I had to perform some catrobatics this weekend and it got me thinking what other sticky situations crew find themselves getting into all in the name of competitive sailing.

My story is; we just rounded C and were headed to windward double trapped out. I did my usual scan of the boat looking for any uh-oh’s when I noticed that our spinnaker sheet had found its way under the leeward bow and was wrapped around it. Not good.
(I should mention we are a Tiger with full-length snuffer.)
I point the situation out to my skipper; Dennis, who immediately tells me to go down there a fix it. So I swing in on the boat and hesitantly near the leeward side of the boat thinking he is going to head up so I can go crawl out to the end of hull and free the line. If I could only be so lucky. He has no intensions of slowing the boat down. He tells me to crawl out there and get it and he’ll stay out on the wire and hold the boat down and he continues to sail to weather.
The only thing that made me actually shimmy out to the end of the hull taking buckets of spray and waves in the face and risking falling off the boat, pitchpoling, flipping –whatever; to get that line free, was knowing we could not put the chute up with the line under the hull and knowing that we were battling for first position with one mark rounding to go with a downwind finish.
It was purely my competitive side. Of course later on the beach I screamed crew abuse and told everyone he made me do it.
There was nothing super dangerous about what I did but it was kinda crazy. So I was wondering what stories other crew might have about stupid or crazy things they’ve done all in the name of competition.

this is my experience crewing recently. I won't mention any names but in the skippers defense, it was a brand new boat to him and he had only had it for a VERY short time prior to this race. He didn't have much time to test this boat out beforehand. We also had it pretty loaded up with three people on board.

- First the mast is overrotating and we (there were two of us crewing) rig up a dirty rotation limiter.

- getting ready to gybe for C, the other crew realizes that the leeward jib car is flopping helplessly on the trampoline because the pin has come out of it. Grabbing some left over line from the jury rigged rotation limiter, I tied the block in place - but realize it's temporary because the rope is on some fine metal.

- Next a trapeze rope breaks sending me in the drink. After the skipper stops the boat and I'm swimming my heart out (with the trapeze ring in my hand), he looses focus working on something at the front (my jury rigged rotation limiter I think) and the boat begins to sail slowly away from me. He realizes it and I finally reach them.

- An inspection of the repair of the jib car is showing some fraying. Realizing that one of the trap wires (with a pulley on the end) is now worthless, I steal the small pin and ring from it. The problem is that we are on starboard and the inflicted jib car is loaded (we're in a quasi distance race jib reaching for A) so I keep the pin and ring in my mouth while we sail the boat for about 10 minutes until we sail the boat up around A and change tacks (I should have waited to remove that pin until later!). Meanwhile, I'm trying not to laugh, cough, sneeze, or give myself any reason to swallow! Finally tacked over and repaired the jib car.

- Skipper looks at his mainsheet blocks and realizes the ear has just pulled out of one side of a shackle and the pin is **** and probably not far from breaking completely. After desperately searching for another piece of rope to tie a backup in place for the shackle, skipper points out that I have a piece of line tied to the shoulder of my life vest (I have it there for exactly this kind of situation but I didn't remember that I had it - geee, that would have worked great on the jib car too!). Tied said backup rope from the block to the traveler and not 5 seconds later, BAM the shackle lets go and the rope holds. WHEW.


We held on and finished 3rd.

Maby it's a chivalry thing or just a generation gap, but the exact same thing happened the weekend before last to both my son and myself on two seperate Spitfires. We have two sisters crewing for us. We were both on the last beat with one downwind leg to go. He was ahead of me, with a Hobie Tiger just ahead of both of us. We had to get the Tiger on handicap. When Neil noticed the gennaker sheet around the hull, he stayed on the wire and sent his crew out on the leward hull to clear the rope, which she managed to do. I stopped, told my crew to hold the cat into the wind and I crawled out on the hull and cleared the rope. Just different generations. He ended up second in that race, I was fifth.

I saw one last year where something got knotted at the very tip of the spinnaker pole on a Dart Hawk F18. The guy decided to hook on his trapeze and work his way out to the tip of the pole. All seemed to go well, he was hanging on his trapeze right between the hulls at the end of the pole. A large wave arrived, lifted him up, his harness unhooked, he dropped down holding the end of the pole and snapped it. He did manage to grab the rudder, as he went through the middle, and pull himself back onto the boat !. Not his day.

Funny you should mention the spinnaker sheet tangled up in the hoop – because after I freed the sheet from the hull we noticed that the line was somehow caught up on the hoop. Dennis wanted me to make my way out to the end of the hull and reach out to the tip of the hoop and untangle the line. Of course without slowing the boat down. I put my foot down and said no. I knew I could get out there, but I was certain I probably would not get back without falling into the water between the hulls. I was sure I could get it untangled some other way. And I did.
Oh did I mention that the spinnaker sheet broke free from the clew too? It seems like when one thing goes wrong it is a free-for-all for everything else to go wrong.
But we do it weekend after weekend. Just can’t get enough.

A new housing development along a lake in Miami wanted to do a video publicizing the property, and they decided it would be really neat to have a bunch of catamarans out there racing on the lake. They offered to pay everybody something to be there, so our local fleet rallied and went over and did some informal racing while a helicopter hovered overhead videotaping.

Rick and I, on our Hobie 18, capsized, and it was so sudden that somehow I ended up standing on my hands on the mast. Another sailor said, "All I could see was your feet waving up there above the high hull." This whole thing was captured by the photographer on the helicopter, and I don't know what they did with that video, but I hope it was lost or destroyed.
It was probably the downblast from the helicopter that caused us to capsize.

Hi Tracie and all

The funniest one I ever saw was two big guys racing near the front of the pack stuff their bows into a wave .
They both went flying forward and both somehow got their harness hooks stuck on the bridle wires near the bows .
The boat did not flip but jumped backward and sailed away in the opposite direction with the two of them yelling at each other ,-still stuck on the bridle wires sailing away at full speed again .--
Where is the video camera when its needed .!!

tHE FUNNIEST one I,ve done is rounding Cape Hatteras in gusty 30 very choppy sea conditions one year and typically for those conditions having my feet wiped off the boat by the washing machine effect and shoal area chop and wave action .-
Dragging alongside the boat still attached to the trap wire on my back ,-continued to steer and sail for a good half mile ,not wanting to stop . There were 50 or so photographers on the cape taking film and pics of the race .
Sure it made for some unusual "how not to round a cape " footage .-some nut dragging alongside steering .-
Flew the hull more than a few times ,-sure that added to the effect .
After rounding the cape We latter dismasted by having a forstay break ,--but got it repaired by the shore crew finished the leg about 4 a m in time to finish,-and start at 10 that morning to finish the 1000 the next day in Virginia Bch .
whew ,-tough day at the office ,-as they say .
Was too tired to celebrate that year ,-
though did anyway !!
have fun -thanks for all the stories too and the fun thread -
Carl

Cat up a tree.

Tracie,

I've done that more that once with my N6.0na. I used to use an EO snuffer mounted on the end like the I-20's. It's worse when it's out there, sheet going under the lee hull that is. Now I lashed it to the bridle, so it goes in the hoop behind the bow.

I often walk/crawl out on the bow and clear things, etc.]

I can still remember the gurgling, bubling sound of my crew is Rough Riders a few years ago clearing the line from under the leeward bow as he and the whole bow where under water, with me still trapped out driving the boat harder!

Actually the line under the hull, rides to the board, and really causes mega cavitation and disturbs laminer flow there = slow.

Todd Bouton