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Club 420 Association and US Sailing Collaborate on 2014 U.S. Youth Sailing Championship Qualifications

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 12, 2013

North Kingston, RI — The Club 420 Association announced today that it has collaborated with US

Sailing to support the manner in which youth sailors are invited to the 2014 U.S. Youth Sailing

Championship.

Invitations will be issued to U.S. Youth Sailing Championships’ applicants using one of two criteria: the

resume review process currently in place; or, a new early acceptance process determined by a sailor’s

placement at designated national and regional events. Sailors who finish within the prescribed placing at

the selected events will be automatically invited, provided their 2014 U.S. Youth Sailing Championship

application is completed by the due date on the U.S. Youth Sailing Championship’s Notice of Race,

which will be posted in January. All early acceptance events will occur between January 1 and June 20,

2014. Any slots left unfilled will be returned to the pool of spaces available to sailors applying by resume.

For 2014, the top eight (8) eligible teams from the Club 420 Midwinter Championships and the top two

(2) eligible teams from the Girls Doublehanded Championship will be offered an invitation to participate

in the 2014 U.S. Youth Sailing Championship in the doublehanded fleet of their choice (Club 420, I-420,

Formula 16 or 29er).

Sailors may also apply for an invitation to the 2014 U.S. Youth Championship by submitting a resume in

January. Learn more about the selection process and criteria for the 2014 U.S. Youth Championship

(http://championships.ussailing.org/Youth/US_Youth_Champs.htm).

“This is a significant step for US Sailing and an enhancement which positively impacts the membership

of the Club 420 Association” says John Vandemoer, Executive Director. “We look forward to working

with US Sailing on this and additional initiatives in the coming months.”

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.

For more information visit www.club420.org

 

For more information contact:

 

John Vandemoer, Executive Director (ed@club420.org )

 

Club 420 Association and US Sailing Collaborate on 2014 U.S. Youth

 

Sailing Championship Qualifications

 

US Performance Academy: Blending High Academic Achievement with High Performance Sailing

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Editors note: Sail1Design came across this idea awhile back, and we asked the founders to share their story about a really cool idea. Enjoy, and please post comments at the bottom of this piece.

Update: Position open at USPA: http://sailingjobs.sail1design.com/employment/us-performance-academy-learning-coach-opportunity-listing-2880.aspx

When a school’s website is www.smartsailor.org, it leaves no doubt as to the focus of the program.  The brainchild of educator Peter Smith and former US Optimist Dinghy Association President and Current 29er World Council member Blake MacDiarmid, both lifelong competitive sailors, US Performance Academy is bringing a fresh, new approach to the way youth sailors learn, train and compete at the highest level.  With a custom USPA-specific SailX.com online trailing simulator, conditioning programs modeled on Oracle TeamUSA’s efforts and a hydration partnership with Vita Coco, USPA is blazing a new path to excellence.

No longer will developing scholar athletes have to choose between the best in academics and championship, Olympic or America’s Cup dreams – now you can have it all.  An independent, small school ecosystem of excellence, USPA is a first of its kind environment combining the best in 21-century learning and the most advanced classroom technology with an innovative, ultra-performance sailing program.   With a leadership advisory group that includes Olympic Medalist Lucas Calabrese, MIT Head Coach Matt Lindblad and Former Yale Advancement Officer John Ormiston, USPA is poised to effectively change the way student athletes learn, train and succeed as the school of tomorrow, today.

“Like I did with iPads at my previous school, our goal is to create something truly unique, something that has never been done before in sailing.  Based on the feedback, I think we are on the right track,” says Smith, who is Chief Academic Officer.

Leveraged technology, feedback loop training and integrated learning and Olympic level training, conditioning and coaching are the basis of the USPA approach. Based in Miami but accessible anywhere in the world via an individualized 21st Century cloud-based digital learning platform, USPA is the missing link between the emerging talent of the new generation of American Optimist sailors and the retooled U.S. Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider.  With pre-G 6-8 programming, a comprehensive College Preparatory 9-12 degree program and PG opportunities, Smith says “We meet students where they are to create the optimum learning experience.  We are fundamentally changing the paradigm of school vs. sailing to school and sailing, and clearly t’s a win/win approach.”

Importantly, USPA scholar athletes are not limited to one class of boat.  From Optimists to i420s, 29ers to F16s – the program integrates your performance with your studies, without dictating a boat or one size fits all academics.  Students are empowered to perform at the highest level  – and exceptionally prepared for success in college classrooms, international racecourses and professional careers.

