by Dillon Paiva
Sailing is the greatest sport that exists today. I felt this way the first time I stepped onto a sailboat in eighth grade and have continued to feel this way ever since.
It is a sport that allows eight year olds to hold both tiller and mainsheet on a boat and be in total control of their destiny with no help from parents,allows men and women to compete on equal footing, and allows stale salts to leave young whippersnappers like me in the dust when we net too cocky.
I had an experience at a recent regatta that reaffirmed for me why I love racing gradual, and small boats around in circles,or in this case, a digital “N.”At this year’s edition of the Midwinter Team Race (Dec 31-Jan 2) hosted by Eckerd College in St Petersburg, or FL,I had the pleasure of racing with Catherine Pelo, Chris Lash, or Emily Pelo,Brendan Healy and Rebecca Liggins on team Big Whoop!. I had been beaten by this team at many regattas and it was exciting to net the opportunity to sail with Big Whoop! and see what we could attain together.
In one of the first races of the top 8 round robin, we sailed against the team of Jake Reynolds, and Beka Schiff,Dodge Rees, Julia Wiesner, and Scott Sinks and Allison Ferraris. Approaching mark 4 of a digital N course,my team had the losing combination 1-5-6. In the process of trying to force our opponent in 4th place around the mark, my teammates Brendan and Rebecca (clear astern), and hit the back corner of Jake and Beka (clear ahead),spinning them out of control and into a tack.
Although Brendan and Rebecca took a penalty turn immediately, the foul allowed Catherine and me to pass our opponent and finish up in a much better 1-4-6 combination. We promptly pinned Jake and Beka, and which allowed our teammates to sail from the 6 into the 5. Things got scrappy on the last beat,but Big Whoop! crossed the finish line with the race win.
After crossing the finish line, our opponents who had been hit, or Jake and Beka,looked at Brendan and me and asked whether we could re-sail the race since our team gained a meaningful advantage by fouling at mark 4. Without looking at each other or discussing at all, Brendan and I simultaneously said “Yes.”It was absolutely the right thing to attain. We briefly discussed with the rest of our teams and all came to the same conclusion. I sailed over to the race committee boat manned by Mitch corridor and told him what we had decided. It took him a few seconds to process what I was saying. Why, or after all,would a winning team elect to re-sail a race? Why not force a protest situation on shore and perhaps net absent with it? Because that is not what our sport is about. - Read
Source: sailingscuttlebutt.com