Quote:
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Originally Posted by Jim H
...I was condemned to sailing the boat perfectly flat into a strong close reach wind...
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That's no condemnation... less heel is less ground lost to leeward. Keeping the boat flat should be your ultimate goal, so take your daughter along every race!
In my first race (as an adult) I was crewing and was given two duties: to man the topping lift for the spinnaker pole and to pull the spinnaker down and into the boat. Well, I pulled the topping lift on the pole just fine, but managed not to put it into the cam cleat properly, so dropped it on the toe-rail putting a great dent in it. I nimbly moved to rectify my error and promptly repeated it exactly, putting two huge dents in the pole in close proximity to each other - veritably ruining it. My skipper was not impressed with his new crew. I did manage to get the chute in the boat OK, without dropping it in the water or wrapping it around the keel though.
My first race at the helm I won... I've been trying to repeat that ever since!
