LimpetRacing.com

 

From the time I was a small child I have been drawn to wind and water.  My dad had a baby blue hulled Laser he called Snickerdoodle, and some of my most vivid early childhood memories are of clinging to the mast on that little boat as we skittered across the blue green waters of Spanaway Lake.  I remember the thrill of the speed and awe at the forceful power of the wind, which seemed able to topple our tiny craft on a whim.

Through the years my family seemed to have many adventures involving wind, water, and sailing craft of some form or other.  Yet as the years have progressed I have become more and more distant from wind, water, & sail.  In the ten years after finishing school I sailed a grand total of 1 time. 

With my own family entering the ages where they will make their first childhood memories, I found myself longing to pass on to them the adventures and memories of sailing.  I also found myself longing for the escape from daily pressures sailing had always provided.  I wanted to own my own sailboat, and move beyond my basic conceptual knowledge of sailing to become a salt crusted dispenser of wind and tide wisdom.  Most of all I wanted to learn how to race a sailboat.

If you have ever watched a sailboat race you know that it is one of the strangest spectacles in sport.   The very concept of a struggle to coax speed out of an inherently slow vehicle is a little strange to begin with.  Add to this the dependence on habitually flaky natural environments (a butterfly flaps it’s wings in Mongolia and Italy win’s the Americas Cup), and you are end up with something very like a unicycle race wearing clown shoes around a course on a mine field.  The depth of knowledge, experience, instinct, and perseverance required to prevail over the long term in sailboat racing are likely unrivaled in any other competition (Though professional poker players may come close).   This is what has, and continues, to draw some of the greatest dreamers in history to sailing since the invention of leisure.

Unfortunately, this is not the easiest of time for dreamers, or for leisure.  As I started down the path of my sailing dreams I found myself being continually bitch slapped by the reality of finances in this age of Karl Rove class warfare.  It was clear that sailing has moved beyond the reach of a middle class income such as mine.  It looked more and more like my only option to get on the water would be as a crew on the boats of the Republican Bourgeoisie, or (since I still have some morals) to sail on Dinghies.  Of course it is hard to go day sailing with 4 to 6 people on a Laser. 

Just as I was about to despair, the answer to my problems came to me in a blinding flash.  The San Jan 21 is undoubtedly the ultimate answer to ultra-budget yacht racing.  Boats can be had for as little as $1,000 depending on condition.  They are capable racers, much faster than their Catalina 22 or Hunter 23 counterparts.  They can be towed and launched from normal boat ramps with vehicles that don’t have a “Hemi” or “Cummins” badge on them.  Best of all there are many active fleets across the country where other middle class Jane’s and Joe’s are out to have the same entertaining challenge as me.

I spent 9 months watching the Seattle Craig’s List until in the Fall of 2006 I found a 1974 MkI for sale… slightly abused for 1,700 including trailer.  Sail Number 759 had no-name when I bough her… So I named her Limpet and began my sailing adventure…

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