When I pull into the parking lot to sail for the day, freezing rain isn't the first thing I want to see when I get out of the car. To be honest, I prefer t-shirt weather and sunburns over sub-freezing temps and numb fingers.
This wasn't just your average day out sailing; this was an interview, or first date if you will. For some time now I've wanted to crew on a boat for the Oregon Offshore Race. What is the Oregon Offshore Race, you ask? It's a one hundred and ninety three mile race that starts at the mouth of the Columbia River, travels up the rugged Washington coast against the natural ocean currents and wind patterns, then heads down the Strait of Juan De Fuca to finish in Victoria, British Columbia. The race usually takes about forty eight hours of continuous sailing, day and night. Sounds fun, right?!
You can check out their official website here.
Now, I've been trying to get on a crew for a couple months by asking around, checking the various websites where skippers post open crew positions, etc. So, when I heard there might be an opening on a boat called Wave Dancer, I got ahold of the skipper. We arranged a day to meet in Portland, and a time for me to sail with the rest of the crew during their weekly race on the mighty Columbia River.
Wave Dancer is a New York 36; you can find her stats here. Last year she placed tenth in the Oregon Offshore Race.
This being the last race of the winter season, the race course started with our spinnaker up. This type of start is usually reserved for special occasions. I was assigned the position of controlling the spinnaker pole, a job I have done once before while racing Party Girl.
The starting horn went off and the crew scrambled around setting our spinnaker as we crossed the start line. After the dust had cleared, we were leading the pack of maybe 30 boats and kept that lead until we rounded the buoy and were headed back to the finish line. I was impressed, and I was only hoping that the skipper was equally impressed.
After we rounded the buoy, we took down the spinnaker and I was reassigned to adjusting the headsail. Now you have to understand, most of my experience trimming the headsail comes from sailing on my own boat. And the winches that adjust my headsail are different than the winches on Wave Dancer.
Forgetting exactly how a self-tailing winch works, I thought I had properly secured the line for the headsail. But within seconds, the line let loose causing the headsail to flap about in the wind.
What a disappointment!
Up to that point, everything had been going great. But with that rookie move, I thought for sure I had ruined my chances of getting on this crew.
I recovered the line and readjusted the headsail; this time holding fast to the line and not trusting my understanding of the locking mechanism. As we headed towards the finish line, we were passed by a few boats that were inherently faster than Wave Dancer. We finished fourth across the line and we were all pleased with our efforts. If you take into account the PHRF system, we placed first or second.
The PHRF system is a handicap system that allows sailboats of different inherent speeds to race against each other competitively in the same race. If you're curious, Wave Dancer has a PHRF of 108. If I were to race my boat Orion's Wake, she would have a PHRF of 282. Party Girl, the boat I race on a regular basis has a PHRF of 162.
After it was all said and done, I'm set to crew on Wave Dancer. On top of that, I was invited to join Wave Dancer for the Swiftsure Race that starts two weeks after the Oregon Offshore Race ends. Swiftsure starts in the same place where the Oregon Offshore ends, making it a natural race to compete in after the Oregon Offshore Race. You can check out the Swiftsure race here.
Many of the boats for this race gather in front of the Empress Hotel.
High Tea Anyone?
~J~
