Getting to the Next Level

In sailing, when we try to find balance, what we’re really doing is trying to create a neutral relationship between heel, pitch (fore/aft angle), and sail trim. We don’t want one element to be fighting the other! When they are fighting, usually we have to steer, trim, or move our weight against one of these factors. For example: when there is leeward heel (because we aren’t hiking hard enough) and you have to pull the tiller to stop the boat from heading up!

When we need to “stop the fighting” between trim, heel, and pitch, we are usually creating drag (like with the rudder in the example above). Just a reminder… drag is slow!

So when the boat is balanced, it is at it’s fastest - and we ALWAYS want to be at our fastest.

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THE BOAT IS BALANCED?
This weekend we focused on the word “balance” as it applies to getting faster and racing well. There are a lot of ways to look at balance, but here is the most simple way to think of it:

Question: If you let go of the helm at any given moment, which way will the boat go?

Answer: If the main is too tight, it will bear off. If the main is too loose, it will head up. If you are heeling to leeward, it will head up. If you are heeling to windward it will bear off.

So how do we know when the boat is balanced? Simple. When the helm is neutral. Think about how the helm feels when the boat is heeling, or the sail is too tight or too loose. Usually there is “lee helm” or “windward helm” - weather helm is when you have to pull the tiller to weather (toward the wind) in order to keep the boat going in a straight line. Lee helm is when you push the tiller to leeward to keep the boat going in a straight line. We like neutral helm!

HOW TO BALANCE THE BOAT
Use your controls. All of the factors below can be used together to create a balanced boat.

1. Sail Trim

2. Boat Heel

3. Mast Rake

4. Daggerboard Height

5. Body Positioning

BALANCE AROUND THE COURSE
Now, when we sail in heavy air, we can also think about balance in a different way. We need to keep the boat balanced all the way around the course in order to achieve at our highest potential!

Example 1) Let’s imagine that we’re about to go through a bear-away at the windward mark in heavy air. If the boat is heeling it will be hard to head down right? And if we round the windward mark with our sail too tight, we will have the same problem. On top of that, f it takes too much time to round the mark, or our boat is slower than it should be because we are trying to steer against the sail trim or boat heel…. We are at a high risk of bow plowing or losing control! In this case, balance can make the difference between getting around the racecourse or not!

Example 2) It’s 17 knots and you’re on the starting line. There are 30 seconds to go. You’ve done a good job holding your spot and now all that’s left to do is accelerate. When it’s time to go and we pull our sail in, the boat starts heeling. Uh oh. That means that the boat wants to start heading up, and we have to pull the tiller toward us to work against the boat heel!

In this situation, a balanced boat can mean a better acceleration… and if you are good at accelerations, you will become a great starter. That can mean an increased level of success on the line, and in turn, more consistent results. Basically, balance is really important!

Drills

1. Poop Drill (speed) - Continuous rabbit start - the person who loses their lane is the "poop" and sets up as the new rabbit. We used this drill to focus on building the skills we need to hold a lane off the starting line, as well as to work on our set up and boat balance. In between drills we made changes to our set up to become more balanced and faster.

2. Cone drill - Simulating the dense areas of the course and lots of boat on boat scenarios. Also good for learning to stay away from laylines early, and be able to call them correctly as we get within 25 boat lengths of the mark.

3. 20 point drill - Boat handing in close quarters and practicing penalty turns. The 1st boat to reach the windward mark must do a 720 but gains 3 points, the 2nd boat must do a 360 but gains 2 points, and the 3rd boat gets 1 point but does not have to do any penalty turns. The drill continues on a continuous loop until someone reaches 20 points.

4. “Cross or Duck” - the bottom boat in the line up has 2 minutes to extend forward and try to tack and cross the boats to windward of them. If they cannot cross they can practice a double tack or a duck. This simulates our position after the “sprint” post start.

5. Odds/Evens Starting Drill - Boats are split by the last digit of their sail number. In each start (alternating) the odds or evens are asked to practice a "PTA" or a "STA" start. 

6. Races - trapezoid - Focus on bringing together other skills from the drill through racing at the end of the day. We emphasized balanced boat handling in the roundings and coaches helped sailors optimize balance upwind to build their lanes.

7. Races - short course windward/leeward. Focus on first beat and positioning at the start. 

Focal Points from the weekend:

• Balance in heavy air - straight line speed.

• Balance in heavy air around the course - using our body and trim more efficiently at the start, mark roundings, and in maneuvers.

• Arm to chest hiking

• Flat spots/Flat Boat - Hiking Technique. Spotting the flat spots in the waves and using a FLAT boat to CREATE height through lift on the board. Basically, maximizing a flat boat in flat spots in order to build height upwind.

• Mental Toughness - We got to hear about Brianna’s Olympic experience and Sarah’s Navy SEALS training.

• “Locking in” at acceleration - HIKING hard to get the bow down, and then focus on trimming when accelerating in breeze.

• GETTING THE FIRST WAVE on the reach. When we round the first mark and hit the reach we need to know where our first wave is (that means looking for it even a few boat lengths before the windward mark). When you’re planing you're ½  knot faster AND more. That means the next wave comes to you even quicker than it does for the guys behind you who missed the first one!

Saturday Nov. 4

On Saturday the wind started from the NW and as forecast, slowly shifted right to end the day  at NE compass numbers.We struggled to get into our rabbit start quickly on Saturday morning, and this was a big goal to improve on for Sunday.

Our race course was very weather affected, dark clouds that appeared to the North of us often affected the breeze strength and direction as they moved to the left or right of the course. Not many clouds made it directly onto the racecourse over the course of the day, so heading toward one was sometimes risky as it often affected a limited portion of the track.

The tide was high at 9:45 AM, and soon after the first start we began to see the ebb begin. On our racetrack this looked a bit like bottom left to top right current, taking us up to the mark, over the line at the start, high on the reach, and from course left to course right on the downwind.

For much of the day, pressure pulsed on the left side with cloud cover, while the right side offered more consistent and right shifted breeze. Boats that led the right side of the course had a higher percentage of rounding in the top at the windward mark, while boats that won the left side sometimes struggled in the changing breeze and were at risk of losing pressure or angle.

That being said, there were many opportunities on Saturday to start at the pin, which was often favored (and crowded), and lead the fleet on port tack (which was the long tack) to the next right shift or pressure. Boats that sailed too much time on starboard tack were at risk of sailing extra distance, and the leaders often spent more time on port.

Line sights were essential on Saturday. As the strength of the current increased, the line bulge grew out of control. Sailors needed to build their strategy around starting at an end (and using their line sight) in order to eliminate the risk of being UFD/BFD.

As the breeze built over the course of the day from 11 knots up to the teens, we needed to change our mode of sailing (bow down, hiking, “drive” mode!), and also our sail set up. Not enough of us were on top this transition - so it is a good goal as we move forward. With the increase in breeze we remove twists from the cunningham to flatten the luff, tighten boom vangs and sprits, and some of the lighter sailors need to add outhaul tension to depower and flatten the foot.

The increase in breeze also made clear who on the course was heavier and/or fitter. I know many of you are working hard to become stronger, which is great! On Saturday I saw many sailors start to lose steam… and our results at the end of the day showed that we were tired. This is something we can improve. I think we should always want to be the sailor who has enough energy and strength to finish any day strong! It is essential to consistency to have MORE endurance than our competition. Side note: food and water is essential to this process. Those of you who come to my coachboat know that I hand you water and food immediately. Some sailors want to argue about whether or not they should drink water! You know who you are…. No more excuses!

