LinGin

A Wednesday Night Race 1,200 Times Faster Than Normal

2011-08-23T19:40:00.000-04:00

We LOVE Brian Palmer. He's a great guy and all that, but he's also a camera geek! That means we have cool shots from the top of the mast. We have cool shots like the famed crab riding a jellyfish. (We're still not sure how he got that shot.)

Last Wednesday, Brian taped a video camera to the end of our boom and recorded the race. Sped up 1,200 times faster than normal it's a fascinating watch.

LinGin at warp speed

One cool thing to notice is that after the start, David takes the helm. He's done that a bunch this summer and I couldn't be prouder of him! Here was my brother, Andy's, comment:

Also, great to see Dave driving most of the time... although Tim seems bored - not sure you guys need him anymore?

The truth kinda hurts! :P

Why We Do Wednesday Night Races

2011-08-23T19:32:00.000-04:00

There are lots of great things about doing the WNR. We build some great relationships and have a lot of laughs. We love being competitive and challenging ourselves to do our best.

However, the reason I do the WNR is to see my kids having the time of their lives. An example:

LinGin does some shark fishing :)

Those kids were having the time of their lives on the way home from the race. It started with the three of them sitting on the boom going downwind on the way home. David decided it would be cool to jump off the boom into the water and grab the mainsheet in the process. It worked like a charm and the girls followed.

The rest of us on the crew couldn't stop laughing. That was such a blast and that's why I do WNR and always will!

WNR Race 6: Success!

2011-06-02T07:24:00.004-04:00

After a mad-dash from Baltimore to Annapolis, I jumped aboard LinGin at 1743 hrs., much later than we usually head out. We had Tim Peek, Mackenzie, David, Pat (a friend from work) and Pat's son, Zach. It was hot and sticky with a south wind around 8-10 kts. On the way out we saw storms in the distance, but felt they were moving in the right direction (away from us!) and decided to keep heading for the line.

Mackenzie took the helm on the way out and we found the bottom at Greenbury Point. I can't fault her though. First of all, George Washington himself wrote about going aground at Greenbury Point, and second of all our depth meter read 6.6 ft. when we hit. Man, I hate those NavMan instruments...they are junk. All ended well; we were off in no time and steaming toward the line.

I drove for the start and amazingly we we had about 6 minutes to the start when we arrived at the line. Sweet! We put in a tack or two and at the final run to the line were able to keep Harry from barging and Jonathan was far enough down the line that couldn't pinch us out. We had the best start we've had all year. Sweet!

After a good sail up to mark A, I gave David the helm so I could prep the spinnaker. David had sailed a good bit of the way home from St. Michaels the weekend before and I had been impressed with his ability to keep her going upwind. We rounded mark D (we had course A2) with a healthy lead.

As we came downwind, we thought about raising the chute, but it started to rain and the wind picked up considerably. With a good lead, there wasn't and good reason to raise it, so we stuck with white sails. Everyone agreed the Tim Peek's incessant cackling and yelling, "bring it on Mother Nature" while standing on the bow in the rain probably caused the storm to subside prematurely.

David had a good rounding at the red nun, but as we sailed upwind to the green can, his tactician (read me), sailed him into a huge header while Harry split tacks (he tactician didn't tell him to cover) and made up a lot of ground. However, David did a great job of threading the boats in the harbor as well as avoiding the Etchells class and the absentminded boats that had finished motoring willy-nilly through our course.

We took the gun and had a very nice trip back to Mimi's, listening to lots of police officer stories from Mr. Peek.

Looking at the scores this morning, it looks like LinGin edge out Second-2-Nun (Harry) in a tie to win Series 1 of the 2011 WNR. Sweet!

Glen Writes up the Miles River Race

2011-06-02T07:17:00.002-04:00

Great post from Glen our Miles River Race success:

http://www.glenbecker.com/2011/05/a-perfect-day-2011-annapolis-to-miles-river-race/

Thanks for all you do, Glen. We all love spending time with you and Emily!

Albergs (and LinGin) Mentioned in the Capital

2011-04-29T23:50:00.001-04:00

Pretty cool!

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/sal/2011/04/27-56/NOOD-regatta-to-feature-championship-contests.html

2011 NOOD Day 1

2011-04-29T22:54:00.003-04:00

It was just like old times today. Glen, Brian, Scott and I took LinGin out on a gorgeous day and had a fantastic time. There were four races in winds ranging from 10 to 25 kts. Scott had SEVEN, count them, SEVEN, sets, douses and resets today. Brian and Scott had dozens of tacks and Glen had the pleasure of scrambling all over the boat. Needless to say at the end of the day we were exhausted!

J Bergquist and Calliope were on fire today! Finishing 1-1-5-1, J was fast, chose the right side of the course reliably and had some excellent crew work. We were solid in our chase after J: 2-2-1-2. We're only leading by one point, but there are four more races scheduled so it will be exciting to see how it turns out.

We seemed to pick the wrong side of the course and I had a few terrible starts. I also misjudged a few port-starboard crossings, costing us some speed and distance with abrupt tacks. We had excellent spinnaker work with very few mistakes. By the end of the racing we seemed to have knocked the rust off and were working pretty well.

Tomorrow David and Mackenzie join the crew. We're looking forward to the help!

An oldie, but a goodie!

2011-04-29T22:38:00.003-04:00

This video was made by Brian Palmer back in 2005 when we had an epic race back from Oxford. Watch the whole thing and you'll be "in" on a LinGin crew joke about Scott and sandwiches.

Hammond Memorial Sailing Regatta from Brian Palmer on Vimeo.

WNR Race 1

2011-04-29T22:32:00.005-04:00

The first Wednesday Night Race of 2011 saw high winds as a storm edged by to the west of the course. We had a nice start; AYC has given the Alberg class its own start this year, so the line is not crowded. The A1 course was quick and the wind was high enough that despite all of Garrett's work setting up the chute, we couldn't fly it.

Calliope passed us going into the harbor to take the lead and looked poised to take 1st right at the finish. With the wind coming out of the Spa Creek bridge, we pinched to stay above the moored boats. Calliope stayed with full power, sailing low and fast, but into the moored boats. When she had to tack onto starboard at the docks, we ducked her, but the extra tack she had to take to get to the finish line cost her the race.

Nice work crew!

Once back at the dock, Nick used his grinder to remove the broken turning block that's been stuck on the boat for a year. Check out this night picture.

2010 NASS Race to Oxford

2010-09-14T00:50:00.006-04:00

From 2010 Oxford Race

For all you loyal LinGin blog followers, I posted a recap of the race to Oxford on the Alberg 30 Racing Blog:

http://racing.alberg30.org/2010/09/2010-nass-race-to-oxford.html

The race back was two gybes and other than the dinky first leg, all under spinnaker. A regular foot race, that we won. Damp and steady around 10 kts, it was fun, but worthy of a write up? Meh.

The 2010 NOOD

2010-05-17T20:28:00.008-04:00

Photo Credit: Brian Palmer

The 2010 Annapolis NOOD (National Offshore One Design) regatta was fantastic this year. We had eight boats registered for the event and seven out on the line for every race. There were the usual faces: Windswept, Argo, Laughing Gull, Second-2-Nun and LinGin; as well as some new ones: Skybird (with a new skipper!) and Backfin. We once again had the Spring Rendezvous at Lake Ogleton during the same weekend as the NOOD. It was great to visit with everyone and swap sea stories about the racing during the rendezvous.

One thing I love is learning about the boats that come out to race with us that I don't know. Backfin was skippered by John Finley, who last raced well over 10 years ago. I have it on good account that John is the second longest original owner of an Alberg on the Bay--he purchased his boat six weeks after Bruce Breiding in 1965. That means that John has owned Backfin for 45 years! His sails are vintage; they were signed by Bert Jabin (who was on the rules committee back in the day). John had his daughter out racing with him and he hopes to make some of the other races this year as well. Welcome back to the racing scene, John! (By the way, I still see Bruce Breiding out sailing Phantom, #113, out on Whitehall Bay whenever the breeze is up.)

One neat thing that happened in this year's NOOD is that one of the editors of Sailing World, Mike Lovett, crewed on LinGin for day one of the NOOD. We really enjoyed having Mike along; he was great crew and we learned quite a bit about the sailing media world. (Did you know that Sailing World magazine is generated each month by only 3 full time editors?) He wrote a nice piece about involving kids in sailboat racing. You can read it at http://ow.ly/1MlVo. (You'll need to scroll down about to the April 30 entry, "Saving Sailing, One Kid at a Time".)

The first thing I can say about the NOOD is that the weather was perfect this year. Beautiful sunny days with good breeze. It was ideal. The race committee did a great job of setting the courses, which were all windward-leeward, about a mile from top to bottom and usually two laps. That doesn't necessarily sound crazy until you consider that if you were doing foredeck on Friday when we had four races, that meant you packed, set, doused and reset the spinnaker eight times during one day of racing! I don't know about the others, but my foredeckman's wife, Krista McWilliams, said that Garrett was so tired Friday night that he couldn't talk. The good news is that I'm pretty sure that he had a smile on his face while he slept that night.

As for the racing, T.C. Williams drove Argo to 3 bullets on Friday and never looked back. He won the Maple Leaf Trophy (the Association's trophy for the NOOD) for the second year in a row. The next four places, however, were tightly contested. I don't know the actual times of the finishes, but we had numerous races where three or four Albergs finished within a few boat lengths of each other. The leaders at the top of the first mark were often racing to catch up again the second time around. It was nail biting!

Lanny Helms, our Racing Commodore, had a excellent series proving that his new spinnaker not only looks good, but can make Windswept fly downwind. New skipper and the new owner of Skybird, Mike Nikolich, showed that he'll be one to watch out for this season. He knows how to make that boat go. Laughing Gull put us on notice that they are out for silver this year. Jonathan Adams got the gun on the last race of the regatta, nosing out Argo in the last few seconds a VERY hard fought competition.

I didn't hear of any major mechanical failures during the racing and I don't think there was a single strategy that won the day out on the course. Some of our crews were a little rusty coming out of the off season. I, for one, could use some practice starting! I think I speak for everyone when I say that it was some of the best racing we've had. Beautiful boats, closely matched in tightly contested one-design racing. Love it!

The results can be found here. Brian Palmer put some great photos he took of the regatta on his Facebook page. (I think you need to friend him to see them.)

Even David was whooped after a full day of the NOODs.

Wednesday Night Races: No. 1, 2010

2010-04-28T22:37:00.004-04:00

A windy, chilly, but beautiful evening greeted us for the first WNR of 2010. It was an exciting evening as we started off by realizing that we were missing the battens for the main. Ugh. We were too far from the dock to turn around and get them and then make the race on time.

I called Mackenzie and being the trooper that she is, she and Andréa drove to Mimi's, found the battens in the garage attic and zipped them out to us via the powerboat. Sounds fun, but not so much when it's 50° and blowing 15-20kts! They both were soaked, but we were glad to get the battens.

We quickly raised the main and as it got to the top of the mast, TWANG!, the rope part of the wire/rope halyard snapped. With 15 minutes left before the start, we looked around and David piped up, "I'll go up, Dad." We grabbed the bosuns chair and had him up the mast in no time.

If you've ever been up a mast, you know it can be pretty scary up there. A few degrees of heel on the deck doesn't feel like much, but 40 feet up, it can translate into 10 feet of motion! In rough seas, like we had tonight, it can be quite difficult to hold on.

David did it like a pro! He went all the way to the top, tied a line to the broken halyard and even checked the sheave. I was very proud.

We ended up starting a few minutes late. It turned out battens were the wrong set and a few of them bust through the pockets...not good. Harry (484) and Mike (550) were the only other A30s out there, but we caught Harry at the Naval Academy sea wall and came in 2nd. Not a bad start to the season.

Now for the NOOD this weekend!

International Friendship Regatta

2009-11-17T15:46:00.001-05:00

I posted a summary of our experience on the International Friendship Race over on the Alberg 30 Racing blog. Go check it out!

Alberg 30 Brochure

2009-11-14T12:08:00.002-05:00

This brochure page is classic! I have to agree that LinGin has that "something extra"!

A Very Tight WNR

2009-09-06T20:07:00.003-04:00

We had a really fun race last Wednesday.

A nice, light and variable breeze out of the west made for a downwind start. We envisioned starting at the pin end of the line on port tack, setting the chute just as the gun went off. It wasn't to be, though, as we came up to the pin on starboard and quickly became trapped between a number of boats from other classes.

We agonized on an action plan. We were blanketed by these other boats and we were unable to gybe and get going the way we planned. After trying to slow LinGin down for a bit we were able to make a large S turn and get out from behind these boats, gybe and set the spinnaker. The bummer was that we were at the end of the A30 fleet at this point.

We put Scott on the hook to help us catch up and by the first mark, we were chasing Laughing Gull and Argo.

After rounding the mark, we were heading upwind and back toward Annapolis. Laughing Gull went left--far left. We felt the wind was better to the right since it had the chance to funnel down the Severn. Argo went right a bit and then tacked left. We went a bit further and tacked before we could become entangled with the big boats coming back in.

The wind lightened up and became very shifty. Luckily we caught a break one shift and caught Argo on our next crossing by less than a boat length. Laughing Gull tacked out from the far left corner and went far right. Argo followed her.

It looked as though Laughing Gull lost almost all wind on the right side. Argo, it appeared, met the same fate. While we didn't have much wind to the left, we kept moving and coming into the next mark we tacked just inside of Laughing Gull and rounding the mark.

It was not clear whether we could carry a chute coming into the harbor and Argo, though behind, was moving as she took a very high course up near the Naval Academy sea wall. After watching Argo continue to move on us, we decided we had to put the chute up. (Much to Scott's delight!)

We slowly picked up speed and did our best to steer the rhumb line to the finish while avoiding being covered by non-Albergs that were steaming through.

We held off Argo. I think they went too high and had to come down to make the finish--very slow.

Coming into the finish we were right next to a Cal 25 that covered us not 3 boat lengths from the finish. Laughing Gull was on our tail and steaming comparatively--especially since they had clear air. Thankfully we found enough wind to hold them off, but only by the skin of our teeth.

It was a nail biter that at times seemed well out of our reach, but we had a great time fighting till the end. We're all bummed that next week is the last WNR of the season.

Kids on LinGin

2009-08-20T16:57:00.004-04:00

We had a family reunion a couple weekends ago and my brother, Andy, took this great shot of the kids having fun on LinGin. They all had a great time and I love the looks on their faces.

Alberg sailing is GREAT!

p.s. Andy noted that you can tell who the regular sailor is by looking at who is holding on... :)

LinGin Crew Switches Up Positions

2009-08-20T16:48:00.003-04:00

One thing I think we need to do on LinGin is to trade spots. Having me run tactics, or help with tacking brings new ideas and views of the boat. Letting others try out new positions helps us learn not only new jobs, but also gives us a new appreciation how the jobs fit together. It also creates backups for when people are out.

Last night we switched things up and Glen drove. Tim P. and Jake did a lot of learning--they're pretty new to the boat. I did some tactics and David continued to handle the main. Scott enjoyed every second of his foredeck role.

We had a less than stellar start, but made out pretty well going up the windward leg. In second and chasing down Laughing Gull on the downwind leg, Glen found a huge hole at the red nun as we rounded next to them and drove over them on the rounding. (Wide then tight really works!)

From there we were on pins and needles coming into the harbor in light air. Everyone worked together to keep LinGin going fast and we crossed in first.

Nice job, crew! Great driving, Glen.

LinGin's WNR Streak Ends

2009-08-20T16:32:00.003-04:00

Well, we knew it couldn't last forever. LinGin's WNR streak ended on Wednesday, August 12th, as we came in fourth. Nine guns in a row ain't bad, though!

We had a good race and lead all the way to the harbor. We missed Scott as we needed some quick spinnaker work coming into the harbor and while Garrett did a great job (zero errors!) if we had been able to get it done more quickly, we might have be able to hold off the competition.

While we were navigating the moored boats, the wind died and Argo, Second-2-Nun and L'Esprit snuck in along the Chart House side of the course. We only beat out Laughing Gull by about a third of a boat length too!

Brian Palmer and L'Esprit took the gun. Great job guys! We look forward to continuing to tangle with you.

Wednesday Night Races: No.8...Finally!

2009-07-15T12:17:00.002-04:00

Finally! After many races canceled due to a lack of breeze, we had a race.

Running late (a VERY rare occurrence on LinGin--I wish!), we made a mad dash to the start. We ran aground on Greenbury Point. Dang! I didn't feel so bad when I noticed that the depth sounder read "20 ft." while we were solidly on the bottom. Luckily we were quickly on and quickly off. Didn't even have to jump in.

