WHAT DID YOU LEARN IN 2009?

by Pam

Several years back I read something that stuck with me. It said that except for the people you meet and the books you read, you will be the same person in 10 years that you are today. I thought about that for a moment and decided I’d better get to meeting and reading.

Two summers ago I met Doug. A rather remarkable sailor who had only sailed one boat for ages and was driving a car that was old enough to vote and it practically drove itself to the lake. When it came to his sailing routine, not much had changed for him for years. I watched as he rigged his boat by feel and even adjusted the sail by feel. Enter me. I seem to have a talent for shaking things up and turning them inside out. Today, Doug is sailing almost everything but a Laser and an eye test that he took after driving my car and scaring the snot out of me, revealed that his corrected vision in his good eye was worse than 20/200 (legally blind). Shake, shake, shake! He now has two new eyes and is seeing the world and sailing from a new perspective (literally and figuratively). The Doug of 10 years ago has morphed into a multi-faceted, sighted Butterfly sailor (among other things).

Well, having met Doug also changed things for me because having a sailing coach of his caliber is almost like driving in my own personal sailing HOV lane. This past year, I sailed on 7 different boats on 11 different lakes. I raced in 15 regattas (11 circuit stops in 4 different boats; 3 national level events in 3 different boats; and the State Fair Regatta). I also attended 4 sailing education events and served on race duty 4 times. My sailing on all boats has improved throughout the year. Here is a quick summary of what I sailed, how much and how I did.

Judging from the sailors I’ve met at the different venues, this branching out isn’t uncommon for past Butterflyers. I learned a ton about sailing but there were a few things that stood out:

1. Check your feet - you can get skin cancer on the soles of your feet, in between your toes and under the toenails and barefooted sailors are particularly susceptible to this and cancer on the feet is very, very bad. Who knew?

2. First out, first in - with the exception of Bruce, time and time again I noted that the order in which boats leave the harbor is often the order in which they finish and return.

3. It’s always hotter, colder, calmer and windier at the back of the fleet - the front of the fleet should note that the back of the fleet is usually a temporary position. Nine times out of ten the sailors at the back will either move up or quit and the survival of the class depends on which way they go.

4. Sail with the people - the front and back of the fleet aren’t learning as much as the people in the middle. If you’re in the learning stage, start 30 seconds early instead of getting spit out the back in dirty air or skip the mark rounding and turn around early and go back downwind with the bulk of the fleet and then practice your starts and mark roundings on a practice day.

5. Use good judgment - sometimes, by sitting out a race, you can score the same on shore as you can racing … and sometimes you can miss some really good racing.

6. Sit and listen - you can learn quite a bit by doing duty and observing the races or by simply chatting with a very good sailor.

7. Go for it - when an opportunity presents itself, instead of waiting for conditions to be right, just go for it … life doesn’t always give you a second chance to do it again later.

What did you learn this past year? How have you changed?