Wednesday was a day of firsts – Part Deux

As regular readers of this blog (Ha, who am I kidding?) will know, I recently joined Raritan Yacht Club. It has taken us a while to find our feet and figure out how to get racing. With a bit of prodding from the extremely able Rear Commodore, we got our asses down to the club early on Saturday, hung around the dock and within 5 minutes, we were snatched up by Howard, the skipper of a C & C 35 MK III, Knot Again who was on the look-out for a few select athletes to add to his top-notch crew list. We went through a rigorous interview process, which involved ensuring that we were breathing regularly, that we vaguely knew the sharp end of the boat from the stubby end and did not suffer from hydrophobia. The next thing we knew we were crewing in a 2-day regatta run by Keyport Yacht Club. I am happy to report, that we won all three races in our class. I was going to say because of my contribution but despite might be more accurate.  I think I managed 10 over-rides on the starboard winch. I want to give Howard huge kudos for his post-race libations. Rather than the usual six pack of coldies, Howard provided some delicious wine and a fantastic spread of cheese, pate and other fine comestibles. Class! On Wednesday, I turned out for the mid-week evening race.  This was the first of what I hope will be many of these. What a frickin' blast. The racing was a lot of fun. There were a ton of boats out with 4 classes of boats crewed to the gills. Although we put in a valiant effort we did not fair as well as we had at the weekend. We were not helped that after a late sail change, yours truly stepped up to re-tie the jib sheets and took 10 minutes (that felt like 40) to tie the sheets to the clew. This is typical! When there's no pressure, I can tie a bowline, eyes closed, one-handed behind my back with a flourish. If there is an ounce of pressure, forget it, I tie 'em wrong every time. Suffice to say, the end of the evening was a highlight. Dark and Stormies in the bar. Some celebrating of Sinn Fein's accomplishment and huge amount of mirth at my expense. Hey this sailing club thing is working out well!