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Windward Spinnaker Takedowns, Revisited

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By Airwaves writer Andrew Kerr
windwardtakedownAh, spinnaker takedowns; either they go really well, or really bad. Your team is approaching the leeward mark on port tack  getting ready for a port rounding , the mainsail controls are preset for upwind trim, the headsail is hoisted and the halyard is set to the conditions , the  spinnaker pole is taken down and stored and then the spinnaker smoothly douse’s on the weather side .
Your team executes a tactical rounding around the mark and looks for the next opportunity going upwind.
Let’s look at the key ingredients that went in to that windward takedown working so well as part of your team’s boat handling repertoire for both symmetric and asymmetric spinnakers ( A Sails) and also a check list for both sails on the takedown.
The approach, steering & trimming:
An effective approach when there is enough wind to fill the spinnaker consistently ( above 7 knots)  is to sail a little higher of the leeward mark so that you can bear off and make it easier for the crew to get the sail around the forestay.
If you find yourself reaching into the mark, either as a result of a wind shift or over standing the lay line approach then try to sail as high as you can in the lulls so that you can ultimately bear away and help facilitate the douse, this is particularly important on boats with large spinnakers and when the breeze is up.
With a symmetric spinnaker the skipper should bear off as the pole is stripped (taken down) and the guy is brought back as the spinnaker will have a tendency to oscillate behind the mainsail and collapse.
It is common to see teams struggle to fly the spinnaker when the pole is stripped; the spinnaker oscillates forward behind the main and headsail and collapses whilst the trimmer saws the sheet and guy back and forth, this can be avoided!
Bearing off and pulling the guy back will help the spinnaker get away from the blanketing  effect of  the mainsail  enable the trimmer to free fly the sail effectively.
Heel the boat to windward with crew weight (if enough wind):   
This key element on a windward takedown on both the Symmetric and the A sail is If there is enough wind to fill the spinnaker fully and keep the mainsail fully filled – then moving weight to windward as the pole is stripped or when the A sail is close to dousing but you still want  the sail flying is the way to go.
On a lot of boats it’s just a matter of the trimmer and another crew member leaning out to windward or the skipper helping heel the boat to windward. How much wind will dictate how much weight is required but all that is needed is enough to heel the boat to weather about 10 degrees.
What this does is counteract the head of the spinnakers natural tendency (especially with weight to leeward) of oscillating behind the mainsail and collapsing.
How much time do we need for the takedown?  
Practice is everything here with lots of repetition using an old spinnaker so that a multitude of mistakes can be made without the risk of ruining a racing sail.
I remember during one practice prior to a J24 North American championship we made numerous uncharacteristic basic errors on the takedowns.
After a full day of practice we were able to get it out of our system and go ahead and execute high level takedowns during the regatta, it’s really crucial to go through that process, especially if you have any new crew aboard or have not sailed together a great deal or it has been a long time since you did sail together.
Very often teams do not have time to practice, modern life demands seemingly take away that time, so the practice douse prior to the start is the time to make and identify any mistakes and correct them.
It can be something like the Jib halyard tail (for want of a loose flake and a toss away from the turning blocks) making its way into a Jib sheet ratchet block, the Jib furler line turning into a monkeys fist as the Jib is unrolled or the port spinnaker sheet dragging behind the boat as the boat rounds and exits the leeward mark – one messing up the Jib trim, the other providing distraction, all easily avoided.
A knowledge of times and distance is an important element here – if we are on a 40 foot boat travelling 6 knots we travel a boat length in approx. 4 seconds, if we are on a 24 foot boat doing 5 knots we will take approx.. 2. 5 seconds to travel a boat length. This where having a speed and distance chart is really useful for gauging how much time the crew needs – the mark is 10 boat lengths away, we are going 5 knots on a 24 foot boat –then we have about 25 seconds to douse the sail prior to the rounding plus the added fudge factor if some element of the boat handling takes longer – sometimes referred to as budgeting “screw up distance”!
 
Let’s look at a check list for each sail on the douse, please add your own for your own particular boat with its crew requirements.
Check list for a Symmetric windward spinnaker takedown (we will assume there is enough wind to fill the spinnaker):

  • Preset Mainsails controls for the anticipated needed upwind settings.
  • Raise or unroll the headsail and set the halyard to the fast setting for the next upwind leg’s conditions – budget time to communicate where the setting should be and be sure to keep the headsail eased so as to not collapse the spinnaker.
  • Take the pole down, at the same time pull the guy aft and heel the boat to weather.
  • Bear away to help the spinnaker free fly, the person free flying the spinnaker should try to hold the guy down to stop the sail elevating too much and becoming unstable.
  • The trimmer dumps the loaded sheet and if necessary overhauls the sheet forward to defeat the friction in the system. Very often even with ratchamatic blocks there is still a lot of friction in the system that the forward  crew are wrestling against as they pull the sail around the forestay , watch for this on your own boat . Be careful not to blow the sheet prematurely before the forward crew is ready however, as then very often the sheet will go under the bow, unload it slowly initially and then make sure it goes out without any fouls and overhaul it if needed.
  • The spinnaker foot is gathered in around the forestay and once it is under control on the windward side , the halyard is doused commensurate with how the forward crew is doing with the sail , the leech tape is pulled down to deck level and the sail is stored .
  • Team rounds the mark with all the weight on the rail and only the absolutely necessary cleanup is performed, otherwise it is hiking and boat speed.

Check List for an A sail windward takedown:
Note – steps 1 And 2 from Symmetric spinnaker checklist applies.
3) Skipper bears off; trimmer unloads the spinnaker sheet, boat heels to windward with some crew weight.
4) Tack line is blown – this collapses the spinnaker
5) Trimmer pulls in the lazy spinnaker sheet to help get the spinnaker around the forestay; this also takes the slack out of this sheet to stop it dragging in the water after the rounding.
6) The forward crew gathers in the foot and then once that is under control and the sail is all on the windward side the halyard is let down commensurate with how the takedown is going as the leech tape is pulled down to deck level  , the pole is retracted  as soon as possible. Some teams retract the pole immediately on the takedown to help collapse the spinnaker.
7) The team rounds the mark with only absolutely necessary clean up performed – the spinnaker is doused and under control. Boat speed and hiking is key right now.
Late takedown:
Very often the takedown is late – for tactical reasons or because of mis timing issues or lack of practice or new team members in training.
In this instance the key thing is to get the spinnaker on the windward side to stop it shrimping and down to deck level to prevent it from blowing back into the foretraingle and ultimately off the back of the boat.
Getting the foot around the forestay and then pulling down the leech tape to get the sail to deck level will enable the skipper to make the turn upwind. I have even seen forward crew lay on the sail to keep it down so the turn upwind can be made – whatever it takes!
Conclusion:
Taking every opportunity to practice takedowns grows a confidence in the team to be able to execute the douse at the leeward mark in a wide variety of wind and sea conditions.