And on the performance side, MacDiarmid believes we need to look to the future with an understanding of the past.  “After listening to the onboard mics coming off the Cup boats or considering the ‘12 London Games it is no secret we have to create a better pipeline for the development and cultivation of American performance sailors.  With unprecedented recent success for Americans at the International Optimist Championship level based on new methods of coaching and preparation, we know how to bring that talent forward in a balanced way – and that’s a big part of our direction.”

MacDiarmid is straightforward about what USPA is all about. “Working cooperatively with Leadro Spina, Charlie McKee and Josh Adams from U.S. Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider, we are focused on introducing younger sailors to high performance sailing in a structured, innovative way.  And by integrating their studies directly into the process in a collaboratively, we are leaping over a critical barrier to success because smarter sailors are faster sailors – that’s the bottom line.”

Please visit www.SmartSailor.org to learn more about the USPA experience.

Connect with USPA:

Email: Pete@SmartSailor.org  Blake@SmartSailor.org

Web: SmartSailor.org

Facebook: USPerformanceAcademy

Twitter: @USPAAcademy

VitaCoco – Official Hydration Partner of USPA

SailX.com – Official Online Training Simulator of USPA

Tactics with Mike: Sail1Design Multitasking

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By Airwaves writer Mike Ingham

“EASE THE OUTHAUL” my skipper barks.  Now, in my opinion barking almost anything does no good, but in this case, we had just had a 3rd row start, the gas masks were fully deployed.  We were stopped well below the line as we watched the entire fleet sail away.  Outhaul tension was ridiculously far down the priority list.  A psychologist would have had a field day.

I have a theory; that good sailors are good at focusing, multitasking and prioritizing.  I have no psychology background, no scientific proof, and no studies to back me up.  Perhaps others have made this leap before, but I have never heard anyone connect successful sailing and multitasking.  In short my theory is baseless but for my own experience and observation.  So be patient and hear me out because despite the lack of scientific backup, I think there is a lot to learn from those that know how to multitask.

I did some digging to learn more.  According to Wikipedia, “multitasking” is a computer term meaning the CPU is doing more than one thing at a time.  Evidentially (my further Wiki reading informs me) we humans don’t really multitask at all, instead we “context switch” (taken from another CPU term) meaning we switch from one task to the other not actually able to focus on more than one at a time.  A computer processor can have multiple “cores” so they really can multitask.  We have but one brain so we can’t.

To context switch, whether computer or human, first we need to store some information about what we are currently doing, switch to the next task, store info on that task before we switch back to the original task (or yet another) and so on. Every time a CPU does this loses significant efficiency, and so do we.

We are not going to worry here about semantics, so we will stick with the term “multitasking” for the purpose of relating the idea of balancing all the things we have to do in sailing.  But what is important no matter what you call it, is that it is not an easy process. 

For example, suppose the helmsman is sailing in open water upwind.  The focus might go something like this:

  • Stare at jib telltales for 5 seconds
  •  Glance at waves for 2 seconds
  •  Telltales for 5 sec
  •  Waves for 2 sec
  •  Telltales for 5 seconds
  •  Main leach telltale for 2 sec
  • Telltales for 5 sec
  • Double check jib trim from spreader for 2 sec
  •  Telltales for 5 sec
  • And so on

The key to making it work is to truly focus most of the time on the jib telltales and only glance away for a few seconds at a time.  And remember to focus back on the tales.

One trick I like to use when I do this is to glance and memorize what I see.  Then when I am looking back at the highest priority while I process what I just memorized.

For example, to add some detail to the above:

  •   Jib telltales 5 sec
  •  Main leach telltale 2 sec (memorize what I see)
  •  Jib telltales 5 sec (decide main telltale too stalled, ease main a little)
  •  Main leach telltale 2 sec (memorize what I see)
  • Jib telltales 5 sec (decide if I eased the right amount)
  • Waves 2 sec
  •  And so on

Then I hear “starboard tack boat coming in 10 boatlenghts, we are close to crossing”.  I change my focus:

  •   Look for starboard tacker for 5 sec
  •   Jib telltales 5 sec (while think about how we are converging, decide it really is close. It is
    super important here to keep going fast or we won’t cross for sure)
  •   Look at boat for 10 sec while decide if we can make it across
  •   I say to the tactician: “Don’t think we will make it, do you want a tack or duck”
  •  Tactician: “keep going at all costs, so duck”
  •    I say “ease jib and vang” as I duck

The priority changed to the duck, and a whole new set of tasks to multitask for that process.  Then I head up to close hauled again and reprioritize the jib until the next event that trumps speed.

