2011 WNR Race 4: Finally, a course that isn't A1...

4 boats braved the expected light conditions to start race 4 of the 2011 AYC Wednesday Night Series. In a light 5-10 knot southeasterly, we started on course B3 which meant we were going to have a nice long sail out into the bay, giving us plenty of time to enjoy the beautiful evening. During the prestart, we determined that the boat end of the line was favored. We expected there to be a right shift during the first beat, so we wanted to be able to go right. We made a timed run at the boat and started with good speed. We had Second-2-Nun on our leebow with Argo on their leebow. Skybird started on port at the pin and was behind all of us, but going right. We quickly forgot our overlying strategy as we focused on driving the boat fast. We rolled Second-2-Nun and they tacked away and we were left trying to match course and speed with Argo. As soon as we felt that we could head back to the right without running into the shallow water off Bembe Beach, we decided to go, and Argo went with us. Well, the right had turned out to be the right side of the course after all as we came across, Skybird was now ahead of us by several lengths (they had been several lengths behind when we crossed them initially). The good news is we had good speed and had managed to work up on Argo and Second-2-Nun had not gained. We tacked on the starboard layline to the red mark and with a good tack and good speed, passed Skybird back to gain the lead at the first mark.

The course to the 2nd mark was about a beam reach. Rather than using the kite (we felt it was a little too tight for that sail to be good), we elected to stick with the jib and dropped our leads forward. Skybird had the same thought after rounding several lengths behind us. However, Argo and Second-2-Nun decided to go with their kites and this paid off for them as they were definitely faster than we were on the reach. Second-2-Nun was able to pass Skybird but didn't quite catch us, rounding about 2 lengths behind us.

The next leg was a beat. Skybird tacked out early to clear her breeze, while we went left with Second-2-Nun following close behind us. As the beat wore on we were able to gas them and work ahead. We went all the way to the port tack layline and came into the mark in first by several lengths. Second-2-Nun was next, followed by Skybird, then Argo.

The last leg was a broad reach in to the nun at the harbor. About 3/4 of the way down the leg, they announced that we would finish at the nun. No positions changed on this leg as the steady southerly breeze propelled us all through the gate in the order we had last rounded.

All in all it was a great night of sailing and a beautiful sunset! Look forward to seeing y'all at the Miles River Race this coming weekend!

Full results available at:

http://www.race.annapolisyc.org/RegattaModules/ViewRegattaResults.aspx?RegID=351&mid=281&tabid=10

2011 WNR Race 3: Finish at the Nun

6 boats showed up for the 3rd edition of the WNR series of 2011. We were greeted by a dying southeasterly breeze at about 5 knots. The water was very high when I got to the boat, and I assumed the current would be ebb. However, I didn't detect much current in the pre-start. The line was way pin favored and all fleets before us started on port at the pin. On board Calliope we decided to do the same and because the air was so light we elected to do a Vanderbilt timed run start so as to avoid making any big slow-down maneuvers and killing our speed in the last minute. This would have been a good strategy if we had been more able to execute it properly. As it was we ended up early and to windward of Skybird and Argo who were coming from leeward and behind us. We arrived about a minute too early to the line and ended up having to sail down it while scrubbing off speed to keep from getting too far from the heavily favored pin. After what seemed like forever we were finally able to sheet in and go but meanwhile Argo and Second-2-Nun had snuk in to windward of us and had better starts with more speed. We were too late pressing the bow down and ended up getting rolled, never fun. Argo was looking very strong with her new jib she was pointing high and going fast. We were sailing lower but faster than Second-2-Nun in the drag race to the short starboard layline. We got there first and made a pretty aggressive layline call which had Second-2-Nun crossing about 2 lengths ahead of us. We were able to force Laughing Gull (who had started just behind Second-2-Nun) to duck us. We were barely able to stick the mark rounding and since Second-2-Nun overstood by several lengths they came in just behind us. Meanwhile, toward the top of the beat we came across LinGin who had inexplicably started the race on starboard at the boat (every member of my crew was scratching their heads to try and explain that one...) The tactic didn't work out too badly for them though as they managed to come into the mark looking not too bad at all. From starting deep in last, they had worked back into 4th place.

Once around the mark, the breeze really shut off. There were two schools of thought. We decided to go high, stay above big boat wind shadows and hope for some pressure coming off the north shore of the river. Other boats gybed early and headed for the south shore, seeing a breeze line over there. Second-2-Nun followed us and we basically matched speed with them. We sailed just a little too far though and after the gybe they got the new pressure before we did. We tried to take them up and clear our breeze, but that didn't work and they just rolled us. In hindsight, instead of doing that, we should have sailed deep and headed for the boat end of the finish line (which was well favored) instead of the Nun. Hindsight is 20/20. Thankfully, the RC decided to finish us at the Nun instead of making us wait it out for the long slog into the harbor...

Congratulations to Argo who sailed an excellent race with only 2 people aboard. They won the start, had great upwind speed, didn't make any downwind mistakes, and led the race from start to finish.

