9 minute read
world of chartering
This month we spotlight Hands-On Racing Charters to Mexico and Hawaii, plus Charter Notes.
How You Too Can Experience Serious Offshore Racing There's no doubt about it, the amount of leisure time available to many American adults is gradually shrinking. Greater demands from employers, increased commute times, and the activities of uber-active kids all contribute to the dilemma. With this in mind, it shouldn't surprise you learn that a recent study of the US sailing industry showed that while boat ownership is slowly trending downward, both yacht chartering and participation in instructional sailing schools — or "clubs" — is trending upward. Today's sailors still have the same passion for sailing as ever, but fewer of them can rationalize buying and maintaining a boat of their own just to have it available for daysailing. And even fewer can fi nd the time — or justify the expense — of gearing up to compete in major regattas or offshore races. But a few savvy sailing organizations have capitalized on the new opportunities that these trends create. California-based J World, which specializes in performance sailing instruction, is a prime example. We happened to be in Banderas Bay last month when the San Diego to Puerto Vallarta Race concluded, and had a chance to catch up with J World owner Wayne Zittel and several student race
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Bay Area sailor Jim Lussier steers downwind, as coach Wayne Zittel trims. Jim is now thinking about doing a Hawaii race.
crew who'd competed in the 1,000-mile race aboard J World's new speedster Cazan, a DK 46. The team didn't achieve a podium finish, but none of the six students nor their three coaches had really expected to. This offshore adventure was more about honing skills and experiencing both the thrills and challenges of long-distance ocean racing. "What I wanted from this sail was the experience of being out on the ocean under sail," says Mark Graham, a landlocked sailor from Kansas City. The trip exposed him to all aspects of ocean racing: "prepping the boat and sails before the start, the routines of life aboard, teamwork in accomplishing a hard task, sights and sounds from a foreign environment, and, fi nally, measuring our performance against our competitors. It was the totality of the experience I wanted." "Our emphasis is on training," explains Wayne; "on letting the individuals sail the boat while we provide what I jokingly call 'parental supervision'." Aboard Cazan, each crewmember stood watches of three hours on and three hours off throughout the trip. "When we are in downwind mode," says Wayne, "during a three-hour watch a crewmember would trim the kite for an hour, drive for an hour, and grind for an hour. Then they'd be off again for three hours." "You will get as much out of the experience as you put into it," says first-time crewman Jim Lussier. "Coaches Wayne, Paul Martson and Patrick Farrell are super-highly skilled in every aspect of ocean racing, and are passionate about sharing their knowledge with others. Their patience with answering questions is infi nite. And they are very easygoing if someone makes a mistake — it was clearly 'the spinnaker's fault' when it blew up. "If you want you can sit back, relax and enjoy the ride, but I would encourage future students to really put in the effort to learn how best to trim, grind, drive; learn which sails to put up and why; navigate, etc., to get the maximum speed the boat is capable of and build their skills." Jim, who normally sails in the Bay Area, describes some of the high points of the trip for him: • "Screaming along under spinnaker and surfi ng waves at 18.5 knots at 1 a.m. in the light of a full moon. • "Doing 24 three-hour shifts, including a total of 24 hours at the helm, day and night in all conditions, and learning to drive straight in high winds and waves. • "Seeing dolphins surfi ng in our wake and whales swimming off our beam. • "Forming a high-performing racing team with a group of former strangers,
Spread: 'Sailing World' magazine writer Dave Powlison gets some joyful helm time. Inset: The start off San Diego.
who are now friends; covering almost every possible conversational topic and story with my fellow watchmates. • "Being greeted on arrival at 2:30 in the morning by a mariachi band, with shots of tequila served by Mike Dorgan, commodore of the San Diego YC." Mark also remembers special moments: "The most vivid memory I have is helming the boat on a starlit night, surfi ng down the back of waves; I cannot believe I was able to experience that, but I'm grateful that I did." As with any offshore passage, there were also a few lows. For Jim they included "getting becalmed for four hours early in the race and learning that the rest of our division had gotten 50 miles ahead, then having to claw our way back during the entire rest of the race. Also, after racing 950 miles, 24 hours a day, and almost catching up with our division, getting becalmed again and realizing it could take us another 24 hours (or more) to reach Puerto Vallarta." In addition to the PV Race, J World teams will compete aboard two boats in this summer's Pacifi c Cup — Cazan and Hula Girl (a turboed Santa Cruz 50). And the company expects to enter both of them plus an additional boat in the 2019 Transpac. Although the long-established company, which has bases in Alameda, San Diego and Puerto Vallarta, never has trouble fi lling berths for their offshore racing programs, running them isn't exactly an easy way to make money. "The cost of running these programs makes me shudder sometimes," Wayne confi des. "We had one boat sink on the Baja Ha-Ha. Hula Girl lost her rig coming back from Hawaii once, and every year we blow up a couple of sails." So why do they continue to offer these programs? "It's more a thing of passion than anything else," says Wayne. "I love offshore racing and offshore sailing, period. And so do all the instructors. We probably wouldn't offer these trips if we didn't love doing them so much." As any serious offshore racer will tell you, fi tting out a boat for a Category 1 race costs a bundle, so J World's race offerings are not cheap. But if you relish a top-notch offshore experience, you will likely regard this investment in personal growth as money well spent — especially when compared to doing a zillion costly upgrades to your own boat to make her competitive. With all this in mind, it might be time to update your bucket list. — andy
Skipper Wayne Zittel studies the course belowdecks. He was one of three coaches aboard 'Cazan' during last month's PV Race.
Do You Have
Special Memories of
Chartering with Kids? When our kids were young we made a special effort to take them on an out-of-town sailing charter every year — even when we couldn't afford it. Why? For starters, it made them more worldly and empathetic toward people of different cultures. But perhaps more importantly, the shared experience of running the boat, navigating unfamiliar waters, and jointly facing daily challenges left each of us with fond memories that have stayed with us for decades. In your home waters, daysailing with your kids can have wonderful — and sometimes unexpected — side benefi ts for all on board, such as fi ne-tuning sailing and seamanship techniques, building self-confi dence, and exercising problem-solving skills. But during a week or more of chartering in unfamiliar waters all of those benefi ts tend to be
Years ago, when we gave our two boys and their male cousins permission to explore this cove in BC's Desolation Sound, we had no idea they would scare the wits out of us by jumping off a 50-ft cliff. But it all worked out, and even now the kids still talk about the stunning beauty of that watery playground at every family reunion.
amplifi ed. What's the ideal age range for bringing kids along? From our experience, seven or eight to 18 is the ideal window, as they will be physically able to lend a hand with sailing chores and capable of taking responsibility for some aspect of the day-to-day routine — such as the popular role of 'dinghy captain'. While it's fun to have your kids along at any age, once they are out of high school, they tend to want to do their own thing, or their LATITUDE / ANDY lives become so complicated that it's often hard to meld their schedules with yours. If you still savor special memories from family charters with your kids, we'd love to hear about them. Please tell us: • Where and when did you charter? • How old were your kids at the time? • What were some of the highlights that have remained in your memory? • What advice would you give to other families who are considering family chartering? Also, we'd love to see a few (medium resolution) photos of that trip. Send them to andyturpinatlarge@gmail.com. If we use your submission, we'll send you some offi cial Latitude 38 swag! — andy
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