Sailing like Salmons...
The Great Pumpkin race is a fun race - (some) people dress up, there are floating pumpkins along the course which we can pick up and get an award for, there is a quizz distributed to each boat to run for an 'intellectual award', there are random awards (this year was to the 6th, 15th and 26th finishers), award for the best costumed boat/crew and award for the last two boats to finish.
If we had finished, we would probably have been the only DFL boat going home with two awards.
The other special feature of this race is that boats can choose which way they want to go around the islands. If ever faced again with this decision, we will pick the other way around.
We lost over an hour drifting toward the bridge with 8 or so other boats who had made the same choice, and some 3 other Express 27s, only to meet the rest of the fleet already going down Racoon Straits under spinnaker. It was quite a unique experience to sail in a sea of spinnakers (really bad for your air though). The breeze filled up from the North favoring the other boats on the same course as we were and quickly turned Southerly (not planned)
Looking at the time, we decided to head back to Elise's home Club straight after the Straits, where some more food and beverages consoled us.
Strangely enough, I felt really bad about the race - not because of the actual situation (we live and learn, it's just a sailing race, there will be plenty of other ones) but because I thought that everyone else on the boat was sorely disappointed and really resented that decision (which we made jointly, reasoning around currents, etc...)
I do care about race results to the extent that I want to sail well, and better and better each time, racing makes me a better sailor. What I care even more about is to make sure that everyone on the boat is getting what they want, and part of it is getting good and challenging racing.
Today, I wasn't sure that it was the case, I wasn't sure that anyone was satisfied, and it felt like I hadn't done my job right. One person on the crew was offered a ride on a winning boat and turned it down as he had committed to Elise already. I apologized to everyone. It wasn't about driving or sailing well, it was about making a bad tactical call.
Everyone on the crew cheerfully pointed out that we don't get to be frogs every day, that it was great to just be on the water. They are right of course. We were on a sailboat on a beautiful sunny October day, in one of the most beautiful Bays in the world - with some great people. I believed them and started smiling again :-)
And frankly, sailing into this sea of spinnaker was truly magical, and we don't get to do this too often...
And I am lucky to sail with such amazing people.
