Crew experience: Felicity Ryan
My skipper, PaulJon Patin, and I recently sailed the Interclub nationals at the Rochester Canoe Club, Rochester, New York. I know, just the thought makes your teeth chatter. For those of you who are unfamiliar with an Interclub, it is a 12 foot, round bottomed racing dinghy with one sail, skipper and crew. For frostbiters like myself who eschew single-handed sailing in the winter, it’s the only game in town.
We sailed 10 races over two days in a myriad of wind and weather conditions.
Day one began iffy at best with dire wind predictions for 18-25 kts and gusts near 30. The PRO (principal race officer) wisely took a “pause” and we delayed sailing for a couple of hours. The wind which was surprisingly warm eventually cooperated and laid to a 12 to 20 knot breeze with some interestingly prolonged puffs. You could see them hit the water and fan out across the race course. Um, where to be…
As crew on an Interclub, without the distraction of trimming the jib or the kite, I concentrated heavily on balancing the boat especially off the breeze (keeping my weight out and back), hiking as hard as I could in the puffs, playing the vang as necessary and of course, looking out for boats and breeze.
We completed the first four races with 5,7,4,1. The breeze was up and we were ahead and winning race 5 when the race committee suddenly “abandoned “the race. That ended day one with a bang and the need for a mental reset.
Day two saw a dramatic change in the temperature which plummeted from the 70’s on day one to high 30’s, low 40’s with snow, sleet and rain on day two. I’m thinking that might be the actual definition of frostbite sailing! The breeze moderated a bit and we eked out a 5,3,4,8,4,7 to hold onto fifth place overall. Because the conditions were so varied over the two days I felt like we were challenged on every leg. We needed to be quick to adjust mentally and physically.
I think one of the most important things you can do as crew on a racing dinghy is to always be in sync with your skipper. Matching his/her movements certainly….But also matching their energy, matching their intensity….
Being in sync with their thought process and above all communication. PaulJon and I have been successful sailing partners for some time now and there is a flow that occurs between us that has been crafted over time and experience.
Think about sailing!
From the Helm perspective: Paul-Jon Patin
Felicity and I sailed our 20th IC Nationals. Her recollection and description from the Crew’s perspective is interesting and understated. These boats are tricky and if they’re out of balance, you are slow. The board is thin and the round bottom makes stability and balance a premium. As Felicity mentioned, we had a slow start with a 5, 7. Considering there were 8 or 9 sailors that could win races and potentially the regatta one could recognize that it was going to be tough sailing. Yet with hopes of winning, we knew we needed to score in the top three more often than not. Success comes down to seeing the breeze, recognizing patterns and executing a strategy amongst the others with similar intents. The first couple races it seemed very hard to read the wind which led to reacting to the fleet and giving away points without purposeful tacks. Staying in the wind is always a good strategy and seeing it was unusually tricky. Superior boatspeed is a gift and going fast in the wrong direction with good speed gets you behind ever faster. We experienced it all on day one. Felicity mentioned that we won race 4 and were winning 5 when the abandon signal was made by the committee to end day one. Those circumstances can be a tough break and a mental let down so one must actively deal with those thoughts. We started day two with a much colder and very unstable breeze which was coming from about 120 degrees left of the forecast. The trade off was trying to stay in the breeze while being wary of a persistent shift. We played it a little too cute. The breeze was pressure left and shifty and the leaders came from there while we played the middle. The second upwind 621, Conner Godfrey played it perfectly and got around us which again felt critical. 755, Jimmy Barnash and Jay Lurie were locked in all the way around the track for the beginning of what would be their “push.” Race 6 (second of the day) had some similar tracks and we found ourselves in 6th on the run and we noticed the wind seemed to become a bit more unstable. A good run and an immediate tack at the left gate found us on the layline and were able to pass two boats who held on a couple boat lengths to tack. A 3rd seemed like a shift in momentum! The wind now was coming from the northwest as predicted though stability was not in the cards. We took a pin end start to lead half way down the run when 74, Ted and Meridith started to track us down from behind in 4-5 kts. A band of wind took them and 621 over the top and around us in what seemed like a breeze we never quite felt. It was the move 717 (Jim Bowers and Julia Marsh) made on the run that was the turning point of the regatta. Coming from deep they pulled into second behind 74 and kept themselves in the game. The next race 74 won with 717 in 7th but as Jimmy and Julia have so many times gotten dialed in at the last going 2,1,1 to close it out once again. Great sailing! We enjoyed the course and endured frustration of a loss of momentum that we never quite conquered. Sailing is a sport of ultra dynamics. Our lesson, consistency is controlling what’s in your control, and letting the rest go, with the flow!