My 1st Ocean Race / Sail Experience

So I had my first ever "ocean race" sail/experience last night; tho, I'm not sure I would consider it true open ocean sailing.  Why?  Well, there was a "break" wall that was a decent distance off shore (one of the older crew members told me that it was erected originally back in World War 2 to provide a safe harbor for ships).  So... that was a little disappointing, but it was still a good night for a sail.  Winds were about 7-12 I would say.  I ended up racing on a Cat 38 called "Bilbo Baggins."  The crew was predominantly older, but they were all very nice people.  There was ZERO barking (which was a nice change of pace from what I've grown oh so accustomed to - thanks Dad).  Our crew consisted of the skipper (Don - the owner), Margaret (Don's sister) who flew the kite, Bill (jib trim), Roger (tactician - tho he did absolutely nothing), Dan (worked the pit + main), Mark (foredeck back-up), Steve (foredeck), and myself (jib grinder + held the main out on downwind).  Bill was an old fart - must have been about 70 or so, but surprisingly seemed to know his sh*t.  Don or Roger were probably the next oldest - I'd guess somewhere in there late-50s to 60s.  Don seemed to know the most (he made most of the calls and really seemed like he knew what he was talking about), but he couldn't seem to hold his line; or at least I didn't think he was holding it well enough (and surprisingly, I think it was by his own choice!).  Personally, I thought we broke from our line one-too-many times, but hey... what do I know.  Roger was our tactician and I swear I never heard him make a single call the entire night.  When we were about a 1/3rd of the way into the race and I couldn't think of a time that he had made a call, it was then at that very moment that I knew we weren't going to be contending for 1st place or anything like that.  Dan worked the pit, traveler, and I think main.  While the 38 was a pretty big boat, I was surprised at how short the boom length was, as Dan was pretty much working the traveler from the pit box - not the traditional cockpit like, say, on the Soverel.  Margaret flew the kite.  She did an ok job.  There were a couple times she'd call for a grind and I caught the sail curling, so I jumped right in and grabbed the kite sheet and gave it a good tug for her (I didn't grind on the kite, only on the jib).  Bill was grinding on the kite, and it was just easier (I think) for me to step in and give it a good tug rather than Bill grinding and Margaret slowly pulling.  I didn't get to see too much of Mark's work, but he seemed to know what he was doing.  Mark was probably in his 50s.  Steve was probably youngest guy of the group; aside from me, of course.  He seemed pretty young (I'm going to guess early 30s), but he had a really big beard so it was kinda hard to tell.  Steve worked the foredeck and we didn't have an issue up there the entire night, so I thought he did a great job and knew what he was doing.  Because he was working the foredeck, I didn't really have a chance to talk to him much.

So... I think everyone knew what they were doing (aside from maybe our tactician and, ironically, that's the one guy who needs to know what they're doing, lol), but there was just not that sense of "urgency" that I'm so accustomed to after sailing back home.  It was definitely a more laid back crew - and, actually, that was quite refreshing and made for a really enjoyable sail.  I suppose I'd rather take that than the barking Dad would give and we'd finish like 4th or something.  I didn't stick around for the results (not because I was upset or anything like that, but because I wanted to hurry on home so I could call Molly before she fell asleep - it was about 11:30 ET), but I don't think we did very well.  The research I did this morning tho seemed to show, however, that "Bilbo Baggins" usually finishes pretty well (at least compared to the competition, and certainly much better than some of the other boats I received offers from - except for the J/109 Raptor which seems to perform very well).  I definitely hope to make it back out again with the "Bilbo" crew.  They were all very enjoyable.

Which takes me to my next point...

Before we got out there, I told Don (the guy who contacted me and was the owner/skipper)... I told him that I was astound at the kind/generous replies I received to my email, and I feel like I owe each one at least one race, because without their kind replies, I'd probably still be sitting at home on the couch.  I wanted to do that beforehand so that no matter what the racing experience was like, it wasn't going to be like I was "ditching" the boat or didn't like the crew, etc..  Actually... I very much *liked* the crew.  I'd just like to find more of a "racing" boat than a "cruiser-turned-racing" boat.  Know what I mean?  But very nice people, and I Can't say enough good things about them.

As for the other boats... there were probably 4 classes.  There was a Farr (mostly 40's) class, and then 3 other PHRF classes [no real "class" like a J class (that I could tell) like the Farr class].  The Farr boats looked SWEET.  The entire time, I kept thinking to myself, "Boy... I'd love to get on one of those..."

Well... I received just a couple more email requests for my services, and now here's the listing that I have/am looking at...

Boat Name	Make	Rating
lulu	Schock 34	117
Mille Onde	C&C 36	126
Bilbo Baggins	Cat 38	111
	Olson 30
Swell Lover	Cat 30	209
WindHaven	Cat 25	247
Swoosh	Farr 38	84
Raptor	J/109	72

I received a response/request from a Farr 38 this morning!!!  I did some quick research, and it looks like they don't do so hot, but still I'd think I'd like to give them a shot.  I also received a reply/request this morning from a J/109 boat, Raptor.  I did a quick search, and out of all the requests/offers I have... Raptor appears to perform/finish the best.  So... Dad... What's a better boat?  The Farr 38 or the J/109?  I *think* I found the boats ratings, and it looks like the Raptor has a lower (better?) rating.  I know a lower rating means that boat will often owe higher rating boats time, unless it's racing one-design, but as we see with Bryan Huntley's boat (a high rating), a lower rating isn't necessarily always the best, because you end up owing those slow boats so much time, and if you have a really good crew on a high rating boat, they can end up making up A LOT of corrected time.

So... what would you do?