Sailboat Racing is a Management Exercise, Part III

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By Airwaves writer Joe Cooper
I have previously suggested that sailing and sailboat racing in particular is a leadership and management exercise.
Part I: SAILBOAT RACING IS A MANAGEMENT EXERCISE  
Part II: Team Building
A good definition of these two fields is ‘giving the team the tools to do their job, to best advantage’. When we go racing we have a pretty well known list of mechanical things to do in advance: good hardware, nice strings, good sails, nice blocks, nice bottom and so on.
The next and I would argue one of the most important tools team members need is confidence. When people are confident in themselves and with their teammates, the TEAM can perform at higher levels. One of the biggest elements to this confidence building is numbers of hours doing it, tiller time, practice, or in other endeavors, training.
It is unfortunate that in “yacht” racing, unlike dinghies, the idea of practice is not so well grounded, but even a modest schedule, if done properly will be a more than most other boats are doing. Frankly I have not heard of any Corinthian programs that actually go out and practice on a regular basis, but if you have sailed dinghies, you know that practice is a key element.
Harkening back to the professional sports team or military elites analogy, practice is a high level asset for success. But the planning and drive needs to come from the top. The ‘buy in’ when building the team needs to articulate the practice schedule too. In the crew meetings goals and outcomes need to be articulated and results recorded. And practice does not mean just sailing up wind and down with nothing to go wrong. Done the right way practice can involve all manner of mishaps found on the racecourse. Crash tacks, last minute changes to the kite set from bear away to gybe set and so on. A dedicated schedule of practice does a few things.
It of course solidifies in each crew’s mind their task and timing in each evolution. It allows them get used to and to build on, each other’s shorthand voice and body language. If they are paying attention they will figure out, individually and as team members short cuts that they can use. This environment, practicing, and re-working maneuvers to be smoother and smoother, are facilitated by the yachts management, the owner. Any enterprise is a reflection of what the people at the top do and how they conduct themselves. You can tell the difference between owners who show up late and hung over versus those who are early to the boat fresh from the gym and have the days game plan mapped out. Ok there are extremes, but you get the picture.
In advance of last years Block Island Race Week, I was working with a group of people committed to Race Week but with varying sailing skills including a couple of rank novices.  I had earlier on discussed with the owners the idea of leadership, much as I have written about previously. The owners, being successful in their business embraced this idea early on and were very active in the inclusion and team tasks aspect of my suggestions. After quite a few hours over several weekends we got to the point where everyone knew what was required in the half a dozen basic maneuvers.
One weekend I brought down a set of marks and we set short W/L course or starting lines just off the harbor. Here for a few weekends we practiced starts, mark rounding’s, starting from a dead stop, turning the boat at dead stop and so on. We rotated different people to each position so that each team member got to learn a bit more about the overall process, understand what the ‘other’ guy was responsible for and in particular the relation ship to the various tasks they would do, as seen by the crew holding to the other end of the line as it were. The increase in confidence in each crewmember, and the individuals as a team as these trainings progressed was palpable. The practice sessions were scheduled so that the crew could get experience not only with the gear but working with the team also within themselves. Regardless what you are doing, confidence is a critical element for success. This is more important if the crew novices or lesser skilled members, who will naturally be nervous for all sorts of reasons.aus3
The first day with the marks I set up a starting line for the first time. I outlined the basics and instructed the tactician, the owner in this case, to position the bow of the boat on the weather end of the line going full speed when the buzzers sounded. For purpose of expediency I used a three-minute count down. We fired of into the first sequence and I sat back and watched. Mind you these guys had never raced let alone contended a start, even by themselves as we were doing.
Within 30 seconds it was clear to me they would not be in the same county as the starting line at the gun. At one minute in, the tactician looked at me with a ‘is this OK’ kind of look. At 90 seconds his face was longer and at a minute to go he said ‘this is a complete screwed up isn’t it…’? No problem.
We stopped and broke down the process. By the end of that afternoon and perhaps 15 starts, they were hitting the line as requested, windward, middle and leeward ends and were even over once. In between starts we would debrief, answer questions from the crew, review video I would shoot and continue the circle of fine-tuning. Making 15 starts would commonly take an entire weekend or two for a keen program maybe in a usual weekend or “Race Week”  regatta. For some boats it might be an entire summer of starts. Imagine if your program spent four hours one day JUST doing starts?
aus1After the last day of racing at Block Island I met up with the team and inquired as to how their race had gone. The owners, and the crew were ablaze with satisfaction and joy. They proceeded to tell me about their last start. Full speed, on the line, clear air all around AND the rest of their fleet two boat lengths astern. They were SO pumped and attributed that start without doubt, to the practice. This success was made all the more sweet because they had a mechanical breakdown prior to the start, the repair of which cut into their “normal” pre start routine. But because of the practice they were able to get back in the game post haste resulting in the start they described.
If the boat has speed and you go the right way, the only other opportunity to go slow is going around the corners. This includes approaching rounding and exiting. In other words, setting up the kite, hoist or drop, calling the hoist or drop and making sure the boat keeps fast, smooth and free of fouls. In hot and heavy one design racing of course there can be several, big and expensive sail boats with 10 people on them all trying to get around a mark at once, more or less. Such close quarters activity renders the ‘usual’ practice smooth roundings less beneficial-pretty much any sailor can get a kite up and down with no pressure. The way our minds process such high tension and three dimensional activity is of course very different, as anyone who has been thru a mark rounding protest can attest. The more times the crew can experience such “pressure” the less the outside noise, yelling and so on affects their own performance.
A sea story: After a year of sailing the 12 meter Australia with interminable practice and several rounds of finals, we finally go up against Freedom in the first race of the America’s Cup Challenge in Sept. 1980. The conditions in the starting area bore little resemblance to the conditions in all the other starts we had contended. The chop from the spectator boats messed up our performance calculations and the roar of helicopters made any verbal communication impossible. But since we had so much practice time together it was pretty clear to everyone what was needed at any evolution, and they come thick and fast in this level of racing.aus2
In ’83, Australia 2 had the wing keel and related ruckus, but the driving force behind the entire program was Warren Jones, the general manager. The boys had all the mechanical tools they needed, but Jones’y was the guy in running gear first out the front door of the house for the mornings exercise. Leadership by leading cannot be underestimated in any enterprise, and sailboat racing is a perfect venue for such efforts.