The standings are quite tight right now, with a tie for first place between LinGin and Second-2-Nun, making the series interesting. Full series results at:

http://www.race.annapolisyc.org/uploads/results/2011_Wednesday_Night_Race_Series-2011/2011WednesdayNightRace.html

One thing that is different about the series this year is that we have our own start. I have mixed feelings about this, because I kind of enjoyed the bigger fleet tactics that got employed in years past when we have had multi-class starts. However, I think it's worth pointing out that we have this situation because we are kind of victims of our own success. We have a 7 boat fleet, which give us more than the Farr 40 class (4 boats), J/22 (4 boats), Herreshoff (5 boats), or Harbor 20 (2 boats). The Catalina 27's and Cal 25's have been assimilated into PHRF because they can no longer field a large enough fleet to justify their own start. The J/35 class has equivalent numbers to us. Only the Etchells, J/30, and J/105 fleets are larger than us. I think this really makes a strong statement about the health of our class and the vitality of our racing association on the Chesapeake Bay. Nearly 50 years after the founding of our association, we still have healthy active one design racing. We have a great reputation for camaraderie among skippers in our class, our racing is level - based on a one-design class rule, and our fleet is relatively deep with at least half of our race participants capable of winning any given race (looking at the NOOD scorecard will show you that). Folks, this is what great racing is all about - level, competitive, and fun. Our class association is doing a great job with it. Frankly I think that dollar for dollar, we deliver some of the best racing on the bay, and all in a boat that you can legitimately use for cruising as well!

2011 NOOD Regatta

The 2011 NOOD regatta is in the history books. 3 great days of sailing in a wide variety of conditions saw 4 different boats win races. The regatta winner, Tim Williams, demonstrated an extremely consistent record, with no finish worse than 3rd. With the regatta's emphasis on consistency by not providing a throwout, there is a premium on being able to consistently place in the top of the fleet. Here is a race-by-race synopsis from my view which varied from way in the front to way in the back, so I got all perspectives.

Friday, April 29

Four races were sailed on Friday in a fresh breeze that started out over 20 knots, waxed and waned as the day went on and the last race was sailed with lulls below 15 knots and puffs in the upper teens.

Race 1: The course bearing was approximately 280 if I remember correctly. In the fresh breeze, we considered reefing but felt that we would be underpowered in the lulls, so we kept the full main and #1 jib. We dropped the leads all the way to the back of our tracks, and kept the traveler down most of the time. Cunningham and outhaul were both very tight and we maximized our backstay tension. In the pre-start of Race 1, we perceived that the line was extremely boat favored and there was a left shift on the course. So we elected to start on port at the boat. We were not the only boat that utilized this tactic as Laughing Gull and LinGin did the same thing. The tactic worked beautifully as we won the race to the top mark by playing the shifts in the oscillating breeze. Being the furthest right of the boats that started on port, we were both the furthest upwind (on the boat favored line) and the first to reach the right shift that we knew would be coming. This put us in an ideal position to control the first beat. The run was relatively square and we were sailing deep and trying not to deathroll or broach in the huge blasty puffs that came down the course. Keeping the keel under the mast was key and having a good astern lookout helped. With a relatively clean and early douse at the left gate, we again worked the right side of the course on the 2nd beat, covering our competition and being conservative. The last run was similar to the first, relatively uneventful for us although it did look like some other boats were having trouble in the puffy breeze. We got the gun in race 1.

Race 2: With breeze and course axis basically unchanged, we maintained our sail settings from Race 1. The line was still boat favored and there was still an early left shift. We basically copied our strategy from race 1. I was surprised that I think there was only one other boat who did this the 2nd time around. To me, it had worked so obviously well the first time, I was surprised more people did not catch on. But whatever, we took it and ran. Just as in the first race, there were 3 boats who started between us and the boat on starboard and we crossed all 3 of them. This time, we did not have as much a lead at the top mark as in race 1, but the boats behind us went around in a pack and ended up in a downwind fight which we managed to avoid. With a clean leeward rounding again, we went around the left gate in first and were in a position to control the 2nd beat. Our lead extended during the beat and the final run was uneventful.

Race 3: By this time, the RC had picked up on the fact that so many port tack starters might mean they should re-set the line and they'd done so. With a square line and no obvious reason for us to go either left or right, we elected to start on starboard with a timed run to the middle of the line. We had a decent start but were a little late and found ourselves in less than ideal position, receiving some backwind from boats on our leebow, and prevented from tacking by boats on our hip. Eventually we were able to work up enough that we forced the windward boat to tack and we were able to bail out in a left shift. For us, this beat was all about getting our wheels turning and trying to claw our way to the top. We went around the windward mark narrowly behind Argo with LinGin, Windswept, and Laughing Gull in a pack close behind. After the rounding we headed down hard and got the inside lane. With a better set than Argo, we managed to work even with them. We sailed the rhumbline as they sailed far out to the right. As we converged on the leeward mark, we had the clear inside lane, but the rounding was complicated by another race that had recently started and featured boats in the other fleet sailing upwind through the leeward gate. We had a disastrous mark rounding, with a delay getting our kite down taking us well below the gate and by the time we got the boat turned around, we had been passed by all but one boat. We managed to claw our way back past one boat but could not pass the pack ahead to finish this race in 5th.

