South-East Champs Regatta Debrief - Arthur Blodgett

This past weekend the LYC Silver Opti Team traveled to beautiful coastal North Carolina and competed in the Opti Southeast Championships. The regatta was mentally challenging for all - some sailors were dealing with the pressure they put on themselves to qualify for Team Trials, while others were experiencing their first RWB regatta. The conditions were steady and breezy on Saturday with a lot of chop, then flatter (still somewhat choppy) with big slow shifts on Sunday. Everyone deals with pressure in different ways - my approach has always been to put a ton of pressure on myself in practice, so that I am used to it! This leads to a more consistent approach at regattas where I don't get too high after a great race (stay focused on the details) and expect myself to bounce back after a bad race or even bad leg. As Olympian Michael Blackburn says: "The race is always from here, on out. Ignore past mistakes and focus on going fast and looking around."

Miles Wolf sailed well enough to make the Team Trials (21st out of 90 boats), but an umpire's late decision (not reported until after the "final" on-site results were posted - we left the regatta thinking he had qualified) unfortunately bumped him out of the top 23. I spoke at length with the umpire and am still not satisfied with his various explanations for the flag and subsequent DSQ. Rule 42 specifically bans "vertical or athwart-ships (in and out) body movement," but says nothing about natural for-and-aft movement designed to keep the boat in contact with the water, provided it does not constitute an "Ooch" - "sudden forward movement, stopped abruptly." Ill take this a step further - over-enforcement of fast techniques is holding American sailors back in international competitions against more enlightened countries (US = 0 Olympic Medals in 2012), and if you stand against America, then I stand against you! I love sailing judged events (fairness is a key concept in sport) and thank Judges for enormous time and effort they put in, but wish there was more open discussion at the US Sailing Level on how 42 is specifically being enforced and what the ramifications are! Despite the disappointment, I am confident that Miles has the skills to make Team Trials at his next USODA event (especially if he stops capsizing!).

I am always impressed at Opti regattas with the importance of Tacktics. To execute any tactical plan you obviously need to have good starts and boatspeed, but at this and other regattas, the decision making versus the fleet still seemed make a 40% difference in the sailors' results from race-to-race. Below I have illustrated a couple key concepts.

Cross When You Can after the start

By getting a good start at the favored end, you should be able to cross much of the fleet and position yourself between them and the next mark/next shift. 

Mid Beat, Always Lead Back

The corollary to the first concept - if you are not able to cross, you should tack at a safe lee-bow position to stay in phase. 

At the End of the Beat, Controol Your Side

The end of the beat is a key point in the race to make or consolidate gains. Take a look at the breeze to determine your short term strategy, then hard cover the boats behind you on that favored side. If your strategy was correct, you will gain on the boats on the opposite side as well! 

Don't Follow Someone Good!
I'v learned a lot over my sailing career by studying good sailors at regattas, but its their Technique you should be copying, not their strategy! Here's why following someone in oscillating shifts will put you further and further behind them:

Other Factors:

Its been said that "preparation wins sailboat races," and while this is part of winning, its absolutely true that lack of preparation looses them! Sailors need to check and re-check all of their equipment for functionality before a regatta. Issues like "my watch doesn't start" or "my vang slips" or "my original 2004 mainsheet ratchet stopped working" shouldn't be coming up on the water and can absolutely torpedo a sailors race and possibly their regatta! Also take the time on shore to make your sail-ties perfect, and pull on your square knots firmly! Re-check your boat between each race, making sure all sail ties are legal (less than 1cm between sail and spar, sail band between mast bands), vang, sprit, outhaul and cunningham are right for the conditions, bailors are un-tangled, and your hull is dry and free of trash.

In choppy conditions, after-the-start bailing is really important. At the summer LYC Opti Clinic, Duncan Williford told the kids that he would always have his boat bailed completely dry by the windward mark so he could focus on passing people on the Reach and Run. He usually passed 10-15 boats!

Check out this great video by former Eckerd Coach Scott Norman on how to Sail-While-You-Bail:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHXp3xyTGNw

Note the grip on the bailor, the tiller and mainsheet held in the same hand, and the fact that the sailors is still working the waves with his eyes on the sail, waves, and racecourse.

