No Drama Llama

by Kim Couranz, SpinSheet
Last month at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Annapolis Regatta, I had a front-row seat to 37 starts over the course of three days from my position on the pin boat on the Severn Sailing Association race course. Most were packed with action, and it’s a bit of a blur of fiberglass and Dacron. But one start stands out in my memory, not for the action it included, but the calm of one skipper.

The U.S. Albacore National Championships were held as part of the regatta, and 21 of these 15-foot, two-person dinghies were on course for the event. The experience these sailors have was evident at most starts, when the vast majority of the fleet was just about right on the line. For the start that sticks in my mind, there was a clump of five or six boats aiming to start down near the pin end of the line.

With about 10 seconds to go, it became clear that the leeward-most boat was not quite going to make it. They weren’t quite laying the pin but had become solidly overlapped with the RHIB that was serving as platform for the pin end. And of course, they had a clump of a few more boats on their hip. “Stuck” might be the word that best describes their situation. For many sailors that could be cause for chaos, but not for that skipper. – Full report