It seems to be a common thing around sailing communities to have some sort of Wednesday night racing. Here, they have a fairly large fleet of J22, Catalina 22, J24, new RS21 and many other smaller boats. Every Wednesday its likely to see 30-40 boats running up and down the lake.
I’ve always wanted to join one of these races, but I’ve never seemed to make it work out. I do race fairly regularly on the larger boats out on the bay, but these races are a much different story. Out on a 34+foot boat things move and change much slower. We try pretty hard to make sure there is plenty of room to maneuver, and plenty of time to react between other boats. These little boats though, they seem to be attracted to each other. Its not uncommon to see 3 or 4 of them fighting for position at the start line within inches of one another.
The amount of skill required for nearly any position on the boat is quite high. Just one misplaced line, or poorly timed sail set can cost minutes in a race decided by seconds. Bowmen need to be constantly aware and predict the actions of the helmsman, they do not want to be in the wrong spot for a maneuver or they could quite suddenly not be on the boat anymore.
Mostly though, I just love watching all these boats on the water. We’ve recently been trying to take Lady out and watch. Or sit at one of the outdoor bar decks and and enjoy the race with a beverage.
Id recommend checking to see if there is some sort of regular fleet racing in your area just to have a look.
