Oxford Race - September 12, 13

Well fall sailing has arrived with cooler weather and for at least one day some good wind. On the race down to Oxford it was good wind either directly astern or slightly off the starboard quarter. Once we turned into the Choptank, it was conveniently on the port quarter all the way to the rockpile marker at the mouth of the Tred Avon River. We were able to make it to the finish line on one tack. All the way from Annapolis to Oxford with one jibe in less than 6 hours – good fun.

The start was fairly non controversial other than a Catalina motoring through the box as we were making our final approach – about 15 seconds to go. Both Lanny and I had some choice words for him. LinGin, Windswept and Laughing Gull all went to the upwind side of the course. Argo, contrarian as always, took off for the lee side of the course. About a mile down the course, we all raised our chutes with a beam to a broad reach all the way down to Black Walnut point and the Choptank River. By the time we reached the north end of the Poplar islands. LinGin had the lead, followed by Argo, Laughing Gull and Windswept. This established the order for the rest of the race.

We all got moored at Cutts and Case, and went into town for the party at the Tred Avon Yacht Club, followed by dinner at the Masthead. By the time folks got back to the boats, the rain was really coming down. I fell asleep to the sound of a card game on LinGin, and the patter of rain on my fore hatch.

The following morning, TC and Lanny managed to convince me to register for the race. I had not planned it as I only had one crew, and I wanted to explore Knapps Narrows. This was not to be – TC reminded me that he and his pregnant wife had doublehanded back some years ago after a hurricane, and so surely I could do it that. In addition, and perhaps more importantl, it would be good to have another boat to keep our participation numbers up. Anyway we all left the dock rather late. Argo’s engine was not starting so he got the tow, and we arrived just in time to hear a gun (or a horn I cannot remember). This happened concurrently with the check in boat telling me that this was our start. I looked over to see LinGin heading across the line and down course. This created a panic – up goes the spinnaker , down goes the genoa, the boat is sailing wonderfully towards the fist mark. I look over and LinGin is headed back over the line. What devious cunning - he had feinted the start!! I thought about keeping on. In one sense I had not planned on racing, and was there to keep our numbers up, but that just is not me. Down comes the chute, up goes the genoa, and we hot foot it back to the start; flip around; up goes the chute; down comes the Genoa. There were only two of us aboard, and by the time this was done, we needed a beer!

The wind was 10 – 15 knots until we got out of the Choptank, and then the wind started to die. By the time we reached the bottom of the Poplar Islands, it was looking pretty grim. At one stage, we were thinking that we might be able to catch Windswept, but the wind kept falling. When it became clear that the six hour time limit was going to expire we called it quits. LinGin had anchored close to the island to make sure the current did not carry her away from the mark, and Argo had found herself anchored in the middle of the Bay in about 55 feet of water also becalmed. At that time, TC was still racing, and declined our offer of a tow. He later got the engine started. LinGin crossed the line at 6:05 – close but no cigar. The picture of Argo below shows how calm it was.

This is one of my favorite races. It is a long one especially if the wind is down, but the Choptank is a beautiful river and there are invariable less motorboats than other parts of the Bay. The Tred Avon Yacht Club is great fun. They run a good race, and invariably puts on a good party with a band and an excellent location. To top it all off Oxford as a town is pretty and unique. My preference would have been to take another day, exchange the racing crew for family and do the exploring I was thinking of; logistics being what they are this was not to be - perhaps next year.

All of the pictures are on the web at http://picasaweb.google.com/sven.finnis/20090913Oxford?authkey=Gv1sRgCKqf-O-_obzhDg&feat=email#

WNR 8/24/09 - The Last Four Races

Wednesday night series have been a true variety of experiences. Four races ago,we had an incredible storm. If you have not seen the picture check it out here - http://picasaweb.google.com/jreadams6.yahoo.com/WNRStorm#5372590092911119762. Lin Gin was the only one that got around the windward mark in time to be going downwind when the storm hit. I believe Harry Gamber stayed in the race, but Laughing Gull went directly to Pussers, and had a few of their rum drinks. The wind may have reached 50 knots. I know that there was a period of time when the boom was sitting in the water. It hit right as Argo, Second 2 Nun and ourselves were at the windward mark. There was a 30 second window when we could have tacked and got pointing the right way, but Second 2 Nun was sitting right there, so until the initial blow was over, we all just headed further out to the Bay.

