I'm going racing

[DrB]

after a few wears and if your in salt water, you got to rinse well with fresh water before putting away to dry, else el stinko. If you plan to stick with racing and do in cool/cold weather OR sail in conditions where your feet are really getting soaked, I'd go with waterproof boots and warm socks over neoprene.

[Faster]

I agree with the good DrB on the boots/socks over neoprene, esp for keelboat sailing where you shouldn't be doing any swimming. Buy them large enough to accommodate a heavier, warmer sock.

Also, though for a time we used those Mustang floater suits for winter racing, we soon found them too constrictive, quick to overheat when you got active, and difficult to "shift temperature gears". In the end we found that layers work better, warm layers under a decent set of wet gear, a turtleneck sweater to keep the draft off your neck/back. That way you can shuck layers as needed (eg upwind vs downwind legs) and be more comfortable in a variety of conditions.

[PaulinVictoria]

All good advice but given my current racing budget of about $30 I'm going to have to put up with cold/wet/stinky for the time being

[jarcher]

I can tell you what makes me not ask crew back. Its pretty much limited to two things:

1 - Yelling at anyone
2 - Arguing with me or others

I run a no-yelling boat, including me. A month ago we were short handed so a well known sailor was asked to join us, and he quickly agreed. He started yelling at everyone early on, and I finally told him in a calm voice "if you yell again I am going to ask you to step overboard." He chilled out, but not enough to my liking.

Another time, a guy was asked if he wanted to come along. He was always on the committee boat and we thought he might enjoy a chance at the other side. He spent most of the race debating tactics and rules with me, especially at the start which is when I really didn't want the distraction.

What would never cause me to uninvite someone is mistakes. Everyone makes them. We recently lost a race by 4 seconds, and everyone started apologizing and telling what they did that cost us at least 4 seconds. Nonsense. Everyone did great, we lost because we lost. We just remember the mistakes and do better next time.

[SusanBaker]

Hi Paulk,

I am also coming on the east side, Tell me where can we meet?

Susan

Originally Posted by paulk

Let us know if you come east. We could use more crew.