Cinderella Races Swiftsure

Over this past weekend, we took Cinderella out for a rip to Swiftsure Bank and back. It was my first time sailing in the ocean, and we finished the longest race against the odds.

We were the last boat to finish cross the finish line on time and won the coveted "lanterne rouge".

We even made the front page of the the website!

http://www.swiftsure.org/

I saw a recode 11.9kts surfing the swells on the way home. Not bad for a 45 yr old E35!

it was a great shakedown for our next couple years of cruising, we really got a good feel for Cinderella.

-P

Congrats.

Stu Walker, the racing guru and theoretician, contended that skippers who complete the course but don't win are celebrated by all contestants. They are greeted by smiles and congratulations. They share the great camaraderie of sailboat racing and make it what it is.

The guy who wins the race, in contrast, is a sort of outcast. He is greeted by acknowledgement but not joy. He walks alone. Other sailors flock to each other, secure in their shared experience. The winner shares nothing. He won it.

Walker was thinking of big dinghy classes, at a time when regattas had hundreds of boats and the winner crossed the line and luffed off to the side to bail and sort things out. All the other boats would turn the other way, grouping together with catcalls or protests, relieved of the pressure and secure in the pecking order which put them together in the standings, not apart.

An insight, I thought.