Tuesday morning begins cool, crisp, a day after a light dusting of snow graces the front lawn of the house, an earlier day as daylight savings time gives me an hour’s more morning light. I am adjusting still from the week of sailing competitively against others from around the country. My thoughts drift; my internal balance still feels the bobbing motion that was imparted from the daily racing on Lake Norman. One week ago I was preparing to race against others who, if you traveled to any other regatta across the country, might appear as ordinary and approachable as sailing with the club down the street. My thoughts bob from some of the conversations at breakfast or dockside, small banter, or comments on the rain and fog, quiet conversations about world events, or a host’s accommodations with satellite TV tuned to far off America’s Cup racing.

The racing was, of course, for the Championship of Champions Regatta, for the enormous Jack Brown Trophy, a bowl whose dimensions could swallow several good size Thanksgiving turkeys complete with trimmings, but it was also for the sport of the sport of sailing, some of the current "very best" against each other in competitive yet friendly sailing.

Who knew what to expect when facing this crowd? Sure, everyone at the regatta had earned the "right" to attend, winning a 2002 North American or National Championship, but some were here on their first try with only one championship title to name, while others brought multiple C of C appearances and a dozen or more titles, Olympic Gold Medals, America’s Cup resumes in hand.

The Tuesday before, October 22, brought cool weather as sailors clustered around fellow competitor Greg Fisher of North Sails with Harry Carpenter of Flying Scot, Inc. to introduce all the competitors to the boats to be sailed. The Flying Scot, a 19’ centerboarder with main, jib, and spinnaker, is certainly not the fastest boat on the pond, but a very evenly matched boat as construction and class restrictions limit rigging and handling options. For some, the boat is brand new, others, a refresher into the latest sail trimming techniques. Our morning introduction then led to the skipper’s meeting where, as announced by the race committee chair, the weather isn’t usually "like this at this time of year". Today was announced a cool day, with the possibility of lots of rain and light winds for the remainder of the week.

If practice races can give rise to hopes, our Tuesday afternoon race gave an impressive swelling of confidence. Lighter winds, good spinnaker sets and douses on the way to the course, and a great start powered the team (including Larry Schmida from Michigan, Aric Riley and myself from Madison, WI) to a third place rounding at the first windward mark, and a bear away set in good order. Gybe marks being a mass of confusion when pressed by a third of the fleet, we dropped the spinnaker guy under the bow of the boat and scrambled fore and aft as the immediate pack aft now became the pack forward. Rounding eighth at the leeward mark, I didn’t have time yet to realize the ominous foreshadowing of events that a singular mistake breeds on the course. Later favorable shifts, clean sets and douses, and a little luck powered Team Buccaneer into fourth place for the practice race and end of Practice Day.

The tone of Day Two carries through the remainder of the regatta. If you do not get a great start anymore, you get squirted out the back of the fleet. A good start might generate a mid-fleet finish if, IF, you make no more mistakes, but if you do make a mistake (a bad tack, a poor spinnaker set, a missed shift, a poor rounding, something!) you can kiss five boats goodbye with little chance to recover. Sailing at this level now asserts itself among the leaders, who, with good starts and good tactics, can finish almost a course length ahead of the last place boats. And, weather permitting, variances in ability do not give a whit when you pick the wrong side of the course; for example, we started the third race Friday right next to a Gold Medal Olympian, picked the wrong side of the course for "just a little bit", and both of us finished in the double digits.

And so, a week later I drift from thought to thought about how the regatta was sailed. Our crew work improved every race, with the roll tacks becoming automatic and the spinnaker up and ready to draw almost before rounding the windward offset mark. I felt it an honor to be sailing around Bill Draheim or the Fisher team (father George and son Greg), and when we could cross their bow, we certainly did with glee. But, a week removed, I feel both motivated for improving the areas we were consistently poor (usually getting the shifts right), and happy with most of our aggressive starts. The personal victories felt good (like carving a hole at the starting line by pushing Dick Tillman’s boat up into a mass of others, but it was a general recall anyway), getting to spend time with good crew and good humor on board. But, I was also shocked at how amazingly normal every competitor seemed. Unless you knew the names and histories of the competitors, you might not assume this regatta to be anything special off the water (with the exception of provided boats, provided sails, way too much good food, more volunteers than competitors, and staff to help launch and retrieve your boat).

