Jan. Racing Column for the Alberg 30 Mainsheet

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

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

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: 

1. You can't watch the other classes start to help you develop your starting strategy.
2. You don't get much time to prepare for the start; it's usually a 5 minutes and BANG! you're off.
3. 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

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

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

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

June 2008 Racing Column for the Mainsheet

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:

1. 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.
2. 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

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

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!