# Fun Races?



## Antonio Hopson (Aug 15, 2017)

Where are some of the "not so serious races"? As in Whidbey Island Race Week, "Race. Party. Play."


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## Arcb (Aug 13, 2016)

Have you checked out "Puddle Duck Racers"?


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## Antonio Hopson (Aug 15, 2017)

Puddle Duck racers? Googling now! Thanks!


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## Lockjaw (Sep 21, 2016)

Antigua Sailing Week, St. Thomas International Regatta, and Barbados Sailing Week are all fun. They attract some serious competitors, but the emphasis remains on partying.

Rolex Giraglia Cup is more of a serious regatta than the above, but does provide outstanding shoreside hospitality.


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## SHNOOL (Jun 7, 2007)

No offense, but the question irks me some.

The idea that racing isn't fun, leads me to believe a lot of people shouldn't be racing... To an extent One Design racing is excluded in that statement.

I mean mixed fleet racing should be fun, because you are merely a slave to a rating anyway. Sorry PHRF, but honestly its as much about who you know... Not meant as a flame.

Best go in to a mixed fleet race trying to enjoy yourself, because taking it seriously implies that the ratings are fair for all conditions/boats, and honestly they aren't. They just can't be. Granted they are pretty good. In defense of PHRF, Portsmouth has a mathematical issue too (when the wind dies completely), so they are all just compromises.

That being said if you go in competing against yourself, and your corrected time, and the beer is cold, then you are having fun RIGHT?

If you are throwing flags, and screaming... um, maybe you ought to take up golf.


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## Lockjaw (Sep 21, 2016)

SailingUphill said:


> _f you go in competing against yourself, and your corrected time, and the beer is cold, then you are having fun RIGHT?_


_Unless you're one of the very, very few sailors getting paid serious money (i.e., world-class racers), racing - and sailing in general - should be all about fun. Getting a PRHF trophy or becoming national champion in some OD is very satisfying but really, your mother will be the only other person who cares.



SailingUphill said:



If you are throwing flags, and screaming... um, maybe you ought to take up golf.

Click to expand...

I have zero interest in racing with screamers (life is way too short). People sometimes get a bit excited under pressure, and you need to have a slightly thick skin, but constant yelling and swearing? No.

As far as protesting goes, racing is a self-policing sport and relies upon competitors to raise awareness of perceived infractions. I have no problem with people who raise occasional protests when it seems warranted. But this should not become a habit, nor should it ever be anything personal. Channel your inner Elvstrom: "you haven't won the race if in winning the race you have lost the respect of your competitors."_


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## Rocky Mountain Breeze (Mar 30, 2015)

The enjoyment of any competitive event is on the shoulder of the individual competitor. I have participated in football, wrestling, and baseball in High School, go-cart racing during its high point in the mid-70's, BMX bicycle racing from age 36 to age 46, and two games of full dress full contact football in my late 50's for a fund raising alumni game. I had fun in all of these endeavors without beer, cursing, or wanting to kill somebody. I think a lot of folks on this forum have some ego and anger management issues and should probably re-evaluate why they do things. If you do not enjoy competition and cannot admit to yourself that you are not going to win every event I think you should find some other venue with which to bolster your self esteem.


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## paulk (Jun 2, 2000)

