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By Airwaves writer Elizabeth Dudley

We are right in the middle of the spring sailing season, and even as I sit in the warm Maryland weather of March, I can still remember the cold New England spring practices and regattas.  The ones where you arrive on site and all you think is, “Really? Why do I do this to myself!?”  The air is cold, the water is probably colder, and you are tasked with keeping yourself warm and functional for entire days.

Photo taken from the Bowdoin (brrrr!) College Sailing Team Web Page

Out of necessity, everyone eventually comes up with some sort of system for keeping their extremities in a condition that allows you to feel them and know they exist.  So I thought it would be fun, interesting, and helpful to pool together the survival tactics that sailors swear by and I think I have been able to put a pretty solid list together.

The one key thing that most people mentioned was the thin line between warmth and mobility.  An easy way to make sure you will be warm all day is to literally wear everything you own.  Or at least everything you can fit in your gear bag.  And while this idea is warm in both theory and practice, it is not practical if you intend on doing anything that requires movement.

As one sailor put it, wearing too many layers makes you feel like the little brother in “A Christmas Story” when he falls down in the snow and is unable to get up without the help of his brother Ralphie.  The last thing you want is to flip on a cold, blustery day, and not be able to get you and your boat out of the water because you cannot touch your arms to your sides.

This restriction of mobility will also make you colder in the long run.  Movement is key to keeping your blood flowing and your body working so that you stay warm.  Staying mobile is often hardest to remember in between races, out on the water.

It does not take much movement to keep the blood flowing.  Many choose to employ the “penguin shrug” which, as it sounds, is simply putting your hands by your sides and shrugging your shoulders.  Others like to jump up and down, run in place, or do some jumping jacks.  If you feel yourself start to get cold, start moving.

Another important thing to remember is that the human body automatically works hardest to heat your core.  So if your core is already warm, then your body can focus on the extremities that seem to get so cold so easily.  The best advice I’ve heard for keeping you core warm is to wear vests.  As an extra layer they are very warm and as they do not have sleeves, they do not restrict your movement in anyway.

Your core is important to keep warm but so are your hands, feet, and head: the places that heat escapes from the fastest.  And of those three, your head is probably the easiest to keep warm.  Many sailors swear by the double hat: the baseball cap underneath with a wool hat overtop (one with the tassels so you can tie them under your chin for extra warmth).  With this, the top hat gets wet while the bottom one, and your head, stays dry.  From experience, I cannot say this is true 100% of the time, but it is a system that works better than others.  Neck warmers and face masks are also absolutely key if only to protect yourself from that first cold wave to the face.

How poor your circulation is will dictate the ease by which you keep your hands and feet warm.  For your feet, the important thing to remember is not to wear too many socks; tightness around your feet will cut your circulation off and make your feet cold.  Most people recommend one pair of thick wool socks or two pairs if your socks are thinner.  But for your feet, less is certainly more.  Then comes the question, Aigles or Neoprene boots?  Is there a difference?

Hands are arguably the most difficult part of your body to keep warm; they are the one thing constantly exposed to cold water and cold, wet lines.  The type of glove you decide to wear is very much a personal decision.  But many people do like the glove liners underneath a dish glove.  The thin dish gloves you can buy pretty much anywhere tuck easily into a dry suit wrist seal.  Thicker ones, like the William Sonoma gloves, don’t tuck as easily but are thicker and so provide more warmth.  People also like the Atlas gloves that you can find in most hardware stores that come in all thicknesses, including the lined lobster gloves.  But for those and the other thicker dish gloves, a word to the wise, they will reek after one day of sailing if you do not take the time to turn them inside out and dry them out.  And even then, they will never smell good.

Overtop of all these layers, most people where a dry suit.  Theoretically, you and your layers stay dry.  Although I have heard arguments for the wet suit.  In those things, apparently even sopping wet, you are still warm.

But the majority of people go with the dry suit.  And between that and your layers, you can be so warm that you will sweat.  If you are moving all day, this sweat will not be a problem; your body will not cool down and so neither will the sweat.  But if you have off sets or down time, that sweat will get cold and so will you.  For this reason, it is smart to have a second set of everything and, although a pain to do, change in between sets.  Now you are completely dry and warm, and while you are out sailing, your now sweaty, cold gear will have a chance to dry.  It took me far too long to learn that and I am very happy now that I did.

Some other tidbits I picked up along the way are:

• · Putting Vaseline on your cheeks to decrease the wind and cold chapping.

• · Girls, take your earrings out.  Metal gets cold easily and then so will your ears.

• · Hand and foot warmers are always good to have on hand.

