Bump's World - July 2015
July 20, 2015
WHERE ARE WE
As part of my yacht selling that is very challenging and very exciting, is getting to race in many different areas on many different boats. Last week, for example, I raced a Dehler 29 on Lake Champlain on Wednesday, a Sabre 426 in Martha’s Vineyard on Friday, a Dehler 38 in Manchester, MA on Saturday, and a J 111 in Marblehead on Sunday.
Four different boats and crews. Four different race committees and racing instructions. Four different opportunities to make mistakes. Being basically lazy, I look forward to races where I can do just sail trim or just tactics. Leave all the crew management, getting the boat to the race, the food, and the navigation etc. to someone else. Often I end up kicking myself because no one knows where we are or where we are going. I’m reading the race instruction’s with five minutes to go to the start of the race. Often this is when I am racing with people who race in this venue all the time. It is their home court.
Here is a list of problems I have encountered.
1. Do not know start time?
2. Do not know where starting line is?
3. Do not know which way to go over starting line?
4. Do not know starting sequence?
5. Do not know what class we are in?
6. Do not know course or which way to go around course?
7. Cannot find the marks.
8. Sail a different course.
9. Cannot find finish line.
10. Do not know which way to go over finish line.
11. Multiple starting lines, like Key West and Block Island, do not know which one is ours?
12. Shortened or changed course.
On Friday’s race we had a local expect on board and we started in the wrong class and sailed the wrong course. The owner had just bought twenty thousand dollars in new sails and we brought the boat from Woods Hole to the Vineyard and back.
Last year I sailed with a very good group of guys who bought an excellent race boat. I told them there biggest problem now was finding the marks because we would be getting there first. They all laughed. In our first race, yes, we were way out front, we sailed by the finish line and had to turn around to finish. We missed it by a quarter of a mile. The second race we over stood the first mark by a half mile.
On Sunday’s race we were first to every mark. Our navigator constantly up dated us with distance and heading to every mark. He did this with confidence and authority. He was right every time and it was a huge comfort factor. Yes we won by a lot.
This is called race management. It is a key part of racing. You can buy the best boat, put the best sails on it, but if you lack race management you will lose many frustrating races.
I rarely get to beat Jud Smith, but one day in the PHRFNEs we were racing our Aerodyne 38s and Jud was ahead and sailed to the leeward mark of another race course instead of our windward mark. I took us to the right mark and we won that race and the regatta. I’m glad I was not on Jud’s boat after that. Yes that was a rare occasion
I raced in Edgartown Race Week on a Wianno Senior and one day is was very windy. We did our races for the day and afterward we found out we were all thrown out except one boat. In their class rules if the committee boat fly’s a curtain flag on a windy day all sailors must wear life jackets. One boat wore the life jackets. That boat won it all because of that.
My first real boat was a C&C 25. She was yellow and called the “Banana Split”. My first year I made a lot of race management
mistakes. Nothing beat my second year, when I prepared the boat and crew, but showed up on the wrong day for the Eastern Yacht Club Lambert Race. In those days this was an overnight race of about one hundred plus miles. I hung out at the starting line for a couple of hours wondering where everyone was?
Pick a detail orientated person to be your race management and navigator person. This person is also in charge of time. Starting time, finish time and time at the marks, so you know how you are doing as well as where you are. Your race management guy is a key person. If he gets it wrong the whole day can be a disaster.
Most important don’t forget the beer.
Please mail comments to me at Bump@newwaveyachts.com
Bump Wilcox
