A Mid-Fleet Perspective

If you were not interested in last week’s Scuttlebutt newsletter reports on the Star class Bacardi Cup in Miami, perhaps it’s because you’re not a fan of Olympic sailing, or 22-foot keelboats that were designed nearly a hundred years ago and cost about $65k. However, the class must be doing something right, as it still attracts elite sailors and huge fleets. As so often is the case, the event reports from last week did not tell the whole story. Beyond the glory of the top ten was the rest of the fleet, a group I affectionately call the “entry fees.” Without this group, there would be little glory, and it would be hard to budget any of the event perks. One such team was Canadians William Hendershot and Alain Vranderick, who competed against the other “entry fees” in route to their 47th place finish. They have posted some great reports on the ‘Montreal Sailing’ blog, from where I have culled their Lessons of the Day:

* When trading tacks at the windward mark, in a fleet of 75 boats, if you drop your cigarette in the bottom of the boat, let it be. The water will extinguish it. It’s a lot more prudent to keep your head out of the boat than to reach for that last half of Marlboro.

* Luck is your friend. Embrace her. Nurture her. You never know when you might need her.

* If you going to try to intimidate me on the starting line, better bring a bat, a gun, or a drill. I’m sorry but screaming will not do it. We’ve been through this too many times, and are not impressed by it anymore. Oh, and by the way, all that screaming only led you to an OCS. So there, don’t mess with Karma, she’s a bitch!

* Repeat after me EXECUTION IS KEY. To explain my point, here’s a little synopsis of what we went through. You plan this 6 months ahead of time, you make the condo reservations, you drive 30 hours to get there, you make it out to the race course an hour in advance to figure out the wind, you figure out a great strategy, and once the gun goes off you forget everything and get sucked into riding the clean air train. Come on guys, get with the program.

* The great thing about the Star is that it’s tweakable in every which way you can imagine. The bad thing about the Star is that it’s tweakable in every which way you can imagine. This ability to tune the boat can sometimes mess with your mind. You rationalize it by thinking, ‘It must be the boat. It can’t be us sailing poorly, we’re the f-ing fleet champions.’ But never underestimate your own capacity to sail badly. So, Willy, LEAVE THE GOD DAMN BOAT ALONE ALREADY!!! It’s not the boat; it’s the dummies in the hiking straps. There, I said it. I feel better now.

For all their Bacardi Cup Reports:
March 7 - March 8 - March 9 - March 10