ANOTHER VIEW
Normally, in the role of Rear Commodore, it would be my job to come up with a novel, unique and heretofore undiscovered way of cajoling you into whatever event may be coming up in the club’s calendar. In this case, it’s the Adopt-A-Racer Cruise. However, I’m not going to do that, because not everyone will be invited to the event.
What?!? What’s that you say? An NFCC Event that not everyone can come to? Nope, not at all. What I said was not everyone is invited. There’s a difference. The invitation is for those of us who are in the position of having a new (or at least new to us) boat that we need to learn how to work, or those of us that are new at making boats work, crew and skippers alike. Those are the folks that are invited. Active and Special members alike.
Those that are not invited (but are MOST certainly welcome) are those of us that look at the run up to Fernandina as a cake walk, or the run down to St. Augustine as an interesting afternoon diversion before partying at the Conch House (Another Tradition Bites The Dust!!!). Those of us that have done a Bahamas crossing, or made a long distance jump are welcome, but the Adopt-A-Racer isn’t for them either.
The intent of the Adopt-A-Racer is a seminar in safety, speed, and assurance. It’s a chance for those of us with a little more experience, or perhaps just an interesting tale to tell, to share with those of us that are a little more recent on the scene. It’s kind of what sets the OPC class apart from the rest of the racing community.
The OPC class has been growing with a rare intensity in the past few years. It’s success has been noted, and addressed by every club on the river. This is directly due to the efforts of you, the members of North Florida Cruising Club, and I and damn proud of each of you. It’s a class that has more fun than the ‘official’ PHRF classes. It is also a class that tends to share much more than the PHRF classes. The difference is that the PHRF classes are into racing to win, and the folks in OPC are into the events to learn more of what they can about a sport/avocation/way-of-life that they love and enjoy.
Which is, I guess, my way of saying that the Adopt-A-Racer Cruise (check the cover list of schedules......) tends to epitomize what I think about racing. It’s a fun thing to do, and it’s a GREAT way to learn about sailing, boat handling, safety, and decision making in tight quarters. It’s also the way I feel about being back in the OPC. (Listen, did you hear that? I believe it was LAUREL ANN, calling for me to come and bring her home again..........)