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Club Profile: Manhattan Sailing School

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Have you ever DREAMED of SAILING? This is your opportunity. Don’t let your ship pass you by.
Manhattan Sailing School is HIRING!!
Sign up for Basic Sailing today! manhattan1
NEWS FLASH – Basic Sailing is being offered at the
SPECIAL LOW PRICE of $390 from our Jersey City location for a limited time only! (reduced from $590)
Gift certificates available at the special low price!
“Manhattan Sailing School is the largest and most respected such organization
operating in the New York Harbor.” — Time Out NY
Your sailing career starts here! Basic Sailing is the foundation for all your future sailing knowledge. The subjects you will learn in Basic Sailing are:manhattan

  • Sailing Terminology
  • Points of Sail
  • Rigging & Derigging
  • Hoisting & Trimming Sails
  • Tacking & Jibing
  • Sailing by the Lee
  • Proper Commands
  • Docking & Securing a Boat
  • Important Knots
  • Basic Navigation Rules
  • Man Overboard

2016 ICSA Team Race Preview & Coaches Poll!

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CollegeSailingLogoWithBlueCollegeSailingdynamic long
Brought to you by Dynamic Dollies, Sail1Design is pleased to present the official ICSA Team Race Rankings! Welcome to the 2016 ICSA Team Race Rankings Preview & Prognostication! Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines, college team racing’s championship season is upon us!
NEISA
By: Ken Legler(tufts) and Bill Healy(Yale)
yaleYale: Three time defending ICSA Team Race Champs will surely miss Graham Landy and Kate Gaumond but a deep roster with names like Belling, Doris, and Barrows, all current All Americans, the Bulldogs will be in the mix.  Minus Landy and Gaumond, the rest of the team is intact plus some great freshman.
BC: Although only Rios returns from last year’s final-four squad, Charles Sinks is ready. Will former Opti world champ Sinclair Jones be their third skipper or will they rely on a more experienced but not quite as fast veteran.
Harvard: Mollerus, Zaleski, and Sertl will be tough. Nick DiGiovanni leads the B team and could sub in.
CGA: If you haven’t been paying attention lately, let me fill you in.  The US Coast Guard Academy has a legit team.  It’s clear they can succeed in fleet racing.  They will be put to the test this Spring to see if they can translate that success into team racing.  Avery Fanning and crew Robert Turley along with Nikki Barnes will be the backbone of this team.  Crews on this squad look strong with Andrew Britton and Anna Morin along with Turley will only raise the bar for the Cadets.
Brown: The winners of the only team race inter conference regatta of the Fall season will lean heavily on Pearson Potts and teammate Marina Cano to get the most out of this team.  2/3 of this team finished 5th at the Hinman Trophy so they know how to do this, they just need to pull at all together when it counts.
RW: One of the best teams in the country last year lost 13 players to graduation.  Returning starters Connor Corgard and All American Bre Baldino will have skippers Stuart Dreheim  and Mack Bryan who saw some action at Nationals last year.  They area very young team with exceptional crews so it will be interesting to see how they gel this Spring.
Boston University: NEISA’s most improved, perhaps, did not make NEISA’s top 12 last year but they have been terrific in dinghies starting right after TR champs last spring. Will that translate into a nationals berth? Probably not, but they are awfully fast.
Dartmouth: The early TR season hurts Dartmouth and their sailors lack big time TR experience.  One skipper, however, has more match racing experience than anyone in NEISA.  Look for Charles Lalumiere to lead a young group in New Englands.
Bowdoin: The polar Bears have never broken through in team racing but they have more talent this year than any in recent memory.
Tufts: Gone are all five skippers that made TR nationals last two years.  Not only do have a high hill to climb but they might not have a consistent third boat.
MIT: MIT looks to build off their strong fleet race results and carry to momentum into the team racing season. They will rotate five skippers through the team race squad, but the strength of the team lies with the experienced crews.  Junior standout crew Jordan Ladd, senior crew Christopher Ford, junior crew Paige Omura and senior crew Lisa Sukarev-Chuyan will give the Engineers solid boat-handling and team racing experience.The five skippers vying for a starting role at New Englands include seniors David Larson and Joe Paggi, junior Alec Stewart, but sophomores Cutter O’Connell and Ty Ingram are learning the game quickly and will be rotated through the A-squad.
URI: The Rams have one of the best women’s sailor in the county in Rachel Bryer who sails with Hannah Scanlon.  IT’s not unusual to see the top women’s sailors in the team race mix and they often do quite well.  But with URI’s limited TR schedule it will be hard to form a cohesive group.  But  senior Caleb Armstrong wants to prove that the Rams belong in the mix at the New England Champs.  Bryer will be focusing on Womens events which will hurt their development as a team in the early Spring.
