My Sailboat Racing Career

Lately I have been pondering my sailing career and in particular my sailboat racing career. I started sailing boats when I was 14 years old. I come from a family that has always owned powerboats and for some reason I decided to branch off in sailboats. I owned a few small dinghies and by the time I was 20years old, I owned my first keel boat, a Victory 21. This was a daysailer that had a small cuddy cabin.

In the summer of 1973, I was invited by the members of the yacht club at my local marina to come out on Wednesday evenings for some informal racing. In the fall and winter, this turned into Saturday racing and we raced almost every weekend. My boat was small and slow. I found myself racing against a lot of 30 foot boats. I was usually one of the last boats to finish. But I kept at it, studied, practiced, bought new sails and gear and finally one day finished ahead of a Newport30 that was sailed by a rather hot headed individual. He was furious. How could a small slow boat like mine beat him? The first major race I entered was from Bremerton around Blake Island. That race had a lot of boats 30 feet and larger including a Swan 44. I followed the fleet and when the wind died some, I sailed around a lot of boats and placed 6th out of around 30 boats. That was a great lesson, NEVER GIVE UP! Of note, another sailor was also sailing his first major race in a small 22foot Columbia. He placed 10th and went on to become a respected Port Orchard sailor. Our careers remained parallel until he retired from racing last year.

In 1975, I purchased a used Tanzer 22. I only owned it for a week when I raced it in the Blake Island Race. I stomped the fleet and won over a large fleet of boats. And then two weeks later, I won the Port Orchard Fourth of July race overall. I was on fire! I had learned a lot by sailing my older, slower, previous boat. Later that year, Pacific Handicap Racing Fleet(PHRF) changed my handicap by 18 secs/mile faster(a lot of owners are devastated by a 3 secs/mi change). I was not the only one, a couple of other 22 foot boats also had their handicaps changed, not because of performance data, but because of being "similar" to some faster boats. But not all of the small boats were changed and I owed a lot of similar boats time. I was angry about the change especially when my fellow club members clapped and cheered when the changed was announced. So, I set out to show them and strengthened my resolve to sail well. I sailed that boat in all conditions, on overnight races(imagine that) and won a whole bunch of awards.

In 1977, I moved into a much bigger boat. I bought a new Bystedt30 that had set on the lot for two years. This was the racer/cruiser that I kept the longest. I owned that boat for 22years. I pushed it hard and learned a lot about racing from it. I was also challenged by some of the better West Sound Sailors. Some had similar boats, some bigger. This boat was cursed with a fairly fast rating and I owed time to some equally fast or faster boats. But again, I raced in all kinds of races and conditions. We probably raced 25 times a year. We did overnight races in the sound, eight Swiftsures(once claiming a second) and when I outgrew the boat, I had won over 200 awards including four West Sound Sailing Association titles.

In 1999 I finally bought a boat that I first fell in love with at the 1984 boat show, a J35. This boat is a no compromise "sailing machine". It is a somewhat complex boat to sail and is a "standard" for handicapping. It also came with one of the fastest handicap for a 35 foot boat when I bought it. Other faster boats have since come along and the J35 is actually considered a heavy, slower boat by todays standards. The design is 25 years old! When I started racing this boat, I was very concerned about making it perform. There had been another J35 in our area a year earlier and that boat was so slow, it could hardly get out of it's way. I may not be able to sail as fast as some of the other J35 boats in Puget Sound, but I don't do poorly and I sure have a lot of fun pushing the boat really hard. We have not done a lot of long races, but I have still collected a number of awards from races around Puget Sound and in the San Juan Islands.

In addition to my own boats, I raced a lot on other boats through the sound and learned a lot from some great sailors.

So, after over 36 years of racing I have to wonder what it takes to have a successful racing program. I know, I have been very happy with what I have done. I know it sure was not easy. I have never taken classes or formal instruction. I learned by reading and lots of time sailing my boats putting what I learned to use. I also learned from my fellow competitors and from sailing on other boats. There is still lots to learn, it never ends. I have always tried to keep good sails on the boat, keep the boat in good shape and since I am a good rigger, I keep all my running rigging and gear in good shape. We have had very few failures. And I have never given up on the race course until it becomes impossible to finish the race within the time limit. That is very important!

And yet I have become increasingly frustrated by some newer sailors lately who have complained about their performance and go out of their way to not sail against me even though their boats are larger and potentially faster than mine. Seems like they would set a goal to learn to sail their boats and beat me instead. There has also been a lot of complaining about our handicapping system(PHRF). And since I am a handicapper, it bothers me to be referred to as "corrupt" .

So now I am getting to the place where I am beginning to think about retiring from sailboat racing and ultimately resign from sailboat handicapping. There is probably no shame in retiring, some very respected sailors have also retired. And after 36years of racing, maybe it is time. And maybe my competitors will be happier too! Lots to consider! I can always become a mercenary and find rides on other boats. I am sure there are more people out there who would like to have me sail with them.

Edit: Fixed my years of sailing. My math was off and I originally posted 39 years. Opps!

Racing in the pouring rain in late fall!
Late November racing.

30 knots of wind and flying downwind in October. I have raced in just about all conditions-

wind, no wind, heat, cold, rain, snow and blazing sun!