Ken Legler, just retired from a multi-decade run as a successful championship college sailing coach, most notably at Tufts University, shares his notebook with Sail1Design in this Team Racing how-to series> Enjoy.
Winter Teammate Meetings, By Ken Legler
“Telling ‘em ain’t learning ‘em,” was the sage advice of Gary Bodie’s (famous sailing coach) grandfather. Before the advice, Gary explained every play to his team on a long van ride, but they seemed to have retained nothing once on the water. Here is a method of getting each boat on the same page for every play.
Meet with a minimum of three skippers but better to have three crews also in the front row and B team sailors listening in as well. In a dorm lounge, den, or even dining room table, use a set of small model boats to map out each play. Think of your five best team racing friends around a coffee table pushing the little boat models around.
Easy models: cut six 2” boats from a manilla folder and draw a line for the sail on one tack, flip over and draw the sail on the other tack. Also make an RC boat, several marks, and a wind arrow. So small you can carry them around in a small envelope in your wallet where your money used to be.
Consider starting with the last leg and with a winning 1-2-3 combination. What will your covering scheme be? Push the boats around until you agree on the scheme that seems like it will work best. Then set up a 1-2-4 combo and again work out the best covering scheme, then 1-2-5. Ultimately you do this for all 20 possible combinations including when to tack in a 4-5-6. The tricky ones, of course, are the close ones such as what to do in a 1-4-6 or a 2-3-6. The idea is that you all know what your teammate will do, which is to play the odds in your team’s favor, according to the agreed scheme.
It might take a few weekly meetings before you can plan not only the last leg but the plays at marks, downwind tactics, and starts. These talks will get you psyched for spring sailing starting soon.
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