, puffy air and managed to squeeze out a few races. One thing we were missing today was more boats!  

We would like to once again say thank you to our guest race committee volunteers, Debbie C. and Mosbey W. of FBYC for their help. And on that note, I'd like to put in a plug to all GRSA members to sign up in advance to help with race committee duty using our new RC Volunteer sign-up sheet.  See all the races on the calendar for 2016 and sign up early.  It's a great way to enjoy a day on the water and get a close-up view of the action!

We hope everyone will mark their calendar and make a point to join us for the final race of the 2016 GRSA Frostbite Series, Sunday March 20th. Also, bring an appetizer or crockpot dish and when the racing is done, we'll enjoy the refreshments and give out awards for the Top 3 finishers of the series.

Here are the results from today's races:

Skipper/Crew	Hull#	Home Club	Place/Scores
John Wake/ Rob Whittemore	5341	FBYC	1st (1+1)
Chris Snyder/ Matthew Snyder	338	GRSA	2nd (2+2)
Pete Cookson/ John Reilly	4104	GRSA	3rd (4+3)
Ben Ward/ Pete Patnaude	4971	GRSA	4th (3+DNF)

Today was another good day of sailing and Frostbiting at GRSA, even if the temps weren't very frosty...but hey, we're certainly not complaining!  We had a great turn-out, with a total of 7 Flying Scots in the fleet.  The winds behaved in their typical up, down, and all around fashion.  Special thanks to our awesome guest race committee volunteers, Debbie C. and Mosbey W. of FBYC, who managed to squeeze out 3 windward/leeward races before the rain started.

Lastly, a quick reminder to check out the GRSA race schedule and sign up to help out with race committee using our new RC Volunteer sign-up sheet.

Results

Skipper/Crew	Hull#	Home Club	Place/Scores
Tracy Schwartzchild/ Andrew Spencer	5790	FBYC	1st (2+2+1)
Chris Snyder/ Matthew Snyder	338	GRSA	2nd (3+4+3)
John Wake/ Carrie Russel	5341	FBYC	3rd (1+RAR8+2)
Kate Gomes/ Vince Gomes	3875	GRSA	4th (4+1+7)
Chris Cookson/ Pete Cookson	4104	GRSA	5th (5+3+5)
Ben Ward/ Peter Patnaude	4971	GRSA	6th (7+6+4)
Tom Gallagher/ Jim McMillian	5055	GRSA	7th (6+5+6)

Photos by: Bruce Kozlowski

As a reminder, Race 5 of the 2016 Frostbite Series will be on March 6th.  Come out and play!

Fair Winds,

Ben Ward - RC Chair

After two consecutive cancellations due to weather, racers finally got an opportunity for some frostbiting action this past Sunday Feb 7th.  The wind cooperated and we had a good turnout with 7 Flying Scots and 1 Trimaran.  Overall race results are posted below, along with a few pictures, courtesy of Bruce Kozlowski and Mike Hogeland.  As always, many thanks to our race committee volunteers and Chesterfield County first responders for braving the chilly weather!

Flying Scot Fleet

Skipper/Crew	Hull#	Home Club	Place
Rob Whittemore/ John Wake	5341	FBYC	1
Chris Snyder/ Mathew Snyder	338	GRSA	2
Kate Gomes/ Vince Gomes	3875	GRSA	3
Chris Cookson/ Pete Cookson	4104	GRSA	4
Tom Gallagher/ Jim McMillan	5055	GRSA	5
Tracy Schwartzchild/ Spencer	5790	FBYC	6
John Reilly/ David Reilly	3867	GRSA	7

As a reminder, the next scheduled race of the 2016 Frostbite Series will be on Feb 21st.  Come out and play!

Fair Winds,

Ben Ward - RC Chair

Flying Scot:

Sail Number:	Sailors:	Race 1:	Race 2:	Race 3:	Race 4:	Overall Place:
4104	Chris Cookson / Pete Cookson	1	1	2	1	1
33	Ben Ward / Eric	3	1	2	2	2
4296	Mill Jones / Mike Warren	3	1	2	2	3
2565	John Pew / Lennart Stromberg	4	4	4	4	4

Thistle:

Sail Number:	Sailors:	Race 1:	Race 2:	Race 3:	Race 4:	Overall Place:
1676	Rob Perera / Sarah Clark	1	1	2	2	1
1705	Kevin Shulz / Richard Shulz	2	2	1	1	2
3187	Sam Bedinger / Max Bedinger	3	3	3	3	3

Laser:

