Crewing a Scorpion

Originally posted by NickM Way back in the mists of time when people still wore woad, I remember my first crewing experience in a Scorpion. It was at an Open at Beer and there was a typical big sea, SW F4-5. My helm was pretty competant and reasonably wanted the boat held flat.  Etched in my memory was how narrow the boat seemed and hiking it was very Hard Work. Down wind was brilliant. I was a reasonably fit teenager at the time.  So my tip would be consider developing Jessica Ennis abs!

Thanks for the advice! I do GCSE PE, so do 4 hours of sport in school as well as running and cycling outside of school. My abs are etching as we speak!

Thanks very much for the advice everyone.

SoggyBadger - Thanks, I'll take it on board!!

Winging it - I have my hikers from my Laser days so will be able to put them to proper use, finally!

Roger - I definitely need to get some spinnaker practice in, to be quite frank I've never actually used one, let alone an old-fashioned symmetrical one.

Jeffers - I'm a fairly lightweight sailor so I'm hoping the crew toestraps are nicely adjusted for me! He has been racing a Solution for the last 4 years or so and went to a lot of opens and the Nationals, so I'm definitely hoping to go to a few in the Scorpion!

GybeFunny - I wish I knew all of those details, but I have only just been asked by him! I may need to eat a few burgers to be able to keep the boat down with him to be honest!

Fab100 - Thank you. We get on very well so I don't assume communication will be difficult! Wow, how many books have you written?! I'll make sure to add it to my birthday list!

I helm a Scorpion. A lot depends on the fit-out of the boat you will be sailing, is it wood or plastic? Spinnaker chute or bags? Raking rig or not? Twin poles or double ended pole? etc

Sounds like a great opportunity, great boat and a top helm.

As said already practice a lot, and if you feel you need more don't be afraid to ask if you can practice/train some more.
Spinnaker is pretty important in the Scorpion as it is with most 3 sail boats, but the Scorpion carries a good sized spinnaker compared to the size of the boat, so maybe a little more so than most.

I would strongly recommend you ask the helm what feedback he/she would like from you, even though they are very experienced they will be used to getting communication from their crew and you will be able to help with anything from wind/gust spotting to tactics. Talk a lot and you'll learn absolutely loads, it is a great opportunity I'm sure.

People vary a lot, some are very talkative on the water and others are very quiet, try and get into whats going through your helm's mind, if they don't tell you, ask, and that way you will both be on the same wavelength and you'll be learning faster.

Nothing Scorpion specific. Just practice, practice, practice and remember when tacking or gybing that it's not a race to see which one of you can get to the other side of the boat first.