News -Nationals 07, Tenby YC

Mon 10 Sept

More thoughts on Nationals 07:
from Caroline Marriage here
from Richard Neall here

Nationals 07, Tenby YC –by David Leach

So Caroline Marriage and I have just finished our last race at the
Nationals. We've had three great races at Fed Week followed by five
stonking days of the most exhilarating RS200 racing we have known. We are
exhausted but at the same time alive, I'm glad that Caroline responded to
Rick's email about a Nationals crew and Caroline is probably wishing that
she had needed to spend rather less time on the centerboard. But as we sail
back in to Tenby for the last time, finally we feel ready to race.

For me, both Fed Week and Tenby have been full of learning. Trouble is, I'm
sure that most of those lessons were strangely familiar, yet forgotten over
time. Perhaps most of us club sailors are in this position. There's always
great hope, if little expectation, precisely because of times like this: we
have learned together what we need to do to be in the top third of the fleet
and we know that together we can achieve it. So what were the amazingly
insightful things that I discovered (or re-discovered) during our eight days
of sailing together:

1. Boat handling should be a given - how can you be expected to gybe in a
force 6 at the Nationals if you haven't gybed successfully in waves at least
20 times in a force 7 in the past 3 months?

2. It's a team game - the importance of motivating each other and
maintaining positive energy in the boat cannot be understated

3. It's best to compete with the same person - above all you need to develop
trust, both on and off the water

4. It helps to practice - with your crew, to develop teamwork and mutual
understanding, and probably also with others to improve boat-speed

5. Communicate - both on and off the water, to your crew, to others in the
boatpark, to the fast guys and girls, to locals (you'll learn some
interesting things and you'll get more help pulling your boat up the
slipway)

6. Fitness is important - having just followed in Roger Gilbert's wake up
the first beat, I'm still puzzled to understand how his legs can be 2m
longer than mine

7. It's best to sail the right way up - don't go into that gybe if you think
something isn't quite right (not going fast enough, not flat enough, not
quite enough room to get away without interfering with a starboard tack boat
approaching at 20 knots from behind)

8. A good start is important - if you can't see the pathfinder then you are
too far back; if there are 40 boats in front of you then you are too far
back - even if you think they are all early!

9. Know the local tides and wind - there really shouldn't be too many
surprises on the water (why not arrive a day or two early and practice in
the racing area)

10. Get the mark roundings right - if there are six boats inside you
approaching the leeward mark then you will lose at least 20 places in the
next 30 seconds; do something about it, for example, sheet it, drop the kits
early, come in close to the mark and gain a couple of places instead

Oh yes, there's no harm in having a vague understanding of the rules,
choosing the right side of the beat and good stuff like that. But rather
than being my top priorities, these now seem to rank rather lower than they
used to.

I had been thinking that "time on the water" is what really mattered. But
writing this article has made me realize that, of course, time on the water
does help, but it's what you do with that time that is important. Our class
captain understands this very well, so perhaps this comes of reflecting on
or even writing more about our sailing experiences.

Whilst I'd love to turn my life into a bonanza of sailing, there are other
conflicting priorities, too. But what I'd love to feel next year is that I
am learning new lessons, and not just the ones I had already understood some
time years ago.There's a good case for doing some circuit events perhaps,
taking part in Club training days, bonding with your sailing partner and
getting out in the harbour in a blow. Who knows, if you can gybe in a force
6 with the land approaching, maybe you'll get round at the Nationals in time
to miss the boat that's just capsized right in front of you!

David Leach

Thoughts on Nationals 07:
from Caroline Marriage here
from Richard Neall here

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