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That Extra 2-3%
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Chris 249 View Drop Down
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Posts: 2041 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Chris 249 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: That Extra 2-3%
    Posted: 10 Feb 17 at 12:16am
IMHO a lot of it is the intensity - trimming boat and sails more often but more subtly. I find the hardest thing of all to get crews who are used to the middle of the fleet to do is becoming intense enough; trimming the jib every time the boat bears down a wave while they semi-stand and smoothly move aft at the same time, etc.

Another thing is what some sports psychs call "self efficacy", I think - the knowledge that it is only logical that you will do well because you have done all the training. It's quite different from the hyped-up self-belief, and IMHO it's that grounding that allows you to grind back from bad legs without blowing up psychologically.

Another thing is fleet management; sailing for consistency and (depending on the regatta) keeping the right sort of eye on your rivals. That doesn't mean always tightly covering them, but it does mean not charging off into corners and being prepared to sail percentages.

It's also important to be able to identify your path to improvement; are you getting good starts and then gradually losing ground to the boats around you (= boatspeed issues) or are you losing ground in big chunks (= tactics) or falling over (= boathandling). The better sailors seem to spend more time identifying the specifics of where they must improve.

I just did a nationals in a class I've sailed in for years, but basically dropped out of several years ago. With only half a dozen training sessions but with a new sail to replace my old one (which despite only being used for nationals and being meticulously cared for had been getting slow without my realising) the speed was great - it's just that the lack of practise caused fitness and gybing issues, some dodgy mid-line starts, stuffing up one layline and crashing out at the very last gybe mark, which put me from about 5th out of 74 down to 9th. However, those specific performance issues have been identified and now that I'm getting back into the class seriously it's an easy matter to do some specific training to get back to the front.

Perhaps the key, once your speed is OK is very specifically identifying every place you lost time and places and then eradicating the problem in training and preparation. That can include (as in my case) being more aware of my tendency to not notice my sails ageing when they are still capable of giving good results.


Edited by Chris 249 - 10 Feb 17 at 12:43am
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Oinks View Drop Down
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Joined: 24 Oct 14
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Posts: 267 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Oinks Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Feb 17 at 12:17am
There's that thing about "being in the groove",when everything rather mystically all suddenly comes together. I've had that, but can't for the life of me quantitatively or qualitatively ascertain what it was so I could reproduce it on a regular basis!
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Steve411 View Drop Down
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Posts: 705 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Steve411 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Feb 17 at 10:18am
There's no silver bullet - it's about making small gains in lots of areas. 

Training goes without saying - I typically train 2 or 3 times as much as I race. General time on the water helps but targeted training is so much more efficient. Be brutally honest with yourself about strengths and weakness - upwind in waves, upwind in light winds in a slop, downwind in waves, straightline speed etc. There will be up to 20 of these. Mark yourself out of 10 (honestly) and work on anything less than a 7 or 8. There will be non-racing bits as well on this list too - understanding tidal flows at the venue, fitness etc. Mark yourself on these too. I used to make a note of every mistake I'd made in a race (bad start, overstanding the windward mark, missing a shift etc). It's a bit nerdy but it helps highlight where you need to improve.

Whenever I've been to class training it seems most of the emphasis is on tacking and gybing. That's fine and they need to be done efficiently - but really how often do you tack and gybe in a race - say, 4 tacks a beat and one gybe per lap (unless in an asymmetric)? My view is to concentrate much more on straightline speed - upwind and down. If you can eke out a few boatlengths upwind you'll be a tactical wizard. It can be a bit boring sometimes just sailing upwind concentrating on speed and heeling angle, but it helps. For that reason, I mostly do a maximum of an hour's training at a time before stopping for a break (coming in for a cup of tea or stopping on the water for 5 minutes) to ward off boredom.

I think downwind speed is more important than upwind speed. All the top guys are searingly quick downwind. Think about it. In most hiking boats it's impossible to gain more than a fraction of a knot upwind in most conditions. Downwind you can double your speed by getting on waves properly. Practise! You will still need to be in the top 10% at the first mark though.

