Great thread! Great points. I do love the competition, and it has made me a much better sailor. Started racing PHRF on a hunter 33,38,46 same owner kept upgrading. He could have had a J/120 but the wife would not let him upgrade without a washer and dryer! Regardless it was competition, and fun against some killer boats out of Stamford and yes, lots of them! We actually won a few too! I happened upon my C&C 37 when I went to Oriental to just get a slip few years back. So many boats in town, but so few racers, :( I was talked into doing a pursuit race which we won, after starting last and I was hooked! Learned the start sequence and had a ball in the JAM class. I loved the racing so much, but waiting to see if you really won was killer, and I always marvelled at the pointy Etchells 3 of them that would blow past me. So here comes the competition again. I found a used etchells very cheap. The new set of sails was worth 2x more then what we paid for the whole deal! I talked my neighbor who was a very serious J/24 champ out of NJ. Into splitting it with me. We cleaned her up painted her and were off to the races literally! :) Very minimal investment As mentioned in others post, this guy is my mentor one of those who does not raise the voice who just loves to sail. I have Learned so so much! I was having fun but this was new level, against national champion crew and another few 20-25 year veterans. He is one of the ones with a calm voice that has taught me to the game, spinnaker, port start, lee bow, angles .... We now have 4 etchells. Head to head fun. Whats sad as mentioned is the decline of participation in the races. These old(er) timers speak of 40 -75 boats on the line years ago, when now there is the just the 4 of us and MAYBE 5 boats in the JAM class on a good day. I am hopeful as mentioned to get some of the cruising fleet to give it a go and not be scared of damage to boat or ego, just go have fun. I am passonate about keeping it alive and this year have joined the Board or the club and will do whatever I can to keep it alive for the good of sailng. As Charlie says, Sail on!
John Conklin S/V Halcyon www.flirtingwithfire.net On Jan 30, 2021, at 12:52 PM, CHARLES SCHEAFFER via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: Why race? If you consider the benefits of racing; learning to sail better, getting a boat to perform at it's highest efficiency, learning how to trim sails properly, learning to use the tide and currents, learning a few racing rules and signal flags, learning how to develop and manage crew members, building a team, etc. I enjoyed the challenge and personal growth that came with it and I'm grateful for all the people I met along the journey. Racing has a stigma about it that diehard cruisers avoid at all costs. Cost being the most important. Risk of collision and risk of breakage is another. Next is prep time. Next is learning new skills associated with learning the start sequence, flag signals, racing rules, etc. I followed the cautious route learning to race my boat. I crewed on some racing boats and learned the start sequence and how to get round the course and then had some experienced racers coach me aboard my boat on a couple races. It made the greatest difference to have their experience and skills to make the races safe and I would encourage any yachtclub to foster that program of coaching cruisers in a few races. I was lucky and found some really good guys to help me learn. My mentors were soft spoken experts who were firm but never raised their voices, so all my pickup crew members had total respect for their wisdom and we prepped the bottom and I had good sails and we did very well. Why do others race? How did you learn? Chuck Scheaffer Resolute 1989 C&C 34R Pasadena Md Thanks to all of the subscribers that contributed to the list to help with the costs involved. If you want to show your support to the list - use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray Thanks - Stu
Thanks to all of the subscribers that contributed to the list to help with the costs involved. If you want to show your support to the list - use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray Thanks - Stu
