Many people think the skills needed for sailboat racing are demanding or out of reach. They think racing may be too physical or just a bunch of crazy sailors yelling commands at each other. Well, all the above can be true, though generally only at the America’s Cup or one of the many high-end pro/semipro regattas around the globe. In the real world the rest of us just enjoy the casual competition, the camaraderie and yes, the post race events.

If you’re sailing along on a fine reach back from the gate and off your starboard side a boat appears. You eye the trim, the way the boat heals on the breeze. Next, you glance up at your sails, checking trim, downhaul, outhaul, vang, fairlead position. You gauge your progress down the Bay compared to the boat next to you…yeah, you need to go racing. You’ll do everything you can to beat them to Pier 39 and when you do, you’re feeling quite proud of yourself!

What do you need to go racing? Simple answer is, not much. A desire to help, to learn and to exceed are a great start. You’ll want some sort of foul-weather gear (keep it simple to start) some good shoes or better some watershoes or seaboots, gloves are a must. Sunglasses, some sunscreen and a red Mont Gay Rum hat (just add to the mystique.) The last thing you want to do is show up to the boat with a huge gear bag filled with stuff you won’t use. Remember the whole weight issue?

Honestly, at low level club and fleet racing, showing up is half the battle. Many boats DNS (did not start) for lack of crew, last minute.

How do you find a boat? It’s MUCH easier than you think. When I first started racing I would often show up at the local club docks and just bum a ride. You sit once or twice on the rail and then a trimmer or pitman doesn't show up and bam, you’re in the thick of it, but with the added advantage of having witnessed that crew position in action. The local sailing rag, Latitude 38 has great crew parties every year. sfsailing.com (local) and sailinganarchy.com (worldwide) have very active crewlists.

After your first hitched ride, head off to the Yacht Club for the post race party, meet some folks and I guarantee you’ll walk away with more offers to crew than you can manage. If you look at the numbers, they’re stacked in favor of crew. Even a small 25’ sportboat can need up to 5-6 crew in the Bay area. We have a LOT of wind and need weight to keep the boat sailing flat (which is fast). 35 footers often have 8 or 9 and 50 feet + can have as many as 15 and more. Put 40 boats on the starting line and you have potentially 300+ sailors in action.

So no more worries right? Go ahead, come on out and have some fun! You’ll learn so more about sailing every time you race. I’ve been racing most of my life and each day I race I walk away having learned something of value. Plus, as a an extra bonus, it’ll make you feel great and give you a sense of accomplishment. Competition is indeed a good thing.