{"id":606,"date":"2017-02-28T22:28:12","date_gmt":"2017-02-28T22:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.forespar.com\/blog\/?p=606"},"modified":"2018-09-20T21:28:17","modified_gmt":"2018-09-20T21:28:17","slug":"10-commandments-beercan-racing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.forespar.com\/blog\/2017\/02\/10-commandments-beercan-racing\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Commandments of Beercan Racing"},"content":{"rendered":"
Tweet<\/a><\/div>\n

\"Forespar<\/a>Sailors and clubs across the world hold casual races on weekday evenings.\u00a0 In the US, we often refer to them as “Beercan Races”, supposedly because back in the day you could track the race course by the trail of beer cans floating in the bay.\u00a0 We’re a lot greener today, but the concept holds true:\u00a0 Race to win, but if you’re not having fun, go home. There are basic commandments that govern the sub-sport:<\/p>\n

I.\u00a0 Thou shalt not take anything other than safety too seriously.\u00a0 <\/strong>Relax, have fun and keep it light. Late to the start?\u00a0 So what.\u00a0 Over early? No big thing. Too windy?\u00a0 Quit. No breeze?\u00a0 Break out the beer.\u00a0 The point is to have fun, but stay safe.\u00a0 To overquote, “Safe boating is no accident”.<\/p>\n

II.\u00a0 Thou shalt honor the rules if thou knowest them.\u00a0 <\/strong>US Sailing amends and publishes the Racing Rules of Sailing on a regular basis, and unless your Sailing Instructions say otherwise, this is the racing Bible.\u00a0 Few sailors other than PRO’s, Judges and rabid racers have studied it cover to cover, since it’s about as interesting and exciting as the Tax Code.\u00a0 For beer can racing, you can get by if you remember the biggies (port tack boats avoid starboard tackers, windward boards avoid leeward ones, and outside boats give room at the marks). Another major is the Law of Tonnage: Stay out of the way of the bigger boats, because even if you’re right, getting run over by a big kid still hurts.\u00a0 So, pay your insurance premiums, and keep a low profile unless you’re sure you know what you’re doing.\u00a0 In other words – Common Sense.<\/p>\n

III.\u00a0 Thou shalt not run out of beer.\u00a0 <\/strong>Self explanatory. There’s a reason these are not called milk bottle, coke can, or hot chocolate races.\u00a0 However, our club does have a tequila sponsor for our Taco Tuesday series.<\/p>\n

IV.\u00a0 Thou shalt not covet thy competitor’s boat, sails, equipment, crew or PHRF rating.\u00a0 <\/strong>No whining; If you’re lucky enough to have a sailboat, go out and use it!\u00a0 You don’t need that latest in zircon bearing diamond encrusted widgetry or unobtanium sailcloth to have a great time on the water with your friends (unless it’s a Forespar pole).\u00a0 Even if your boat is a heaving pig, set modest goals and work toward them.\u00a0 Or don’t – it’s only beer can racing.<\/p>\n

V.\u00a0 Thou shalt not amp out.\u00a0 <\/strong>Save that stuff for the freeway or, if you must, Saturday’s “real” race.\u00a0 Remember what happened to Captain Bligh, and realize that if you lose it on Wednesday night, you’re going to run out of crew – and friends – in a hurry.\u00a0 Chill out.\u00a0 Nobody’s going to read about this race in Sailing World.\u00a0 <\/a><\/p>\n

VI.\u00a0 Thou shalt not protest thy neighbor.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>This is extremely tacky (pun intended) at this level of competition. It’s justifiable if there’s damage, and blame needs to be established, but on the whole, tossing a red flag is the height of bad taste in something as relatively inconsequential as a beer can race.\u00a0 Besides proving that you’re clueless about the concept, it screws up everybody’s evening.\u00a0 Don’t do it – its bad karma.<\/p>\n

VII.\u00a0 Thou shalt not screw up thy boat.\u00a0 <\/strong>We all know a hardcore warrior who blew out his main on Thursday and had to sit out a big race on Saturday.\u00a0 It’s just not worth risking your boat and gear in such casual competition.\u00a0 Avoid other boats at all costs, and stay away from hard objects – buoys, docks, pilings and paddleboards.\u00a0 If you have two sets of sails, use the old ones.<\/p>\n

VIII.\u00a0 Thou shalt always go to the yacht club afterward.\u00a0 <\/strong>Part of the gestalt of beer can races is bellying up to the yacht club bar post race.\u00a0 Corinthian etiquette demands that you congratulates the winners, and buy a round for your crew.\u00a0 And, the bar is the logical place to meet old friends and make new ones.<\/p>\n

IX.\u00a0 Thou shalt bring thy spouse, kids, friends and whoever else wants to go.\u00a0 <\/strong>Beer cans are great for introducing folks to sailing – neighbors, house guests, co-workers, the dog, and there’s usually someone hanging on the dock that would like to go.\u00a0 When has there ever been an overabundance of crew?\u00a0 Of course, there’s one our regulars who sails with as many 18 souls on a 45-foot boat for the inside the harbor races.\u00a0 And, remember the “No Passengers” adage.\u00a0 Give everyone a job on the boat.\u00a0 it’s more fun that way.<\/p>\n

X.\u00a0 Thou shalt not worry; thou shalt be happy.\u00a0 <\/strong>Leave the phones in the car, bring some tunes.\u00a0 Relax, it’s not the America’s Cup.<\/p>\n

See you out there.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mike Dwight<\/p>\n

Thanks to Latitude 38<\/a> for the original and illuminated texts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tweet Sailors and clubs across the world hold casual races on weekday evenings.\u00a0 In the US, we often refer to them as “Beercan Races”, supposedly because back in the day you could track the race course by the trail of beer cans floating in the bay.\u00a0 We’re a lot greener today, but the concept holds… Read more: 10 Commandments of Beercan Racing<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001004,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-content","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forespar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forespar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forespar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forespar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1001004"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forespar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=606"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.forespar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":613,"href":"https:\/\/www.forespar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606\/revisions\/613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forespar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forespar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forespar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}