racing any one?

smallboatlover · #1 (**permalink**) 10-03-2011

Has any one raced before? whats it like? how is it on a 16' boat. i have a main, jib and spinnaker, never used the spinnaker. i would love to race, just wondering what its like.

tommays · #2 (**permalink**) 10-03-2011

Sometimes you get a big silver thing

Sometimes its pretty harsh and it takes two weeks to even get the boat dry again

If you have the attitude to keep it fun it will be and you will learn a lot and meet great people

AdamLein · #3 (**permalink**) 10-03-2011

Only raced in larger boats. Crewing on OPBs was great. Learned a lot and had a lot of fun. Racing on my boat was stressful. Getting everything ready in time was usually the hardest part; we were late for a few starts. Raced singlehanded in my own boat once; that was quite an experience.

CalebD · #4 (**permalink**) 10-03-2011

You would have a blast racing your Mistral 16' if you could find 1 good crew member.
Try flying the spinnaker before trying to use it in a race. Trust me on this.

smallboatlover · #5 (**permalink**) 10-03-2011

will do

Sabreman · #6 (**permalink**) 10-03-2011

The only way to realize how much you don't know is to survive a hurricane in a small boat or to race against some hard core boats.

Seriously, I started racing again 4 years ago after nearly 30 years off the course. We're still casual racers but I've learned a LOT about a variety of things.

Do it.

TropicCat · #7 (**permalink**) 10-04-2011

Heck, there's a race every time one sailboat overtakes another. It's in our blood.

n0w0rries · #8 (**permalink**) 10-04-2011

We are self taught sailors... but joining the local yacht club and racing increased our knowledge by 1000%.

nolatom · #9 (**permalink**) 10-04-2011

racing's a concentrated course in everything you could learn about sailing, and particularly how to find 'clear' air, and make the boat go fast.

What it's like in small boats:

The (upwind) start's like a big washing machine, the boats are the clothes. Lots of close-quarters maneuvering, some yelling, and keeping your brain and boatspeed intact while you balance distance, speed and time til start gun. At the start, you either have clear air (life is wonderful) or you're buried in dirty air and don't have room yet to tack away (life is tragically unfair).

Up the beat, if you got a good start and kept your air clear til the fleet spread out, and your boatspeed is decent, then you're doing okay. But those spread-out boats will all converge again at the windward mark. More fun, maneuvering, and yelling! (know the rules, and most of the yelling will make sense).

Downwind--spinnaker time! Big nylon wrestling match, then it fills, and you're off like a rocket. If it's a reach to second mark, it's a fast parade--if dead downwind, a jibe-fest. Again, they all converge at the.....

...leeward mark! Get that spinny down and stowed NOW, we have to round up to the beat! "Room at the mark!" (you either yell this or get yelled at). Get around legally and you're now on the final beat. Geeze, lots more boats behind you than ahead (okay, maybe not in yr first race, but it'll come), keep your air clear and figure out if you can pick any of them off via sniffing a windshift better than them, or hiking harder and going faster.

near the finish line--which end is favored? Can we beat that guy, when to tack for it?

Last tack, you've finished! Not bad, good job crew, drinks ashore on me, and here's what we gotta fix next time.....;-)

Sabreman · #10 (**permalink**) 10-04-2011

Couldn't improve on nolatom's summary.

Long distance races are the same, adding a crash course in night skills, navigation, and probably handling a wide variety of weather while sleep-deprived (see my avatar).