My Adult Team Racing Adventure at the OBC
Boat 1 | Keith Davids, Brit Bichoff, Ian Burman, Tim Kelley Boat 2 | Carl Smit, Brett Davis, Mallory Caulfield, Holly Ohare Boat 3 | Tim Herzog, Gavin Ohare, Martin Hermida, Steve Pickel
When my husband, Gavin O’Hare, asked me to join him for a weekend of adult keelboat team racing a few weeks ago, I had my doubts. I remembered team racing with him in dinghies years ago—full of egos, on and off the water, and some pretty loud language.
He reminded me that we’re older now, this event would be different, and—best of all—our kids are finally at an age where we could escape for a weekend. So I thought about it… and committed.
Gavin has deep roots in team racing—over 35 years of regatta support, competition, and leadership in the US Sailing Championship event. He expanded his knowledge and passion for the discipline as a midshipman racing on the Naval Academy dinghy team under Coach Gary Bodie. He even authored a manual on team racing tactics and strategy. For the last decade, he’s been a champion of grassroots adult team racing, promoting interclub scrimmages in the Annapolis harbor and farther down the Chesapeake. Over time, he’s built a tight-knit network of adult team racing enthusiasts.
Gavin recruited a coed team that could best be labeled “Friends of Gavin O’Hare” — or FOGO. The crew was a well-rounded mix of Navy alumni dinghy sailors, ILCA racers, Snipe sailors, and frostbite veterans from the Severn Sailing Association. Each of the three boats had strong skipper-crew chemistry and a solid grasp of team racing tactics and strategy. We literally traveled by planes, trains, and automobiles to rally for the event.
We all completed our travels Friday evening and arrived at the Oakcliff Sailing bunkhouse to sort out our accommodation. We were fortunate on our arrival to find founder Dawn Riley late at work but made time to give us a tour of this fantastic professional sailor training facility. We rounded out the evening with a team dinner in Oyster Bay and team bonding back at the bunkhouse afterward. A bonus to the adventure was Saturday evening after the regatta, dinner back at the bunkhouse, when we got to play cards and socialize with a college team who were racing one of the Oakcliff offshore boats and also berthing at the bunkhouse.
Our regatta was the Oyster Bay Team Race Challenge sailed in 3 v3 Sonars with four crew on each of the 3 boats. Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club was our host and did a fantastic job running several round robin rotations in wind conditions ranging from 8-20 knots on the protected Oyster Bay (Long Island). At the conclusion of racing, it was Larchmont YC in first with a tie between the host and our FOGO team for second. Storm Trysail finished 4th.
What a great regatta, road trip adventure, teamwork with a great group of friends. As Gavin always quotes Geoff Ewenson - nothing better than team racing with friends!
Some conclusive success factor take aways from this adult keelboat team racing experience:
- Lots of team race experience helps
- Team bonding & teamwork matter
- Respect for the game and fellow competitors is part of the keelboat team racing ethos
- A roadtrip contributes to fun of the adventure
by Holly O’Hare