Figawi - Sailing Charters, Newport, Rhode Island
Figawi - Sailing Charters, Newport, Rhode Island
Figawi - Sailing Charters, Newport, Rhode Island
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ANdrEw sIMs<br />
asked, “Where the <strong>Figawi</strong>?” the fledgling<br />
regatta also had a name.<br />
By the late 1970s, word was spreading<br />
about this small, regional event, and the<br />
numbers began to grow. In 1978, organizers<br />
added a lay day and a race back to Hyannis,<br />
making it a three-day affair. And the East<br />
Coast hailing ports from which sailors came<br />
to attend the <strong>Figawi</strong> continued to expand.<br />
In this year’s race program, <strong>Figawi</strong> board<br />
member Charlie McLaughlin summed up<br />
the welcoming feeling extended to every<br />
<strong>Figawi</strong> sailor: “Your decision to join us in<br />
this event reflects an unusual level of intelligence,<br />
bonhomie, determination, and<br />
perseverance. We are glad that you made<br />
it. We hope that it’s either the start of a long<br />
tradition or the next chapter of an even longer<br />
one. And while we don’t count heads,<br />
our guesstimate is that you have joined a<br />
rather non-exclusive club of some fifty<br />
thousand or more sailors who have tied<br />
up before you and taken home many great<br />
memories, most of which can be shared.”<br />
I was at the Atlantic buffet last night<br />
and I was talking to this admiral, an elderly<br />
guy, and we were discussing our sex<br />
lives. So I asked him, when was the last<br />
time for you? And he says, “1955.” I say to<br />
him, “That’s too bad.” And he looks at me<br />
and goes, “Not really. It’s only 2210.”<br />
—Unknown Comic #2, <strong>Figawi</strong> Annual<br />
Sunday Morning Joke-Telling Session<br />
Of course, as Charlie readily admits,<br />
some of those memories, depending on<br />
with whom you’re considering sharing<br />
them, are better kept within. Certainly<br />
that’s the case with Sunday morning’s annual<br />
Joke-Telling Session, an event fueled<br />
by cheap mimosas and driven by a platoon<br />
of long-time <strong>Figawi</strong> regulars known as the<br />
Band of Angels. They may be angels, but it’s<br />
hard to tell which heaven they call home.<br />
We’ve taken the liberty of publishing a<br />
few jokes, and to those who take offense,<br />
we apologize. However, if you find these<br />
off-color, by all means, steer clear of the<br />
<strong>Figawi</strong> event tent on Sunday morning.<br />
Way clear. There are lots of churches open<br />
for business on Sundays in Nantucket.<br />
One thing about the Joke-Telling Session,<br />
it’s an equal-opportunity offender.<br />
Being Nantucket, there are certainly more<br />
than a few filthy limericks aired out, but<br />
otherwise, the topics are wide-ranging<br />
and all-inclusive, and include men in<br />
prison, children’s train sets, sex, priests,<br />
white people, black people, sex, Mexicans,<br />
Asians, Europeans, sperm whales, sex, the<br />
male anatomy, the female anatomy, sex,<br />
HoW To FigAWi<br />
The <strong>Figawi</strong> race takes place each year over Memorial Day weekend and is open to monohulls<br />
of 24-feet LoA and larger with a PHrF rating no higher than 210. For more information<br />
on the event visit its website (www.figawi.com). The boat basin in Nantucket and the<br />
local housing fills up quickly, so don’t wait until the last minute. if you don’t have a boat<br />
but still want to participate, you can sign up on the crew list on the event site or consider<br />
chartering a yacht. Bareboat <strong>Sailing</strong> charters in <strong>Newport</strong>, r.i., (www.bareboatsailing.com;<br />
800-661-4013) has a fleet of Beneteaus and Jeanneaus ranging from 42- to 54-feet, as<br />
well as a Hinckley 49 ketch, available for charter as a bareboat or with a skipper.<br />
genies who grant wishes, bodily functions,<br />
sex, doctor’s visits, and, oh yes, sex.<br />
Now there were a lot of things I really enjoyed<br />
over <strong>Figawi</strong> weekend. Heck, even the<br />
delivery out was a blast. You always feel like<br />
you’re in the islands when the soundtrack<br />
over the radio is courtesy WMVY (92.7<br />
FM) on the Vineyard (even if the James<br />
Taylor tunes drive some of your crewmates<br />
crazy). Once out there, it was very hard not<br />
to get wrapped up in the ongoing discussion<br />
and debate over the proposed Cape<br />
Wind “wind farm” turbines on Nantucket<br />
Sound (and the local’s vehement objection<br />
thereto). The sight of dozens and dozens<br />
of boats of all sizes and description motoring<br />
out to the starting line off Hyannis,<br />
and then parading back into the marina<br />
in Nantucket, was very, very cool. There’s<br />
nothing more fun than renting bikes and<br />
tooling around Nantucket on its beautiful,<br />
winding bike paths. And the tent parties,<br />
overall, were hilarious.<br />
When all was said and done, however,<br />
that Joke-Telling Session is the one thing<br />
that might really stand out.<br />
Oh, yeah, that and Ted Kennedy.<br />
A Greek guy and an Italian guy are arguing<br />
over who has the superior culture. All<br />
day long, back and forth, back and forth.<br />
The Greek says, “We built the Parthenon.”<br />
The Italian says, “We built the Coliseum.”<br />
The Greek says, “We gave birth to higher<br />
mathematics.” The Italian says, “We built<br />
the Roman Empire.” All day long, back<br />
and forth. Finally, the Greek guy says, “We<br />
invented sex!” And the Italian says, “Yeah,<br />
but we introduced it to women!”<br />
—Unknown Comic #3, <strong>Figawi</strong> Annual<br />
Sunday Morning Joke-Telling Session<br />
First off, as the senator himself might say,<br />
we need to make one thing perfectly clear.<br />
Yes, there’s no question that he’s had some<br />
well-chronicled misadventures in these<br />
waters, and you may or may not necessarily<br />
care for his politics, but the man definitely<br />
is a sailor, and a good one at that.<br />
Approaching that finish line, we just<br />
needed to keep our air clear and get across<br />
cleanly when Kennedy’s Mya came rolling<br />
up on our weather quarter. Stu asked<br />
if we had room to cut ahead, and before<br />
he had a definite answer, the wheel was<br />
over and we were slicing over and past the<br />
schooner, with perhaps a boat length to<br />
spare. Kennedy, regal behind the wheel,<br />
couldn’t have been more nonplussed. He<br />
kept his perfectly trimmed boat—with all<br />
sails flying—rolling right along. Midway<br />
through the maneuver, I glanced back,<br />
did a double take, and realized precisely<br />
whom we were dealing with.<br />
For the crew of Summer Breeze, it was our<br />
very first <strong>Figawi</strong>, and we wouldn’t require<br />
the Mount Gay hats to commemorate it.<br />
We had our souvenir. F<br />
S a i l i n g W o r l d O c t o b e r 2 0 0 7 35<br />
—H.M.