Good friends are abundant with this honor. I sailed with the open-eyed wonder of competition at a very high level, with good friends Larry and Aric. Other friends came just for the experience of attending: Chuck Howting from our native Madison and Bob Warren from Virginia tent camped on the grounds and motored around the course everyday with guests, photographers, and family aboard. Cards and e-mail from around the country encouraged our sailing success. And our own sailing families pitched in to help sponsor the costs of attendance. We owe a large debt to all and our gratitude to all is overwhelming; Thank You All.

Lessons Learned
And so, a week removed from the competitive environment of Lake Norman, and I can begin to assess what areas of my own sailing need improvement, as well as some general observations on the top sailors’ abilities.

Buddy Melges once quipped, on how to win sailboat races, "Start first, and stay ahead." No truer advice can be given, and oftentimes the simple statements make the most complicated. Learning to carve yourself out a great starting position, leaving the line at full speed, and nosing out your immediate neighbors is key to getting ahead. Too many boats in a 20-plus-boat regatta get left behind within the first five-seconds, never to catch up, because they failed to follow this advice. The positioning on the line seemed much less important because the race committee took great pains to have a square line and marks directly windward, thus, finding or creating a good hole, pushing away near boats, and squirting your boat nose out ahead would give you the chance to remain with the top five boats. Failure to push the start meant you are fighting bad air and compromised sailing lanes for the remainder of the regatta.

Exceptional crew work. The best crews helped prep the boat before every race (we would switch boats on the water after every race, carrying our spinnaker and personal gear with us), were aware of wind patterns not only on the race course, but way above the windward mark, aware of the different rigging arrangements on each boat, and gave flawless sail handling during the races. Spinnaker poles were up and set before the windward mark, and spinnakers up and drawing before the windward offset mark. The spinnakers were often left flying until the last possible moment rounding the leeward mark, and doused either windward or leeward depending upon the next downwind rounding. Each member was aware of boat heel, roll tacking, trimming for wind conditions, and miscellaneous duties on board.

Gear Changing: With many of the races sailed in lighter conditions, with puffs occasionally rolling down the course, the skipper and trimmers needed to understand how to tension and relax the sheets for the minute wind differences. The very best boats kept jibs powerful but not over trimmed in light airs, and skippers kept the mainsails "scooping" an extra breath of wind by keeping top battens angled out in light airs, slowly trimming during a puff. Although these trimmings only led to a very marginal increase in speed occasionally, it is enough to climb a boat above another and cast a mighty long wind shadow down the course.

Avoid Mistakes: Blow a start, lose the fleet. Bad tack, two boats sail by. Don’t get your spinnaker up and drawing immediately at the windward mark, five boats sail by. Douse too early, four boats sail by. Drop a sheet under the boat, five sail by. Miss a shift, half the fleet (or better) sail away. Don’t tell the skipper a boat is coming up; risk an immediate foul or a bad tack or a duck costing two more boats. Don’t listen to the crew, sail into the "death corner" and lose focus.

Enthusiasm: There were two races where we came in last, dead last, DFL, WHOA! we are way back not even in a group but where most other boats had long finished and we had a minute or two or more of sailing yet to go. Yet, there was no laughing or finger pointing or discouraging thoughts as each competitor has had that very same feeling before. I am more enthusiastic about my losses today than about the better finishes because it gives me the direction and incentive to be better next year. My wanting to learn, our competitors’ willingness to share their own experiences and talents, and my crew’s understanding of events and support all push to a better boat for next year.

Final Thoughts
Thank you all for your support: to our families who helped us sail or kept the kids going while we were away; to Larry and Aric who worked darn hard to do so well; to the Buccaneer Class for helping sponsor the application fee; to our local competitors who pushed and encouraged our sailing all year to get better; to our friends who traveled with us to be there, or who watched the daily results wishing to be there; to Lake Norman and US Sailing to put on the event and gather, truly, this year’s Best of the Best; we had a great time. If you ever, ever get this opportunity, don’t hesitate to go yourself.

Tim DeVries