A
Swan among Ducks
During
one of my later visits, Dad asked me if I wanted to come with him to the park
and race with his friends. I liked the
idea of sailing my boat in a crowd again and I wondered how well my 19-year-old
boat would do against today’s modern equipment. They were sailing Soling
One-Meters. I had never seen one sail so
I didn’t know what to expect. Dad told
me not to worry.
When
we arrived, I was greeted warmly. Dad
may have hyped how good the boat was based on their eagerness to see it and see
me sail it. They had never seen a 10 Rater before, much less one that was a
former national champion. Some of them may have wanted to see how their boats
would do compared to a 10 Rater. As I mentioned before, so did I.
After
I put Dad’s boat into the water, I launched mine. Its bigger size, faster speed and graceful
acceleration made the boat stand out like a swan among ducks. I felt
awkward. I could tell that Dad wanted me
to show off a little bit so I sailed my boat backwards from the start/finish
line to the Leeward Mark. It was
becoming apparent to the others that my boat was a little faster so one of the
members suggested that I circle the buoys instead of just rounding them. I agreed.
I thought that would keep things close. Then they started the clock and
we started to race.
During
the countdown I felt a little bit of an adrenaline rush like in the old
days. I pulled off an excellent start
and headed to the Windward Mark focused on my boat. I rounded the buoy and then
I circled it. At that point I noticed
that nobody else was close. I had been in this situation before but for the
first time in my life, I started to feel like a bully. While my boat was many times
older than any of the other boats, it was still a 10 Rater. There would be no racing
for me that day. This boat’s racing days
were long ago. While I may race again
someday, this was their time and their race.
I sailed away from the course and away from the other boats.
“Where
are you going?” Dad asked.
“I
don’t want to mess up your all’s race, so I’m just going to stay out of the
way.” I answered.
“Suit
yourself.”
He
sounded a little disappointed but I think he understood. I think he wanted to
show everybody how far ahead I could finish but the point was already
made. The Solings
that they were racing did not compare to what may have been the fastest model
racing yacht he had ever built. He asked
me to sail along side of his boat so he could take a couple of pictures. I obliged. They’re the last pictures of our
having boats in the water together. On the way home, we stopped for ice cream.