Club Profile: Tiverton Yacht Club

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The Tiverton Yacht Club is a family oriented yacht club on the Sakonnet River in Tiverton, RI.  We are located on the Tiverton basin, with wonderful access to many points of interest on the Narragansett Bay.  News Flash! Tiverton Yacht Club is HIRING!!!
tivertonycWe have a full sailing program – sail training, racing and cruising.  We have a freshly dredged twenty-one slip marina, an expanded beach, dingy docks,  small boat storage racks and moorings.  We have a swimming pool, full social calendar and great views of the bay and beautiful sunsets.
The club is busy preparing for the 2016 summer season.  We have many activities planned for young and old alike. If you’re a current member, I hope you’ll explore this site to keep abreast of our activities for sailing, swimming, racing, sail training, swim lessons and social events.  If you’re not yet a member, please browse this web site to see what great activities and programs we have that could make this a great summer for you.  Now is the time to join!  If you’re interested in joining, please contact me or our membership chair, Amy Cooper.  Click here for more information about joining the club
Junior Sailing at TYCtyc2
News Flash! Tiverton Yacht Club is HIRING!!!
Mission:
Our sailing program is committed to developing sailors with these skills:
Seamanship, Sportsmanship,  Safety.
We encourage and a fun appreciation for our sport and respect for waters on which we sail.
Junior Sailing Classes will begin Monday JUNE 27, 2016 and end Friday AUGUST 12, 2016. The  NBYA regatta schedule for this summer will be posted on the TYC website and the NBYA website.  Students must join NBYA and US Sailing to participate in NBYA regattas. We expect parents to help transport students and boats to and from regattas.

Sail1Design: Sailing's Premiere Career Center & Job Board

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Since 2007, Sail1Design has provided a vital, active Career Center and Job Board. Here, you can post your resume, search marine/sailing industry jobs, or post a job and find your next great employee.
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SAILING/MARINE INDUSTRY CAREER CENTER & JOB BOARD
We offer sailing’s #1 Career Center and Job Board, always chock full of incredible sailing job opportunities. Our comprehensive career center also offers job seekers the ability to create their own web page, highlighting their experience and posting their resume. Likewise, employers can search our resume database to find the right match for that open position. Sail1Design is proud also to be the official job board of the Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA), and the US High School Sailing Association (ISSA).
Sail1Design also offers:
MARKETPLACE & PROFESSIONAL BROKERAGE
Unique to the industry, Sail1Design hosts and manages an active private, by-owner marketplace, focusing on performance and one-design sailboats & gear. For all boats under 25′, our ads are free. What makes us different is that we also provide, side-by-side, professional brokerage services as well. We have had great success helping our sailing clients market and sell their boats, using our powerful client base, social media, and the brokerage industries multiple listing service to ensure your boat gets noticed.
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AIRWAVES NEWS & CALENDAR
S1D also hosts Airwaves, an interactive, user fed Sailing Calendar and informative Sailing News, Articles, tips, & more. Airwaves has developed a great niche in the sailing publication world, and now boasts a seven-member staff of dedicated sailors, all contributing to our varied content.
 

Communication Breakdown: Somethin’ You Outta Know

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By Airwaves Writer Rachael Silverstein
Communication and team Trust. At one point or another in our sailing careers, most of us have encountered the challenge of dealing with a teammate who forgets the age-old saying, “there is no I in ‘team.’” These people, who I often think of as forever-singlehanded sailors, do not always realize their hindrance of finding your team groove, and it may be difficult to deliver that feedback to someone so unsuspecting. To help avoid any unnecessary tension within the crew, there are great tools at hand to help nurture and mold a successful team that you can use on and off the water.
zosoThe most frequent issues I encounter on the water all stem from a single source: communication. Anyone who has sailed with me knows that my favorite line to deliver is, “communication is key,” and that’s because it greatly affects all aspects of the vibes going on around the boat. Whether the helms person is frustrated, the bow person is hungover, or your trimmer is solely focused on what to eat for dinner, each person has the power to completely throw a team off. With this scope in mind, we must remember that each person also has the ability to bring a team together after falling apart, but team performance is much more difficult to build than it is to break.
Before stepping onboard with a new team, it is essential that each crew member knows his or her job. You can work with your team to establish clear expectations for everyone, so each person knows where to be and what to do before, during, and after racing. If someone on the boat has a particular preference for something to happen a certain way, be sure to listen to their request in a non-threatening manner, and provide an explanation if you are unable to oblige them. In some cases, the request may be yours, so be prepared to offer alternative solutions for the issue you are having to ensure your needs are met. Teams should also discuss the difference between “needs” and “wants” as a way of coming together most effectively to accomplish your goals as a whole.A Good Sale
There are four stages of group development, and while not every team’s development looks the same, those stages remain consistent between groups and may be helpful in deciding what your team needs at a given moment.
1. The first stage, “Norming,” occurs when a team is freshly formed. Most members are on their best behavior, apologies are abundant, and everyone is quick to agree on the best way to drop the spinnaker. During this stage, the sailing is definitely not smooth, but everyone is getting along all too well and the potential for growth seems infinite. The “Norming” stage is most commonly known as the “Honeymoon Phase.” Do not be tricked into thinking the Honeymoon will last forever.
2. The next stage in group development is both the most difficult to deal with and the most essential to experience before making any real progress. All of those compliments and niceties being exchanged throughout the “Norming” stage were credits being accrued for the inevitable “Storming.” Teams experience the most turbulence during this stage, but the duration of that turbulence depends entirely on how well the individuals can deliver and receive constructive feedback. The “Storming” stage typically begins when teammates start offering advice to one another, but that advice is either delivered in a negative manner or received as a personal insult.  When weathering this stage of development, tone, timing, and word choice are the big factors to be mindful of.
We cannot choose whether another person will receive our comments as negative or malicious, but we can do our best to imply good intentions through our delivery. I would advise against trying to give your trimmer constructive feedback while the main is still luffing immediately after botching a takedown. Instead, wait until the boat is sailing smoothly and tempers have settled before addressing the lack of kite rotation for ease of dousing. Timing and word choice can make all the difference in how someone receives feedback. When giving feedback, focus on a certain action or behavior that you have witnessed, and avoid assigning blame and personal attacks to one’s personality traits. If you are on the receiving end of the feedback train, remain open to the idea that this person is trying to make your life easier. The person delivering feedback has taken the time to think about your situation, and cares enough about you to offer a tool for your ever-growing sailing toolbox. Sailing is such a dynamic sport that I can honestly say that no single person could ever truly master the skills of sailing.
3. Once the storm has passed, your team can settle in to reap the benefits of the “Performing” stage. A team that reaches the “Performing” stage runs like a well-oiled machine. Boat handling comes to the crew as easily as breathing; puffs and lulls blow through without any change in degree of tilt; and the only chatter on the boat during racing is need-to-know information and the occasional chuckle after a quick joke. The crew is not perfect, as no crew could ever be, but everyone works together to lighten the load off each other’s backs. You try new things, debrief your performance, and tailor each role to maximize your team’s strengths. The “Performing” stage is the most satisfying for a sailor because it gives them the opportunity to test themselves at their peak performance. Every sailor onboard knows their job, and does it better than anyone else on the boat.
4. At some point, however, all good things must come to an end. After relishing in the delights of a highly functioning team, we have the final stage of “Group Death.” Our teammates go on to pursue other opportunities, and we are happy for them, but even the exchange of one crew member spawns the beginning of a new cycle. “Group Death” may occur suddenly, as a result of someone missing a flight, or it can be a long time coming. Either way, the transitional period arrives, and we find ourselves planning and preparing for the next team to form. We carry our mistakes with us as reminders of how to handle past issues, and move forward to share our learnings with others through effective communication and feedback.