We passed the pin end of the starting line with 4 minutes left to our start. Most boats preferred the boat end, but with the wind out of the north and the angle to the first mark just barely allowing a spinnaker set, I liked the pin end. We started on the line, with speed, in clear air and quickly set the chute.

This proved to be the blast ahead that we needed, rounding the first mark well in first. We then beat out to a mark about halfway between Greenbury and Hacketts Point. It was a lift heading out and though a persistent shift would suggest tacking, we kept with it; it seemed to be land induced. This too proved to be key as we rounded the second mark even further ahead.

A very nice spinnaker run back in, along with a nice visit by C.B. Currier passing in his Melges 24, made for an enjoyable race. The topper was coming into the harbor. We hugged the Naval Academy rock wall and sure enough found Crystal Whaley and the kids. We had some very serious cheering for LinGin (we felt like rock stars) and Scott seemed to sail the spinnaker with a bit more authority (if that is possible) as we passed.

Crystal and the kids have made a tradition of watching LinGin. She wrote a really cool post about it complete with pictures on her blog, Life at the Circus.

On the ride back we were treated to a phenomenal sunset! Beautiful.

Wednesday Night Races: No. 7...Not again!

2009-06-12T15:45:00.002-04:00

Alas, we thought this one would be different, but it was not to be. About 30 minutes after a very light air start the race committee decided the wind wasn't going to show up and called the race. There was a storm headed our way too, so that might have factored in.

Three canceled in a row? That's got to be a record.

Ted Osius Race: LinGin Logs a Solid Second

2009-06-12T15:35:00.002-04:00

The Osius race this past weekend was a fun time. Darcy, Garrett, Glen and I had our hands full doing two races that each required two laps around a 1 mile course.

The wind was out of the south and strengthen throughout the day, starting around 5 kts and building to somewhere around 12 kts. There was the standard weekend powerboat chop too. :(

Both races we had good starts and the crew work was on target. Garrett really earned his keep doing all that spinnaker work. He was either setting up, flying, taking down or packing the chute throughout each race. Lots of sweat and hard work. Being a relative newcomer to the foredeck he did an admirable job: we had zero errors and really only one set that took a little longer than we would have liked.

Unfortunately our boat speed was not up to Argo's. Each race Argo pulled away and try as we might, there was no catching her. I've put together a spreadsheet to start tracking our settings in various conditions. Hopefully over time we'll figure some things out.

One thing we didn't do, but that could have helped was move the traveler up to introduce twist in the main to help power us through the waves.

The second race was a bit more exciting because Lanny (Windswept) passed us on the last upwind leg and we had to catch him under spinnaker to get second. It was touch and go for a bit, but we rolled him to windward and once far enough ahead, gybed to get clear ahead of him and headed for the finish line.

Great work everyone, and thanks to Darcy for being a trooper and playing the main in the hot sun for hours. The next weekend race isn't until the fall, so it's WNRs until then.

Wednesday Night Races: No. 6

2009-06-04T12:37:00.004-04:00

Last night the WNR was canceled again. (I hope this isn't a trend.) This time we were short on wind and there was a thunderstorm approaching.

We headed back and did some more boat work which was fun. Thanks to everyone for helping out. Special thanks to Tim Peek, for sticking around and doing boat work on his first night out on LinGin!

According to my records, that seals LinGin's 1st for the first WNR Series of 2009! (The WNRs are grouped into three series each year.) Very cool. Thanks to everyone for all your hard work. I've had a blast.

Division: Alberg 30 (8 boats) (top)

Pos	Sail	Boat	Skipper	1	2	3	4	Total Points	Pos
1	244	LinGin	Nurco, Virginia	[4]	1	1	1	3.00	1
2	484	Second-2-Nun	Bluntschli, Ralph	1	[4]	3	2	6.00	2
3	247	Argo	Williams, T.C.	[3]	3	2	3	8.00	3
4	288	L'Espirit	Palmer, Brian	[5/DNC]	2	5	4	11.00	4
5	287	Calliope	Bergquist, John	2	5	4	[6/DNC]	11.00	5
6	197	Laughing Gull	Adams, Jonathan	5/DNC	[6/DNC]	6/DNC	5	16.00	6
7T	152	Andante	pipkin, mark	5/DNC	[6/DNC]	6/DNC	6/DNC	17.00T	7T
7T	308	Asylum	Adelman, Allan	5/DNC	[6/DNC]	6/DNC	6/DNC	17.00T	7T

Notes

⁽¹⁾	Scoring System is LowPoint - AYC Wed Penalties
⁽²⁾	Finishes in [brackets] denote throwouts

LinGin Shows Up in SpinSheet

2009-06-02T09:35:00.002-04:00

Ray Meyer pointed us to a great picture of LinGin in the June issue of SpinSheet.

Looking good!

Wednesday Night Races: No. 5

2009-05-28T22:34:00.003-04:00

Light wind led AYC to cancel WNR No. 5. Bummer, because it was a beautiful night and there was a bit of a breeze out in the Bay.

We headed back to the dock and fixed one of LinGin's portholes. Good times with good friends.

From LinGin Window Work

Click the link below the picture to see all the pictures.

LinGin Takes Gun at Miles River Race

2009-05-26T07:08:00.004-04:00

From St. Michaels 2009

LinGin was successful in taking the gun at the Miles River Race this year. Thanks to Ryan, Scott and David for all their hard work. It was a BEAUTIFUL day for a race.

I posted a race report at the A30 Racing Blog here.

Wednesday Night Races: No. 4

2009-05-20T21:45:00.003-04:00

Another beautiful spring day here in Annapolis. The Blue Angels flew for the graduating Mids today and we were on the water to watch the show. Simply fabulous!

After that it was Wednesday Night Race #4. 5-10 kts out of the south made for a wonderful race. Garrett was a victim of Commissioning Week traffic and was unable to make the race. Glen was stuck in NYC for work. That left Scott, David and me to take LinGin around the course.

We had a nice start; on the the line and in clear air. We kept our speed up and headed left. We had seen the previous classes start and there seemed to be more pressure and a lift to the left.

We made out well going left, although we were pinned down for a few minutes by some other boats that forced us to go a bit closer to the layline than we probably would have otherwise. We found ourselves in a painful header coming back across, but managed to tack on the layline and get around mark A.

LinGin was fast on the reach out to mark E and we opened up a bit of distance on Argo and L'Espirit. Rounding E, we put the chute up with a fair amount of difficulty. The after guy did not want to stay in place and I very luckily caught it was flying forward free of the turning block!

Once we settled down the spinnaker, Scott kept us going fast all the way into the red nun. We stayed high on the reach to the green can to limit our exposure to big boat traffic and had a nice couple of tack through the harbor to take the gun.

A great time was had by all three of us. We ate our sandwiches on the way home and marveled at how beautiful an Annapolis sunset can be.

Wednesday Night Races: No. 3

2009-05-20T09:31:00.003-04:00

Rather than reiterate what's already been written, I recommend J's write-up of the 3rd WNR at the A30 Racing Blog.

I gave our side of the story in the comments. It was a really fun win right at the end.

Wednesday Night Races: No. 2

2009-04-30T11:45:00.005-04:00

LinGin seems to have worked the kinks out a bit...at least we go to the line on time and went around the right set of marks. (It's the little things really...)

We had a good start in 5-10 kts., coming across the line in clear air. A beat out to the channel markers and up around Greenbury Point found us in first place. Argo wasn't too far behind--looking really good considering they were double handing last night.

We popped the chute and held it (the chute) and our lead all the way to the finish line. Scott was smiling ear-to-ear with all that spinnaker flying time! Everyone did a great job and David spent a good amount of time on the strings. I think he's got the playing foreguy just about down. Better watch out, Scott!

We were excited to see Brian Palmer sneak by Argo at the finish. Way to go L'Esprit!

NOOD Day 3

2009-04-27T06:45:00.003-04:00

From 2009 NOOD

The third day of the NOOD started with very light winds. The RC delayed the start for a bit until the wind filled in and we could make headway against the current.

We had a decent start, but chose the wrong side of the course for the first leg. With a nice set and some fast downwind sailing we were in 3rd. For a bit I though we were gaining on Laughing Gull and Argo as they seemed of have sailed into a lull, but a short time later, things seemed reversed as we went through a lull and they had wind.

On the final leg, we chose the right side of the course and coming into the finish we felt good about catchin Laughing Gull. However, a 20+ degree header blew that away and we finished in 3rd.

The crew work was great. Garrett, Ray, Glen and David did great work out there. We had 2 sets and 2 douses and little room for error. They did an excellent job even in the abscence of our esteemed foredeckman, Mr. Whaley.

I think I have some things to focus on in terms of keeping in the puffs downwind (pressure is king!), but overall our boat speed was good. This one was a little of "you win some, you lose some" when it comes to the course choices you make.

I hope everyone had a great time out there. It was tons of fun! Hats off to Argo and Andante. They did some great racing. I look forward to the continuing battle for High Point!

Results are here.

NOOD Day 2

2009-04-25T22:40:00.005-04:00

From 2009 NOOD

The weather was amazing today. There was a nice breeze out of the south and by the afternoon a ripping current that was pushing all the classes over the starting line early. After being over early on 2 out of the 3 races yesterday, I was bound and determined to not be called OCS (On Course Side).

I'm happy to say that our focus paid off. We had three solid starts (no OCSs) and the crew work today was amazing. Hats off to Glen, Ray and Scott. The race committee gave us really short courses--1/2 mile legs. Each race was fast and furious!

We chalked up 3 bullets today! TC Williams wrapped it up and by our calculations could stay home tomorrow and still walk away with 1st. We're separated from Andante by 3 points, so tomorrow we still have a shot at 2nd.

What made the difference? I think the lighter air helped; we've been faster than Argo in light air. The other is that I jumped in the 53° water and scrubbed the bottom early this morning. Not too much scum on it, but there was a little and I think it made a difference.

The results are posted here.

NOOD Day 1

2009-04-24T22:14:00.007-04:00

Today we had beautiful weather. The windy was 5-15 kts from the south. The racing, however, was tough for LinGin. We're a little rusty, though, and it showed.

I was over early on two of three starts. We had some tough tacks. To top it off, when we were in a foot race with Andrew Cole (Andante, 152) or TC Williams (Argo, 247) we could not keep up with them. It was tough.

The good thing was that we had some great spinnaker sets and excellent mark roundings. Our last start was the our best. We had some good laughs and a nice time catching up.

Find the results here.

You'll notice we didn't make the last race. Darcy's lax team, which I coach, had a 6PM game which I couldn't move or get out of. (Don't even get me started talking about the county on this...) So when they started the 4th race after 4PM with a finish down the Bay, there was nothing we could do but turn around and head home.

Here's to a better day tomorrow!

Wednesday Night Races: No. 1

2009-04-23T09:26:00.006-04:00

Had the first race of the season last last night. A bit of rain and threatening clouds on the way out, but a nice steady breeze and clear skies the rest of the night.

Glen got caught in traffic, so we crossed the starting line 5 minutes after the gun went off. :(

There was some confusion about the course among the fleet. We crossed by ourselves and the RC told us "you guys have course A2". Harry and J turned at A, doing course A1. TC went out to D and turned, doing course A2. We followed TC.

We crossed the finish at 8:01PM, which is 14 minutes before the time limit, but no one from AYC was there scoring boats and we show up as DNF on the score sheet. >:(

I'll have to follow up on that.

The net is that I believe we came second, but we'll see if we can get that straightened out.

--Tim

Update:

Crew--

I think after a number of conversations and the novel action item of reading the sailing instructions in detail, I think LinGin took the wrong course. As it turns out mark "A" is specified to be a "red cone", not a green cylinder. We missed seeing the red cone and ended up doing the course that was designated for the big boats (A5). Doh! Next time we'll get it right.

I've written AYC to get us scored in fourth rather than DNF.

--Tim

Jan. Racing Column for the Alberg 30 Mainsheet

2008-12-16T20:19:00.000-05:00

January is a great time to make plans for the new year, and racing your Alberg should definitely be on the list of plans you put together. Here are some ideas on how get that reliable crew together that can make the difference between an average racing season and an exceptional one.

Towney (Skybird), a perennial racer now retired, would send out the new year's racing calendar to his crew and ask them to sign up for the races they would attend in the upcoming season. This gave them the opportunity to put the races on their calendars early--before many other commitments were on the horizon--and allowed Towney to know where he had gaps in crew well before the season started.

Personally, I use a Yahoo! Group to communicate with my crew and Google Documents to publish a spreadsheet of the year's races. I send an e-mail to the group letting them know the schedule has been published and give everyone access to it so they can read the spreadsheet and change it. I ask them to fill in the races they plan on doing and to update it if their situation changes. I even put in our finishes so everyone can see how we're doing as the year progresses.

Either way, I encourage everyone to reach out to their crew over the next couple of weeks. Thank them for this year and encourage them to come out next year.

We have a new Racing Commodore coming into office next month, and so I must sign off. It's been my pleasure serving you and truth be told, I've had loads of help. One of the great things about serving in our association is that we have numerous people on hand that have done your job before. Even better than that, they are very happy to help! Additionally, I've had race coordinators that have promoted and facilitated getting boats out on the water. Thank you all!

I look forward to see everyone out on the water in 2009!

Tim Williams

Dec. Racing Column for the Alberg 30 Mainsheet

2008-11-16T00:16:00.002-05:00

As the leaves continue to blow off the trees, another Alberg 30 sailing season has come to a close. It's been a great season for the association this year. We averaged 7.0 boats per start this year and had 6 boats qualify for CBYRA's High Point series. I've been excited to see folks like J Bergquist, Jonathan Adams and Andrew Cole out on the race course more frequently this year. I have high hopes for next season too: Alan Adelman and his son, Tim, are already racing their newly purchased Alberg in AYC's frostbite series and I've heard of a couple folks very interested in buying boats with racing in mind. Great stuff!

I think many will agree with me when I say that the Bruce Rankin Memorial International Friendship Races at PSA this fall were a high point this the year for the association. We had such beautiful weather and PSA is just what a sailing club should be in my book: nothing but sailing. My son, David, and I spent the night on LinGin and enjoyed one of the best weekends of racing I can remember. It's a memory we'll always have. After speaking with many of you, I can tell there's great interest in having another regatta at PSA next year. Thank you to everyone involved for making it such a splendid weekend.

There are few things in this world I love more than spending time on my beautiful old fiberglass boat. Trying to eek out a few more tenths of a knot, or out-sleuthing T.C. Williams on a tough course are challenges with which I don't think I'll ever grow bored. The freedom of sailing coupled with the hard thinking required of racing are unparalleled pleasures.

I want to encourage each of you as we celebrate the end of another year to consider joining us next season out on the water in as many regattas as you can attend. Alberg racing is as strong as it has been in years, but I want to see if continue to get stronger. Come out for sail with me on LinGin at any regatta or Wednesday night next year. We'll have a great time and I'm here to help you get out there on the line any way I can.

Thank you all for your encouragement and help. Racing Commodore is a post that does not accomplish its goals without a lot of people lending a hand. I have had a great deal of help over the last two years. Thanks!

May you all have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

See you on the water!

Tim Williams

P.S. Please join us at the annual dinner where we will announce the final High Point standings and hand out our racing awards for 2008.

Oct. Racing Column for the Alberg 30 Mainsheet

2008-09-16T00:21:00.000-04:00

Ahh, fall racing in Annapolis. If only the heat would subside...then it would feel like fall!

We had very nice race to and back from Oxford this September. Four Albergs made it to the starting line: Argo, LinGin, Second-2-Nun and Windswept. While the weatherman predicted 5-10 knots out of the north on Saturday, but the weather gods had their own plans: we saw 0 to 5 out of every direction except the north. Go figure.

There were 185 boats across all classes entered in the race down and the Albergs were scheduled to start first. Starts in such conditions can pose some challenges:

You can't watch the other classes start to help you develop your starting strategy.
You don't get much time to prepare for the start; it's usually a 5 minutes and BANG! you're off.
It's quite possible that you'll be trying to start with dozens (or in this case a just shy of 200) other boats encroaching on the line.

In this case, it was pretty rough. The wind was light at the start off of Tolly Point at R2, but in my opinion, a very raceable wind. The race committee felt otherwise and with about a minute to go before our start, postponed and move the line a mile south just past Thomas Point Light. I suppose they felt there might be a little bit of breeze coming out of the South River.

Once back in the starting sequence, the wind really started to die. It was at this point we became nervous. There were boats everywhere crowding around the line and killing the very light westerly breeze. To top it off we had a ripping current dragging us south. With a minute left before the start, Argo was clearly in the best position: slightly north of the line with a little bit of speed. We aboard LinGin were in a dangerous spot: barely north of the line and moving ever so slightly to the north. Second-2-Nun and Windswept were in an agonizing position: both were stuck south of the line, battling the current and clearly destine to be over early.

