I've been thinking about this for a while and thought I'd get some people's opinions

If you're in the Olympic / development squad you get coaching from elite coaches

If you're beginning to race, clubs or class associations can provide coaching to get you entering club racing or your first open meeting

But what about if you are in the middle? What do open meeting sailors do to improve?

I'm 32 been sailing since I was 11, I've done plenty of opens, winning some, and flirted with the top 10 at my nationals recently but getting better is tricky!

I know there's no magic answer but has anyone ever managed to make the transition from 'also ran' to the sharp end?

Is it paying for a coach? Getting fitter? My starts have always been the worst part of my sailing would 3-4 big fleet nationals a year in different but similar classes be better than sticking with 1 class but only getting big starts once in a blue moon?

What would you do?

 

I agree, we always try to run different levels of coaching in the 700's, certainly covering the beginners but also looking at the intermediate level and above.

 

Ian

I know association training sessions can be helpful, solos used to run training days (still do) but they are geared towards intermediate levels in my experience

So do the 700's run training attended by guys in say 10-15 at your nationals (see you had 30 plus at nationals)

 

Yes, is the simple answer.  We often bring in either one of the top guys to run a session or buy in a coach, after the day before the Nationals.  People like Harvey Hilary (Olympic 49er coach) or Pete Barton (RS800, etc) have run excellent sessions in the past.

 

I think most class associations will do similar, particularly if you let them know you are interested.

 

Cheers

 

Ian

PM Jon Emmett, he is a Laser coach.

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!

 

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.

 

 

 

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

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....

 

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? 

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.

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!

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

 

BTW, just watching from that point is useful.

Partially - yes.  But also in a small (especially very small) fleet, then a succession of risk averse twos is not going to beat a line of 1s with a few 3s and a 4, one or two of which get disgarded.

In the big fleet consistent top few results will get you there - but they don't all need to be top 3s, potentially.

Also the bigger course and longer duration to accommodate a big fleet means it is easy to be more exposed to shifts/pressure changes.

Being conscious of where and when you are on the course (and what you are aiming to achieve) really helps with the risk taking.  We would only sometimes (very rarely articualte it to thsi degree but in full:

We're half way up the beat, and we're in the left.  We have about 70-30 port and starboard to sail and the fleet is 40-60 lef and right if us.