Just Any Old Breeze Will Do Wind, Teamwork Keys When It Comes To Sailing

It was a case of put up or shut up.

Fish or cut bait.

That ultimatum spurred a group of six Coeur d’Alene friends and co-workers to invest in a sailboat three years ago.

They agreed on an Olson 30 - “purely a racing boat,” qualified Dora Griffith.

“It’s a fast boat,” said skipper Pat Flynn. “It’s a fairly technical boat that would absorb all of us in all (crew) positions.”

The boat, presently nameless, was made in 1979, hull No. 8 of only 250 built. “It’s like owning a classic car,” Gwain Oka said. They quit manufacturing the boat in the early 1980s.

However, there is a large Olson 30 fleet that races competitively in the Northwest.

Seattle played host to the Olson 30 national championships during Memorial Day weekend. The 38-boat race included this relatively novice Coeur d’Alene crew, which placed 32nd.

Tides and currents must be factored into ocean racing.

Locally, Lake Coeur d’Alene is equally challenging.

But no matter how expensive the equipment or how experienced the crew, wind is the dictator.

And Mother Nature ruled over the 15-mile, long-distance sailboat race from Coeur d’Alene to Harrison two weeks ago.

Fourteen boats started from Independence Point, but only one, Spirit, finished, averaging 2 knots per hour (about 3 mph). There simply was no wind, plus power boats created choppy water conditions.

Spirit, a Hobie 33, won the same race last spring under identical conditions.

“The idea is to get through the course as efficiently as possible using nothing but the wind,” Fast Forward crew member David Kilmer said.

“You all have the very same wind. Your task is to try to use that wind more efficiently. Wind teaches you patience.”

Kilmer should know. Two years ago, he did a six-month bluewater (ocean) cruise on a 34-foot sailboat off the Mexican coast in the Sea of Cortez, including a 23-day passage to Hawaii.

“A lot of people who race on the weekend talk about going on bluewater cruises,” Kilmer said. “That’s the ultimate sailing trip.”

Now, Kilmer works foredeck crew on a Hobie 33 during races. “My job is usually reserved for the skinnier, lighter people.”

Foredeckers raise and lower sails, and help set the spinnaker, which is the big colorful sail.

The spinnaker, Kilmer added, is “like a parachute, it makes the boat go faster downwind. You need a crew to tend to a spinnaker.”

Teamwork is sailing’s definitive factor.

“Sailboat racing from the shore may or may not look exciting,” Kilmer explained. “Get on a boat, and see how fast and what teamwork it takes to race a boat.”

The skipper commands the boat and crew, which includes a tactician, main trimmer, cockpit crew, headsail trimmer and foredeck crew.

Let’s not forget, railmeat. “They’re the posers,” Kilmer said. “They’re the people sitting on the high side of the boat to keep it in the water.”

Flynn was a logical choice as driver for his crew, since he and his brother, Mike, raced a Catalina 25 a dozen years ago.

“Racing makes you such a better sailor,” Flynn said. “If people would come out and race, their skills would just get better.”

Fall provides the perfect opportunity to improve crew skills, as the Lake Coeur d’Alene Sailing Club members host a buoy race series.

The Saturday morning races started last week and continue four more weeks on Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Points are totaled, although boats may enter one race for $15 or five for $30. Times are handicapped, and entries range from the small San Juan 21s to the 33-foot Hobies.

There are 65 members from the Coeur d’Alene-Spokane area in the sailing club.

The club’s last event of 1995 is a Frost Bite cruise Oct. 7.

Weekly local races start in April and draw 10 to 20 boats.

“The only time (racing is) cutthroat is at the start,” observed Griffith. “A good start is the race. Stay out of the way and be the one to the line first.”