This last Sunday I finally got to go sailing, in a Sonar! I grew up sailing dinghies. At the age of eight, I went to sailing camp for two months and was thrown into an Optimist. I sailed those bathtub Optis until I was 13. When I turned thirteen, I began sailing 420s. I immediately fell in love with the speed and agility of the 420. Everything is fast and fun in these boats, and in high wind there is nothing better than getting out on the trap; it feels like you’re flying. When I finally graduated out of 420s I took a little break from sailing. I wasn’t gone for long though, because by the time I hit 20, all I wanted to do was get back on the water. The Yacht Club I sailed out of had developed a fleet of Vanguard Nomads. One of my best friends bought one, and we began to race every week. It was unbelievable. My experience being a crew in the 420s made it easy for me to crew in a Nomad, the spinnaker was just a touch bigger. The one problem with the Nomad is that it is very beamy and almost impossible to right after a capsize. During one regatta, it took us almost three hours to right the boat, even with the help of the race committee!
This past Sunday, I sailed a Sonar. I had never sailed a Keelboat before, so it was almost impossible for me to imagine not capsizing. It was blowing about 15 knots, maybe gusting a little more. I found myself pinching and dumping wind from my sails almost instinctively, only to have my crew yell, “What are you doing! This boat wont flip!” I was perplexed. How could the boat be almost horizontal in the water, sails grazing the surface and yet not capsize? It was frustrating, but also motivating. I can’t wait to get back out there, put mind over matter, and sail that boat with the sails as close to the surface as the boat will allow. A keelboat will never flip, the keel is way too heavy. It’s going to take some mental practice, but I am totally up to the challenge of this new and unbelievably fast boat!
-Sarah
