Moose McClintock has been trying to stop sailing J/24s for longer than many of us have been sailing them. He first tried when longtime skipper Ken Read (he of the six world titles) got out of the class in the mid-90s. But then he got sucked back in to sail with Vince Brun in 1997 (first) and 1998 (second to Terry Hutchinson). He was back again in 2002 (with Brad Read, first) and 2005 (with Max Skelley, 8th with two DNFs). And in 2009, he was back again, this time with Chris Larson. To no one’s surprise, they had a strong regatta, finishing second to Brazil’s Mauricio Santa Cruz. All told, according to Moose, that’s five wins and three seconds over 15 world championship regattas. So I asked Moose to offer up a few gems on sailing these beloved boats. I considered keeping this all to myself—there’s some good stuff here—but figured that wouldn’t be fair.
Of course, if you don’t know, Moose works for Dimension-Polyant Sailcloth. They produced the genoa used by Mauricio Santa Cruz (to Santa Cruz’s design) and the cloth used for the genoa that Larson sailed to second (a North design).
Find out more about D-P here,
Before I get into the interview, some kudos for the management team which correctly canceled racing last week. I was a little upset to see Day 1 get blown off so early, but the breeze only picked up after noon and by 6 p.m., it was perfectly miserable, and dangerous. So we all live to fight this week, which is looking quite sweet, as long as the fog holds off.
Tell us a little bit about your team, led by former world champ Chris Larson
The crew we had, nobody regularly sailed J/24s. One of the guys Steve Frazier, works up at North, he does some night racing. And Curtis Florence, the bow guy, does bow on Farr 40s, but he hasn’t done J/24 stuff. Dave Hughes who’s a super, super crew, he sailed with Mikee Anderson-Mitterling in the 470, he’s fantastic, but he’d sailed like one J/24 regatta.
What I did with each guy is I went over their area and how to do the mechanics of it and once we got the mechanics down, then it was fine.
So for the jib trimmer, for example, what sort of things did you review?
For [Dave] it was more the mechanics of how to physically do the tack. He said, “I’m not a big guy.” Size has nothing to do with it. It’s all technique and hand speed. So we did a bunch of tacks and I showed him the easiest way to do everything from zero to 20 [knots]. At one point he tried to do something different and totally screwed up. I said, “What happened there?” He said, “I tried to do it my own way and that’s not working.”
It never got real up range so it was easy for him to keep in control and get the mechanics down for when the breeze did come up. I flew the kite downwind so he didn’t have to worry about that.
The J/24 carries a small kite by today’s standards. So what’s the key, especially in light air?
Just like every sail on a J/24—the genoa has to go zero to 20, the kite has to go zero to 30—you don’t have specialized shapes. What we do, and if you look at pictures you’ll probably notice, we always have the pole much lower than anybody else. In light and wavy conditions, having the pole low gives you a little bit rounder front end and you don’t have to sheet quite as hard, so you make the sail a little bit more asymmetric. So when you’re doing VMG sailing you have a little bit rounder leading edge to be able to sail off of and you don’t have to sheet quite as hard. If the pole goes up, the top of the sail rotates around and you have to oversheet into the boat and it backwinds into the main.
So that was one thing, we always had the pole a little bit lower and we always had it a little bit further forward too. Having it further forward makes the sail a little bit rounder for the chop and gets it further away from the boat so you get a little bit less disturbed air going through it.
Did you have any tactical thoughts that are specific to the J/24 or even to the big fleet where lanes are at a premium?
The one thing I tell everybody, if you get a bad start it’s very easy to whip the boat around, but don't do it. It's like in an Etchells, if you get a bad start the big thing is not to tack right away. Because if you tack and start reaching behind people you go backwards in a hurry.
We had a couple of really bad starts and we were able to pop out. The big thing is don’t do many tacks. You have to put the bow down so far to get the boat moving again after you tack that you’re just sailing backwards.
Our goal, for the most part, was to come off the line and sail for as long as we could. When you tack, make sure you’re tacking and not having to do big dips. Wait until you’ve dropped back a little bit so you’re doing close dips behind people and you’re not giving up a lot of leeway.
