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Cruisers on the Race Course Secure the anchor on the bow sprit, clamp the lid on the barbecue, make sure the wine glasses are snug in their cabinet, it’s time to go racing. “What? Don’t you mean cruising?” Nope, it’s time to race the furniture around the course. There was a time when the family cruising boat was also their club racer. Sure, you could take off cushions and other heavy but moveable objects, but at its heart the boat was still the family cruiser. The racing was fun, and if you wanted to get really serious you’d go one design. However, as time marched on, boats became more specialized to where now you’d be hard pressed to cook a meal or spend the night on some of the “club racers.” The new boats aren’t as comfortable but they sure are fast, which meant the family cruiser/racer, performance/cruiser or whatever the boat was called in the brochure, wasn’t competitive, so many dropped out of the racing scene. Too bad. Talking racing and cruising in the same breath is like grouping football and soccer, basically two different animals. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Many of the clubs now have special cruising classes (divisions) which cater to the sailor who just wants to come sailing with friends and family and swap war stories in the bar afterward. It’s another great chance to take the boat out, plus (and this is what I’m finally getting to) a wonderful opportunity for yourself, friends and family to learn or hone their sailing skills. Nothing really makes you learn your boat more quickly than racing. You quickly learn the strengths and weaknesses of the boat as well as that of the skipper and crew. It’s also a terrific way to learn about tides and currents. You can learn in one race series more than you’d learn in five summers of cruising. By facing the challenges of racing, a cruiser’s confidence goes up exponentially. They know that they can handle whatever they encounter on the family summer cruise. No, I’m not talking about cruising as if you were racing all the time, far from it, but with the sails trimmed correctly and paying closer attention to the tides and currents, your sailing will be much more intuitive. You’ll do things as second nature as opposed to relearning skills every summer. So, it’s unplug the shorepower, fasten down the TV and off to the races. You’ll be surprised how much fun furniture racing can be. |
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