Here is the order of operations after a race:

1. Food/Water. EAT AND DRINK IT ALL.

2. Is the boat okay? Anything we need to change or fix for the next race?

3. Debrief the last race - but only the things that we can use to improve the next race. Please do not use your precious time talking to the coach to complain about what went wrong. Instead, let’s determine how to improve, and what worked well for you or the leaders in that last race.

4. GO BACK TO THE STARTING LINE AND TEST. DO NOT SIT IN YOUR BOAT.

Guys, I am going to become VERY strict about this post race routine. You MUST come to the coachboat. When you do, bring a good attitude and information. It will help you AND your team.

Sunday Nov. 5

On Sunday we began the day with a lighter, shiftier breeze than what we saw Saturday. The direction was very similar to Saturday. Sunday we had clearer skies, and much less cloud affected pressure. As the land heated up the breeze died down from 8 knots to around 4. Over the course of the day, we saw one even/right race track (race 1) , one left favored (race 2 when tide began to flow out), and one right favored (race 3, when pressure built in a persistent rightie with a strong outgoing tide).

We did a much better job of getting right into a rabbit start in the beginning of the day, and many sailors were able to notice a right trend in the breeze while we tested.

The tide switched later than predicted in the tide chart, and we sailed the first race in an INCOMING tide. Although the pin was favored to the course, boats that tacked right away at the committee end and won the right side were able to come in the top ten at the windward mark. This is a good example of using the information you saw in testing and creating a low risk strating strategy that fit it.

Before the second race we decided that we could not predict exactly when the tide would switch, but that we would use the dynamic of the boats on the starting line to determine if it was changing. Sure enough, the first start of the second race (which was recalled) boats began to be pushed over the line because the tide had stopped flowing in. In this second race, the pin was favored, and it paid to be ahead early and work to the left. Boats that sailed too far right found themselves in less pressure, and pulled off the course by the building current.

Race 3 was light, shifty, and the RC set up a very short course. They struggled to get a start off as the current had become so strong that sailors had limited control on the starting line. The boat end was favored and very crowded. When the breeze did come in, it was in the form of right pressure that was increasingly strong the closer you sailed to Key Biscayne. Thus, the right side was the place to be, primarily because there was 1-3 knots more pressure on that side at any given time. Boats that saw this and worked hard right after the start benefited, and this strategy applied even on the downwind and final beat.

Conclusion: This was a great weekend of classically tough Miami sailboat racing. We had a lot of strong moments, and some of us were working on particularly challenging goals - so the results are not the best indicators of our performance this weekend, although many of us should feel very good about sailing well!

Here are some ideas/goals/keywords as we move forward this season:

• Consistency. How many points did we leave on the table?

• Improving our percentage of success at getting a first row start will = consistency.

• The path to success is not a straight line - there are ups and downs along the way.

• Finishing each day strong (both physically and mentally) - this will increase consistency.

• Smoother steering and less ants-in-the-pants boat handling! More suave!

• Good attitude between races = more efficient teamwork with the coach = better scores.

Box Drill & Time/Distance to the line

Check out the videos and commentary below 

The Strategy of Starting and Racing 

Hi Team. Please submit your debrief below. This debrief is required in order for you to attend practice this weekend. If you are not sure what to write... refer to MY debrief below to jog your memory.  

Notes from Sarah:

This weekend we worked with the Canadian team, and CGSC, to create a good racing environment as we move towards Team Trials, and our other big goals for 2017! 

Focus on Saturday was on how to make a strategy and stick to it during racing. We did two drills. The first, an Open/Closed Gate Drill, made us commit to "choosing a side" of the course. Two gates were set upwind. Gate #1 was closed, and we had to either sail to the right or left side of it. Gate #2 was open, and we were required to pass through it. The first gate forced us to commit to our strategy and get a good start. The second gate forced us to consolidate at the top of the course, and to stay away from the laylines until we were close to the mark.

The second drill we worked on Saturday was a windward/leeward mark gate drill. The coaches changed the position of the gate marks often, forcing sailors to identify which mark would be the favored one to round. Sometimes, it was important to prioritize traffic over the advantage of a favored mark. 

Sunday, we worked on improving starting routine and "starting strategy." We spent a lot of time reviewing video and discussing starting routines in the morning. All three coaches shared a lot of important tips on starting, and racing. Although there were thunderstorms all day, we managed to get out on the water during a 2 hour window of sunny conditions before the lightning and thunder came back.

Below is the outline from our Sunday presentation on starting strategy and how to break it down. 

Before the Sequence Starts:

1. Know your plan (strategy) for the RACE
2. Know the line bias
3. Know the strength and direction of the current. 
4. Know what the wind is doing. Is there is more pressure on one side all the time, or is it oscillating? 
5. Commit! No use in second guessing yourself unless you see a very obvious change on the course while in sequence like a big wind line, or maybe a huge dark cloud moving onto the course ;) 

Now make your "Starting Strategy"

Remember, the start is it's own mini-race so you. really. do. need. a. strategy. The sequence is not a time to just count down the seconds or think about cartoons... instead you should be so busy trying to create a hole and defend it that you don't have time for your mind to wander. In our meeting we talked about how if you create objectives for yourself in the start you will find that you are always on track, and never lost. We must improve at making our strategy, and using it to guide our decision making on the starting line. 

Here is what I mean by this. Let's use our imagination. Pretend you are in your boat before a race. It's a nice day in Miami with 12 knots of breeze. We have tested the course. Let's say we noticed more left pressure, and want to start by the pin because our strategy is to win the left side of the course. Okay, now imagine that we are in sequence. It's 1:45 seconds to go and we are 15 boats from the pin. All of a sudden we find ourselves in a hole that might be too tight. In fact, we can see that the boat below us is more bow forward than us. Now it looks like it would be hard to stay in this lane off the starting line. Uh oh. 

What do you do in this situation? 

Well, there are plenty of options. 1. Tack and find a new hole higher up the line. 2. Double tack if we have room to do so or 3. Backwind and find a hole farther down the line. 

How do you choose? Which one would you pick? 

Wait. What was our strategy again? Oh, to win the left side of the course. That means that we should stay close to the pin. Option #1, Tacking to find a new hole higher on the line is NOT an option anymore. 

This sounds like an easy problem to solve but remember guys, you are in the middle of trying not to make contact with a leeward boat while your sail is luffing and you can't steer very well. 

You need to know your strategy so well that you AUTOMATICALLY back down and bear away instead of tacking, sheeting in, and then realizing that you're going the wrong way 5 seconds too late! You can't win the left side of the course very easily from the middle of the starting line! 

The concept of committing to a starting strategy that allows us to execute a racing strategy is important because of one painfully true fact: WE FORGET TO DO IT ALL THE TIME! 

There's only one way to get better. Let's work on it. Below is a breakdown of what to do once we know what our starting strategy is... 

Ask yourself what the Fleet Psychology is. 

Does everyone want to start at the pin? Is the whole fleet by the boat? Can you see bulge or sag starting to happen? 