Club Profile: Okoboji Yacht Club

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The Okoboji Yacht Club has enjoyed a very long history. The first yacht club was organized in 1877. A series of races were held over the next few years, but interest declined by the late 1880’s and the club ceased to exist. The turn of the century brought a new interest in sailing, and yachting again came to the top of the sporting list.oko2
Okoboji Yacht Club is HIRING!!!!
In 1897, a new yacht club was formed with forty to fifty members. This group took over the dining hall and clubhouse on Pike’s Point around 1906. The Okoboji Yacht Club became a fashionable spot to gather for dancing, dining, bathing and billiards. Boats of all sizes and varieties were sailed. The first annual meeting of the OYC was held at this clubhouse on August 3, 1908. With the coming of the automobile and lake roads, the club again folded up about 1911.
The next chapter for the Okoboji Yacht Club began with an impromptu meeting at Nita Seeman’s cottage on McHenry’s Point (Givens Point near Okoboji Boat Works) in July, 1933. The first sailing event was to be held on July 4, 1933. The course was north and west from Fort Dodge Point, then south towards Brown’s Bay, then back to Pillsbury Point. Preliminary races were held July 1 to set handicaps for the many varieties of sailboats. At this time, there were three classes of boats; the small moth sailboats, the catboat class, and the gaff rigged “C” class. By 1934, the OYC was holding a Sunday series of races and providing Inland Lake Yachting Association rule books to the skippers. Gene Huse, of Norfolk, Nebraska, donated the rule books for the 25 club members.
oko3In 1935, the yacht club had moved their headquarters to the Gull Point State Park Lodge. Communicating to the fleet as to whether or not there would be races for the day was a problem for the early yacht club. They didn’t have the handheld marine radios that are used today. In 1934, to signal that a race was being held, a huge bomb, donated by Hubert Everist of Sioux City, Iowa, was set off on Fort Dodge Point. The following year, 1935, the yacht club erected a thirty foot tall flag pole on Gull Point. A white flag hoisted meant races were on; a red flag hoisted indicated a storm was coming.
 During World War II, 1945, the Okoboji Yacht Club was mostly made up of girls and young women and was called the Okoboji Women’s Navy. They held races on Wednesdays at 5:00 pm, Saturdays at 2:00 pm and Sundays at 10:30 with special races for Father’s Day and the Fourth of July.
 In August, 1957, a permanent clubhouse was built, lakeside, next to the New Inn on Dixon’s Beach. It was only 40 x 60 foot with a 10 x 20 foot porch. Classes of sailboats raced were the E, C, Y and X boats.  Later, in the the 1960’s, M-16’s and M-20’s were also raced.  In 1982, when the yacht club moved to its present location on South Manhattan Beach, it sold the old clubhouse to Bill Sackett who moved it to a lot across from his home on Hayward’s Bay.
 The current Okoboji Yacht Club, located on South Manhattan Beach, is the fourth yachting club on the lake. The yacht club leases the facility from the Okoboji Sailing School. Construction started on the current sailing facility in September, 1997 and was completed in June, 1998. A pledge drive was initiated in 1997 to raise the funds to cover construction of the facility. It was very successful, raising over one million dollars in pledges. A year later, Lee Seeman made an additional pledge of one million dollars to establish an endowment fund for the operation of the Okoboji Sailing School.
Today’s Okoboji Yacht Club has about 500 members and 65 registered sailboats. It hosts five classes of boats, the X, MC, C, Yngling and 2.4 Meter boats. Club races are conducted on Saturday and Sunday mornings from Memorial Day through Labor Day. The OYC hosts a variety of social events for sailors and non-sailors. The Friday Nite Socials are a popular gathering time and the club hosts a large yacht club party once a month during June, July and August. Bridge and mahjong groups also meet at the clubhouse on a weekly basis.okobojo

For more detailed history about sailing on Lake Okoboji, past commodores, who won the initial races and what type of boats were sailed, check out R. Aubrey LaFoy’s, Reminiscing About the Iowa Great Lakes and Mary Jensen’s A Centennial Cruise on the Iowa Great Lakes, both were wonderful resources in gathering the information here.
Okoboji Yacht Club is HIRING!!!!
View the OYC History Photo Album for some great pictures of our past.

Ultimate 20

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The Ultimate 20 is a 20′ 10″ high-performance keelboat. Its high-aspect-ratio keel is fully retractable so it can be trailered like a centerboarder. It carries 306 square feet of fully battened mainsail and roller furling jib, and flies a 452 square foot asymmetrical spinnaker.

The Ultimate 20 was the result of a team of sailors with impressive credentials. Jeff Canepa headed a team that included Jim Antrim of Antrim Associates-Naval Architects, sail maker and Olympic medalist Jay Glaser, and 505 builder and foil specialist Larry Tuttle.

U20_Line_DrawingTheir idea was simple. Create a monohull with multihull performance. They wanted a dry and stable platform with safe interior space for kids or crew. They also wanted a lightweight trailerable to have responsive dinghy-like handling, all with the cockpit comfort of a 30 footer.

After years of prototype testing, the U20 team achieved the perfect blend of size and simplicity, creating the ideal boat for racing ONE DESIGN, PHRF or any weekend sail about. The U20’s design offers exceptional craftsmanship that is reliable, safe, economical, and fun to sail.
http://u20class.org/

 

Information for International Sailing Coach Job Applicants

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J-1Sail1Design has developed a worldwide presence in the sailing industry job placement service market. For summer-only and coaching jobs, we now also have a great deal of international candidates, highly qualified, who are interested in working in the United States. We hope this page helps you in your search for a sailing coach job in the USA.
As most know, if you are not a U.S. citizen, and you would like to work in United States temporarily, you will need to have an appropriate work visa.  There are several types of potentially appropriate Visas that can be used for sailing coach/instructor jobs. The main categories are the J1 Work and Travel Visa, and the H2B Visa.
US employers hiring for the summer season typically work with a sponsoring agency that is authorized to assist in securing the Work and Travel Visa, but most Yacht Clubs and sailing programs won’t do this on their own, since they don’t have a  great number of employers. Therefore, as an applicant, it’s important to communicate with the sailing organization early, and make sure they can get started on the process. Work and Travel Visas are also limited in number, and are part of a program to promote mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries by educational and cultural exchanges. Generally, participants are university students with a holiday break from studies in their home country.
The most common visa for temporary work in the U.S. is the J-1. You must be a full-time university student, or within six months of graduation, to qualify for this visa. Your home country must also authorize your participation in this program. The H2B is more of a temporary work visa, and usually shorter in duration than the J-1.
Contact any of the Designated Sponsoring Agencies to obtain information on applying for the J-1 Work and Travel program to assist you in securing a job placement as well as your visa and other travel documents.
The Exchange Visitor Program “fosters global understanding through educational and cultural exchanges”.  All exchange visitors are expected to return to their home country upon completion of their program in order to share their exchange experiences. Click to read more about WORK AND TRAVEL ELIGIBILITY AND FEES

More on the J-1 VISA
There are twelve different categories of the J-1 Visa. The three most common categories for international workers who qualify for the Work and Travel Program with Employers listed on Cool Works are:

  • Summer Work & Travel Visa – allows foreign students to work in the U.S. for four months in guest service positions.
  • Camp Counselor Visa – Allows foreign students to work at a summer camp as a camp counselor.
  • J-1 Trainee Visa – allows foreign students and professionals to train with a U.S.-based host organization for up to 18 months.The qualifications for these visas vary depending on your country of residence.