Race 4: We were late getting ourselves organized for this start. By this time, the wind had died off significantly and we had decided to ease off on our outhaul and cunningham as well as dropping our jib leads forward a good bit. We were sailing mostly with the traveler on centerline and just playing the mainsheet. The line was square and by this point we were expecting the sunshine to cause a developing bay breeze resulting in a left shift going up the course. Therefore, we elected to go left on the first beat in anticipation of the big lefty. We made a timed run at the pin which we JUST BARELY were able to lay. Second-2-Nun started on our hip but we were fortunately able to extend underneath and start backwinding them early in the beat, forcing them to tack away. We went as far left as we dared without going all the way to the corner and as we came back out of the left corner, we could see that our strategy had paid off handsomely. Not only were we coming back right in a nice left shift, but we had better pressure than those on the right as well. We rounded the windward mark about a quarter mile ahead of Second-2-Nun who was our closest competitor. This time we favored the left side going downwind and actually managed to pull of a last minute gybe-douse to go around the right gate and head left again. Second-2-Nun clearly realized that this strategy had paid off on the first beat and followed us. Since LinGin was our closest competition in the regatta, we did not go as far left as we had on the first beat, electing to come back right and cover them loosely, we let Second-2-Nun head all the way to the left corner. By the time we reconnected with them, they had gained significantly but had not passed us. They were quite close to LinGin though, who was gaining on us as well. The top part of the beat was maddening as the finish boat kept moving around and I was very worried that we would be caught by LinGin before we got to the finish line. Fortunately, that didn't happen and we held on for the win.

Saturday, April 30

Three races were sailed on Saturday in a much stronger than forecast 15-25 knot northwesterly that shifted persistently further right as the day wore on. The first course of the day was set at 240 degrees, and by the end of the last race, the course axis was 020 and the pressure had dropped off to 5-10 knots. The bay breeze never developed as forecast.

Race 5: We had a terrible view of race 1 because we had a pre-start snafu with our VHF radio and while we were practicing sail handling, we thought that a postponement had been announced when in reality there was an on-time start. Suffice to say we were 10 minutes late for the start of Race 1 and never caught up. Sorry I don't have a better summary of what happened in that race, but it is what it is. We were finished in place in 7th position.

Race 6: As the breeze began to shift persistently right we felt that being on the right side was going to be the way to go. The pressure was still quite strong in general with sustained winds in the upper teens and some vicious puffs into the 20's that were still causing some folks (including us) to have trouble with downwind sail handling and occasional risk of broaching. My crew were nervous about using the kite, but we persisted. At the top of the first beat, we were in the hunt but toward the back of the pack. During the run we maintained position but a tough leeward rounding including an accidental jib drop set us back from the pack. In the end, we wound up 6th and we broke our kite halyard on the last downwind leg. Each beat of this race had to be shifted successively further to the right. So the right was definitely the place to be on the beats.

Race 7: With the breeze now shifted well to the right of the original course heading of 280 all the way to a new course axis of 020, we felt that the new northerly breeze had finally settled in and that we could expect some stability from the right shifts. Consequently, we thought that going left to get relief from the current would be advantageous. The pressure had dropped significantly and we had accordingly eased our outhaul and cunningham as well as dropping the jib leads back forward. Coincidentally with our decision to go left, we decided to start at the pin and we made a timed run on starboard tack with plenty of room to leeward and only one boat on our lee bow. We managed to obtain a good start on time and with speed and took the left side of the course along with Argo. Boats on our hip including Second-2-Nun, Laughing Gull, and LinGin all eventually bailed out and headed back right. This proved to be the wrong tactic as Argo, who had won the left side of the beat, ended up first at the windward mark, with us a couple of boat lengths behind them. Unfortunately, because we had broken our kite halyard and decided to use the jib alone, in the light pressure we were working at a significant disadvantage and were easy prey for passing boats. Fortunately, many of the boats around us had trouble with their sail handling and were not able to make up much distance because of their mark roundings. We elected to take the right gate and go left again because it had worked well on the first beat. Unfortunately, there was now more pressure filling from the right side of the course, coupled with a little more right hand shift and we were on the wrong side of it this time. So the boats on the right gained and we watched our chances to hang in this race disappear with the freshening right hand shift. We rounded close astern of Second-2-Nun and Windswept but watched them extend away from us on the run. We were able to hold off Laughing Gull for a 5.

After racing on Saturday, we all gathered to enjoy the spring rendezvous at the Bay Ridge Clubhouse. Windswept, Laughing Gull, and Calliope all were docked in Lake Ogleton, and many of our crew members enjoyed meeting folks from the A30 association and enjoying the food, drinks, friendship, and live music at the party. A good time was had by all, and many thanks are due to all those folks who helped to organize and put on the party.

Sunday, May 1

The final day of the regatta was cool and cloudy. The predicted bay breeze southerly was already in effect by the time the race started at 11 AM, but conditions on Sunday were much lighter than either Friday or Saturday had been. We expected a building bay breeze, shifting left through the day, with a strong current running down the bay and out of the river. Given the location of the course, we expected that being on the left side would be the place to be.

