Free Post #1: Ko Olina Race Part 1

Sailing is one of the most exciting and fast sports you can
participate in. The faster you go, the more fun it is. That‘s why I
jumped at the opportunity to go sailing on my friend’s boat. It’s a
Reynolds R33 catamaran, 33 feet long, capable of reaching 25 knots (a
measure of speed slightly higher than MPH) and up. It can slice through
the water with its massive sail area (from 703 square feet to 1859
square feet), which produces an exciting ride. I had sailed on the
boat, named “Manju”, a few times previously, but this time would be the
first I could participate in one of the various races held over the
year. This particular race was the Waikiki Yacht Club to Ko Olina
Marina regatta. The course would take us up to Diamond Head and then
down to Ko Olina. It was open to boats of all shapes and sizes, and the
start was staggered to allow for fair competition between classes. I
arrived at the yacht club soon before the start and excitement was
already starting to build. The wind was forecasted for 20 - 25 knots -
perfect windspeed for racing. Boats from across the island were
congregrating for the start. As we sailed out to the starting line, we
got a great view of the competition. The seafaring craft ranged from
the small but deceptively fast Siesta, to the race winning machine
Boomerang, to the immaculate, 57 foot cruiser Vanessa. An old fashioned
ketch made a showing, and familiar faces were all around. Soon enough
the first starts were underway, the smaller and slower boats jockeying
for position on the imaginary line between a motorboat and a large
buoy. A horn blasted a clear signal: countdown is up, go! 10 minutes
later the middle-of-the-road boats turned up and crossed the line.
Another 10 and the largest, fastest, and sleekest boats rocketed up the
course. But we were on the only multihull in the race. Multihulls, with
less surface area, lighter weight, and no keel (a heavy bulb affixed to
the bottom of monohulls to prevent heeling, or tipping of the boat when
the force of the sails pushed the boat over) were inherently faster
then multihulls. So 15 minutes after the last monohull start, we set up
a ways from the line, tacked (turned upwind) over and zoomed to the
start. 10 seconds. We quickly approached the buoy. 5. We had to lose
some speed to time it correctly. 4, 3, 2, 1....and then the horn. We
powered upwind and took off.