I’ve been asked by more than a few non-racers why we all bother to learn the rules and struggle up and down the lake on sometimes windless days. I’ve come up with two main reasons: first we race in order to sail more often and second, we race to socialize. Let me explain. In a typical year, many racers at OSYC were on the water for about 20 days of racing/sailing (with a few significantly higher numbers posted). Yes, some of those days were hot and windless, but some were nearly perfect and we were out there sailing and enjoying our boats and the lake. The typical non-racer didn’t sail nearly as often. It’s just that much easier to make the effort to go sailing when you know that others will be around for you to share the day with. And that brings me to the second point: racing is about socializing. We gather before the races and talk about boats and wind and weather and anything else that comes to mind. We gather again after the races and do the same thing. Even if you have nothing to say there are plenty of stories, jokes, and tall tales from the group to keep you entertained. So that’s our secret – racing is mostly about being there and sharing an activity that we all enjoy. I guess I should go ahead and mention that racing is also about improving your sailing skills and friendly competition, but you don’t need to be an expert to have fun by coming out on race day and just sailing around the course. This is definitely a case where more is better. There are more than 30 days of racing scheduled at OSYC this year. Surely a few of these fit into your schedule – if you haven’t tried it yet, you really should.