Fitness is paramount too. A few years ago I was out of work for a few months. In between job hunting I spent a lot of time in the gym and out running. I thought it would make a slight difference to my speed. It actually made a massive difference - not necessarily on the first lap of a race when everyone's still sitting out hard, but on subsequent laps when fatigue starts to set in. I mostly do a lot of running and leg exercises.

Finally, even at this relatively bottom end of the sport, psychology is more important than most people realise. I like to be comfortable in new surroundings. If I haven't been to a venue before, and there isn't a pre-Nationals event there, I try and spend half a day sometime ahead of the regatta just wandering round, getting my bearing etc. I just find it helps me. I think this also why you find people who do really well at open meetings but often fail to deliver at Nationals. Too much personalised pressure, feeling uncomfortable in new surroundings? If you've done the preparation - training, fitness, tides etc you'll feel confident and that's a tremendous help. You don't need to tell anyone but if you know you're the one who's put the hours in over the winter when you'd have preferred not to go out, got up early to go to the gym etc, you'll have an inner smugness (sorry, confidence) that is difficult to match.

I've found all of the above has worked for me. Others no doubt have different approaches which are just as valid if not more so, but I think the more you think about your sailing the more you'll understand the changes you need to make.
Steve B
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Chris 249 View Drop Down
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Posts: 2041 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Chris 249 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Feb 17 at 10:44am
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That was such a great post I went to the RS300 page to find out who you were. Well done!


Edited by Chris 249 - 10 Feb 17 at 10:47am
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Steve411 View Drop Down
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Posts: 705 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Steve411 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Feb 17 at 10:53am
Originally posted by Chris 249

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That was such a great post I went to the RS300 page to find out who you were. Well done!

Thank you!
Steve B
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MikeBz View Drop Down
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Posts: 536 		Post Options Post Options   Quote MikeBz Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Feb 17 at 11:32am
Originally posted by Chris 249

/\

That was such a great post I went to the RS300 page to find out who you were. Well done!

^^^^^^  what he said.  Except that I already knew who you were  Big smile
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Daniel Holman View Drop Down
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Posts: 997 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Daniel Holman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Feb 17 at 11:47am
Steve 411 has it bang on.
Boatspeed is king really, tactics can be nuanced but most of it is in books and trying out different approaches to the same situation. Tactical acumen and nice tacks can keep you in the hunt on a little pond or river but useless anywhere else without pace.
On the sea you are pissing in the wind if you aren't fast.
Think the effect of setup and tuning and boat bits can be overstated.
Remember Giles Scott's gold winning coach saying that the biggest speed differences he had seen in any world class fleet was the laser, not the 49er Finn etc, i.e. The one with the identical kit and not much tuning scope.
All in the sheeting, steering and body positioning and movement. Loads of people can be fast for a minute or so but the really good guys can keep it on the boil for entire legs and races.
Rya 5 essentials and looking at tell tales gets you near the front of most club races mind.
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Daniel Holman View Drop Down
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Posts: 997 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Daniel Holman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Feb 17 at 11:52am
Oh yeah.
A day of coaching (from the right person) can often fast track 2 years of trial and error.
Esp if the coachee takes on board what is said and can change behaviours i.e. Are "trainable" or "responders" in current coaching parlance.
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fab100 View Drop Down
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Posts: 1005 		Post Options Post Options   Quote fab100 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Feb 17 at 12:28pm
Practising Mr B? Surely that's seen as a form of cheating in most eyes.

For those that do not have the time to practise, there is Nick Craig's approach. Some races are races, some are training-races, where the primary objective is to learn something or improve a technique, rather than the finishing place.
Great book for Club Sailors here
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Sam.Spoons View Drop Down
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Posts: 3401 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Sam.Spoons Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Feb 17 at 12:37pm
I Like it Wink all the races I have done in the Blaze thus far have been 'training races'  Thumbs Up
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