Max Ebb: Rally Rules — A Break From the Racing Schedule?
“Whenever two sailboats are in sight of each other, heading in the same general direction, they are racing.” An old saw, but very true. What if there are 30 boats? Or 130? And what if the event is promoted as a “Cruisers’ Rally” and the fleet is unapologetically, at least on paper, not interested in racing?
They will race anyway, and may Poseidon help the organizers who have to come up with a scoring system. That’s how I persuaded Lee Helm, usually too much in demand as a tactician, to race on an old boat like mine, and with an old skipper like me, to come along on a midsummer cruisers’ rally up the river. It was billed as a refreshing break from the racing schedule. My old friend Roxanne Scholes, a confirmed non-racer, was also on the guest list. So was Phill Chute, an experienced foredeck crew who can’t resist a long downwind sail, especially in a relatively heavy boat like mine that sails deep downwind angles instead of hot reaches for best VMG.
The wind at the start was flat calm, so the call had been made for a “rolling start.” That means, in this context, that all boats are asked to motor across the starting line.
“Is this a powerboat race?” Phill asked. “How do we know who wins?”
“They have a system,” I said. “The RC announces on VHF what time the engines are allowed to go on, and when they have to go off. There’s a six-knot speed limit, so in theory, everyone motors the same distance.”
“But the RC picks only one winner in each division,” Lee added, “and everyone else is scored as tied for, like, second place.”
“Keeps the logistic overhead under control,” I surmised. “They also make up prizes for biggest fish caught, best wine list, oldest and youngest crew, and other cruisey stuff.”
“For sure,” Lee said. “But I think a lot of us would like to go for ‘adult’ prizes too, based on, like, you know, actual sailing skill.” Phill was also big on the adult prizes. “This morning I bet a round of drinks with my buds on another boat that we would beat them on corrected time. Not fair if we’re already locked in a tie.”