Race 8: Although we thought the left would be the advantaged side of the course, as we watched the S2 fleet converge on the top mark, we noticed that boats who had gone right early had done really well. We therefore changed our starting strategy from our original plan of starting in the middle or at the pin to starting at the boat and going right. In the pre-start, we perceived a strong ebb current which was going to be pushing us over the line and would make things tough for us. The pressure in the pre-start was pretty light and we were caught trying to get down to the line just to make the start. Fortunately there was not a lot of traffic at the boat and we were able to squeeze in before Second-2-Nun could close the door on us otherwise we might have been caught barging. As it was, we ended up with a perfectly timed start at the boat end with speed and 3 of our main competitors having been called over early. We were then able to protect the right side and get there first. This tactic worked great as the right gave us ground on boats that had gone left and we managed to BARELY lay the windward mark in first place. Unfortunately, just after we had laid that mark, we got into irons and Skybird, capably skippered by Larry Morris, slipped by us before we got to the offset mark. Once we rounded the offset mark, things got crowded and there was a good deal of jockeying for position on the run to the gate. Getting through the gate was quite a challenge with the current again sweeping us down course it was difficult just to get through the gate at all. We ended up going to the left gate and taking the left side of the course again. This was a bad decision as by now the current had become the dominant force in the race and the left side was highly favored because of the strong ebb current on the left. In addition, the breeze had started to shift left, making the left side even more favorable. By the time we got to the 2nd windward mark, we were well in last and our only hope to hang on to 3rd place in the regatta was that neither Laughing Gull nor Second-2-Nun would finish in the top 2 places. Sadly, Laughing Gull finished 2nd and we finished last and were knocked out of 3rd by 1 point.

Overall, it was a great regatta, 3 amazing days of sailing. Congratulations to Tim Williams for sailing a consistent 3 days of strong finishes, and to Lanny Helms and Jonathan Adams also for great sailing. I would be lying to you if I didn't own up to the fact that watching the awards was bittersweet for me. Full results follow:

Division: Alberg 30 (7 boats) (top)

Pos Sail Boat Skipper 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Total
Points Pos
1 244 LinGin Tim Williams 2 2 1 2 1 1 2 3 14.00 1
2 562 Windswept Lanny Helms 4 3 2 4 2 3 3 4 25.00 2
3 197 Laughing Gull Jonathan Adams 3 5 3 5 4 4 6 2 32.00 3
4 287 Calliope John Bergquist 1 1 5 1 7 6 5 7 33.00 4
5 484 Second-2-Nun Harry Gamber 6 6 7 3 3 2 4 5 36.00 5
6 247 Argo T.C. Williams 5 7 4 7 5 5 1 6 40.00 6
7 550 SKYBIRD Michael Nikolich 7 4 6 6 6 8/DNS 8/DNS 1 46.00 7

2010 Bruce Rankin Regatta

Skybird fends of Windswept and Calliope in a tight race on Sunday. (Photo courtesy Mike Lehman)

The Bruce Rankin Memorial Canadian Friendship Team Race Regatta went off last weekend with great breeze, excellent parties, and great company. A good time was had by all especially at the Friday night pot luck, which I described to one bystander as 'a very lucky pot luck' because there was a lot of excellent food prepared by the attendees! The sailing was great too, and yours truly did so much hollering that I ended up hoarse which was tough to explain when I had to do my case presentation at Family Medicine on Tuesday.... But I digress from discussing the racing.

Saturday was WINDY. There were some puffs over 30 and most of the day the wind was sustained in the 20's except near the windward mark where there would be lulls into the teens. There were big shifts as well and differences in pressure. With the westerly breeze, the south shore of the river seemed to have favorable pressure and angle for most of the day. 2 races were sailed on Saturday. Tim Williams won both of them going away. No spinnakers were used, which made sail selection a challenge because if you picked the #2 then once you went around the windward mark, you were underpowered. A variety of sail combinations were tried, but Tim stuck with a reefed main and #1 and that seemed to be fast. He was really able to keep the boat going even with being overpowered. I asked him and Glen about it afterwards and he said they felt like the #1 was the right sail for the day but that they had to drop the leads way back to flatten the bottom of the sail, they used a lot of reef tension to get good outhaul effect on the main, dropped the traveler down, and went super tight on the backstay. We tried using a #2 on board Calliope, but our #2 is small and the clew is high. We felt like it was not a good sail combination and we were not fast in the race where we used it. The one big loss we had on board Calliope was a winch handle which failed a float test. This would be a key problem later in the regatta.

Tactically, the racing on saturday basically involved keeping close to the south shore of the river (left side of the beat) because there was more pressure down there and fewer holes in the breeze. This was Team LinGin's tactic all day and it really worked as they won both races going away. Fortunately for us they were our teammate, but even their 2 bullets were not enough to salvage our lackluster performance and the team of Laughing Gull and Second-2-Nun were ahead of us by 1 point on Saturday.

Saturday's party was excellent with barbecue from Adam's ribs and the famous Alberg 30 bar. We had a long evening eating and drinking and chatting around the fireplace at PSA and I didn't head back to the boat until nearly midnight.