If you have to bear off, the boat just rolls over on its side and you start skidding, you’re going to leeward like there’s no tomorrow. That’s where you start losing lanes. That’s one thing that’s kind of quirky about the J/24. You look at people sailing them upwind and in every kind of breeze the boat is sitting bolt upright. The keel's not real efficient, and to get it work you’ve got to get it sitting straight up and down, and just get the keel down in the water. The boat heels and the keel doesn’t do jack. Those were the biggest things, don’t tack much and just keep the boat as flat as possible.
Looking around at the fleet did you notice any consistent mistakes being made by other teams?
Everybody sails with big scallops in the luff of the headsail. People have to realize when you get these big scallops, you’re making the entry [of the jib] really fine. And they’d be sailing along and sticking it [up] and sticking it [up] and then they’d reach the point of stall and all of the sudden they’d just stop. And they wouldn’t put the bow back down. A round leading edge gives…an Etchells jib is perfect example of this, it’s very round forward and when you put the bow down you get attached flow going again very quickly. When you have these big scallops and a very fine front end [of the jib] you’ve really got to put the bow down and ease. I saw a lot of people that would get into this mode of sticking it up, sticking it up, sticking it up and all of the sudden they’d just stop.
You mean just feathering the boat up constantly?
You sail really pinchy, J/24s don’t go a lot faster if you put the bow down, so everybody sails really high and you go about the same speed. Which is fine until you stall. Once you stall you’ve got to put the bow down and get the thing going again. We probably sail with a tighter luff than anybody. Overall we were pointing a little bit lower, but we didn’t have the issues of hitting the brakes every now and then.
How much did you play the jib Cunningham.
When Curtis was on deck and there was good breeze, we played it a lot. As puffs would come through he’d crank on it pretty good. When the breeze comes up, you’ve got more waves, and the boat’s bouncing around and shaking and if you’ve got to put the bow down to get the boat going again after hitting a wave, you needed that round front edge. So we’d use it for that. Big puffs coming through, he’d wail on it and open up the mid-leech and that’s a big part too, when the breeze is on you’ve got to keep the mid-leech on the genoa open so you can drop the traveler down and keep the boat speed. The guys that go really slow are the guys that don’t keep the boat on its feet. The main starts flogging, so they keep it too centerline or something and they heel too much. That’s where the big problem is.
Any other last-minute secrets for Fleet 50?
One thing that was good about our guys is we generally had one guy who never came on deck half the regatta. And Dave would be down below a lot of times. In fact in the lighter stuff, I’d tack the genoa and just hand him the tail after the tack and he and Steve rolled from down below. Often we ended up with Curtis down below. We had three guys below and I’d just sit on the cockpit sole and stayed low and Chris would be the only one on deck. It’s really fast to do that because the boat’s so bouncy that the higher you get the weight up on deck, the worse it is. So we kept the weight really low. A lot of the best guys do that, you don’t see anyone on deck. You could see the guys that had people on deck [suffer], not so much in the flat stuff, but as soon as it got bouncy, it was huge.
Downwind, because there’s so much traffic in Annapolis, when you saw waves coming everybody got very low. If it was windy enough where I could see the kite, I’d just sit on the step and we’d have two guys down below and Curtis would just flatten himself up forward. We’d just lay there and we’d get through it. Once you start the bouncing, you get a little bit of a harmonic motion and the kite gets really unstable. We had an absolute minimum weight kite and we were able to get through that stuff pretty good. We were really fast downwind.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Sun's Up, Which Means The Countdown is On
Some signs of spring are universal; we all see and appreciate them. Others are more personal. For me the ultimate sign that we’ve finally turned the page on winter and can look forward to a summer of Thursday night J/24 sailing comes courtesy of my office window, but not in the way you might expect.
During the cold half of the year, at least when the sun is out, I have keep the blinds closed to keep the sun from boring a hole into my brain. But one day last week I came to work and realized that the sun’s arc through the sky was finally high enough that the golden orb remained tucked nicely above the ledge overhanging my window and I no longer needed the blinds drawn to see my computer and get some work done.
I love the view from my office window, especially in the spring before the leaves completely obscure First Beach. But I think what really excites me about not having to close the blinds on each sunny day is that it means another season of J/24 sailing is right around the corner. Yup, the calendar confirms it, just a month to go.
