Armchair Sailing? 

By Chris Museler

On Wednesday afternoon the crew aboard the Swan 53, Fox, was sorting through various plastic slides to make sure all the porthole curtains worked. Our captain aboard Titan XV was banding reaching sails with soft yarn while the mobile phone was glued to his ear. Canadian Richard Clarke from Vela Veloce was intensely focusing on a sail inventory list while his team waited for direction, sails stacked on the foredeck and dock. And Hap Fauth, owner and skipper of Belle Mente, sat on a cushioned seat aboard his 116-foot Whisper with his arm draped over the pushpit and smoking his trademark cigar.


The scene at Newport Shipyard

It is now Thursday morning, the day before my first Bermuda race and I am sitting in my doctor’s office just a stone’s throw from the harbor, not on a cushy boat thinking about refinements to racing performance. I lost my voice and have an annoying cough that I want to thwart before heading off with 19 other sailors in close quarters. So far this is the only “race preparation” list item I need to worry about. 

Sailors prepare for this race in various ways and the “excitement” leading up to the start seems to be directly proportional to the amount of work left to do on the boat. And in the final stages, there is a glimmer of hope that, hell or high water, all will make it to the starting line on Friday afternoon. 

As for my ride aboard Titan XV, Thursday is a busy one not even counting loading sails and food. I received an email outlining what’s left. We all have signed our crew waiver and pre-screened with the nice Bermudian officials at New York Yacht Club. Now we have a few deadlines. First is getting our shore gear to the container at the Newport Shipyard by 11 a.m. Our container will be loaded last so it will be offloaded first. Nice move Scotty. Those crew leaving immediately were asked to pack some clothes in a labeled Ziploc that will be delivered by hand in Bermuda. 

Scotty believes the race will be, “very settled and pleasant. Cool the first night only. Please pack light!” Following this concept, we have been asked to send out toiletry kits with the container as the boat will have toothpaste and deodorant.  This is kind of a personal thing but I’m rolling with it.