GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN (WIN)
(Reprinted from Hobie Fleet 61 Mainsheet, October, 1989
with permission
from Terry Fuller)
OK, so I was a little nervous as I boarded the plane to Chicago. I
tried to be calm. So what if this is the first national, let alone international,
competition I've participated in? So what if Mary Lou and I had never sailed together? So
what if this is the 1st Hobie 16 Women's World Championship? So what if we'll
be racing against women from five different countries, who sail in better conditions, more
often, than is possible in the Rocky Mountain Region? No pressure. Nothing to worry about.
Just have fun and do our best. Top ten would be fantastic.
The practice day on Tuesday didn't do much to settle my nerves. After
making our boat race ready, we were allowed to sail around inside the break water late in
the afternoon. The winds were very shifty and gusty as they came through the skyscrapers
at the water's edge. No problem, we've sailed in the mountains.
Just as we were starting to get our sea legs, a gust hit us hard. We
were over before we knew what hit us. We grabbed the righting line and I climbed on Mary
Lou's shoulders. The boat came right up. Only one problem, my harness buckle got caught in
her hair. I not only pushed her under, but I couldn't get to the dolphin striker. As the
boat continued on over, we untangled ourselves with no injuries.
After swimming the boat into the wind, and struggling to right it for
10-20 minutes, we accepted help and got the boat upright. Oh well, let's just hope this
doesn't happen in a race.
We took a few moments to catch our breath and headed out again. The
wind was strong so we both hopped on the trap right away. All of a sudden, BANG, the mast
fell and we followed. The shackle on the forestay backed out. Not a good start to the
week. We tried to look at the bright side. "It has to get better from here!"
Wednesday arrived with the promise of light to moderate winds. A
practice race was planned before lunch. My stomach was doing somersaults, but we crossed
the line in 7th place. We felt much better.
Two races after lunch gave us a little more confidence. We placed 2nd
and 3rd, and stood in 2nd overall at the end of the day. We tried to
be logical. "Don't get too excited, there's a lot of racing yet to come."
Seven races of the next two days saw varying wind and wave conditions.
Two races had to be sailed inside the break water. We were in the middle of a storm and
they wanted to be able to get us to shore in a hurry if necessary. 20-25 knot winds with
high seas was a bit more than I'd experienced before. Light wind was back for Friday. As
we crossed the line in the last race we were sure we were in the top 3 overall, but not
sure just where. As we reached the beach we were met with cries of congratulations.
"You're in second!" It was almost too good to be true. I'm not sure either of us
believed it until they called our name and placed the trophy in our hands at the awards
banquet. What a week. I guess inland sailors really can compete with the big girls!
Terry Fuller
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