For more than a few members of Fleet 50, the 2009 season will get off to an early start with the 2009 J/24 Worlds in Annapolis, May 4 to 8. Among the local stars that will be battling the world on the Chesapeake are former class world champs Anthony Kotoun on Bomba Charger and Jens Hookanson on Salsa. Also sailing will be Peter Levesque on Mookie, John Mollicone on Evil Donut, Charlie Enright on Talking Heads, Tim Healy on Pop Rocks, Brian Smith on Cougar Treat, and Will Welles on Paraloc. And I'm sure there are a few other fleet members scattered throughout the fleet. Former fleet captain Bob Kinsman mentioned that he'd be crewing in the regatta. You can follow that results at http://www.j24worldchampionship2009.com
Hopefully after all the practice, the Annapolis YC Spring One-Design regatta this weekend, the de facto pre-worlds regatta during the 2009 Sperry Top-Sider Annapolis NOOD, and the five days of racing during the worlds, they’ll be burned out and let the rest of us shake off the rust in a timely manner during May. Yeah, I agree, that’s not very likely. Looks like a little practice might be in order over the next month. See you on May 14th if not before. And don’t forget to sign up in advance, the fleet management is making a push to get everyone signed up before they sail their first race. You'll also want to pick your week for race committee. This year every boat will be required to contribute two people for one night of race committee.
During the cold half of the year, at least when the sun is out, I have keep the blinds closed to keep the sun from boring a hole into my brain. But one day last week I came to work and realized that the sun’s arc through the sky was finally high enough that the golden orb remained tucked nicely above the ledge overhanging my window and I no longer needed the blinds drawn to see my computer and get some work done.
I love the view from my office window, especially in the spring before the leaves completely obscure First Beach. But I think what really excites me about not having to close the blinds on each sunny day is that it means another season of J/24 sailing is right around the corner. Yup, the calendar confirms it, just a month to go.
For more than a few members of Fleet 50, the 2009 season will get off to an early start with the 2009 J/24 Worlds in Annapolis, May 4 to 8. Among the local stars that will be battling the world on the Chesapeake are former class world champs Anthony Kotoun on Bomba Charger and Jens Hookanson on Salsa. Also sailing will be Peter Levesque on Mookie, John Mollicone on Evil Donut, Charlie Enright on Talking Heads, Tim Healy on Pop Rocks, Brian Smith on Cougar Treat, and Will Welles on Paraloc. And I'm sure there are a few other fleet members scattered throughout the fleet. Former fleet captain Bob Kinsman mentioned that he'd be crewing in the regatta. You can follow that results at http://www.j24worldchampionship2009.com
Hopefully after all the practice, the Annapolis YC Spring One-Design regatta this weekend, the de facto pre-worlds regatta during the 2009 Sperry Top-Sider Annapolis NOOD, and the five days of racing during the worlds, they’ll be burned out and let the rest of us shake off the rust in a timely manner during May. Yeah, I agree, that’s not very likely. Looks like a little practice might be in order over the next month. See you on May 14th if not before. And don’t forget to sign up in advance, the fleet management is making a push to get everyone signed up before they sail their first race. You'll also want to pick your week for race committee. This year every boat will be required to contribute two people for one night of race committee.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Party after Racing 8/14 sponsored by Hall Spars!
Party after racing 8/14 sponsored by Hall Spars at Ida Lewis!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
A Call to Keyboards (i.e. Volunteers Needed)
If someone were to design a sailing hell, they could do a lot worse (and not in a good way) than simply recreating the conditions from last Thursday night: a mealy, dying southerly and a very strong flood tide running parallel to the breeze.
When we left the dock, we tried to get a gauge on the tide. It looked pretty close to high, so we were anticipating a slack tide or perhaps the start of the ebb, both of which would’ve been fine given the light southerly breeze. No such luck. The tide was smoking in for the entire evening. Even in the Rose Island Cone, where the relief is usually quite pronounced, there was a ton of flow. I’m half surprised Rose didn’t simply break free, bounce through the center span of the bridge, and wedge itself into the Hurricane Barrier in Providence. The incoming breeze and incoming tide meant that the 7-knot southerly was actually a 4- to 5-knot southerly, essentially drifting conditions.
We seemed to play the first portion of the race well, carving out a lane off the line that enabled us to hit the current relief by Goat Island without much trouble. But from there we went backwards. It was one of those nights—no matter what we did, we seemed to lose.
By the leeward mark, we were pretty desperate, so we split from the pack and headed toward Goat Island. We overstood by 20 boatlengths and came into the finish on a tight reach. It was hardly conventional sailing, but it netted us a respectable finish.
