Three years ago, CO decided to try the idea of “instant sailboat” racing. The idea was for several people to build a boat on Saturday, and race them on Sunday. I missed the first event in 2005, but made last years event. My total lack of sailing or boat-building experience, along with the fact that I built my boat by myself, while others worked in teams, lead to a fairly complete failure. This year, I was determined to do better.
I started by studying boat building a little more and quizzing CO about his boat and his knowledge. I then took a sailing class through the Minneapolis Parks and Rec group. Finally, I recruited a team member, Jeremy Butts, who drove up with his girlfriend Jennifer from Detroit. With advice from two boat builders (CO and my uncle Hugh) a Naval Architect (my dad), and my newfound sailing experience and team, I was a shoe-in to win this year, right?
Amazingly, what was a pile of wood at 10AM on Friday, was a complete and painted boat at 10AM on Saturday.
Jeremy and I successfully sailed it around the course for a solid third place after CO, who won, and Chris Krier, who finished second. We beat out John Jaranson, who used hie aeronautical engineering degree to build a “solid” sail, rather than a traditional sail.
My mom and sister made it out from our cabin to watch the racing, which was cool, particularly since I didn’t know that my sister was up, and that my Mom told me only a few days before leaving that she would be up for it.
We managed two good races, although Chris and Cara ended up capsizing in the second race and needed to be towed back to shore. I suppose that would have made us third in that race, but we failed to complete the second lap. CO’s boat also had this annoying habit of tipping over when left alone. A little too top heavy I guess?
All-in-all, I was very pleased with the outcome, and await next year when I will update this boat and hopefully become a little more competitive. More sail is the key, I believe, and less crew. The wind was not enough to allow Jer and I to take advantage of our significant ballast (us).
A huge thank you to Jeremy and Jennifer for driving out and helping, and to CO and AnnMarie who planned, organized, and ran a great weekend event.
