VACATION AND IMPROVING YOUR GAME

TUESDAY APRIL 21, 2015

VACATION!

I happened to be out of town for this evening’s sail, so will not be providing a recap of this evenings events.  If someone wants to leave a comment with a recap of this evenings events, I would appreciate it.

Instead of a recap, I would like to give a rundown of what it takes to win races. I believe it comes down to three factors:  boat, crew, strategy/tactics.

Boat:

Is your boat adequately equipped to win races?  Is the bottom of your boat faired and smooth?  Ask Vance about the effects of a properly faired bottom of a boat.  If you do not have a whisker pole, you cannot expect to compete downwind with boats that do.  If the bottom of your boat is not clean, you cannot consider yourself to be a serious contender.  Is everything in mechanical order.  Nothing hurts more than losing a race due to a mechanical issue that pops up at the wrong time.  Weight! If your boat is used as a storage unit, weighed down with baggage, you cannot expect to compete effectively.

Crew:

Any skipper that says THEY won the race without acknowledging their crew is not being honest with themselves.  A crew that works well together is crucial to winning races.  A winning crew really does take time to develop.  In my opinion, I do not need egos on my boat.  Egos do not win races!  A crew (team) that works well together is a thing of beauty and wins races.   

I think there are several winning elements in a valuable crew member. First is a thirst for knowledge, constantly desiring improvement in the team and himself.  Do they “hustle” (move quickly) when things need to be done quickly?  Are they physically fit enough to handle the challenges of racing?  Are they available for racing and practice?  Practice is something all winning boats do regularly.   You cannot win races if you are working out kinks (in lines AND crew) while in a regatta.  A good crew is crucial, but the skipper has their job to do also!  Steering with a steady hand taking advantage of lifts is not an easy job.  Once again practice helps with this. 

Strategy/Tactics:

Strategy are the decisions you would make to sail the course in the quickest time with no other boats on the course.  Tactics are the decisions you make, using the rules of sailing, in dealing with other boats in order to follow your strategy.

Whenever dealing with a particular race, several questions must be answered.  Which is the favored end of the start line?  (the end of the line that is closer to the wind). Is Port tack start favored over starboard start?  (fewer boats in start and right side is favored). Is the left side of the course favored over the right side? (Which side is more advantageous when dealing with wind/current/waves?)

As you can see, winning sailboat races is a multi-faceted project.  Getting them all in line will help your results.

See you next week.

Barry Keeler