Scow Racing on the Potomac (and elsewhere)
Six scows vied for top honors at the Rookie Regatta May 6 with some teams comprised entirely of rookies, while others had old salts helping things along.
The Scooty Puff team (169) of rookie skipper Kody Lieberman and Jack Sheehan eeked out the win with two bullets and two seconds.
“This was my first time ever driving in a race,” Kody shared after receiving his prize, a beautiful water bottle festooned with the famous “Black Swan” of the Potomac Rivers Sailing Association.
The Potomac River will be filled with Inland 20 scows from across the nation as sailors descend on Washington DC April 21-22 for the Third Annual Cherry Blossom Regatta.
Joe Ewing from Indian Lake, Ohio won all six races during two fantastic days of sailing on the Potomac River. Indian Lake compatriots Brook Patten and Jeff Patten finished second and third overall.
Eight boats sailed the race, that opened April 29 in a humble southwest breeze that gained voice rapidly, topping out at a steady 15 knots. Two boats were knocked down by strong gusts measuring20 knots at adjacent Reagan National Airport. The swimmers were Jeff Patten’s 20 Something and the Potomac’s Tim Dickson. Sunday was lighter, reaching only 10 knots from the northeast, but with some sharp shifts to the east that pushed over Firewater, with Rick Loheed of St. Mary’s at the helm.
The 2017 spring race series got off to a bang Sunday, April 2 with the Potomac River Inland 20 fleet handling race committee.
Scow dudes Tim Dickson Stew Harris, Rick Loheed and Jack Sheehan planted pins and launched the boats all day long in a NW breeze that start briskly around 7 knots but fizzled by the third race. Continue reading Race Committee is Fun!
The setting was Green Lake, Wisconsin, Sept. 16-18. Nineteen of the fastest Inland 20s vying for top honors. Results and action are here in the video.
