April 17, Banderas Bay Regatta

jldigital media Leading
(Thank you John Pounder for the loan of your image, I'll buy it from you when we are back together.)

In our preparations for the Banderas Bay Regatta we practiced hard and prepared hard. We pushed the boat, we pushed the crew, and now I was pushing the yacht club, and they were pushing back. It was about the racing class we wanted to be in and it was too much; they weren’t having it.

“Fred, would you just shut up!”

That was the yacht club commodore talking. He’d had enough.

I decided to chill out a bit. I agreed to stay in the class where they wanted us and that was that.

Then came the racing.

This year we had some crew issues. We were constantly trying to recruit new crew to replace people who had boats of their own and wanted to go cruising. To make it worse the other skippers who were planning to compete in Banderas Bay Regatta were also scrambling for crew. It seemed like every good sailor was taken.

We did manage to put together a crew, a good one, and we practiced and practiced, including racing in the Beer Can Races. We also managed to address all the boat issues we’d experienced on the lead up to BBR.  By race day we were ready.

This year’s Banderas Bay Regatta was exceptional. There was wind, plenty of it, and the races were long, longer than usual. We had exhausting days on the water but we never let up on the boat or ourselves in these long windy races.

That practice and preparation paid off. On day one we placed second. It was our friends on Edwina who came in from behind and beat us by a minute and 11 seconds. It was clear that they were going to be tough but we were not giving up.

Then came the second race.  I urged the crew, “OK folks, here we go. We can win this one if we all, every one of us, really concentrate. And Shawn, my man, it’s up to you to keep that genoa perfectly trimmed the whole way. That’s what will win this race.”

They did it.  We won the second race.

Shawn was the star. A new guy on the boat, but a power house. He stayed focused on the jib like no one I’ve seen. He never lost his concentration. We beat Edwina by 18 seconds.

The fleet was having problems though. Two boats withdrew, and then in the third race Edwina blew out a sail and they were struggling.  We got another first.

On day three it was windy, over twenty knots. The race committee decided to run two races. When they announced the second race I groaned, “Geez, another one?” We were tired.

But we stuck with it. “OK folks, one more.”

Again, we pushed everything to the limit. When we got to the top mark and the wind was howling we never hesitated to set the spinnaker. At the bottom marks we sheeted the in sails rock hard. Sometimes it took two men to winch in the jib. And we hiked hard. Stefan urged us, “All the way out, get your cheeks over the side.”

On the last windward leg as we were pounding upwind, Richard said to me, “This is a tough boat Fred, all this punishment and it’s still taking it.”

“It’s a tough crew too, Richard.”

We were flying on the downwind leg. I looked down at Jim who was grinding the spin sheet.  He was grinning like a kid.

We won again.

So, it was a great regatta; three first places and one second place. We were jubilant.

Awards

Everybody contributed. On the foredeck Denny and Eddie were fantastic always getting set up for the next rounding even as the boat tried to throw them off. Rene grumbled about not having enough winches to do everything at once, but she managed it. The trimmers and grinders, Shawn, Luis and Stefan, put everything into it and never quit. Shawn, for his stellar jib trimming, was awarded the MVP (Most Valuable Player), and got to keep the first-place trophy. In the midst of all the chaos, Judy, Rena, Gloria and Dennis, at various times, went below and packed wet spinnakers faster than I’ve seen.

Jim Brainard joined for this regatta and, in addition to trimming and occasional grinding, was a great coach and tactical assistant.

Richard, as he always is, was a rock on main and tactics, plus assisting Gloria on runners. Richard said later that that last day’s races were the best ever.

Gloria handled the running back stays, normally a two-person job, and Judy, my wonderful Judy, was navigator par excellence. She kept our starts perfectly timed, our laylines exact, and kept us pointed to the marks. She has taken real ownership of the on-deck navigation computer and no one has come close to what she can do with that machine. Plus Judy went forward to assist Rene, helped with the spinnaker take-downs, and went below to repack them.

Even I did a good job; the whole crew kept me focused on my driving by nagging continuously if I didn’t keep the steering perfect.

Oh, one more crew addition: Eddie brought his dog Charley. Charlie stayed below while we were racing but he was part of the team.

It was definitely a team effort, three days, four races, and 10 people with total concentration.  I love them all.

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Fred and Judy, SV Wings, Mexico