My First Racing Experience

Every Wednesday and Sunday at Hoover there are sailboat races. Although I have learned much about sailing over the past one and a half years, racing is an entirely different animal. This past Monday, while chatting with some of the club members, I met the wife of one of the skippers. She said he was a neonatologist at Children's who loved sailing and ECMO and seemed to suggest we would have a lot to talk about. I gave said skipper a call Wednesday afternoon and asked if he needed crew. I gave him my sailing experience and we decided to meet up at the boat yard. The wind was blowing hard at 22mph gusting to 26mph out of the West. This unfortunately scared some of the skippers from going out, but not us.

The boat we were sailing was a thistle. My job was primarily rail meat ( or to use my weight as a counterbalance to keep the boat from flipping over). Although, I more or less was allowed to fly the spinnaker for a little while.

The fast wind made conditions challenging. We spent a substantial amount of time hiking and by the end of three races I was thoroughly soaked and my ankles were pretty raw from rubbing against the hiking straps. We did manage to win the last of 3 races which would be great if there had been more than two competitors.

As per tradition, we ended the day with beer and burgers at the clubhouse and talked about sailing and various other topics.

As I suspected, I have a lot to learn about sailboat racing. There is a lot that happens quickly. You are expected to read the conditions, the milds of the captain and other crew, and react precisely. As I continue to crew for these skippers I hope to improve my skill. This is not because I hope to become a competitive dingy sailer, but because the skills learned in racing will make me a better captain in the long run.