I still crew on at least one boat. We just had a very exciting time last weekend racing in the face of some rather nasty weather. (rain and gusts to 25+) It was a blast! I still love that thrill, but it's not for everyone.

The admiral can't stand the pace and the "testosterone" thrown about at races (her views...). Frankly, I feel I race with a rather well behaved crew, and we tend to keep the contact aspects and the yelling to a pretty good minimum.

The thrill of racing and the thinking about and sorting out situations on the fly, I feel, makes me a better sailor over all.

The boat I own is geared toward comfort and cruising... the boat I race on is very spartan and geared toward "go fast" It is almost like having a wife and mistress. GRIN

Below is a pic someone shot from shore with a long lens of us last Saturday... we are struggling to get the chute out, and even with that much sail you can see we are being pushed down by the strong breeze. There are whitecaps all about even though we are in a protected bay. Moments later the chute snaps open and the starboard rail is well under water. I am on the starboard rail tending to the spin halyard. In a moment I will all but underwater. I am well braced and hanging on to the spin halyard... so no danger, just a lot of cold water.

The ironic thing is that the water felt quite warm compared to the air, at the time.