Beer Can Racing

[Don Guillette]

This topic probably won't generate much interest but I'm trying to kill some time while I await the start of the Seattle/Chicago football game. A ship mate named Chuck (cat251488) wrote me about his racing experience with his 1976 Ericson 27. That boat is a bit on the heavy side but I say so what. You just have to approach racing this boat, and one's like it, from a different perspective. I did a lot of beer can racing but over the years I started to dislike it in favor of matched boat racing. The rating system is suppose to even things out but I really want to finish first or second but it was never possible in beer can.

Chuck made me think back to many years ago at Long Beach harbor. A dock neighbor friend had a Newport 30. This boat was a tank and he lived a board. He wanted to race the thing and I agreed to crew for him. I really could have crewed on much faster boats if I had wanted to but I had a lot of fun sailing with him.

Here's how we had a lot of "wins" in every race. I broke the race into segments. The first segment was the start. In 90% of the races we were first or second over the line so that was a win. Next, was the first leg. If our sails were set well and we felt we were getting 100% from the boat that was another win. Rounding turns had to be perfect and that was another win. The downwind leg was our race. That leg is where most beer can racers break out the beer and sandwiches but that leg was where we went to work. Generally we could overtake 2 or 3 boats so that was a win. They caught us shortly but so what. Using my system, I was never angry after any race. I actually felt pretty good about our performance. I also learned how to squeeze evey ounce of power out of the sails.

We did 2 or 3 Newport Beach to Ensenada races. Again I could have gone on faster boats and eaten a lot better but I have good memories - coffee that was burned, baloney sandwiches after the hot chicken wings were eaten in the first hour and so on.

This sailing sport has given me more than I have given it.

 

[Ed Schenck]

Well said Don. For me it is about getting the best you can out of whatever you are sailing while being on the water with friends.

 

[Andy1237]

Don, your comments beg out a question. Please comment on this situation: you were big/slow as you say but were first across the start line, and you are out front, you are at what you believe is max boat speed for the conditions; and what should be a faster boat in your fleet crosses your track, do you cover him or let him go and proceed on your merry way?

 

[Gudenuph]

Great head games. We have always sailed in high handicap boats and played some of these games and can hardly wait the try the rest.
Thanks, Geohan

 

[Don Guillette]

Andy1237: I could be first over the line sailing a 55 gal drum with a broom stick for a mast and a bed sheet for a sail!! Here's why - start lines are rarely square to the wind especially when the wind is over 6 or 7 knots. Probably 80% of the racers don't bother checking for the favored end but I was not one of them. I was always looking for the point that was farthest upwind. I was looking for the set of the line relative to the wind and the location of the mark has nothing to do with it as the line is rarely square to the wind plus the guys setting the marks only really just want to get them in the water. I explain how to deal with the starting line in my book The Sail Trim Users Guide in the chapter called Pre - Start Game Plan.

One race I was in, the pin end was favored by 20 degrees. On a 600' line with a persistent lift the pin end advantage was 10 boat lenghts. We could have floated across and had the lead. To cover or let the speed merchents go wasn't even a question. They were gone before we knew it!!

I sailed at the Catalina 30 National Regattas. We were a group of 6 guys from all over the US that went to these national events and sailed against the local sponsoring fleets. The organizer generally found us the crappiest boat they could find but we never did worse than second (in So Ca I picked the boats and they were the best C30's I could find). Now to the point of all this - the skipper was a mate named Max Munger. He is the sec't of the C30 national organizations and from Maryland. He is the best starting line skipper I ever sailed with. There were so many times when I thought (fortunately to myself) "Max, what in the hell are you doing. We'll never make the line in time" but he always did with a split second to spare.

 

[shemandr]

Don it took a few readings of your post but I guess you're saying that a race is a contiguous string of competitions and that's absolutely true. I guess you are also saying that a "Win" in any segment is a victory and looking at a race as such adds enjoyment to the participation. I agree again.
I also agree that I would rather be on a slow fun boat than a fast un-fun boat. I'll go a bit further. I don't really care what boat I'm on as long as the competition is similar in sailing characteristics.
I don't really agree that I have to have a top finish to make it worth participation. Ratings are neither fair nor completely unfair. But they do make it possible to have races where none would exist.
I differ with the prevailing opinion that one design racing is the best format. One design often becomes an arms race in buying sails. I do enjoy my level of PHRF races which aren't completely fair but they do challenge me and I really do enjoy the metal chess match with other skippers. Any racing that emphasizes that aspect of the sport over making the sail makers rich, or dependence on attracting hot shot crew, or is just a exercise in money weenie wagging, will attract sailors like me.
The best thing that could happen to sailboat racing as a sport is the return of the skippers who chased out of the sport by the semi pro's. Take care of the cruising classes and you'll have an active fleet.

