LinGin Places Second on the Race Back from Queenstown

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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...

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

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:

1. 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.")
2. 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.
   
3. 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.
4. 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?!
   
5. 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:

1. 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!
2. 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!
3. 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!
4. 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

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