A wise man once told me to quit whilst I was ahead...
Clearly that would have been good advice to follow! The problem is that the sneaky people at the West Vancouver Yacht club host the awards night for the previous year, and the skippers meeting for the current year at the same time - the day before the race. I was excited to go claim my hardware but in order to do so I would have to face my peers who would all ask about this years race... there is no way I could have told them I wasn't registered... I would have felt like a coward. I was stuck in a true dichotomy - put a crew together and race with no way of surpassing the previous years results, or not register and not get to claim my hardware at the awards night. As is so often the case my ego out-weighed reason and I found myself putting together a crew and getting the boat ready for what would be a very long and tough race.
Clearly that would have been good advice to follow! The problem is that the sneaky people at the West Vancouver Yacht club host the awards night for the previous year, and the skippers meeting for the current year at the same time - the day before the race. I was excited to go claim my hardware but in order to do so I would have to face my peers who would all ask about this years race... there is no way I could have told them I wasn't registered... I would have felt like a coward. I was stuck in a true dichotomy - put a crew together and race with no way of surpassing the previous years results, or not register and not get to claim my hardware at the awards night. As is so often the case my ego out-weighed reason and I found myself putting together a crew and getting the boat ready for what would be a very long and tough race.
I'm happy to say that, unlike the previous year, getting the boat together didn't involve eleventh-hour head replacement, nor duct taping 2X4s together as some sort of hair brained emergency steering mechanism, nor did it involve sketchily affixing wind instruments to the top of the mast in the hopes that they'll at least last the duration of the race. In all reality the boat was pretty much ready to go. Stephen C, our valiant safety officer, and I instead spent the time hooking the VHF radio to the GPS, programming the MMSI number and going through all of the sails and safety equipment. Our goal was to only take the sails we needed and leave the rest on the dock... Ha yeah right... most of the sails ended up in the V-Berth and coming along for the ride.
And we're off to the races...
This years race was almost a complete carbon copy of the previous years race. The winds were light, the currents were adverse, and it was oddly warm and clear out. These are the perfect conditions for our little 5000lb boat. A far cry from the gale force winds we all fear each year as were preparing our boats. Throughout the race the crew all took turns making the boat go fast, whilst I, their valiant skipper, slept below decks... suffering from a brutal flu. There is nothing fun about a cold, damp, wet boat and the flu. I managed two watches throughout the night portion of the race.
I was alone on deck for my first watch. There was no wind and the water was calm. I had just taken a good deal of flu medication and as I was watching shooting stars overhead, the northern lights dancing on the horizon, and a minke whale playing in the bioluminescence I was completely convinced I'd lost my mind and had succumbed to a flu induced hallucination; I dearly hoped this was only a temporary condition. I called for someone to come on deck to take over and verify that my eyes were not deceiving me. Much to my surprise Benoit confirmed they weren't. We were all at a loss for words.
This years race was almost a complete carbon copy of the previous years race. The winds were light, the currents were adverse, and it was oddly warm and clear out. These are the perfect conditions for our little 5000lb boat. A far cry from the gale force winds we all fear each year as were preparing our boats. Throughout the race the crew all took turns making the boat go fast, whilst I, their valiant skipper, slept below decks... suffering from a brutal flu. There is nothing fun about a cold, damp, wet boat and the flu. I managed two watches throughout the night portion of the race.
I was alone on deck for my first watch. There was no wind and the water was calm. I had just taken a good deal of flu medication and as I was watching shooting stars overhead, the northern lights dancing on the horizon, and a minke whale playing in the bioluminescence I was completely convinced I'd lost my mind and had succumbed to a flu induced hallucination; I dearly hoped this was only a temporary condition. I called for someone to come on deck to take over and verify that my eyes were not deceiving me. Much to my surprise Benoit confirmed they weren't. We were all at a loss for words.
My second stint on watch that night was brief but for the brief period I was awake I managed to sail us in to the biggest hole I could find. We suffered as boats caught up and passed us... I opted to go back to sleep and leave the boat in the capable hands of the crew. I was glad to have so many spare sails aboard at this moment - they made a comfortable bed as I curled up in them to try to get some sleep. I dozed off to the sound of the water against the hull, and the calls of other boats as they radioed in their positions - it was evident in the voices of the skippers checking in that they too were tired and frustrated with the lack of wind.
As the sun started to come up so did the wind; Stephen and Shane had the boat cooking along, reaching across the strait and back. As we rounded the last mark and headed towards the finish we realized we weren't going to win, but it was hard not to be happy sailing home with the chute up, 15 kts from behind, the hot sun warming us up. Stephen took this moment to DJ we had some food and took a moment to appreciate how amazing an experience it is to do a race like this.
In the end we managed to sneak across the line just in time to secure a 4th place finish. While it wasn't nearly as exciting as the previous years first place finish we were all happy to see Ultraman, Bedlam II, and Windy Feat in front of us. They are all great sailors and boats and sailed very well.
As I sit here typing this up I have an impending feeling of doom... I can't shake the feeling that when Stephen asks if we're doing Southern Straits again this year I'll surprise myself and everyone present when I tell them we will...
In the end we managed to sneak across the line just in time to secure a 4th place finish. While it wasn't nearly as exciting as the previous years first place finish we were all happy to see Ultraman, Bedlam II, and Windy Feat in front of us. They are all great sailors and boats and sailed very well.
As I sit here typing this up I have an impending feeling of doom... I can't shake the feeling that when Stephen asks if we're doing Southern Straits again this year I'll surprise myself and everyone present when I tell them we will...