1. You don't have to have ALL the answers.
2. BUT knowing where the line is going to be most crowded or highest risk will help you decide things like whether to WIN the pin or start 5 boats up from it.
3. This can make a huge difference in the outcome of your race. 

Okay, imagine that the five minute horn just sounded. Here's how to have a good start, step by step. 

1. Do your routine. Do you like to park above the line and stand up to look for pressure? Do you sail up close to the committee boat to check your line sight at the 4 minute signal every start? I always do both of these. 
2. Whatever your routine, by 2 minutes you should be close to the end of the line you want, and you should know what the "Fleet Psychology" is. 
3. Set up with "runway," also know as enough room to accelerate. The current and wind affect how much "runway" you need! If you set up early, you probably need enough "runway" to defend your hole once or twice. 
4. There are lots of variables to getting your runway spot, but if you want to be safe you should definitely have a hole on the line before 1:15 seconds. Sometimes on a smaller line you can get away with coming in later... but all of your important regattas have BIG starting lines and fleets, so we need to practice doing it right in order to succeed when it matters. Setting up too early will make you a target, but setting up too late means you might never get to the line. 
5. At 0:45-1:00 minute left on the clock, you have to ask yourself: "Do I like it here?" This means, will I have a great start in this position or am I looking at someone's stern? If you like where you are, focus on keeping your bow even and your boat in control so that you can accelerate. If you don't like it... refer to the list of evasive maneuvers that we discussed this weekend. Jibe + Reset, Double Tack, Backdown + Reset, Tack + Reset. More on this below. 
6. Accelerate at the same time as the boat to windward and leeward of you, or earlier. Remember, the Opti needs about 7 seconds to get up to full speed. If it's lighter wind or you are bow-behind, you might need more time to make sure you get off the line fast and first row. 

PRO TIPS for when you're in sequence. 

1. Shoot up into your hole when you arrive - trim on and coast to a stop with the bow high, but without tacking on to port. We can practice this by doing the bow on the mark drill. 
2. Kill the boat to windward. Guys, if you get close to the windward boat, you will ALWAYS be building your leeward hole. If you start tight on the guy to windward, he will also probably have to tack early, and that will give you the freedom to tack when you want too! 
3. Port tacking into someone's spot requires a poker face! You need to be sneaky! If you port tack approach, don't make eye contact with the person whose hole you are going to take.
4. If you are looking at someone's stern, GET OUT OF THERE! Double tack or reset! 

Coach Alex - Debrief

Hello all,

Once more I had the wonderful opportunity to work with Sarah and the CRYC Red/White/Blue team. We spent two days working on sailing in breeze. The techniques we highlighted were ease/hike/trim, strap to strap tacks, and good hiking posture. I feel confident that after this weekend, should Spring Fling be a very windy regatta all of our students would have a significant advantage.

I can't begin to say how often my students ask "how can I improve?" This is ultimately a good thing! But...more often than not, I have to tell them again and again the same "tricks" that I have told them. The tricks are little 1% differences that help us to sail closer to 100%. Without them, we probably sail about 50% as well as our full potential. Sarah has worked with this percentage theory in the past, with the idea that we need these little 1% increases in order to do well.

Many 1% differences do not even require practice. In theory, you do not need to practice holding the tiller extension in your lap in order to do it correctly every time. Nevertheless, doing so to prevent the rudder from moving a lot vastly improves performance. The 1% that I want to talk about today is being situationally aware. 

Situational awareness is not complicated. All it takes is a bit of critical thinking. I saw on several occasions this weekend people tacking to port without the space to duck. After tacking, we typically end the tack slower. As we need to then quickly tack back because we were unaware of the starboard boat that was too close to us to duck, we have now lost several boat lengths and made 2 unnecessary tacks while also putting us in an unadvantageous position relative to being covered. 

In this situation, as we are paired with another boat that is on our hip but that we (for whatever reason, be it the drill or the favored side of the course), we need to try to create enough separation from the boat to windward on starboard tack so that we can duck them. We would be hard pressed to pass them to leeward upwind, which would be probably the most idea. We therefore go into footing/low mode to gain separation and speed as we wish to tack soon. When we have done this sufficiently, we can now make the duck on the boat on our hip rather than having to tack twice.

The other time that we need to be more situationally aware (in general of course, we need to gain additional situational awareness at all times in our practice/racing) is during the start. The start is a lot like trying to quickly drive to Boca on a heavy but moving traffic day. Different options open up for us to move lanes and accelerate but these options also quickly close. Sometimes we end up in a bad place because we lacked the foresight to realize what was going to happen in the next step.

During our starts, it is imperative to win the best hole we can find. This means keeping our heads out of the boat. After we have found the best side of the line, we then need to look around and see who is there. Are the best competitors there? If not, why not? Are you sure you have found the correct side of the line to start in? If the best competitors are there, who is the squishiest so that we can still get a good start? Is there a better marshmallow that's on the correct side? If we are seeing that there is stiff competition on this side but there are some options about to develop. Ultimately, we just need to do a better job at being aware of our surroundings, but particularly upwind and at the starts. 

As much as I want to talk about the techniques we worked on, for the sake of brevity and bringing the point home about situational awareness, I will not go into them this time. Luckily in Biscayne Bay we see breezy conditions often, so likely another one of these times working with R/W/B I will elaborate on Ease/Hike/Trim, strap to strap tacks, and good hiking posture. 

Until next time,

Coach Alex

Debrief & Thoughts

February 18-19

This weekend we focused on sail trim and balance basics in the classroom and on the water. We reviewed a slideshow presentation on trim and balance in order to improve our understanding of the technique we are learning. Sailors did a good job taking notes on the slideshow and applying their new knowledge on the water. Click the link below, or continue scrolling, to read the debrief from Alex Lavelle, who was our second coach this weekend. Thanks Alex! 

Saturday: Upwind Technique was a focal point. We started with rabbit starts to warm up speed. Sailors raced to the coach boat (upwinds about 15 minutes long at most) 3 times. The pressure was very light. It was important to steer minimally. Focus on transitions, improving active trimming, and boat balance. Downwind we worked on boat heel in order to get the center of effort higher and more centralized over the daggerboard. We ended the day with a series of practice starts where sailors each focused on a specific approach (Port Tack Approach or Starboard Tack Approach)

Sunday: We started the day reviewing light air tacking technique with Omari's group. Sailors learned that "Trim, Ease, Ease, Trim" is the proper technique for the mainsheet in light air tacks. On the water we focused hard on tuning (proper line up etiquette and troubleshooting boat speed issues) and a long upwind roll-tack drill. Coaches were able to work individually with sailors on their tacking technique. We ended the day with a series of races with the rest of CRYC as well as the CGSC teams.

See below for specifics from Sarah on trim, technique, balance, and more. 

Improving Technique to Improve Speed.

Upwind Technique in puffy and light conditions is extremely important. For those of us that are new to RWB it is especially important to try to create good habits now. While we have a lot of talent as a team, we must get the basics right in order to become as fast as the rest of the fleet. Those of us who have been in RWB for a little while... just remember, you are still creating the building blocks for the rest of your sailing career. Stay focused on fixing bad habits and creating new, good ones!

Some of you are reading this and thinking… “I've had top tens, and I’ve passed boats before, so I must be pretty fast already. Sarah must not be writing this for me...”

