LAST YEAR 11 boats raced spinnaker at NPSA. For 2004, it looks like there'll be at least that many...two new boats are slated to join us in April!

NPSA's spinnaker fleet continues to grow, along with the level of competition.

Here's a (by-no-means complete) run down of our Spinn Fleet:

"Frosty Paws"

Gary Moler and his crew will be joining us on Wednesday nights to race his Soverel 27 in the spinnaker fleet. Gary comes to us from Glenmar Sailing Assocation, where he has been racing for 26 years. Gary didn't race his Soverel 27 last year, he crewed on a friend's boat. He is looking forward to getting back into his own boat this year and enjoying the friendly competition found with North Point Sailing Association.

"Dolce"

Dolce is a gorgeous C&C 110 owned by Bob Yin. The "big red boat" took 2nd in last Fall's Series and also racked up a LOT of prizes the previous year, in 2002.

"Promise"

Promise is the biggest boat racing at NPSA. It's a Morgan N/M 454 (N/M for its racing pedigreed design team Nelson/Marek). Nothing gets your blood pumping faster than Promise coming up from behind to roll you in 20 kn.! The sensation is not unlike having one of Amtrak's Metroliners astern! Promise is owned by Craig Doyle. Some members wonder if Craig gets an extra advantage from the high-tech, go-fast gear on his stern.

"Infrared"

Infrared is owned by Bob Sopka and it's a boat that has seen some different scenery from our relatively forgiving Chesapeake latitudes. Bob has cruised the boat all the way up to Newfoundland, hence the nav hardware you see on Infrared's stern. Bob brings his boat down from his usual Tuesday night racing grounds, BCYA, to play with us on Wednesday nights.

"Cookie"

Cookie has sailed with North Point for six years. She obtained bragging rights in 2001 when she won the overall NPSA Spinnaker Class trophy with a crew of girls (sorry boys). The same year she won CBYRA High Point for region 2 unofficially; no dues, no award. She also placed 3rd in the Governor's Cup on her first attempt. She repeated with another 3rd in 2002, finally winning the race in 2003. In all three years she's had an excellent support from NPSA skippers and crew. I guess what they say is true; three times the charm. She almost placed third in region 2 High Point standings for 2003, but did not have enough races in region to qualify. I guess she can always try again next year.

"Kaizen"

Kaizen is the winningest boat in NPSA Spinn Fleet history, sailed by last year's Race Committee Chair, Mark Taylor. Kaizen has won a phenomenal number of races, series and overall awards at NPSA, and has also taken some silver in CBYRA's HIGH POINT awards. Last year Mark and a lot of his crew jumped ship to race on Scot (One-T) Reynold's J/35 "Scot Free," for most of the season.

"Schockaroo"

Schockaroo is owned by NPSA's commodore, Paul Susie. Last year Paul, too, took a CBYRA High Point Award: third in PHRF A in our region and finished "in the money" in our Spring series, too.

"Moo Cal"

Glenn and Beth decided to take a season off from racing Spinnaker last year, they raced non-spinn instead, but we hope they'll be back on the line at the gun when the spinn fleet takes off in April.

"Dire Wolf"

Dire Wolf: great crew, decent race results despite the skipper. One of the few boats around where the owner abandoned the helm for the foredeck and the crew is all the more happier because of it...seems the owner had a habit of stepping off the boat occasionally on windward legs. Click on the above images for more info about Dire Wolf racing.

"Thin Float" (click on image above for Thin Float's web site)

Thin Float is another boat that races at BCYA on Tuesdays and then comes down to NPSA on Wednesdays. Nothing is more annoying than sailing a boat that PHRF's lower than Thin Float and having them show up a boat length off your stern after a 7 nm race. Except for having them 2 boat lengths AHEAD after 7 nm...which frequently happens. Aren't Tuesday Nights enough for these people?

"Scot Free"

This is not a photograph of Scot Free. No photograph of Scot Free is known to exist. That's because no one has ever gotten near enough to Scot Free to take a photograph. The boat entered NPSA's Spinn Fleet last year and just consistently did horizon-jobs on the Fleet. Their race record went sort of like this: 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-2-1-1-1-.....then a rock or some sort of underwater obstruction ended their season, a little early. The rest of the Fleet was sad for them...very sad.

"Roaring 40's" Catalina 27

I used to race a Catalina 27 and Roaring 40's would always kick our butts. In a building sea breeze, watch out, is all I have to say about "Roaring 40's."

"Flying Feather"

Wait...a multihull with a PHRF rating? Yep, and as far as I know, the Iroquois 30 is the only PHRF rated multihull. Jack Hurley and crew bring "Flying Feather" out to play when the breeze is up. It takes a little air to get the Feather to fly, but when she does, she soars! (And your beverage remains upright, too)

"Giddy Up"

A new contender to NPSA's Spinnaker Fleet this 2004 season. Long-time NPSA member Greg Harrer and co-partners Bob Stahler & Jeff Bialzak have decided to campaign this hot boat in Spinnaker on Wednesday nights. Greg and Bob campaigned a Sonar in BCYA's thursday night OD fleet last year and should be a force this season at NPSA!