Round the Island Race - August 5

We hope our sailing friends and their boats are safe and sound after Isiais.

Tomorrow (Weds Aug 5) is the Round the Island Race.

Be sure to click HERE to get the sailing instructions!

Important WNR Update!

We hope our fleet is staying healthy and safe, and your boats and property are secured for Isaias!

Between Governor Hogan's recent expansion of the mask mandate, the uptick in key COVID-19 metrics in Talbot County, the numerous logistical requirements needed to ensure the safety of our participants, and our informal fleet poll, the steering committee does not feel it is in the best interest to public health and safety to host WNR at this time.

We did not come to this decision lightly and are deeply disappointed we cannot pull our sailing community together for this long-standing tradition. We hope our participants are able to get out on the water regardless!

There have been informal courses and starts set up on Weds evenings, for Stars and both PHRF fleets. These will continue, including a longer course around Herring Island this Weds (Aug 5). Please note: anyone participating in these informal events assumes full and sole responsibility and risk for their personal health and safety.

We will continue to monitor local and state guidance as well as metrics as we have been doing all along. At this time, we have no predictions as to whether we will be able to have any WNR races this season.

~ Mariana

WNR 2020 - Participant Poll and Important Information

We live in unprecedented times. The WNR Steering Committee has been monitoring CDC, state, and local guidelines as we have made our decisions about WNR. We plan to resume WNR on August 5. 

While we work on updated NOR, SI's, and registration forms, please take a few moments to answer our informal poll. We want responses from as many WNR participants as possible, NOT just skippers/owners, so please share this post as needed. We know everyone has plenty of opinions and they will all be different. We would like to hear them.

It has always been, and will continue to be, the responsibility of each owner/skipper to decide whether to race. It is also the responsibility of the owner/skipper to ensure compliance with all applicable rules and regulations, whether they are local, state, or WNR-specific mandates. Our ability to host WNR will depend on everyone involved.

As a heads-up, we will be requiring all participants - skippers AND all crew members - to sign a waiver. We also expect compliance with all local and state mandates, and CDC guidance, to prevent the spread of COVID-19. 

It will be everyone's collective, personal responsibility to follow all mandates, and we expect owners/skippers to ensure their crew is aware of, and complies with, mandates and best practices.

Stay tuned for updated NOR, SI's, registration forms, and the waiver.

Starting August 5th

Wednesday Night Racing starts on August 5th!

There was a planned skipper's meeting this week, but I have conflicts. We will skip the skipper's meeting tomorrow and go straight to racing. If you have questions, feel free to email me:

marshall.patterson@gmail.com

Remember that August 5th is the James H. Wilson Round the Island Race. We start Early! I post special sailing instructions for the first race and then we are back to the normal schedule.

We don't have a lot of crew on the signal boat this year, so fewer other things will be available. For example, we will not have results or a video available at the Club after. You may not see the Race Committee at all after the racing.

The Club also has limited space for eating and drinking. Many of the staff at the Club last year have not returned and they are unable to offer as many services as last summer. You are still welcome to come by and see if there is room. Sometimes they are grilling out and there is a lot of lawn to stand around and laugh at each other!

WNR Postponed until 8/5

Hi everyone,

The steering committee has had a number of discussions regarding WNR, and have also reviewed Governor Hogan's guidelines, orders, and interpretive guidance. Based on these discussions, they feel there is no option but to postpone - for a second time - the start of the WNR season. 

At this point, subject to change, the first race will be Aug 5, 2020 - the James H. Wilson Round the Island Race. The skippers' meeting for the series will be July 22, 2020, 6 PM via zoom.

Stay Safe,

Mariana

Norm Brown Obituary

I'm sad to report that Norm Brown, owner and skipper of the Bermuda 40, Pagan, has passed away.

Norm was a great friend to most of us. We could count on Norm to be there at local regattas in any conditions with a smile and a willing crew of diehards and vagabonds. Certainly, everyone in the PFRF fleets knew Norm as the skipper of Pagan; Her black hull and looming size definitely made you take notice!

But Norm was also a great sport. He never missed a social occasion with his sailing friends and loved when they would joke with him about his antics.

We're going to miss him.

you can read his obituary and leave a comment here:

https://hoytfuneralhome.com/tribute/details/1365/Norman-Brown/obituary.html

In case the funeral home removes the content in the future, I'll post the text below.

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Norman Harrison Brown, formerly a partner at Ballard, Spahr, Andrews & Ingersoll, died on March 31, 2020, in New Canaan, CT. He was 95 years old.

Norman was born in Baltimore to Helen Harrison Brown and William Norman Brown, a professor of Sanskrit and Indology at the University of Pennsylvania. Norman grew up in Rose Valley, PA, and was a member of the first graduating class at The School in Rose Valley, a progressive elementary school started and supported by local families including his parents.

In 1942 he graduated from Friends Central School, a high school outside Philadelphia where he was an actor, a football player, and a star student. The most enduring and important part of his high school years was meeting his classmate Dorothy Anne Haig (“Doffy”) whom he married two years after graduation and with whom he enjoyed 68 years of marriage until her death in 2011. 

Norman went on to Harvard College where he joined the Navy Officer Training Program while completing a degree in Government and History. He was commissioned as an Ensign in the Navy in 1944 and served on a destroyer in the waning days of World War II.

He enrolled in Harvard Law School after the War and was hired by Ballard, Spahr, one of Philadelphia’s leading firms, after graduation. He developed a specialty in Trusts and Estates and became one of the leaders in his field in Pennsylvania.

Sailing became an abiding passion in the 1960s and he raced actively for over 50 years retiring only when he reached 90 years old. He was also an avid cruiser, traveling as far as the Caribbean and Nova Scotia and making multiple voyages to Maine and back from the Chesapeake Bay.

1985 was a watershed year for Norman and Doffy. Norman took early retirement, sold their house, and set sail for Key West and the Bahamas. This had been a longtime dream. For the next year and a half Norman and Doffy lived, explored, and adventured on their 40’ sailboat. 

Norman and Doffy moved to St. Michaels, MD in 1987 and for three decades enjoyed life on the water and on shore. Wednesday and Saturday races with his colorful and beloved crew were the high points of most weeks. 

He is survived by a sister, Ursula Perivier, four children (Cornelia Brown, Haig Brown, Oliver Brown, and Willa Schell), and nine grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to The School in Rose Valley theschoolinrosevalley.org/support , which was very dear to Norman’s heart. He loved his own experience there, sent all his children there, and often remarked what a happy place it was to grow and learn.

Start of WNR Postponed - NOR posted

Hi Everyone,

The steering committee met and decided that we should delay the start of the racing season. This should allow us to practice social distancing a little longer and maybe we can have a safe summer!

New dates are:

Skippers' Meeting: June 10th, 6 PM
First Race: June 24th

You can find the Notice of Race >here<

If things should change, we'll be sure to let you know. With any luck, sailing this summer will be great fun!

Stay safe this spring
WNR Steering Committee