Radiofree West Hartford -- Summer Sailing in New England by Tom Evers

August 14, 2002

Summer is probably my favorite season of year. Even though it's generally empty of good political news, it's the best time of year to focus on life's other elements. To your average New Englander, the warm sun, the beach, trips to Block Island, Italian ice, and outside exercise - are a culmination of benefits from the four very short months in the year cycle.

As you might or might not know, one of my favorite newfound hobbies is summer sailing. It's an incredible sport that can barely be given proper justice in a five hundred-word column. It's one of the few sports where hard work and relaxation go hand in hand, and the variable aspects of the game can change from minute to minute.

One of my favorite authors and columnists, William F. Buckley, Jr. has devoted a significant amount of time to writing and speaking about sailing. I recommend reading some of his yachting experiences to get a good feel and understanding of the sport. Racing through Paradise and Atlantic High are two good reads to get you started. Buckley's adventures are probably not the norm, but you can get a good idea of how cruising the open sea is exciting and unpredictable (and even scary) stuff.

Sailing is a thinking man's sport, meaning -- you don't simply turn the key and push the throttle to full tilt like the majority of power-boating yahoos you probably see out on the water. The art of sailing demands that you have a comprehension of wind, weather, and navigation, and all the mechanics of harnessing nature to move your craft from one point to another.

Now the idea that one can actually "harness nature" is almost an oxy-moron because nature is spontaneous; immediate shifts in weather patterns force one to make decisions rather quickly or else you could be sitting adrift without motion or going backwards to no man's land. The other side of the coin is being pounded by a powerful storm, rocking back and forth, praying to God for relief. There is no contract with nature, you deal with what she serves up, sometimes good and sometimes terrifying. But hey, the rough outings are true character building sessions.

Strategy is another key aspect of the sport because moving from point A to point B isn't always a straight line (unless you're upwind and even then it gets tricky). So you have to tack back and forth (or zigzag) to catch the wind just right in order to propel your craft forward. Often you have to think out of the box to reach your goal.

Patience is a key character component of sailors. If you're an impatient dolt, who demands immediate satisfaction or is in a hurry, then don't sail. In fact, don't powerboat either. Find yourself a hobby that will provide you with immediate satisfaction -- like watching TV, eating a buffet, or going to an amusement park.

In sailing, there is no such thing as learning everything you can. Every time you board ship, the game is reset and you do your best to take your past experience and apply it the new conditions in front of you. The best part is that there are no guarantees.

If there were ever a test for employers to give a prospective employee, I'd tell him throw out all the superficial interviewing tricks and aim for something that deals in character and strategy. Put the aspirant in a small one-man sail craft, 50 miles northwest of Bermuda. If he makes landfall in Bermuda, respect him. If he's all smiles, begging for another go…hire him.

Another bit of information for you is that I crew on a 29' ship as part of weekly sailing regatta; this gives me a great feel for a very different element of the sport. Tactics and strategy are employed to try and make the markers and cross the finish line before your opponents. If you've watched parts of the televised Americas' Cup race, you will at least understand what I mean. Racing can be physically demanding: pulling lines, adjusting sails, and quick tacking. I usually end up pretty sore the next day (even though I'm a gym-o-holic).

If you think about it with clarity -- you can see that sailing is a lot like life. You're handed your cards and you play them, sometimes you have to make small gains on the journey to get to your final destination, sometimes you stall and all you can do is wait, sometimes you get beat around and you just take it. Often you simply adjust the sails and reset your course.

I highly recommend sailing to people seeking the combination of pleasure, strategy and excitement. You will be rewarded over and over again.

Hope your summer is as enjoyable as mine. I leave you with one last thought from a great British playwright.

Give me a spirit that on this life's rough sea
Loves t'have his sails filled with a lusty wind,
Even till his sail-yards tremble, his masts crack,
And his rapt ship run on her side so low
That she drinks water, and her keel plows air.
- George Chapman, Tragedy of Charles, Duke of Byron

Till next time ...