I was so worried that we would be swept over the line early that at 1 minute that I scrambled frantically and grabbed my little anchor out of the starboard locker. Dang! It didn't have a line attached to it. "Why had I removed that?", I wondered. I grabbed a line, then looked at the depth gauge: 26'. The line was too short. Dang! I found a good, long line and tied it to the anchor. I quickly heaved it overboard a couple feet and noticed that if we dropped the anchor here, we'd have to drag back a couple of boat lengths before it would hook. Then we'd be over early. Dang! By this time there was nothing to do other than wait for the starting gun.

BANG! I listened intensely to the VHF. Would we be called over early?! Nothing. This was odd; I knew at least two boats were over early and they should be called. Inspecting the radio, I quickly realized the channel had somehow been switched from 77 to 78. Dang! My crew assured me we weren't over early, but I hate going on a 30 mile race not knowing for sure whether I was over early. Oh well.

Argo had a nice start and quickly set their spinnaker to take the lead. We both set about the task of getting to the deepest water we could to take advantage of the favorable current, while trying to staying in any pressure we could find. Windswept and Second-2-Nun battled their way toward the line. The race committee postponed again and moved the line further south for the remainder of the fleet.

After an hour or two of very light conditions, we passed Argo by catching some pressure that they missed. We then plodded down the bay in the brutal heat and sun. By the time we rounded the first mark we started to wonder if we would finish by the nine hour time limit. Thankfully we caught word on the radio that the race committee shortened the course and was finishing the race at the second mark at the entrance of the Choptank River. There was hope.

Enduring another becalming and dealing with our second "spin-out" due to waves and no wind, we caught site of Second-2-Nun and Windswept. They had caught up considerably and with the light winds, anything was now possible. Apparently our wind in the front of the pack had died before theirs did, allowing them to close the gap. The racing was getting more intense!

In the end the wind picked up just in time for our finish: we finished with 13 minutes left on the clock. Windswept crept up and took second 9 minutes later and in a photo finish, Second-2-Nun beat Argo by 4 one hundredths of a second! I love racing these old boats. They're so evenly matched! Nine hours of racing and still a remarkably close finish.

Division: Alberg 30 (5 boats)

Pos	Sail	Boat	Skipper	Rating	Finish Order	Finish Time	Adjustments	Pts
1	244	LinGin	Williams, Timothy	Alberg 30	1	17:46:39.0		1.0
2	562	Windswept	Helms, Lanny	Alberg 30	2	17:55:28.0		2.0
3	484	Second-2-Nun	Gamber, Harry	Alberg 30	3	17:59:23.0		3.0
4	247	Argo	Williams, T.C.	Alberg 30	4	17:59:27.0		4.0
DNF	152	Andante	Cole, Andrew	Alberg 30	DNF	No Time	DNF	6.0

After an enjoyable night in Oxford, we were treated to a beautiful 10 to 15 knot breeze out of the south, making for a relatively quick trip home. The start was upwind and we were able to time our start at the pin just the way we had hoped: with speed and clear air. Argo started right below us, but unable to push us above the pin. Windswept and Second-2-Nun crossed the line slightly below Argo with good speed.

Making our way upwind to the first mark, our thoughts mainly centered on covering the fleet. We need to put in a hitch to avoid shallow water, and did so about halfway up the leg. The others followed. We went a bit further than we'd planned on before making our next tack, but we kept every one to leeward of us as we made our tack and headed toward the mark. We kept close eye on the Cal 25s that had started before us and we pleased to see that the wind seemed to be lifted ahead, but not so much that we'd overstand the mark. We gained good separation by the first mark, rounding ahead of Argo, with Windswept and Second-2-Nun following in order.

The next two legs were reaches that basically cemented the positions; no one had a significant boat speed advantage to change the places. Rounding the penultimate mark, it was an 8 mile spinnaker run to the finish. The breeze made a very hot day bearable, but dead downwind it was still very hot. We finished first followed by Argo, Windswept and Second-2-Nun.

Official Results from the Hammond Memorial Race (the race back from Oxford) were not available at the time of publication.

It's quite possible that you're reading this before October 18th. If you are, please consider coming out to race in the Canadian Friendship Races, or to attend one of the evening events. Everything is taking place out of the Potapskut Sailing Association's (PSA) club up in Pasadena and we'd love to see you out there!

See you on the water!

Tim Williams

Sept. Racing Column for the Alberg 30 Mainsheet

2008-08-17T07:36:00.001-04:00

This month is the real start of the Alberg 30 fall racing season. We have two races this month: Oxford and Queenstown.

Oxford is my favorite race on our schedule. You never know what kind of ride you'll experience on the way down, but it's usually exciting. (One year I snapped my tiller in the middle of the race...ask me about it sometime.) Once you're there, you can wander the small streets of the town and find some good grub to eat with your crew.

You'll probably run into other A30 racers where ever you end up. On LinGin we somehow always pick the restaurant that Second-2-Nun does. It's always a pleasure to trade some good natured jabs with Harry his crew!

The next morning, I'll head out early for a jog through town and to grab some sandwiches for the crew to eat on the race home. The Albergs are usually a late start so we don't have to head out to the line as early as the other boats. It's really neat to walk along the waterside park there, listening to the starting gun go off and watching the boats head down the Tred Avon River as the day begins to unfold.

The race back from Oxford ends about half way up the bay, which has it benefits and detractors. I'm not sure I like it ending there, but I can tell you that the racing conditions in the rivers versus on the bay are almost always very different.

Queenstown is a great event for everyone, but especially for those boats on the Magothy River since our start takes place at Baltimore Light. It's not a very long race; we shoot straight across the bay, into the Chester River and up to Queenstown. I think that's part of the reason families enjoy this race.

Once there, we raft up and the race committee creates a floating party by tying two work boats together and providing refreshments. Much merriment is made and many sea stories told and just about when you think the work boats are going to sink because of all the people on them, the party breaks up for everyone to cook their dinner and settle in for the evening.

The next morning it's a race back the way we came. With good conditions we're back at Baltimore Light by two in the afternoon with our sails full and a spirits lifted. Nothing does that like a good weekend of sailing!

Of note, if you've never seen someone actually have the grounding that wins them the Keel Wheels Award, Queenstown is not a bad place to try to catch it. If you're good at FOLLOWING the boat ahead VERY SLOWLY, you'll probably do fine getting in and out of the harbor. If you're not, well, there just may be half a roller skate nailed to a plaque waiting for your name to be inscribed on it.

Don't forget to make plans for the Canadian Friendship Races NOW! They're October 18th and 19th this year and we'll be sailing out of the Potapskut Sailing Association's (PSA) club up in Pasadena.

One of the things we're excited about is that each day of racing will start and finish out of PSA. This means everyone will be together each day and we're hoping that will facilitate the sharing of stories and allow everyone to get to know our Canadian guests all the better. Don't miss all the parties that Mike Meinhold is putting together for us, too!

If you have any questions or would like to discuss bringing your boat up early, please contact me or Larry Morris, the race coordinator.

See you on the water!

Tim Williams

August Column for the Alberg 30 Mainsheet

2008-08-17T06:55:00.000-04:00

This past month a couple of our local racers headed to the great white north to take on our Great Lakes sister organization in a friendly set of races. See the article in this edition of the Mainsheet for all the details. I'll urge you to add this to your list of "things to do in 2009" right now. It's a fun time and an excellent way to make good friends that you probably wouldn't otherwise meet.

Since the June racing is covered in the article, I figured I'd take a moment to write a bit on something I've learned the hard way about racing over the years: how important it is to split up the task of steering and the role of tactician.

Many of us as boat owners find we like being in control. We wanted a boat. We saved up our hard earned cash and bought the boat. We pay (and do) the maintenance on the boat. We even provide the food and drinks on the races! If you're anything like me, one of the things you like about racing your Alberg is the fact that you are in charge!

When it comes to running the boat, trying to control everything is a recipe for trouble. Here's one of the main reasons why: I've come to the conclusion that you really can't race your best when you're trying to steer the boat and play tactician at the same time. Believe me, I've tried and I can't make it work. My teenage daughter can talk on the computer to seven people at once while watching TV. I can walk and chew gum with aplomb. I cannot steer and call tactics at the same time.

When I moved to Annapolis five years ago, I needed a crew. I grew up racing with my family, but when I arrived in Annapolis my brothers all lived on the other side of DC and Wednesday night racing was not in the cards due to the commute and the fact that they had young kids at home. Thankfully, I found a great group of guys for crew, but I had one problem. None of them had done any racing.

I found myself trying to teach the mechanics of the boat, steer and call tactics for that first year. It was fun but frustrating. The next year, I found they really had the mechanics down, but no one had really stepped up to the plate on the tactics side of things. Maybe I hadn't been teaching them how to do that.

We try to do a post-race debrief after every race and the ride back to Whitehall Creek from the Spa Creek on Wednesday night after racing is a great time to have that talk. We discuss things we did well and things we did poorly. We also talked about anything anyone didn't understand.

Too many times that second year, I'd realize that I'd made terrible calls as tactician because I had my head down in the boat. I'd call for a tack without realizing that I was heading to the wrong (unfavored) side of the course, or tack into a pack of boats that would soon roll us. Once I realized the error of my ways, I really pushed my crew to learn the role of tactician.

Becoming a tactician is something that takes time. You have to develop a sense about racing, the rules and how to make the boat go. However, I find that most people will not do the hard work of learning it unless challenged, encouraged and rewarded. Start a young tactician off by having him or her reading some of Dave Perry's books and the North U. books about tactics. A subscription to Sailing Smarts, a racing focused newsletter, is an excellent tool. Be on the lookout for good articles in Sailing World. Join the racers at a happy hour or a post-race party and ask lots of questions. Don't be afraid to draw some pictures! They can be invaluable.

Today, I have a couple of members of my crew that I can really trust to take on the role of tactician. It's great having someone with which to discuss strategy. If you can, I'd recommend you choose to drive or call tactics--not both--and watch your performance improve.

I like driving and so that's where I keep my focus. (I think it's a control issue.)

The race to Oxford is our next race on September 13th. Make your plans now and get your crew together! It's going to be a wonderful race.

Until then, please come out and join us on a Wednesday night race on the Severn or the Magothy. Just drop me a note and I'll help you find a spot.

See you on the water!

Tim Williams

July Racing Column for the A30 Main Sheet

2008-07-16T22:03:00.001-04:00

The race to Oxford is our next race on September 13th. Make your plans now and get your crew together! It's going to be a wonderful race.

Until then, please come out and join us on a Wednesday night race on the Severn or the Magothy. Just drop me a note and I'll help you find a spot.

See you on the water!

Tim Williams

June 2008 Racing Column for the Mainsheet

2008-05-17T07:39:00.002-04:00

The annual NOOD (National Offshore One-Design) regatta was held in Annapolis over the last weekend in April this year. The Albergs had a nice turn out with seven boats making an appearance on the course. Many years, the wind lightens up and we loose a day of racing. Not so this time: our fleet completed 8 races over three days. By Sunday night I feel like I need to take two days off before going back to work. I was exhausted!

The great thing about having so many races is that it gives you the chance to make up for mistakes. If you really mess up a spinnaker douse in one race, you're not out for the series. It also gives you enough time on the course that you're almost always exposed to a variety of conditions. That was the case in this regatta. The first two days of the NOOD were very similar: light to medium air (5-10 kts.) out of the north with a powerful current developing throughout the day. The third day, however, the wind really picked up (15-20 kts.) and made for quite a different scene. Solid crew work became extremely important, and if you didn't change the way your boat was set up from the day before, you were going to be slow.

There are two things I'll never forget about this regatta. The first is watching Lanny Helms and his crew aboard Windswept drive away from the fleet the last day of racing. It was incredible to watch that boat go. He had two great starts that second day and took off, never to be caught. I pressed him at the award ceremony as to how he had her set up to make her go so fast, but it seemed difficult for him to talk he was smiling so much. Way to go Lanny!

The second thing I'll never forget is Brian Palmer crewing for me and doing foredeck. Brian is not my regular foredeck; I was supposed to have my cousin on board Sunday doing foredeck and he's been doing that for over 20 years. Brian, however, is exactly the kind of crew every skipper loves: he'll do whatever he's asked--no questions asked! Brian does foredeck for us about twice per year, usually because someone had to bail at the last minute. (Which is what happened in this case.) He's a trooper for trying to re-learn the whole process on the way out to the race course.

With 15-20 kts. blowing, we weren't sure we wanted to fly the chute, but if you're not in the lead it's hard not to at least give it a try, so we did. One thing you should know is that I do my boat maintenance by crisis; if she's sinking, or something is broken that will cost us in a race, then it gets fixed. Otherwise, find a work-around! Apparently one area that I need to improve is the spinnaker halyard shackle. The pin is bent and if you don't PRESS it in--even thought it may be latched--it will pop lose. Brian had unfortunately not received this memo and I didn't communicate it in my review of the process.

The call for the spinnaker to go up on the second leg of the first race was made, and my other crew, Ray Meyer, gave it all he had. It was his first weekend on LinGin, so maybe he thought our spinnaker was ULTRA light weight, or maybe it all happened just so fast... Regardless of why or how, within a second or two we had the spinnaker halyard at the top of the mast. Not just part of the way, but ALL the way.

We finished up that race and knew that we would only have about 15 minutes between races. (As Race Committee, you have to hustle to get in 8 races in three days.) The seas were big when we headed out and had only grown throughout the morning. Thankfully Brian has done some rock climbing in his past, because he agreed to hop in the bosun's chair and be pulled up the mast to retrieve the halyard. You'll have to ask him yourself about how the trip was, but I know that most of the fleet watched the feat closely--it was exciting! We had a lot of questions at the party after the race about our Spiderman. Let's just say that the bumps you and I feel at deck level are nothing compared to what one feels at the top of the mast!

At the end of the racing LinGin carried the day, but just narrowly. T.C. Williams on Argo had a great third day and really gave us a scare, coming in a close second. Jonathan Adams teamed up with Larry Morris to co-skipper Laughing Gull for this regatta and they made a great team. They were extremely consistent throughout the regatta and came in third. Lanny was not far behind Jonathan and Larry.

I am really pleased with the competitiveness of all the boats in our fleet. Albergs are a great boat to race! Please come join us sometime.

Two final thoughts:

Have you considered joining us for the races in Canada this June? It's June 14-15 in Toronto and I can promise that you'll have a great time and make new friends. Please contact me if you're even just thinking about it.
Albergs are racing in Wednesday race series on both the Severn and the Magothy rivers. If you've been thinking about getting your boat out, but have some questions, please drop me a line. I'm happy to help get you out on the water.

I look forward to seeing you all on the water. Tim Williams

LinGin Wins First WNR

2008-05-08T22:02:00.002-04:00

Crew: Scott, Chris, Xa, Nicole (friend of Chris) and Tim
Wind: 10-15kts out of the south

We had a beautiful night of sailing this week. It was great to see Brian Palmer out skippering L'Esprit in her first WNR!

We had a good solid start and quickly jumped ahead of Argo by a couple boat lengths. Our course took us almost out of R2 at the mouth of the Severn on a fairly steady reach. At one point the wind lightened, and Argo started to catch up. We eased the backstay and the jib halyard. We also eased the outhaul and fattened up the main. We went to 8 to 10" off the spreader for the jib and lo and behold, we started to move on Argo. We shifted gears! Excellent!

We took a hitch before rounding the windward mark to get out of a lot of spinnakers. We just barely crossed L'Esprit on port. (Whew!) I think it's clear that Brian has plenty of speed with that new bottom and those new sails. (Not to mention the crack crew--his parents!)

After that it we had a great spin set with Scott on the foredeck. We led the fleet in until we rounded the green can at the entrance to the harbor. We got caught behind and below a Catalina as we rounded. He came up and slowed down more quickly that we did. We were too close to shoot above him and had to plow below him. That killed our speed and Argo charged by us to windward.

We went to the docks and tacked and lucky for us, Argo had to take two tacks where they only wanted to take one. This gave us the advantage we needed as the winds were light and tacking was painfully slow. We crossed the finish line a short bit before them.

L'Esprit came in fourth (last) behind Argo and Second-2-Nun (Harry), but she didn't fly her chute, so I think it could have been quite a different finish had the been able to do so.

We had a great time and are looking forward to next week.

--Tim

LinGin Wins the NOOD

2008-05-01T09:41:00.005-04:00

The 10^th annual Sailing World NOOD Regatta took place this last weekend and LinGin’s crew had great success.

