Even if you’ve only been reading this blog for a short while, you probably know that Snipe sailing has been my primary racing for most of the past three decades. So it may surprise you to hear that I had an entirely new experience at the 2024 Snipe Masters’ Nationals in San Diego.
Due to a unique alignment of the stars (and several scheduling conflicts), I teamed up with a local friend to race on Mission Bay, a notoriously difficult body of water that provides some of the best one design competition in the country. The short version? Eric Heim and I had a great time sailing together, but we also learned (or re-learned) quite a few lessons to take back to our more “regular” programs. Here are my top four.
1. Rigging Refresh
Eric has spent a lot of time updating an older boat, including many rigging improvements that might inspire me to dig out my line splicing tools. It’s all too easy to just keep setting up a boat the same way… so it was great to step into one that was in some ways more modern than my own.
2. Keep it simple
With two skippers in the boat, we soon realized that our boathandling was not going to gain us any places against far more practiced teams. Instead we got good starts, and then tried to stay in the best pressure—while minimizing tacking or jibing.
3. Listen to the tiller
Eric is a local, but he’s used to driving—so he was missing one very valuable source of input about what we should do next. I learned to share what I was feeling and then balance that against his well-honed Mission Bay instincts, in time to make a decision—fun comms that generally led to a consensus.
4. Fun is the best reward
We generally rounded the first mark in a better position than we finished five legs later, a sign that more time in the boat together would’ve helped our results… but we always came off the water smiling. Long after our ninth place finish has faded from memory, I’ll definitely remember all the laughter both on and off the boat.
Snipe sailing is a lifetime pursuit that has many different phases, but the bottom-line of friendship carries throughout. Thanks to Eric for providing a turn-key operation that re-taught me some old lessons—and provided an entirely new Snipe experience. Here’s hoping the stars align again to sail together someday!
