Racing crew assignments

[Joe]

My Cat 27 has most of the lines led aft for singlehanding convenience. I am going to participate in some casual racing this summer. I'm anticipating a crew of 4 or 5. Do any of you experienced catalina 27 skippers have any comments on how to handle crew distribution and their assignments. I'd also like your thoughts and experiences with crew responsibilities during specific manuevers such as spinnaker sets and take downs, starts and mark roundings. My biggest concern is that it will get too crowded in the cockpit, because all the controls are there, and people will be stepping on top of each other. Any related experiences would be appreciated.Thanks.

 

[Don Guillette]

Joe: A lot of boats I've raced on have crew doing two jobs or more and I don't like that. It is tough enought handling one sail and getting it properly trimmed. I like the way we set up the boat (Catalina 30) at the C30 National events, one of which was held in San Diego a couple of years ago. The positions we assign are skipper, mainsheet/traveler, port and starboard jib trimmers and a bow man or a crew of 5. The advantage of these assignments is that each crew memeber becoes very good at his function. The crew on the lazy jib sheet serves as the tailor for the loaded sheet. The bow man also works the cunningham, helps the jib across and skirts the jib after the tack.The positions do not change for mark rounding or the start. The bow man handles the spinnaker deck work. In the last 3 Catalina events we have finished 2nd - can't seem to break into 1st. In Santa Cruz, with winds in excess of 40 knots, we lost 1st by about 6 seconds.