Image is always looking for crew. Our current focus is distance racing (both day races and overnight) and we are working up towards participating in at least one Offshore Event in 2018 (currently looking at Oregon Offshore). Ultimately our goal is to participate in a Van Isle 360 and a Hawaii race at one point in time.
I bought Image in the summer of 2015. She had been a cruising boat before and the crew and I have made a bunch of racing improvements since then. Lots of new running rigging and updates systems on the boat. Also, we now have a full set of racing sails available (most of them new after Sept. 2016, some we picked up from another local Catalina 38).
We are a young crew (many of us are in our 20’s and 30’s). If you are interested in joining us you should
- be OK with learning a new boat and complex boat. Being an IOR boat, it takes a lot more effort to sail Image well than a modern boat of similar size. There are many lines to handle which often carry big loads.
- be patient. As on every boat, things sometimes go wrong. There is always a chance that we mess up a maneuver or some equipment fails. This is not a high-octane high-budget program but rather a group of friends having a good time.
- like sailboat racing, especially distance racing. You should be interested in keeping up the intensity for hours on end, trimming the sails, watching for wind, current and other boats. We have moved past the point of cruising around the racecourse and we are now starting to become more competitive with the other boats in our class which means small mistakes cost a lot.
- bring your own safety gear for distance races – this gives you peace of mind and allows frees up budget for boat upgrades 🙂
If you are still interested in racing an IOR classic 😊, please let me know. Here are a couple things you can get out of the experience
- Since we are distance racing, there is usually a lot of opportunity for rotating crew. If you don’t want to be stuck in one position, this is the boat
- We are always willing to experiment – if you have an idea that could make the boat go faster, we will try it out. We need to do a lot of experimentation since there is no “manual” for getting the boat going like on many other more common designs
- We have lots of stuff on the boat – this can come in handy if you want to crew on bigger boats in the future. A couple examples: We are flying asymmetrical spinnakers off a regular spin pole and we have a bunch of headsails to deal with. Lots to learn.
- Over the past two years we have learned a couple things that make the boat go fast and we are happy and patient to teach you about them
- We are willing to take beginners as well as seasoned sailors. Since the boat has a lot of sail area we need to find the right balance though since some things need to happen quickly and the right way in order to avoid awkward situations.
- One thing about our lead-bellied beauty is that she is not exactly light – but that makes for a comfortable ride in a sea state, allows crew to take a break from hiking hard on the rail when needed and also sometimes gives us some momentum to get through light patches
- Sometimes we look pretty good doing our thing – here is some proof
The schedule for the rest of the year looks like this – we may be able to get some training days in as well.
| 10/7/2017 | Foulweather Bluff |
| 10/22/2017 | STYC Fall Regatta |
| 11/11/2017 | Round the County Saturday |
| 11/12/2017 | Round the County Sunday |
| 12/2/2017 | Winter Vashon |
| 12/9/2017 | Snowbird 2 |
| 1/6/2018 | Duwamish Head |
| 2/17/2018 | Toliva Shoal |
| 3/17/2018 | Islands Race |
If you are interested in going out with us, please send an email and we will have a chat.