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