LinGin Has Solid Lead Heading Into Canadian Races

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!