Day 1 & 2

Crew: Ray Meyer (“the new guy”), Glen, Scott, Mark (1^st day), Brian (2^nd day), David (2^nd day) and Tim
Conditions: 5-10 kts. with little chop
Location: Approx. 1 mile south of the Hacketts Point can

The first two days of the NOOD were very similar: medium to light air with current building throughout the day. We had pretty good starts, working to get a spot on the line with speed in clear air. Early in the day going right into the deep water was an option had it been desired, but after the first race each day the current was such that the key to success was to go left to get in the shallow water and out of the current.

LinGin was pretty dialed-in for these conditions. We moved the jib cars up to the “I” hole on Mark’s suggestion. The idea was that the foot was extremely flat in our normal position, the “G” hole. It seemed to produce good results; we had good speed and could point well. Our backstay was on 4 which is moderately tight. Overall we sailed her with the sails pretty flat.

The second race of the first day we lost a place to Argo during our windward mark rounding. The current was coming on strong and we were coming into the mark on port. Argo came in on starboard. As we were closer to the mark, we were able to tack inside of Argo and feel we had a good chance of making the rounding. Since they were further out when they made their tack to the mark, they had to overstand a bit be sure the current didn’t push them out of reach of the mark.

Unfortunately for us, the wind was lightening and shortly after a relatively slow tack, we were rolled by a Cal and Argo, causing us to stall and drift toward the mark. There was a short moment when we thought we might hit the mark, but I was able spin the boat around back to port tack and we had to regain speed, overstand the mark and then tack again. Needless to say, Argo was quite a bit ahead by that time.

Had I to do it over again, I would have tried to swallow my pride and realize that ducking Argo and being 2 boat lengths behind was a far better position than 20 boat lengths behind. Ah…next time…hopefully.

We did end up needing a repair. The spinnaker pole track was bent significantly and I had to race down to Fawcett to get a replacement. Hopefully Scott will take it easy on this next one! ;-)

A neat side note is that Bill Wager, a sports writer for the Capital, picked up on our success and interviewed me after the second race. We appeared in an article the next day. Pretty cool!

Results
Day 1: 1, 2, 1
Day 2: 1, 1, 1

Day 3

Crew: Ray Meyer (“a regular”), Brian and Tim
Conditions: 15-20 kts. with chop
Location: Approx. 1 mile south of the Hacketts Point can

Day three was a tough one for LinGin from the time we left the dock. A missed e-mail from my cousin, Chris, left us with only three on the crew and Brian valiantly filling in on foredeck—a position he doesn’t get much practice in.

After some discussion about No. 1 or No. 2 jib and main reefing we settled on a reefed main with the No. 1. After shaking the reef on the first downwind leg, we never put it back in. I was glad that we didn’t go with the No. 2.

Our first start was good; we were on the line with speed, but we were immediately rolled by Lanny Helms (#562, Windswept) and bunch of other boats. Uh oh. We were definitely not set up properly for the conditions. We spent the rest of the day changing settings to try to find our groove.

The first spinnaker set was a bit iffy with a number of configuration changes made before setting the chute about 2/3 the way down the leg. The second time around the snap shackle on the halyard came undone just as Ray went to hoist the sail. The result: the spinnaker halyard at the top of the mast and Brian scrambling to switch to the trusty whisker pole wing-in-wing configuration.

In between the first and second race, we took Brian up the mast. Now you have to keep in mind it’s blowing between 15 and 20 knots and there are significant seas. At boat level, we feel the waves, but 40 feet up the mast you REALLY feel the waves. Half way up Brian got bounced around a bit, but his rock climbing experienced paid off and he made it all the way to the top to retrieve the spin halyard. He definitely earned his sandwich this race! My hat is off to his willingness to make the climb—I never even had to ask.

The second race we suffered more speed and pointing problems. In the end we chased Argo up the last windward leg and tested some ideas out. Here are my thoughts:

Don’t be afraid to significantly bear off when there are seas out there. Towney did this once to us—I thought he was crazy to bear off 20 degrees rounding the leeward mark to go upwind. You’d think after being spanked by him at the top of that course that I would have learned my lesson. Next time, I will suck it up and bear off so I can plow LinGin through those waves. We went 8-10” off the spreader with the jib and seemed to be making ground on Argo on that last leg. (Too little too late to catch him, though.)
Lanny was smokin’ fast. Speaking with him after the race he talked about how loose his rig is. I think this may be key. Fast and fast in the slop. Next time I’ll try really loosening up the back stay and easing the jib halyard. We probably should have eased the outhaul too.

Last but not least, I can’t say enough good stuff about Ray. He’s a former Cal racer that now owns an Alberg with his wife. They are cruisers right now, but he’s a really good racer and I’m hoping that we can infect him with the racing bug. He’s planning to join us on Wednesdays this summer and I’m looking forward to it.

Results
Day 3: 4, 3

I hope I see you all out on the water this summer. Come join us!

--Tim

p.s. Thanks to Brian Palmer for all the great photos!

LinGin Places Second on the Race Back from Queenstown

2007-09-24T09:20:00.000-04:00

Here's a summary of the race that I provided Towney:

Towney,

The race back was fun, but disappointing. We won the start and lead the race until about 15 min. from the finish when CB jumped ahead of us.

The wind had been 15-20kts out of the N for the morning, and our choice of our No 2 worked well. However, when we rounded the red nun to head back to Baltimore Light, the wind was too far forward for our chute. We held pretty well with both TC and CB (who were 10-15 boat lengths behind) for 4.5 out of the 6 miles. TC had held high with the hopes of popping his chute and charging ahead to the line. CB, on the other hand, took the rhumb line with the idea of holding the jib all the way in. We took something of the middle to minimize our risk, but the wind began to die and we knew we would get rolled if we didn't do something. A headsail change was out of the question as it would take too long. We headed up for a bit and put up our old, narrow spinnaker. (It does better on a close reach than our more full new one.) We were first with the spinnaker up and seemed to be doing quite well. However, as the wind went from 10+kts to less than 2, it swung about 150 degrees aft. Ugh. Between CB having a better angle and his having his big shouldered chute up, we had little hope. It was big seas and no wind, which, by the way, is my least favorite kind of sailing. We held off TC quite well, but couldn't manage CB.

I feel good, because we had a great race and I feel we really covered our bases and did the best we could in those conditions. Had the wind held, or gone forward, I think we would have won.

It was a great weekend to be on the bay!

--Tim

Division: ALBERG 30 (5 boats) (top)

Pos	Sail	Boat	Skipper	Rating	Finish Order	Finish Time	Penalty	Pts
1	57	INFINITY	Charles Currier		1	13:11:04.0		1.0
2	244	LIN GIN	Tim Williams		2	13:12:35.0		2.0
3	247	ARGO	T C Williams		3	13:19:49.0		3.0
4	501	SOLSTICE	Larry Morris		4	13:41:12.0		4.0
DNC	197	LAUGHING GULL	Jonathan Adams		DNC	No Time	DNC	6.0

Start Date/Time = Sunday, September 23, 2007 10:10:00.0, Length (nm) = 13.60

LinGin Wins Race to Queenstown

2007-09-24T09:09:00.000-04:00

With a family-based crew (Andréa, Darcy and David) along with the capable Brian Palmer, LinGin had a fine race to Queenstown, taking the gun at the finish. (It was a real gun. Imagine!)

The wind was a steady 10 kts. out of the south, so the course was pretty much a straight shot across the bay and up the river. Like many years before, there were no tacking legs in the course. Good for family racing, I think.

The start was a bit hairy. T.C. Williams (Argo) was barging and his spinnaker hit our spreader. Unfortunately, Larry Morris was coming up underneath us and with T.C. in the way, we couldn't get out of Larry's way and he very nearly hit us (there was some good fending off that went on). T.C. did his turns right after the start and we did ours too. Larry did turns for not giving us room to maneuver (he just came right up and hit us, even though we had no where to go).

After a fair amount of thought and discussion, we're not sure we should have done turns as we think we could have kept clear if T.C. had not been barging. Oh well, it turned out it didn't matter.

C.B. (Infinity) started mid-line (and a bit late) so he wasn't involved in the starting melee. We were lucky to get through our turns quickly and get after C.B. On the second leg, we were able to fetch the next mark without a tack, but C.B. got a bad shift or bad air and had to tack to make the mark. He lost a couple places in that situation and we successfully held T.C. off for the rest of the race into the finish line.

One item of note is that we did not run aground in Queenstown! I'm pretty sure that in some 20 years of doing this race that this quite possibly is the first time I can say that.

--Tim

Division: ALBERG 30 (5 boats) (top)

Pos	Sail	Boat	Skipper	Rating	Finish Order	Finish Time	Penalty	Pts
1	244	LIN GIN	Tim Williams		1	12:39:45.0		1.0
2	247	ARGO	T C Williams		2	12:41:45.0		2.0
3	501	SOLSTICE	Larry Morris		3	12:44:10.0		3.0
4	57	INFINITY	Charles Currier		4	12:46:02.0		4.0
5	197	LAUGHING GULL	Jonathan Adams		5	12:48:30.0		5.0

Notes

Start Date/Time = Saturday, September 22, 2007 10:10:10.0, Length (nm) = 13.60

Hammond Memorial Race - Alberg Results

2007-09-17T13:49:00.000-04:00

1. Tim Williams
2. Lanny Helms
3. C.B. Currier
4. Harry Gamber
5. T.C. Williams
6. Jonathan Adams

53rd Annual Race to Oxford - Alberg 30 Results

2007-09-17T09:43:00.000-04:00

Place	Sail No.	Boat	Skipper		Class	Time
1	244	LinGin	Williams,	Timothy	Alberg	31:59.0
2	57	Infinity	Currier,	Charles	Alberg	32:07.0
3	562	Windswept	Helms,	Lanny	Alberg	40:10.0
4	197	Laughing Gull	Adams,	Jonathan	Alberg	42:46.0
5	484	Second-2-Nun	Gamber,	Harry	Alberg	44:13.0
6	247	Argo	Williams,	T.C.	Alberg	47:42.0

Hammond Memorial Race (Race Back From Oxford)

2007-09-16T18:56:00.000-04:00

Having had such great success the day before, Scott and I were determined to do everything we could to repeat our performance. This time, however, we decided we'd start in the lead and let everyone try to catch us. At least that was our plan.

The wind was still out of the north on the way back, but this time it was closer to 8-10kts. We had a nice spinnaker start, especially for a crew of two. We were just a bit ahead of Infinity this time and Argo wasn't far behind either.

Next 10 miles were really a "foot race" in that there were almost no tacks, just a gybe or two round the marks. We actually flew the spinnaker the whole time--even when Infinity and Argo took theirs down. That really opened our lead to about 5 minutes at the final mark to the last leg.

That last leg, and last 8 miles of the race, were where things were really tough. It was a beat up the bay with 20+ degree shifts and tremendous changes in the wind velocity. One minute we'd look behind us and feel like heros. The next, we'd look back and our heart would be heavy. This was because of the huge shifts that were marching down the bay. They were bands of air and they would hit us and then travel down and hit our competition. Oftentimes we were in complete different air than everyone else.

Our strategy was really defense at this point. We selected Infinity, as they appeared closest, and tried to cover them.

In the end it worked out; no one ever really seemed to get close. We were very pleased to see Lanny Helms, Windswept, take second, and we were pretty sure there was another boat between him and Infinity.

The Whaley--Williams Dynamic Double-handing Duo. Fun stuff!!!

Race to Oxford

2007-09-16T18:53:00.000-04:00

The forecast for the 53rd Annual Oxford race sounded pretty good: 15kts. out of the north. The crew situation was not. Sadly, I was unable to put together a full crew, but thankfully, I did get a solid commitment from my lead foredeckman, Scott Whaley. Singlehanding to Oxford was a no go, but double-handed…well, we'll give that a go.

Thursday night I gave Scott a call to see what he wanted for lunch and catch up on some race details, and was shocked to hear that Claire, the Whaley's 2 1/2 year-old Corgi, was extremely ill and at the vet hospital. As I believe most dog owners feel, the Whaleys felt like Claire was a part of their family. Scott said he'd get back to me about the racing.

Friday night, I was relieved to get an e-mail from Scott letting me know he would be coming to Oxford. I didn't find out until the next morning that Claire had to be put down late Friday. Although sad, Scott felt the race was would be a welcome distraction and Crystal's parents were coming to town to help with the kids anyway.

After some prep work, we headed for R2 to start the race early Saturday morning. It was blowing out of the north, but more like 20kts. with gusts up to 25. Scott, being the foredeckman that he is, wanted to pop the chute right away. I was a bit concerned about the gusts.

We started about 1/2 boat length behind Infinity, CB Currier's boat, and started chasing him down the bay. When he set his chute and started to pull away, there was no other choice but to raise ours and go.

We had a bit of trouble getting it up. We raised it, but I didn't put enough wraps on the which. So while I was pulling in the sheet, the halyard slipped and the sail came down. When I reached to grab the halyard, I didn't properly cleat that spinnaker sheet, so that ran free. Soon we had the spinnaker full up, but the sheet blowing in the wind.

It was quite a site to see Scott trying to grab the sheet when it went in the water. When a gust hit, the line acted as if it was electric fly and spinning around angrily. Scott finally grabbed it and got the sail under control.

A while later, thing got out of control. The wind was too puffy and shifty for us to handle by ourselves. When we dropped it, I rope-burned my hand something fierce and the sail got wildly out of control on the way down. I have this great image in my mind of Scott standing on the cabin top with his back on the main sail, completely covered in the blue and orange chute trying like mad to get it down below with all the wind and waves throwing us around.

After that it was whisker pole time, baby! We were about 7-10 boat lengths behind Infinity at this time and the other four boats behind us were quite a ways back. As we rounded a mark to go up the Choptank River, we had this sneaking suspicion that it would be difficult to get ahead of Infinity.

Approaching the Choptank Light we would be changing from a beam reach to close hauled to go to the finish line. There might even be need for a tack. Infinity decided to reef their main due to the high winds. We knew we have trouble with depowering against Infinity and decided that since there were only two of us onboard we would leave our main full.

Infinity's reef took place about 10 minutes from the mark according to our GPS. That gave us 10 minutes to narrow their lead and when we rounded, CB was yelling, "NO ROOM" at the mark. We were right on his tail.

Sure enough, Infinity started to move on us as soon as they came up to close hauled. At about 5 boat lengths ahead, Scott and I were of the opinion that we'd very likely come in 2nd. Rather than risk running aground, we made our penultimate tack and Infinity soon followed suit. When we tacked back we decided to do so because we are only two people and tacking is a pain that way! We decided that we didn't want to risk missing the line and have to make another set of tacks.

When we tacked, we couldn't believe our eyes! CB crossed right in front of us, kept going a bit then tacked back, but he had given us the lead in doing so. We didn't need to tack again, so we could sail a straight line in and while he was to windward, he was behind.

In a 4 1/2 hour race, we were in the lead for roughly 45 seconds. It was just the right 45 seconds.

As you might imagine, Scott and I we whooping and hollering when we got the gun. That was a lot of fun!

WNR Series 3 Race 5: No Wind

2007-08-29T21:46:00.000-04:00

Unfortunately, tonight started out with light winds and developed into no wind. At approximately 1945 the Race Committee abandoned the race.

We had a poor start, as I was on the line early with a little speed. I didn't want to drop back behind the line only to loose speed and have to come back up underneath another boat, so I pushed the line. I was hoping others were too far back from the line and there would be enough space for me to squeeze in ahead of them. Wrong tactic. We were OCS (On Course Side) and had to duck back down to start again.

With the light winds we did well and spent most the race to the first mark trying to catch Towney. Near the end we hit a big power boat wake, spun out, and saw Argo truck ahead. Shortly thereafter, the race was called. Towney was the only Alberg to make it around the first mark.

I've been thinking that we should keep track of how we do in different wind conditions. My sense is that we have our most trouble keeping up (speed) with other A30s in mid to heavy wind. We seem to be pretty fast in light air. Perhaps we are either set up more for light air, or our sails are better suited for it. Something to think about.

Next week is the last WNR of the year. Let's hope we have some wind!

David's Big Debut

2007-08-16T11:56:00.000-04:00

Last night was breezy and we were shorthanded. Brian, Glen and I were joined by my son, David, for a very nice Wednesday Night Race. David has come out many times with us, but this was his first time where he really contributed. He did a couple of jib sheet releases on tacks and helped setup for a head sail change on the downwind leg by tying bowlines and a square knot. Great stuff!

The wind was 15 kts out of the S and we had the advantage of being in the Bay on our way over, so we rigged the No. 2. We also saw the Etchells start and noted that those boats that started on the north side of the Severn (the pin end of the line) had a solid lead.

