Antique and Classic Boat Society - Chesapeake Bay Chapter

I learned about boating from that...
By Greg Howell

Is having the Right of Way all that its cracked up to be? Although many of you have no interest in sailboats, this lesson was learned while I was maybe 12 years old and racing a sailboat.

Growing up on the Barnegat Bay in New Jersey was one of he best places to be if you were a sailor. Unlike the Chesapeake, there was always plenty of wind during the summer. We were members of a yacht club that had some fantastic sailors. Two of who were world champions. These were the people who were our instructors as we went through the Junior Program of the club. The juniors raced a class of boat called Penguin, which is an II-foot sailboat, with one sail. These boats were quick, responsive and had an infinite amount of adjustments that could be made to tune the boat.

While participating in the Junior Championship Series, I was the skipper while my sister was my crew. We were sailing on a run (the wind coming from behind the boat), on a Starboard Tack. Starboard tack always has right of way over a boat on Port Tack. A spectator boat was sailing near the race course. This boat was at least twice the size of
the Penguin. As we were sailing to the next buoy in the course, I realized that we were on a collision course. I hailed the skipper of the boat and made our intentions clear. He indicated that he understood and would remain a safe distance from us.

Unfortunately, he kept getting closer and closer until we were on a parallel course; he on Port tack and ourselves remained on Starboard tack. For some unknown reason he started to alter his course quickly into the wind and turned right into us. As he hit our boat, my sister made a futile attempt to keep the boats from hitting. He was constantly stating that he would alter his course and get away from us. Unfortunately he never did. Both my sister and I rolled of the stem of our boat as his boat forced the Penguin under the water and he sailed right over it.

The Clubs Race Committee Boat headed in our direction as well as the club chase boat that was always used during races. We stayed with the Penguin, righted the boat and were towed to shore. The Committee Boat caught up with the other boat and towed it to the club. The Marine Police were called and they issued a citation to the skipper of the larger boat. Except for one small scratch, there was no damage to the Penguin.

I did have the right-of-way in this instance, but whether my decision to remain on course was correct may be questioned. We were always taught that while racing you never give an inch. To a 12-year-old, I followed instructions to the 'T'. If the same incident occurred now, I would not jeopardize my boat or safety of my crew for the sake of my having the right of way or winning a race.

Spring 2005 Stuffing Box Issue

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