Sunday dawned bright and clear and after a breakfast of leftover coffee and apple pie and a shower in the AWESOME new heads at PSA, I was ready to take on the day! Jon and I had decided on Saturday night that we were going to focus on going fast from the time we left the dock so on the sail out to the course, we got the spinnaker up, did a bunch of practice gybes, practiced sail handling and got the crew comfortable with their respective positions. It was a good way to warm up. Fortunately we got to the starting area early, were able to get some numbers on different tacks, and figure out what the course was going to be like. With a much lighter 10-15 knots of breeze, we knew we would be using spinnakers and we felt like that was good for us. The breeze was still out of the west but was further to the left than it had been on Saturday, making the setting of the course axis a bit of a challenge for the RC. Once they got the line set we realized that it was highly skewed and nearly impossible to lay the pin on starboard even if you sailed close aboard the stern of the committee boat. We spent some time discussing start tactics because this was obviously going to be a challenge. We considered a port tack start because that was obviously going to be the favored tack, but I felt that if we did a really good job of timing the starboard run, we could do well by making a timed run at the boat, then hardening up on starboard and sailing down the line. If we could manage to win the pin we would get a favored start by several boat lengths and it would put us in control of the race. So this is what we decided to do. We spent a good bit of time sailing down the line in the pre-start and making timed reaches at the committee boat. By our watches, the line was about 1:30 on a close hauled course, so we wanted to go around the committee boat stern with that much time left on the clock. We managed to make this work out quite well in the pre-start. I thought for a second that John Maliszewski would be able to close the door on us at the boat as he was below us but it turned out he was too low and couldn't quite get there so we were saved from the barge. Then we had only Harry in front of us on starboard, but I knew that he was too early and he looked like he would not lay the pin anyway as he had not sailed close enough aboard the boat. TC was coming in from port, but he went below us so was not an issue. All looked perfect until Harry tacked at the pin. I yelled starboard, but he didn't tack back so we had to tack to avoid a collision, which was extremely close. No matter, we still won the pin, got the boat going on port, forced Harry to take a penalty and were in control of the race.

Calliope and Windswept approach a windward mark. (Photo courtesy Mike Lehman)

Beat 1 was highly skewed such that it was basically a one tack beat. Skybird was going fast and high and had a really high lane that we were not able to match. We went around the mark close with them and with Windswept. They both took a relatively high lane on the run which was also highly skewed and we never gybed. By the bottom mark, we had managed to gain the inside track and with a good takedown, we claimed the lead. The next beat was equally skewed. Windswept and Skybird would tack away to clear their breeze and we covered them all the way up the beat. As we passed the middle of the course, we noticed the committee boat had moved to the top and we thought that they would shorten the course and we would be finishing at the windward mark. This was not to be however, because they signaled a course change. Since we had assumed this was going to be a finish not a mark rounding, we were totally unprepared for the course change and had a complete Charlie Foxtrot getting around. Ultimately we got around the mark and got the kite up but not before Windswept and Skybird snuck past us.

The run was once again quite skewed and we had close racing with Windswept and Skybird. Toward the bottom, Skybird went very high and sailed pretty far from the mark, which confused us. We again got the inside track and were set to regain the lead with a good mark rounding which was all fine and good until we noticed that we didn't have a winch handle. It must have fallen overboard during the kerfluffle to get around the windward mark. Now we had a real challenge on our hands. We lost both Windswept and Skybird at the mark and we were sailing out to the left while I tore apart the boat looking for the winch handle and yelling at myself. We couldn't get the jib in all the way so our pointing was awful and we were in danger of being passed by LinGin, Laughing Gull and Rinn Duin. Something had to be done. At one point, while I was standing on the jibsheet to try and close down the leech, someone suggested that we use our adjustable jib leads to close down the leech. Bingo, we started dropping our leads to the back of the track, tacking, then pulling them forward, and this worked. We managed to hold on for a 5th place finish, which, combined with Tim's low scores, was enough to win us the trophy.

A huge crab feast after the awards hit just the spot. Thanks to Mike L for taking the awesome photos aboard Glory on Sunday. And thanks to PSA, Larry, Tim, John M and everybody else who made this year's Rankin Memorial Canadian Friendship Team Race Regatta a great success!

Close quarters on the run: Gentleman sailing at its best! (Photo courtesy Mike Lehman)

2010 NASS Race to Oxford

From 2010 Oxford Race

The NASS Oxford proved once again to me that you never know what you'll get. The race saw light winds out of the north for our start and a finish you'll probably hear me talk about for years.

Most of our fleet headed toward Thomas Point from our R2 start, trying to stay out of a flood current in the beginning of the race. We on LinGin timed the start pretty well and built a growing lead on Windswept, who was right behind us at the gun.

Laughing Gull headed to the Eastern Shore before most and was rewarded as the wind died down to the west. A tug pushing a barge forced us to make a decision a little sooner than we otherwise would have: stay west or cross over to the east?

We chose east and that turned out to be a good choice. Laughing Gull had came back east as the wind died and wound up in a huge hole with much of the other Albergs. Word is they became hot and bothered at one point and all jumped overboard for a swim. Jonathan said it was lucky the wind didn't kick up; it would have been a tough swim to catch her had she taken off.

Windswept and LinGin both got the wind first as it "filled" on the east. I say "filled" because it didn't last very long! In addition to more pressure it also shifted more to the west, giving us further advantage over those that were west of us. (We were all going downwind.)

The most bizarre (and most interesting) part of the race was the finish--and you can see this in the finishing times. As we came up to the finish in very light wind on a port tack reach, I noticed Rick Born on Windborn about 10 lengths from the finish, under spinnaker and heading parallel to the finish line toward Solomons Island.

Now Rick was an avid A30 skipper and racer when I was a kid and he was really hard to beat! For a couple of years it seemed like we were always chasing him. So, when I saw him doing that, I immediately said to my crew, "why would he do that?!" We checked the charts and GPS. No, we were pretty sure this was the right mark. Then it dawned on us: it must be the current.