Reminder: It is best to contact an agency and begin the process of obtaining your work visa BEFORE you apply. Most employers require that you have a Designated Sponsoring Agency.
More on the H2B VISA
The H-2B  program allows U.S. employers or U.S. agents who meet specific regulatory requirements to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary nonagricultural jobs. A U.S. employer, or U.S. agent as described in the regulations, must file Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker, on a prospective worker’s behalf.

New Owner Takes the Helm of Topaz Sailboats!

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topazsail 2016January 27, 2016    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
East Coast Sailboats, Inc is now the Exclusive US Distributor of Topper International Range of Sailboats
Kitty Hawk, NC (January 27, 2016) – Topper International is pleased to announce that East Coast Sailboats, Inc. and its owner Hardy Peters will be the exclusive US Distributor of Topaz Sailboats.
Topaz Sailboats press release 1-27-16
Located on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, East Coast Sailboats manages sales and distribution of the Topaz brand as well as operates a sailing school for youth and adults.  East Coast Sailboats’ goal is to promote the sport of sailing at the best possible value through individual sailors, schools, clubs, and recreational organizations.
“In addition to having the passion for sailing, Hardy Peters has the right skill set and knowledge to grow the Topaz range of sailboats in the US. I couldn’t be more confident that we are handing over the Topaz/Topper distributorship to a very qualified and dedicated person”, said Rick Reading, Sales Director with Topper International.
“Topaz’s wide range of custom rig options, maintenance free construction and portability make it the ideal boat to grow the dinghy sailing market,” Peters added. “In addition, these boats appeal to a wide variety of sailors ranging from schools to beginners to seasoned sailors.  Our goal is to maximize a sailor’s time on the water at the best possible value. “
Topper International will support East Coast Sailing in the growth and marketing of the Topaz Sailboat brand based on the strong belief that Topaz is the ideal fit to introduce a new generation of US sailors to the joy of the sport.topazz
On February 4-6, Topaz Sailboats will participate as a sponsor in the US Sailing Leadership Forum 2016 at the Hilton San Diego Resort. The Leadership Forum allows sailors of all types to connect on important and relevant issues of the sport of sailing. “I am looking forward to this event to help further the development of the sport among sailors of all ages and skills,” said Peters.
Learn more about East Coast Sailboats and Topaz Sailboats at www.eastcoastsailboats.com.
______________________________________________________________________
ABOUT TOPPER INTERNATIONAL
Topper International is the manufacturer and distributor of the Topper line of sailboats and is the world leader in producing high quality thermoplastic sailboats. With over thirty years of production experience Topper has an unrivaled reputation for producing high quality, uniquely strong, lightweight and durable boats. Headquartered in Ashford, Kent England, Topper International manufactures a range of 13 boats, including both Topaz and Topper sailboats- www.toppersailboats.com
ABOUT EAST COAST SAILBOATS
East Coast Sailboats is located on the Outer Banks of North Carolina serving the US market with boats and accessory sales as well as a sailing school for youth and adults.   The mission of East Coast Sailboats is to promote the sport of sailing at the best possible value through individual sailors, schools, clubs, and recreational organizations.
For more information about East Coast Sailboats, visit www.eastcoastsailboats.com or contact Hardy Peters at [email protected].
For media inquiries, please contact Hardy Peters at (252) 489-3491 or [email protected]
CONTACT:           Hardy Peters
[email protected]
252-489-3491
###

Four Reasons To Add Strength Training To Your Routine

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By Airwaves Writer Rachel Bennung
weightsOften times when people think about working out they only think cardio. Cardio is a great form of exercise and is one of the quickest ways to burn calories. However, we need to incorporate other forms of exercise into our daily living, especially if you want to get stronger for sailing. One very important form of exercise is strength training. Strength training has many benefits, four that I find very important are:

  1. Strength training helps you burn more calories
  2. Strength training increases your performance
  3. Strength training helps prevent injury
  4. Strength training will boost your mood
  1. Strength Training Helps You Burn More Calories
    Cardio is a great way to burn more calories in a short amount of time. So why not just do cardio? Well even though you are burning more calories in a short amount of time, strength training will end up burning more calories in the long run. How? The answer is Excess Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) also called afterburn. EPOC is defined as the state in which the body’s metabolism is elevated after exercise. The metabolism increase of cardio is short, lasting only about 30-60 minutes after exercise. Where strength training can increase metabolism up to 48 hours after exercise. By incorporating strength training, cardio, and a healthy diet you can burn more calories then just doing cardio alone.
  1. Strength Training Increases Your Performance
    Want to become a better sailor? Of course you do! By adding strength training you will be able to increase you performance not only in sailing, but many other activities. Strength training will give you the strength you need to perform at your highest level. Strength training will also give you the endurance to last on those long windy days without fatiguing quickly. By adding this form of exercising to your routine you will be able to excel in not only sailing, but in your daily living.
  1. Strength Training Helps Prevent Injury
    Before I became a personal trainer I would run pretty much everyday. I was fit, but was lacking strength. When I ran my first marathon I suffered excruciating knee pain during and after completing the run. When I went to the doctor they told me I had iliotibial band tendonitis (very common in runners). Iliotibial band tendonitis affects the tissue that runs down the side of your hip past your knee, giving you pain on the outside of your knee. After hearing my diagnoses I went looking for some answers, strength training was one. By strengthening the muscles in my hip and around my IT band I was able to reduce my symptoms. My second marathon a little over a year later I suffered little to no pain. In my situation strength training has helped me alleviate the pain. However, the hope is that strength training will prevent the injury from happening in the first place.
  1. Strength Training Will Boost Your MoodPlank
    Looking for a way to get happier? Well strength training can do just that! Heard of endorphins before? These are hormones secreted within the brain that have a number of physiological functions in your body, one being to make you feel good. Strength training raises your level of endorphins making you feel great! This form of working out has also been known for its antidepressant relief. Not only that, but strength training has shown to help you get a better night of sleep. All of these help to improve your life, and boost your mood making you feel great!