We only have so much mental energy and we need to put it to good use. It turns out that we humans are terrible at multitasking, but the best sailors are less terrible at it.  For proof in my theory look to the guy that was focused on the outhaul during his 3rd row start.  He could not help it –he was not a good multitasker.  We don’t need to look far for millions of other examples we witness (or sadly guilty of ourselves) of misdirected focus.  Misdirected focus is poor multitasking and does not lead to good results.

Further proof is in myself.  When I feel sharp I feel very aware of my surroundings.  I seem to be able to keep focus, but then quickly glance at something and go right back to focusing on what is important.  Then instinctively when something changes, I know to change my focus to that new priority to get around a mark or whatever needs to be done.  Then I am right back on making the boat go fast again. When I can’t quite make those changes, get lost in my priorities, those are not good days.

There you have it; my theory that the most successful sailors multitask really well.

2013 Sail1Design Coach of the Year Nominations

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It’s that time of year again! Sail1Design seeks your nominations for the S1D Coach of the Year. We are asking for your nominations based on a coach that embodies the qualities (and more) listed in the article below. Please send a 300-word nomination to editor@sail1design.com 

This is your award! The Sail1Design staff will choose the winner only from our readers nominations! Nominations will close on 15 January, and the winner will be announced before the end of the month. This is a great opportunity to recognize a coach that you feel makes a difference!

 

All good coaches, regardless of their chosen sport, share some important fundamental qualities that transcend technical knowledge, or specific x’s & o’s. In other words, whether it’s a basketball, tennis, hockey, football, chess, or sailing coach, there are certain key characteristics to good coaching, and none of these really requires technical knowledge of the sport they are in.

Here are some of those characteristics: logistics, organization, energy, leadership, passion, creativity, patience, dedication, motivational skill, humility.

I would bet that you could take a good coach, put him or her in a new sport, and that coach would find some success. Think about the best coach you ever had, and visualize that person in another sport, and you might see just how that person could adapt and still be a difference-maker.

However, we all know that great coaches not only possess these core qualities, but indeed they are also masters of the subtleties, rules, and technical chess moves of the sport they are involved in. Very often, great coaches are former players themselves, and often they are good, but not necessarily great players. In any event, it seems virtually certain that actually having been in the arena at some level, having been a true game player, is a necessary ingredient for a great coach.

So then, what an important advantage sailing coaches have, since the sport allows lifelong top-level competitive opportunities. While it would be impossible for a middle-aged football coach to live, first-hand, what his players go through on the gridiron, middle-aged sailors and coaches can stay current, and can compete right alongside the world’s best sailors, and even win world championships in sailing. Opportunities exist in team racing, match racing, and all types of one-design classes offer regattas, year-round. In this manner, sailing coaches have the ability to get inside the sport, at the highest levels, learn more, and feel the same things that their players go through out on the race course. The empathy gained here is a very powerful tool that great coaches employ when coaching.

Getting into the rhythm of a sailboat race, realizing first-hand the excitement and frustrations of the sport, preparing mentally for each race, “knowing when to tack”, these are all things that coaches must be able to talk to their players about, and talking to them about these things is so much more clear and present when done by someone who is actually good at them, and has done them recently at a high level.

For example, it was always easy for me to say to a team, “make sure when you are in FJ’s at the starting line to allow yourself more leeward room to accelerate since the foils are small and the boats need to go bow down first before they start lifting.” It was really easy to say. It was quite another thing to actually do it, and to go out on the starting line, in FJ’s, and practice what I preached. That was a LOT harder, and I drew a great deal of empathy with my players from that situation and recognized better ways to talk about it and to talk them through it, having been there myself. This is especially true in team racing, where coaches can see plays easily on the coach boat or on the drawing board, but it’s one thing to talk about a mark trap at Mark 1; it’s another thing altogether to go out and be able to execute it. Without being, or having been, in the arena, sailing advice and technical coaching can be somewhat hollow compared to other sailing coaches who know it first-ha
nd and live what they coach.

