Terror on the high seas! A racing story.

[bamamick]

Well, not really terror. And the seas weren't all that high.

Some of us were talking on another thread about fear while you are sailing. It brought this to mind:

Some time ago I was supposed to sail in a pretty big event called the Lipton Cup. Yes, that Lipton, who apparently owned a lot of cups. This one he donated to the Gulf Yachting Association, and we sail for it once a year,hosted by rotating clubs, four skippers to a team, countless crew, each skipper sails one race. At the end of the four races you count up the points. Low point club wins the sporty cup. It is a great honor to represent your club in this thing. My club has won the thing exactly once in the gazillion years that we've sailed for it (actually something like 75 years).

Because of the boat that they use I have never really been involved that much. I did sail the qualifications twice, and twice was picked to represent our club, something that I take pretty seriously. Fear of letting people down is something that I suffer from. Anyway, the first year I sailed it I got an 8th out of 24. Not great, but with the level of competition I didn't think it was too bad (best from my club, anyway).

The next year I also qualified to sail. Because of my job I had to work through the first two days of the Lipton's. The third day I drove to New Orleans and was supposed to sail the 'anchor' leg. When I got there, though, things had changed. The team captain told me that I had two eligible crew left on the list: my wife, and the wife of a buddy of mine. My wife has sailed all of her life, the other girl was not a sailor. She was on the list because of her weight (she was small).

Well, after thinking it through, we decided that it was best if my wife drove the boat, so that I could do all the trim stuff and fly the kite. My wife hadn't sailed this boat before, to my knowledge. Well, our team wasn't doing too well, and most folks had gone home. Who cares, eh? We'll do our best.

Off we go. First beat we were doing pretty well. Top 10. At the end of the first triangle we had dropped back a little, but still in the low teens. Second beat, the tactician (me) took a wild guess and we picked up several boats. This was a triangle windward-leeward course. As we were approaching the second weather mark we were about 7th. A very respectable placing for us. We were sailing along on port tack almost to the mark, heading into the lead boats who had already rounded.

I was kind of daydreaming, making sure that the 'chute was going to run free when we rounded. My wife was driving well. In the groove. A boat is approaching us on starboard. I think to myself 'she sees it. It's not a problem'. Still coming. I'm thinking 'well, she'll fall down a wee bit and we'll be o.k.. At this point we're solid in 7th'. Next thing I know TWANG!, their boom is popping our shroud. Oh, damn! Turns. We've got to do turns. I start hollering 'c'mon, we've got to do 'em'. My wife is looking at me like I'm speaking Swahili. Soon we are both shouting. Our turns are not done too well, what with all the invective being spewed from two different directions. 'How could you do that?'. 'How could you LET me do that?' Oh, boy. Not cool. Anyway, we drop back. A lot. To something like 18th. Ugh.

Sometime in the middle of all this I realise that something is not quite right with our third crew. She has been very quiet the whole time, but now she's kind of in the fetal position, has changed colors, and is HYPERVENTILATING! Oh my. Now I hear 'it's your fault she's upset'. Apparently it was my shouting that sent the dear girl over the edge. Apparently. So now we are sailing this zig-zaggedy course trying to figure out what to do about the race, our anger at each other, and the condition of the young lady.

Eventually we did what it's usually best to do: nothing. My wife kept the boat aimed at the finish line. I apologised to everyone. Even people on other boats. After talking soothingly as I could in my boat deck voice to the third crew she calmed down enough for me to think that maybe she would live until we got to the dock.

Our arrival after finshing way down in the fleet was met with stony silence. Hell, we were lucky anyone even helped us de-rig the boat. As if it WERE all my fault. And then, to top it all off, my beloved acted as if she were on THEIR side!

Well, that race had a profound effect on my sailing career. Last time sailing the Liptons, last time sailing a race with my wife (who I love dearly, by the way), last time sailing that particluar class of boat, and the last time I ever saw our third crew on a sailboat. I have never seen a person so afraid out on a boat that they were shaking uncontrollably except then. And what joy to know that it was all MY fault. Isn't sailboat racing fun?

Cheers.

Mickey Lake

[ 05-30-2005, 07:12 AM: Message edited by: bamamick ]

[Ian McColgin]

Crew choises can be hard. The tale makes it sound as if a bit of shouting caused the crew's psychic trauma, but it could as easily have been the boat to boat contact and general fear.

I've been through several evolutions but for the last thirty years I've earned a rep as a non-shouter. Like whipping a horse, the good done by swearing at the crew is of limited value over the long haul.

However, there are folk who can't change that in themselves. I sailed with one guy like that - a well respected sailmaker and small boat racer. He really does not just sail around. He either races or gets ashore. And he's a huge screamer. The good thing is he says so right up front. For him being loud and in your face is part of racing. As a sort of ringer-coach he is really superb, especially since he's usually shouting at the boat's owner rather than other crew.

If a person is an excitable screamer by nature, one should choose crew with suitably thick skins. One also needs to realize that not everyone has the raw courage for close in elbows up racing.

[Art Read]

If you have to yell, you've already lost control. I've been a sailing instructor for almost ten years, and a "dude schooner" skipper before that for over twenty. I do lots of "before the fact" briefings, but I NEVER, ever, yell while my crew are doing their job. It just makes them feel flustered, your passengers nervous, and you, apparantly, inheratanly, incompetant...