It’s easy to get stuck in your routine and not want to expand your horizons. However, by adding strength training you will see a difference in your body and mind. It will help improve your life and make you a stronger sailor. These are just four reasons to start strength training, but there are many more. Once I started adding strength training to my workouts I could see a major change in my body and mind, and not only that but I became a stronger sailor. Start feeling better today by adding strength training into your workouts!
Start by adding a strength routine into your workout twice a week on two non consecutive days (like Tuesday and Thursday). Below we have two different routines that are a good start for anyone trying to become a stronger person and sailor!
For the Strength Routines:
You are going to go through each exercise in the order listed with no rest between exercises. Then rest 1-2 minutes and repeat that sequence 3 times. Rest for 2-3 minutes then move on to the next 4 exercises. These routines should take you about 20-30 minutes to complete.
Strength Routine #1:
Round 1
12 Push ups
20 Squats
12 Dumbbell Row
25 Alternating Lunges
Repeat 3 Times
Round 2
15 Tricep Dips
20 Kettlebell Swings
12 Curl to Overhead Press
20 Curtsy Lunges
Repeat 3 Times
Round 3
30 Seconds to 1 Minute of Supermans
12 Each Side Kettlebell Windmill
20 Bridge Kicks
12 Overhead Press
Repeat 3 Times
Strength Routine #2
Round 1
25 Weighted Lunges
25 Russian Twists
12 Upright Rows
15 Single Leg Squats
Repeat 3 Times
 Round 2
12 Row-Raise Lunge
30 Seconds to 1 Minute Wall Sit
15 Bicep Curls
25 Spider Planks
Repeat 3 Times
 Round 3
15 Each Side Front Kick Into Front Lunge
12 Curl to Overhead Press
30 Seconds to 1 Minute Plank
15 Squat Jumps
Repeat 3 Times
 For more information on fitness for sailing contact [email protected]. Also check out Sailorcise on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for daily tips on fitness, nutrition, and sailing.

Key West Race Week 2016 Results

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kwrwtag These are the One Design results. For complete results, go HERE
 
2016_qkwrw_4

C&C 30
1. 2   USA 30015 Themis C&C 30 One Design Walt Thirion 1 2 4 5 3 8 2 1 2 4 32.0
2. 1   USA 30009 Extreme2 C&C 30 One Design Dan Cheresh 4 1 6 1 2 2 1 8 7 2 34.0
3. 3 Ullman Sails  USA 004 Loco C&C 30 One Design Edwin Feo 6 8 2 2 6 4 3 2 3 7 43.0
4. 7   USA 30023 BobSled C&C 30 One Design Bob Moran 2 7 9 3 1 1 4 3 6 9 45.0
5. 4   USA 30007 Nyabinghi C&C 30 One Design Angus Davis 3 3 7 8 9 6 6 4 1 3 50.0
6. 5   GBR 6615R Checkmate C&C 30 One Design Nigel Biggs 8 5 1 7 10 5 5 6 9 1 57.0
7. 6   CAY 30002 Powerplay C&C 30 One Design Peter Cunningham 5 9 3 6 5 7 7 5 8 5 60.0
8. 8   USA 30020 Stark Raving Mad VIII C&C 30 One Design James Madden 7 6 5 4 4 9 9 7 4 6 61.0
9. 9   USA 30024 Anema & Core C&C 30 One Design Ennio Staffini 9 4 8 10 7 3 10 10 5 12/DNC 78.0
10. 11   USA 18 Andiamo C&C 30 One Design Julian Mann 10 10 10 9 8 10 8 9 10 8 92.0
11. 10   USA 30001 No28 Pizza Pub C&C 30 One Design Bjørn Erik Bjørnsen 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 12/DNC 111.0
J 70 TOP TEN of 54
1. 33   ITA 456 Calvi Network J 70 Carlo Alberini 1 1 3 2 3 1 6 1 2 1 [6] 15.0
2. 55   USA 49 Relative Obscurity J 70 Peter Duncan 2 4 6 1 1 21 4 4 3 2 [21] 27.0
3. 77   USA 2 Helly Hansen J 70 Tim Healy 3 6 1 5 7 4 1 3 1 7 [7] 31.0
4. 31   MEX 384 Flojito Y Cooperando J 70 Julian Fernandez Neckelmann 7 2 2 3 2 2 7 11 39 31 [39] 67.0
5. 44   USA 340 Rimette J 70 Flipper Wehrheim 5 5 5 13 4 28 3 7 13 17 [28] 72.0
6. 45   USA 839 Reach Around J 70 Thomas Bowen 9 19 11 12 17 6 10 6 6 9 [19] 86.0
7. 58   ESP 669 Marnatura (Corinthian) J 70 Luis Bugallo 13 12 13 20 6 5 2 10 20 6 [20] 87.0
8. 56 Doyle Sailmakers  USA 179 AFRICA J 70 Jud Smith 8 14 16 7 9 16 8 8 21 8 [21] 94.0
9. 74   USA 96 Savasana J 70 Brian Keane 6 7 4 8 22 17 20 15 4 20 [22] 101.0
10. 38   USA 45 Wild Child J 70 Henry Filter 11 16 15 11 20 12 5 5 14 35 [35] 109.0
Melges 24
1. 24   GBR 850 Black Seal Melges 24 Richard Thompson 1 3 3 1 1 1 4 1 8 1 [8] 16.0
2. 23   USA 290 Blind Squirrel Melges 24 John Brown 2 1 1 2 2 3 1 2 7 3 [7] 17.0
3. 13   CAN 629 Zingara Melges 24 Richard Reid 3 2 2 3 3 4 2 3 1 2 [4] 21.0
4. 18   GER 624 Kleine Rainbow Melges 24 Bent Dietrich 6 6 4 6 5 2 3 4 3 6 [6] 39.0
5. 15   NOR 800 Party Girl (Corinthian) Melges 24 Jens Wathne 5 4 8 4 7 9 5 5 5 4 [9] 47.0
6. 17   USA 708 Tramp (Corinthian) Melges 24 Thomas Ritter 4 5 6 7 4 8 7 7 4 5 [8] 49.0
7. 21   USA 839 The 300 Melges 24 Steven Boho 8 10 5 8 8 5 8 6 2 13/DNS [13] 60.0
8. 16   CAN 121 Black Dog (Corinthian) Melges 24 Dave Black 7 8 9 5 6 6 10 8 10 7 [10] 66.0
9. 22   USA 185 Blue Steel (Corinthian) Melges 24 Dan McGraw 10 7 10 9 9 7 6 10 9 8 [10] 75.0
10. 14   USA 292 Shaka (Corinthian) Melges 24 KC Shannon 9 9 7 10 10 10 9 9 6 13/DNF [13] 79.0
11. 20   USA 665 Risky Business Melges 24 Mark Beck 13/DNC 13/DNC 13/DNC 13/DNS 13/DNS 13/DNS 13/DNS 13/DNS 13/DNC 13/DNC [13] 117.0
12. 25   USA 414 Zoo Melges 24 Christoph Kalinski 13/DNC 13/DNC 13/DNC 13/DNS 13/DNS 13/DNS 13/DNS 13/DNS 13/DNC 13/DNC [13] 117.0
J 88
1. Doyle Sailmakers  USA 80 Wings J 88 Mike Bruno 4 2 1 5 2 2 2 2 4 2 26.0
2.   USA 24 Deviation J 88 Iris Vogel 1 7 2 1 7 1 4 4 3 3 33.0
3.   USA 82 Blondie 2 J 88 Jeff Johnstone / Tod Patton 2 4 7 2 3 4 1 3 2 5 33.0
4.   CAN 56 Touch2Play Racing J 88 Rob Butler 8 3 3 3 1 6 3 1 5 1 34.0
5.   USA 15 Spaceman Spiff J 88 Ryan Ruhlman 7 5 4 6 8 3 7 6 1 9/DNF 56.0
6.   USA 2 Easy Eights (Corinthian) J 88 Joe / Jeff Pawlowski 3 6 6 8 4 7 5 7 6 9/DNC 61.0
7.   USA 1 Jazz J 88 Douglas McKeige 6 1 5 4 5 5 9/DNS 9/DNS 9/DNS 9/DNC 62.0
8.   USA 77 Courageous J 88 Gary Panariello 5 8 8 7 6 8 6 5 7 4 64.0
J 111
1. North Sails  USA 115 Skeleton Key J 111 Peter Wagner 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 11.0
2.   USA 93 Spaceman Spiff J 111 Rob Ruhlman 4 2 3 1 5 3 2.5 4 1 25.5
3.   USA 90 Utah J 111 Bradley Faber 2 6 2 3 3 5 5 2 4 32.0
4.   USA 89 Wooton J 111 William Smith 5 4 4 6 2 2 2.5 5 3 33.5
5.   USA 008 Velocity J 111 Martin Roesch 7 8 8 4 4 4 7 3 6 51.0
6.   USA 60909 Bravo J 111 Sedgwick Ward 3 5 6 7 8 6 8 6 5 54.0
7.   USA 7311 Perseverance J 111 Bennet Greenwald 6 7 5 5 7 7 4 7 7 55.0
8. Quantum Sails  USA 29 Heat Wave J 111 Gary Weisberg 8 3 7 9 9 8 9 9 9 71.0
9.   USA 30 Wicked 2.0 J 111 Douglas Curtiss 9 9 9 8 6 9 6 8 8 72.0

