Emma Paul and the Olympians

by Margie Smith

We had been in St. Maarten only a few hours when the opening party got underway. Tired from our squall-ridden, two-day, upwind sail over from St. John, we were running on adrenaline but anxious to size up the competition/celebrate our successful passage with a few beers.

The St. Maarten Yacht Club was appropriately done up. Pink chiffon hanging from the rafters. Champagne. Goodie bags with practical stuff - like sun-blocking racing shirts from Gill (hot pink, of course) - but frivolous, girlie stuff, too - like glitter and makeup, flowers and fake diamond rings. What's a women's championship sailing event without a little bling?

Having sailed many times with Sara O'Neill on her boat, O'Dege - a 33-foot Camper Nicholson painted Fighting Lady-yellow - I was accustomed to a little couture with my competition. Sometimes we would all race in skirts, or the captain would make us wear dresses to the skippers' briefings. We usually sailed with an all-girl crew and, occasionally, competed in races requiring a woman at the helm.

This, however, was my first experience in an all-women's international regatta: the two-day, 2008 Budget Marine Women's Caribbean One Design Keelboat Championships, held the first weekend of November.

Frankly, I thought I was in a little over my head. I had never done any match racing on little boats while my teammates, by contrast, were both experienced sailors and racers from Coral Bay. I ended up on the team after a conversation that went something like this:

Sara: Wanna be on our team?

Me: I'm not sure I'm good enough.

Sara: You're a candy ass.

Me: Fine. I'm in.

Having competed in this event two years ago, my crewmates already knew some of our rivals. The one to beat, I was told, was Emma Paul, a sailing instructor from Tortola. I looked around, trying to spot the BVI team in the crowd, while listening to the organizers welcome competitors from the Cayman Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, California, the U.K. and Barbados. Then, during the introduction of the Antigua team, I caught the word "Olympics."

"We're competing against former Olympians?" I hissed at Sara.

The captain was unfazed so I turned to my teammate Martha Hollander for a reaction, but she didn't seem worried, either. She was busy trying out the brick red lipstick from our goodie bag. It was just what she needed after 48 hours of sleep deprivation, capped by her one short nap being cruelly interrupted by the accidental inflation of her life jacket in the middle of the night.

Other highlights of the 80-mile passage included:

• A stop in Peter Island to ascend the mast and check on the backstay rigging. (Something looked amiss, but it turned out to be just fine.)
• A brief period during which the captain was bailing (fresh water, she assured the crew).
• A discussion about whether or not the captain bailing (fresh water) in the middle of a squall should be considered normal or not.

Too exhausted to practice after we arrived in port on Friday, we got our first turn in the responsive little Sun Fast 20s Saturday morning, before the first race. With the gusty winds in the Simpson Bay Lagoon, it quickly became apparent that we could have used a fourth crewmember (as most other teams had) for extra weight. There is a boatload of great women sailors in Coral Bay but, alas, most opted not to make the trip, presumably because:

a)      They all insist on being at the helm.
b)      They need a little more incentive than being called a candy ass.

No matter. We compensated by congratulating ourselves on being svelte and looking really good in our yellow shirts and hats, provided by our fabulous sponsors C4th and Skinny Legs. At least we'd have great photos. (Much time was spent coordinating outfits, with Martha's blue gym shorts being summarily rejected in favor of Sara's impressive collection of orange shorts and skirts. You'd be amazed at how many articles of clothing - of any color - Sara can reliably pull out of the cubbyholes of a 33-foot sailboat.)

With Sara at the helm, Martha on the bow and me on the main sheet, we sailed 14 races over two days, in boats with names like Miss Behaving and Miss Tandfog, around markers festooned with pink tulle.

We finished somewhere in the respectable middle ("Our motto is ‘We'd rather have fun than win,'" commented Sara) and awarded ourselves prizes for being Coolest Team and also Only Team To Sail To The Regatta. We also thought we should have received an honorable mention for towing in the change boat dock after the final race, but it wasn't mentioned at all. ("I'll bet Emma Paul would have gotten a special prize if she towed the dock in," lamented Martha.)

After the regatta, we did a little provisioning. Here's our list:

• Water
• Ice
• Beer
• Food
• Gasket
• CO2 cartridge to fix life jacket

Consumables were procured at the Seven Alive! mini-mart; the rest of the items were found at Budget Marine's spiffy flagship store, a shopping mecca for any sailor, female or male. Our captain rounded up the necessary items and then, perhaps indulging in a bit of retail therapy, made an impulse purchase of shiny red bolt cutters. Nothing like a brand spanking new accessory to make a girl forget she didn't win the crown.

In the end, by the way, it was one of the local St. Maarten teams that outraced both Emma Paul and the Olympians to claim first place. The prize was either a couple of Leathermans or some crystal vase thingy. I can't remember because everyone was most excited about the fourth-place prizes - the battery-operated, "Peugeot of Grinders," salt grinders - awarded to our friends from Barbados (the other contenders for Coolest Team). At least, I think they were salt grinders.

Team Skinny Legs and C4th had a lovely, starry-night, downwind sail home with our somewhere-in-the-respectable-middle place prize of white and purple sarongs with matching necklaces. Look for them in the next big race.

Margie Smith is a frequent visitor to St. John and a frequent contributor to the Sun Times.  You can read her personal blog at http://msmargarita1.blogspot.com.

November 20, 2008