Thanks for the encouragement, but it's hard enough to think clearly at the front of the boat. The back of the boat I think is harder, I can't remember for certain. So much for wise.

One thing that is certain, the boat is far more complex than they were. I have lines I can reach from the trap for boards, rotation, downhaul, main sheet, spinnaker sheet, jib sheet, jib downhaul, and maybe something else. My head hurts.

Since I no longer have 20/15 vision, it's easier to see the next mark when I am up at the front. I am closer to the mark up there, especially on a 20 footer.

Alec, the guys in the back of the boat are on vacation. They don't even trim sails anymore. They just sit there, look pretty in their illegal lifejackets and free sunglasses, practice their game face, and soak up the glory at the bar while getting slapped on the back by other skippers in pressed Hawaiian shirts, clinking rummies, and admiring their name on the trophy while the exhausted crew all huddle in the corner after putting the boat to bed, compare open wounds and trying to scrape together enough quarters for another pitcher of PBR. Life's good on the back - get back in the game.

The guys on the back usually have to put in their time on the front :P

The guy at the back usually pays for the boat too

Thats why I bought my boat. I was sick of doing the hard work!

Lee, not always. Sometimes good crew gets sick and tired of the skipper always whining about new blocks and good line. So maybe at first, they just travel with their own jib sheet... but that is a slippery slope. Suddenly you find yourself on spin boats, and you drop a couple hundred on a good set of Harken autos and some smaller-diameter FSE Robline Racing Sheet... suddenly your dittybag has good bungee and spectra in it 'cause you don't like swimming. After a while, you decide to just bite the bullet and start driving, so you buy a nice rig and trick it... but now all your old skippers are certified rockstars and the phone won't stop ringing so you tell yourself that you have a shot at the silverware with that guy but not if you shove him up front where his massive hamfists can't deal with a 3.8mm halyard and he farts everytime he squeezes his prodigious bulk under the boom, uncleating the outhaul and maybe the jib for good measure as he grunts his way to the other side of the boat, and it's just mesmerizing watching this gorilla so you've committed the cardinal sin of taking your eye off the next puff to indulge your eyes in horrifying fascination, so you pop a hull and the guy freaks out and starts talking about how much better he is and didn't I ever learn anything while I was getting years worth of top-notch free coaching?!?!

Would anyone like a cup of fresh coffee?

I'll probably get fired for laughing that loudly at my cubicle, but that's the best read I've looked at in a long time, Dub...

Me Too! Great commentary! The guy in the back does own the boat, and is as enthusiastic as anyone can be, so it's not that bad other than the cruel working conditions, and he has been in the sport almost as long as I have. We have some practicing to do, and serious boat tuning as well.

Not everyone can sail with Tina.... Butt, we are the fattest nation on earth.

http://www.infoplease.com/world/statistics/obesity.html

are you sure???

and I prefer the term "chubby"

AND THE USA LEADS THE WORLD AGAIN- First among English speakers!
Are there really Porkers on Cats? In the A-cats- not so much. (Subtle commercial for conditioning ones own self for the good of your sailing).

How about "festively plump" or "jolly">?

You know we hate to lose. (weight)

-Signed, from size 42 to 38.

Down from 285 to 260. Just 50 more to go.

just had all you can eat breakfast... I thought they'd run out of sausage & gravy on buscuits, so I doubled up