Interestingly, as we watched subsequent starts, few boats took the pin end. We decided we would choose the pin and it paid off quite handsomely. We ran the line on starboard and had speed with clear air at the start.

The course was B2, which took us toward Hacketts Point and then back toward Tolly Point and in to the Severn. We lead the whole way, but had to choose between covering Argo or Skybird on the windward leg toward Tolly. We chose the right side of the course, covering Skybird, primarily because it was the long leg and also gave us the best options for being able to tack when we wanted. It paid off with us keeping ahead of Towney and making additional ground on Argo.

The rest of the race was a foot race into the finish and we crossed the line first with plenty of time to spare.

Key Thoughts
We've struggled in heavy air to keep LinGin going against the rest of the fleet. This race was one where it was questionable whether to go with the No. 1 or No. 2 jib--we were the only Alberg that flew the No. 2. I think LinGin, be it because of the cut of her main or whatever, prefers to go to the No. 2 in much lighter air than we generally think. I plan to select the No. 2 a bit earlier and see how we make out. It didn't seem to hurt us last night and I think it helped in the heavier spots. It's important to note that the seas were quite heavy too, so that didn't seem to slow the No. 2 down either.

August Alberg 30 Assoc. Racing Column

2007-08-14T23:36:00.000-04:00

August Chesapeake Memories

August on the Chesapeake holds many memories for me. When I was in high school my grandfather, Bruce Rankin, had finally completed the training of his crew: my younger brothers and cousin, and me. We had all crewed for 5+ years and worked well together. We had a little bit of that "read each other's mind" thing going on, and it was fun. We did all the Annapolis Yacht Club Wednesday Night Races and at the beginning of each CBYRA racing season he'd give us the option of going after the High Point trophy.

One spring he asked us, "Would you rather race for High Point this year, or sail to Venezuela from Florida?" Being young, naive and having girlfriends, we foolishly chose High Point. Boy what I'd give to go back and choose the Caribbean adventure! Oh well. That's the problem with youth, right? It's wasted on the young.

When Grandpa went after High Point, he went after it. That meant that every race that counted toward High Point, we raced, and every race was raced until there was no more racing. Enter August on the Chesapeake. If March enters like a Lion and exits like a lamb, then perhaps August is best described as a 3-toed sloth, or the banana slug. I supposed if everyone is going to go on vacation in August, the wind has the right to as well.

That didn't matter to Grandpa and so there we'd be bobbing up and down in 0.02 knots of breeze in LinGin roasting like pigs on a spit in 98° heat and 100% humidity. If the time limit was 6 hours, we raced for 6:00:00 hours! We were committed. (Or at least Grandpa was, and because we couldn't swim far enough to make it home, so were we.) Looking back on int, I can't imagine that Grandpa enjoyed it too much either; we must have asked, threatened and whined to go swimming, climb the mast or start the engine thousands of time.

The youth in today's in the Alberg class doesn't have this problem. August is a "bye" month for the racers. Other fools may try to race in August, pounding through power boat chop in search of breeze, but our class smartly sticks to short Wednesday night races. Boy, things only get easier and easier for kids these days.

Are you itching to do some racing on an Alberg? Even in August? Well drop me a line and I'll get you out on a Wednesday--I promise. And if you're prepping for the fall racing scene--and we have lots of that--now is the time to get on those projects. Need help? Just let me know and I'll see what we can do.

Fall Alberg Races
September 15-16 Race to Oxford and back
September 22-23 Race to Queenstown and back
September 29-30 International Friendship Races

All of these are great, fun races. The Williams family is planning on racing Queenstown as a family this year. (With a little help from faithful crew.) Come join us for our only race north of the bridge! Call or e-mail me with any questions.

--Tim Williams

WNR Series 3 Starts Off...and Loses Gas

2007-08-02T07:01:00.000-04:00

We had a lovely evening last night with warm light breezes and lots of sun. The wind was out of the north, allowing us to set the chute shortly after the start. We beat Towney at the start, but with light, spotty breeze he made it around us. Thankfully, we were able to return the favor shortly thereafter. Argo found her own wind along the northern side of the Severn and rounded the mark in first, ahead of us by barely a boat length.

We passed Argo on the beat coming back in toward the city. We narrowly crossed Towney and almost hit one of the green cans, but still managed to round the red nun in first. Doing our best to fend off Towney and keeping a sharp eye on Argo, we set the spinnaker and made for the harbor. The Towney wind machine kicked in and he found his own air in front of the Academy.

In front of the Chart House, we were able to make a move to windward and pull up along side of Towney, but just as we were neck-and-neck, the time limit ran out. Bummer, because I think we had a good shot at taking them if we had another 10 minutes!

Great crew work everyone. Please welcome Wallace, Emily's friend that joined us last night.

June Mainsheet Racing Column

2007-05-21T22:58:00.000-04:00

The 2007 racing season is off to a great start! We started the season with nine Albergs racing in the Annapolis National Offshore One-Design (NOOD) regatta. The NOOD is a three day regatta that regularly sees over 250 boats in attendance racing in three divisions. For the Albergs this is also our Maple Leaf Trophy regatta. The winner of the NOOD receives a half-model of his or her boat--arguably the nicest trophy given by the association.

The conditions this year were frustrating at times, but overall the competitors had a great time. Friday saw such light winds that the only race that was started had to be abandoned before the racers completed the first upwind leg. The saving grace was that the torrential downpour that was coming down during breakfast thankfully stopped just as the boats left for the race course.

Saturday started by looking like a carbon copy of Friday: no wind. However, a little before lunch, the wind came marching out of the Severn as if by some magical command. No sooner had the Albergs started did the wind die. Thankfully this time it came back up (although with something of a 100 degree direction change), and two races were completed.

The NOOD courses are always multiple laps around short windward—leeward courses. This produces fast races where good starts can make a big difference. Upwind strategy is important, taking current, wind pressure and oscillations into account all the way. Downwind, getting the spinnaker up quickly is vital to success, and depending on the wind pressure, deciding between a Rhumb line course and "tacking downwind" can be a tough decision one has to face. Since there are a lot of sail changes and transitions, crew work is action-packed--there's not much sitting on the rail in the NOOD. In fact, on my boat, our foredeckman wore a new watch that recorded his heart rate throughout the race. It was quite interesting to see his heart rate jump up at different points in the race--especially when he had to climb the mast to try to untangle a stuck spinnaker halyard!

Sunday brought with it steady wind that allowed two more races. I'll leave the sea stories to be told over beers at the next rendezvous by those who sailed in the boats.

It was tight racing with many boats in contention for silver throughout the weekend. T.C. Williams and his crew aboard Argo won the day through consistent speed and teamwork. Hats off to Argo! I've listed the overall results below.

Division: Alberg 30 (9 boats)

Pos	Sail	Boat	Skipper	1	2	3	4	Total Points
1	247	Argo	T.C. Williams	2	1	2	2	7.00
2	57	Infinity	Charles Currier	3	5	1	1	10.00
3	550	Skybird	Rolph Townshend	5	2	3	4	14.00
4	244	LinGin	Tim Williams	1	3	10/DNF	3	17.00
5	562	Windswept	Lanny Helms	6	6	4	5	21.00
6	287	Calliope	John Bergquist	4	7	6	8	25.00
7	197	Laughing Gull	Jonathan Adams	7	4	7	7	25.00
8	567	Andante	Andrew Cole	9	8	5	9	31.00
9	484	Second-2-Nun	Harry Gamber	8	9	8	6	31.00

Upcoming Races

Depending on when you receive this letter, you may be able to join us for the Ted Osius Regatta on June 10th. This is an "around the bouys" race, meaning we don't end up at a destination at the end of the racing, so it lends itself to a nice simple day of racing. It's typically held right at the mouth of the Severn River and is a lot of fun. Ted's name is found on many of the Alberg trophies and I can remember being on LinGin chasing after his boat as a boy. It's a great regatta to support the memory of one of our own great sailors.

Beyond the Osius regatta, we Alberg racers take July and August off--and that's okay for me; there's rarely much wind and it is too hot!

--Tim Williams

Wednesday Night Summary: Race No. 3

2007-05-18T09:00:00.000-04:00

We were successful in winning the third WNR of the first series this year. The conditions were 6-8 kts out of the south with limited seas.

When we come to the Severn from Whitehall Creek, we have the advantage of getting to see the conditions out in the Bay and to watch the Etchells (first class to start) make their way up the windward leg. Tonight we saw steady conditions and felt the wind would build a bit as we got out to the Bay.

The start was key to getting out ahead. As we all know, you need to have clear air and speed (or momentum) for a good Alberg start. As we neared the start time, the wind seemed to languish a bit, so we stayed very near the line.

A key to a successful start is to sight the line. To do this, before the start, sail outside the pin end of the line and sight the pin, the flag on the committee boat and something on shore. When you are starting, you can sight the flag on the committee boat and the thing on shore to know how close you are to the line. Take care to be aware if the committee moved the line between your sighting and the start!

We started mid-line to keep clear air and make it easier to ensure we had speed. After two tacks up to the first mark, we decided to stay high of the course to the next mark. One of the big boat starts had been recalled and restarted after us. (We are usually the last class to start since we’re slow.) They were now rolling over us and by staying high we were able to keep clear air and speed, even though we sailed a longer distance.

Rounding the next mark, we had to head to an inflatable mark toward Tolly Point, making this leg a beat. We were tempted to tack as soon as we rounded—here’s why: we rounded on starboard tack coming off a reach and rounding up to close hauled. The big boats coming behind us point better than we can and are on starboard as they come around. We’ve been pinned down after the rounding, unable to tack onto port and cross the line of big boats and unable to point high enough to keep clear air.

This time the rounding was a bit different, though. We felt we would not get rolled too badly by the big boats, and we wanted to get out toward the Bay as soon as possible. We felt there would be a lift as the wind bends around Tolly and it looked like there was better pressure out there. This was a bit risky as we watched Argo and Skybird tack after rounding the mark. We managed the risk by tacking about half way up the beat and loosely covering them. I’m not sure we made out much by going left, but we seemed to hold our lead.

From that mark we popped the chute and the LinGin crew worked hard to keep us going as fast as possible. One thing you quickly learn in the WNR is that a lead out in the river can QUICKLY be erased in the harbor as the wind drops significantly and the boats behind catch up. You can’t relax until you’ve crossed that line!

The crew did a great job and we’re looking forward to the next race.

--Tim

Wednesday Night Summary: Race No. 2

2007-05-18T08:45:00.000-04:00

We did a great job on race number 2, but made one big mistake. After rounding the upwind mark in first with Towney hot on our heals, we were headed toward the Bay Bridge in a north wind. We had to tack to make the next mark and while the wind was strong (10-12 kts.), the seas were BIG and sloppy.

As we came around the mark, I came up and instructed Nick to put the jib at 6" off the spreader so that we would have power through the waves. At times it looked like we might lay the mark. I watched Towney and he bore away from the mark by perhaps 20 degrees! I thought, "man, that's WAY low...maybe he's having trouble pointing." I should know better by now!

About half way up the leg, we hit the worst of the waves and were almost completely stopped numerous times. Did I bear off and head over toward Towney? No. I stubbornly kept trying to point to that mark, and I paid dearly.

Towney tacked--way out there--and when we came to cross he had a solid 10 boat-length lead! Ugh. We did some great spinnaker work, but we could not overcome the distance I gave up.

Note to self (and crew): VMG is king and Albergs don't go upwind in waves well! Don't be afraid to signficantly bear off in chop and keep the speed up.

Now if we just had some polar plots that told us what our target speed should be in any given conditions. ;-)

--Tim

Glen's Heart Rate on the NOOD

2007-05-17T21:40:00.000-04:00

To show you how rough it was on Glen out there doing foredeck on the third day of the NOOD, check out this link using Internet Explorer (Firefox won't render it properly):

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/player.mb?episodePk.pkValue=2603146

Glen wore his GPS watch during the race along with it's heart rate monitor. If you select "Heart Rate" from the "Zone" list on the left, you'll see his heart rate throughout the race. Can you tell where he went up the mast to unloose the halyard?!

Pretty nifty, huh?

--Tim

2007 NOOD Summary

2007-05-17T08:53:00.000-04:00

Ahh...it's been busy as usual and due to our 4th place overall at the NOOD, I've been lax in the write ups.

The first day of the NOOD was a lesson in frustration: no wind for many hours, and then a small breeze. The race committee thought about getting a race started for about the duration of the small zephyr itself. By the time the start happened, the wind had died significantly. We didn't make it to the first mark before the race was called off and the day was done.

The second day of the NOOD started the same as the first: no wind. It came in, but then by the time the A30 start occurred, it died again. We correctly read the tea leaves (all those terrible Canadian Friendship Race starts finally started to sink in), and saw that there was a serious current that would keep us from getting across the line unless we were right on it. We got out in front at that start and kept first the whole way around.

The second race was not as good as the first. I completely misjudged the amount of bad air coming off of the line of A30s starting and we found ourselves that the back of the pack. We tried to read the wind up the windward leg, but I don't think we ever figured it out. The spinnaker work by Brian Palmer and the crew was great and we clawed our way back to third. We were in decent shape: Argo had a 1st and a 2nd to put her in 1st. We were second and Skybird was in 3rd--but he had a poor showing in race one (a 5th)--so we had a slight bit of breathing room.

The third day of racing gave us nice breeze, but both our 1st (Scott) and 2nd (Brian) string foredeckmen were unable to make the race. No problem, Super Glen to the rescue! Unfortunately, that meant no tactician to help support me and I can attest that's not a good situation.

Hats off to Glen; he had his hands full. We had halyard troubles in the first race and the spinnaker got stuck halfway up. We made good time even still and moved from 6th to 3rd by the time we got to the leeward mark, but unable to get the spinnaker down, we had to sail about a mile beyond the mark before we successfully retrieved the sail down. We were forced to drop out of that race.

At that point, we knew we had almost no hope of placing in the regatta. Argo, Skybird and Infinity had solid numbers and unless similar misfortune struck them, we were out of the running.

The crew worked hard in the last race and put in a good effort: we came in 3rd. Overall we received a 4th for the regatta, which kept us out of the silver, but I think keeps us in fine shape for High Point.

Great work, crew. We should all be proud of our efforts!

--Tim

Division: Alberg 30 (9 boats) (top)

Pos	Sail	Boat	Skipper	1	2	4	5	Total Points	Pos
1	247	Argo	T.C. Williams	2	1	2	2	7.00	1
2	57	Infinity	Charles Currier	3	5	1	1	10.00	2
3	550	Skybird	Rolph Townshend	5	2	3	4	14.00	3
4	244	LinGin	Tim Williams	1	3	10/DNF	3	17.00	4
5	562	Windswept	Lanny Helms	6	6	4	5	21.00	5
6	287	Calliope	John Bergquist	4	7	6	8	25.00	6
7	197	Laughing Gull	Jonathan Adams	7	4	7	7	25.00	7
8	567	Andante	Andrew Cole	9	8	5	9	31.00	8
9	484	Second-2-Nun	Harry Gamber	8	9	8	6	31.00	9

Wednesday Night Summary: Race No. 1

2007-05-07T11:37:00.000-04:00

The race this past Wednesday was basically a straight shot out and back. Not a lot of tactics involved per se. The wind was out of the NE around 10 kts and we sailed with full sails powered up.

After watching the previous starts, we decided the pin end was favored and gave the best angle for speed and shortest distance to the first mark. Clear air and boat speed are vital for a good Alberg start. 9,000 lbs of momentum takes awhile to develop if you don't have it at the gun.

The first leg we looked to keep in clear air and not mess with the other classes that can easily interfere with our efforts. We then rounded the mark and stayed high of our next course to force the other classes below us and to keep us above the spinnakers coming back.

After rounding the mark, we set the chute and as it was a short leg, took it down quickly. As we came around the next mark, a Melges 24 rounded up and smacked us in the port quarter, about a foot from the transom. It made a big sound, and I remarked that I knew who won that battle! We had a small scratch in our teak toe rail. I kept the pieces of gelcoat the Melges left with us as a prize. After we raised our protest flag, they did their circles and continued on. It looked like they sustained a nice 2" crack in their bow. Ouch.

The rest of the race was a foot race into the harbor. The boats behind caught up a bit as the breeze died down in the harbor, but with the spinnaker up, we took a broad reach toward the Naval Academy sea wall and then went all the way to to the gas station next to AYC. Towney took a direct route almost dead downwind and as we gybed, it became apparent that our higher angle on the wind gave us the speed we needed to keep the lead.