• · Stick a fleece neck warmer between you and your lifejacket to warm your hands between races.

• · Cotton kills.

Please feel free to leave comments under this, I would love to hear what others do to keep themselves from freezing.  Good luck this spring and stay warm!

By Martha Pitt

Every year, the US Sailing Center in Martin County, Florida hosts one of the most competitive 420 regattas in the country – the 420 Midwinter Championship.  The country’s top junior sailors travel to the hopeful warmth of Florida sun to compete in the three day regatta over President’s Day weekend.  This year, eighty-four boats sailed the event in probably the widest range of conditions possible, with very light breeze just following postponement to nearing small craft advisory winds that cut racing short on Sunday, and blowing from just about every direction through the weekend.  The challenging and changing conditions pushed the sailors to constantly adjust throughout each day and each race, and the truly versatile sailors were able to come out on top.

Emerging victorious at this year’s event were Esteban Forrer and crew Christopher Ford from California.  The duo showed great consistency throughout the event through the final day, beating second place Alex Curtiss and Daniel Ron (from Chicago and Houston, respectively) by just four points. The two seventeen year old boys come from opposite ends of the state, Forrer from Coronado in Southern California while Ford lives north in Millbrae, just outside of San Francisco.  But the distance has not slowed these two down – for the past year they have been competing together, and have consistently been able to get themselves to the front of the fleet! Their top results from the past year include 1^st at the Buzzards Bay Regatta, 4^th at Orange Bowl, 9^th at 420 Nationals, and 7^th at the Hyannis Regatta.  They also compete together in 29ers, finishing 5^th at Youth Champs and 3^rd at 29er Nationals.  Listen as the Esteban and Christopher talk of their experiences, explain their success, and shed light on what is in store in the future!

S1D: How long have you been sailing 420s?

EF: I started sailing C420 four years ago. I just started sailing the I420 this year.

CF: I started racing Club 420s in 2009. I started my freshman year when I went to Bemis with Matt Van Rensselaer.

S1D: What other types of boats do you/have you sailed?

EF: I sailed Naples Sabots, Optimists (qualified for Worlds 2009 Brazil) CFJs, I420s, and 29ers.

CF: I race 29ers and I420s in addition to the Club 420. I’ve sailed all types of boats ranging from I14s to Optimists to foiling Moths.

S1D: Have you guys sailed together a lot in the past or is this a new partnership?

CF: We’ve been sailing together for a little over a year now. We met at JO’s in Santa Barbara then started sailing together at the Youth Worlds Qualifier in Texas.

S1D: How often do you practice?

EF: We actually don’t get to practice much due to our distance. On average maybe a weekend a month of practice and a lot of regattas!

CF: Whenever there is an event. We like to get to the venue a couple days in advance to tune up before the regatta. Other than that, we use local regattas as a training ground for our larger events. We would practice more if we lived closer together.

S1D: What does a typical 420 practice look like?

EF: Our practices are fun, yet competitive. Our coach really knows how to balance a practice perfectly.

CF: To start, we always focus on boathandling – tacks, gybes, sets, gybe-sets, douses, gybe-douses, accelerations. After that, we line up with our tuning partners and work on straight-line speed. When the wind is less than cooperative, we take time to work on our tuning and rigging of the boat to make sure it is perfectly set up for racing.

S1D: What are your favorite conditions in which to sail?

EF: I enjoy sailing in all types of conditions. My favorite has to be when the breeze pipes up with some big waves.

CF: I enjoy sailing in the light stuff (2-5) and breeze on (20+). The light stuff adds a huge mental challenge to racing whereas the breeze-on conditions add a physical one. Flat water is always fun, but sailing in chop makes things more interesting. It adds a ne
w challenge to racing.

S1D: Who usually coaches you?

CF: Michael Anderson-Mitterling and Parker Mitchell. Both are fantastic and provide a lot of insight.

S1D: Do you have a team that you sail with regularly, or do you join coach groups independently?

CF: We do a little bit of both. At large regattas, we race with Team Dave [out of Minnetonka, MN]. At the smaller local regattas like the Perry series events, we sail independently or with one other boat.

S1D: What did you think of the conditions at Midwinters?

EF: I thought the conditions were very fun. I think the last day was the trickiest of the days to understand what the wind was doing.

S1D: Were you expecting to do so well at this event? What were your goals going into the event?

EF: Going into the event we definitely expected to do well and compete with the top group.  Our goal was to have fun, and to finish in the top three overall.

