Well, after reading all the posts about racing, something I was pretty sure I wasn't into, I decided to try it anyway. Hey, you can't learn if you don't try something new, right? 
We had a club 'challenge' race last Sunday - pretty much a one design race (2 26's, 260's) -- well, the purists know that there is a difference between the boats, but what the heck. We sailed on Lake Minnetonka (just southwest of Minneapolis) -- normally a crazy/busy lake, especially with stinkpots, but you go where the water is, right? This day however, the higher winds were keeping the lake pretty clear of traffic. I took my boat out with another guy from the club and his two brothers - didn't really know them, they didn't know me, but I needed crew, they wanted to race. The winds were blowing out of the south at about 14 knots during the pre-race check-in. We were advised that the winds would increase with the possibility of 30 knot gusts later in the afternoon, but probably not during the race. (Let me step back here and say that I have never taken the boat out (intentionally) when the winds are higher than 6-12 knots. The Admiral and First Mate prefer a softer, gentler cruise. ) We started the race with a timed start – now there are probably books just written about how to do that right. We used a watch at first, then gut feel, then finally just said, ‘GO’ when we saw everyone else heading for the start. We ended up third out of the gate, but the winds were steady and strong and we soon overtook the other H-26 (he decided to start out reefed, so I think that helped us a bit) Tactically I screwed up right away by passing to windward, leaving us ‘waiting’ for the other guy to round north past the first mark. The downwind leg was probably where we lost most of our time – we didn’t have a whisker pole, the channel was too narrow to tack and our jib kept luffing. We made it through the channel and on the north side of the island caught the breeze – a fairly steady 14-16 knots. A couple of gusts caused us to really heel, but we managed it okay. The water over the rudder sounded like a waterfall and we kept it at about 6+ knots the whole time. Rounding the island I tried to cut the mark close but we had to tack to make the it – another boat did the same thing so we both gave up a lot of time. The homeward leg saw winds upwards of 19 knots, but the boat handled like a dream. What a sail! So, do I like racing? Yeah, I think the bug bit me pretty hard. I’m no good at it, but I learned a lot. I had a great crew (their best attribute being the ability to keep quiet when I screwed up! :lol ) Seriously, for four guys that had never sailed together, we did pretty well – it didn’t take long to find the rhythm and get going. It was a ton of fun, and I imagine like a lot of racers, I’ll keep thinking about it for a while (should’ve, could’ve, would’ve) Ultimately, the racing, especially in those winds, gave me a great boost of confidence, both in the boat and in my skills. In the end, I guess that’s the best thing that came out of it. Oh yeah, we finished third – but in the Olympics that’s a bronze, right? Dave Crowley s/v Wind Dreamer
We had a club 'challenge' race last Sunday - pretty much a one design race (2 26's, 260's) -- well, the purists know that there is a difference between the boats, but what the heck. We sailed on Lake Minnetonka (just southwest of Minneapolis) -- normally a crazy/busy lake, especially with stinkpots, but you go where the water is, right? This day however, the higher winds were keeping the lake pretty clear of traffic. I took my boat out with another guy from the club and his two brothers - didn't really know them, they didn't know me, but I needed crew, they wanted to race. The winds were blowing out of the south at about 14 knots during the pre-race check-in. We were advised that the winds would increase with the possibility of 30 knot gusts later in the afternoon, but probably not during the race. (Let me step back here and say that I have never taken the boat out (intentionally) when the winds are higher than 6-12 knots. The Admiral and First Mate prefer a softer, gentler cruise. ) We started the race with a timed start – now there are probably books just written about how to do that right. We used a watch at first, then gut feel, then finally just said, ‘GO’ when we saw everyone else heading for the start. We ended up third out of the gate, but the winds were steady and strong and we soon overtook the other H-26 (he decided to start out reefed, so I think that helped us a bit) Tactically I screwed up right away by passing to windward, leaving us ‘waiting’ for the other guy to round north past the first mark. The downwind leg was probably where we lost most of our time – we didn’t have a whisker pole, the channel was too narrow to tack and our jib kept luffing. We made it through the channel and on the north side of the island caught the breeze – a fairly steady 14-16 knots. A couple of gusts caused us to really heel, but we managed it okay. The water over the rudder sounded like a waterfall and we kept it at about 6+ knots the whole time. Rounding the island I tried to cut the mark close but we had to tack to make the it – another boat did the same thing so we both gave up a lot of time. The homeward leg saw winds upwards of 19 knots, but the boat handled like a dream. What a sail! So, do I like racing? Yeah, I think the bug bit me pretty hard. I’m no good at it, but I learned a lot. I had a great crew (their best attribute being the ability to keep quiet when I screwed up! :lol ) Seriously, for four guys that had never sailed together, we did pretty well – it didn’t take long to find the rhythm and get going. It was a ton of fun, and I imagine like a lot of racers, I’ll keep thinking about it for a while (should’ve, could’ve, would’ve) Ultimately, the racing, especially in those winds, gave me a great boost of confidence, both in the boat and in my skills. In the end, I guess that’s the best thing that came out of it. Oh yeah, we finished third – but in the Olympics that’s a bronze, right? Dave Crowley s/v Wind Dreamer