Cheers,

Arthur Blodgett

Register for Orange Bowl, Tuesday 9am!

Don't forget -- Orange Bowl Registration opens at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday.  If you've done it before, you'll likely want to do it again and the window will close quickly -- likely by 11:00 or noon (no guarantees, and don't count on this).  If your sailor hasn't done it before, you'll find it the most cost-effective large-fleet regatta in the country:  no travel, no hotel, no restaurants, and stay in your own bed.  The Green Fleet is the easiest way to step into "the big leagues" and experience a large, high-profile international regatta.  The link is here:
http://www.coralreefyachtclub.org/Waterfront/orange-Bowl-Regatta-2015.aspx

If this link pushed down Arthur's stellar debrief, MAKE SURE to keep reading below.

Practice Debrief - Arthur Blodgett

While dodging thunderstorms, we actually managed to have a really productive practice this weekend. With big regattas coming up on both coasts next weekend, both Gold and Silver focused on 2 key skills: starting in current and speed in waves.
     Saturday we did a number of practice starts inside the inlet, where the ebbing tide was just ripping sailors over the line. Sailors eventually learned to avoid the treacherous boat end where the current almost automatically puts you in a "barging" position, and to set up the right number of boatlengths below the line. A lot of Black Flags were handed out, sometimes needlessly (there is no excuse to get Black-Flagged more than 10 seconds before the start) but sailors who got the come-from-below the line timing right,and had good line-sights were eventually nailing the starts. It's really critical to get comfortable using line sights, and I like to tweak them as follows: If the current is running over, I get a "conservative" line sight - I set up with my bow ~2 boat lengths below the line at the boat end, then pick a distinctive feature on the land that lines up with the pin. This allows me to look at my line sight, watch/time, then accelorate and nail the start. If the current is pushing you below the line, get a line sight with your bow exactly on the line next to the boat.
    My main concern for our sailors going into this weekends regattas is consistently getting good starts - you won't have 10 practice starts to get a feel for the line! In fact, you may only have 1 start with a particular strategic consideration to take advantage of (for example, the first race of day 4 at Opti Nationals you could safely start a boatlenght ahead of everyone due to the negative current - by the second race the fleet had adjusted). I am a huge proponent of doing a 30 second practice start on your own between 4-5 minutes before the start. Decide where you probably want to start, then give yourself a 30 second countdown, and aim to hit your spot on the line at full speed at the end of it. If you are too late/low or too early/high, make a note of where you really need to be at 30 sec. and practice it again. Obviously other boats will make the actual start more difficult, but having a feel for the angle, speed, and time on distance to the line will give you an advantage vs other boats.
     The final 10 seconds of the start are all about having a great acceleration  - how much speed can you build while not using all your distance to leeward? Here's some acceleration practice video from a couple Wednesdays ago:

I really like how Bella (who claims she always messes up when being filmed) trims the sail perfectly and smoothly through the full turn up/flatten part of the acceleration - it is really important that your rate of trimming matches the rate of turn. Other boats could use a little more heel before flattening in this light air.

When we did get out to the Ocean, we split into respective groups and did alot of speed-work. The Opti is basically a box - when you drag the corners of the box, you go slow. However, in flat water, the penalty for dragging the bow transom vs the stern transom is similar (Heavy sailors have both corners just skimming the water) - in Waves, the bow digging into the water is deathly slow. Thus, there was an adjustment of moving back in the boat that many silver fleetors had to make. Watching the sail and keeping good flow on the telltales is also critically important.
    The final element is the kinetic movement required to keep the boat in contact with the waves, and the rig punching you through them. When the unmatched wave would lift/heel the boat, the driver must move their shoulders and torso out and back compensate. This has the added benefits of flicking the leech of the sail, and driving the bow down into the trough of the wave (avoiding the bow "pounding"). Here Miles does a great job working the waves, and really takes off:

Notice also the great job of adjusting to the new wave angle (we were more into the waves on Starboard, across them on Port) after the tack at the end of the video.