And so July came to a close with a resounding thud. Since the results from BargeGate haven’t been released, we currently have three official race results from the entire month. Wow. Who would’ve thunk it? Not to beat a dead horse, but taking the July 3rd off so great right now. Sail ‘em if you got ‘em, to paraphase Die Hard hero John McLain.
Another thing that ended on Thursday was my perfect attendance streak. I’m off to China on Wednesday to cover the Olympics. So, I’m hoping that in my absence a few of you faithful readers (Are there any? You never write?) will chip in with your stories from the wild and wooly world of Thursday night J/24 sailing. You can email me (stuart.streuli (at) sailingworld.com) or any of the fleet officers and we’ll get what you write up on the blog. It’s a lot easier than it looks, trust me. And I’ll need something to get me through 17 days behind the red curtain.
And when the results come out and I can figure out who came scorching out of the right corner on the first beat, I’ll try to get another Winner’s Words up on the site.
See you in September.
When we left the dock, we tried to get a gauge on the tide. It looked pretty close to high, so we were anticipating a slack tide or perhaps the start of the ebb, both of which would’ve been fine given the light southerly breeze. No such luck. The tide was smoking in for the entire evening. Even in the Rose Island Cone, where the relief is usually quite pronounced, there was a ton of flow. I’m half surprised Rose didn’t simply break free, bounce through the center span of the bridge, and wedge itself into the Hurricane Barrier in Providence. The incoming breeze and incoming tide meant that the 7-knot southerly was actually a 4- to 5-knot southerly, essentially drifting conditions.
We seemed to play the first portion of the race well, carving out a lane off the line that enabled us to hit the current relief by Goat Island without much trouble. But from there we went backwards. It was one of those nights—no matter what we did, we seemed to lose.
By the leeward mark, we were pretty desperate, so we split from the pack and headed toward Goat Island. We overstood by 20 boatlengths and came into the finish on a tight reach. It was hardly conventional sailing, but it netted us a respectable finish.
And so July came to a close with a resounding thud. Since the results from BargeGate haven’t been released, we currently have three official race results from the entire month. Wow. Who would’ve thunk it? Not to beat a dead horse, but taking the July 3rd off so great right now. Sail ‘em if you got ‘em, to paraphase Die Hard hero John McLain.
Another thing that ended on Thursday was my perfect attendance streak. I’m off to China on Wednesday to cover the Olympics. So, I’m hoping that in my absence a few of you faithful readers (Are there any? You never write?) will chip in with your stories from the wild and wooly world of Thursday night J/24 sailing. You can email me (stuart.streuli (at) sailingworld.com) or any of the fleet officers and we’ll get what you write up on the blog. It’s a lot easier than it looks, trust me. And I’ll need something to get me through 17 days behind the red curtain.
And when the results come out and I can figure out who came scorching out of the right corner on the first beat, I’ll try to get another Winner’s Words up on the site.
See you in September.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Party This Week After Racing! 7/31/08 Off Site!
Hi All here are the directions for the party after racing Thurday.
Address: 629 Wolcott Ave, Middletown...
(between purgatory and tuckerman ave)
best directions are to turn right on tuckerman after first beach and left on Wolcott Ave...
we will also make up flyers to pass off the race committee boat...
Address: 629 Wolcott Ave, Middletown...
(between purgatory and tuckerman ave)
best directions are to turn right on tuckerman after first beach and left on Wolcott Ave...
we will also make up flyers to pass off the race committee boat...
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Hold the Bus, I mean Barge
Although the events of last Thursday night have luffed a few sails, I think we all need to go take a chill pill until things can be sorted out. After the Protest Hearing Monday night, we learned that the RC cannot DSQ anyone, much less the whole fleet, without filing their own protest.
So where does this leave us as appropriate scoring for last Thursday?.......undecided, I guess. So RC and Fleet 50 management will get together and come to a conclusion on this. Until then, there are no official results. They took a stand, and we should support them for this. We interferred with Commercial Traffic as the barge stopped to avoid what looked like to them was imminent danger. This is against Federal and Fleet 50 regulations. RC was doing what they thought was right.
Now we can all argue the pros/cons of what happened, but I want to think that we all can learn from this. Here are some things to ponder, and I would love to hear others thoughts on this, so please send me an email with your suggestions.
1. Are we capable of policing ourselves? Most of the fleet crossed in front of the Barge, either going to or from the Dumplings.
