Other clubs may mark spring by burning socks. The York River Yacht Club marks it by attendance to Mike Mastracci’s annual Sailboat Racing seminar. The class may be named ‘101’, but even the most seasoned sailor will find that they learn something, or are reminded of something they’ve forgotten during these informative sessions.

For the newbies, there are the basic and intermediate rules that those of us ‘old salts’ can recite by heart. For the more experienced are strategies to employ, and who can’t always use one or two more of those tricks.

This year, too, marked a new set of racing rules from th World Sailing Association. So the seasoned salts learned a few items that would serve them well, if not on the York River, then when racing with the ‘big boys’ in other races.