Manhattan Yacht Club – Sinking at Sea

July 4, 2011 by Jason Fish

I have become a cruiser as opposed to a racer. As a result, I have become focused on building the skills of crossing oceans safely and comfortably instead of being the first around a collection of orange marks. I was dragged, kicking and screaming against my will into racing again for the company sailing team. Who can turn down an early evening sail in NY Harbor and the chance for some friendly competition? The team needed a skipper so I did what any good employee would do and said yes. They already had a very slick corporate spinnaker and a great crew.

Now you might think the story would end there, but it does not. Your next thought might be that we ended up winning the series. Not that either, but we did have an adventure. One Wednesday evening, as we were nearing the leeward mark I noticed some very evil looking clouds. I am not much of a meteorologist but can tell when bad stuff is coming my way. I decided to ask the crew to douse all the sails and stow them below. This was not a tough decision since we were doing poorly in the race and some of the crew had never been on a sailboat before. Safety first. Despite the precautions, when the 50 knot breeze hit our boat it was quite exciting on board. (No fish tale, the speed was recorded on a nearby weather station). The real action was aboard two other boats. One was dismasted and the other sunk. Never to be seen again. The crews of both boats were safe and no one was hurt but it did make an impression on people. One of the club members took some great photos of the rescue.