That's a negative, Ghost Rider. You all have had good results in races because you've made some decisions right, and probably had good starts. I hate to break it to you guys, but no one on this team is fast enough yet!

We want to be fast enough, often enough, to win regattas. Not just fast for ONE or TWO upwind legs (or races), right team? 

So we have work to do, and this is good news!

Having work to do is the best way to start a successful sailing career. Learning how to improve is actually one of the biggest skills you need to learn to be a great sailor.

If we work to get the building blocks of technique right, we will find ourselves performing better pretty quickly! The more we get technique right the more we will round in the top of the fleet at the first mark. And the more experience you have rounding in the top of the fleet, the easier it gets to do EVERY time. So, let’s get to the basics…

SAIL TRIM - Constant adjustment and awareness. 

BOAT BALANCE (Seating position or maneuvers across the boat) - Based on the conditions we move forward or aft, and in and out of the boat to keep it level and reduce drag. No knees. No standing up and holding the boom with our hand. We need to be like cats!

HEEL - Flat boat is a fast boat. If you think it's flat, flatten a little more. 

STEERING - Minimal steering is essential to boat speed. 

Below is some information on the science behind all of these important components of boat speed! 

Trim and Balance: Above the Water

The simple story is that proper sail trim occurs when the sail is at an angle to the wind that allows air to flow on both the windward and leeward side of the sail without interruption!

What is Flow?

Flow is a very important term in understanding proper sail trim. Flow describes how fast, and with what characteristics, the air molecules move over your sail. You need this flow of air molecules on both sides of the sail in order to keep it full. This flow also powers your boat! The faster the flow, the faster you go! 

You know what it looks like when the sail luffs? That's a good example of no flow! 

The opposite of luffing (being under-trimmed) is being over-trimmed. When your sail is too tight, what is really happening is that the windward side of the sail has more air particles hitting it than the leeward side. This means that there is uneven, stalled, flow!

Your coaches keep emphasizing "proper trim" because it is what you need in order to maintain a good, speedy, attached flow of air. See?

Okay, now you're committed to trimming properly, right?

Here's where your job gets tough. Proper sail trim changes all the time because the angle of your sail to the wind is constantly subject to: 

1. Wind shifts and
2. Your steering!
 

The angle at which the wind hits the sails is called the "Angle of Attack"

As the wind changes around your sail (shifts, pressure differences, steering) we change the sheet tension to try to keep this "Angle of Attack" consistent! 

So, when we do a good job trimming and steering, we keep the AOA (Angle of Attack) of our sail optimal. This = being closer to max boat speed more often. 

If your telltales are flying.... your AOA is correct! 

Trim and Balance: Below the Water

One of the big goals in sailing is to reduce drag. You actually eliminate drag on purpose all the time… it’s why you pull the daggerboard up downwind!

Drag refers to any extra interference in the water (or air!) that could slow the boat down. If you stuck your hand in the water while going upwind, that would be a lot of drag! When you move the rudder, you’re creating drag!

Of course, we need to steer the boat, but in order to get faster around the racecourse we must become good at steering as little as possible. In order to keep the flow of water smooth under the boat, we need to be steady with the rudder.

We ALL, always need to improve on steering less. I still work on it everyday! 

In the Boat: Putting it all Together

Here are some big "work on" points from the last few weeks. 

When the puff hits: Trim in AS YOU MOVE YOUR WEIGHT UP TO THE RAIL. You should always been pushing weight out. You’ll know pretty quickly if it was too light to move to the rail, and you can start to fine tune your body movements. If you never move your weight up, you will never know the right balance, and you will lose a lot of opportunities to go faster than the boats around you.

I saw a few of you with boat heel more than 50% of the time. It is not faster! When we counteract boat heel (the side force created by wind on the sail) with body weight, we are creating forward drive! When we do not counteract boat heel (side force) not only do we lose a percentage of the daggerboard and slide sideways more, but we do not have the extra speed boost created by leveraging our weight against the sail.

Sail Trim Upwind When Ducking a Boat - You need to ease as you bear away. Plain and simple. DO NOT KEEP THE MAIN TIGHT for a duck. The flow goes away, and it takes a long time to re-establish!

Sail Trim Upwind (Straight Line) - mainsheet trim is based on what the telltales are telling you. We need to improve at changing our trim for every lull and puff. We have to get better at KEEPING OUR EYES ON THE TELLTALES! 

Sail Trim + boat heel on the downwind leg

Pro Tip: Leech Telltale

Your leech telltale is extremely important both upwind and downwind. It must be flowing for your sail to be working efficiently! When you’re going upwind, don’t stare at the leech-tale, but check in on it often. Conversely, downwind the leech-tale should be the only telltale you care about.

Debrief with Coach Alex

Hello Parents & Sailors,

I’d first like to introduce myself to some of you who may not have met me yet. My name is Alexander (Coach Alex), and while I typically teach Green Fleet here at CRYC, I have worked with RWB in the past in addition to my own racing career. This weekend Romaine was away and I was asked to help out with practice. Given the low number of students, Sarah and I combined our practices, which was awesome! Sarah is obviously very knowledgeable and it was much easier to learn what our students need from someone who has worked with them extensively. I did have a few familiar faces though from our recent green fleet graduates!

This weekend, we worked on light air technique on the water and spoke about draft, twist, and balance in our meeting Saturday. Our light air technique was further refined with video by Omari in the morning on Sunday. The two most important things for upwind in light air over the two days was being able to work high with acceleration and good roll tacks.

While sailing upwind, we have a high mode (pointing) and a low mode (footing). While only separated by a few degrees, each mode has its pros and cons. Point mode brings us closer to the mark but our VMG (Velocity Made Good, a measure of speed towards a particular point) is not always the best because the boat is depowered and therefore slow. Footing mode accelerates the boat, making it go faster, but further away from the mark. This is also not particularly good VMG. Max VMG is accomplished by mixing both modes as we work on gaining speed to point. We go from low and fast to high with speed, which removes some of the speed penalty from point mode and therefore maximizes VMG.

While much could be said about VMG in general and we could expand on the subject another time, the key process to getting upwind on light days (all else equal) is to sail as high as possible with speed for as long as possible. We head down to a footing mode, gain speed, trim the sail, head up until we feel the speed decrease, ease the sail, and then head down to footing mode once more. Even as we sail towards puffs to connect the dots and sail the lifts when possible, this driving technique leads us to fast upwind sailing.

Roll tacks are one of the most desired techniques in principle but one of the worst executed maneuvers in the sport. The point of the roll tack is to push the boat quickly through the no go zone to reduce the drag caused by wind on the bow and the loss of power in the sail that ultimately slows us down through the tack. The reason why it is often not well executed is because of the missing understanding on WHY roll tacking works from a scientific perspective.

Roll tacking allows us to quickly accelerate from the tack because of a change both due to the flick of the leech and the daggerboard, but even more importantly because of a change in the apparent wind. Done correctly, 1: wind attaches better and more quickly to the sail 2: we spend less time in the no go zone 3: we come out of the tack at a high angle with speed. The combination of these three factors not only gives us speed as we come out of the tack, but also gives us height. We therefore conserve VMG on roll tacks.

