Ahoy KSCers!
In just two short weeks, our Wednesday race night series will start. I’m here today to convince you to come out! No experience or competitive spirit required, our race nights are mostly just an excuse to hit the water and have some fun. I first started racing when I was taking learn-to-sail as an excuse to get some extra practice time on the water between lessons. Even though I’m not a competitive person, I had a lot of fun, and have been coming to the race nights ever since.
We have a nobody left ashore policy, and if you’re interested in getting out on the water then we’ll make sure it happens! Details on how it works below, but let me start with some reasons you should come out racing:
- It’s the safest time to sail – there are lots of other friendly boats around in case you get into trouble, and even the most competitive KSC skippers are happy to abandon a race to help out someone in trouble
- It makes you a better sailor – the person out there with 15 or 20 years experience will know so many tricks and tips to improve boat trim, handling, and stability, all of which translate to a safer (and faster) boat. They’re always happy to share knowledge! Learn the difference between “sheet the jib in” and “sheet the jib in 3 inches, and open the luff of the main”. Even if you’re a solo sailor, you can watch how Ken trims his sail, check how you have yours trimmed, and compare what the boats are doing side-by-side.
- It gets you out on the water more – let’s face it, if we wait for “the perfect day” to go sailing, we’ll never go. It will always be too cold, or too hot, or too calm, or a tad-too-windy, etc. Having a regular “I’m going sailing, even if conditions are not perfect!” event in the calendar encourages you to get out more, and make the most of your membership.
- Fantastic people – I’ve been racing at KSC for 15 years now (since back when I didn’t know a tiller from a mainsheet) and met so many good people, and good friends. And every year I get to meet new people!
- Post-sail BBQ – For many people, the sailing is fun, but the most laughs are had on the deck afterwards, when we enjoy a drink and a burger
- It’s free – who doesn’t like free things, right?
Okay, you convinced me to come out… how does it work?
- Show up at the club by 5:30 or 5:45 on Wednesday afternoon. You can *probably* show up even a bit later than that, but past 6:00 is getting a bit risky if you’re looking for a partner
- If you’re new, then start talking with people, especially people who look like they know what they’re doing. All the veteran racers are happy to take new sailors out, or (if their boat is already full) are happy to point you towards another veteran racer. Our goal is to give you a great racing experience. If we can convince you that racing is fun, that means you’ll keep coming out, and we will have a bigger fleet to race against later in the season!
- Sign out a boat and start rigging it up
- At 6:00 on the first few race nights, I’ll hold a “skipper’s meeting” on the deck. I’ll remind anyone who forgot over the winter what the rules were, and anyone can ask questions
- It’s a good idea to try to hit the water by 6:15 at the latest
- The first warning signal goes at (about) 6:30. The first race night or two we might be a bit later while the sailors and Race Committee figure out the routine
- We do a 5-minute start for most boats, with a head start for some of the slower RS boats. We’ll cover the start sequence at the skipper’s meeting, but a quick summary is below
- Sail the course around the marks – a counter-clockwise triangle, followed by an upwind/downwind leg. If you’re new to racing, the skipper can explain the start sequence and will talk about right-of-way and tactics throughout the race
I had some more questions…
Q: How long are the races?
A: We try to set a short course so the first person finishes after about 20 minutes. This means the last person usually finishes after about 30 minutes. Add on a 5-minute start, and you can expect a race to go about 35 minutes between first-gun and final finish. This lets us get in as many races as we can before the sun starts to go down and the wind dies. We might get 4 races in a night in June, but only 2 by end-of-August
Q: I can’t be at the club until 6:30 or 7:00. Can I still race?
A: Yes, but it might be harder to find a partner and you’ll probably miss the first race of the night. We try to match up skippers and crew before 6:00 so they can hit the water and be on the race course by 6:30. If you sail a single-hander (Laser, Byte, etc) this isn’t a problem, but if you want to sail a double-handed boat then you might want to make arrangements with a partner to meet you at the club at a specific time.
Q: If I start sailing with someone, can I change partners later?
A: Yes! We score sailors, not boats, so there is no problem sailing with one person some week, someone else the following week, and sailing solo another week.
Q: What if I miss some races or race days? Can I start racing later in the season?
A: No problem! We have some people who only attend one or two race nights a year. Of course, the more race nights you attend, the more chances you have of racking up good placement scores for the end-of-season totals, but you can still miss a lot of races and be scored a “perfect season”. I can talk season totals
Q: Do all the different types of boats race together?
A: Yes. We (mostly) don’t handicap different types of boats, and just race them all as one big fleet. The exception are the RS boats (Quests and Fevas). We give those boats a 3 minute head start because they are a bit slower in most conditions, and because the new sailors tend to prefer those boats. This makes it a better contest between the new sailor in the slower Quest, and the veteran sailor in a Laser.
Q: How does scoring work?
A: There’s a long answer, but I’ll give you the short one. 1 point for 1st place, 2 points for second, and so on. Lowest total points at the end of the night (or the end of the season) wins. If you don’t race, you score 1 point higher than “last place” in that race. For every 3 races sailed we drop your highest score, so if in 6 races you placed “1st, 1st, 3rd, 2nd, 8th, 8th” then you score a total of 7 points (we drop the 8th place finishes, which are probably races you skipped).
Q: Any tips?
A: The boat in the front is Steve. Follow Steve, he knows all the tactics to make the best speed.
Q: What if I’m in front of Steve?
A: Please, tell me how you did that – I’d love to know!
Q: What does the start look like?
A: There is a power boat (Race Committee, or RC) near a buoy. The start line is between the two. RC will raise/lower some flags and make a sound (whistle, air-horn, etc) as the start of the race approaches
- 5 minutes before start – one flag goes up
- 4 minutes before start – second flag goes up
- 3 minutes before start – RC waves a temporary flag – RS Quest/Fevas can start
- 1 minute before start – second flag goes down
- at start – first flag goes down, all other boats can start
Ideally you want to hit the start line, at full speed, on starboard tack (for right-of-way), exactly as the flag drops. This is easier said than done. A stopwatch helps.
Q: I had more questions. Who can I speak with?
A: Your sailing director (me) can be found at [email protected]. I’ll also be at most of the race nights – look for a bald, slightly overweight guy with a beard, or ask someone “Can you point me to Jason?” Fair warning though — once you get me talking about racing, you’re not going to get me to shut up.
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