By Bruce B. Brugmann
I confess here and now that I know nothing about sailing or sailing races. In fact, the only thing I know is the joke among sportswriters that the way to cover a sailing race is to station yourself at a bar, overlooking the race, and cover the action from there, because there really isn’t any action that you can see from the shore.
However, I decided to see my first sailing race when my grandson, Nicholas Perez, a lean l3-year old from Santa Barbara, and his skipper, Gordon (Gordo) Bagley, of Boulder City, Nevada, entered the Hobie National Championship Race the week of July 30th on the beaches of Alameda. I watched them head out to the start line, with some of the world’s top sailors from all over the globe, including Australia, Mexico, Fiji, and of course the U.S.
And then I came back to the city because I simply couldn’t spend the day trying to follow the action.
On Friday, Aug. 3, the last day of the five day regatta, the two did the impossible and pulled off one of those once-in-a-lifetime sailing feats that sailors only dream about, as was explained to me later by the sailors.
As you can see from the three photos, Nicky and Gordo port tacked the fleet, which means they threaded the needle between the pin boat and the rest of the fleet of catamarans on port tack, went into the lead, and never gave it up during the race.
Here’s what the sailing experts told me: Sailing afficionadas know what a difficult and gutsy move this is. To pull it off during a national championship is nothing short of miraculous. Here is how the miracle worked. A fundamental rule off sailing is that the boats on starboard tack have the right of way. Typically, 99.9 per cent of the sailors will be positioned on the starting line with their boats situated on the starboard tack. Starboard tack means that the wind is coming over the starboard side of the boat.
As you can see in the photos, 49 Hobie catamaran sailboats are on the starboard tack when the starting guns goes off and only one boat, #5l with Nicky and Gordo is on port tack. They are taking a big gamble that they will be able to sneak through a very narrow opening at the left-most end of the starting line without fouling, impaling themselves on or crashing into the rest of the fleet on starboard tack.
If this doesn’t work then, well, it’s not the good. But if it does work, then it presents one with the advantage of clear, smooth, undisturbed air and good boatspeed right at the start of the race. Good boatspeed is vital for shooting through the starting line into the race course. Conversely, starting with the fleet, all on starboard, where everyone is having to maneuver, being careful not to bump into each other while going relatively slowly, makes for a slower start.
The wind direction and starting line orientation actually favored rthe port tack start, but as you can see, 49 captains and crew thought otherwise for this particular race. After a quick consultation to determine the course of action, they decided to go for it, sailed into the lead, and won the race.
Keep on sailing, NIcky and Gordo. As for me, I am now worn out and will retire to the Connecticut Yankee bar for a Potrero Hill martini. B3
Pictured below are Nicky and Gordo doing the impossible. Click on the continue reading button to see the first person summary that Gordo wrote for the Catamaran Sailing magazine blog.
Nicky and Gordo start the race:
Nicky and Gordo take the lead:
Click below for Gordo’s summary.