The technique aspect that is missing most often at the highest level is an ease at the end of the roll tack. In lower levels, the other missing factor is a shoulder pump outboard as the sail breaks but before we duck underneath the sail. I will start with the latter. In the Opti, we often weigh as much or more than the boat. We have a lot of control to force the boat to do as we wish. With a free-standing mast, we can flatten the boat much harder than if it had spreaders, which gives us a better pump. The initial roll, however, sets us up for this hard flatten. As we go to tack, we lower our hand on the mainsheet near the block. Our hands then go in opposite directions: we trim in with one hand as we push the other hand out with the tiller extension SLOWLY (or calmly/smoothly anyway). Finally, we reach a point where the sail can no longer stay full and begins to luff.

At this moment, we use our shoulders as we continue to turn. We pump our shoulders out of the boat before we duck to go beneath the boat. This forces the boat over. Remember, with our weight we can make the boat do what we want as we can physically force the boat to do what we want. Not throwing our shoulders outboard results in us waiting for the boat to turn itself and the sail to be acted upon by gravity. This causes us to exit our tack on a reach rather than in close hauled position, which thereby kills our forward direction and causes the sail to be extremely overtrimmed as we exit the tack alongside where we began the tack, rather than ahead.

When we work with our shoulders in the correct way, the boat turns quickly through the wind and will exit the tack in close hauled position. As we switch sides to flatten, the sail will naturally ease as we near the centerline of the boat. We must keep the sail eased as we flatten because of the forward shift in the apparent wind. We do not want to struggle against the weight in the sail as this means we are sliding sideways as we attempt to flatten the boat. A good ease will propel us with speed. As we lose this speed and the apparent wind returns to a more normal angle, we must then trim to regain a proper angle of attack. Omari’s phrase for the trimming during the roll tack is “Trim, Ease, Ease, Trim.” Trim going in, ease as we cross, ease to open the leech, and then trim back once flow has begun.

Our presentation by Sarah on Saturday was a great talk about some more science behind our sport. Our major point was to try to make everything as simple as possible while understanding that these are fundamental aspects to understanding why we do what we do. Without a good understanding of draft, we cannot tune. Without understanding center of effort, we do not know why we position our body in the ways we do. Without understanding angle of attack and apparent wind, we do not understand why we trim our sail as we do. These concepts are constantly developed as we all continue our efforts to become better sailors. I will say that I remember working with the same concepts and being confused at first. The more we listen to these terms and the more times they are explained to us, the more we absorb and the better we can understand these difficult concepts. Saturday was a good step in the right direction as I believe the students took well to the presentation.

For my Green Fleeters, I typically talk about what is upcoming. For RWB Optis, we have Sunshine States the 4-5 of March and then Spring Fling in early April. If you have not signed up, I am sure your regular RWB staff would appreciate your early registrations as it allows us to plan more accurately for our regatta logistics.

It was a pleasure working with everyone this weekend and I look forward to getting to know all of our students better in the future!

Coach Alex

Valentine's Day Regatta 

Some of the goals we have been working on over the last few weeks are:

1. Boat Speed (better focus on details of trimming and balance)

2. Improving our Professionalism (more discipline in preparation, teamwork, and accountability for equipment)

3. Focus (while sailing, while on land, and when in a team environment)

This weekend we traveled to Valentine’s Day Regatta. Some of us went to secure our qualification for Team Trials, and others went to race hard and work toward personal on-the-water goals.

As a team our boat speed has improved, but we need to keep working hard on detailed sail trim and body placement. I saw too many sterns dragging in light air this weekend, and many sails over-trimmed. We tend to over-trim for a few reasons: lack of focus, high traffic situations when we have to make multiple maneuvers, or when we’re just plain stressed out. Most of you guys start to feel tension and grip the sheet harder as a result. We should treat the mainsheet with a lot of gentle respect. Make sure that you remember where your accelerator is. When you feel stressed, boat speed is usually what is going to help you move forward in the fleet, so allow yourself to refocus on that.

As far as professionalism goes, it is impressive to see how far you have all come. It’s also impressive to see each of you step up and continue to take your coaches and teammates seriously. When you were asked to be rigged and ready to launch as a team Sunday morning, each of you followed through. The sails looked good. We had the right equipment. As a result, we were able to tune up as a team.

Overall, I am very proud of our team. We are learning when to be serious and when to have fun, and all of us improved on that balance this weekend, although many of us (you know who you are!) have more improvement to make! Some sailors were late to rig, or to launch, and some were unfocused when it was really important to go and perform well.

When to be Serious, and When to Have Fun. 

This got me thinking about the last goal: focus.

How do you manage YOUR time during a race day, and what are your priorities for each important moment of that day? I decided to make a playbook of my race day time management to share with you.

The best sailors in the world are good at a lot of things, but especially at managing their time well. Champions know when to have fun, and when to be serious. If you mix those up the wrong way it equals total disaster. With the right equation = winning races! Check out my time management list below. Please use this to make your own one for practice days!

You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Sometimes we get conditions that we didn’t ask for. When that happens there’s not much else to do except stay focused, and let our training kick in. This means, relax and keep working hard to get the things you KNOW how to do right. Don’t try to control things that you can’t.

You did not train to make the wind do exactly what you wish it would. You also did not train to be a psychic. So don’t waste time or energy focusing on things that you cannot control!

You DID train to sail fast, roll the boat in the tacks, and execute a clean windward mark rounding. If we focus on the things we can control, it’s surprising how many boats can be passed. 

Sailboat racing is a great sport because of how undependable it is! Okay, well, it can be frustrating too… but remember, every time you are challenged by a wind shift, dying breeze, or strong current, your brain is sponging up all of those experiences, and growing and improving its ability to succeed in the future. It’s important to feel challenged.

Recognizing Change Quickly = Passing Boats!

So, tough conditions make us better at dealing with future experiences on the water. Sailing in changing conditions also teaches us how to adapt quickly. The sailors that can recognize changes as they occur and respond to them before others in the fleet are often in the top of the pack at the finish line.

For example: Saturday the current was pushing the fleet downwind. With a dying breeze, the starting line was a dangerous place for sailors not paying close enough attention! When the wind gets lighter, the effects of the current become more important.

The athletes that spotted the risk of getting stuck under the fleet in a dying breeze worked hard to stay high on the line and above other boats. Those who could not recognize this change quickly enough became stuck below the fleet, with current against them, at the start of the race. Yikes!

We need to become better at recognizing change early and adapting to it. The better we get, the less room there is for sailors who cruise around the racecourse. Keep looking around!

Building Blocks: Boatspeed and Feel

This weekend we focused a lot on feel: how to sense the speed and attitude of the boat, and how it can help us become faster and smarter!

There are a lot of different aspects to becoming great in this sport. Just a few for example: boat handling, speed, tactics, strategy, mental strength, and logisitics. We can’t get better at all of them at one time! Yes, expertise comes from experience, but in order to improve efficiently we need to focus our energy on one skill at a time.

Many of the sailors in this group have shown improvement in their knowledge of the racecourse (tactics and strategy) over the course of the last season, and as a result, have seen improved scores at regattas toward the end of last season. That’s great! We brought our levels up in tactics and strategy.

In the learning process, moments like this are a good opportunity to feel satisfied with the improvements we made in a specific skill, and refocus our energy for a few training sessions on bringing up our level in other skills. This is how we become well rounded as an athlete.