http://www.yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=1390

Chasing an Olympic Dream: Interview with BVI 49er Team

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By Airwaves Writer Taylor Penwell
teambviAnderson and Brockbank Interview: Introduction
Alec Anderson and Chris Brockbank were born and raised in the BVI. Both teammates attended the same pre-school, graduated from the same high school, and together have represented the territory in sailing on a number of occasions. The duo has their goal set on reaching the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janerio, Brazil. They are competing in the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Miami from January 23rd to 30th and must finish as the top North American team in order to clinch a berth for the Olympics. The team is an inspiration for youth sailing in the BVI and embodies what it means to set and achieve your goals. I sat down with Alec and Chris a few weeks back to talk training, campaigning, and what it takes to chase down the dream of going to the Olympics.
What made you guys want to start the Olympic campaign?
Alec: I didn’t make any one decision that I wanted to go to the Olympics. I got involved at a young age in racing at the end of my Optimist career, I got hooked immediately with international racing, I went to school and all four years during school I was planning on carving a path to get to the Olympics. I called Chris about starting a campaign the beginning of spring semester of my senior year, and after graduation we decided to pursue it.
Chris: It was really a matter of opportunity. The vision of sailing in the Olympics wasn’t really there for me until Alec came to me with a proposal to start an Olympic campaign in the 49er class. Over these three years my investment into it has grown, and it all has become more of a reality and became the goal.
Why did you pick the 49er to campaign?
Chris: Ideally, it was Alec’s goal to get to the Olympics in the Laser, but he struggled with his light weight in the class, and he realized that the next best fit was the 49er class. It was a quicker boat to learn than the 470, and I don’t know if I would have done a 470 campaign.
Alec: It was a fun boat, and the sport is going high-performance, so we chose the 49er.
Chris: We got in touch with Thomas Barrows who had a 49er over in St. Thomas, and we set up a long-term lease with him to spend a few months in the boat, and [see] if it was something we liked, and it all happened pretty quickly after that. We had Thomas’ crew come down and give us an introduction to the boat, rigging the boat, splicing — just the basic stuff, stuff you don’t learn growing up in Optimists and Lasers.
How would you compare the 49er to any other boat that you have sailed?
Alec: It’s a thrill! The immediate thing I noticed was the time you have to put in to prepare the boat. It’s a high-performance boat for a reason — everything’s really light, strong, tedious, full of tiny parts — and the boat takes a lot more mental effort, but that being said, the reward for having a boat set up nicely, going fast, doing well, is really satisfying, and it’s worth it in the end. Whereas a Laser, you hike your face off for three hours and you go the same speed the whole time; you can’t improve the balance or speed of the boat with tuning.
Have you ever sailed high-performance boats before the 49er?
Alec: Nope, we jumped right into the deep end, and I had very little knowledge of fine-tuning on a high-performance boat.
Chris: The IC24s and college 420s did nothing to prepare us.

alec andersonGraduating from Roger Williams University in 2013, Alec Anderson was a three-time All American who was nominated for the prestigious College Sailor of the Year in both his Junior and Senior Year.

Did Optimist sailing with large numbers of boats prepare you for the 49er?
Alec: No matter what you sail, the Optimist prepares you.
Did what you sailed in college prepare you in any form for this Olympic campaign?
Alec: Technically speaking, no. The comparison of a FJ to a 49er is remote to none, but on the theoretical side of things, it helped with focusing on being spotless with your boat-handling, your dedication and commitment — what it means to be excited to go out and practice every day and be excited to practice the same stuff. Sailing six days a week with the same people in the same boats, it gets monotonous, and if you put the little bit of extra effort in, you will find how it will be rewarding on the race course. That was the biggest lesson I took away from college sailing. Along with the strategy, tactics and rule talks in those four years.
Who did you work with for tuning?
Chris: Thomas Barrows’ crew, Nate Rosenberg, a few of our first coaches, and lastly we are very sociable on the circuit, so we make sure we forge as many relationships as we can so we can pick up as much information as we can.
What is the most challenging part of sailing the 49er?
Chris: Controlling it, the boat-handling — when a gust hits, you have to be ready and be proactive to be ahead of the game. As soon as you miss something, it can affect your position really quickly. Getting clear off the start with so many boats is important, since there are so many boats in the pack.
What is the ideal weight for the 49er?
Alec: About 15-20 pounds heavier than us. Anywhere from 345-365 pounds is the ideal range. Some of the older teams are closer to the lower limit, and some of the younger teams are at the higher limit.
Being from the BVI where the winds are strong, do you feel like heavy wind events are ideal for you guys? What kind of winds do you feel most comfortable in, or excel in?
Chris: We are 20 pounds lighter than most teams, and we are comfortable in lighter winds (5-12, 15 knots).
Alec: The higher the winds, the worse we do, typically, because of our light weight, and even if we sail flawlessly boat-handling-wise around the course, the small difference in speed can put us in the back. We enjoy when it’s a little lighter, but when its really light it’s anyone’s game. You can only go so fast in 5 knots. I think our best day would be 8-11 knots, where we can start double trapezing, and the bigger teams are not quite there yet.
Chris: The ideal range is 10 knots.
How many 49ers are at the event?
Alec: Typically 25-40 other boats on the starting line. So 60-90 boats at a large event.

