SORC '97

Through a long chain of events that I won't bother to go into, I ended up with a crew spot on a Mumm 36 called 'No Fear' for this regatta. Needless to say I was pretty excited!

The boat was lovely and ready to race after having had an accident on her delivery to Key West for that race week when the hired skipper got her up on the coral at Molasses Reef.

This regatta would be no cruise in the sunshine! Sunshine we did have....but also winds in the 20k range and more every day! This was quite a bit more than we really wanted, as it was the owner's first 'one design' regatta and the crew were all new to the boat. Along with the high winds, of course, came the high seas. My estimate would be it was in the 7 - 10 foot range. One thing about a Mumm36 that became very clear the second day was that the runners are absolutely critical. Evidence of this came when Mad Dog, another in our class, was ducking us and lost their rig. Apparently their runner trimmer wasn't quick enough for that move!

The big seas made for challenging driving conditions for a skipper that was used to driving a wheel and not accustomed to a Mumm36. Improvement was evident each day though so we have hope! The pit position (which was mine), unlike on the Hobie 33 is a busy spot and I found it fun and challenging. Black and blue marks were almost as abundant as the rum that flowed at the party tent!

Speaking of rum, the race committee realized they erred on Friday in canceling the day's racing and should have postponed instead for a few hours. They made up for it a bit by putting out a few bottles of rum and some cokes and ice and told us to help ourselves! Nice touch!

Although we finished last in every single race...we didn't feel too terrible since the competition was very tough and we weren't left on the horizon. Actually some of our finishes were within 2 min. of the lead boat and I feel that was fairly respectable for a new crew in a new class with no practice sailing together.

All in all it was a great regatta and I hope to be invited to be full time crew on the boat.. but only time will tell on that subject.