So, when you look to your coaches for advice or to get to that next level, or if you are a interested in sailing in a college program, take a moment and check out the coaches resumes, just as they will most assuredly be checking yours. The list that makes coaches good coaches should be there for sure, but see if the coaches list how, or if, they stay current in their profession and have the passion to go out on the racecourse themselves. Great coaches usually always have a story, and very recent one, of a lesson learned at a regatta they sailed in themselves. They love to sail and get better, if only to become a better sailor and coach.

While there is a short list of coaches who choose to (and can) do it all, many top collegiate programs now share these coaching qualities by hiring an assistant or co-head coach, who is very often a recent college sailing alumnus and is active in dinghy racing and brings that empathy, right away, to the team. The head coach then ties everything together with experience, maturity, management, and knowledge of the game.

If you’ve ever noticed, baseball coaches actually suit up for games even though they certainly won’t be playing. This historically comes from the old “player-coach” model, and perhaps, this connects them with the game and the player more intimately. Sailing offers the unique ability for all ages to compete at the highest levels of the sport, and great sailing coaches take advantage of this, “suiting up” themselves and making themselves better at coaching by sailing competitively.

We invite you to share your thoughts about coaching using our forum below, and to nominate your coach for our second SAIL1DESIGN COACH OF THE YEAR. Please submit a nomination to:

  editor@sail1design.com  and explain in 300 words or less why your nomination deserves to be the S1D Coach of the Year.

Last years winner was Steven Hunt. To read his nomination letter and learn more about him, go here: https://www.sail1design.com/general-news/1056-s1d-coach-of-the-year-steve-hunt

Meet the Optimist Dinghy

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by Airwaves writer Emma White

The optimist, originally designed by Clark Mills in 1947, became a registered One-Design boat in 1995; after a few modifications. It is roughly 8 feet long, precisely 3 feet and eight inches wide, and weighs approximately 77 pounds. Although, many describe this boat as a floating bathtub, it does not stop youth sailors from competing and having fun. Sailed internationally in more than 100 countries with approximately 200,000 sailors registered in optimists. Optimists are safe and are easy for kids to sail who want to hit the water and have some fun. Optimists are also sailed competitively. Whether it be state, national, or even international competitions, opti sailors enjoy the thrill of racing this boat. Sailors learn invaluable skills from high-level coaches, make life-long friends, and learn skills that increase independence through various clinics and regattas offered to them.

Optimist sailors range from the age of 10 to15 years old. They are eligible to compete in national and international events. These sailors represent the ‘red’, ‘white’, and ‘blue’ fleets. The divisions further separate the sailors by age. Sailors aged10 are placed into White fleet, followed by sailors aging between 11-12 who are in Blue fleet, and finally sailors aging between 13-15 who are in Red fleet. Although, the fleets divided the age group of 10-15, they all compete with one another on the starting line and in the race course. Results of regattas are delineated by “fleet” and the top female competitor is usually recognized. The use of fleets is just one way to identify each racer.  Racing is available to sailors younger than 10 years of age and this group of sailors is referred to as “green fleet”. National and local events are organized for these eager, opti-enthusiasts as well, allowing them to get a head start on opti competition before they join the older sailors.

A wide age range of opti sailors also translates into a broad weight range of the junior sailors. A study of the 2011 Optimist Worlds (a competition among the most skilled opti sailors in the world) which was held in New Zealand, pinpoints the range and average weight of the top ten optimist sailors of the regatta. The average size of the finishers were 110 pounds, with a range of 30 pounds. This means that optis are for sailors of all sizes, and it also means, contrary to popular belief, optimists are not boats that sailors outgrow at the age 13.

Many of opti sailors have aspirations of competing at the Olympic level. In fact, nearly 50 percent of the United States Sailing Team are previous opti sailors. Optimists are provide a strong sailing foundation, fun and they are competitive.

            Rigging Information:

–  One hull

$1–  Fiberglass

–  One sail

$1–  The sail is held up with a sprit and two battens

$1–  Sail-ties connect the sail to the boom and mast

$1–  To adjust sail shape, change the sprit, vang, and outhaul tension

–  Use a rudder and centerboard

Thank you to the following sources for making this article possible:

http://www.optiworld.org

https://sites.google.com/site/optiracingusscmc/faqs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimist_(dinghy)

http://pix.daveheinphotography.com/Boats

            

International Sailing Academy Joins the S1D Team

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The International Sailing Academy is happy to join the Sail1Design community. We are a Laser and Optimist winter training facility for youth, masters and Olympic athletes. Our location in Mexico provides warm climates and great conditions for sailors to prepare for their events. Below you will find our first article about starting technique in the Laser. If you have any other questions, please send us an email at info@internationalsailingacademy.com, and don’t hesitate to visit our website to find a clinic for you!

