Larry Parker Photos
I’m in the grocery store looking for the best value wine, you know the one with the biggest discount. The phone rings and it is Jack Thompson asking if I would like to join the BCYC team for a team racing event in Harbor 20s organized by the Newport Harbor Yacht Club. My first thought was one of those old TV commercials of the crash test dummies, I do not know how to team race and the kids at the NHYC are some of the world’s best. Jack went on to explain that he and Christophe Killian are forming a team and they would like me to join them. I replied that I was happy to practice with them but there are many more experienced team racing sailors at BCYC they should call.
Thompson sets up a zoom meeting a couple of days later with David Levy, Christophe Killian, and Aubrey Mayer in attendance, about an hour into the meeting I finally “get it” the notice of race indicates that one of the skippers must be over the age of sixty. “Ohhhh I understand now, you need an old guy?” I said. This makes me a little more interested yet I still am seeing those crash test dummies.
Thompson organizes a couple of practices when I start feeling that maybe I can at least stay out of harm’s way. The kids keep telling me to sail fast, get in the lead, and don’t look back. As the event approaches, I made the mistake of looking at the other team’s rosters. Each team of three boats has at least two college sailing All-Americans some teams even the “Old guy” was an All-American skipper.
Race day arrives and the competitors gather for the skipper’s meeting, while glancing around the room I am taken back with the skill level of everyone attending. There is an old rule in sailing, make sure you know who is better than you on the racecourse. Well, I just happen to know everyone in the room, and if I did not know the person I recognized them from the different sailing magazines.
Our team name was the Corinthian Cruisers our goal was to keep our noses clean and not end up like a puppy being potty trained. Our team consisted of boat # 1 Jack Thompson & David Levy, Boat #2 Christophe Killian & Aubrey Mayer, # 3 me and Patrick Kincaid. The kids kept telling me to “Have fun and sail fast” in fact they reminded me of this so often I thought I had must have had a little accident in the corner already. We finish the first day going 2-2 and no one is saying a thing. In fact, we beat the team that won the whole thing that day, I had my first memorable moment when I finished the race and Killian looked at me and said: “ Now that’s team racing!” With a thumbs-up, and a huge smile.
Day two started at 10:00 and finished at 18:00 with ten races that day with long waits between races under the hot sun. The highlight of the day was finishing in sixth place out of twelve boats and qualifying in the gold round. Again, we all stayed rather quiet and said nothing about the BYC team, other than a large smirk on our face, not qualifying in the gold round. The day before BYC crushed us, to quote one of their teammates “That was not much of a race”. After a late afternoon break, we headed back out on the harbor for two races in the gold round. By this time I am fried, done, roasted, if my belly button was a meter it would have pooped out. At the age of 60 nothing pops any longer. We faced two of the best teams and I just got my nose rubbed in it and went back to the dock telling myself how I never want to do this “Team Racing” stuff again wondering how much could I sell my boat for?
The last day started at 10:00 on Sunday with a postponement until the Santa Ana winds calmed down at about noon. We had three races to go and although I was sailing well we lost the first two races. We still had a chance to make the knock-out round of the top six boats. At the end of the third race, going to the finish line, we pulled ahead and when I crossed the finish line I had another memorable moment with Aubrey Mayer, who had already finished, jumping up and down with a huge smile on his face. We had beat the only team with one win in the gold round and won on the tie-breaker too advanced to the knock-out round. Going into the next round we faced the team that finished in second for the event and they throttled us rather hard, winning the first two races out of three. Coming into the dock you would have thought we won the event finishing fifth out of twelve boats. Kudos with well done’s were received from all the competitors. Finishing in the top half of this event was extraordinarily gratifying with hopes of starting interest from within BCYC.
As President Biden would say “Now here is the deal” BCYC has planted the seed and has the top junior program in our harbor. You have built it and they have come, now we have to keep them. An active “team racing & match racing” program will keep the kid’s attention. If we provide the comparable tools as NHYC has we will grow because NHYC team is so deep that most of their team does not get any playing time. We have to WANT it, and the opportunity is now! Let’s take that next step up the ladder we already have most of the tools needed? Keeping young adults active and staying at the club has always been a challenge, this is one way to achieve that goal of keeping long family legacies for our history books. Huge shout out to Commodore Bacon for coming out on the water and cheering us on Saturday.
Sea ya!
Len Bose
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