chris brockbankChris Brockbank has represented the BVI in a number of international match racing events and is known throughout the BVI for his incredible work ethic and positive attitude. Chris is currently studying business at the H. Lavity Stoutt College in the BVI.

What was the first thing you guys did for fundraising/raising money for the campaign?
Chris: We approached our local community, here in the BVIs.
Alec: We weren’t afraid in the slightest bit to ask anyone and everyone for money. I think that’s the most important thing when you are doing something like this, you can’t feel bad asking for money, if you are trying to achieve your goals and follow your dream and do what you love, you should really be willing to do anything for it.
What do you do with the National Olympic Committee for the campaign? Did you propose a strategic plan?
Alec: They have been helping my sailing since I was in the Optimist, because I was always a BVI prospect for going to the Games, and the support for the campaign was there. We just had to approach them with the new vision that we had, and they were on board.
Chris: We applied for funding, and a couple months later it was accepted and we got it, and we get a scholarship from the Olympic Solidarity Program for Emerging Nations, so we get a stipend from the BVI National Olympic Committee each month to keep training.
bvi1Routine and training: what kind of things do you guys do to prepare for an event? Let’s talk about nutrition? How important is eating right to you guys?
Alec: It is something we have learned a ton about in the last few years. Having to put on weight and putting on weight in a healthy manner requires a much higher understanding of nutrition then the average Joe. If you are not counting the calories and the macronutrients … you don’t know what you are consuming, then you are not in control of how you are sculpting your body and how you affect your body. It is not somewhat important, it is absolutely paramount that nutrition is a top priority, because it is a variable you can control — and there are so many variables in sailing that we can’t control.
When we are in Miami, nutrition is equally important as the gym and the sailing sessions. Not just to gain weight, but to try to maintain it. When we have a big day, we can’t eat enough.
What about working out? What sizes were you guys before the campaign? What was the target?
Chris: Both of our goals were to get bigger. With Alec driving and me crewing, we had different targets in the gym, both trying to put on weight. I do more cardio and high-intensity stuff, and Alec more heavy weightlifting.
What difference in weight are you at now compared to when you started the campaign?
Alec: I have gained 15 pounds, and Chris has gained 20 pounds.
How did you guys find your coach for the campaign? What should a good coach be?
Chris: We didn’t jump straight on a coach; we worked with a number of coaches for a week at a time or so and got a lot of different insight. But the coach is more of the big picture — not just good on the water, but also a good manager. Someone who gets up and is enthusiastic about the day and gets us going and helps with the managerial side of things like fundraising, and helps take the weight off our shoulders a little, but also someone who can go out on the water and get us focused on it all. Because there are two of us on the boat, it’s not just a one-man boat. Obviously, we are working together as a team, and as soon as we stop working together as a team, we need someone to put us back together and get our mind straight again. The coach is more of a psychologist, too.
Alec: How did we pick Chris Waters? We worked with him in the past, since he was our junior sailing coach at the Royal BVI Yacht Club, and Brockbank worked for him at the sailing camp. We all sailed together and all spent a lot of time sailing on the match racing circuit together, and when he became available on the market, we snatched him right up. And what makes a good coach is being able to spend the remainder of the day off the water with that person. And you can have the best coach in the world who knows everything about the boat you are sailing, but if you don’t get along outside of that, it is not going to work. At the end of the day, we are our own best coaches — if we can’t recognize things we are doing wrong, we won’t be able to improve on them. We have to be able to self-evaluate and critique ourselves, but having that third party there to make sure we are getting along, and that the communication is good and that we have enough money in the bank, that we have food in our lunch bag, that is what makes a good coach, and Chris is our guy.
How does mental psyche play into your sailing?
Chris: It’s really important, especially on the course, because if one of us isn’t happy with something, we need to get past it really and think about what’s next to come.
Alec: We spend more time with each other than anyone else in the world for these last years. For the last two and half years, and for the next four, we are going to spend more time with each other than anyone else. Is that both what we want? Probably not; I’d like to spend more time with my girlfriend and my family, but it’s what we need to do, and what I’m willing to do and what I want to do to achieve my goal. And finding tools and mechanisms to help achieve that without killing each other is a big part of this. We recently hired a team psych who we are working with. It is not out of the ordinary; a lot of teams do it, we just took a little longer to realize how valuable it can be. And it’s a chance to air out any problems we have between each other and with the campaign to keep the wheel rolling.
bvi2What is the next event you will be competing in?
Chris: We our coming up to our last qualifying event, which is the ISAF World Sailing Cup in Miami from January 23-30 and we are up against the U.S. and Canada for the last berth for the 2016 Games. With all the teams having shown that they can be in the top and that it comes down to who can peak at the right moment, we need to put all of our training together in the past three years and put it together for this event.
Alec: We are in a great position, because no one is expecting us to qualify except our fan club here in the BVI. Besides that fan club, we have no pressure on us to qualify … and we have nothing to lose — and we are campaigning again so there is no pressure to make it now, because we have another chance.
Where do you have to finish to qualify for the Games at this event?
Alec: We have to be the top North American boat. It’s the last North American continental qualifying opportunity, so there is one spot out of the 20 spots out of the Olympics that is allocated to the top North American team in Miami, and out of the 3-4 Americans and the few Canadians and us, whoever is the top 49er out of those teams will earn the berth for their country. If it’s us, we go to the Games and if it is the U.S., then they decide amongst them who goes and the same for Canada. So top team out of N.A. goes.
What advice would you give someone who is interested in campaigning for the Olympics? 
Alec: Any excuse to not campaign is not good enough. If you did it for two years and it didn’t work out, OK. At least you can say you did it. You don’t want to be thinking, “I wonder what it would have been like if I would have done that” your whole life. If you live til you’re 80 and you graduate college in your early twenties, that’s a long time thinking you could have done something that you didn’t.
Chris: Just go for it. It sounds like a really big deal at times, but it’s a lot easier and a lot more accessible than you realize, and you just have to reach out and grab it.
For more information on the Anderson/Brockbank Campaign or to help support their campaign, go to their website, http://andersonbrockbank49er.com/.

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