2. What do we need to put in our SI's to insure that this won't happen again? Or what penalty is warranted if it does? One suggestion is to adapt the Shields class wording.
3. Does RC need more input from the class? We are moving toward more assistance, but should we go further in terms on Race Day assistance. It has been voluntary so far, but maybe it needs to be mandatory.
4. What constitutes an official posting? Something on IDA's website, or does it need to be on Fleet 50's site as well?
There are many things to consider, in addition to how we should score the night. I would certainly like to see the same enthusiasm put into rewriting the SI's to close the gaps, or in helping to administer/assist with racing logistics on a given Thursday.
There are a few boats that did the "right" thing, and took huge detours. I commend them. I was one who did not, and was confused as the proper course to take. Bad Lee.
So send me your thoughts and lets make changes for the better.
So where does this leave us as appropriate scoring for last Thursday?.......undecided, I guess. So RC and Fleet 50 management will get together and come to a conclusion on this. Until then, there are no official results. They took a stand, and we should support them for this. We interferred with Commercial Traffic as the barge stopped to avoid what looked like to them was imminent danger. This is against Federal and Fleet 50 regulations. RC was doing what they thought was right.
Now we can all argue the pros/cons of what happened, but I want to think that we all can learn from this. Here are some things to ponder, and I would love to hear others thoughts on this, so please send me an email with your suggestions.
1. Are we capable of policing ourselves? Most of the fleet crossed in front of the Barge, either going to or from the Dumplings.
2. What do we need to put in our SI's to insure that this won't happen again? Or what penalty is warranted if it does? One suggestion is to adapt the Shields class wording.
3. Does RC need more input from the class? We are moving toward more assistance, but should we go further in terms on Race Day assistance. It has been voluntary so far, but maybe it needs to be mandatory.
4. What constitutes an official posting? Something on IDA's website, or does it need to be on Fleet 50's site as well?
There are many things to consider, in addition to how we should score the night. I would certainly like to see the same enthusiasm put into rewriting the SI's to close the gaps, or in helping to administer/assist with racing logistics on a given Thursday.
There are a few boats that did the "right" thing, and took huge detours. I commend them. I was one who did not, and was confused as the proper course to take. Bad Lee.
So send me your thoughts and lets make changes for the better.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Catch 22
If you went to the Ida Lewis YC website looking for the results for July 17, you likely got quite a shock. In place of a series of finishes from two interesting races was the following statement from the race committee.
All boats receive DSQ for the evening due to violation of SIs and Coast Guard Event Permit – interfering with commercial traffic.
To borrow a phrase from a current KFC commercial, “I wasn’t expecting that.”
Fleet 50 has had its run-ins with commercial traffic, though it’s been a while since we had a situation like last night, with a barge running through the middle of course. I wholeheartedly agree with Part 22 of the Sailing Instructions (below).
Competitors are reminded that Narragansett Bay is a Restricted Channel. Sailing Vessels do not have the right of way over a vessel under power, which is restricted in her ability to maneuver. Competitors found to have run afoul of commercial vessels before, while, or after racing may be subject to penalty which may include disqualification from that day’s completed races. We play where others work; please respect those who are working and do not impeded their progress in any way.
I also agree with disqualifying anyone who even comes close to interfering with commercial traffic. If you have a rule, it should be enforced. And this behavior could jeopardize Fleet 50’s ability to sail every Thursday night.
However, I don’t think a mass DSQ is the best way to curb this behavior.
Firstly, it’s unfair. We tacked to port not long after crossing the line and headed right. We saw the barge and while we did take one hitch down the bay in the Rose Island Cone, we crossed the channel well astern of the barge. Once we cleared its prop wash we tacked back. We never got within 200 feet of the barge and were never in a position to force it to alter course or slow down. Had the barge continued on its expected course we never would’ve come near it. And the same can be said for most, if not all, of the boats that played the right side of the course.
By the time we got to the windward mark the barge was parked, and had been for a few minutes. The course that took us furthest away from the barge—and yes, kept us going toward the mark—was across its bow on starboard. I guess we could’ve stopped and waited for the barge to resume its path. But that’s a little much. Who knew how long that was going to take. We were always well clear of the barge. However, if that’s still too close for comfort, then what about the 2 or 3 boats that jibed at or near the windward mark and sailed along the Jamestown side of the barge. These boats never crossed the bow of the barge upwind or downwind. How can anyone say they interfered with commercial traffic?
