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In a bittersweet turn of events, the sailing part of the 2024 Crewed Boat Regatta was weathered out. Plan B by hosts Salty Sisters, however, turned out terrifically. It was a belated, much-needed break from real-life issues to come together again and have fun. There was a ton of raucous laughter.
To recap the situation: Regatta Chair Jenniffer O’Neill and her team spent months organizing this event, which was originally scheduled for Nov. 6 and 7. Then two hurricanes hit, leaving ongoing devastation at sailing facilities and at many members’ homes. When the event was rescheduled to Dec. 11 and 12, Jenn organized again, finding alternatives for volunteers, including herself, that could not attend on the new dates. Dee Gill was then added as co-chair.
With so much sailing and personal upheaval, no one knew what to expect from attendance. FWSA has excellent sailors, but few regularly sail the boats they would charter for this regatta. (Sonars in the non-spin class and Ideal 18s with spinnakers.) Yet sailors organized, spectator boats filled to capacity and volunteers from several clubs stepped up for race day duties. The event was on!
Unfortunately, Salty Sisters had to make the hard decisions every regatta organizer dreads. Wednesday’s practice was cancelled due to weather that was too bad to even rig boats. Thursday’s forecast called for continuing small craft warnings, with gusts in the 30s and temperatures in the 40s. Considering many sailors would be on unfamiliar boats without practice, PRO Jennifer Parramore called the race late Wednesday rather than hoping for a drastically different forecast at dawn.
The competitors could not have been more supportive. Every team gamely stayed over or made the drive Thursday morning for games that the organizers kept secret but promised would be competitive. (Do not underestimate the pull of the word “competitive” with this crowd.) Spectators and RC volunteers came from several clubs, and Salties quickly assigned them to teams also. The indoor regatta ultimately had 47 competitors.
Gutter races were the highlight of the day. Each team had to make a sailboat that would move using only wind that one appointed member could blow through a straw. (Each team got an alternate blower too…to prevent hyperventilation.) The race course consisted of two, two-lane, water-filled gutters that required tacking (or something) at the end to then blow the boat back to start. Anyone not blowing was assigned to RC. No one was allowed to touch the boats once in the water. With four boats competing at all
times and some 65-plus cheering women, it was sort of like match racing gone wild.
A candy cane grab and an indoor poker run completed the competition. Rules made these harder than you might imagine. Every team member had to have one hand on another at all times. Someone had to remember the new nonsensical meanings organizers assigned to course flags. Random tricks of coordination were demanded at various stations.
At lunch, the prizes went deep, if not exactly appropriately. The winning gutter race team – it included Dinghy Dames and a Broad Reachers competitor – went home with the First Place Spinnaker glasses for the Crewed Boat Regatta. A lot of Poker Run entrants won engraved glasses from the no-wind 2023 Rainbow Regatta. The competitors rolled with it.
A special thanks goes to the Salty Sister Rainy Day Crew for literally saving the day. Helle Getz, formidable race officer and former middle school PE teacher, offered the experience and equipment for the gutter races. Carol Hansen and Gina Bowden-Pierce, with plenty of entertaining and officiating experience between them, filled out the schedule and MC’d the games in Helle’s absence.
In the end, we did not get the sort of traditional regatta we all wanted. But we did seem to get exactly what we needed.
Jenniffer O’Neill, Regatta Chair, Salty Sister
Dee Gill, Co-Chair, Salty Sister
Cathy Lasky, Photographer, Salty Sister
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