We are race committee boat on a blustery rainy day. The wind is from the south, and we scoot out looking for mark #2, which we’ve heard is gone. We find it, but it is mostly submerged. No chance of using it as a mark in this race, unless we get a replacement in. So we charge back into the wind looking for McSwoosh, confusing the racers beginning to congregate near Olympia Shoal. We’d talked with McSwoosh’s crew before heading out, and they were going to try to pick up a replacement mark from Westbay. We make fresh contact by cell phone. The locker is locked. The replacement mark is unavailable. We are out of time anyway. Back to mark #4 to set our anchor and establish the start line.
We have the wind from the south, but the #2 mark is out of the equation. Using the book, we decide on the course down to #5, up to A, Boston Harbor, and back to the committee boat, with the possibility of a second lap to A and back.
Time is tight. Fortunately, Rod really knows the starting sequence and is telling us what to do. I am the timer, doing the count downs. Katie has the gun, Rod has the flags, and Thera is focused on taking pictures, and trying to get boat names or sail numbers for everyone out there.
Watching the white caps, and feeling Pax dance around at anchor, part of me is very glad that I am on the cozy committee boat, instead of racing. During the starting sequences, we are totally focused on figuring out who is out there racing. When that is done, we start to relax. Thera has brought a beef curry over rice for lunch. How can we not love our Commodore and sailing companion?
As the wind increases and the waves build we begin to wonder if we should stop the race at the first lap. We don’t want to deny sailors good racing, but it really does feel nasty on the water. We monitor the conditions, and put up the “ready to receive finishers” flag, it is the all blue one. As boats start to finish, their comments let us know that we made the right choice.
Race committee is a once a year opportunity to learn the administrative side of racing. There are many variables to consider. Each race committee boat works hard to do their best. We are all volunteers, and we are all juggling many factors.
One of the things that we noticed was that racers could help the race committee boat by flying their class flags. We tried hard to figure out when we should be firing the gun, which did not always fire, and when the horn was more appropriate. Also, it would really help if the boats that drop out communicate with the race committee boat. We waited for boats that started but did not finish. Some boats did call in, and communication with other boats helped us choose DNF for others.
Congratulations for all of you out there this challenging day. McSwoosh, which does not have reefing lines, called it a short day and retired to Boston Harbor. Slither had a knock down, lost a person over board, recovered him, and finished the race. We talked with Pandora’s crew after the race. They talked about the gusts, their double reefed main, and the fact that they were short handed. They were second over all. Wow. As far as I can tell, this was a good day on the water.
Susan McRae, Pax the Space Spider