The Challenge and Joy of Sailing

I came up on deck at four in the afternoon after being off watch for the past four hours. The wind was blowing 22 knots (miles per hour) out of the east. The boat was sailing fast at 11.8 knots. The waves were big, and it was foggy. It would be hard to describe the surreal scene to a non-sailor as we punched through every wave. When I stepped on deck, it was slippery from the waves washing over the boat. Like all sailors, I know the importance of maintaining stability while moving about a boat. No one wants to fall overboard. All of us were aware how difficult it would be to rescue someone out of the churning ocean.

Wearing the appropriate clothing is the key to being comfortable when racing offshore. There is nothing worse than being wet and cold. Good foul weather gear is important and so is well fitting footwear that grips the deck and is comfortable on the long hours on watch. I bought a new pair of Sebago shoes a few weeks before the race. I find it helpful to wear socks to keep my feet warm and comfortable with spray dripping off my foul weather gear. The Sebago shoes worked well. When your feet are warm and secure you sail better.
My job on the boat was to serve as the tactician and a watch captain. One of my duties was to alternate with another helmsman for one hour turns at the wheel.

Wearing the appropriate clothing is the key to being comfortable when racing offshore. There is nothing worse than being wet and cold. Good foul weather gear is important and so is well fitting footwear that grips the deck and is comfortable on the long hours on watch. I bought a new pair of Sebago shoes a few weeks before the race. I find it helpful to wear socks to keep my feet warm and comfortable with spray dripping off my foul weather gear. The Sebago shoes worked well. When your feet are warm and secure you sail better.

As the sun was getting lower in the sky a few hours later, I remarked to the crew how special it was to be on the ocean. The grey sky blended in with the dark carbon sails over my head. The wind in my face and the motion of the boat used a lot my energy to keep my balance on the pitching boat. Concentration is another factor that leads to exhaustion. I kept a light grip on the steering wheel as I made subtle adjustments to our course. I was fully engaged.

I thought about my cruises across the Drake Passage to Antarctica, and how thrilling it was to see ice bergs as we neared the frozen continent. Then a remembered the loneliness of sailing across the Atlantic Ocean when the nearest point of land was over 1,500 miles away. While I worked through the 8-foot waves on the Annapolis to Newport Race I recalled the horrifying 1979 Fastnet Race when hurricane strength winds battered the fleet. I was the watch captain aboard Ted Turner’s yacht, Tenacious, which won the “roughest ocean race on record.”

With just 32 miles to sail before finishing, Temptation was more than 70 miles ahead of the next closest of the 71 boats in the fleet. It was looking good, and then, disaster! A fitting broke on the headstay that caused the feeder system to fall on the deck. We had to sail the rest of the way to the finish line off Newport, Rhode Island with only one sail. The boat slowed down to 8 knots. We probably lost two hours to the fleet as we cleaned up the broken parts and limped to the finish. Temptation was the first boat to cross the finish line by 13 hours over the second-place finisher. We won our class but on the corrected time allowance handicap we finished 8th out of the 71boats.