Sportsmanship at the C of C

Last week, I had the good fortune to sail in US Sailing's Championship of Champions. The event was ably hosted by Sayville YC on Long Island and sailed in Sunfish.

This post isn't really supposed to be about who won, but the fact is that the winner and the runner-up both sailed such a great regatta that their respective performances deserve mentioning. Doug Kaukeinen, the reigning Sunfish North American champion, and Mike Ingham, perpetual champion in one or another of the several one-designs he sails regularly, staged a duel that came down to the last lap of the 13th and final race. Mike led after the first lap, but Doug caught him at the gate, beat him in the race and won the event. The other reason this bears mentioning is that both of these guys sail out of the Rochester Canoe Club in Rochester, NY - pretty impressive for any club to put two guys in the top 2 places in this event, let alone a relatively unheralded one in upstate NY.

So congratulations are due to both Doug and Mike, but the main point here is that the event was notable not just for the collection of talent, but also for the high level of sportsmanship and camaraderie on display. From the very beginning, the atmosphere was low-key, collegial, and all about sharing. Sunfish expert Paul-Jon Patin from Starboard Passage ran a clinic for all the competitors on Wednesday afternoon, and there was a ton of idea sharing going on all the time. The Sunfish sailors in the crowd were very forthcoming with their rigging, tuning and boathandling techniques, and every time someone discovered something that seemed to work, he or she was very quick to tell everyone else about it. Jim Koehler from the Dinghy Shop was also around to impart his wisdom gained from many years of Sunfish sailing (and to dole out 5/16" mainsheets), and I benefitted greatly from his input.

In addition, each evening a "Rolex Round Table" was held at which the folks who did well each day shared their approach, and the ones who had struggled a bit could ask questions and seek advice. Many theories were bandied about at these sessions, and I'd guess they helped everyone move up the learning curve at a pretty good clip. Doug was clearly the best Sunfish sailor there, but I think even he would concur that by the end of the regatta, everyone was sailing the boats at a fairly high level.

On the water, the atmosphere of cooperation and sportsmanship continued. There were very few facials, and over the course of 13 races, not a single protest was filed. People were quick to do circles when in doubt, and no one really pushed it at any mark roundings that I saw. One collision almost occurred when two boats on opposite tacks were approaching each other upwind, and they both decided to duck.

Overall, I'd love to see all regattas should work this way. A naive opinion, I know, but one can hope, can't one?