Our crew did a great job with the spinnaker work, especially Brian Palmer who is not our regular foredeckman. We're all looking forward to next week's race.

--Tim
LinGin #244

LinGin: Changes Below...

2007-03-15T11:13:00.000-04:00

As most of you know, LinGin's icebox has been more like a "meltbox" than anything else over the past years. You put ice in it and voila! You'll have water in no time. Not too good for things like turkey sandwiches.

The newer Albergs don't have our icebox configuration. Theirs is a "navigation table" with an insulated compartment underneath that is the icebox. It's a nice design as it gives more table space down below and opens things up quite a bit.

Towney graciously offered to help me with the conversion; I don't have the guts to do this level of work myself. Last weekend we removed the old and came up with a strategy for the replacement.

You'll notice how Grandpa cut into the old icebox area when he repowered LinGin with the diesel engine. I'll put more entries up as the project progresses. Cool stuff!

--Tim

2007-02-23T15:45:00.000-05:00

March 2007 Racing Column for the Mainsheet

For awhile it seemed winter would never come, and now it seems like it will never end, but trust me, Spring is on its way! With Spring comes the anticipation of the racing season and our first big race of the year: the Annapolis NOOD. I want to encourage each and everyone of your to consider coming out for the NOOD regatta. Here are 5 reasons why:

You will have a fun racing adventure! Guaranteed. All racing comes with a good story to tell all your land-lubber friends over and over again. Some are happy ("We won the third race!"); some are sad ("We were becalmed in a fog and lost our foredeckman to Chessie.")
The racing is close by and quick. The NOOD spans three days: Friday, April 27 through Sunday, April 28. We typically race just north of the mouth of the Severn on short courses so that we ideally get in seven races in the three days. Consistency is key to winning the NOOD, so it's not a regatta where one bad race ruins your regatta. If you'd like a spot to dock your boat nearby the NOOD please drop me a line and I'll see what I can work out.
The parties are first class and a lot of fun. There is a party that includes food, drink and entertainment every night of the NOOD so you and your crew can come in and tell all those Melges 24 sailors what sailing a real boat is like.
The NOOD is a world-class event and is the regatta that decides the Alberg 30 Maple Leaf Trophy winner. There are nine NOOD regattas held each year in the U.S. and Canada, organized by a professional PRO (Principal Race Officer) and support staff. Over 2,000 boats participate in the NOODs each year! If you've been to the Alberg 30 annual dinner, then you have seen the half-hull models that are given out to the winner of the Maple Leaf Trophy. Who wouldn't love to win one of those?!
It's a great way to get a jump start on qualifying for High Point. High Point is the award given by the Chesapeake Bay Racing Association (CBYRA) to the best overall performer in each CBYRA sanctioned class. As a class we have eleven days of racing in 2007. In order to qualify for High Point, you only have to complete five races! If you do the NOOD you're more than half way there; just do two more days of racing during the season and you're in the running.

A quick side note about High Point qualification: it's important for our class and association for us to have as many boats qualify as possible. Why? Because when people are looking to purchase a boat, they are interested in getting involved with an active, supportive class. If you read the Alberg 30 e-mail lists, you have surely seen this expressed by many people that purchased Albergs. Racing participation is a directly measurable component of participation, tracked by CBYRA, which is used to assess the strength and health of our association. While support from a maintenance perspective, jovial parties and great cruising opportunities are important, so is racing. It offers another avenue for people to use their boats, create camaraderie and for us to get the word out about this great, beautiful, boat. So coming out to support racing in our association is an important way that owners can do their part to maintain the health of the association.

There are four things I want to ask you to do:

Contact me with any challenges you have in getting out for the NOOD (e.g. crew, maintenance, registration, etc.). If you want to get out there, we as a class want to help you make it. I'm in the membership book; contact me!
Go to www.sailingworld.com and click on the tab that says, "NOOD Regattas". Check out the results form some of the other NOODs and see if registration is open. If it is, sign up!
Join the Alberg 30 racing e-mail list. This is a low-volume list that consists mainly of racing announcements and it's a great way to keep up with what's going on. If you go to www.alberg30.org and click on "mailing lists" (near the bottom of the page) you'll find more information about how to sign up. If you have trouble, contact me!
Even if you don't plan to race your own boat, consider teaming up with someone in the association who is going to do so. Racing is a great way to improve your overall sailing ability and it's a great way to be part of a fun team activity.

I am looking forward to getting the year of to a great start. I'll see you on the water!

--Tim Williams

2007-02-20T09:33:00.000-05:00

Note: As Racing Commodore for the Alberg 30 Association this year, I write a monthly column. I'll be posting it on LinGin's blog throughout the year for those of you that don't receive the Alberg's "Mainsheet" newsletter.

--Tim

As published in the Feburary 2007 Mainsheet.

“Anyone want a peanut butter on a cracker?” Grandpa asked. This would be a normal question on the boat if it weren’t for the conditions.

My grandfather, Bruce Rankin, graduated from the Naval Academy in 1945 and shipped off to World War II to serve in a submarine. He was either building, fixing, on or under a boat pretty much his whole life. My brothers and cousin grew up spending our summers racing all over the Bay on LinGin, his Alberg 30. We all considered him an old salt. Sometimes that saltiness was more apparent than others.

We had prepared for the St. Mary’s Governors Cup Race and had made it out to R2 at the mouth of the Severn when a sudden storm had come upon us. There were a couple hundred boats waiting to start and the sky had gone from foreboding to lightning filled. We were dealing with four foot seas and 35+ kts of breeze.

As the crew put on our foul weather gear and dealt with the horizontal rain, Grandpa announced he was going below to take a nap. He stripped down to his shorts and t-shirt, lay down and went to sleep! Not to mention that if any of us had even gone below for a second we would have been immediately seasick. I struggled to stay away from other boats and to not worry about the lightning strikes that were occurring all around. The rain felt like someone was shooting thousands of B-Bs at you and stung even through the foul weather gear.

After his nap Grandpa asked us about the crackers. Needless to say we declined. The storm settled down soon after that, but I’ll never forget how calm and at home Grandpa was on the water.

I’m excited to serve the Alberg 30 Association through the Racing Commodore position this year. As you can see from the story above, racing Alberg 30s is synonymous with family, adventure, childhood memories, and fun for me.

I want to encourage all of our Alberg owners to get this great boat out there on the starting line for a couple races this year. Every race has its story, its own adventure—why not experience it? Racing Albergs will enrich your life and your relationships. I has for me.

My kids are racing with me on LinGin now. She’ll be 40 years old this year and the kids are the fourth generation of our family to race her. Could your family have a legacy like that? It sure could, and I hope we’ll do it together! Please come say “hello” at the annual dinner this year. I look forward to seeing everyone there.

--Tim Williams

A30 from Maine to Texas

2007-01-17T21:54:00.000-05:00

I saw this blog and I had to put up a post about it. These guys live in Texas and bought an Alberg 30 in Maine. They trailered the boat behind a RV! I haven't read the whole thing yet, but you should check it out if you have some time.

--Tim

Alberg 30 Annual Dinner Pictures

2007-01-17T12:22:00.000-05:00

Crew,

Here are some pictures that Brian Palmer took at the annual dinner this weekend.

--Tim

A30 Annual Dinner 2007

Mission Accomplished! LinGin Wins High Point

2007-01-14T18:51:00.000-05:00

Last night Andréa and I had a really wonderful time at the Alberg 30 Annual Dinner in Solomons, MD. LinGin took honors for the following awards:

The Hammil Memorial Trophy for our distance race win (Solomons Island)
The Osius Memorial Trophy for best performance in the around-the-bouy races
The Jack Martin Memorial Trophy for winning High Point

At the beginning of 2006, we talked about this being our year. We've come a long way in our ability and through a lot of hard work (and great fun!) we had great results.

Everyone who raced with us should feel very proud. High Point takes a great deal of commitment in time and energy and it's a big deal to win it. I also want to sincerely thank all of our families for the many sacrifices they made for us over the years. We couldn't do it without you!!!

Keep your eye out for the annual LinGin off-season dinner party!

Here's to a great 2007 for all of you.

--Tim

Candian Team Races Photo

2006-10-14T00:58:00.000-04:00

Here's most of the A30 group that attended the party after the Canadian Friendship Races. Next year I hope more of the LinGin crew (and families!) can make the A30 parties. They are very casual, family friendly and a great time to hang out and get to know some other sailors.

--Tim

Preliminary Results: LinGin Wins High Point

2006-10-12T17:12:00.000-04:00

Per our resident High Point calculus expert, Glen Becker, the numbers are showing that team LinGin took first place for the Alberg 30 High Point trophy this year. The official results will be announced at the annual dinner January 13, 2007.

You are planning on being there, aren't you?! You'd better be!

Thanks again everyone for a great season.

--Tim

LinGin Takes Second at Canadian Friendship Regatta

2006-10-12T16:42:00.000-04:00

The Canadian Friendship Race has proven to be one of the most frustrating regattas for me. It comes at the end of the season and typically after a couple of weekend races in a row. We usually do very well at Queenstown and Oxford, but the Canadian races seem to confound us.

This year, the Saturday race saw good winds (10-15 kts) and a very sloppy sea. Unfortunately we did not have the participation numbers we had hoped for; only 4 boats made it out including the Canadian entry.

In both of the day's races, LinGin had poor boat speed. The first race we had a good start and felt the wind would go right throughout the day. The fleet went left while we went center of the course, but furthest right of the fleet. What we failed to recognize was a 20 degree shift to the left about half way to the first mark. Had we realized this was a persistent shift, we would have tacked over and maintained a strong lead. We sailed into it and were taken over by 550 and 247.

During the downwind leg, we overtook the Canadian boat (550) while they were having spinnaker trouble. We appeared to maintain our position with 247 during the downwind leg. As a side note, T.C. Williams had C.B. Currier on board and they certainly made a good team. We couldn't make up the difference heading back upwind as 247 smartly covered us.

The second race, we saw 247 line up for a port start and set out to deny it. We did a admirable job of timing the start, coming into the pin on starboard and forcing 247 to duck behind us. I'll admit I enjoyed that. :-)

My joy was short-lived, though. 247 tacked behind and upwind of us and just MOTORED by. We tacked away and they tacked to cover us. We spent the rest of the leg trying anything we could think of to tune the boat in to the conditions, but to no avail. It was very frustrating.

We should have realized, again, that there was a huge shift mid-way up the course again, but I was too frustrated with 247 driving away that I completely missed it. We came around the mark last. Argh.

During the downwind leg we made up on 484 and came close to 550, but in the end took a third.

Day two had much smoother conditions and the boat felt better. We had a great start and made good speed up the upwind leg, but about halfway up we got out of phase with the shifts which put us in third behind 247 and 550. The wind was lightening up as we went downwind, and to mix it up we tried downwind tacking. This is an area that I want to experiment more with. We got smoked on one of the NOOD races by Towney tacking downwind while we took the rhumb line, and I think the angles and windspeed that I would normally start downwind tacking on are perhaps wrong. At present we have to be going less than 2 kts and we use the angle brackets on the masthead fly to determine the angles. I'm going to try higher angles and I'll start downwind tacking under 3 kts. We'll see how it works out.

We rounded the bottom mark behind 550 and went right toward Hackett's Point. 247 went left, and 550 concurred pretty quickly. I liked our speed and the wind seemed to be building on the right side of the course, so to get leverage on the other boats, I went to the lay line. The wind substantially increased and was a huge lift once we tacked. We made out like bandits against 550 and very nearly caught 247.

The race committee was run by Bob Leigh rather than Phil Biegel this year as Phil's house was hit by the tornado that went through Severna Park right before the weekend. Bob's a fantastic guy and very pragmatic. He and the team did a good job, but I was a frustrated by two issues with the Race Committee.

Thread the Needle. We had a vote at the skippers meeting/potluck dinner and I was the only one that voted against threading the needle. This is a rule that says as you sail up and down the legs, you MUST go through the start/finish line each time. I really don't like this rule as it significantly limits the leverage you can get on your competition. The reasons given for keeping it were that a) it makes it easy for the RC to shorten the course, b) it allowed for better photos (I didn't see anyone with a camera on the RC boat), and c) it was tradition.
The RC shortened the last race in solid wind. I'll admit that the wind was light during the downwind leg, but that upwind leg things really began to blow. The race was going well and we would have readily made the party afterward. I know the Canadians need to get home, but they made a very long trip to race. Why not give them the full experience?

I really think that if we're going to go to the trouble of putting together a race that the RC should be willing to run the best race possible. I really enjoy the Canadian Friendship Race. It's cool to have just Albergs out there and it's usually a very well attended event. I'm not suggesting making it "cutthroat" or anything like that, I just feel strongly that we need to go the distance and make it a great race.

One last thought on the first day's racing. I spoke with C.B. and T.C. and the rest of our crew. I think perhaps we had things a bit too tight. That while it felt like strong wind, we had things set up a little too strong. If I had it to do again, I'd try a little less jib halyard tension, a little less backstay and a fuller main.

We had a good time overall (anytime out racing is a good time in my book!), and it was nice to finish the season with a second.

I'd really love to organize a 10 hour road trip to Toronto next year to race against the Canadians. They are really, really, nice people and I know we'd have fun. Perhaps we can bring our families. It would be a trip we'd all remember for a long time.

What do you think?

Thanks, Crew, for a great weekend!

--Tim

LinGin Has Solid Lead Heading Into Canadian Races

2006-09-28T00:08:00.000-04:00

With the Canadian Races being the last big regatta of the year this coming weekend, LinGin is expecting to maintain her lead in the High Point standings. We've worked very hard this year to earn the number one spot. Let's keep up the great work!

1 - LinGin - .6289
2 - Skybird - .5405
3 - Argo - .5062
4 - Infinity - .4203
5 - Windswept - .3580
6 - Solstice - .3235

Race Back From Queenstown: Tim and Andy Sail Together

2006-09-27T23:02:00.000-04:00

Andy and I grew up racing LinGin with our Grandpa. He taught us just about everything we know about sailing. Between living in Virginia, having a lovely wife and young daughter and managing a software development company, it's tough to get Andy out these days. So, the race back from Queenstown was special to me because my brother--who is not only a great sailor, but is a great guy--was along.

I hope we see you onboard again soon, Andy!

--Tim

LinGin Takes First to and From Queenstown

2006-09-24T15:36:00.000-04:00

LinGin took first going both ways to Queenstown this past weekend. We had a strong (~15kts) breeze out of the south both days. The race starts at Baltimore Light, shoots straight across to the mouth of the Chester River, and hooks up to Queenstown. Due to the wind conditions, we only had to make four tacks the whole weekend! Kind of strange, and to be honest, a bit boring as the racing became more of a foot race than anything else.

We made great time heading over, finishing in 2:22 at 12:30 in the afternoon. Kicking back, we rafted up with Mike Meinhold, John Malizewski (a new Alberg owner as of this summer), and T.C. Williams. Two crabbing boats served as the floating party raft and the winners were announced as we all hung out and enjoyed a beautiful evening on the Bay. We slept on the boat, watching the stars and enjoyed a very pleasant night.

Race Over
Crew: Glen, Greg Elman (friend of Glen's), Tim
The Basics:
Wind: 15 kts out of the South
Seas: 2 ft. since the wind had been blowing all night. They were smaller the further we got up the Chester River.
Setup: We went with a full main and the number two, which seemed to work out pretty well. We did not fly the chute.

Highlights:

As is too often the case, we were running behind getting to the starting line. We made it by the skin of our teeth, and not having heard any guns, we just jumped on T.C.'s stern as he headed for the line. He bore off a bit as he got close to the line (he was a little early), and just as we were to head off, the gun went off and gave us a great start.
The number 2 and the full main were plenty power for getting us over. We kept the rail out of the water by dropping the traveller and dumping the sheet in big puffs.
We kept the backstay very tight to help decrease headstay sag and thereby enable us to point better on the upwind leg.
We basically covered T.C. the whole way as he was our closest High Point competitor in the race.
The last leg of the course was about 2 miles long and we could have popped a chute. We decided against it as we had a significant lead on the next boat and the risks associated with flying the chute in heavy wind outweighed any potential advantage.

Race to Queenstown Results

Pos	Sail	Boat	Skipper	Rating	Finish Order	Finish Time	Penalty	Pts
1	244	LIN GIN	Williams, Tim		1	12:32:33.0		1.0
2	247	ARGO	Williams, T C		2	12:37:20.0		2.0
3	543	CALYPSO	Dinwiddie, George		3	12:41:50.0		3.0
4	505	GILLELEJE	Lehman, Mike		4	12:42:32.0		4.0
5	501	SOLSTICE	Morris, Larry		5	12:53:35.0		5.0
6	262	TATUS	Malizewski, John		6	13:04:10.0		6.0
7	272	RINN DUIN	Meinhold, Mike		7	13:05:35.0		7.0

Race Back
Crew: Glen, Brian, Christopher (Brian's friend), Andy, Tim
The Basics:
Wind: 15 kts out of the South
Seas: 1- 2 ft.
Setup: We went with a reefed main and the number one.