This was followed by a race where the committee set the course slightly long, and only one boat finished - all the others time limit expired. We were sitting staring at the judges when they called TLE - bummer. The committee at least logged me as TLE rather than DNC – not that this buys you anything. Laughing Gull was having a good race too. Not that we caught up to Lin Gin, but someone has to be giving that guy a run for his money.

The following week, the race committee over compensated and set the course incredibly short. On top of that, the Committee decided that the Alberg fleet's windward mark was going to be just above the turning point for the faster boats. We were rounding the windward mark and cutting through the Eschels, and the larger boats that all had their spinnakers up - chaos. We all got back into the harbor, and it was anyone's race. On the way into the harbor, we had our chutes up. As we got in - drastic wind shift - our genoas went up and we were close hauled. Some boats went left and Lin Gin and Laughing Gull went right (towards Pussers - for those that need a reference point involving a drinking hole). All was going reasonably well until the wind shifted drastically once again and Lin Gin and Laughing Gull went from somewhere in the front of the pack, to fighting it out for last place. Laughing Gull won that fight for last place.

The last race was just right - we could have used more wind, but ... at least it did not rain. Laughing Gull went wide on way to the windward mark, and kept to the Hackett point side of the course. This put us first at the windward mark. On the way back into the harbor, we got tangled up in some Catalinas and Cals, and had to jibe twice to get clear. Towards the mark, we were in the middle of some J105s that were duelling it out. This was interesting, but not good for speed. We rounded the mark in a pack, and right behind us, Lin Gin caught up in clean slice of air unconfused by a herd of 105s with their asyms up. Going into the harbor, the wind dropped, and it was agonizing. At one point Lin Gin was way ahead, and Calliope was catching up nicely. .After a few more tacks I looked up, and Lin Gin was closer, but Calliope was lost in a crowd somewhere off the Chart House. There was not a chance of catching Lin Gin especially after I did not listen to the crew. I even ignored my 10 second rule (when you feel like tacking count to 10). That put us in a position where we had to pinch to finish. We were given a break by one of the fast boats. Laughing Gull was on port. I had the tiller over hard, and was not doing anything there was so little wind - he ducked me on Starboard - which is a good thing as I was a) in the way, and b) completely the burdened boat!

There are three more Wednesday nights left. For those that might want to consider a night on the water in the middle of the week, contact J Berquist at jbergqui@gmail.com, he has a good handle on who is doing what. We often have a spot on Laughing Gull, so feel free to ping me as well.

WNR 6/16/09

After 3 consecutive weeks of canceled Wednesday night racing, last night we were blessed with a strong easterly breeze and cool temperatures in the mid 60's. Under a steelhead sky that was full of foreboding clouds, and reefs in all our mains, the fleet set off in 15-20 kts of breeze for the first mark. The beat was pretty shifty in both velocity and direction. Tim Williams made it to the mark well in first place and with a pretty smooth spinnaker set, he had a strong lead. We traded places with Brian and TC and somehow managed to pass both of them from behind to round the mark in 2nd. I think this was due in no small part to the wicked good scramblas on my crew who scrambled back and forth always to the windward rail. With a crew of 9, we had plenty of beef to keep her upright. Also, I had a cracka of a main trimma in Rachel Meinhold who was workin the sheet and the travla like a masta.

After the mark rounding, we all turned downwind for the run back to the haaaba. Brian and I elected to forego using the kite by choice. TC elected to forego it because he had a little shrimping expedition during the beat and I'm not sure whether his kite or his crew was more damaged. Anyway, he also decided to forego using his kite, so the 3 of us were in a white sail race for the can, and we rounded in the same order: me, Brian, and TC. Brian was hot on our tail at the mark and went higher, but we were able to scrape him off by the time we got to the harbor can. However, he went high on us again and somehow (we could not figure out how for the life of us!) he kept being just a little faster than we were. He managed to get an overlap on us and was entitled to room at the bulkhead (a subject about which I had some discussion with one of his crew who I later realized was Geoff Becker the sailing coach at Washington College who knows a lot more about rules than I do...) but somehow he slowed down immediately after establishing the overlap and decided to change tactics and go low. In the end, we had a close photo finish with Me narrowly nipping Brian for 2nd and Brian narrowly getting TC for 3rd. I think we all finished within about 15 seconds of each other. But you can see for yourselves as complete results are available at:

http://www.race.annapolisyc.org/uploads/results/2009_Wednesday_Night_Races-2009/2009_Wednesday_Night_Races_Series_2.html

Congratulations to Tim Williams on his win!

