Green Fleet Practice Debrief –Week 4-5- Julia Melton
9/29/14
It’s okay to make mistakes in practice…in fact I encourage
it!! Over the line early rather than under means you are fighting for it. Don’t
be scared of competition, instead you should embrace it!
In the past two weeks we introduced the sailors to starts.
We have an advantage as a big fleet for practicing starts because it simulates
regattas and sailors have more opportunities to encounter difficult situations
on the line.
In addition to our starts, we focused on accelerations with
our stop and go drill. This is where we stop our boat on the line and then wait
for the five second count down with the whistle. Three main focal points with
acceleration is steering the boat. The three amigos for steering the boat are RUDDER, MAINSAIL and WEIGHT.
Stopping the boat- Luff your sail and head up, scull the
tiller to leeward to get the bow head to wind then scull back to windward
to not get the boat stuck in Irons. You can also push the boom out.
Acceleration- Scull
down to a close reach, as you throw your weight out. You sail should be a foot out at this time. Then as you
head up and trim your sail to accelerate, you should use your weight by sitting
in to get the boat to head up.
Please watch this great video on acceleration:
Gybing. Anticipate the gybe! When the leach starts to
flap towards you that is an indicator that you are by the lee and the boom is
about to switch.
Windward mark roundings:
We worked on our top mark rounding’s in practice this week. It’s
important that you are prepared for every mark you round, transitioning to the
next point of sail on the next leg of the course. At about 5 boat lengths from the top mark you
should prep the board by removing the bungee from the top (putting it on the
back of the daggerboard trunk). Then
raise your hand as you round (statue of Liberty!) and lower your hand around
the mark. The sail easing aggressively around the mark is key to rounding the
mark – it allows the boat to turn down.
This is another great video on windward mark rounding.
Sailwork (much more fun than homework):
1.)Starts-Need to get a watch! If you are serious about racing
or if you are one of the sailors that continuously ask what time it is, then
get a watch.
2.) Google "Gybing".
3.)Our first fall series race is on Sunday, October 5th. This
race day is calculated with other results from our other fall series races and
the total of all three series races for the fall is awarded at our winter banquet.
Have a great week!
:) Julia Melton
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