‘Friday Fun’: Sailors Compete In Friendly Races At Pleasant Bay

HARWICH – A few dozen people took to the water to race catboats and Flying Scot sailboats around and across Pleasant Bay last Friday, Aug. 15 as part of a series of weekly “friendlies” held by Pleasant Bay Community Boating. 

After each skipper and crew was brought out to a boat from the dock, the Flying Scots and catboats — two different types of sailboats — jostled for position around the race course starting line. Then a series of loud horns were sounded from the race committee boat, signaling the beginning of the circuit. 

First, the catboats went. Then the Flying Scots — which are bigger and faster — followed. The races are exhibitions in nature. The winner of each competition isn’t recognized, and there are no prizes nor any protests allowed by participants, according to Suzanne Leahy, director of Pleasant Bay Community Boating’s catboat program. A barbeque is held afterwards.

“This is Friday fun, but this gets them on the boats,” Leahy said.

The catboats in Pleasant Bay Community Boating’s fleet are 15.5-foot-long “Sandpipers,” while the Flying Scots are 19 feet in length. The Flying Scots also have colorful spinnakers that sailors flew once the races were underway. 

The sailboats in Pleasant Bay Community Boating’s fleet are used seven hours a day, according to Leahy, so maintaining the daysailers, especially for events like the weekly Friday races, is important.

“They are going, going, going,” she said.

While Leahy directs the catboat program, Matt Haas is in charge of the Flying Scots and does a “brilliant” job keeping them in shape, Leahy said. 

Pleasant Bay Community Boating’s entire fleet of Flying Scots was being used for the race Friday, and last year, the catboat races were so popular that it became overwhelming, according to Leahy. Some parameters for the races were set as a result.

Skippers and crew for the most part need to be skills-checked Pleasant Bay Community Boating passholders. The general gist is that to race as a skipper, one needs to know how to drive a boat, and to serve as a member of the crew, one needs to know how to move on a boat, Leahy said.

But that’s not to say that the Friday friendly races are meant to be exclusive. There may be a “fear factor” in participating in races, Leahy said — but it’s good time spent on the boat. 

“You actually learn a lot from racing,” she said. 

The racing route around Pleasant Bay changes weekly depending on the wind. On Friday, the wind traveled northwest, according to Leahy. Races got started a little bit before 5 p.m., and the first boat reached the finish line soon after 6 p.m.

For Orleans resident Seth Wilkinson, who sailed a Flying Scot with his wife Alison, the wind was “almost too much, but not quite,” he said.

“It was perfect sailing weather for sure,” he said.