We have several fun races each season at our club. I'll mention two. The first is the Rat Race. The prize is a stuffed toy (felt?) rat, mounted on a 2' long plywood (stained brown!) board with brass plates showing the year and each winning boat's name. It is run as a pursuit race to a harbor about 20 miles away. Boats start based on their rating with the slowest boat starting first. The next boat might theoretically be 20 seconds faster over the 20-mile course, so it starts 20 seconds after the first, and so on, until all the boats have started. Sometimes the Race Committee requires everyone to start anchored on or near the starting line. That can be exciting. Because it is a pursuit race the order of finish provides the final results. The race is scheduled so that the finish is about when the sun gets over the yardarm. Boats finish and proceed into the harbor at the finish, where they raft up to toast the winner. We've had raftups with about 20 boats, from 47 to 30 feet all having a good time. Sometimes the Race Committee offers a prize for the best hors d'oeuvres. To liven up the event, each boat is permitted to use its engine for a total of 20 minutes at any time during the race. This can create drama in low-wind situations at the finish, when one boat still has engine time and another doesn't. 
Another "fun" race we run the the Falkner Island Race. It's run on a Friday in September and goes from the starting area outside our harbor entrance, around Falkner's Island, and back. It's about 70 miles. The start is at about 19h00. This means that the Race Committee needs a searchlight to shine on the starting mark so that they can tell if anyone's over the line early. One year about a dozen boats started in a rainy Nor'easter with the wind blowing about 30 knots. (We reefed.) We started and the whole fleet was close-hauled on port tack to clear the bell buoy off the first point when when a 120' schooner rounded the bell under power and headed into the midst of our twelve sets of running lights, each aiming right at him.
THAT was fun. We got a second in that race. The finish is usually early (05h00?) the next morning if the wind holds. To make it more fun for the Race Committee boats take their own time at the finish. 
That's two


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## mikel1 (Oct 19, 2008)

Look up Figawi charity race. . . . . Hyannis to Nantucket, never done it but hear it is fun . . .


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## danvon (Dec 10, 2012)

Duck Dodge in Seattle is almost a race series . . . (it is certainly a series, and its a race for at least some of the boats). https://www.facebook.com/groups/3556380106/

You can't really have more fun on a Tuesday nite though. I just noticed you are in Seattle. Let me know if you want to come out next year.


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

I don't think it's whether the race is for fun, it's what the sailor is looking for. I race all the time. Almost every single time we're on the water. Sometimes my competitors don't know.  For others, cruising is more relaxing and as long as the sails are full, the last few tenths are not the challenge. I admit, when far enough offshore that there are no other boats, it is relaxing and I find myself much less interested in perfect trim, but more for comfortable trim.

We frequently end up racing neighbors back to the slip. It's essentially impossible not to. You can leave an hour apart, and there is still going to be an inquiry into how long it took you to return. 

However, most organized races are ruined by the competitors themselves. The worst races are the ones where the expensive boats are crewed by the rich owner's kids and their friends. Too often, they act the part, but have not accomplished a bloody thing in their miserable 20 something year old lives. Put them in matching shirts and it inflates their ego, like leaving a drunk in a liquor store over night. Guessing that what the OP is looking to avoid.

We came back to the slip many years ago (different marina), about the same time our neighbors returned from either a race or practice. This was the 20 something, matching outfits, Swan 42 crowd. My wife see them, while we are both tidying up dock lines, and says we had a great sail, how about you? One of the little turds looks over at our boat and says "that's not sailing" and gestures with his finger like he's pressing an electric winch button. Life's too short to hang with jerks like that.


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## SanderO (Jul 12, 2007)

It's in the DNA of most sailors to try to get their boats sailing as fast as they can in the conditions they are... up to a certain point. And that point is the one of diminishing return on effort investment. I don't use a slip so I am spared the close social contact with all sorts of boats... the good, the jerks and everything between. My perception is from boats in the harbor... and underway and occasionally seeing them come along side for fuel or water and so forth... but can't tell much from these quick takes.

For sailing is also a (team) sport and sports are about wining and competition and of course skills. My wife and I don't see out sailing as a sport... but a pleasant way to get away, be out doors, go somewhere or no where... enjoy time together with no distractions.. though smart phones changed that. When we are moving we like to get there but not more than being there. Thrilling sails with a lot of heel and spray is not wifey's idea of fun. I have no problem with it.

My concern about jerks on the water is that they are inconsiderate and can be dangerous. And there are too many of them.


