Once someone gets hooked on boating it often becomes a lifestyle. Many people who know Jack Bernstein associate him with numerous charitable activities, civic organizations, his legal expertise, and of course sailing. Over the years, I have learned some interesting things about his boating background, but I finally had a chance to work with him on this column to get the full picture of how sailing and local fleet racing through Sagamore Yacht Club became such a big part of his life.

Jack has won numerous races in the local racing circuit and through Sagamore's Wednesday night and weekend race program he has won more races than he could probably recount on a whim. As a lawyer by training Jack is often successful in arguing during a protest of sailing etiquette, which can affect who wins. A race is sometimes not decided by when a sailboat crosses the finish line if there is a protest that needs to be heard by a protest committee. Jack usually wins protests because he knows the rules of sailboat racing, but I think his training as a lawyer helps too.

Jack's experiences as a novice sailor have helped him grow into an adept sailor. The following is an interview with some interesting anecdotes about some of Jack's experiences as a sailor in our local waters.

How were you introduced to boating?

In the early '70s, my wife Eve and I decided that we ought to take advantage of Oyster Bay's best natural resource -- our waterfront. Our kids were getting older and we were tired of schlepping them to Cape Cod, Lake George, Lake Winnipesaukee, and the like. We both had sailed when we were younger, I on Blue Jays and Sunfishes and Eve with friends at Webb Institute in Glen Cove. We saw an ad in Newsday for a "Learn to Sail Vacation" in Oyster Bay, which included sailing instruction on a 16' Bull's Eye with cruising and overnight sailing on a Pearson Vanguard. We took the course and I was hooked. I gave up golf, which totally frustrated me, and in 1972 bought my first boat, a 26' Grampion. We sailed at every opportunity, during the day and at night; we even did some cruising. We decided to join Sagamore Yacht Club because friends of ours were members. One of the members, Al Barlow, had a 26' Grampion and he convinced me to start racing.

What was a memorable boating experience?

When my daughter Diane was 16, she advised us that she didn't want to go cruising that summer and that she was going to stay at home. She always used the boat as a platform for getting a tan and wasn't too keen on cruising. Besides, she was a teenager and this was the '70s; imagine us letting her stay home alone. We compromised and let her take a friend on the cruise. This worked. We cruised with several other boats from Sagamore. Mo Jaget was skipper of one of the boats cruising with us and Diane thought he was "cool."

We cruised for two weeks going as far as Martha's Vineyard. Diane and her friend managed to eat lobster and steak every time we went out to dinner, I think this was her way of getting back at us for not letting her stay at home. Imagine five people living on a 26-foot boat, two of them teenagers, with only one sink. By the time the cruise was over we decided we had to get a bigger boat or a divorce. That was 1976 and the year I traded in the Grampion for a new 30' Ranger. It was also the last year that my daughter cruised with us.

Have you experienced difficult weather while cruising?

The Ranger fit my needs well, both racing and cruising-wise, until Veterans day 1987, when a strong nor'wester blew through and tore my boat loose from the dock at Jakobson's shipyard and caused over $20,000 worth of damage. Fortunately, it was not a total loss. I say fortunately, because I got several thousand dollars for the hull from a third party making my total recovery more than I paid for the Ranger in the first place. I invested the recovery as the down payment on the current Luff Story, one of the best investments I've ever made. And, no, I do not know how to make a storm!

How did you get into local fleet racing? Any interesting stories?

I had raced the Grampion with some success and started racing in earnest when I got the Ranger. I was then racing in the same class as Charlie O'Conner and chasing the Frog became my destiny. I have had many memorable racing experiences. One race I remember was during a heavy wind day. My chief boat to beat that day (not Frog) had lost its mast and it looked like I would be the winner, except that my boat started taking on water. We couldn't find the source.

We quit the race and sent out a Mayday to the Coast Guard. We lowered all sails, put on the engine, started pumping the bilge by hand and emptied the pumped water into the cockpit so the water could drain out through the scuppers. Nothing we did helped; so, I finally looked in the only place we hadn't looked and discovered that one of the cockpit scupper lines had become disconnected at the rear transom. I hooked it up; the problem was solved and the Coast Guard called off. Unfortunately, pumping the water into the cockpit had only compounded the problem and made one of my crew extremely exhausted. It made for a good post-race story back at Sagamore.

What racing do you normally participate in? Any big races?

The biggest race I have been in is the annual Stamford Yacht Club Danish Friendship Race. The race has drawn up to 300 boats in different classes. I was fortunate to have won my class in 2003 and placed second overall in the JAM Division in which approximately 50 boats participated. Racing over the years has become more competitive because of the new materials used in sails; such as carbon masts, innovative designs, bottom paints, equipment, etc. At Sagamore we used to have 20 boats racing on the weekend and none during the week. We now have over 20 boats racing on Wednesday nights and a lot less on the weekends. This probably has more to do with changed lifestyles than equipment, though increased costs of boats and equipment may be a factor.

Describe any boating accidents or dangerous experiences?

I've been involved in collisions with other boats while racing. None have involved injury to personnel, but some have involved considerable damage. In my opinion it's always been the other guy's fault. Of course, the other guy's opinion is usually the opposite. That's why we have sailing rules and protest committees. The protests don't usually involve collisions, but can involve a number of boats. I remember one event when six boats were rounding the windward mark and each of the boats protested each other. I was a protestor/protestee and won all six of my protests. I don't get protested very much anymore.

Have you sailed long-distance? In the ocean?

I've sailed in the ocean with my son up to Maine. An interesting part of that trip was anchoring 20 miles off shore of Portsmouth at a place called the Isle of Shoals. I've also sailed in the Atlantic off the south shore of Long Island. None of these had conditions that people ordinarily imagine as ocean sailing. Sailing to Block Island could also be called ocean sailing. It's most notable for the amount of fog you might encounter. Nowadays with GPS, Loran and Radar, it's not as daunting. Back when I first started sailing we only had a radio direction finder (RDF) to determine our position using radio beacons from two different sources.

One time we were sailing to Block Island from Newport, after having been fogbound for three days. The weather report forecasted that the fog would be dissipated by noon. We were all suffering from cabin fever and agreed to leave as soon as the fog lifted. It did and we went. Block Island was clearly visible so we proceeded to have a delightful sail to our destination. After sailing for two hours, a curtain of fog dropped on us like a hammer and I could only see just beyond the bow of the boat. I had not been plotting my course because we were having too much fun. Accordingly, we did not know where we were. I was able to obtain a fix using the radio beacon from Pt. Judith, RI and the beacon from Block Island. I determined that we were equidistant from each beacon. Eve opted to head for Pt. Judith because if we missed Block Island "we'll end up in Africa." Point Judith is also called the Harbor of Refuge, so it became a no-brainer. Fortunately I was able to plot a course to the Harbor entrance and all ended well.

Can you sum up about your experiences at Sagamore?

One of the best things I have done related to sailing is to join Sagamore Yacht Club. I have made many friends at the club, the comradery is outstanding. The club has a family atmosphere and supplements our social life during all seasons. My introduction to racing at the club has added a new dimension to my life and personality. This can be confirmed, both positively and negatively, by my racing comrades and crew.

For more information about boating, environmental matters, and other water-related activities throughout the Oyster Bay area you can email the author at Jaime.VanDyke@gmail.com or reach her at 946-9464.