Conn: The Camels work really hard at the team racing discipline But this team is young and inexperienced at this level.  i’m not saying they can’t succeed but it will be an uphill battle which Coach Bresnahan understands and he will get the most out of them at practice.  Senior Bryce Kopp will lead this young group and just when you think that the Camels are out od top notch crews, more come out of the woodwork.  Boat handling won’t be their problem.
MAISA
By: Johnny Norfleet(Fordham)georgetown
Georgetown: A perennial MAISA powerhouse and contender at nationals, Georgetown will once again be one of the favorites to come out of MAISA. With an army of immensely talented crews (including Isabelle Ruiz De Luzuriaga ’16, Bettina Redway ’16, and Meaghan MacRae ’18) and a mostly returning group of skippers (including CSOTY Nevin Snow ’16, Sean Golden ’16, and some combination of AJ Reiter ’17, High School Nationals Champ Campbell D’Eliscu ’19, and transfer Roger Dorr ’18), Georgetown will be the team to beat in all conditions.
St. Mary’s: Expect this extremely well coached and disciplined team race group to start off slow, qualify out of MAISA, and then outperform your expectations at nationals. Crews Mariah Leffingwell ’16, Shelby Jacobs ’17, and Kaitlyn Noreen ’16 and skippers Alex Curtiss ’16, Mackenzie Cooper ’17 and either Markus Edegran ’16 or Chase Quinn ’17 should round out this team.
Navy: Always a contender and one of the teams coming out of MAISA last year, Navy will be one of the teams you need to beat at the Prosser Trophy if you want to get to the big dance. Though they lose speed demon Mary Hall, veteran team racers Patrick Snow ’17, and Michael Popp ’16 will whip their younger teammates into shape. They will have plenty of time to hone their skills as they will have to sail out of the Team Race Challenge and the Prosser Trophy to get to Nationals.
Fordham: Rounding out the group of MAISA teams to make it to nationals last spring, this team will have their work cut out for them as they also have to sail out of the uncharacteristically competitive Team Race Challenge this season. Returning all three skippers from last season (Connor Godfrey ’16, Alec Tayler ’17, and Will Holz ’17), with a strong group of young alternate skippers, and a group of talented crews (Connor Murphy ’16, JJ Monro ’16, Madeline Sims ’16, Evan Morgan ’18, and Katherine Jones ’18), Fordham will 1078Sailingbe one of the teams vying for a spot at nationals if they can work hard and make it through the Team Race Challenge.
Old Dominion: This team has been on both the winning and losing side of a tiebreaker to make it to nationals the past two years. Another team that will have to compete with Navy and Fordham for one of the two spots out of the Team Race Challenge, expect ODU to be a competitor and a team to beat if they can make it to the Prosser Trophy. Esteban Forrer ’16 and All-American crew Gabe Smith ’17 will lead a team of returning skippers Joe David ’16 and Augie Dale ’18 and crews Grace Mason ’16 and Kaylie Gallagher ’16.
George Washington: This young team that played spoiler at last year’s MAISA Champs will likely rise as a contender for one of the final spots to nationals. Though they lost their team race specialist Roger Dorr to transfer, they added a number of talented sailors to their roster that seems to grow significantly deeper and stronger each year. Expect to see Kai Friesecke ’18 and Brendan Shanahan ’17 lead a team likely rounded out by Andrew Sheerin ’18 and crews Mercedes McPhee ’19, Belle Strachan ’18, Henry Young ’16, and all-star skipper/crew Miranda Bakos ’18 when she isn’t competing on the women’s circuit.
Cornell: Though they did not compete in the MAISA Team Race Champs last spring, they are coming off a successful fall fleet race reason. With the weather looking to be on their side for an early practice start and a strong team race schedule set for this season, this well coached team could very well turn some heads. Expect to see Alex Woloshyn ’17, Shawn Kelter ’18, and Clark Uhl ’19 lead this young team race squad.
Hobart and William Smith: A longtime great in MAISA, this team just barely missed out on a spot to nationals last year. Expect this team led by Greiner Hobbs ’18, Eddie Cox ’16, and a group of talented crews to be a contender by the end of the team race season.
New York Maritime: Though they have not yet had much team race success, NY Maritime has emerged as a MAISA fleet racing powerhouse in the past two years with two podium finishes in the last three conference championships. Expect this team led by Zach Hill ’18, Nick Valente ’16 and crew Caitlin Cummings ’18 to use speed to their advantage and they could emerge as a dark horse contender.
With one of these top nine teams missing out on the Prosser Trophy this season, expect this to be the most competitive MAISA Team Race Championship in conference history.
UPenn: This team led by Mac Agnese ’17 and Drew Gallagher ’18 will be fast but will have their work cut out getting past two of Navy, Old Dominion, and UPenn at the Team Race Challenge.
KP: Like UPenn, this team led by Charlie Lomax ’18 will have their work cut out for them to get through the team race challenge. However, given their strong fleet race results the last two seasons and their emergence as a match racing contender, this team might just surprise you.
SAISA
By: Ward Cromwell(Charleston)
University of Miami: After a few years hiatus from Team Racing the Hurricanes will compete at both the Mendelblatt and the SAISA Champs. U. Miami is getting back up to speed, fueled by an energetic freshman class!