Sail Number:	Sailors:	Race 1:	Race 2:	Race 3:	Race 4:	Overall Place:
175107	Carlos Rudge	1	1	1	1	1
	Pete Patnaude		2	2	3	2
9572	Brent Barcomb		3	3	3	3

Flying Scot:

Sail Number:	Sailors:	Race 1:	Race 2:	Race 3:	Overall Place:
4104	Chris Cookson / Pete Cookson	1	3	1	1
5846	Mills Jones / Karen Reily - Jones	3	1	2	2
5055	Tom Gallagher / Jim M.	2	4	3	3
5600	Bruce Koch / Pete K. / Kaitlin	4	2	4	4

Thistle:

Sail Number:	Sailors:	Race 1:	Race 2:	Race 3:	Overall Place:
3187	Bill Kitchens / Erin Kitchens / Doug H.	2	2	1	1
1705	Kevin Shulz / Richard Shulz	1	3	2	2
2121	Sam Bedinger / Max Bedinger	4	1	4	3
13187	Gram Simmons	3	4	3	4

Handicap:

Sail Number:	Sailors:	Race 1:	Race 2:	Race 3:	Overall Place:
13156	Bob Damon	2	1	1	1
3101	Dick Pittman / Dave B.	1	2	2	2
68	Mike Kasko / C. Kasko / J. Edwards	3	3	3	3

Laser:

Sail Number:	Sailors:	Race 1:	Race 2:	Race 3:	Overall Place:
175107	Carlos	1	1	2	1
109572	Alex	2	DQ	1	2
118582	Brent	4	2	3	3
	Peter	3	2	DNF	4

Thistles:

Skipper	Crew	Boat Number	Place
Rob Perey	Sarah Clark	1696	1
Bill Kitchens	Ryan Flanagan	3187	2
Kevin Schulz	Rick Schulz	1705	3
Matthew Garman	Linda Cronin	3719	4

Flying Scots:

Skipper	Crew	Boat Number	Place
Chris Snyder	Matthew Snyder	4391	1
Chris Cookson	Pete Cookson	4104	2
Tom Gallagher	David Bagenstose	5055	3
John Reilly	Kurt Steinbock	3867	4
David Upton	Thomas Barnes	4391	5

Day Sailers:

Skipper	Crew	Boat Number	Place
Gary Ogden	Jenna Ogden	2551	1

Check Out Pictures from the Invitational Here!

Congrats to our winners, and we'll see you at the next race!

Competitor	Boat Number	Home Club	Total Points	Place
John Wake Sharon Wake	5341	FBYC	7	1
Len Guenther Barb Guenther	6033	FBYC	10	2
Charlie Buckner Dave Oller	5971	Carolina Sailing Club	18	3
Tracy Schwartzchild Mike Stephens	5790	FBYC	34	4
Chris Cookson Pete Cookson	4104	GRSA	38	5
Colin Fradd Jill Reilly	3875	BSC	39	6
David Upton Marge Upton	4391	GRSA	46	7
Bruce Koch Kaitlin Koch	5600	GRSA	51	8
Tom Gallagher Hobart Harvey	4704	GRSA	51	9
Kate Gomes Bret Winters	3990	GRSA	52	10
Gary Ogden Bob Penterson	5909	GRSA	53	11
Gene Kendall Craig Singleton	5120	Fleet 42, Selby Bay	53	12
John Reilly Kurt Steinbock	3867	GRSA	56	13
Ben Ward Diane Andrews	4971	GRSA	71	14

Download the full results here.

2015 GRSA Around the Island Results:

We had great weather for our 2015 Around The Island Race with a total of 12 boats competing.  This was a handicap race and one of the closest in recent memories, with all boats finishing within about 5 minutes of each other, after more than three and a half hours of racing!  

Congrats to our winners, and we'll see you at the next race!

Skipper	Crew	Boat Type	Boat Number	Place
Lennart Stromberg	Ewan Sturrock	Point Jude	N/A	1
Mills Jones	Karen Jones	Flying Scot	5846	2
Pete Cookson	Lexi Cookson	Flying Scot	4104	3
Garland Hanson	Leslie Hanson	Flying Scot	5661	4
Bruce Koch	Kaitlan Koch	Flying Scot	5600	5
Colin Fradd	Ben Ward	Flying Scot	3875	6
Carlos Encarnacao	Carolin Encarnaco	Flying Scot	1706	7
Dave Upton	Maryie Upton	Flying Scot	4391	8
John Reilly	Kurt Steinbock	Flying Scot	3867	9
Robert Cook	Carol Cook	Flying Scot	4515	10
Sam Bedneser	Mark Bedneser	Thistle	1705 Black	11
Kevin Schulz	Kyle Itolloyan	Thistle	1705 White	12