Highlights:

Starting in the river, we had a little less wind at the start of the race. We got to the line early and tested our sail selection and felt pretty good about the number 1 and a reef.
We had a decent start at the pin end on port tack. T.C. was a bit to windward of us (an advantage), and as I recall most of the fleet started in the same place, just a few seconds behind us.
We did our best to work up on T.C. and were eventually able to tack onto starboard and get above him. We spent some time trying to decide when to play the starboard tack card as we couldn't tack too close (against the rules) and we needed to consider where we would be at the next set of tacks. We waited until we were about 2/3 of the way the course and had worked up a good deal on T.C. and made our move.
Once we got above T.C. we rounded the mark in the lead and held it from there.
We flew the chute on the last leg before heading back across the Bay. We rounded up a couple times, but Glen and the crew did a great job of keeping the boat under control, primarily by working with my steering and easing in the puffs. We weren't dead downwind, so death rolls were not an issue.

Race Back From Queenstown Results

Pos	Sail	Boat	Skipper	Rating	Finish Order	Finish Time	Penalty	Pts
1	244	LIN GIN	Williams, Tim		1	11:34:45.0		1.0
2	543	CALYPSO	Dinwiddie, George		2	11:37:21.0		2.0
3	247	ARGO	Williams, T C		3	11:42:54.0		3.0
4	505	GILLELEJE	Lehman, Mike		4	11:44:41.0		4.0
5	501	SOLSTICE	Morris, Larry		5	11:54:54.0		5.0
DNC	262	TATUS	Malizewski, John		DNC	No Time	DNC	7.0

These two races make a great weekend out and there is always a great turn out because the Albergs on the Magothy River do such a great job of supporting it. I look forward to another good time next year!

Thanks for all the hard work, crew. It was a pleasure as always.

--Tim

Hammond Memorial Race Back From Oxford--Only Cats Finish

2006-09-18T08:03:00.000-04:00

The race back from Oxford was a disappointment this weekend. With 18.2 miles start to finish and a 6 hour time limit, the crew of the LinGin this Sunday (Mark, Glen and Tim) contend that finishing the course is optimistic under good conditions. Straight line would require an average speed over three knots and throw in one upwind leg and I think you've missed the time limit.

Last year LinGin won with 10 minutes left before the time limit.

This year, we had a good start (spinnaker start!); we were in open air and pretty close to the line with good speed. First around the first mark, we saw the wind take a 10 degree shift, and later a 50+ degree shift. Needless to say it was light and shifty. We watched the speedo show 1-3 knots throughout the race, and we did continual mental calculations to see whether we believed it was physically possible for us to finish.

With an hour left, we decided it was a lost cause and powered home. We were vindicated when the race committee announced on the radio that only the catamaran finished the race. Pretty poor; they should have finished the race at the penultimate mark!

Hopefully the fall will bring more windy days like Saturday.

Who's ready for Queenstown?

--Tim

LinGin Wins Race to Oxford

2006-09-18T07:49:00.000-04:00

Wet windy weather greeted Nick, Scott, Glen and me on the way down to Oxford Saturday. Out of the north at 10-15 kts, we set a chute at the start and shot down to the mouth of the Choptank River. Unfortunately, Towney, CB and TC were all unable to make the regatta, so we only had three Albergs in the race: Harry (484), Lanny (562) and LinGin.

The Albergs started first and we actually made it down to the first mark (about 10 miles, I think) before any other boat passed us. Not bad for 39-year-old LinGin! Scott did some great spin work and we had a really nice ride.

The wind was such that it was a straight shot up to the mouth of the Tred Avon River. From there we tacked up the last couple lines to the finish and got the gun. (Apparently the birds in Oxford aren't as sensitive to noise as they are in Annapolis.)

There was a lot of laughing and we only had a real downpour in the last couple miles. We had a nice dinner at the Pier St. Restaurant, and Mr. Whaley didn't upset the waitress the way he did in St. Michaels. (BTW: He's going to start rating Eastern Shore restaurants--"Whaley's Waitress Whales". It will be based on just how poor the service is. There will be a component that factors into your High Point Score, but that part is still in draft. We'll keep you posted here at the LinGin blog.)

Great job crew, and special props to Nick for bringing doughnuts and coffee for breakfast on the way down!

--Tim

p.s. This put us into first for High Point. See the standings link on the right side of this blog.

Going Into Fall, LinGin is Second in High Point Standings

2006-09-07T11:48:00.000-04:00

Here are the current Alberg 30 High Point standings (courtesy of Charlie Husar, official CBYRA Cruising One Design scorer)

1 - Skybird - .5405
2 - LinGin - .4783
3 - Argo - .4478
4 - Infinity - .4203
5 - Windswept - .2432

I've added a link from the blog homepage to these results that Glen has graciously offered to keep updated.

Go LinGin!

--Tim

LinGin Captures First in WNR Series III

2006-09-07T11:42:00.000-04:00

Congratulations, crew! Although we were unable to race last night due to family and work commitments, the race was canceled due to a lack of win. This kept us in first for the last series of the year. Thanks for all your hard work, and most of all your friendship. Wednesday Night Races are one of my favorite parts of every summer. Here's to a great finish in the High Point Series this fall!

--Tim

Division: Alberg 30 (6 boats)

Pos	Sail	Boat	Skipper	1	2	3	4	Total Points	Pos
1	244	LinGin	Nurco, Virginia	[4/DNC]	1	1	2	4.00	1
2	550	Skybird	Liddick, Roberta	[2]	2	2	1	5.00	2
3	247	Argo	Williams, T.C.	1	[3]	3	3	7.00	3
4	484	Second-2-Nun	Bluntschli, Ralph	3	4	4	[5]	11.00	4
5	79	A30	Binder, Paula	4/DNC	[5/TLE]	5	4	13.00	5
6	567	Andante	Maas, Louis	4/DNC	5/DNC	[6/DNC]	6/DNC	15.00	6

LinGin Teams with SkyBird for Canadian Friendship Team Races

2006-09-07T09:51:00.001-04:00

There are two locations where one finds a significant fleet of Alberg 30s: Annapolis, Maryland, and Lake Ontario, Canada. Since 1965 the two groups have held team races. The one on Lake Ontario is early in summer and the one on the Chesapeake Bay is held in the early fall.

LinGin was built in 1967 by Whitby Boat Works in Ajax, Ontario, Canada. It was originally sold to David and Alice Bonney of Salem, Mass. on July 10, 1967 and named Salem Packet. She was subsequently bought by my grandparents, Bruce and Jean Rankin, on December 13, 1972. The name, "LinGin" comes from a combination of names of their two daughters: Linda (my mom) and Virginia.

My grandfather teamed up with Ted Osius in 1975 and won the Canadian Friendship Team Race. He would win it five more times over the next 16 years. After his death in 2001, the award for the Chesapeake Bay team race was renamed the Bruce Rankin Memorial Trophy. I'm sad to say that LinGin has yet to win the trophy named after my grandfather.

Rolph Townshend, "Towney", has been part of the team that has won the Canadian Friendship Team Races every year since 1996 up until last year. That's eight years in a row! (The race was canceled in 2001 due to the 9/11 tragedy.)

Since we are usually competing for High Point neck and neck, I've been hesitant to ask Towney to team with us for the races. LinGin has also done some of her worst racing during that regatta. (I shudder to think about some of the poor racing decisions I've made there!)

This year, however, Towney has not been doing all of the High Point races, and is not planning to do Oxford, the remaining distance race. This makes him less of a direct competitor for High Point. (Although since Solomons Island did not count for High Point, I have a feeling he is right in the mix.) He has decided to loan SkyBird to the Canadians, but is racing another Alberg and put out an e-mail last week looking for a teammate.

I was quick to jump on the e-mail and Towney has graciously accepted us as his teammate this year. I'm looking forward to the races. I plan to do my very best.

Perhaps this is the first time LinGin will be part of the team to win the Bruce Rankin Memorial Trophy. Grandpa would be proud if we did!

WNR - Series III - Race 1 & 2

2006-08-11T08:29:00.000-04:00

Competitors: 247, 244, 550, 79, 484
Crew: Glen, Nick, David, Tim

Last week, Race 1, I was stuck in Alabama for work and while Glen went to the dock to go out, he didn't have enough crew show up to make the race. No worries. These things happen.

The Basics
Course: A1. (Shortest.)
Wind: 5-10 kts out of the South
Seas: A little lumpy due to power boats.
Setup: Full

Highlights

We had a poor start. We tried to have speed coming in on starboard at the boat, but the wall of boats trying to barge just killed our speed. A last minute 10+ degree header didn't help our prospects either. (This header was seen across the line and persisted for about 5-10 minutes after the start--it was funny to see everyone trying to come up at the gun, only to find themselves pinching heavily.)
We followed Towney on starboard up the north side of the course about 1/3 of the way up. 550 and 247 were ahead of us and we were not pointing as well as 550, but we liked the north better than the south.
Towney tacked and headed south, we stayed until we were in shallow water and then tacked out.
247 was coming on starboard and had us. We tacked back to starboard and didn't let them cross us.
We were bumping the layline, but it paid off big time. We rounded the windward mark well ahead of everyone.
We had a good chute set, gybe and take down, holding it all the way until the green can at the entrance of the harbor.
Stayed close to the Chart House coming into the harbor and was able to stay high of all the other boats coming in at the same time.
Took the gun--I mean wimpy, lame, ridiculous, bird-saving horn.

Lessons Learned

On the start: The A30 has momentum to its advantage, but it still needs some wind! We should have run the line on starboard, had clean air and speed. (This is what Towney did.)
Coming into the harbor: Grandpa and Towney saw eye-to-eye on the harbor: in all cases go as far in toward Ego Alley as you can and tack out. I think the idea is that the wind is better due to all the buildings (like the Chart House) on the eastern shore. This week and the last WNR we won, we came around the can at the entrance of the harbor and were able to stay in an arguably different wind by staying very high and close to the eastern shore. I think this may only pay off in certain wind conditions, such as light to medium air, but not in totally dead (then the buildings blanket that part of the course and you're dead). In the light to medium stuff, perhaps the wind bends around the buildings such that there's a lift that sucks you close to the buildings all the way in? Any thoughts?

The weather was beautiful, and we had a great time. David even did some singing for us as we came into the harbor.

Good times.

--Tim

Solomons Island Pictures 2006

2006-07-18T12:54:00.001-04:00

Brian, LinGin staff photographer, captured much of the race through his skilled lens handling.

See the crew!

Feel the heat!

You'll almost believe you were there, sweating away with us, eating pancakes and floating along at -0.4 kts. VMG.

http://picasaweb.google.com/goosemonkey/SolomonsIslandPictures

Solomons Island Race 2006

2006-07-16T15:35:00.000-04:00

Competitors: 244, 247
Crew: Brian, Scott, Glen, Mike, Tim

The Basics
Course: 45 miles from Annapolis to Solomons Island starting at 1940 and finished at 1250 the next day. 17 hours and 11 minutes was the official time. Unofficially, we called it "Long. Very Long."
Wind: Started with 8-10 kts. out of the south but slowly died through the night. Went calm around 0500 and then again at 0900. The last 2 miles of the course took about 3 hours.
Seas: Pretty smooth.
Setup: Light air setup for the most of the race.

Race Highlights

Unfortunately, everyone other than TC Williams dropped out of the race before it started. TC ran aground and was becalmed for such a long time that he retired from the race, making LinGin the only Alberg 30 to finish.
Mike Nicolach crewed with us this race. He's usually on Larry Morris' boat, but as Larry bailed at the last minute, Mike came along. He was a great asset, bringing lots of good navigation information. Hope you can come out with us again sometime soon, Mike!
Good start: clear air on the side of the line that we wanted.
We had great speed up to Tolly Point.
Our basic strategy was rhumb line, but with an eye to the current. I'm never too sure how well we make decisions in the middle of the night. When the sun comes up in the morning, it's easy to blame the wind, the current, Brian's LED illumination efforts, Glen's breath, whatever! I think we did pretty well, though this year, but with only one competitor, it's hard to say.
We came close to a couple unlit marks during the night. (Suprise!)
We got as close as I think an Alberg can get to James Island to get out of a rippin' current.
We dropped an anchor less than 2 miles from the finish and went from beating upwind to setting the chute. We even passed a J35 during those last 2 miles!
Brian retained his white LinGin chef's hat, by concocting a lovely medley of omelets and pancakes. Little know fact: Brian can make pancakes in the shape of anything. (I'm not kidding, just ask for a demo.)

Lessons Learned

This was the first time I really seriously used the anemometer to steer the boat. I used the feature that tells the angle of the apparent wind. I would find the angle that kept the sails full and us the meter to gauge whether I was on target or not. I think it worked well.
Glen and I shared the helm throughout the night. With +/-2 hour shifts, we both got some rest and I think it made a difference in the quality of our work.

As anyone who's been around me knows, Solomons is the best race of the season. Unfortunately, as anyone who's been on the race knows, it can also be the worst. 17 hours was a long time to be in 90+% humidity and 90+ degree heat without a shower. The camaraderie is great though. If you didn't come along you, missed great late night discussions that included the following quotes:

"I saw a crab riding on a jellyfish."
"Look Brian, I made you a jellyfish-shaped pancake."
"LinGin should be its own brand."
"LinGin sounds like cheese."
"There are seahorses in the Bay. I have pictures. I can prove it."
"I've been looking for those shoes for over a year!"
"You did not see a crab riding a jellyfish."

If you weren't there, you missed out! But don't worry; there's always next year. Great job, guys. I had a blast!

--Tim

Osius Regatta

2006-06-15T12:27:00.000-04:00

Competitors: 244, 247, 550, 57, 484, 562
Crew: Brian, Scott, Christopher, Tim

I'm going to try a new format for these posts to hopefully make them easier to write and to read. I welcome you comments.

The Basics
Course: Dropped marks off Tolly Point. Two races, windward-leward.
Wind: 20+ kts, with gusts close to 30!
Seas: Fairly heavy seas on the northern side of the course, Tolly Point lessened the impact of the wind on the seas to the south.
Setup: Reefed main, #2. Spinnaker when the wind wasn't too gusty.

Race One Highlights

Good start.
Overpowered at times on the windward legs.
Went left while others went right. I felt the seas were less to the left which gave us better speed. This seemed to pay off.
First downwind leg no spin; we watch TC struggle with it.
Second downwind leg we gave it a go about half way down, and had we done it right at the mark rounding, we might have caught Towney. As it was we caught up a great deal.

Race Two Highlights

Very similar to the first race.
Found ourselves in second behind TC coming upwind the final leg. Towney was close behind.
Dropped the traveller way down (had the backstay around 6) and saw a dramatic improvement in our ability to carry some wind in the main without being over powered.
About 1/2 way up split as far left as we could with TC.
We experienced a huge lift, and TC dealt with a huge header. We crossed ahead of him by about a boatlength right at the finish.

Lessons Learned

Drop the traveller in heavy air!
Make sure the foot is tight when reefing to make the main flat and depowered.
Reduce headstay sag by tightening the backstay in heavy air upwind. This improves pointing.
When flying the chute in heavy air going dead downwind, there is a tendency to death roll. Ease the pole forward to put the spinnaker behind the main and reduce the wind in it to minimize the rolling.

Christopher is a friend of Brian's, and he was a lifesaver on this race. We enjoyed getting to know him, and look forward to the next race with him. Scott did a great job running ragged on the foredeck. (We're putting it up. No wait. We're not putting it up. No. Yes, we are putting it up, but on the other side; switch it! No, wait, belay that...) Brian kept the tacks smooth, tracked the competition and introduced Christopher to racing. Great job, guys.

Next race: Solomons Island!

--Tim

p.s. The engine belt snapped on the way to this race. We noticed it in time (steam coming from the engine comparment below), and shut the engine down. I changed the oil once we were back to be sure we didn't scorch it. It turned out that the overheating boiled off all the coolant as well. So, if you're ever out on LinGin and the engine overheats, shut it down immediately and sail in!