Division: Alberg 30 (8 boats) (top)

Pos	Sail	Boat	Skipper	1	Total Points	Pos
1	244	LinGin	Nurco, Virginia	1	1.00	1
2	287	Calliope	Bergquist, John	2	2.00	2
3	288	L'Espirit	Palmer, Brian	3	3.00	3
4	247	Argo	Williams, T.C.	4	4.00	4
5T	152	Andante	pipkin, mark	5/DNC	5.00T	5T
5T	197	Laughing Gull	Adams, Jonathan	5/DNC	5.00T	5T
5T	308	Asylum	Adelman, Allan	5/DNC	5.00T	5T
5T	484	Second-2-Nun	Bluntschli, Ralph	5/DNC	5.00T	5T

Here are some pix:

Julia manages the winged-out jib with Brian P over her shoulder.

Not a view I often get...TC so far behind me I have trouble reading his sail #. Note crack main trimmer Rachel Meinhold keeping an eye on the competition for me.

2 of my wicked good scramblas keeping the boom where it's supposed to be.

Syronelle 2009

The Great Lakes Alberg Association ( www.alberg.ca ) hosted a wonderful weekend in Toronto full of racing, touring and Canadian hospitality. The weather was good, the winds were fair and the competition friendly.

Although we were team racing, and our American team came in third of three, Harry Gamber had the best overall single boat record in the three races. Sailing The Answer with owner Rick Kent aboard and his crew of Hans Jorgensen and Jim Davis, Harry had two seconds and a first in the five-boat, three-race regatta. Mike Meinhold, Sandy and Ray Meyer and Rachel Meinhold were aboard Viva II with owner Janski's (Jan Grodinski) boat, and at least were consistent with fifth place throughout. This was Janski's first racing experience, and he is already planning on loaning his boat next year and has ideas for improving performance! Janski does a lot of single-handing and his boat is very well set up for that. I saw a lot of improvements that I would like to apply to Rinn Duin. It's great to spend time sailing other Alberg 30s -- it seems there is always something to learn about the boat.

Also there for the weekend from the Chesapeake were Sandy Davis, Jacqueline Burke, Pat Meinhold and Max Meinhold. Phoebe Campell gave the Meinholds a fantastic tour of the town, and all these visitors took in the "Sound of Music" production at the Prince of Wales theater. We were treated to an excellent pot-luck dinner at Rick and Selena Kent's home on Friday night, and to dinner at the Mimico Cruising Club with grand views of the lake on Saturday Night. Mimico was a lovely venue for the regatta, and our thanks go the members for allowing us to use it, and the race committee for a well-run regatta.

Thanks go to Rick and Selena Kent for hosting the Friday night get-together, to Phil Birkenheier for hosting Ray and Sandy Meyer at his home, and to Phoebe Campbell for guiding Pat and the kids through Toronto. Special thanks to Don Campbell for all of his coordination and efforts in making a wonderful weekend all around. We look forward to seeing our Great Lakes friends here on the Chesapeake in October.

Here are the results of the 2009 Syronelle races sailed 13 and 14 June 2009 at the Mimico Cruising Club in Toronto, Ontario, as compiled and tabulated by the MCC Race Committee . Team standings were done by Don Campbell.

The teams were Gemini (Birkenheier) and White Opal (Campbell) as GLAA 1 LindisFarne (Watters) as a wildcard GLAA 2. Viva II (Meinhold) and The Answer V (Gamber) as the Chesapeake 1

Course indicates the numbers of the octagonal buoy system outside of Humber Bay. Buoy 9 is in the center, with the 8 others evenly spaced on a 0.75 NM radius circle

Saturday June 13th

Saturday June 13th:
10:30 Marine forecast: Winds light, Chance of showers, Waves <1m.
Conditions: Wind 350° -010° 4 - 7 knots seas flat

Course 9-6-5-9-5
Start time: 11:30

Gemini 12:39:00 1 1:09:00 00:00:00
The Answer V 12:39:50 2 1:09:50 00:00:50
White Opal 12:41:30 3 1:11:30 00 02:30
LindisFarne 12:50:52 4 1:20:52 00:11:52
Viva II 12:53:56 5 1:23:56 00:14:56

Sunday June 14
Wind 170°-192° 4-7 knots seas flat
Course 9-6-5-9-5
start time 13:30:00

White Opal 14:34:43 1 1:04:43 00:00:00
The Answer V 14:37:24 2 1:07:24 00:02:41
LindisFarne 14:47:54 3 1:17:54 00:13:11
Gemini 14:53:59 4 1:23:59 00:19:16
Viva II 14:54:53 5 1:24:53 00:20:10

