How to Be a Great Snipe Crew

by Carol Cronin – originally published on her blog “Where Books Meet Boats – Carol Newman Cronin – Author, Editor, Olympian”

Last weekend I had the chance to sail with Bonnie Shope, a long-time sailing acquaintance who last set foot in a Snipe back in 1998—and that was as skipper, the far easier role. She bravely took on the challenge of crewing for me to help celebrate the Newport Regatta’s 40^th Anniversary, and we managed to tie for third overall. It was a lot of fun, but it was also a great reminder of what I first learned more than thirty years ago: crewing in a Snipe is really, really, hard. 

Mechanical techniques can be learned with practice and repetition, but here are four less teachable skills that should be on any aspiring Snipe crew’s resumé.

1. You have to be physically fit

Also, willing to contort yourself into a tiny ball in light air and then hike hard in breeze—and that’s just for straight-line sailing. Add in mark rounding challenges like launching and dousing the pole with both speed and accuracy, pulling up a heavy centerboard, and perching awkwardly on the foredeck to reduce wetted surface downwind (without leaning on the shroud)… what can I say, it’s a full body workout that’s impossible to replicate in a gym.

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