The current bends around Black Walnut Point there and while many (LinGin included!) thought we were being swept into the Bay, it was actually exactly the opposite. There was a ~1 kt current pushing us into the Choptank!

We quickly gybed and set the chute and to our dismay noted that Windswept had kept a much better line to the finish line, having kept further away from the point. Here we came, ever so slowly under spinnaker on starboard tack heading parallel to the line that was maybe 1/4 mile away, trying to cross Windswept who is on port and heading, what appeared to be straight for the line.

Many times our foredeckman, who was focused on the sail, ask, "are you sure you don't want to tack and cover him?!" It was tough to trust what we knew to be true, but was difficult for our eyes to believe. We were inching toward the line and Windswept was being pushed past it toward the point at ~1 kt. There were plenty of other boats doing the same thing; some on starboard under spinnaker and other on port on a close reach.

In the end we crossed the line sideways. The current pushed us through. Windswept was swept toward the point and while we were moments before a boat length apart, it would take him the better part of an hour to get through the line. During that time, Second-2-Nun came from way back and crossed before Windswept. Lanny had a very tough race that day and we felt quite lucky that we figured out what was going on when we did.

Easily one of the strangest finishes I have ever seen.

Here are the preliminary results:

From 2010 Oxford Race

WNR Series 3 Race 4 Recap: Calliope Rumbles

The 5 boats who showed up for final race of the 2010 WNR season were greeted with a sweet northwesterly breeze at about 12-15 knots. With the course of A2 set, we had a downwind start. On board Calliope we elected to stay away from the favored pin end of the line, instead intending to shoot for something 'middle-ish'. We felt that because we have good downwind speed it would be better to try and stay clean and keep other boats off our breeze by keeping a clear lane to windward and we felt that would be easier to do by starting in the middle. We waited till inside of 30 seconds to the start to go for our hoist because there was a good bit of pre-start jockeying for position and we got taken up by a couple of boats. Once the monkey business was overwith and people started turning down to head for the line, we got our kite up and got things rolling. It looked to me like we might have been a bit late for the start and certainly boats that had started more towards the pin seemed to be ahead of us. However, with our clear lane of breeze to windward, we were able to put our rumble on. After a few lengths, we broke our pole bridle and had to jury rig a foreguy to keep the pole under control. I told the crew that it's not a good day of sailing if you don't break something. Once we got that fixed, we rolled the boats below us and by halfway to the first mark, we were showing the fleet our taillights as it was just us, a J/24, and a Pearson 30 out in front. As we approached the mark, we looked back and saw a beautiful array of spinnakers spread out behind us:

For some reason, it appeared that LinGin, who was our closest competition, was going to the wrong mark for a significant part of the leg as they sailed far to the left of the rhumbline and they certainly gave us pause to double check the SI's to make sure we were sailing the correct course.

Coming into the mark, we owed room to the Pearson 30 on the inside. He sure took his sweet time making the turn, and we had a much more seamanlike rounding (in wide, out tight!) which put us in a higher lane for the first part of the beat back into the harbor. Our takedown was very clean and with the new long jibsheets that fit over the pole we were immediately ready to tack. Unfortunately, even though we were in a higher lane, they were to leeward and ahead and we had to contend with their wind shadow that forced us to hang in some less than ideal breeze. Nevertheless, for strategic reasons, we didn't want to tack out so we stayed on port and worked on keeping the boat rolling. After boats behind had rounded we looked back at LinGin and they seemed to have a higher angle as well as better speed than we had and it looked like they were gaining. We decided that pulling our jib draft forward might help and decided to tighten the backstay and jib halyard (during the tack). Once we started to get in close to the spider, we tacked out, cranked up the jib halyard tension, and headed back across on starboard. We had a tack snafu that slowed us down a bit, but once we sorted that out and got the boat rail-down-and-rumbling again, we had a full knot of increased speed through the water probably due to the increased jib halyard tension and better shape of the jib (draft more forward and powered up). This was satisfying as we could then hold the same speed/angle as LinGin and we felt good about that.

With the RN being a port rounding and well inside the starboard tack layline to the harbor, we decided that there was no real penalty for under-standing and tacked relatively early to head back toward the USNA annex seawall. We went all the way to the wall before tacking out to head for the harbor, leading LinGin by 8-10 lengths at that mark with Laughing Gull in 3rd about 3-4 lengths behind her. Unfortunately, we could not quite lay the can at the mouth of the harbor and so had to throw in 2 extra tacks as we worked our way in, but we still passed the can about 5 lengths ahead of LinGin and it was a close reach to the finish with enough pressure to keep the normal WNR flukeyness from stealing our victory. We crossed the finish line first for the 3rd time this summer and secured a win for the 3rd part of the 2010 WNR. All in all it was a great night of sailing, with excellent breeze, good competition, and a beautiful sunset!

Complete results at: http://www.race.annapolisyc.org/RegattaModules/ViewRegattaResults.aspx?RegID=325&mid=254&tabid=10

I was recently reminded that team Calliope has been a competitor in AYC Wednesday Night Racing for 8 years now. It has been a hugely rewarding experience and taught us many things about sailing and about building a team. In our first season, we competed with no spinnaker, a ratty cruising genoa, battenless main, and having almost no keelboat driving experience, with a motley crew of St. John's students, most of whom had never sailed before. Over the years, we have made many modifications to the boat, to the sails, to the crew, and to our style of racing. We've learned what's important and what's not. We've learned what driving techniques work and what doesn't. We've learned how to work together, and we've learned how to teach people and how to learn from them.