For this weekend we focused on “boatspeed” and “feel” as our next building blocks to becoming a well rounded sailor. Drills included:

• Cone Drill

• Blind Sailing Drill

• Rudderless Sailing Drill

• Rudderless Sailing Races

• Rabbit Starts 

• Rabbit Starts & Race Upwind

• Tack & Jibe on the Whistle (both blindfolded and with full vision)

• Starts & Mini Races

We focused on increasing stability in steering and minimizing the use of the tiller, using our body weight to control the balance of the boat (which in turn controls how much resistance or balance we have in the tiller, and therefore the amount of drag produced by the rudder), minimizing extra steps and body movement in the boat (and feeling their results!), as well as basic improvements in technique for straight line speed.

Good teams get faster together.

On Saturday morning the group invested several hours in focused tuning and speed racing upwind. In this process we improved our efficiency at rabbit starts, and each sailor had the opportunity to work one on one with the coach to improve hiking, trim, and steering technique. I followed each athlete for a full rabbit start/race and was able to focus on each of your specific approaches. In the beginning of the day, certain sailors were much faster than others.

By the end of the day, the whole team was competitive with each other. This means we all got faster! That is always the goal of a strong team, and we accomplished it this weekend.

When we joined the larger group for racing at the end of the day we were able to reap the rewards of increased boat speed with many sailors in the top 10!

Hiking through chop

As you can see in this video, by using our shoulders to hike the boat flat for every chop/wave that wants to make us heel is extremely effective. Freddie is experimenting with how hard and often to push weight out. You can see how in certain moments the boat maintains zero boat heel as he uses his body weight to pull on the hiking straps. This keeps the boat flat (fast, less drag, full board in the water) and also counteracts the force of the chop pushing the boat sideways. Important to remember that your feet are connecting you to the boat. When you just hike with your shoulders it is not the same as emphasizing the pull on the straps. 

Big wave hike is slightly different, but the concept is similar. Keep the boat flat at all times and don't let the force of the wave take you sideways. 

What are "Ladder Rungs"?

Ladder Rungs...

Ladder rungs are a way to think about measuring changes in the distance between boats when the wind shifts. Imagine each boat towing the rung of a ladder. The rungs run perpendicular to the angle of the wind. Every boat on the same ladder rung is even, no matter how much lateral separation they have. If the wind never shifts, two boats on the same rung will arrive to the windward mark at the same time.

Well, as we know, the wind always shifts! Every shift will alter the angle of the ladder rungs. Slowly, boats in a favorable position during those shifts will pull ahead (and can be measured as on the ladder!) See below! 

River Romp 2016

Over the course of the weekend we saw several kinds of racecourses. Both days current was a factor on the starting line, during the upwind and downwind legs, and definitely at mark roundings.

Saturday’s conditions were more stable, with breeze across the course that was occasionally stronger on one side. It was important to be aware of the current, but the biggest priority was to sail in the best pressure. If you started on an edge of the line (ideally the favored end) and stayed in clear air while playing toward a side (we call this “winning a side”) for leverage, it was easy to round the top mark in the top 15 or 20. There were a few upwind beats where the right side was favored, partly because the current (incoming tide) offered an advantage, but also because the pressure seemed to fill from that side first. On a day like this, focus on a good start on an end, and then sail toward a side while staying lifted as much as possible.

Sunday, the breeze was puffy, and pressure moved quickly across the course. On Sunday it was important to know where the first pressure was, and look upwind often to see how to connect the puff you were in to the next puff you wanted to be in. On a day like this, when the pressure is moving fast, it’s especially important to stay lifted as often as possible. If you sail through a puff on a header, you give up a valuable opportunity to move up in the fleet. Boats that started on the favored end, and stayed lifted while connecting pressures, were the ones in the top.

Some big tips from the weekend below:

Line Bias! It's important!

One thing that we need to work on as we train toward our big events for the next year is executing a good start on the correct end of the line, no matter how many boats are in our way. On Sunday our team was timid about approaching the pin end of the line, even though it was extremely favored.

This meant that instead of having top 15s in races, we had top 30s. Imagine this: if you round the mark in 15th, a few good decisions will allow you to work up to the top 10!

I know that we’re become much faster around the course, so I believe that if we get better at putting ourselves in a top position by the first windward mark rounding, we will be able to win races. If saving 15-20 points a race is as easy as starting on the correct end… we have to do it! 

"Even" Starting Line

"Boat Favored" Starting Line

"Pin Favored" Starting Line

Leeward Mark Roundings

Positioning for an inside rounding is important with a leeward mark. It’s also key to remember that when there’s a lot of traffic, you have to work very hard to get every inch ahead that you can. A half boat length could mean that you have room on 8 people when you get to the mark! First and foremost though - DON’T get caught in the pinwheel. You need to be planning your rounding early, and spotting a potential pinwheel will allow you to make sure that you have the higher rounding than other people in the pack that you’re in. This way, you can pass many people ahead of you who have had a bad rounding.

How can you practice leeward or gate mark roundings? In practice, instead of finishing a race downwind, finish by having the fleet round the leeward mark. 

Slow down to get ahead.

Seems counterintuitive by sometimes it's important to slow it down in order to avoid a bad pinwheel. How do you know if you're going to need to pull this move? 

1. Assess: who do I have room on, and who doesn't have room on me? You need to know this before entering the circle. Decide 10 boat lengths away what you think will happen and then confirm once you enter the circle. 

2. Communicate: be EXTREMELY vocal to the boats around you. You don't need to scream, just firmly and loudly communicate. 

3. Execute: Focus on your rounding based on who you do or do not owe room to. Don't get distracted by boats that will not be players in the rounding. If you have to give room to another boat, decide if slowing down is necessary 

10/8 -10/9

This weekend we spent some time thinking about how much improvement we’ve made so far as a team, and what else we each need to do in order to continue to become even more competitive. Below are some of the biggest things we learned this weekend.

First: Nutrition. We need to eat and drink more!

Sailors, we need to step it up. On a training day, we need to be drinking 12-16oz of water (one bottle) at minimum every 30-60 minutes. Too many of you have headaches after sailing practice. That’s a bad sign that you aren’t drinking enough.

As far as food goes, we should be consuming calories to make up for the ones we’re burning so that our bodies and brains can keep working hard. Depending on how much wind there is, you are burning between 250 and 400 calories each hour of sailing. Sometimes even more! We need to be eating one snack every hour in order to perform! A granola or protein bar usually has 80-200 calories in it, and a banana has 70 calories in it. How many of these do you need to eat during practice to stay strong and competitive?

If we don’t eat to make up for all the hard work we do sailing, our bodies run out of energy, and we lose focus, have trouble hiking, forget to be first row on the starting line, and sometimes even capsize because we are so tired. Starting now, parents & sailors should take a little time to consider how to up our nutrition game. We also have to work hard to pack enough healthy snacks for the day, especially ones that don’t require stopping the whole practice for one sailor to eat. We should spend 3-5 minutes break on a snack and water for all sailors, not 15.

Every sailor is different, and I know some of you feel like you’ve got the process down. That being said, there is room for improvement in each of our nutrition plans. Let’s try to nix the chips and cookies in favor of some alternatives that are substantial enough to provide energy if, for example, our sandwich gets too wet to eat and we have to survive on the rest of the lunchbox...

