I'd suggest that there are plenty of cat racers who do not want (and don't) bicker and do have fun. A small noisy minority of Internet sailors may not be representative of the broader church of catamaran racing. You should try some fun shorter distance races - great cameraderie, fun sailing and fun partying before during and afterwards before dismissing the concept of racing. Then try some buoy racing - at first it can be an exercise in frustration making it around the course efficently and finishing a long way behind the leaders, but this is because buoy racing is merciless for exposing gaps in peoples boat handling/tuning/trimming - but it is also a great way of improving all this and the vast majority of racers are eager to help you improve. Eventually you may find you are hooked on racing (I am a hopeless adict).

Chris.

My experience is the best sailors are the fastest. Being a wild man/woman and pushing the edge without all the skills of reading wind/water, tuning your boat, good strategy and tactics and flawless boat handling normally results in lots of entertainment for spectators and a lot of swimming for the individuals concerned.

For many of us the best days on a cat have a lot to do with racing - the great combination of being at one with the wind and waves, the team work on the boat, friendly but serious competition with others and the cameraderie before and after the race.

"What? don't you point, reach, tack and jibe when sailing recreationally? Other than rounding a static mark what exactly do you learn while racing that can't be learned otherwise? Racing requires a special knowledge that has no application in recreational sailing. Sure, you need to know the basic rules of the water to sail anywhere, but you don't need to know rounding rights, overlap, windward/leeward to enjoy sailing a catamaran."

Racing skills come in pretty handy if you're trying to beat a storm back to the beach, or trying to reach the beach before sundown and the "no seeums" come out.

The competitive nature of racing hones those skills. For instance the racer who picks-up a subtle current or persistent shift is rewarded immediately and learns to look for them.

I have participated in different forms of racing(dirt track, motocross, and other offroad dirtbike stuff and it always some form of drama...especially at the front. I love my dirtbikes and ride on mototracks on practice days, ride offroad all of the time.

I agree that "racing" will make you a more efficient sailor but as long as I get to where I want, Im happy. Racing in any form will always raise "equipment" and "rules" issues as yall have here. Im sure the after parties are great and the friendships are real. I understand the need to be the fastest, but I dont subscribe.

Im sorry if my previous post implied racing isnt worthy. We all have better boats and technique because of racing. I was trying to point out that Cat racing has the same level of drama as other forms of racing and like all in all cases, thats a shame.

I am a member of a dirtbike forum that used to host an annual weeklong event where people came from all over the country for a bunch of riding and facetime. We rented a prominent motocross facility that had trails for the off road crowd. The week was a blast. All speeds and talents, friends riding with friends, camping and bsing till wee hours of the morning. On Saturday there were "races" and I never saw so much griping over 5 dollar trophies. These events grew to 350 riders which required lots of volunteer/prep before the event. In the end, the lack of appreciation for the efforts of the organizer, killed the event.

Racing is rarely, just finding out about who is fastest.

"Racing is rarely, just finding out about who is fastest."

+1

Thats pure BS! If not there to win why race at all. Its not free! If I am on a line to start in any event its about winning, pure and simple. Not that I always win but I always think I can!

I agree with most of what you guys are saying but I also believe -nothing- will get the adrenaline pumping like real, tight, windy, racing. Racing forces you to perform under pressure, pressure you will never face when you are out "cruising".

When I first got into sailing some 30 years ago, I had no intention of racing, in fact, my first boat was a peice of crap but cheap. My girlfriend and I were just going to cruise but I had no idea how to sail.

I wanted to take some lessons and learn to do it right but I didn't know who to talk to, so I approached a guy on a dock who was putting away his (racing) boat. He took one look at my ride and said, "Sell that thing and get one of these, you will learn more in one year of racing than in 3 years of goofing around in that thing." Well I eventually sold it, bought a racing boat, and after 3 years racing, working my way up from the back of the fleet, slowly learning, I finally beat him. It might have been that I had his daughter as crew that day, and she was telling me exactly what he would do and when. ;^)

The truth of it is, racing improves your skills, because you push yourself and you also get to watch and learn from the better sailors, who BTW, are also racers and builds your confidence for when you are not racing.

And there's the beer.

I've taught my daughter two basic principles:

1. The game is more important than winning.
2. Playing fair is more important than the game.

I know and have sailed with a lot of people who say (very emphatically) that they don't race unless they can win. I of course accept that philosophy exists, but don't ascribe to it.

Maybe it is easier to teach that to a daughter than to a son?

When I was growing up, my father had a boat and I did a fair amount of sailing on it. I thought I was an able sailor when I bought my first boat, but I discovered otherwise when I first tried to race it. Being an entire lap of the course behind when everybody else had finished quickly demonstrated how much I had to learn. So, I set out to improve. My skills increased to where I was not always last. Then I would pick a sailor who regularly beat me and try to beat him. I kept that up until I was regularly in the lead pack. I even won a few races.