It occurred to me that it might be good to have a list of the top things that I think have made a difference in getting us from the back of the fleet to the front. Not that we'll stay at the front mind you, but I think we've made some really big strides, and I want to share what I think is important. For those of you seasoned racers out there, this is probably not news, but for some of the newer people, I thought it might be helpful, so here goes:

1. A clean bottom is a must. This cannot be over-stressed. It sounds obvious, but one of the big things I changed this year is I bought my own SCUBA gear and try to clean the bottom every week. It is amazing how much growth you can get even in one week. I used to use the Yellow Dick guy and I can't un-recommend him too much. I know of at least one case where an owner had supposedly had his bottom cleaned and then had an emergency haulout only to find the bottom was totally encrusted with growth. That guy is dishonest. Don't use him. My solution is to clean the bottom myself because that way I know it gets done and done right. But there are probably honest divers that can be found. Unfortunately, it sounds like Yellow Dick is not one of them.

2. Building up a good core team of committed people who may not always make every race but enjoy racing with you is so important. Once you have a core group of people who know your boat and know your style, you will really make big strides of improvement. It has helped me a lot.

3. Talking through maneuvers before you go into them is really helpful. We do this all the time on Calliope and it really helps new people, but even with experienced crew, discussing the sequence of events that's going to occur before you get to a mark rounding makes a huge difference and reduces costly mistakes. So talk about what side the kite will come down on, when you're going to set the jib, and when the gybe will occur. This allows everybody on board to think their part through before you get to the mark rounding and there's chaos all around you with other boats.

4. Always try to think one step ahead on the race course. So if you're going downwind, have your rear-view spotter look at the course and pick a side for the next upwind leg. The best time to make strategic decisions is when you have the boat settled down and moving and you can think. Don't waste this time by relaxing. Use the time to plan your next leg. If you're on a beat, discuss whether you want to gybe early or not on the next run before you get to the mark. Pick a strategy, analyze it after the fact.

5. As an owner, I used to helm all my races. This year, because of my school commitments, I had to relinquish this role to someone else because I simply could not be present for a lot of the races. As a consequence, in cases where I was in attendance, I would elect to trim or do some other job and work with the crew. For better or for worse, this has worked really well. I enjoy being able to get my head 'out of the boat' and I also feel like I can focus a lot more on getting the boat set up properly which I think makes a speed difference. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the helmsman that I have currently is at least as good as I am (probably better)... But even without a crack helmsman, if you can get a competent driver and dedicate your resources to focusing on tactics and making the boat go fast, it can help your performance. Also, you will learn something about the other jobs on your boat. As an owner and usual helmsman, it is both liberating and scary at the same time to put your boat in somebody else's hands during a race.

6. I think the importance of sails and furling systems is overstressed. Our main was built in 2002. Our kite was built in 2003. Both are stock off the rack sails. Our jib is 3 years old but was not at all fast in our first year using it. We use roller furling which I am convinced makes absolutely NO difference to Alberg racing except MAYBE in extremely light air (although we have been fast in some light air races this year). Don't worry about your sails. If they were made within the last 20 years they are probably fine. Improving your crew work in tacks and gybes and upwind/downwind driving will make a bigger difference than new sails.

7. I also think there is over-emphasis on bottom coatings, which is silly. I have ablative paint on my bottom. I have always had ablative paint. It works fine. I scrub it every week. It may wear off faster, but in my opinion it is certainly not slower around the racetrack than hard paint. I don't think that, for the speed, hull shape, and average roughness of our boats, there is any difference between ablative and hard bottom paint. So if you worry about your bottom, don't. Get it clean, but don't agonize over what kind of paint you have.

8. One of the biggest things you can do to improve is try to eliminate mistakes. Whenever we have a bad tack or sail change, I try to work through it with the crew. I ask what went wrong. We try to analyze and discuss what could have been done differently. We try to do this every time there is something that doesn't go right, and I think often we make improvements by going through this process. By eliminating mistakes, you elevate your game and you shave boatlengths off your total distance sailed. It allows you to hold lanes and keep your air clear, which pays huge dividends in the end.

9. Another thing we always try to do is debrief after every race. We discuss what decisions were good and what decisions were bad. If we did well, we think about what made the difference. If we did poorly, we look for reasons (excuses?). We replay the race in discussion and talk about where we could have chosen differently and what might have happened if we'd done it another way. By doing this we prepare ourselves for future races when we will be faced with similar decisions.

10. The last thing is we always have fun. On Calliope, we have 2 sailing mottoes: the first is when the skipper starts yammering too much, the crew should say: 'Shut up and drive.' The second is "We win by leaving the dock." If you take the attitude that simply getting out on the water already is winning and everything else after that is gravy then you are guaranteed to achieve your goal. It has worked for us.

We have enjoyed a great season of Wednesday Night Racing. I won't make either Oxford or Queenstown personally, but Calliope will be there without me. I hope y'all have a great time and I do plan on seeing everybody at PSA for the Rankin Regatta!