Jacksonville University: The Dolphins will be competing in the Mendelblatt, John Jackson, and the SAISA Champs. JU will make its first push in Team Racing this spring with junior skippers Danny Lawless and Peter Hidley. Julia Wiesner (ODU ’14)  joined the Dolphins coaching squad last year bringing a wealth of knowledge and a fun perspective to this  teams development.
University of South Florida: The Bulls are slated to compete in the Mendelblatt, Bob Bavier, Graham Hall, and the SAISA Champs.  Under the new leadership of Allan Caplain the team will look to find  a cohesive game plan which will likely be leed by the senior team of Fernando Monllor and Rebecca Campbell.
Eckerd College: The Tritons have an aggressive Team Race schedule planed competing in the Mendelblatt, the Bob Bavier, the Graham Hall, the Admiral Moor, & SAISA Champs. Senior skipper Tim Siemers along with Junior Skipper Jason D’Agostino will lead this squad along with an impressive list of Senior crews. Overall this team has progressed tremendously under the guidance of their head coach, Kevin Reali.  This team is very excited for some high level team racing and eager to clinch a berth to the Nationals.mm
The College of Charleston: The Cougars are excited to compete in the Mendelblatt, Bob Bavier, St. Mary’s, Graham Hall, Szambecki, and the SAISA Champs.Several team members will be returning from last year’s final four appearance in Newport. Senior skipper Jake Reynold will pair with junior crew Chloe Dapp to lead off a very impressive list of sailors. Look for this squad to be on the podium early and often this team race season.
PCCSC
By: Clinton Hayes(Stanford)
Stanford: Coming off 2 consecutive 3rd place finishes at Nationals Stanford will once again lead the team racing charge from the west coast. They suffered some key loses to graduation but will return key drivers from last season Antoine Screve ’16 and Will Ladow ’18. Look for senior Sammy Steele along juniors Nikki Obel and JP Cannistraro to make big contributions. The Cardinal’s biggest question this season will come with their 3rd boat. If they can build strength in that position they can be a final 4 team in San Diego.
stanford-sailingSanta Barbara: Santa Barbara is enjoying solid team depth and is working hard to break thru this year in team racing. They have used the warm California winter to develop strategy and discipline in team race clinics with local rock-star sailors Willie McBride and Allie Blecher. The team will travel to the Mendleblatt team race in Florida in addition to sailing the McIntyre at Stanford. UCSB is filled with good sailors so if they can get their team race game together they will take wins off the best. They are the favorite for taking the 2nd PCCSC birth at Nationals.
Hawaii: Hawaii is coming off a strong fall of great west coast fleet race results. They can sail the FJ fast but might struggle to get 3 cohesive drivers together for team racing. Chuck Eaton will likely lead the team after good results in A-division and Match Racing.
USC: Like Hawaii, the Trojans had some really strong fleet racing results but aren’t quite deep enough to put together 3 really strong boats. They look to play the spoiler at qualifiers and steal that 2nd birth to Nationals. Senior Matthew Hecht looks like their strongest driver to lead the team.
MCSA
By: Clinton Hayes(Stanford)
 U Wisconsin: WISCO suffered some large loses to graduation and only retain driver Lauran Wefer ’16 and crew Jennifer Burke ’16 from their starting team at last year’s Nationals. Despite that, they are one of the only teams in the Midwest with a full time coach and will certainly make big improvements as they travel to compete against the countries best at the Marchiando and Szambecki team races later in the season. It’s also noteworthy that they picked up another sailor from the talented Kutschenreuter family so we’ll see how he continues to progress as a freshmen.
U Michigan: The Wolverines may very well have another solid year. They look to retain 5 out of 6 starters from last year and showed some decent results this fall when they sailed their top players. Michigan will attend the Mendleblatt Team Race this year and may be in line to pick up an invite birth to another. I would count them as a favorite to make a trip to San Diego.
Minnesota: The Gophers have put up some good results in conference this fall and bring what might be the midwest’s best women’s team to also start in team racing. With coach Cappy leading the way and a group of junior and senior drivers they will certainly challenge for a spot at Nationals. 
Northwestern: Don’t count out this super organized team from the big city. They work hard in team racing and, once again, are making the trip out to Stanford for the McIntyre Team Race. 
NWICSA
By: Clinton Hayes(Stanford) 
Oregon State, U Washington, and Western Washington all have a reasonable chance of grabbing the Northwest’s lone spot at nationals. Oregon State qualified for births at both Singles and Match Racing this fall and had the conferences best result as Rose Bowl. They also return 2 out of 3 starters from last years Nationals appearance.
SEISA
By: Clinton Hayes(Stanford) 
Texas A&M Galveston has owned the Southeast birth at Nationals for a number of years. After winning much of their inconference events this fall they look likely to return.

