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View From the Rear . . .

OK this is a racing note from the point of view that our good friend Lou Zevanove probably has never experienced!  Let’s start by making a list of what is good about coming in last:

First you get to actually go sailing.  That in itself is a good reason to go out.  You get to plan around a date and people actually show up on the boat on time and somewhat ready to go.  After all if you are just going for a little sail and they should up late there is no harm done, but starting a race more than 30 minutes late gets you a DNS.  Don’t ask me how I know that.  By the way a DNS is way crummier than last.

Second and everyone will tell you this over and over again; your sailing skills do get better.  But your people skills get better because too.  Put a larger number of boats in a small starting area and you will soon learn that it is very necessary to work together so you will not get bumper car city.  (By the way I miss the bumper cars at Pier 39 and smacking Luna Sea into the dock at Pier 39 with a 5 knot current is not the same thing.)  Plus everyone on the boat will learn the value of teamwork after making 10 gybes in a row at the starting line only to be over early.

You get to wear a cool shirt into the Yacht Club bar that has the word racing on it so that everyone that doesn’t race thinks you must be pretty good.   OK they really know better but you can wear it to the Giants games.  Those guys don’t know.

Islander 36’s are very good looking boats but unknown to Lou and a few other people is that the best view of an Islander 36 at a three quarter view of the transom.  We get to see that a lot!

You get to help the local marine based economy by buying lots of new racing gear.  Of course it really doesn’t help you go any faster but it is all pretty cool stuff.  If you are a front runner you also get to help the local economy but then all the new stuff does actually make you go faster.  (Tom and I have exactly the same sails but our have blue numbers and his have green.  Maybe we should have gone with the  green also?)  But the really cool thing is that you get to hang out sometimes with people like Jocelyn Nash at the Boat Show and believe me that can be a high point of a racing career for us rear enders. 

You get to race longer than anyone else.  You race much longer than the people that actually win.  If you really do love racing doesn’t it make sense that you would want to race longer.  In the last race Don pointed out to me that we got to race a full 12 minutes longer than Windwalker, but we were only 6 minutes out of second.  Maybe Windwalker just can’t race all that long without getting pooped.  We are in this for the long haul, no finishing 12 minutes early for us.

You get to waive Hi to all those cute girls on Harry’s boat.

You get to improve your VHS radio skills.  Three weeks ago I had to radio Charles on the race committee boat for the Encinal Yacht Club and let him know we were still racing and were not dropping out.  Charles being the gentleman that he is did not ask up to pick up the markers as we were sailing toward the finish.

And finally to get to age the Champaign bit longer.  Let it be known to all that on Luna Sea we do have a few bottles of Dom Perignon on board for that first victory.  But every time we make it back to the dock alive and all in one piece we pop a few corks of Domain Chandon anyway just to celebrate another great day of sailing.  And of those of you in the know, know that Domain Chandon Blanc de Noirs is my favorite Champaign and so maybe there is a reason why we keep losing.  I see no reason not to celebrate with my favorite except of course when John is around then we have a Margarita or two and talk about how much fun we had.  I guess that is my favorite part after all.

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