Log of Alberg 30 #262 on 21 June 2020

Date: 21 June 2020 09:00 till 21 June 2020 16:49
Endpoints: Yacht Haven Annapolis Eastport MD to Yacht Haven Annapolis Eastport MD
Purpose: 2020 Ted Osius Regatta
Complement: TC Williams, Dave Butta, Meredith Glacken, and Yoni Bresler
Weather: SE Wind Force 2 to 3 apparent fading to calm. Mid 80's.
Engine Hours: 256.2 to 258.3
Fuel: 1/5 tank
Chart: 12282 Chesapeake Bay Severn and Magothy Rivers

Event: 2020 Ted Osius Memorial Regatta
Course: Start/finish at R'2'; 'V' (drop mark course 140*T, 1.6nm; WR'87'; Annapolis weather buoy; R'2'. Total of about 7.5nm.
Results: All Alberg 30's retired due to lack of wind. Official results

Interrupt genoa and Interrupt mainsail.

Lightened the boat of unnecessary items:

Removed all sails from the boat but for the new spinnaker and the Interrupt genoa and Interrupt mainsail.
Removed the length of chain and 250' of nylon three strand in the Home Depot bucket.
Removed the Danforth anchor from the forepeak.
Removed the Danforth anchor from the starboard cockpit locker.
Moved the garden hose and the grill from the lazarette to the starboard cockpit locker.

Switched the 135LP genoa for the Interrupt genoa and left the dock at 9AM. Motored out to R'2' for the 10AM rendezvous. Class start scheduled for 11:20. Both LinGin and Latika arrived at the starting area. Unexpectedly good breezes from the SE at force 2 to force 3. As the start time approached the breeze faded. We had sailed away from the start to practice with the spinnaker. The first mark was located on a course of 140*T 1.6nm from R'2'.

Took too much time to arrive back at the start due to the dying breeze. LinGin was some 40 yards below the line. Lost track of Latika who was off to the starboard end of the line. With three and a half minutes to go, Constance was on the line on port tack without breeze due to the dying wind. Turned the helm over to TC and went below to the head. While below, Latika ran the line on starboard. Our lack of wind resulted in us fouling them at the start. Latika was over early. We started on time on port tack as the breeze returned and sailed some 100 yards to get space for turns. Once we had "accelerated" to 2 to 2.5kts, performed out two turns with a short spell in between to reacquire some speed. Tacked to starboard and began the chase. About the time we finished the first turn LinGin was crossing the start line.

LinGin and Latika were both well ahead and somewhat below our line. Both had to tack back to port to avoid a Marguerita, a freighter anchored at N38*56'19.89 x W076*24'31.97. With about 7kts of breeze from the southeast, the outhaul eased, the halyard eased, the traveler all the way to windward and the boom in all the way, the boat had a light feel with little weather helm, and felt as if it moved easily to windward. Boatspeed varied from 3.5 to 4.1kts per GPS. Weathered Marguerita and tacked onto LinGin's line. Once we were above the layline, One more tack, back to starboard at some ten lengths from the windward makr, brought us to within four boatlengths of Latika.

Rounded the windward mark and bore away on starboard tack. Quickly we began to bear up to prevent Miles to Go, a Beneteau Oceanis 41.1, from passing us to windward. The Beneteau remained on our leeward hip for a while then faded back. We drew closer to Latika, closing to within two boatlengths. The wind began to die. Low tide expected at 12:58. Reached WR'87' around 12:30.

The current remained rather strong (from yesterday's midday rains?) pushing us down the Bay and trying to lay us upon the mark. We were able to avoid this, but it seemed that we were barely moving relative to the mark for a minute or more while trying to get upstream. Meanwhile, Latika, had sailed much wider (50 yards?) of the mark on starboard tack and after their gybe were able to reach past the mark. During this they increased the distance between us. Meanwhile LinGin was well ahead of us both. Dave had been trimming spinnaker the whole time and continued to do so for the rest of the race. Probably a mistake as the heat, humidity and lack of air must have been affecting his focus. Latika continued to draw away. By now the motorboats were out in numbers, hitting us with wakes from all directions every few minutes.

As the wind continued to die, TC's handheld GPS read two hours to the next mark on a course of 330*. We headed up considerably closing on and passing the committee boat at the start/finish line and R'2' to windward (down Bay). By this point we were even with Latika and some fifteen boat lengths to windward (down Bay). LinGin retired.

At 13:52 Zuul, an Aerodyne 38, PHRF 30, finished. We hung on for another fifteen minutes of bobbing and spinning in the wakes, till calling Latika and suggesting we both retire. Which we did. Race could not have met the CBYRA minimum speed requirement of 2kts. We rafted up, had a beer together, and returned to Yacht Haven Annapolis.

Using Harken 14 mm Lead Ring with retaining straps, as described, for the traveler worked well. Easy to adjust. Pleased with the result. Need to determine how much to shorten the traveler line. Currently there is too much slack in the cockpit.

GPX formatted no track. Estimate distance: 11.5nm (dock to dock), estimated duration: 7 hours.

Finishing Order: All boats DNF due to lack of wind