Override!

Dave raced in the latest cruising boat race on Sunrise, and with owner Milton not in town, he was skipper. His crew was inexperienced and had never raced a boat with winches, but they were eager and ready for Dave to mentor them. They had an awesome start (that's them in the middle).

At the first windward mark, they ended up with an override on the winch, meaning the sheet (line) to the jib sail overlapped on the winch, causing it to tighten to the point that it couldn't be released due to the pressure of the wind on the sail and lines. This caused them to go around in circles, hoping to ease that pressure. Finally, as all the other boats were approaching, Dave said cut the sheet! Luckily Dave had come back to our apartment at the last minute and grabbed his rigging knife. The crew almost cut the sheet at the winch, which would have destroyed the line, but Dave had them cut it at the sail, only losing a foot of it, so they re-rigged the sail and continued on the course. I think Dave's look in this photo says it all, as they were back winded in the left background of the second photo.

They ended up passing a few boats along the way and after the handicaps were tallied, Sunrise came in 6th out of 10 boats. Everyone had a great time and actually want to race again!

Photo Credits to HTSC photographer, Will Heyer