Racing....I don't do it anymore....maybe 3 times in the last 13 years on
someone else's boat. But when I raced, I raced mostly with a core of 5
good friends, one my brother.
When I started racing I really didn't know very much about all that was
involved....thought I did....I still don't know all there is to know but
I learned a lot over many years, on different boats, doing different
jobs, full crew and short crew days, in all kinds of conditions. Over
the years, I have spent some time on the foredeck....not that I wanted
to but because no one else would or could do it. Some days I thought
that was a good thing, some days it was not so great....a sail change
down in a heavy building breeze bouncing around up front in the
spray...yea, this is fun.
Now doing a spinnaker peel right felt really good.....especially in the
middle of the fleet where everyone gets to see it done, and done
smoothly. Head sails changes are done regularly but changing a
spinnaker under sail could only be done smoothly if you had practiced
it. We had some good races and we had some bad races. And we spent time
practicing. We practiced to the point where, for example, where I
could put my hand on a halyard and the pit man knew exactly what halyard
and what to do with it without me shouting me back a command.
After a race, the beers were open for the passage home. After the boat
was docked. sails packed, etc. the first half hour was spent talking
about the race....what did we do wrong, what went right. After that we
normally got juvenile.
In 1995, I wanted something different from racing, more boat to boat
racing and I wanted to be in the cockpit and on the helm....bought a
Kirby 25 that we raced against as our main boat for boat competitor, the
J24 fleet with the 4 of the 5 original amigos....me and 3 of the amigos
left my friend's C&C 34R to race the K25.......racing is totally
different when you get to a mark and there are 15 other boats there
compared to normal handicap racing where tenty minutes after the start
the fleet spreads out.
No matter how you choose to race, it helps a lot when the crew decides
where they expect to place in their respective fleet....bottom 3rd,
middle 3rd, or top 3rd. If you can get the crew to talk about this and
agree, bid help.
Racing is 50% boat, 50% crew and 50% luck on any given day. I have had
the good fortune to have had all three, and in a few races, all three!
Robert Abbott
AZURA
C&C 32 #277
Halifax, N.S.
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