Want a Sail? What about a Matching Party?

by Gail Rice/Sail-World Cruising on 5 Aug 2006 This seems like a wonderful idea to Sail-World Cruising – a matching party – matching crew and skippers of course….

Jumping on an 'other person's boat' - or OPB - is a great way to get into sailing (it's also more fiscally prudent than boat ownership). Sailboats need crew, and there is no shortage of racing and cruising skippers looking for people to trim sails, navigate, stand watch, or help with deliveries.

The problem is often how to get skippers and compatible crew to find each other, but one of the greatest ideas is that promoted and organised by ‘Points East’ Magazine, in Maine, U.S.A.

Every year the magazine hosts its annual Crew Match Party at Handy Boat in Falmouth Foreside. The party has become a tradition of sorts for both racers and cruisers in the Gulf of Maine.

Bernie Wideman of Points East says the crew match party has been in place about as long as the magazine's been in print.

'When we started the magazine in 1998, our goal was to get more people out on the water, and for people already out there, to encourage them to go further and see new places,' he says. 'The crew match party is one way we can help to get even more people out there.'

While racing skippers demand much of the attention (mmmm…what’s new?), cruisers are matched as crew for everything from day sails in Casco Bay to trans-Atlantic crossings and fall deliveries to the Caribbean.

The way it works is that the magazine hosts the function, and local marine business Handy Boat provides the venue.

'It's always a good time, and we're especially grateful to Merle and Jay Hallett of Handy Boat for being such gracious hosts,' says Bernie.

Of course the traditional way to get a ride on a sailing boat has always been to simply show up on the yacht club docks when you know the sailing is ‘on’. No matter what your sailing ambitions are – racing or long range cruising or just enjoying life on the water, there’s nothing like racing to hone your sailing skills.

Finally, novice sailors shouldn't let lack of experience keep them from signing up as crew. Many skippers place a high value on enthusiasm and commitment – skippers value crew greatly who are prepared to turn up reliably and regularly, and ‘not stand on the ropes’. They and their crew veterans can teach you everything you need to know.

And if you're a skipper, keep giving the rookie sailor a chance - you might just find yourself some excellent crew!

Many Yacht clubs could also do well to consider – maybe with the help of such people as sailing magazines - introducing ‘matching parties’ to keep the new blood coming into the sailing scene.

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