Team results

LindisFarne drew 1 card from a group of 8 (4- 10s and 4 - 2s) three times. White Opal was 2 and Gemini was 10. Each draw was a 10 so the second GLAA team was LindisFarne and Gemini

Team	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Total
White Opal /Gemini	3+1	1+4	2+4	15
LindisFarne / Gemini	4+1	3+4	3+4	19
The Answer V / Viva II	2+5	2+5	1+5	20

Notice of Race: Orioles White Sail Race

1. Rules:
1.1: The regatta will be governed by the 'rules' as defined in the 2009-2012 ISAF Racing Rules of Sailing including the prescriptions of US Sailing (RRS) and the class rules of the Chespeake Bay Alberg 30 One Design Association, except as any of these are altered by the Notice of Race, Sailing Instructions or any amendments thereto, provided however that as between any boat which is racing and any which is not, the inland rules shall apply.
1.2 RRS 63.7 is replaced by: "If there is a conflict between a rule in the Notice of Race and a rule in the Sailing Instructions, the rule in the Sailing Instructions and any amendments thereto, shall take precedence"

2. Organizing Authority:
2.1 The Organizing Authority for this regatta is the Chesapeake Bay Alberg 30 One Design Association.

3. Eligibility and Entry
3.1 Eligibility for the Alberg 30 one design class is limited to any Alberg 30 sailboat that is in compliance with the Chesapeake Bay Alberg 30 One Design Association class rules. Eligibility for the ‘everybody else’ division is restricted only to sailboats of sufficient construction maintaining adequate safety gear.
3.2 The entry fee for CBA30ODA members will be $10 and must be submitted by check or cash to the Racing Commodore by 7/7/2009. Make checks payable to 'Chesapeake Bay Alberg 30 One Design Association'. The entry fee for non-CBA30ODA members is $15.
3.3 There will be 2 classes of entrants: Those having class legal Alberg 30's, and everybody else. The 'everybody else' division will be scored by handicap determined by the whim of the organizing authority.
3.4 Only upwind 'white' sails may be used. Spinnakers are not permitted. Whisker poles are allowed. For the Alberg 30 one design class, sails are limited to the main, number 1, number 2 and number 3, as defined in the class rules. For ‘everybody else’ sails are limited to a main, mizzen, and headsails with a mid-girth of less than or equal to one half of the foot dimension.

4. Schedule
4.1 The event will take place on 7/11/2009.
4.2 All boats must start at a time of their choosing but between the times of 0900 and 1100 EST (GMT+5) on 7/11/2009.
4.2 All boats must finish before the hour of 1500 EST on 7/11/2009.

5. The Course, Start and Finish
5.1 The course will use government marks.
5.2 The starting mark shall be rounded or passed to starboard and will consist of GC "3" near the mouth of Swan Creek.
5.3 To start, each yacht shall sail within two boatlengths of the starting mark, taking the starting mark down her starboard side, and shall take and record her starting time at the point when the imaginary line through her traveler crosses the starting mark.
5.4 The finishing mark shall be rounded or passed to starboard and will consist of the Red, White, and Blue 'Francis Scott Key' buoy just upstream of Key Bridge in the Patapsco river.
5.5 To finish, each yacht shall sail within two boatlenngths of the finishing mark, taking the finishing mark down her starboard side, and shall take and record her finishing time at the point in time when the imaginary line through her traveler crosses the finishing mark.
5.6 Skippers may choose any course they wish between the start and finish marks.
5.7 Skippers are responsible for recording their own start and finish times using GPS time. All start and finish times must be reported to the Organizing Authority by cell phone no later than 1600 on 7/11/2009.

6. Protests
6.1 Protests may or may not be heard or acted upon at the discretion of the Organizing Authority.
6.2 Protests must be reported by cell phone to the Organizing Authority by 1600 on 7/11/2009. The Organizing Authority will direct any protesting boat as to when and where to file, and when and if any hearing will be held.

7. Penalty System
7.1 Per RRS 4.1, A boat that may have broken a rule of Part 2 while racing MUST take a scoring penalty.
7.2 RRS 44.3 (c) is replaced with: "The race score for a boat that takes a scoring penalty shall be":
(a) At the time of the incident, by taking a 20% scoring penalty calculated as a percentage of her elapsed time and filing an acknowledgement with the Organizing Authority within the protest time limit.
(b) After racing and before the start of a protest hearing involving the incident, by taking a 40% penalty calculated as a percentage of her elapsed time.
However, if the boat caused serious damages or gained a significant advantage in the race by her breach she shall retire."