 

[Don Guillette]

Ed Schenck: You're right and you said it better than I could - it was being with my friend. He was just a common seaman, like me, and his name was Tom Herron. He was the commodore of Shoreline YC in Long Beach, Ca. He wrote the introduction in my book. He taught me how to have fun racing as I was the most up tight mother you would ever run into and could not stand to come in second let alone the bottom 1/3. Some times I'd ask him why are we bothering to pay the race fee. Let's just go cruising. He'd say today might be our day in the winners circle - it never was.

I've lost track of him over the years since I moved to Tucson. Sailing was what bound us together and when you leave a sailing community sadly you just drift apart. Same happens with business friends - your close working together and when you retire you never see them again.

I was in So Ca over Xmas and was going to look him up but the weather was so crappy I couldn't wait to get out of there.

Our most memorable race was when we almost sunk the Shoreline YC precious race boat. On the first leg, they cut across us and we never saw them UNTIL we stuck our bow into their rear quarter!! Boy were they pissed!! We didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Since it wasn't funny, we thought about crying but we looked on the bright side. With the speed we had in that old Newport 30 we could have cut them in half and that would have really pissed them off.

 

[sinnettc]

Our beer can races are out and back around the outside of the buoy circle. Everyone heads out going clockwise, then after 30 minutes we turn around and go back the way we came. It generally puts us all back at the start in a fairly close pack.

On a good evening we get about 1/2 way around in the Capri 22, generally in fairly close proximity to the Wavelength 24's and S20's, before everyone turns around. The F27 is usually 2/3 to 3/4 away around the circle - those things fly! On our worst night last year we ended up towing in 2 S20's that didn't have auxiliary power after the wind completely died with us all 1/4 of the way around and about 2 miles from the marinas.

Personally, I enjoy the beer can races - they give me an opportunity to build my skills without the expense, wear and time commitment necessary for the formal racing.

They've also provided an opportunity to spend time with my younger son, who's really shown an interest in sailing and is very competitive. Too bad his mother gets seasick in a rubber raft on a pond or maybe he'd have had an opportunity to learn before college. 8^D

 

[Alan]

Don, so true! A pre-start stratagy is key to winning your start and can make or break your race. Hitting the line at the gun, going full speed and at the favored end of the line is as good as it gets. If you can drive the competition off to the less favored side so much the better. Of course, this only works for similarly rated boats. In my opinion rating systems are only nearly fair when the boats are of similar ratings. A 20 second or more rating spread in any division would certainly not be fair fight.
I agree that one off or match racing is the very best form of racing. This takes the boat out of the mix and puts crew work and skill as the premium factor. Luck can play a role but for the most part the better crew will win.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Can't say I recall anyone answering Andy's question about cover or not to cover. My 2 cents is that you should cover as best you can assuming your trailing boats are in your division. On a beer can race you might be in a situation where there are many boats mixed together with a wide array of handicaps. Obviously,if you are sailing one of the slower boats and the scratch boat (fastest) comes upon you, then you don't need to waste too much time covering that boat assuming it will fly by you anyway. But, when in a closer handicap competition - definitely cover. There is one advantage of being across the line first and in first place: They have to catch up and pass you. That is huge. Being in first is a lot better than last or in the middle where you have to make up several boats to get into first.

 

[sinnettc]

Bill,

That mixed bag is exactly what we have - everything from a laser to the standard S20/Wavo 24 race crowd to C27 cruisers and occasionally a 30 foot ketch. Twice last summer I managed to pull off terrific starts.

I also learned a lot about getting covered. In clean air I can take the C27. One evening we were overtaking Tim near the end of the race but every time I got close, we'd lose speed and he'd inch ahead again. Guess who was upwind? I finally tacked early, then tacked again just in front of a pack of other boats and managed to beat him to the finish. It was actually one of our better finishes with us well up in the front third of the fleet.