International Friendship Regatta

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

Alberg 30 Brochure

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

A Very Tight WNR

We had a really fun race last Wednesday.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kids on LinGin

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

Alberg sailing is GREAT!

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

LinGin Crew Switches Up Positions

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

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

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

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

Nice job, crew! Great driving, Glen.

LinGin's WNR Streak Ends

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ted Osius Race: LinGin Logs a Solid Second

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday Night Races: No. 6

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

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

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

Division: Alberg 30 (8 boats) (top)

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

Notes

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

LinGin Shows Up in SpinSheet

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

Looking good!

Wednesday Night Races: No. 5

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

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

From LinGin Window Work

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

LinGin Takes Gun at Miles River Race

From St. Michaels 2009

From St. Michaels 2009

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

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

Wednesday Night Races: No. 4

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday Night Races: No. 3

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

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

Wednesday Night Races: No. 2

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

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

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

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

NOOD Day 3

From 2009 NOOD

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results are here.  

NOOD Day 2

From 2009 NOOD

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

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

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

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

The results are posted here.

NOOD Day 1

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

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

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

Find the results here.

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

Here's to a better day tomorrow!

Wednesday Night Races: No. 1

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

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

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

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

I'll have to follow up on that.

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

--Tim

Update:

Crew--

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

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

--Tim