GUYS VERSUS GALS RACE

Having a Guys vs. Gals race at LCYC sounded like a great idea at the beginning of the year when the Social Chair (that would be yours truly) put it on the yearly calendar of events. The reality began to set in about a month before the race when I suddenly realized we had no formal plan. What boats would race against each other, who would be the crew? What would be the race course?

I should have known that in typical LCYC fashion this laid back bunch of racers/cruisers would get it all together at the last minute! The decision was made to race two like boats against each other. We decided to use Five O’Clock Somewhere and Gypsy Soul, both Catalina 28 MKII’s. Since I am Social Chair and was trying to put the race on I got to call the rules (hopefully in favor of the gals). The race was to be started at 4 p.m. No motoring five minutes before the start, no whisker poles (not that we had any) and a minimum of five people on each boat. Yes, I was hoping for somewhat light wind to give the girls the edge weight wise, little did I know how really light the wind would get! It would be a start through the two Lynn Creek Marina entrance buoys, race past Su Kwon point as I like to call it (that is another story for another time) down to the far bridge, round any buoy and back to the start.

The prize? The guys, oops I mean the second place team would serve the first place team their dinner at the party mark after the race plus the girls,oops again, I mean the first place team would have bragging rights.

In the few weeks before the race I suddenly realized that the girls were really serious about beating the boys boat. So I had my work cut out for me as Captain of Gypsy Soul. I’m not sure what Steve Hozdulick, Captain of Five O’clock Somewhere did to prepare but here is an accounting of the race from the girls side of it.

Try to get our team together to practice in the week before the race. None of us had sailed together as a team before with exception of myself and Jane Gravitt. The weather had a different idea and we were never able to practice! Speaking of team… on Gypsy Soul we had me as Captain and the crew consisted of Jane Gravitt, Sheri Raye, Elena Fitzpatrick and our very own sailing rock stars Carla Koonce and Tammi Guinn. Five O’clock Somewhere had Captain Steve Hozdulick, Steve Raye, Travis Jennings, Tony Guinn and Skip Duty. Notice we had one extra person so the guys cannot call unfair weight advantage!

A few days before the race our very own sailing guru Bob Ingle chided me about not having a clean boat bottom. So I called the service which cleans the bottom of my boat on a regular basis, Inland Dive Service. I explained I was trying to make sure our bottom was clean so we could go faster and beat the boys! Alas, they told me they were out of town until the night before the race and wouldn’t be able to do it. Miraculously I was later called by Tom Brooks, the owner, the night before and he told me he would clean Gypsy Souls’ bottom early the morning of the race. I was so excited… until I found out he made Steve the same offer!

Race day arrived and the gals showed up with a few secret weapons to use if necessary during the race. The gals all dressed up in some form of pirate garb and we stormed the Five O’clock Somewhere boat bar only to have Captain Steve try to serve us some of the finest double shot tequila margaritas! Sorry Steve, we took a sip and when you weren’t looking fed it to the ducks. The ducks thought that was so funny it quacked them up!

So after much laughing, discussing of rules and taking pictures off we went. Captain Steve has had his Catalina 28 one year longer than I have had mine and has done some alterations such as taking out the galley stove. Knowing this I compensated by emptying my water tanks. Sorry ladies no hand washing today! Captain Steve also sails his Catalina much more than I do mine and has raced it quite a bit so the guys did have a bit of advantage there.

Bob Ingle of Endeavour and Brian Hebert LCYC’s Race Captain were kind enough to give us warning and start horns. The guys got off to a great start, we started above them where we wanted to be but were a bit slowed by the fact that this Captain had to duck to make it inside the start line… perhaps a pair of glasses are needed for future racing!

So with the wind out of the north, blowing a mere 7 or so knots we trailed the boys for a while. This was ok as each of us took the time to find our spot on the boat and settle in. We knew we would catch up!

As we drew closer to Su Kwon point we were within a boat length of the guys but not pointing as well so we had to drop below them. They continued straight toward the middle of the lake, presumably to get whatever wind was blowing, the girls being innovative thinkers that we are, chose to gybe the main and cut the corner. A risky maneuver but hey the quickest way between two points is a straight line. Guys aren’t very good with measurements now are they?

After rounding the point we tried very hard not move around on the boat as the wind was continuing to lighten up. Have you ever told a crew of females they had to wait to use the head? Well they were all good sports about it until we realized we had put about 20 boats lengths between our boat and the guys boats! Then there was a run on the head!! And on the drinks!!

We kept seeing the guys behind us and the bridge ahead. It seemed to take forever to get to the bridge. Finally!! We rounded the bridge buoy, time to pull out our special flags! I had asked the ladies to bring a sexy piece of lingerie to haul up the halyard as a distraction to the guys. So out came the lingerie on the halyard, we hauled some really sexy pieces (who would’ve known!) and voila …..all we had flying were droopy drawers! The wind had really gotten light!

At this point the guys floated by still on their way to the bridge… it was realllllly quiet on Five O’clock Somewhere. The girls were getting a bit giggly now that we realized we could breathe and move around a bit. Well the wind kept getting lighter and lighter till it was almost non existent. That’s when we realized that yours truly forgot to set a race time limit. So we kept waiting for the guys to hail us on the VHF and say uncle but nothing, nada, zilch. We couldn’t believe these guys were not giving up when there was a football game airing shortly on TV. Finally after much shouting to the other boat we realized their radio didn’t work! They finally yelled “you win”!

Ok now the girls could really let loose, out came the champagne, out came the blow up doll which we tied to the mast and dressed as a pirate lady!

The guys upon hearing the pop of champagne made a beeline for our boat and Skip managed to snag a glass. While sipping our champagne the ladies were also able to enjoy the sight of a full moon. It didn’t last long but was delightful while it did.

The guys sped off and the girls took their time getting back to the dock. We did get a few strange stares motoring into the dock area with lingerie flying, a blowup doll tied to the mast and girls dancing to Cyndi Laupers Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

And fun we had…. So boys what did you do on your boat while admiring the back end of our boat?