Almost anyone can win

 Getting Lucky on the Choptank.  By George Breig, Photo By Tim Fuhrman

The wind was a pleasant 8 knots blowing from the northwest which was typical for ESSA Wednesday Night races. A short 1.8 mile upwind-down wind course was assigned by the committee boat. The weather mark was NW.

"Tango 22” is a Tanzer 22 with a PHRF of 240, the highest rating of the ESSA Choptank Fleet. My crew and I had no special expectations. On a good night, we hoped to pass our rivals and enjoy the boat ride.

On a starboard tack, the spinnaker fleet sailed close-hauled to the west toward the Cambridge side of the river. Seven minutes later, the non-spinnaker fleet followed. They also headed west.  As always Serena was on the tiller. Mike and I managed the sails. After we cleared the starting line, we headed north on a port tack to shallow water to avoid the half-knot current in the middle of the river. That seemed to be a good theory.

Halfway to the weather mark, we tacked. Then came the history changing moment. Several minutes later we were blessed with a 40-degree wind shift which sent us directly to the mark. Wow! With a half-mile to go, the boats on the west side were pushed north, well behind us. We had the big lift. They had the big header. After we turned at the mark, our sails were set to a broad reach. One-by-one, the spinnaker fleet with their kites flying, passed us. Several shouted, “What are you doing here?“ We smiled and shrugged. Somehow Tango 22 finished 6 seconds ahead of the last spin boat. The non-spin fleet was just turning at the weather mark. We couldn’t believe our luck. How does a boat with a PHRF of 240 win against boats with ratings of 138, 162, & 178. Just call it “getting lucky”. By the way, it never happened again. Being lucky is often better than being good. Being good and lucky is even better.

Winning without help from PHRF