In this last clip, Michael, who had a breakthrough practice Saturday, begins to correctly copy what Miles is doing - pressing his back out into the rail when he feels the boat about to lift. Really excellent focus as well:

Obviously there is still a lot to improve - the sail flaps like a Ford dealership flag on every tack for example - but great to see the straight line speed improvement.

Every time I get to go sailing, I always have to try something new, or work on something until it feels faster - this is what its all about!!

Orange Bowl Registration Deadline Tuesday September 15th!!

Get ready to register! 
On Tuesday, September 15^th, 2015 at 9:00 am EDT registration will open for the 2015 Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta!   
There will again be a CAP on the number of boats sailing in each class:
300 boats in the Optimist class (Red, Blue, White and Green combined)
175 boats in the Laser class (Standard, Radial and 4.7 combined)
100 boats in the 420 class
 Check the website for event information at http://www.coralreefyachtclub.org/Waterfront/orange-Bowl-Regatta-2015.aspx

Green & Lime Fleet Fall Season Information

Parents and Sailors,

Thank you to all who were able to attend our preseason meeting last Thursday. The coaches along with myself are really looking forward to getting to know each of your children and to working with them. I would also like to welcome all new parents and sailors to our program!

There are a couple of important things that we covered in the meeting that I would like to review with everyone. Please take a look at all of the highlighted links to documents and print out a copy for yourself.

1.)    The first day of practice for both Green and Lime is this Saturday September 5^th. Please enter through the front gate of the Sailing Center, where there will be a check-in table. After each sailor checks in, they will be assigned their own hull, sail and blades (what we call the rudder + daggerboard). Along with these assignments, there will be a charter agreement that each sailor and parent must sign. There will be a $15/month charter fee that will be billed to your YSG or member account which ensures you working equipment for the season. On Saturday, Green fleet practice will be from 10:30am-4pm and Lime fleet practice will be from 12-3pm.There will be no Opti practice on Sunday September 6^th because of the holiday.

2.)    Our weekly practice schedule will be as follows:

a.       Lime fleet: Tuesday 3:45-6pm /Saturday 12-3pm

b.      Green fleet: Thursday 3:45-6:30pm/Saturday & Sunday 12-4pm

We need parents to help take their child’s assigned boat off the rack before practice and put boats on the rack after practice.

   *A note for sailors who will be late to weekday practices: when you arrive, rig with the help of your parent as quickly as possible; Green fleeters should sail out and join the group, Lime fleeters will have a coach on-shore to give you instruction!

3.)    Please review our syllabus for Lime and Green which give a thorough overview of each fleet, weekly practice schedule and learning targets:

a.       Lime Fleet Syllabus

b.      Green Fleet Syllabus

4.)    Please subscribe to our Opti Blog at http://lycoptis.blogspot.com/. To subscribe you need to enter your email address in the white box on the right. This will allow you to get blog posts emailed to you. We use the blog to communicate important date and schedule changes as well as practice and regatta debriefs. Additionally, all of the documents in this email can be found on the blog.

5.)    LYC's Optimist Survival Guide is designated for parents and sailors who are new to Optimist sailing. The guide gives an overview of the boat itself, explains what a regatta is and contains venue information on the regattas included in our fall program. Also please review our Program Policies and Procedures.

6.)    Fall Regatta Schedule. This has been revised since the meeting. Green fleet supported events are listed on the right hand side. Regattas are designated for Green fleet sailors, but lime fleet is welcome to participate under coach recommendation. We anticipate some of the Lime fleet sailors to participate in regattas by midseason. Green fleet sailors are expected to participate in all of the following events: River Romp, Naples Cup, Junior Olympics, Orange Bowl as well as all of the 3 Fall Series Races scheduled throughout the season.

7.)    After you look at the calendar, please identify which regattas you plan to participate in this season and sign up on our Regatta Sign Up Sheet which can also be found under the regattas and clinics tab on the blog.

Please let me know if you have any questions and I look forward to seeing you on Saturday!

Sincerely,

Julia Melton

Green Fleet Coach & Sailing Director