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