Gold/Silver Practice Debrief 9/28 - Team Racing! - Arthur Blodgett

This past Sunday's practice was devoted to team race immersion and skill building. Team racing is one of the fastest growing and most fun disciplines in our sport, and we wanted to begin preparing for the Team Race Invite we will be hosting (and have 2 teams competing in, coach will select gold and silver teams) October 25-26. We practiced on the Ocean, because when team race practice is done right, it should also benefit your fleet racing (highlights boathandling, sailing fast in bad air, rules, and tactical concepts like covering) so I wanted to work on it while still putting a premium on speed and technique through waves. Here's a video of the Upwind Passback drill we spent about half the day on - the objective is for the 1st boat to target and pin the 2nd place opponent, then finish with their teammate (initially the 3rd place boat) in a 1,2.

We see Denver (1) does a nice job maintaining controll of B (2), whose attempts to get out slow her sufficiently. She sails in his bad air for most of the leg, while Eddy (3) does everything he should - tack once the 2 is pinned, sail fast in clear air, come back when it's clear his teammate (Denver) has balanced enough for him to cross. For the 2, covering and playing back on the 3 is almost always a better option than trying to pass the 1 - do unto others whats being done to you in a team race.

Please print and read our new Opti Team Race Playbook. Opti 4on4 team racing can be pretty complicated; the playbook seeks to bring order to chaos by having sailors recognize the best way to group themselves together in a stable, winning combination, using Passbacks and Mark Traps (diagramed). Next weekend we'll be back on the ocean, preparing for ACC's, but mixing in a little more team racing, in addition to starts and speedwork. Knowing the playbook can give you a huge leg up!