Woman sailor trims the main sail and 'mans' the helm

 

Anita Bevins

Sports writer

 

Four summers ago, a petite blonde showed up at the first adult sailing class offered by the Halifax Sailing Association. Katherine Hunter signed up for the instruction, wanting to learn something new as a single woman in her late 20s.

Hunter's father sailed, so she knew a little about the sport, but on her first day in the Halifax River, none of that family ability shined through.

"Four years later, I still hold the record for turning a boat over seven times in one day. I was the worse student. I didn't think I would go back," Hunter said. "I called my dad and he said, 'Hey, if it was easy, everyone would do it.' That made a lot of sense to me.

"I wanted to sail, so I went back and finished the class. I read the literature and Dennis (Gorden) got in the boat with me to show me what I was doing wrong."

Determination and a sense of humor helped her get through that first class. By the end of the course, she was "hot dogging and only turning the boat over because I wanted to go faster," Hunter said.

"I've always been competitive and involved in team sports," she said. "When it was over, Gary Smith asked if I would sail the winter series. We won that, and it called to my competitive streak."

Today, Hunter trims the main sail and staffs the helm on the Toki, Gorden's 51-foot sailing vessel docked at the Halifax River Yacht Club. She's one of few women who actively work the deck during the club's racing schedule.

And while she laments that more women are not involved in the sport, she has had some moments of glory when her gender has put her in the spotlight.

Both Gorden and Hunter like to tell the story of how the Toki passed the Obsession, a sleek racing craft, during a race to Charleston, S.C., earlier this year.

With Norm Church's Obsession in sight, Gorden encouraged Hunter to dress in her most feminine outfit that she had packed for the race. Hunter emerged on deck with her curly hair braided into pigtails, sporting a pink do-rag and a pink tank top.

As the Toki sailed past the Obsession, Gorden lay in the cockpit, and the rest of the crew disappeared down below. As the Toki sailed past the racier Obsession, Hunter waived and called out in a falsetto voice, "Hi, boys," to the all-male crew on the competing boat.

"It was so great," she said. "A few weeks earlier, a woman told us a rumor that they didn't allow women on the boat. The Obsession is a fast boat, built for speed. That we gained on them was a joke. It was like an Indy car racing in NASCAR. I sometimes say that we had brought an elephant to race in the Kentucky Derby.

"The guys down below were laughing, then they came up yawning. It was funny. Norm was a good sport. He laughed about it later. This is not the America's Cup. We don't do it for money; we do it for bragging rights."

That bit of bragging has become something of a legend around the yacht club. But Hunter's fellow crew members are equal-opportunity jokers, and the woman sailor said she has taken quite a few turns at the being the brunt of their jokes.

"Last year's race to St. Augustine was my first overnight race. Sometime in the still-dark hours of Saturday morning, while we were finishing the race, our helmsman, Deems (Lyvett), told me he was having trouble seeing the light flashing on the buoy that we had to round to finish the race. So he asked me to make my way to the bow of the boat and yell "Now!" every time I saw the light flash. I was so excited that he asked me to do this; it made sense. I'm small so I have a lower center of gravity," Hunter said.

With a nor'easter blowing, she took a few waves over the bow during her mission. The noise from the storm drowned out the laughter from the entire crew. After a short stint at her "very important job," Gorden brought Hunter a towel and the bad news that the guys were pranking her.

"I got a lot of back slaps from the crew telling me I was a good sport. Our helmsman told me that it was initiation. I felt like I had just been accepted as one of the crew," Hunter said. "I love being part of a team again. Yeah, my team's all guys, but they don't treat me that way."

Hunter has a busy sailing schedule remaining this summer. She plans to compete in the sixth race of the Commodore's Cup this Sunday. On August 5, she will sail with the Toki crew in the Lady Helmsman, a race she won last year with her father watching.

"It's disappointing that more women are not involved, but I love the competition and I have great teachers. I've been very fortunate to be around people who enjoy sailing and who have been so accepting of me," Hunter said.