2010 WNR Series 3, Race 1: Worst to First!

After many weeks of lackluster attendance and no bottom cleaning, I finally was able to get it in gear and with my 3 PM lecture canceled and no commitments until Dermatology clinic at a lackadaisical 9 AM on Thursday, I bailed out of Baltimore at 2:30, picked up an air tank on the way south, and with dive gear in hand, I arrived at the boat around 4 PM with intentions to clean the bottom. It was a dirty job. I am not gonna lie. We had at least a 1/4" coating of uniformly thick sludge over the whole bottom with a particularly encrusted keel. 90 minutes later, the job was done and we were leaving the mooring.

5 boats showed up to race: Calliope, Skybird, LinGin, Asylum, and Second-2-Nun. In a reasonably brisk southerly, we started the race (course B2...finally something other than A0!) on a pin favored line with Asylum unquestionably winning the start at the favored pin end. The course was close hauled to the first mark. We were a bit late and other boats started further up the line towards the boat. Relatively early, Skybird and Second-2-Nun tacked out and started heading toward Back Creek. We felt fast, played the shifts, and managed to get to the mark in 2nd place. Unfortunately for us, we ran afoul of Lazy Ethel who seemed to think that instead of saying 'protest' and raising a flag, the way to do it was to hit us from leeward when they clearly could have avoided contact, and yelling 'contact, contact, contact, contact, contact, contact'. Clearly somebody needs to explain to them RRS 14 as well as that the word 'contact' does not validate a protest, but that only the word 'protest' does. But I digress. We sailed clear of the course, did our 720 degree penalty and since no damage was done, continued our race albeit in last place. But not by a whole lot. Kudos to Jon, Ken, and Dave for steering and trimming through a great 720 degree turn.

On the reach, we pulled our leads forward, powered up the jib and started reeling in. Once we got to the 2nd mark, it was a beat up to the E mark and we were starting off in a bit of a squall. It took us a minute to get everything situated, but once we did, we had some solid wheels. With the pressure up, we had dropped the leads back to flatten the foot of the jib and that seemed to be pretty fast. At least we were making trees on boats inland. For unknown reasons, the fleet tacked away and sailed in towards the harbor. Aboard Calliope, we were confused as to why people made this choice because the pressure seemed to be clearly better in the middle of the bay. So we stayed on starboard, put the bow down and rumbled. This tactic worked because by the top section of the beat we had passed everybody except Skybird. As we came to the mark (both of us overstood), for some reason they kept sailing high and so we just decided to power up, put the bow down, and punch through their wind shadow. I don't know if it was the clean bottom or our guts, but somehow this tactic worked. There was some discussion about proper course and 'taking us down' but clearly the proper course rule states that we are entitled to sail to the mark. It would not have been within the rules for us to take the windward boat above our proper course, but since that never happened, to my knowledge it was a non-issue. Either way, by the time we got to the mark, it was definitely a non issue as there was no longer an overlap anyhow because we were clear ahead.

The spinnaker set was its whole own fiasco (and sadly not the last one), as we had sheets led wrong, spinnaker hooked up wrong, and basically everything was rusty. Fortunately, Pat the HE-bow-man was able to manage a feat of superhuman strength and disconnect/reconnect the guy to a full kite while re-rigging it to be right. Lucky for us, he is both strong and long-armed. And it was not that windy. Bottom line: we managed to stay in front of Skybird during the set, and that is saying something, because aboard our boat it was not a pretty set. But we got-r-dun. And then we just sailed faster to the next mark. Amazing what a clean bottom will do for you.

We rounded R2 2 lengths ahead of the pack, spinnaker douse and jib set were clean and it was a beat to the harbor, except for one small detail. We had put the jib luff in the prefeeder, but not in the headfoil track. DOH! So we had a jib that was held onto the boat by the 3 corner points only. I was trimming and thought the leech looked funny until Jon the helmsman said to me 'Uh we don't have the luff in the track'. So then it was a quick jib douse and re-hoist in the track and with Skybird pressing us from behind I was a bit worried whether we could manage it before they passed us. Turns out, we did although Dave the pit man did pay a bit of a price with some skin sacrificed to the whistling jib halyard on the way down. In the aggregate, we got the jib back up just about the time skybird's bow was at our beam, with acceleration and wind shadow we pulled back ahead. In the light pressure, pulled the lead back forward to power up and put on our rumble caps. If it had taken us 5 more seconds to do the drop and re-set, they would have punched into clear breeze and been able to get ahead. Again, having a slick bottom makes some difference...

Coming into the harbor, we couldn't lay the seawall, had to dive into the field, went to the wall and tacked, forced Skybird to tack as we came out on starboard, and led them into the finish for the horn. LinGin got the 3, Second-2-Nun the 4, and Asylum the 5. Overall it was a highly satisfying race. Well sailed by all involved. I feel lucky that we managed to win it. Only my second bullet in 8 years of WNR so don't give me any crap about being stoked over it. I have to say it did feel mighty good to go from worst to first though! Honestly, I think the difference was going into the bay on starboard when everybody else went to the harbor on port for the beat to mark 'E'. But also for sure having a clean bottom helped a heck of a lot. It was great to see everybody, and I'll be out there next week! Thanks to all my crew for an awesome race and a great dinner at Davis's Pub afterwards. Hope to see y'all out there next week!