Why Cruisers Should Race

Now that summer is almost upon us, lots of us are getting our boats ready to splash in for the season. And notices of sail races are popping up everywhere—ignored by many sailors.

Why is it so many cruising sailors are reluctant to try racing? Is it that they view racers as an altogether different kind of animal? It does seem that both cruisers and racers frequently misunderstand and stereotype the other:

Cruisers see racers as Type A personalities who have no idea how to relax on the water. Racers are always screaming (usually undecipherable epithets) at each other, whether it’s at your own crew or another boat. Racers strip their boats down, sacrificing water, fuel, and beer to keep them light and fast. Racers won’t even take an overweight pal along as crew except to make them sit as dead weight on the rail.

Racers see cruisers as lazy goofs who pay no more attention to sail trim and performance variables than landlubbers. Cruisers are always talking about the joy of this or that anchorage and seem more focused on the first cocktail once the sun is over the yardarm than on the glory of getting there with speed and gusto. Cruisers, can you believe it, don’t even know how to use the mainsail traveler, and they’re weighted down with so much food, clothing, and music CDs that it practically takes a gale to get them moving.

The result of this enmity is that a lot of people seem to become racers or cruisers, depending on who their friends are—but seldom both. Both sides may also assume that the boats of racers and cruisers too are totally different, that a racing boat is built and equipped in a certain way, with cruisers having a different kind of hull and rig.

While this is true of one-design race boats, most of us have boats that work perfectly fine for either racing or cruising. Indeed, the whole idea of PHRF handicap racing is to equalize the differences among boats to make for a fair competition. A slow boat gains a handicap, a fast boat is penalized. So, much of all this difference hullabaloo is just that.

So Why Should Cruisers Race?

Cruisers gain a several benefits from racing:

• You learn to pay more attention to boat speed. When cruising, you may feel it’s too much trouble to continually adjust sail trim, fiddle with the traveler and outhaul, etc.—why bother if you’re going to be changing course in a mile or two? But if racing gets you to pay more attention, you’ll reach your destination sooner, leaving more time for traditional cruising activities like cocktails in the cockpit once the anchor is down.


• Have a good time with friends. We’re social animals, after all—and it’s inherently pleasurable to bring friends along as race crew and learn to work together as an effective team.


• Improve your leadership skills. When cruising, things are often slow and lackadaisical, unless weather or crisis intercedes, and often sailors like to talk things over democratically. Should we tack now? Which way should we go around that island? Think we should change course to avoid that boat up there? But things speed up in races: when rounding a buoy, someone has to call the exact moment to tack or gybe, or instantly determine strategy when approaching another boat—as captain you learn you have to take control and call the shots. And this is good preparation for when quick decisions are needed when cruising.

Plus you might actually discover that you like racing! There’s nothing wrong with a little adrenaline burst from time to time. So get out and try it, and don’t be afraid to lose in you first race (you can always blame it on old sails). Even if you win no medals, you’ll be a better sailor for it.

Photo: Cruising Boats Racing in Light Air