At the small boat end of the sailing spectrum, not much thought is put into the “team;” most of us just call up a few friends and push off the dock.  As our lives grow more complicated, it’s hard enough to find anyone with the time and drive to fit in any top-level sailing.  But it’s teams, not groups of friends, that are able to climb up the results under difficult circumstances, something we proved on the last day of the 2009 Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship.

Some of us are lucky enough to have friends who develop into a team.  Kate Fears, Kim Couranz, Margaret Podlich and I wanted to sail together again and chose the perfect goal eleven months out: the 2009 Rolex.  Back in November of 2008, we plotted out a practice schedule that included the J/22 Midwinters in February, the Annapolis NOOD in April, and some last minute on-site practice racing in Rochester in September.

As we practiced, we tried different boathandling combinations.  Some were an improvement, others we quickly rejected, and a few worked fine until we were actually racing. (I am an expert twing adjuster in practice jibes, but I can’t seem to get it done while also trying to beat other boats.)

Most importantly, egos were left ashore and all four of us provided input on what we thought would get the job done best in a particular condition or situation.  Rock-solid boathandling requires a combination of concrete job definition and flexibility, which takes time and repetition to figure out.

Best of all, we laughed a lot during our training and practice regattas, which made us look forward to the final event even after so much time together.

We showed up in Rochester three days ahead of a four day regatta, giving ourselves the gift of time at the regatta site.  When racing finally started, the boat was clean (thanks Margaret), the rig was tuned (thanks Kate), and the cookies were loaded (thanks Kim).  I selflessly took on the toughest job:  setting a very public regatta goal of a top five finish, on camera with Tucker Thompson.  (A more personal goal-to reverse my slide from first to fourth over the past four events-would also put us on the podium.  I kept that to myself.)

Racing was cancelled the first day, thanks to a low pressure system packing a forty knot wind line.  We happily entertained ourselves by going out for lunch and a movie. I also wrote a short piece on the multi-generational aspect of the event for the Boats.com site.  The delay reminded us yet again of how important it is to enjoy the company of your teammates.

After three races on day two, we found ourselves in ninth place—tied for eighth, but still well out of the top five.  When racing was cancelled again on day three (not ENOUGH wind, ironically) we knew our top five goal would be tough to achieve.  Tucker and his video camera tactfully avoided us in the parking lot.

On the last day with only three races to go, we sailed out of Rochester Yacht Club into a shifty, puffy, eight to fifteen knot northwester and a swirling confusion of steep seas.  Difficult sailing conditions for sure, especially since we hadn’t seen waves that big all year.  As we sailed upwind to test our rig settings, we all quietly accepted that it would be a tough day to perform well.  We also knew that if any team could do it, we could.

Allow me to introduce my teammates:

Kate Fears

Kate (bow) does such a great job reading the breeze that Margaret repeatedly asked to borrow her Maui Jim sunglasses.  Kate warned us about the sudden micropuffs that could wipe us out or tack us unexpectedly; she also kept us sailing toward the big lines of pressure that would get us to the mark ahead of the group.  Even after one really bad start, we rounded the weather mark in first.  Downwind, Kate managed to stay on the boat while jibing the pole, even when the deck rolled out from under her in the side-on swell.

Kim Couranz

Kim (jib) kept us going fast through an endless variety of wind and wave combinations with tiny (but very important) adjustments to her sail.  She also reminded me to keep the power on (“fill ‘er up”) if I tried to point too high in the steep chop.  Downwind, she worked with Kate to spot marks and puffs, while taking over as principal twing manager. (They are led back to the skipper, and I had promised to adjust them in the jibes.  She knew better.)

Margaret (spinnaker) tacked the traveler and played the backstay while keeping track of where we were relative to the course and the fleet. Downwind, with the spinnaker still reacting to one wave when the boat had already slammed into the next, trimming required all of her furrowed-brow concentration.  She kept the kite flying out in front of the boat, which helped our speed downwind (and also made us look good in the pictures).

Margaret Podlich

After getting us off the starting line, I just sat back, tried not to tack too much, and chortled about how lucky I was to have such a great team.

On that final day, everything we’d practiced came together.  With so much variability in waves and breeze strength, improvisation became especially important.  When the kite came down too late in the first race, Kate took over the last of the cleanup so Kim could trim the jib around the mark.  When luffing hard into a freak wave on the starting line twisted the spinnaker out of its bag and around the jib sheets, Kim quickly stuffed the kite back into its bag and trimmed in on time.  After the start she quietly consulted with Kate to verify how best to clean up the confusion.  And once we’d settled in upwind, she fixed it.  Margaret and I still don’t really know what happened, or how it was cleaned up so quickly.  All we know is that the next set was perfect.

Satisfied smiles on the sail into the dock. Photo by Greg Fisher/North Sails.

With a pair of seconds in the first two races of the day, we moved up to sixth overall.  A third in the final race left us tied on points with two other teams—and we won the tiebreaker to finish third overall.   Top five AND on the podium!  Both private and public goals were achieved—thanks to four friends who worked hard, laughed a lot, and along the way grew into a team.