[Ian McColgin]

I emphatically agree with Art that screaming usually means loss of control and is especially wrong for a professional. It's just that while not my style, I've sailed with exactly one always brilliant racer who also gives his considerable voice and rather violent vocabulary a major work-out during the race.

Oddly enough, he's always calm at protest hearings.

Quite seperate from screaming, there can be a need for "command voice" that comes from well below the diaphram, is not at all constricted at the throat like screaming, and will penetrate even the dullest deafest mind.

Command voice has the inflection that makes the last word of "Trim the mainsheet, please," far more effective than "F$&%ing TRIM THE G$*D$*&# MAIN YOU SLACK @$$ED PIG #&%#*&!!"

[Art Read]

Ah, yes... "command voice". SWMBO called it my "skipper's tone". "Just don't try that ashore, buster!" ;)

[Henning 4148]

Now, the first responsibilty of a skipper is to bring crew and boat back home safely. Although with some worries, this did work out. Lessons learned etc.

Apart from that, as long as we are not talking payed professionals, the whole thing should be enjoyable for everybody on board. Now, not everything is enjoyable to everyone. This is where crew selection comes in. They have to naturally fit your way of skippering, trying to adjust to your crew will not bring out the best in you.

I went racing on a three day event in waters and boats I didn't know once with a crew I didn't know. Some had experience, some hadn't, some had an attitude problem, the lot. By the time I started to understand who would be reliable on doing what, the whole thing didn't work anymore. Some crew partied all night, had a huge hangover the next day, people from my crew nearly fell in the water off the dock, poor housekeeping, discussions like "you need your sleep to be awake tomorrow in the race" - "we are grown up, you can't tell us" ... . We retired after the first day. It was a decision I hated to make, but the weather forecast on the second day was "Storm up to F10 later" and I did not want to be out in a boat in bad weather with a crew that didn't work out for me. I didn't want to be out in bad weather anyway, but that is another point. Others (men better than me) might have managed and brought everything together, again others might have tried and made a complete cock up. I guess more than half of the fleet that raced that second day hadn't even bothered to get a weather forecast ... it was that sort of event. I wasn't happy, the crew wasn't happy, but crew and boat were safe.

Last year I raced again in this event. Hand picked crew. Not that much sailing experience, but only people I know and would trust on a boat even under bad conditions. My wife was on board as well, she has gone through the same courses than me, so we can do the same stuff and know how the other is doing it etc. ... Weeks before the event, we started getting information together and a "who is responsible for what" list. Especially the latter made a clear difference - I didn't have to think about everything at once any more, I could more or less handle most of the tasks by allocating the responsibilities and checking against my list. And: The crew enjoyed it and I enjoyed it as well. They want to try again next year. We were not very successfull, but we got better and better during the event and in the last test (a sort of race where a line finish time was given and you could pick your start time yourself) we were amoung the top boats. It was blowing 6-7 in that test.

So, my experience is - only go out with people you know and trust and who work out for you. Everything else is looking for trouble, especially when things don't work well and you don't need crew problems on top of other problems. Find your personal crew and stay with them if possible. Most of the really good crews have raced together for quite some time.

[bamamick]

I'd like to make just one point, for clarity's sake: neither my wife or myself ever shouted at the young lady that was with us on the boat. And we weren't shouting 'orders' or sailing instructions to each other. We were just shouting at each other, and for just a few moments. I am pretty sure that the tension of high caliber one-design racing, matched with the fact that a bit of a disaster had struck us, was the cause of her distress.

Just didn't want you to get the wrong impression of me. My wife and I have been married for 23 years, and happily sail the schooner together all the time. I have had the same Star crew for over 15 years, and he's good. He could crew for other people if he wanted to.

Mickey Lake

[Ian McColgin]

Good clarification. Sometimes the new person is more alarmed, especially if not occupied by being part of the action.

Mary Ellen had a chance to experience that without the shouting on our boat, though we were being fairly vigorous with another. I wrote this up before but to recap - Two Wiannos running straight down wind but we on starboard tack and aimed more truely at the mark. The other boat had wantered off a bit but was now converging with us on port. Good wind and nice sharp follwing seas to lend excitement. We hailed early and I might add often but those hackers just kept closing. We could not believe it. Perhaps they were out of control. Before we'd taken the decision to abandon our right of way and gybe off they were too close - either boat gybing would cause the boom to make violent contact with the other boats rig. Either boat broaching could have led to a sinking collision, exactly what had happened between two other Wiannos a couple of years earlier.

I got Mary Ellen well down in the boat and tried to keep things easy as we angled by the lee to get free, them seeming to persue us. Incredibly tense. Mary Ellen was not amused as the terror our skipper was feeling rather engulfed her.

A week later we had a nearly identicle scenerio with two huge differences. I was at the helm. And the other boat fooling with us, a different boat, was commanded by a woman I know to be a superb sailor. We had huge fun charging the line gunnel to gunnel with me looking for a way to force her the wrong side of the pin without actually sailing above my proper course or abusing my rights.

Everyone was keen. Everyone was aware that there was some danger. But everyone was also still in the thrill end of their comfort zone.

It was one of the greatest finishes of my life.

[ssor]

I saw a sticker on a J-24 "The beatings will comtinue until moral improves". :D