If you’re not sure what kind of snacks to buy, spend a little time in the nutrition section at Whole Foods or Publix. Zbars and KIND bars are good lightweight protein snacks for kids. String cheese, Gogurt, or even a peanut butter (or nut butter of your choice) sandwich cut up into quarters (easy to snack on) are also great ways to get a little protein into our bodies quickly.

Please feel free to reach out to me personally for more info! Thanks sailing moms and dads for all your hard work to keep us healthy on the water.

Thinking about speed = more speed!

Think: “How Can I Be Faster?” while you’re racing.

Big picture - going well in sailboat racing has a lot to do with boat speed. We have made big steps forward here as a team, but we need to keep working hard. This weekend, were there moments that you think you could have hiked harder? I do. Hiking a little harder can mean passing one or two boats, and one or two boats can mean a lot overall! When we talked about this idea in our debrief on Saturday, we created a catchphrase: “How can I be faster right now?” We need to ask ourselves this question many, many times over the course of a race. If you can’t remember to say this to yourself on the water, write it on your rail in sharpie so you can see it all the time!

Getting a Spot on the Line and Keeping It. 

Drills: here’s how we practiced getting a spot on the line and keeping it

1. Bow to the Mark Drill: In this drill, we worked on approaching an anchored mark and stopping our boat. The goal was to try to stay even with the mark as long as possible. Imagine the mark as a windward boat on the starting line, or as the committee boat itself. Holding position with these skills makes us better at doing this exact thing when there are a lot of boats around us on the starting line.

The more we work at this, the easier it is to think about other things while defending our position on the line. In order to hold our position, it was necessary to:

• Keep the mainsheet in hand and sheet or ease as often as necessary to hold position.

• Approach the mark with enough time and distance to stop.

• Easing the sail at the right time made it much easier to stop the boat. Sheeting the sail in enough will keep your bow up, and help you stay in control of your spot!

• No matter how hard you work, the boat is going to slip sideways eventually. The next step in this drill is deciding how to get back in position. It is important to jibe around and set up again if you’re too close to the line - if you are in the middle of a long line, trying to tack onto port could create some problems with the starboard boats around you, OR send you over the line early! If you’re far enough away, a double tack will help you reset higher on the line, without going over early. Deciding which one to do depends on the traffic around you. The drawing below shows where to set up strategically in order to succeed! The boat in this drawing is doing a port tack approach. 

1. Odds & Evens Starting Drill: In this drill we split into two groups (odd and even numbers) for the starting sequence. One group worked on a standard starboard tack approach to starting, where they would set up on time for a good start on the end of the line that was favored. Tthe other practiced a “Port Tack Approach,” waiting to the left of the starting area until 1:00 minute, and approaching on port tack prepared to tack into a hole on the line. When the port tackers sail into the starting area, the Starboard tackers work to stay on the line, while defending their hole, and accelerating on time!

   1. Why the Port Tack Approach is good to use:

   2. It’s important to tack into your hole, get bow even with the first row of boats, and then accelerate on time!

   3. Then, you can approach on port from beneath the line, and tack into the hole you choose.

   4. You can see the line, and identify if there is line sag or bulge, or where more boats (and holes) are

Next weekend is River Romp Regatta. Let’s review this debrief, and try to use our new skills to get off the line fast and confident when we’re racing next weekend. See you soon!

USODA Southeast Championship 9/17 - 9/18 Debrief

Great start to our racing season this week, team. We had the opportunity to sail on a challenging course with a great fleet. There were a lot of good lessons to take away and build on as we approach our other big regattas this fall. This weekend was just the starting point to a lot of good racing. We missed the rest of our team, but we learned a lot that we can share with you. See below for some of the highlights of the weekend.

First Row Starting

In a big fleet, being first row is key. It allows you to make the decisions you want to, when you want to. How many times have you found yourself pushed to tack by a starboard boat that you couldn’t cross? Starting first row, and starting well, allows you just a little extra distance ahead that can turn into more “crosses” instead of “ducks” or “leebows.” After the start when we tack for the first time, we usually want to “cross” those boats above us, right? First row starting will help make that happen.

This weekend we saw sailors who had good starts and executed top 5 finishes, and sailors who weren’t paying attention in the last minute of the start and lost their opportunity to have a good race before the gun even went off! Soon, we will be the team that is always first row and crossing boats.

Current on the starting line

Current can create line bulge or sag. Having a good line sight is very important when current is affecting the starting line. Your line sight can allow you to start ahead of boats!

If the current is against you, stay high on the starting line! - Once you get swept behind the first row, there is a big wind shadow AND current, keeping you from getting back to the front. Some sailors spent 2 minutes of their starting sequences just trying to get up to the line. Don’t be lazy and sail around under the fleet with current against you. It just doesn’t work. When the current is against us, we have to stay high on the line to be prepared for a first row start. The opposite is also true. If the current is pushing us over the line, we have to be careful not to get too close, too soon.

Current on the course

• Upwind, we saw current have a big affect on laylines. Lots of boats tacking too much could be an easy trap to get caught in. As always, it was extremely important NOT TO GO TO LAYLINE EARLY. Unfortunately, we saw a lot of people go to layline too soon, and then wind up in the middle of the fleet fighting for a clear lane. We’re going to get better at understanding where the layline is, and when to get to it.

• On the reach, if the current is pushing you down the course staying high is a good way to sail less distance. If the current is pushing you up the course, the opposite is true.

• As you can see in the drawing below, when you’re going downwind it’s important to know if the current is coming straight down the course, or if it is running at a slight angle to you. As a general rule, we want to sail toward the current, to avoid being swept away from the gate marks.

Focus on Boat Speed when you’re going straight - This weekend we started talking about “switching on boat speed.” What that means is: when you know you’re going straight for a while, don’t think about too many things! Just “switch on” boat speed, and focus on going as fast as you can. The best sailors in the world are very good at this. The secret of a lot of Olympic medalists is really simple: IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO, GO FAST. Now, sometimes it’s important to know where the next pressure it, or if you’re going to have to cross a pack of boats or lee bow them. For us as a team, getting better at going fast more often is going to take us to the next level - this weekend let’s start practicing “switching on” boat speed.

Routine - Most of us did a good job using our starting routines this weekend. We do have a lot of room to improve here. There were many times that I had to come yell at sailors to get their line sight! Let’s keep improving… the routine is a recipe for good starts.

Food and Water - Sailors, you need to remember that you are athletes. Your brains and bodies will not operate without being properly fueled. It is YOUR responsibility to follow through once I hand you food and water.

Each of you know that when you arrived at the coach boat between races I was waiting with a drink and a snack. Many of you tried to avoid eating and drinking. Remember guys, I am your coach, not your parent. I’m suggesting water because it is necessary for you to perform, not because I like having to BEG you to drink it.

Sometimes it’s hard to eat and drink when you’re thinking about how the last race went, and I used to often forget. Some bad results taught me pretty quickly that you can’t race well when you’re body isn’t happy. The worst thing about getting dehydrated is that it doesn’t go away overnight. Dehydration will even affect your NEXT day of racing as your body recovers.