Thanks to our sponsors who all played an important role in our steep climb onto the podium:  Maui Jim sunglasses, Waterline Systems, Hammer Nutrition, Kokatat, Boat/US, and North Sails.  For press releases, more photos, and regatta info, visit the RIWKC website. Photos courtesy of Rolex/Dan Nerney, except as noted.

"Team Spidey:" Kim Couranz, Carol Cronin, Margaret Podlich, and Kate Fears.

This post also appears on the Boats.com site as a guest blog.

At my very first Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship in 1991, I made so many new friends I lost count. Fast-forward eighteen years to this year’s event, and I find myself reunited with many of those women. The difference? This time around, their daughters are here, too.

Mother/daughter outings don’t usually include an international regatta, but several teams here are combining the two ideas. Annapolitan Cathy Parks has her daughter on her team – and her newborn granddaughter greets them when they come ashore. Canadian Katie Coleman Nicoll is sailing with her daughter, college student Clarity Nicoll. The list goes on.

And then there’s local favorite Cory Sertl, a two-time winner of the event. She’s doing the mother/daughter outing a bit differently; teenaged Katja is crewing on a separate boat, for Merritt Moran – seventeen year old daughter of Cory’s longtime teammate Amy Moran. The two daughters have a ten year old in their crew.

And just to prove that sailing is a lifetime sport, 80 year old local Teresa Smith is crewing for 57-year-old Janice Ziobrowski.

Those of us in the middle of the age spectrum are here to enjoy a week of sailing with and against friends new and old. For over twenty years, this regatta has brought together a wide range of skill levels and goals as well as ages, creating a stew that includes every aspect of competitive women’s sailing.

Back in what seems now like the early days of the Rolex (as it’s referred to by followers, after the perennial title sponsor), teams of six women – or in some lightweight cases, seven – battled the wind and waves off Newport in J/24’s. I’m sure we had some light air sailing, but those aren’t the stories we still tell.

This year, teams of four or five women are racing J/22’s in Rochester, NY, and the first day has been abandoned due to high winds and seas. Will the next generation reminisce about today’s weather at the Rolex is 2027?

Kim Couranz, Margaret Podlich, Carol Cronin, and Kate Fears share yet another laugh at the J/22 Midwinters in Tampa, FL.

“Let’s do some more sailing together,” I said to Margaret last November, over dinner preparations at her house.  “You, me, Kate, and Kim.  Wouldn’t that be great?”

“Definitely!” she responded with her usual enthusiasm. “How about Rolex?”

The perfect event for us – I was only disappointed I hadn’t thought of it first.

For women sailors (especially those of a “certain” age), the “Rolex” is much more than just a watch; it’s an event, officially known as the Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship. Since 1981, women from all walks of sailing have come together every two years to celebrate our sport.  Teams form out of book groups, high schools, neighborhoods, mother and daughter connections, and crew/skipper request lists (AKA, blind dates). All that’s required is a knowledge of sailing, a love of competition and camaraderie, and a combined weight of less than 605 pounds.  Oh yeah, and a J/22.

I might be the only skipper who had put together a team before I figured out what regatta we’d sail, or where we’d find a boat.

Kim arrived a few minutes later for dinner and her only hesitation was schedule; the Laser Masters Worlds were already on her fall calendar. Once I assured her there was no conflict she agreed to join us as a jib trimmer.

Two for three.  Now: could I convince Kate to come out of retirement?

The only Rolex I’ve ever steered without Kate was in September 2005, when she expected to be nine months pregnant. As it turned out, Joshua arrived early, overly anxious to check out the big wide world. He spent the event in the preemie ward with round-the-clock care. When I went to visit them both, Kate joked that she could’ve sailed with us after all.

This year, with a four year old and a very supportive family, Kate quickly agreed to join us.  The latest iteration of the Cronin Sailing Team was complete.

In order to fit in some practice during the year (and to guarantee some fun as well), we set up a regatta schedule that started with the J/22 Midwinters in Tampa, FL and then moved north to Annapolis for the NOOD and Midatlantics. We quickly found a boat to charter and in mid-February towed it south for four days of racing against the boys.  We enjoyed the break from winter and the chance to catch up with each other and our other J/22 friends.  And since Kate, Kim and Margaret had never sailed together, we also spent some time figuring out who would do what both on and off the boat.

Kate, we quickly discovered, makes the VERY BEST peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, so she added lunch duty to her bowchick responsibilities. (Never do a bad job well, Kate.)  Margaret learned to stop worrying and fly the kite like a veteran, even though it’s a new job for her.  And Kim, as far as I can tell, does everything else, without ever losing her cool – including the worst part of the trimmer’s job, passing back and forth any and all requested pieces of clothing as the temperature changes.

With such a great team assembled, I plan to sit back and enjoy the ride.  My husband Paul complains that my team spoils me, but I like to think all four of us are spoiled by such a perfect combination of good sailing and great attitudes.

The Rolex starts Oct 6, and we will be ready for a culmination of all our hard work and laughter this year.    Follow along by visiting the regatta website.  And let me know how you have chosen to build your team.