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## fallard (Nov 30, 2009)

We gave up organized racing a long time ago, despite a promising start (won our first race on actual as well as corrected time) when we lost confidence in the judgement of the race committee. Our last organized race saw winds >45 kts on the outside of Fishers Island and that did it for us. We have spinnaker gear, but were racing as a couple in cruising class. It didn’t help when the spinnaker guys were making practice runs on the starting line within 5 minutes of our cruising class start. That gave us a perspective—as did the post race conversations—on the attitude of the “serious” racing community. We considered ourselves innocents in shark-infested waters after that. What really turned us off was the aggressive nature of one of the local racing superstars whom we had encountered playing “chicken” with us when he was burdened in very close quarters, resulting in our evasive action to avoid a collision. He was having fun, but we were not.

Our “racing”, like Minne’s, is with other boats on the same tack, but we decide whether we are serious at the time. The admiral can do without the sail trim exercises, but I find it fun. My favorite “race” was when we were returning to Mystic from Cuttyhunk and were passing south of Pt Judith close hauled, holding COG for Watch Hill Passage. We were overtaking an IP in the 38-40’ range that was motoring as my wife commented how much better she liked the cabin setup in the IPs than ours. Well, the IP took up the challenge and raised his sails. It didn’t take much more than half an hour for the IP to realize he could not hold our course and therefore VMG to Watch Hill. He gave up, furled the sails and went back to motoring. We won! So then I asked the admiral if she wanted a sailboat or a summer cabin on the water. We still have our sailboat 10 years after that incident. She gets her IP fix when we’ve charted them in various sizes over the past dozen years in the Virgin Islands.


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## capttb (Dec 13, 2003)

Every Thursday for 32 years in Dana Point there is the Farkle race, we use the same courses laid out for phrf buoys, Catalina 30's start at 2 PM and everybody gauges their start based on phrf rating. Whoever won last week picks the course for this week, first across the line wins, "no autopsy, no foul" protest procedure. This is only online reference for it I could find.
https://www.danapointcharters.com/sailingclinic


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## BillFalls44 (Dec 11, 2017)

mikel1 said:


> Look up Figawi charity race. . . . . Hyannis to Nantucket, never done it but hear it is fun . . .


I have seen this. I think it is neat!


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

mikel1 said:


> Look up Figawi charity race. . . . . Hyannis to Nantucket, never done it but hear it is fun . . .


This is a casual race, more than a serious bout. The big party on ACK is probably the attraction (and the Mt Gay hat  ) It's challenge is to get your boat race ready that early in the season. I've known many who have done it, but have not taken it up myself yet. I'm told the start box is a zoo, particularly as there are no qualifications to enter.


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## albrazzi (Oct 15, 2014)

**** Island race in Portsmouth Va. Most fun I've had at a Race. Hot as hell, no wind, Oh never mind. Still the most fun


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## gamayun (Aug 20, 2009)

The YRA party circuit on San Francisco Bay (Great Vallejo Race, West Point Regatta, etc....). What a blast both on and off the water!

Actually, I can't remember any of the races over the past four years of racing that weren't fun. Some were a little more frustrating than others, and the learning curve steep, though the end result was always rewarding.


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## albrazzi (Oct 15, 2014)

albrazzi said:


> **** Island race in Portsmouth Va. Most fun I've had at a Race. Hot as hell, no wind, Oh never mind. Still the most fun


Censored again, look it up it really is called that, Its also a male Chicken for christ sake.


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## hellosailor (Apr 11, 2006)

"The idea that racing isn't fun, leads me to believe a lot of people shouldn't be racing... "
Racing is a dead serious business. There's no reason you can't have fun before and after anything, from sewer cleaning to big game butchering in the veldt. But during the racing?

I know some "fun racing" fleets mainly full of older casual boats and "let's go have some fun" people and I can enjoy that. But real racing, that's an intense study and effort and for most folks, trying to tweak an extra 1/10th of a knot out of sail trim or maybe balance the boat just right while you're trying to figure out exactly how far to lay the tacks, may be something you enjoy but it ain't quite "fun".

All depends on how you want to play the game. If your purpose is winning, that may demand a bit more effort than just stooging around.


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