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2016 Club 420 Midwinters Championship Report and Results

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Warm and Windy Conditions for Top Youth Sailors
midwintersThe Club 420 Association held its Midwinters Championships at the US Sailing Center of Martin County in Jensen Beach Florida February 13-15 and the 208 sailors were provided an assortment of conditions all leading to 22 exciting races. Wiley Rogers and Jack Parkin led the event from wire to wire posting 12 points in 11 races to the second place team of Ivan Shestopalov & Mario Gonzalez.
For full results CLICK HERE
104 boats competed with the 208 sailors representing Mexico, Canada and 18 US states.. Conditions on Saturday and Sunday were clear and consistent with 12-14 kts breeze. Monday started with 20kt wind and proved to be challenging for many competitors.
The top women’s team of Julia Reynolds & Anne Sidamon-Eristoff`finished in 20th place and the top junior (16 and under) team of Clay Snyder & Isabella Farina finished 10th.
Racing continues for the class at regional events across the US, Canadian and US National Championships in July and North American Championships at Coranado Yacht Club in August.
About the Club 420 Association – The Club 420 Association was established in 1980 to promote, foster, encourage and sponsor one-design sailing for youth sailors. The Association annually sponsors a North American Championship, US and Canadian National Championships as well as regional and team racing championships across North America while promoting the class to all ability and experience levels of youth sailing.midwinters2
For additional information please contact the C420 class at www.C420.org or John Vandemoer, Class Executive Director, [email protected]

Staying Fit While Traveling

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By Airwaves writer Rachel Bennung
Staying fit while traveling, & working out while traveling is something a lot of people struggle with. Whether you are traveling for work or on a vacation you somehow find a reason you can’t workout; They don’t have a gym, I don’t have enough space, I’m on vacation. We all have been there with the excuses. However, I am here to tell you can stay fit and have fun doing it while traveling!

I was recently on vacation in the British Virgin Islands chartering a sailboat. Even though I was on vacation the workouts didn’t stop! I wasn’t able to do everything I normally do, but I still was able to get a good sweat on and have fun doing it! Check out my video from down there where you will hear from me on what exercises you can do while traveling and having little space, as well as how to use your environment to get a fun workout in. There is also a list of my favorite exercises to work your arms, legs, and core using just your bodyweight. Check out the video below.
Also below is a great traveling workout you can do just using your bodyweight. Check it out and take it with you on your next trip!
Traveling Workout:
Do each exercise for 1 minute, take a 1 minute break, then repeat for 30 seconds

  1. High Knees
  2. Mountain Climbers
  3. Speed Skaters

Do listed exercises in order then repeat for 3 rounds

  • 12 Pushups
  • 15 Squat jumps
  • 20 Shoulder Taps
  • 25 Russian Twists

Do each exercise for 1 minute, take a 1 minute break, then repeat for 30 seconds

  1. Ski Abs
  2. Burpees
  3. Switch Kicks

Do listed exercises in order then repeat for 3 rounds

  • 15 Tricep Dips
  • 20 Spider Planks
  • 15 each side Front Kick with Side Lunge
  • 15 Plank Jacks

 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.

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.

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