That being said, I also feel like over the past few years, I’ve solidified my place as A) a hippy from the west coast of Canada with communist ideals and B) an ardent if not rare ambassador of the crew.  My 470 career started as a crew and ended as a helm.  Over the course of my time in both positions, it became clear how important each role in the boat was to the overall success of the team.  After 2 1/2 years as a crew, I stopped eating, started distance running, and began helming (okay okay…I had some coffee, lentils, and celery…).  As I took up the stick, I was confused about just what it was that I was supposed to do. Fortunately Dave Hughes, one of my coaches, looked at me on the first day of training and said in no uncertain terms:

“Don’t worry…the crew does everything.   The helm just holds the stick and tries not to screw up. Now go sailing.”  Thanks Dave.

This might be a bit simplistic, but it holds a grain of truth.  Ever wonder why in double handed boats it’s the crews who have been around the longest?  Crewing is a beautiful thing, it’s an art.  It takes years to develop an amazing crew, and once you’ve got one, he or she is worth her weight in gold.  Now I know that many of you are thinking, “Well, you can’t possibly know how to sail without knowing how to steer.”    I agree, and the fact is, the crew is the engine which steers the boat.  Of course there is a tiller and a rudder.  Those are shiny objects which help the helm to make the boat go fast.  However, the more the helm uses that shiny object, the slower the boat goes.  If you watch a top team, you’ll often see the helm sort of push the tiller into the deck so that it doesn’t even wiggle.  Then the crew takes up a series of acrobatic dance manoeuvres which actually steers the boat while simultaneously balancing it and pumping the rig.  Pardon my french, but that is way more badass than holding the stick.  Then, add in jib trim, upwind tactics, compass work, communication, and kite trimming, and tell me that a crew doesn’t reeeeally know how to sail if she doesn’t steer.  Call me crazy, but I’m tempted to conclude that it’s actually the helm who is missing a big chunk of sailing education.

Alright alright, helms are important. I know that…I was one!  And…without a helm, Lasers, Radials, Finns, Optis, and myriad other singlehand boats would have a tough time making it around the race course.  What I’m trying to get at here, is that each position is equally important.  Saying that a crew isn’t really sailing is like saying that the defence isn’t really playing footie, or that the goalie isn’t actually playing hockey.  I’m pretty sure Luongo would beg to differ.

470 Crew Malcolm Page, 6 time World Champion and Olympic Gold medalist, probably knows how to sail.

What do you do on the water all day??  Thanks Enia Nincevic, Croation 470 helm for this hilarious pic!

Just got in off the water after a glorious day of training in the 29er. Sometimes good old Canada can deliver just the most spectacular winter days…a balmy 11 degrees Celsius and  10 knots in what is usually our winter outflow direction. Today however, it was beautifully warm and felt almost like a chinook wind if Victoria were to get such a thing.

When I got back in, my Finnish sailing friend, Joonas, had posted this video.  It sort of brilliantly describes how everyone thinks that we sailors spend our days!  Of course I love to prance around yachts while wearing polo shirts with the collars pulled up. Of COURSE I drink cocktails while trimming sails in my bikini. That’s what it’s all about isn’t it!?   This vid definitely pays homage to all those lovely blokes out there with a dream to buy some beat up old keelboat for $500, because we all know that this is what you’re all imagining!

Fist Pump Sailing

Potential candidate for the women’s skiff in Rio 2016…looks like fun!

I like to sail.  I like to coach.  I even like the smell of my wetsuit after it’s been hanging on my boat to dry from a day out on the water.  After four years of training in the 470, and sailing in regattas from Miami to Helsinki with a big CANADA written on my sail, I’m liking just sailing for fun.  Yup, this is nothing more than a blog for fun.

When I was competing on the World Cup Circuit, blogging was this very strange thing.  After training or racing, debrief, pack up, dinner, workout, and stretching, it was always time to pour a cup of tea and sit down for some blogging.  It’s actually really fun!  I really loved keeping in touch with all of our supporters.  The only hard part was that I felt like I always had to be so articulate, so poised, and if anyone knows me…they know I’m just a girl who likes to play on the water and gets really excited if she sees a dolphin.

I hope that you’ll join me for some fun. Let’s have fun just going sailing, talking boats, maybe telling hilarious stories of our misadventures…we’ve all got them haven’t we?  Let’s be a sailing community with a smile on our face from having fun.

It’s great to be back in touch.

Jen