CF: We went in hoping for a good result. Winning is always the goal but we were by no means expecting to do so. Our goal was to be consistently in the top five every race. We knew if we were able to do that, we would have a shot at finishing overall up at the top of the fleet.

S1D: Who did you see as your toughest competition?

EF: Our toughest competition was most of the So-Cal sailors, as well with some LISOT sailors, and Alex Curtiss [of Chicago YC].

CF: There are a ton of really talented sailors in the fleet. Jack Jorgenson and his crew Savana Brown [from Alamitos Bay YC] are really solid, Alex Curtis and Daniel Ron [from Houston YC] are another fast team. Will Holz and his crew Rose Edwards [also from Chicago YC] are also quick. Charlie Lalumiere [from Portland YC in Maine] is really quick. Of course, you take a look at the competition, but at the end of the day, it’s all about sailing your own race.

S1D: You were coached by Mikee Anderson-Mitterling and Parker Mitchell. What were the best things about your coaches at the event? Did they play an active role in your strategy and success?

EF: Our coaches helped us a lot at the event. Their input was very helpful, and combining it with my ideas were key.

CF: Our coaches are fantastic. They provide tons of insight as they’ve done a ton of racing (both Olympic, dinghys, and in sportboats). They help us understand what the conditions are doing and how we can use those changes to our advantage. They both provide words of wisdom and pep talks when we need them. Personally, Mikee is a role model type figure. His professionalism when it comes to both sailing and life has definitely rubbed off on me and its been a huge benefit to my sailing and life.

S1D: The Race Committee was being very aggressive with the Z flag and the black flag, which set a lot of teams back in the standings – did that effect your starting strategy at all?

EF: Back from my Opti day I have become very familiar with the Black and Z flags. I have learned how to change my starting game plan and know exactly how aggressive I can be with out being penalized.

CF: Honestly, not a whole lot. We were just focused on getting clean, conservative starts that would allow us to round the windward mark with the top pack. From then, we could make our moves and work up into the top five.

S1D: As is the case in regattas with lots of races, consistency is key – how were you able to stay consistent in the changing conditions and challenging fleet?

EF: The biggest contribution to staying consistent in the regatta was testing the course repeatedly after every race and watch the fleet ahead of me to figure out the next tactical decision.

CF: Being conservative and taking the regatta race by race helped out a lot. We knew we didn’t have to go out and win every race. We played the odds and hedged all of our decisions so we would finish each race with a “keeper.”

S1D:
The lead was tight between a few teams going into day three of racing – what were your thoughts going into that last day? The last race?

EF: Walking to the venue the last day I convinced myself it was just another day of sailing. There was nothing special about that day and I just needed to do what I do best. After the first race my two closest competitors behind me finished with about the same score as myself. The points didn’t change and I still had my five point lead. In the second race, I finished 11^th with the second and third place boats finishing 1^st and 2^nd in their races. This put me four points behind first and tied for second, but I would lose all tie-breakers. When I talked to my coaches they didn’t have much to say. Their exact words were ‘You just HAVE to win this race’. And after a very tough race I managed a 2^nd, which sealed the regatta for me.

CF: The last day was a fun one. Going into the last race, we knew the point spread up until that point. We were the second start so while we were going upwind I kept track of the current standings of the fleet in front of us. Regardless, we knew we had to have a good race, so we went out and did just that. Our coach Mikee gave us a talk before the race and gave us his “quintessentially Mikee” words of wisdom.

S1D: Looking forward, what’s next? Are you guys going to continue to sail together this summer?

EF: Our summer plans are still being pieced together. As we both are going to college next year we are trying to find a schedule that works. However, I have planned to sail Youth Champs 2012 with Daniel Ron, where we plan to take another big regatta under our belts, especially if the wind cooperates!

S1D: Any goals as you look further into 2012 and beyond?

EF: I plan to attend either Old Dominion University, College of Charleston, or St. Mary’s College of Maryland (in no particular order). I intend on doing college sailing and 470 sailing through college, hopefully preparing me for an olympic campaign!

CF: Absolutely. College sailing is something that both Esteban and I will be doing. Additionally, the possibility of an olympic campaign isn’t entirely out of the picture.

S1D: Do you have any other comments about your victorious experience at Midwinters?

CF: It was a ton of fun sailing the Midwinters regatta. It was a great regatta and its always a blast sailing with Esteban. Big thanks go out to US Sailing, the US Sailing Center there in Jensen Beach, our friends at Sturgis Boatworks, our coaches Mikee and Parker, our parents, Team Dave Sailing, and all of our competitors. Without them, the regatta wouldn’t have been nearly as successful or fun. Thank you guys so much!