Motivationally speaking, I was excited to start my own crew on Take Five. I had two years of sailing under my belt. How hard can this be to race?
Practically speaking, I was tired of trailering my 26 foot sailboat and stepping the mast each time we wanted to go sailing. There was easily an extra 2 hours spent preparing the boat, stepping, and the unstepping the mast each time I went sailing.
Let me tell you that racing when you're a crewing is a whole lot easier than being the skipper! My first few races were overwhelming to say the least.
There were many lessons I learned in my first year of racing. Here's are few that stood out in my mind:
- Learn all of the RRS and study course strategy and tactics! You're always going to face new and unfamiliar situations in traffic.
- Even "slow" cruising boats that race with a handicap need to be kept in racing condition (smooth, faired bottom, good sails, etc.)
- Always face forward when driving a boat with a tiller (otherwise you'll zig instead of zag)
- Get on the course early
