Next Saturday, Kame Richards of Pineapple Sails will be speaking at the Army Corps of Engineers, Bay Model on Saturday, March 1, 12 noon and Tuesday March 18, 7 pm. Cost is a voluntary $15 (cash).
Kame has forgotten more about the tides and currents in San Francisco than most of us will ever know. This is a great program to experience and the Bay Model is a wonderful Bay Area resource that everyone should see, at least once.
I'm going to head to the Saturday program, but show up early as it's BOUND to sell out!
Hope to see you all there.
Drew
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
When in doubt RACE!
You’re sailing along on a fine reach back from the gate. Off your starboard side a boat appears. You eye the trim, the way the boat heals on the breeze. Next, you glance up at your sails, checking trim, 
downhaul, outhaul, vang, fairlead position. You gauge your progress down the Bay compared to the boat next to you...that’s it, the race is on. You do everything you can to beat them to Pier 39 and when you do, you’re elated!
Yeah, you need to go racing. Many people assume that the skill set for sailboat racing is demanding and out of reach. They think racing may be too physical or just a bunch of whackos yelling commands at each other. Well, all the above can be true, though generally only at the America’s Cup or one of the many high-end pro/semipro regattas around the globe. In the real world the rest of us just enjoy the casual competition, the camaraderie and yes, the post race events.
What do you need to go racing? Simple answer is, not much. A desire to help, to learn and to exceed are a great start. You’ll want some sort of foul-weather gear (keep it simple to start) some good shoes or better some watershoes or seaboots, gloves are a must. Sunglasses, some sunscreen and a red Mont Gay Rum hat (just add to the mystique.) The last thing you want to do is show up to the boat with a huge gear bag filled with stuff you won’t use. Remember the whole weight issue?
Honestly, at low level club and fleet racing, showing up is half the battle. Many boats DNS (did not start) for lack of crew, last minute.
How do you find a boat? It’s MUCH easier than you think. When I first started racing I would often show up at the local club docks and just bum a ride. You sit once or twice on the rail and then a trimmer or pitman doesn't show up and bam, you’re in the thick of it, but with the added advantage of having witnessed that crew position in action. Latitude 38 has great crew parties every year. sfsailing.com (local) and sailinganarchy.com (worldwide) have very active crewlists.
After your first hitched ride, head off to the Yacht Club for the post race party, meet some folks and I guarantee you’ll walk away with more offers to crew than you can manage. If you look at the numbers, they’re stacked in favor of crew. Even a small 25’ sportboat can need up to 5-6 crew in the Bay area. We have a LOT of wind and need weight to keep the boat sailing flat (which is fast). 35 foo
ters often have 8 or 9 and 50 feet + can have as many as 15 and more. Put 40 boats on the starting line and you have potentially 300+ sailors in action.
So go out, have some fun. You’ll learn so much about sailing each and every time you race. I’ve been racing most of my life and there isn’t a day race goes by that I don’t walk away having learned something and as a side benefit, it’ll make you feel great and give you a sense of accomplishment. Competition can be a very good thing indeed.
A couple of good books on sailboat racing and tactics can’t hurt. Here’s some suggestions.
Getting Started in Sailboat Racing by Adam Cort and Richard Stearns
Championship Tactics: How Anyone Can Sail Faster, Smarter, and Win Races by Gary L. Jobson, Tom Whidden, Adam Loory, and Bill King
downhaul, outhaul, vang, fairlead position. You gauge your progress down the Bay compared to the boat next to you...that’s it, the race is on. You do everything you can to beat them to Pier 39 and when you do, you’re elated!Yeah, you need to go racing. Many people assume that the skill set for sailboat racing is demanding and out of reach. They think racing may be too physical or just a bunch of whackos yelling commands at each other. Well, all the above can be true, though generally only at the America’s Cup or one of the many high-end pro/semipro regattas around the globe. In the real world the rest of us just enjoy the casual competition, the camaraderie and yes, the post race events.
What do you need to go racing? Simple answer is, not much. A desire to help, to learn and to exceed are a great start. You’ll want some sort of foul-weather gear (keep it simple to start) some good shoes or better some watershoes or seaboots, gloves are a must. Sunglasses, some sunscreen and a red Mont Gay Rum hat (just add to the mystique.) The last thing you want to do is show up to the boat with a huge gear bag filled with stuff you won’t use. Remember the whole weight issue?
Honestly, at low level club and fleet racing, showing up is half the battle. Many boats DNS (did not start) for lack of crew, last minute.
How do you find a boat? It’s MUCH easier than you think. When I first started racing I would often show up at the local club docks and just bum a ride. You sit once or twice on the rail and then a trimmer or pitman doesn't show up and bam, you’re in the thick of it, but with the added advantage of having witnessed that crew position in action. Latitude 38 has great crew parties every year. sfsailing.com (local) and sailinganarchy.com (worldwide) have very active crewlists.
After your first hitched ride, head off to the Yacht Club for the post race party, meet some folks and I guarantee you’ll walk away with more offers to crew than you can manage. If you look at the numbers, they’re stacked in favor of crew. Even a small 25’ sportboat can need up to 5-6 crew in the Bay area. We have a LOT of wind and need weight to keep the boat sailing flat (which is fast). 35 foo
ters often have 8 or 9 and 50 feet + can have as many as 15 and more. Put 40 boats on the starting line and you have potentially 300+ sailors in action.So go out, have some fun. You’ll learn so much about sailing each and every time you race. I’ve been racing most of my life and there isn’t a day race goes by that I don’t walk away having learned something and as a side benefit, it’ll make you feel great and give you a sense of accomplishment. Competition can be a very good thing indeed.
A couple of good books on sailboat racing and tactics can’t hurt. Here’s some suggestions.
Getting Started in Sailboat Racing by Adam Cort and Richard Stearns
Championship Tactics: How Anyone Can Sail Faster, Smarter, and Win Races by Gary L. Jobson, Tom Whidden, Adam Loory, and Bill King
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