Downspeed manoeuvres for better starts

After having done my pre-game research and having a good idea of where I want to start, I set up on the line, then use the remaining time (usually between 1 minute to 1:30 left) to create a bigger hole to leeward, and defend from poachers. The skills to increase your hole are known as “downspeed maneuvers” and they can be classified as:

a) shooting up,
b) sailing backwards,
c) double tack.

The most common is shooting up. This requires a very strong ability in sculling. Use your tiller to pivot your boat down while sheeting out. As long as your sail is completely luffing, you should be able to pivot around your daggerboard without moving forward. From a near close hauled course, add leeward heel and sheet in slightly and sit back & out to swing your bow back into the wind while minimizing forward movement.

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It is important to gain distance to windward to remain “bow even” with the other boats, but never too much to risk going over the line early, or forcing the boats around you to do the same. Having “shot up” into the wind, there will be several moments when your boat is NOT slipping sideways towards the port end of the line. This is where you make gains. Once you start going backwards again, you need to re-gain control by sculling down again. Having repeated this several times, you will open up a gap to leeward and allow for the other boats to drift away. You can also use the technique to make your hole look unappealing to poachers. Be careful not to break Rule 42. The jury is watching for your tiller to cross the centerline; so scull down to close hauled on starboard tack, then make sure you initiate your turn back up with just your sail & body weight, and let the tiller follow the boat.

Sailing backwards requires you to avoid other boats. Think of this skill as a ‘reset’ for entering a hole. If you’ve either fallen back from being bow even with the other boats around you, or gotten too close to the boat to leeward, or essentially just too crammed in – sail backwards so that you can re-approach the line with better control and space. The steering is the hardest part. Getting used to steering backwards is crucial(an easy one to practice on your own, though!). Once you have really good control of where the boat is going, you should be able to reverse out of the lineup with ease. Here are the basic steps:

1. Make sure your boat is dead stopped. Any forward movement will cause the boat to tack when you press your boom out.
2. Aim your rudder straight back at first
3. Slightly press on your boom until you get some speed, gradually increase pressure on the boom as your reverse speed increases. Too much will cause you to tack unwillingly onto port.
4. Push the tiller away from you to bring your bow down, and stern to windward. Keep pushing your sail out past 90 degrees or else it will fill with wind, and your attempt to reverse will be over.

Once you’ve reversed out, you can now decide whether you want to sail back into the same hole, or bail out and go find another one further down the line.

Only when you have enough space to windward, should you attempt the double tack. The double tack means that you will momentarily be losing your rights, and sailing back towards a group of angry starboard tackers. However, this is an absolute game changer if you can pull it off. It is important to effectively complete 2 tacks without any acceleration. You do this by simply backwinding and luffing.

Initiate a shoot up then backwind your sail immediately by pressing the boom away from you. If you have any forward movement, this should tack you onto port fairly easily.

Once on port, luff your sail and quickly switch your hands on the tiller, so that you can scull if needed. Now you need to do a port tack shootup to reverse the process. Do it quickly before the boats to windward notice!
scull down, shoot up, push the boom away from you, and you should be on starboard tack before you know it.

Voila! you have created a bigger hole to leeward of you that you can use to accelerate!

Practice:
1. Setup 2 marks about 10 boat lengths apart
. sail your boat up to the starboard end and stop once you become overlapped by heading up head to wind and slightly backwinding. Begin repeating the process of sculling down, then shooting back head to wind and try to NEVER become un-overlapped between the 2 marks. Obviously the longer you can make your drift time between starboard end and port end, the more your are eliminating drift. Once you have reached the port end of the line, stop your clock then repeat the drill and try to beat your time. If you can keep your boat under control for more than 4 minutes without losing overlap, that is mighty impressive!

2. Setup two marks about two boat lengths apart. This is your hole on the startline. Every 2 minutes you will have to protect your hole for 1 minute. Do this by eliminating drift, sailing backward, or double tacking. Accelerate at go.


Max St-Maurice
International Sailing Academy


www.internationalsailingacademy.com

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