Hard Novice

by Dwaine

The Thistle National Championship Regatta is filled with tradition. One such tradition is an award called the 'Hard Novice Trophy'. It is awarded to the highest placing skipper who is sailing his or her first Nationals Event. We didn't expect to win Nationals but we knew we had a shot at this award. Here is our story.

In 2002 my wife and I had just met. She was competing at Nationals at Fern Ridge Reservoir in Eugene Oregon and I accompanied her there for the two days prior to the regatta. Since then we had raced our Thistle there at least once a year. The Eugene Yacht Club is a wonderful venue and we enjoy our stay every time.

In late 2005 we formed our current team with the goal of competing at Nationals when they made their west coast stop at Fern Ridge Reservoir in 2007. I started sailing in 2001, racing in 2002, and skippering my own Thistle in 2003. Middle crew was my wife. Deanne grew up racing Thistles with her father Harry Wingard. The forward position was filled by Doug Stumberger. Doug has owned and raced J-24's and Thistles for the last ten years or so. Surrounding myself with more experienced sailors helped keep my learning curve steep.

2007 Nationals drew 64 boats. Some years the number approaches 100 boats. As is done every year, boats are divided into four groups. Each group races against each of the other groups over the course of the first three races. After tallying the scores, the top half of the fleet is separated into the 'Championship Fleet'. The second half competes in the 'President's Fleet'.

Well prior to the event we discussed our plan and expectations. We all agreed that we would not be sailing for the win and would be conservative in most regards. Mid line starts would be the norm as would avoiding situations that might end in us committing a foul. Results wise we were split. Deanne anticipated top half of the President's Fleet. I thought we had a 50/50 chance in making the cut into the Championship Fleet. Doug thought we would make the cut for sure.

Many of the competitors for this week long regatta cross the country trailering their boats. Many arrive 'double-stacked' on special trailers that carry one boat above another. We would have a relatively short five hour drive from our home in Tacoma, Washington.

Despite a year of planning, Deanne and I were forced to pull the plug on the RV that we anticipated using. There was a surprise issue with the brakes that made it unsafe to use and we were forced to change to tent camping on the Thursday before our Friday departure. I talked to my father and he was able to loan us a 16 by 12 foot canvas wall tent and a couple surplus Army cots to set up inside it. This tent was about 9 feet tall at the peak and weighed about 75 pounds. When we set it up in 'tent city' at the Eugene Yacht Club, we looked like we had brought the circus to town compared the the surrounding dome tents. We did, however, find that the shade it created was popular with many of our tiny tent neighbors.

The first folks we met were Jack and Kathy Finefrock from Ohio. They haven't missed a Thistle Nationals in over twenty years and their three kids are now old enough to skipper their own Thistles. Despite our curious 'Big Top' tent, they welcomed us to tent city like old friends.

Saturday: Measure, Measure, Measure.
Nationals requires a variety of measurements to be made to each boat to assure that all teams are using class legal equipment. The Seattle Thistle Fleet was in charge this year and asked me to assist. I woke up early on Saturday and was helping with the sail measurement process by 8 a.m. 'Many hands make light work' proved to be true as the bulk of the sails were measured by 11:00. Many sails were made to maximum size and all but one measured in. It was mostly monotonous work with one entertaining exception. A skipper pulled a sail from his jib bag only to find an InterClub Dinghy mainsail in it's place. The measurement team's first remark was 'What's that?' followed by a bit of head scratching and wondering out-loud where the jib might be.

Next I put our toddler daughter Dana into her toddler backpack. She followed right behind me for the next hour and a half as I worked down the measurement checklist for our boat. Our rudder passed the profile test but failed the thickness test. During Dana's nap I sanded a few thousands of paint off each side and the rudder easily passed the second time through. After Dana's nap the boat was weighed as was the mast. We found we had a near minimum weight boat at just 3 pounds over the 515 pound minimum. Doug arrived in the evening and we enjoyed a glass of McCallan, the first of three single malt scotches we had brought for this event.

Sunday: Practice Race.
A practice race is commonly held before official racing begins on Monday. Doug warned me about how busy and competitive the start line would be. I failed to really comprehend this and we started well into the third row. We also got our first taste of being in the middle of a large, competitive fleet. There were no slow boats and we had difficulty finding a clear lane. This was also my first experience sailing a triangle in a large competitive fleet. We had excellent boat speed off the wind and passed many boats. After working back to the middle of the fleet we called it quits mid race and sailed for the barn.

Back on shore Dana was introduced to some other kids and was making new friends. She made friends with the Lhamon's sons and Greg Fisher's daughter who was just two weeks older. About this same time I was introduced to a method to make my Thistling life simpler. Jack Finefrock convinced me that leaving my 70 pound centerboard in the boat during travel was not detrimental to the board. After lifting the board into and out of the boat at every event, I was quick to adopt Jack's technique.

Monday: Start, Start, Start.
Race One brought the 12 to 15 knots of wind that our team seems to do it's best in. Sadly, the start wasn't much better than Sunday's. I wasn't pulling the trigger early enough and the boat above us would eventually roll over the top of us. The races were long, however, and we made gains on every downwind leg to claw back up to tenth. We were stoked. Race two brought more of the same but a finish position nearly mid fleet in 17th. On the sail back to the club we believed we were in decent position to make the cut but would need another decent result on Tuesday. Back at the 'Big Top' the three of us talked wind strategy. We couldn't agree on much except that the middle never seemed to pay. Shortly thereafter Deanne retired and Doug and I enjoyed our second single malt of the week; a 12 year expression of GlenLivit.

