ALBACORES and BARNEY HARRIS win 47th VIRGINIA GOVERNOR'S CUP.  Sailing in extremely stiff wind (18 - 25 knots) and rough seas on Saturday, and in extremely hot temperatures Sunday, a tough group of 55 small boat sailors raced their brains out on the Ware River over the weekend.   At the end of it all, the Albacore Class got in the most individual starts (among class members) and, therefore, the winner of that class, Barney Harris and crew Leigh (1-2-1-1-1) carried home the  Gov Cup keeper.   This was the 47th time Ware River Yacht Club has run the Governor's Cup.  CLASS WINNERS:  Albacore (12 boats): Barney Harris and Leigh;  Buccaneer (7 boats): Jeffrey Moore and Jolie Homsher;  Hampton One Design (5 boats): Latane Montague and Allison;  Laser (10 boats): Jake Spratcher;  Tri-Foil Moth (5 boats): Joe Bousquet;  Mutineer (7 boats): Jerry Thompson and Bernard;  Portsmouth Handicap Fleet (3 boats): Fred (Emery) Nemeth and Caitlin Nemeth; Sunfish (6 boats): Brian McGinnis.  The Sunfish were competing for their Mid-Atlantic Championship.  Event Chairman - Clayton James; PRO - Rick Klein  (Note: In addition to the Governor's Cup Regatta (adults), also being sailed was the a junior event along with a separate Optimist event - complete results for all three regattas are available at the Ware River Yacht Club website.)

PLANTATION LIGHT RACE -  THIS Friday, August 12 - This is the Grand Dame of the Moonlight Ladies, sponsored by Hampton Yacht Club.  The race is a non-stop, roundtrip, night race that starts and finishes in Hampton.  The possible courses are listed in the Notice of Race (Page 89, CCV 2011 Racing Guide)   Starts for all PHRF fleets - PHRF Non-Spin may use double headsails.  The race begins in the harbor at CCV Mark "H".  First warning is at 1900, Friday evening.  There is NO TIME LIMIT.  Boats dropping out of the race should notify the Race Committee on  VHF 72 or call (757) 592-1650 or HYC (757) 722-0711 as soon as possible.   For information and entry, contact Bob Thomas at (757) 898-9407.

CCV FOUNDERS RACE:  Twenty-nine (29) racers got flat water and steady wind yesterday for the Founders Race.  And, like everywhere else on the southern Chesapeake, it was hot, stinking hot.  A steady 15+ knots blew the racers around the course (10nm for A and B and 7.8nm for all the rest) and back home by mid-afternoon.  Preliminary RESULTS:  PHRF A (8 boats): 1.Phil Briggs, Feather;  2.Dave Eberwine, Sea Star;  3.John Blais, Stardancer.  PHRF B (10 boats): 1.Rusty Burshell, Cool Change;  2.Bob Archer, Bad Habit;  3.Ben and Michele (Cochran) Weeks, Rumble.  PHRF C (5 boats): 1.Alan Bomar, Roundabout;  2.Justin Morris, The Hunter;  3.Bumps Eberwine, Spray.  PHRF Non-Spin (3 boats): 1.Andy Armstrong, Virginia H;  2.CT Tiller, Boogity;  3.Leo Wardrup, Black Widow.  Cruising Fleet (3 boats):  1. Rick Carroll, Sur La Vent;  2.Bob Howell, Cymru.  Principal Race Officer: Bob Thomas;  Mark Boat: Bill Gibbings.         The next CCV set of races will be the CCV Fall Series - all on Sundays, September 18, October 2, and October 16.

ADMIRAL'S  CUP.  On Saturday, Steve Bowen’s Dream On  won the Admiral’s Cup.  Nine boats raced in three classes in the 15^th annual running the Admiral’s Cup held off Seaford.  Competitors had winds around 12 knots at the 1pm start.  And, those winds built to over 20 by the race finish.  And, even though  predicted rain storms held off until most of the boats had finished, there was some great heavy weather sailing!  Results:  PHRF A/B/C (3 boats):  1^st Steve Bowen, Dream On.  PHRF Non-spin (3 boats):  1^st Chuck Eldred, Gail Force.  Cruising: (3 boats):1^st Bill Small, Cleo.   Seaford Yacht Club and York River Yacht Club  combine as organizing authorities of the Admiral's Cup.   Event Chairman - Chuck Eldred.

Remember her?  She skippered one of the USNA Navy 44s that raced a Southern Bay Race Week in 2010.  Earlier this summer  Emily Frost skippered the USNA entry in the Port of Los Angeles Harbor Cup, a regatta designed to have collegiate racers racing "big boats", in this case Catalina 37s.  Emily said, "I made a serious tactical error (she was OCS)".  But, she continued, "We shook it off.  The guys were positive, purely focused, and we worked well together."   So, despite the boo-boo, Navy finished 2nd overall in the three day regatta.  (For entire story see SAILING Magazine, September issue, page 23.)

Yesterday, Sunday, August 14th,while many of us were on our beloved Chesapeake Bay, in Cowes, Isle of Wight, England the 44th edition of the 608 nautical mile Rolex Fastnet Race, one of the great ocean challenges, started.  Follow the more than 350 boat fleet's progress at  http://fastnet.rorc.org

COMING UP THIS WEEKEND and immediately beyond:

** August 12 - Plantation Light Race start/non-stop-overnight, Hampton Yacht Club, Bob Thomas (757) 898-9407

** August 13-14 - 72nd Annual One-Design Regatta, Fishing Bay Yacht Club - www.fbyc.net

** August 15 - Deadline for entry  in Cape Charles Cup - Scott Almond, (757) 471-2663 or CCCup@broadbaysailing.org

REMEMBER TO GET YOUR LABOR DAY WEEKEND EVENT ENTRIES COMPLETE (September 2-5):

Sept 2 - 4  FBYC Stingray Point Regatta, www.stingraypointregatta.org 

Sept 3       NY&CC  Dink Vail Regatta (DVR 11), Richard Waters, (757) 489-0921

Sept 3-5   CBYRA Annapolis Race Week, www.CBYRA.org   

MURPHY'S LAW:   This past weekend turned out to be perfect, absolutely perfect for a summer weekend.  They don't sing  ". . .mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid-day sun..."  for no reason.  And, now the refrain can be modified to "Mad dogs, Englishmen, sailboat racers and Racing  Beagles  go out in the mid-day sun. . . . "     /S/  Murphy the Racing Beagle, the sailing spirit in us all.