Secondly, what good does a mass disqualification do? A colleague at work pointed out that it gives the fleet a good sound bite for the Coast Guard. “We tossed everyone out.” I guess I can understand that. But it doesn’t teach anyone a lesson. And isn’t that the goal of a punishment, to ensure it doesn’t happen again. No one was really penalized because everyone was tossed.
If the fleet finds itself in the same situation again wouldn’t it be better for boats to think, “Geez, the last time this happened half the fleet was DSQ’d, and half of it wasn’t, so we’d better play it safe, even if it costs us a few boats.” Instead they’ll think there’s strength in numbers. They’ll think, “Get enough boats to cross the barge and then the RC will either throw everyone out or no one. Either way, the conservative route isn’t likely to pay.”
One of the things I understand least about sailing is the occasionally adversarial nature of the relationship between the race committee and the sailors. We’re all out there for the same purpose, to enjoy our time on the water. At times it will get tense, at times some or all of the fleet will need to have its collective hand slapped. But we need to work together as much as we can.
This decision merely serves to broaden the gulf between the sailors and the race committee and does little to ensure this sort of thing won’t happen again in the future.
All boats receive DSQ for the evening due to violation of SIs and Coast Guard Event Permit – interfering with commercial traffic.
To borrow a phrase from a current KFC commercial, “I wasn’t expecting that.”
Fleet 50 has had its run-ins with commercial traffic, though it’s been a while since we had a situation like last night, with a barge running through the middle of course. I wholeheartedly agree with Part 22 of the Sailing Instructions (below).
Competitors are reminded that Narragansett Bay is a Restricted Channel. Sailing Vessels do not have the right of way over a vessel under power, which is restricted in her ability to maneuver. Competitors found to have run afoul of commercial vessels before, while, or after racing may be subject to penalty which may include disqualification from that day’s completed races. We play where others work; please respect those who are working and do not impeded their progress in any way.
I also agree with disqualifying anyone who even comes close to interfering with commercial traffic. If you have a rule, it should be enforced. And this behavior could jeopardize Fleet 50’s ability to sail every Thursday night.
However, I don’t think a mass DSQ is the best way to curb this behavior.
Firstly, it’s unfair. We tacked to port not long after crossing the line and headed right. We saw the barge and while we did take one hitch down the bay in the Rose Island Cone, we crossed the channel well astern of the barge. Once we cleared its prop wash we tacked back. We never got within 200 feet of the barge and were never in a position to force it to alter course or slow down. Had the barge continued on its expected course we never would’ve come near it. And the same can be said for most, if not all, of the boats that played the right side of the course.
By the time we got to the windward mark the barge was parked, and had been for a few minutes. The course that took us furthest away from the barge—and yes, kept us going toward the mark—was across its bow on starboard. I guess we could’ve stopped and waited for the barge to resume its path. But that’s a little much. Who knew how long that was going to take. We were always well clear of the barge. However, if that’s still too close for comfort, then what about the 2 or 3 boats that jibed at or near the windward mark and sailed along the Jamestown side of the barge. These boats never crossed the bow of the barge upwind or downwind. How can anyone say they interfered with commercial traffic?
Secondly, what good does a mass disqualification do? A colleague at work pointed out that it gives the fleet a good sound bite for the Coast Guard. “We tossed everyone out.” I guess I can understand that. But it doesn’t teach anyone a lesson. And isn’t that the goal of a punishment, to ensure it doesn’t happen again. No one was really penalized because everyone was tossed.
If the fleet finds itself in the same situation again wouldn’t it be better for boats to think, “Geez, the last time this happened half the fleet was DSQ’d, and half of it wasn’t, so we’d better play it safe, even if it costs us a few boats.” Instead they’ll think there’s strength in numbers. They’ll think, “Get enough boats to cross the barge and then the RC will either throw everyone out or no one. Either way, the conservative route isn’t likely to pay.”
One of the things I understand least about sailing is the occasionally adversarial nature of the relationship between the race committee and the sailors. We’re all out there for the same purpose, to enjoy our time on the water. At times it will get tense, at times some or all of the fleet will need to have its collective hand slapped. But we need to work together as much as we can.
This decision merely serves to broaden the gulf between the sailors and the race committee and does little to ensure this sort of thing won’t happen again in the future.
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