9. Scoring
9.1 Scores will be calculated using the elapsed times as reported by the participating skippers.
9.2 Boats will be ranked in the order of their elapsed times with the shortest being the winner.

10. Prizes
10.1 Prizes will be awarded separately in each class. A prize of some kind will be awarded to ALL participating boats.

Contact:
John Bergquist
Racing Commodore
Chesapeake Bay Alberg 30 One Design Association
410.507.3107
jbergqui_at_gmail_dot_com

2009 Ted Osius Regatta

A beautiful late spring day greeted the 6 Albergs who showed up for the 2009 Ted Osius regatta on Sunday. In the beginning, it was not totally clear that there was going to be good breeze and the race committee postponed the first start, but once racing got underway, we were blessed with an excellent southerly at 8-12 knots and perfect racing conditions. Two races were sailed in a relatively steady breeze. There was a pretty strong ebb current during race 1 which gradually abated over the course of the day. TC Williams put on a clinic, leading both races from wire to wire and honestly he pretty much did a horizon job on the rest of us. Full results are reproduced below. Note that the finishing order was exactly the same for both race 1 and race 2. Congratulations to TC Williams on the convincing regatta win!

A couple of things I would like to highlight in addition to the racing. First, Jonathan Adams was pulled away at the last minute because of a death in his family. I am sure that I speak for everyone in offering condolences to him, his wife, and his family. We missed you out there on Sunday Jonathan, and I hope that you all are doing okay. I am sure it is difficult.

Second, I want to highlight Mike Meinhold for putting together a team to come out and participate in this race. Mike has a lot of experience racing with me as a bow crew, but I believe this is only his 2nd or 3rd race as a skipper. He did a great job of getting around the course, and I hope that we will see more of Mike out there on the race course.

Third, I want to highlight the party that SCC puts on Sunday for this regatta. I believe that TC and I were the only people from our fleet who attended the party (I did not arrive until very late). I spoke with Mrs. Osius-Zimmerman at the party and she was very nice to me, but lamented the fact that not more of the Albergers make the effort to come to the party. In particular, she said that she wished that Harry would come to the party as she said that she has not seen him in many years and would like to catch up. So Harry I hope you will consider going next year. I was ashamed to admit to her that of the 5 times I have done this regatta, this was the first time that I had attended. I think it's important for us to keep in mind that Ted Osius was an Alberger and that we should try and make an effort to attend the party. I hope that those of you who did not attend this year will try and put it on your schedule to attend not only the sailing, but also the party afterwards in the future. I think it is a nice gesture for us to say 'thanks' to Mrs. Osius-Zimmerman for hosting the event.

Fourth, I want to highlight the Luce Creek Cruise which was hosted by Vicki Lathom on Saturday before racing. Unfortunately, despite my best intentions, I was unable to attend because of an emergency boat mishap. However, Mike M attended and it sounds like it was a great party. I think that having a Luce Creek Cruise the same weekend as the Osius regatta is an excellent opportunity for Magothy boats to come down and split their travel time up so that they don't have to come all the way from the Magothy on the day of racing. It's also a great chance for everybody to socialize together. I want to thank Vicki for hosting this crusie, and I hope that she will host it again on the Osius weekend next year.

Finally, I got a couple pix from my boat to share with y'all. Sorry, no pix of the fleet, although in pic #2 you can just make out Harry and Lanny in front of me :-(

Despite our obvious focus, we still managed to be relatively slow...

We were lucky to have an excellent bow and mast crew! I think the main problem with boatspeed was that the nut on the end of the tiller needed adjustment...

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail	Boat	Skipper	1	2	Total Points	Pos
1	247	Argo	Williams, T.C.	1	1	2.00	1
2	244	LinGin	Williams, Tim	2	2	4.00	2
3	562	Windswept	Helms, Lanny	3	3	6.00	3
4	484	Second-2-Nun	Gamber, Harold	4	4	8.00	4
5	287	Calliope	Bergquist, John	5	5	10.00	5
6	272	Rinn Duin	Meinhold, Michael	6	6	12.00	6
7	197	Laughing Gull	Adams, Jonathan	8/DNC	8/DNC	16.00	7

WNR Race 6

Another week of no racing. :(

An impending thunderstorm coupled with light air caused the race committee to cancel the race. After watching the storm roll in later in the evening (and recalling the epic storms last year), I think it was probably the right call.

Next week here we come!