Tuesday: Hoping for mid fleet or better.
Since the first practice race on Sunday, I had been listening to anyone who would talk about the wind we had seen so far this week. While there was no perfect model, my judgement was that the left side payed two thirds of the time and that the center seemed doomed. I gave this opinion to Deanne, who usually makes our strategy decisions, and let her do the best she could.

With two decent finishes in the bank, we needed just one more mid fleet or better finish to make our goal of earning a position into the Championship Fleet. Race three was a better start. We held our lane for at least a minute enabling us to gain some distance on the second half of the fleet. Being in the front half of the fleet gave us more choices. We worked the left hand side of the course and rounded in the top ten. We were given nothing from our competitors and we gave nothing away. We hiked hard, worked the shifts aggressively, and maintained our position in the top ten with a seventh place. Combined with our two previous races we were now in 20th position.

On Tuesday evening Deanne called her parents to give the good news that we had made the cut. Over pizza and beer we joked that 'we might as well pack up and go home' after having accomplished one of our goals. We also took another look at our chances for the 'Hard Novice Trophy'.

Wednesday: With the big dogs.
From a statistical standpoint, our finish position would be largely cemented after this day's racing. Checking the results board surprised us in that we found ourselves ahead of first time Nationals skipper Rusty Lhamon and doing well against many of our local competitors. Alex Kimball, another local skipper eligible for the Hard Novice Trophy, was just a few positions ahead of us. Alex had a long racing resume but was relatively new to the Thistle. We had generally done pretty well against him and thought our chances were looking better.

Race four turned out to be a real eye opener as far as the level of competition we were now in. Same number of boats on the line, but they were the best finishers out of the initial four divisions. I started poorly and we were never able to get and hold a clear lane. Downwind we were fast but were already too far behind to make up any positions. We limped home in 28th place. We dejectedly sailed back to the start area for what we assumed would be another good whippin'.

My second start wasn't any better, to our good fortune, we were able to tack onto port early. This pretty much guaranteed we would work the right side of the course and we were blessed with a big right hand wind shift near the top of the course. As the wind clocked to it's most right direction and lifted us to layline, we all let out a 'Whoa!' as we realized, in this wind direction, we were leading. This wind direction didn't last, of course, but we were still well lifted and had our best weather mark rounding in fifth place. We couldn't hold on to it however. We made poor choices on both weather legs, spent some time in the middle of the course, lost boats on both sides of the course, and finished in 17th. While this finish position was respectable for our team, loosing twelve positions to get there sure didn't do much for moral. I believe we each felt worse about the 17th than we did about race four's 28th. The high note of the day may have been cocktail hour when Doug revealed the final Scottish character; Lagavulin.

Thursday: West Wind.

The Fern Ridge Reservoir is certainly unique compared to our home waters. When the Northerly doesn't fill during the day, the Westerly often does in the evening. As was the case for the 2002 Nationals at this venue, Thursday's race would be sailed in the evening Westerly. The course was set shorter than previous days, and closer to the windward shore. With 12 knots of breeze and relatively flat water, everyone would be fast.

We realized we had a rigging problem with less than five minutes to our start. Doug corrected the problem with one and a half minutes to go but we hadn't talked start strategy and I didn't have much time to do much more than sail to the race committee boat and start the race. We thought the pin end of the line would be favored as did many of the competitors fighting for a pin end start. What we didn't know was that the wind was left at the pin and a bit right near the boat. In effect, both ends were favored. I was able to hold our lane. Our speed was good. And only a single boat crossed us. Alex Kimball had port tacked the fleet and was on his way to a top five finish.

With smooth water, more equal boat speed, and a shorter course, the first weather mark was mayhem. We rounded in about 15th with lots of other boats around. After rounding the mark a leeward boat, without luffing rights, pushed us up nearly head to wind. Skip Dieball, who was was above us and also being forced to sail high, let us all know he was unhappy about this predicament. This foul cost us quite a few positions and we were never able to get them back. We ended up crossing the line 23rd, but was scored as 22nd when the boat that had fouled us withdrew. This finish moved us to 22nd overall.

Friday: Wrapping it all up.

The winds were fickle on Friday morning and race seven was postponed and eventually cancelled. The day was still full, however. The boat needed to be derigged and packed for travel. We decommissioned the 'Big Top' and used a wheelbarrow to pack it to the boat for it's ride home. (Yes, it's that big.) Lots of chatting between chores with our new friends from across the country. When it was all done we rewarded ourselves with a beer or two at the traditional Thistle Nationals Banquet and Awards Ceremony.

Conratulations to Alex and his crew Susanna Carr and Annie MacLean. With a 9th place finish overall they were awarded the 'Hard Novice Trophy'. If we couldn't bring home the hardware, it is good to know it was won by a local team.

I would like to thank the Finefrocks and their extended Thistle family for welcoming us into their little corner of tent city. It was a great week getting to know sailors from all corners of the country. With such great camaraderie, I can see what keeps people in the Thistle class year after year.

An even bigger thanks needs to go to my teammates; my wife Deanne and our forward crew Doug. These two fine sailors have endured my tantrums, taught me much of what I know about sailing, kindly reminded me to 'shut up and drive', and created a sailing team that is a joy to be a part of.