Pos	Sail	Boat	Skipper	1	2	Total Points	Pos
1	247	ARGO	WILLIAMS, T.C.	1	2	3.00	1
2	244	LINGIN	WILLIAMS, TIM	3	1	4.00	2
3	550	SKYBIRD	TOWNSHEND, ROLPH	2	3	5.00	3
4	57	INFINITY	CURRIER, CB	4	4	8.00	4
5	562	WINDSWEPT	HELMS, LANNY	5	5	10.00	5
6	484	SECOND-2-NUN	GAMBER, HARRY	6	6	12.00	6
7	567	ANDANTE	COLE, ANDREW	8/DNS	8/DNS	16.00	7

WNR - Series II - Race 1

2006-06-15T12:25:00.000-04:00

Competitors: 247, 244, 550, 158, 484
Crew: Mark, Brian, Tim

With a few crew known to be out for this race, I was delighted to hear from Xa that he would be able to joon us. It was a good steady 12 kt breeze out of the SE,, and the weather was beautiful.

Unfortunately traffic kept Xa from making the race and he apparently arrived just as we were starting. We were bummed.

We started in the middle of the line, which since we didn't have time to siight the line, made it difficult to be right on the line. Towney and TC started above us at the boat end, and I thought we'd have them, since we could lay the mark from our spot. (We had course B, which is take a left at the spider, head toward Hacketts, round a mark to starboard, then round the usual mark to atarboard.)

What I failed to recognize was:
1. there was a line of boats (some of which faster than us) to windward, which would blanket us, and
2. TC and Towney would have a bit more speed as they bore off for the mark.

So, TC rolled us by the time we got to the spider. We had Towney by about one boat length, and there was a Cal to windward right in front of Towney.

We made an interesting mistake at this point. We kept a bit below Towney and the Cal (L'Orange, of course) but on the rhumb line. We had good speed and were able to keep them in check. However, at the mark, we had to give L'Orange room. When we did that Towney was right behind him, and was able to cut inside of us.

To make matters worse, there was a parade of boats behind him that as they came arouned were all on starboard. We were completely tracpped and actually had to sail to the layline. Before we could really tack.

Of course we had other mishaps. We forgot about the snatch block when we rounded the markl. There were spinnaker setup snafus that made it tough for us to tack.

After rounding the next mark in 3rd after 247 and 550, we got the chute up and followed everyone in. Brian did a great job of spinnaker considering it was probably his 3rd time ever doing it. It made me rerealize that we should really consider using WNR races for switching tasks around and cross training..

I had a blast!

--Tim

Race to Miles River

2006-06-15T12:19:00.001-04:00

Competitors: 550, 247, 501, 244, 484, 57, 562, 505
Crew: Scott, Glen, Brian, Tim

The Miles River Race is one of my favorites. In the Williams family, we've started what I think will be a long standing tradition. I race down with the crew, our families meet us in St. Michaels and we have a nice dinner. (Well truth be told, we're still looking for a good meal in St. Mike's; we're really open to any good recommendations.) Then my family and I spend the night on the boat and sail (or motor if we run out of wind) back the next day.

So, for the race...

We had about 10kts out of the north for the start, and we did a pretty good job starting right at the front of the fleet under spinnaker. We thought the current was ebbing, and that turned out to be pretty true. About 1/3 of the way to bloody point, the wind really died down. We dropped to about 2.5 kts. and the half of the fleet that went west and gybed was looking pretty smart. They had a better angle on the wind, and coming back across it became clear that 247 had the lead. 550 was next but while 57 had more or less followed our path, they had made out a little on us.

It was exciting to watch Scott and THE ROCKET catch back up to them and pass them.

The rounding at Bloody Point was tight. 247 decided to drop their chute, which was a bit odd to us since it didn't seem they need to. 550 did the same, and as we were in 3rd we decided to see how we could fare. With 57 right on our rear, I cut close to Bloody Point, just like I would a Wed. Night Race mark. I was in for a surprise, though. Apparently, about 3 feet under water around Bloody Point there are serious rocks. We hit very hard, and bounce a couple times in the lee of the lighthouse until the spinnaker filled again and pulled us off. I've hit ground on the Chesapeake many times. One thing I appreciate all the more about the Bay now is that it has a sandy bottom. We quickly "checked for leaks", but I was pretty confident that between the massive keel that make Albergs the solid vessels they are, and the fact that we hit on the bottom of the keel (which it just filled with iron), we were safe.

With our chute up and Scott bookin' it, we passed both Towney and TC and took the lead again. Watching the line of Albergs behind us closely, we made a B-line toward the next mark. About a quarter way there, we noticed something odd: the rest of the fleet bore off about 30 degrees. Glen was acting as navigator and check, then re-checked his calculations. We had a near mark and a far mark, but since we were to pass the near mark to starboard, we could ignore it an head straight for the far mark due to the wind and the angle we could sail. He was still pretty confident about our course, when I had an epiphany. "Are you sure we pass the next mark to starboard?" I asked. A quick check of the race particulars, and Glen called for the course change. It was too late, though: we rounded in 4th.

We fought hard on the next leg, and we made it back to 2nd. That final leg, was tricky, though. 247, who was in 1st headed straight to the finish, wing-in-wing. We followed them, and really were covering CB who was right behind us. 501 (Larry Morris) and 550 gybed out and went way to the right. We let them go, thinking they were taking a flyer to try to get back in the game.

While we held our own, and even made out on CB a bit, we couldn't catch TC; his lead was too great. But we had great seats for watching Larry and Towney come back in to the line. Sure enough they had made out considerably going right. (Towney later told me that he had guess that the current was a strong flood--he was right.) We were watching this 18 mile race coming down to three boats finishing with in 2 boat lengths of each other.

Who won? You guessed it, Towney by a nose. 18 miles, and Towney was in 1st place for less than 2 minutes. Only it was exactly the right two minutes! At first when asked, he said it was luck. "It happens way too often to be luck," I said. The man is a great sailor.

Although we came in 4th, it was a really great race and I think we all felt good afterward. We held CB behind us and know that if when we are on, we can clearly compete at the head of the pack.

Brian, Glen and Scott all did a great job. We've really got it down now and I look forward to winning some silver this season.

--Tim

p.s. I dove on LinGin this week, and checked out the damage from the rocks. There are indeed some deep gouges (one the size of my hand), on the very bottom of the keel. Thankfully, I have to have her pulled to get her painted this season anyway, so we'll patch her up then.

Pos	Sail	Boat	Skipper	1	Total Points	Pos
1	550	Skybird	Townshend, Rolph	1	1.00	1
2	247	Argo	Williams, T.C.	2	2.00	2
3	501	Solstice	Morris, Larry	3	3.00	3
4	244	LinGin	Williams, Tim	4	4.00	4
5	57	Infinity	Currier, CB	5	5.00	5
6	562	Windswept	Helms, Lanny	6	6.00	6
7	484	Second-2-Nun	Gamber, Harry	7	7.00	7
8	505	Gilleleje	Lehman, Mike	8	8.00	8

WNR - Series I - Race 6

2006-05-25T21:43:00.000-04:00

Competitors: 550, 484, 247, 152 (Andante), 244
Crew: Brian, Nick, Glen, Tim

The wind was quite variable last night. As we watched the start, it didn't look to good: half the Etchell class started--close hauled--at the pin; the other half started--dead downwind with spinnakers up--at the boat. And so the night proceeded.

We were pushed over early by a bit of current and a bit of wind, near the boat end, and after a quick jaunt back over the line, we cleared and popped the chute heading for the first mark. We mixed it up with L'Orange from the Cal 25 class (arrrgh), but caught, then lost Towney by a couple boat lengths to the first mark.

The closer we got to that mark, we realized that the wind had quit at the mark. There were probably 30 boats all jammed in around the mark. Using a little momentum, and small breath of air, we took the advice of, I think it was Nick, or was it Brian? and went well wide of the bunch. It looked insane as 550 kept tight to the mark and we went about 100 yards wide of it. While the wind died, it shifted about 180 degrees. We found a hole in the mess of boats and keeping the spinnaker up, we made it through a hole. When the wind picked back up, Glen was flying the chute and passing J/105s and MORC boats!! Not the norm for an Alberg.

We took a sizeable lead at this point as Towney and the rest were tangled up in the rounding with the dozens of other boats. We jibed, came around the pin and carried the spinnaker all the way past the green can.

Unfortunately the wind completely died while we were in front of SSA. We sat there, within site of the finish, and watch the last 30 minutes of the time limit expire. We were still in first, but no gun was to be had last night.

Great work everyone! Especially Glen with some great spinnaker work. Scott, it was really sad not to have you along for this race.

BTW: I'm very happy with our downwind speed.

And CONGRATULATIONS! As you can see below, we took first for the first WNR Series this year! Great work everyone. It was a blast.

Let's see if we can show similar speed and skill on our way to St. Michael's this weekend.

--Tim

Division: Alberg 30 (6 boats)

Pos	Sail	Boat	Skipper	1	2	3	4	5	Total Points	Pos
1	244	LinGin	Nurco, Virginia	3/DNC	1	[4/OCS]	2	1	7.00	1
2	247	Argo	Williams, T.C.	[2]	2	2	1	2	7.00	2
3	550	Skybird	Liddick, Roberta	3/DNC	3	1	[4/DNC]	3	10.00	3
4	484	Second-2-Nun	Bluntschli, Ralph	1	4	4/DNC	4/DNC	[5]	13.00	4
5	152	Andante	Maas, Louis	3/DNC	[5/DNC]	4/DNC	3	4	14.00	5
6	79	A30	Binder, Paula	3/DNC	5/DNC	4/DNC	4/DNC	[6/DNC]	16.00	6

WNR - Series I - Race 5

2006-05-25T21:35:00.000-04:00

Competitors: 247, 152, 550, 244
Crew: Brian, Scott, Nick, Glen, Tim, Mark

Unfortunately, I'm a week behind in these posts, and I'm frankly a little fuzzy on this one. Sorry! If anyone recalls the details, please feel free to e-mail me them.

As I recall, we had a good start with the wind out of the south. We lead all the way around the course. With good transitions, it was mainly a foot race. Scott did a great job with the spinnaker and we made good time and took the gun. (Although I do remember they use a horn and not the gun. :-( )

WNR - Series I - Race 4

2006-05-16T07:07:00.000-04:00

Competitors: 247, 152 (Andante), 244
Crew: Brian, Scott, Nick, Glen

We got off on schedule and had good time to cruise behind the line to
watch things. The course was A3, one we hadn't sailed yet, and I'd
broken my own cardinal rule by not having race particulars on board!
Hmm, hope TC will steer us to the mark.

So we started on starboard, in the clear, about 15 seconds late to the
line. The nice 10kt breeze was steady but it took me a full minute to
find the groove and get her comfortable upwind. TC had us by 4 or 5
lengths but we were sailing with him, slightly to leeward.

As it turned out the upwind leg was a hugely skewed, two-tack affair.
Our false tack (we had the spin pole on top of the lazy jib sheet,
d'oh!) might have had TC wondering but didn't gain us anything .
Brian and Nick (Nick is learning the boat quickly!) did a good, clean
job on the tacks.

Our windward mark was the big boats' return leg rounding mark so our
upwind was a long, crowded gaggle of downwind boats. On the long
starboard tack run to the mark, I sailed poorly in the choppy water
and choppy wind and TC pulled away. Andante sailed well but went way
out to the left and lost a lot getting back to the mark.

The rounding was to starboard and could have been stressful had we not
lucked into a nice slot. Even on starboard, sticking our noses into
the swift-moving flood of big boats approaching the same mark on a
deep port-tack reach--so perpendicular to our course--, would have
made me nervous. We rounded and then took our time resetting the
chute and pole to the correct side before popping it and riding down
the hill. Scott did a great job flying and we made some time on the
Cal 25's in front of us.

Approaching the red nun we hoisted the jib nice and early,
transitioned Brian to trimming while Nick and Scott put in a nice
douse and we came up tight toward the harbor. Watching the lemming
herd of Cals pull away ever-so-slightly, pinching to get high of the
beautiful 139ft sailboat from Rhode Island anchored outside the
harbor, we chose to go low. Footing off, and getting lucky with the
wind holding steady, paid and we entered the harbor in front of the
whole group.

The pressure was nicely consistent in the harbor, and with relatively
few boats on moorings, we two-tacked to the line in 2nd a few minutes
behind TC.

Thanks for coming out guys! It's always a pleasure sailing with you.

-Glen

WNR - Series I - Race 3

2006-05-07T21:06:00.000-04:00

Crew: Glen, Brian P., Nick, Scott, Mark, Andréa and Tim
Competitors: 550, 247 (484 is out for repairs after losing an upper shroud in the NOOD.)

A nice breeze and beautiful weather had us all eagar to start this one. The wind was out of the west, so Scott was excited for the spinnaker start.

We came in on the pin end with a bunch of other boats, and found a nice spot. We luffed a bit, then bore down for speed and had a nice start with speed--except for the fact that we were On Course Side (OCS), or "over early". The penalty for OCS is to turn around, and come completely back over the line and then start again. While you're heading back, you have no rights and have to keep out of everyone's way.

We swung around quickly upon hearing our name hailed, and headed back across the line. Luckily there was not much traffic behind us and we had waited to set the spinnaker (we had started on starboard and planned to quickly gybe to port and set), so it was a pretty quick jaunt back to the line. I heard our number hailed again on the radio, and was not sure if they were just calling us as OCS again, or calling us clear. As we were clearly heading back across the line, and I was pretty sure we were across the line, I swung us back around only to hear our number called once again. Again, we were unsure if they were calling us OCS or clear. We asked whether we were clear and they wouldn't answer. We asked for a repeat of the last call and heard, "244 OCS". Now we had the spinnaker up, and were quite a ways from the line. I was still unclear as to our status (were they repeating the last message before we cleared and were not calling boats cleared?) but I felt pretty sure that we had cleared the line. The result posting us as OCS, cleared it up for me though. :-(

Anyway, we raced hard, taking to the north, while 550 and 247 hugged the south shore. The current and the puffs favored our side and we caught up such that we passed 247 before the mark rounding and 550 shortly thereafter (but just by the skin of our teeth).

A Cal25 blanketed us once by pinching, and then as we tried to drive under, blanketed us by heading way too low. It was painful to watch 550 slip away.

Going into the harbor, we again tangled with boats rolling us and 247 slipped by as well as we passed the Chart House. Very painful.

Two lessons learned:

Whoever is calling the line for the start will officially call us clear if we have to turn around for being OCS.
Whereas the name of the game for the NOOD and Canadian races is the current, the name of the game for WNR is execution, followed closely by keeping clear of other boats (particularly from other classes).

I will be heading to Alaska on business this coming week and am hoping that Glen will take charge of LinGin and keep us going out there!

Everyone worked very hard during this race, and the execution was excellent! Good job.

--Tim

NOOD Picture

2006-05-02T09:49:00.000-04:00

Here's another shot that Brian took. Probably the only one he got to take during an actual race. Note Towney in the distance. This is a stressful time; we're doing everything we can think of to go as fast as possible.

NOOD Pictures

2006-05-01T23:01:00.000-04:00

Mark tried unsuccessfully a number of times to lose his hat this weekend. He was psyched as the rest of us at our performance.

Ahh, the sound of sweet victory! What a great moment. (Even if Brian was a few milliseconds behind with the camera.)

Scott, I'm not saying you should be scared, but Glen is really getting good at foredeck! Check out THE ROCKET!

Guess how I felt when I was over an hour late for Sunday's racing?

NOOD Postscript

2006-05-01T22:48:00.000-04:00

I went the the post race party to quickly grab our loot and go. I'm not much for these big parties. I when LinGin was called, I made my way forward and took our bag of goodies and noticing C.B. and Towneys' crews sitting up front, went over to congratulate them.

They were all so encouraging and excited for us, and it really made me be proud to be part of this great Alberg 30 class. We were the oldest class in the NOOD. (Did you know that LinGin is 39 years old this year?!) Those guys are very classy and I'm really proud to have them as competitors.

Towney, as many of you know, has a special place in my heart. He is one of the most giving people I have ever known. He will take time, energy and money to help you out, and he'll do it expecting nothing in return. He is one of the best sailors I've ever known, and one of the most humble. (It's actually quite madding at times; I want to know all the technical reasons why he won, but he keeps it very simple.) He's an excellent craftsman as well, and reminds me a great deal of my grandfather in that regard. I have truly enjoyed the time we have spent together working on Alberg projects.

Upon congratulating me with a handclasp, he smiled widely and said, "I'm so sorry! I felt so bad!" I laughed, and told him if there was anyone I was ok with losing to, it was him. I told him how incredible I found it that here he was at 82 (I think that's right), terrorizing us 'kids' less than half his age. I only pray that I am in such great shape at that age. With that he wrapped his arms around me in a big hug, and said, "I love you Timmy". "I love you too, Towney," I said back almost choking up.

That was quite possily one of the most special moments of my life.

--Tim