Play

Every so often a guy just has to have some guy fun. Being a guy, I understand this. Usually, guy fun involves playing with expensive toys or endangering life and limb in some way. My fun for the past few days has been in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico, fooling around with boats. It’s the preparation races for the J/24 World Championships. Having owned one long ago, my friend Jay thought he could entice me to come to visit if he proms ed a front row seat by letting me ride around with him on the photo boat. On Friday, I also got to help lift 18 of the boats into the water with a small crane specifically designed for putting boats into the water. The lifting part was a hoot. Being a former owner, I very much know what it’s like to hook your plastic baby up to a small hoist and swing it off the trailer and into the water. Everyone realizes that one slip would put an end to your hopes of being a famous sailboat racer. Still, most owners were calm and understanding. The people who got excited were the people who had never lifted their boats before, particularly the “juniors”, the young and not-so-young sons of means who are used to calling down to the marina to have their boat put into the water before they show up in the Porsche that dad gave them for their last birthday. In those cases, it was pretty much attitude, confusion, and the expectation that someone was going to do all the work for them. I got to meet crew not only from Mexico, but also crews from the US, Australia, Japan and Brazil. All were smiling and happy to be in sunny Mexico doing what they love. Once on the water, things got even more interesting, as many of the more cocky crews were humbled by they ability to stay up with sailing experts from all over the world. Jay’s status as photographer ensured that we were always at a position in the course where exciting racing would be happening. In the end, only a few Mexican boats ended up in the top 10. I hope they consider it a learning experience for the World Championships, which will be happening next week. So, I’m sore, sunburned, bruised and I’m taking Advil in the morning. I’ve never felt better.