Learning through racing

Had a nice outing on a new boat yesterday. Knot Again is resting right now as the skipper is off dealing with his daughters nuptuals. I wasn't sure if I would get a race. When I arrived at the club there were a lot of guys milling around waiting for their crew. As usual, it only took asking 3 or 4 people to find someone who needed crew. This time it was a skipper called Ethan, his friend Jeff and another member, Thad. It was their first time racing his Capri 25, Nightswimmer.  We did respectably, finishing in the middle of the pack. Not bad considering, Ethan had never raced the boat, we were a little less than positive about the course and yours truly started as off on the upwind leg with the Mother-Of-All-Overrides. This probably lost us a number of places. Ethan pointed out that as we were going about, I was leaving it too late to tack the jib. The slightly slacker sheet was more prone to over-ride. That was an important lesson for me. The thing I am enjoying most about racing is I learn something new every time.