Some of you may or may not remember that I got invited to join the crew of a 36 ft S2 11.0 for the Wednesday races at my local yacht club (thanks to the local crew bucket listing). The boat is owned by a really nice couple (whose names I won't include since I haven't asked their permission), and I had been looking forward to competing.
Well, that first Wednesday race finally came.
We left early to get me used to handling the lines on a larger boat, tacking back and forth up and down the Ohio for a bit. We were the first boat out.
Then, the committee boat came out- I was told it must be the committee boat because they were anchored. Though I wasn't sure what committee was for a moment, I collected that committee boat = judges boat. So, this was the boat where everyone recorded times and observed the race.
We were in the last class, Spinnaker A I believe. I was pleased to hear that there was only one other boat in this class, which meant we got 2nd place no matter what. I figured that would be great, as it would sound great when I bragged about it on my blog/ fb. I didn't have to mention that there were only two boats (though I guess I kind of blew that just now...ah well).
The other classes (Lower classes, I asserted airily, nose held high) and entrants began to flood out of the marina (almost all of them from Limestone Bay) in a neat little unplanned line. I smiled as sail after sail appeared out of the mouth of the inlet. It was more sailboats than I had ever seen, really. It was quite the sight, to the eyes of someone new like me.
On they went, until it was finally time for our class. The other boat in our class went racing ahead, heeling over probably 25 degrees...then more...then more...which was starting to concern us because they were getting very close to the committee boat. They were rounding the committee boat to make it to the starting line, but boy were they cutting it close.
Steer away...steer away...steer away! But as they rounded the stern of the committee boat, so to did they heel even further. So far that, apparently to me, the rudder was not biting. And they were not easing the sheets, either. I was amused but not entirely surprised to hear a loud THUD come form their direction. The small heeling boat had hit the committee boat! Not only had a collision occurred, but they hit the judges! Ha ha!
Oh, pipe down, everyone was fine, I'm not that big of a jerk for laughing!
Oh, pipe down, everyone was fine, I'm not that big of a jerk for laughing!
I also might not should have laughed, because they beat us pretty bad. Up to the mark we went, making one more tack than we would have liked, back round we came...and finally we crossed the finish line. But not before we had lost most of the wind that blew so nicely earlier.
It was interesting to see how the strategy of tacking and timing your tacks so that you angle past the buoy correctly came into play in the real world, and to crew such a nice, big boat. And the company was enjoyable, as always.
But when it was all said and done, we came in last place. Which is to say we finished second! Either way you look at it, it was a pretty great day, and I had my first race behind me.