While I was improving, It didn't bother me not to win. It was obvious that I couldn't. Once I started, though, I began to race only to win. When I didn't win, I wasn't happy - and that was almost every race. My sailing ability had reached a plateau and it wasn't fun. So, I made a conscious decision to turn things around. I disregarded the finish positions and instead strove to (1) sail as well as I could, and (2) enjoy sailing the race instead of its outcome.

Racing became fun again. I stopped blaming others for my mistakes. I stopped cursing bad luck. I learned to get over setbacks. Surprisingly, I also broke through the plateau and my skills have improved ever since.

I am still very competitive on the water, and I have studied the rules to better play the game, but winning is not my goal - enjoying the sport is. Trophies are nice, but they are the keepsakes to comemerate the event, not the purpose for attending.

Racing has definitely made me a better sailor. More importantly though, racing gets me out on the water. I wouln't sail anywhere near as much without it.

Just my perspective,
Eric

Even if no other sailor is around you and rules don't really come up. Sailing the bouy's (more when we had a B mark) teaches you how to trim the boat to get around the course. Yes practice does a lot too. BUT in my 30 years of sailing, most recreational sailors in my area would just reach out and reach back. If they had a wind shift while out a ways, some had a hard time getting back in. Racing is not for everyone, but doing windward-leewards and learning to deal with windshifts, holes and how land effects the wind, in my opinion DOES make you a better sailor.

Doug

Doug,
You should become a sailing instructor.

lee:

Just a true statement. How many times at the Dike have you seen guys just sail straight out then turn back around and come in? BUT when we sailed down by Curl's and the wind started dieing and shifting they had a REAL hard time getting back in.

Doug

Windyhillf20

If racing is about being the fastest would you sign up for a race that had your boat at a disadvantage. Lets say over time, it had been determined that a crew weight of 160lbs made your type of boat fly and all the races were won with 2 14yr olds on it. Wouldnt you want some sort of equalizer? Say minimum weight so everybody has a chance.

Thats why I say racing is rarely about who is fastest. We have to make adjustments to the rules, equipment ect. to make it "fair". This is where the griping starts.

Doug,
As a windsurfer, I can tell you the Hobies point so much better than windsurf gear. Boats arent as fast but they go uphill much better.

One reason that I like my lake is that is primarily a N/S wind with long 5 mile E/W reaches. I can point but really do like blasting. Same with the windsurfer.

Most classes have a minimum crew weight requirement.

Also, if you don't think racing is all about the best sailor winning then I don't know what to tell you. I think Nigel could be sailing an Opti and still beat me around the cans.

Speed is a factor and so is weight. But i have been at both sides of the coin. On the 14 Turbo, light guys use to kick my butt; but then on the H-16 being on the heavy side really helped when the wind piped up. Is it not always the quickest speed wise (per se). How you read the wind, being on the right side of the course, choosing the right tack, seeing and reading shift on the water. There are a lot of factors that come in to play and time on the water is a big factor. Through racing you can learn from the other boats and better sailors, see how and why they are going faster. It is not whether I won are lost always, I just think in the long run it made me a better sailor.

Doug

It's all, and always, about learning. Take away everything you can from every event. Learn the physics, understand the wind, observe the angles, and know your competition. Above all, focus on your mistakes and shortcomings until you truly understand them and immediately start scheming to overcome them next time.

The really good sailors do this from leg to leg. The mediocre guys do this race to race. The average sailors do this from regatta to regatta. The more you can refine the speed and cycle of this process the faster you learn, the smaller the mistakes, and the better the result.

+1 Awesome Take Jake!!!! /)/)/)~~~~~/)/)~~~/)

I knew it from the onset that this thread was going to be perceived like this, especially by the non-racers and noobs amongst us. A ton of people lurk here.

Threads like this are the exact opposite of what it takes to get more people on the water. We should be more careful, this is pretty bad PR for our sport. Especially when the first post is so sensationalized and obviously packed with meta-messages and does not represent Rick's editorial, which I felt was very respectfully written. I'm not exactly sure what the original poster's motivation was. Obviously it wasn't to paint our sport in a good light.

How many other guys do you figure won't be racing at all because of this thread? Time to put in some more effort to combat the 'friendly fire' I rekon.
J

Unwelcome at Regattas thread


So, while we may choose to sing kumbaya ...
Non racers have issues with racers.... Every now and then... one of them bubbles up and declares the emperor has no clothes and wants no parts of the scene.

Just dismiss or ignore these shortsighted people... They have no reason to feel unwelcome.

So... Carry on... all is well. We are doing a spectacular job of running regattas and growing the sport of sailboat racing.