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Getting better? |
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JP233
Groupie Joined: 05 Dec 11 Location: warwick Online Status: Offline Posts: 47 |
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Topic: Getting better? Posted: 18 Feb 13 at 5:14pm |
Get some friends who sails the same boat or something similar, and three buoys, two for the start line and a top mark for bearings.
Do a 5,4,1-min start then sail 10 meters turn around and start again. After that 100 tacks and 100 gybes before you get to the other side of the lake. hurts like hell, but damn we were quick after!
Edited by JP233 - 19 Feb 13 at 11:54am |
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Thanks
Jamie |
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Clive Evans
Groupie Joined: 18 Feb 13 Location: Sydney Online Status: Offline Posts: 46 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 18 Feb 13 at 10:01pm |
Thanks for the great answer, i've been trying this with a few guys at my club who are both top 5 at the nationals and it certainly helps - i need to sail well in all aspects to beat them.
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Spiral 816
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Clive Evans
Groupie Joined: 18 Feb 13 Location: Sydney Online Status: Offline Posts: 46 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 18 Feb 13 at 10:04pm |
Thanks, i'm aware of Jon, problem is i'm Sydney based. Watched him winning a fair few races in the radial fleet which started one ahead of us at Sail Sydney whilst he was here though
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Spiral 816
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sargesail
Really should get out more Joined: 14 Jan 06 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 1459 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 18 Feb 13 at 10:14pm |
Clive,
You're right to say that actually practising in 50 boats is hard to do....and multiple nationals can be the only way. But there are some things you can do to make technique into skill, and which you can do by yourself or with friends. For starting I would say: Stay in the box / next to the bouy. Stop-starts. Stand-still bear aways/head ups (defending a gap you want to start in). I would also say that a regatta in which you also start second or third rank (deliberately - so you stay mentally sound!) can pay massive dividends. You will get so much better at getting thru the traffic in good shape when you have a bad one which will happen. Also work to understand what bias means in terms of acceleration angles/times/distances, speed of closure with the line, and angles to other boats. The latter you can do ashore. But you only need 3 or 4 boats for the former as well. And always make a plan - what you want to do....work out how you will do it....and afterwards assess how well you did it. (Be your own coach again). Tell you what though - I'll give you a whole weekends coaching for free....all you have to do is fly me and the family to Sydney for a week....
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Clive Evans
Groupie Joined: 18 Feb 13 Location: Sydney Online Status: Offline Posts: 46 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 18 Feb 13 at 11:29pm |
Thanks for your answer, this is just the sort of reply i'd hoped i'd get. I think that racing for me has been all about getting comfortable with your racing surroundings. In a nutshell my conclusion is that i haven't done enough nationals in big fleets (maybe 10 in 20 years) so i feel comfortable in any club race, at 20 boat opens but not in 50 (or in solos case 100) boat starts. I frequently get beaten by sailors I beat every week in club racing and opens at nationals level
So by reinforcing your technique so it doesn't fall apart during big races gives better results in the long run i guess?
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Spiral 816
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sargesail
Really should get out more Joined: 14 Jan 06 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 1459 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 19 Feb 13 at 6:52am |
Clive,
Are you also aware of the old adage: In small fleets be bold, in big fleets be conservative. The symptoms you describe are often tied to not playing the %s enough.
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Clive Evans
Groupie Joined: 18 Feb 13 Location: Sydney Online Status: Offline Posts: 46 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 19 Feb 13 at 10:16am |
By that do you mean taking more tactical risks in smaller fleets knowing you can recover most places on skill alone whereas in larger fleets accept that some races will be great some ok and some poor and that taking risks that pay off may get the odd good place but overall it's harder to recover? We used to have sailors in the solos who would hit hard right banging the corners in EVERY race the whole week and end up with a win and 8 60ths!
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Spiral 816
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SoggyBadger
Really should get out more Joined: 26 Oct 10 Location: The Wild Wood Online Status: Offline Posts: 552 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 19 Feb 13 at 11:22am |
Colliding with things is never a good tactic, especially anything with corners. That can lead to a phenomenon known as sinking. |
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Best wishes from deep in the woods
SB |
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Jamesd
Far too distracted from work Joined: 01 Feb 08 Online Status: Offline Posts: 377 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 19 Feb 13 at 11:48am |
there is a book by the mentioned Jon Emmett called be your own sailing coach (or something similar) and thats a very good read for helping with self analysis. I recommend it.
Also there is a website called sailjuice.com which is basically there to help people like yourself get better. It is like 5 quid a month or something but is rammed with useful info and articles. The guy that runs it is great and a quick email to him telling him what you want to achieve would be a good idea as i am sure he will point you towards the best articles. I found the biggest jump in my starting was to think about time and distance. What i do before races on the way out to the start is work out in those conditions how fast my boat accelerates and moves. I will stop next to a boy and accelerate and check the second hand of a stop watch for 1 boat length, 2 BL, 3 BL etc. the more you do this the easier it gets and you will get to a point where a timed run pre race lasts all of 5 seconds. Then when you are lining up think of the distance in time. I find saying it helps. so instead of 2 boat lengths away, you are 6 seconds from stand-still or 3 seconds from half pace etc. that way you know you need to be 'pulling the trigger' at 6 seconds to go. I will sort a transit and know roughly where i want to start and then get other transits for say 1bl, 2, bl etc behind the line. Obviously this is sailing and it is NEVER that straight forward, but if you start doing this and knowing where your boat can be in X seconds, your starts will improve massively! I think thats the basics of starting, hitting the line at go, get the basics and build on them with holding position, line bias, first beat plans etc! Sorry if that is confusing, it is a lot of dribble
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Hector
Really should get out more Joined: 10 May 04 Location: Otley, Yorkshire Online Status: Offline Posts: 750 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 19 Feb 13 at 6:28pm |
Very good video about starting strategy featuring Peter Isler here - -Its VERY long, but some very good stuff.
Otherwise, practise and practise some more.
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Keith
29er 661 (with my daughters / nephew) 49er 688 (with Phil P) RS200 968 Vortex (occasionally) Laser 2049XX |
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