To make it easier to keep my body happy, I created a routine. Now when I’m racing I hydrate heavily in the morning (1 liter of water) and drink a whole water bottle between every race (my crew and I would even race to see who could finish their water bottle first sometimes!). It’s important to get some calories between races as well - so a bar, a piece of fruit, or half a sandwich are all good things to get into your stomach before you have to start thinking again.

Go Team!

9/10-9/11

This was another great weekend of home training, and a very good preparation for those sailors traveling to Jacksonville next weekend. What is below is important for you guys to review. Parents, please make sure your sailor sees this.

On Saturday we focused on the importance of correct technique to building better boat speed in racing. Remember: when you practice technique correctly you will be faster around the course. It’s that easy. For example, simply sitting with your knees together doesn’t just look prettier. It centers your balance, makes it less likely to get your mainsheet tangled, forces you to tack facing forward, and when your hike with your legs together it helps you to pull the boat through waves better than when your feet are spread apart in the straps.

The little things like sitting forward, holding the tiller correctly, and using the mainsheet hand for trimming (not for leaning your weight on when you get tired!) aren’t just recommendations that your coaches like to scream at you. Getting these little things right is actually a shortcut to more efficient boat handling and quicker reaction time, AKA better boat speed and results. If you’re holding the mainsheet instead of leaning your hand on it, it makes you more likely to change the tension of it on a regular basis, which makes you go faster more often!  

Below are the basics of the good techniques we practiced. Right now as a team, we do them correctly about 50% of the time. That’s a good starting point but for us to move up to the next level of sailboat racing, we have to push hard to get these right between 80-90% of the time.

How will you get to 90%? You need to start to make a list of “good techniques” and think about them often. Look at the list before you go to bed, when you need a break from math homework, and especially in the morning before you come to sailing practice, or head down to the boat park at a regatta. The more you imagine sailing correctly, the better you will do it when you get in the boat.

1. Upwind

   1. Sit with your knees together

   2. Hold the tiller on your lap to stabilize your wrist (this helps you steer less). If it’s light, sit inside and hold the tiller at the base of the extension.

   3. Hold the mainsheet in your front hand, close to your lap.

   4. If you are not overpowered, sheet in when there is more pressure, and ease when you are in a lull.

   5. The boom should be over the leeward corner of the boat. If it isn’t, adjust the mainsheet until it is.

   6. Keep the boat flat. If it’s light, sit inside. If you have to hike, hike hard and fast!

   7. Use your shoulders to hike over waves.You are connected to the boat, so when you hike, visualize “pulling” it upwind with you.

   8. Pro tip: EVERY time you change your steering, you probably need to change your trim a little bit too. A few “clicks” of the ratchet block in and out in transitions will keep the wind flowing at the correct angle over your sail more often… which makes you MORE FAST, MORE OFTEN.

2. Downwind

   1. Sit as far forward as you can.

   2. Hold the tiller at the base of the extension to stabilize your steering.

   3. Heel the boat as much as possible. Use a little trim on the mainsheet to help stabilize boat heel.

   4. Pumping is not optional. When the bow goes down, sheet in to get the boat surfing. Then ease quickly to get the wind flowing again! In the top of the fleet, everyone is good at pumping.

On Sunday we switched our attention to developing a pre-race routine. The pre-race routine helps you stay consistent and informed. Everyone has a slightly different one, but champion sailors ALL have one.

Here are the most important tasks to do before the start, and the ones that you will be expected to do before every race next weekend:

1. Get a line sight: sail upwind on Starboard tack, directly to the port side of the committee boa. When your bow is on the line, sight down under your boom, and align the pin mark with a point on land. This landmark will be your reference point for positioning to accelerate at the start.

2. Check both tacks. Sail upwind on Starboard, and upwind on Port above the line. Make sure to note your angles on each tack. Try to get a feel for where you see more pressure. Use this part of the routine to:

   1. Create a strategy/plan for the race.

   2. Make sure your sail is set up correctly, and that your boat is ready to go!

3. Take a wind shot: spin your bow up into the wind.

   1. The angle of the wind relative to the line will help you decide which side of the line is favored.

   2. If your bow is pointing to the right or left of the windward mark, it might also help you to understand what “phase” or “shift” the breeze is in.

Get a look at the line. One way to do this is to sit to the left of the pin, on port tack, early in the sequence and sight down the line. This will help you see how the fleet is acting. If they are getting bunched up at the boat, or if they are all at the pin end, your starting approach might be different. Optional: if you like doing a “port tack approach,” you can enter the line no later than 1:30, and sail on port until you can tack into a good hole.

Weekend of 9/3 - 9/4

This weekend we took the opportunity to get to know each other as a team, and to discuss the on-the-water and on-land expectations for the season.

Saturday

We kept the focus to a few simple drills to help introduce me to your skill level and ability. A focus on Rabbit Starts and Cone Drill in the morning, which took us all the way up to the tip of Key Biscayne. A long downwind session, with jibe on the whistle, allowed us to focus on maximizing downwind angles through proper sheeting and boat heel. At the end of the day we joined the rest of our team to do some racing. This was a great opportunity for us to get warmed up, and start thinking about racing during this season.

Work-ons for the day

• We will improve our teamwork in drills so that we are more efficient.

• We will focus on improving Roll Tacks and Gybes as we move forward.

• We will become the best at making sure our sails are set up properly on all legs of the race course.

Strengths for the day

• We learned how to communicate with each other on the water.

• You stayed focused, and kept taking opportunities to learn.

Great job team! I was impressed with our first two training days. Here are a few places that we brought our level up this weekend:

• Upwind, our sails are going through transitions on every wave, and with every puff. Because of that, we have to change the mainsheet tension in order to make sure that the sail continues to have good flow. We discussed this concept on the water and on land, and saw improvements! We will continue to focus on upwind sail trim, and becoming
  more active with our sheet tension and body movements in order to maximize speed.

• Focus! Very soon you’ll all become such great sailors that you won’t need to even look at your sails to know when the mainsheet tension or steering angle needs to be changed. Until that day, we are going to focus on looking at our sail trim and telltales as often as possible. Sometimes we have to look at other boats, the pressure on the water, or at the mark, but there is a lot of time in between to focus on keeping our boats fast. Once we raise our level here, a lot of the other elements of racing become easier to put into play!

• When we round the windward mark and start on our reach, it is not an opportunity to take a break from hiking. It is an opportunity to pass boats around us! The same thing is true once we round the Gybe mark and head downwind. This weekend we worked on downwind sailing angles, and gybing with as little steering as possible. These are both ways to improve our performance on the downwind legs. By Sunday afternoon we were much better at easing often, heeling our boats, and gybing more smoothly. As we move forward, we will be focused on becoming very good at pumping on every wave, and getting even faster in a straight line downwind.

• Sail set up is important. Changes in our sail ties and controls (vang, sprit, preventer, mainsheet) can affect the shape of our sail and our speed around the course. We spent some time working improving our understanding of this, and it was reflected in a better performance on the race course! In order to be fast, we have to keep LOOKING at the sail - not just to make sure it’s trimmed properly, but especially to make sure it is set up properly for the wind conditions and angle of sail. Sometimes just easing the sprit as we round the gybe mark can help us pass 5 boats!

We did a great job getting started this weekend! We need to continue to bring a good attitude and mental focus to our training sessions. After a few days on the water together I know that we have all the tools we need to become an amazing team.

Don't forget! Racing in from practice. Racing out to practice.