This past weekend we had 15 LYC sailors participate in Green
fleet at the Buccaneer Blast regatta in Key Largo. LYC Green Fleet was represented by Jake Burgess,
Simone Moss, Stephan Tate, Rhys Pullar, KJ Hill, Kevin Gosselin, Max Maister,
Luca Ehring, Skye Johnson, Ava Meshel, Graceanna Dixon, Valentina Agnese, Ana
Smith, Danielle Smith, and Sofia Buchweitz. I had the
privilege of coaching this group along with Coach Sharon Johnson. For some of our sailors this was their first regatta
experience and the same goes for many of the parents. We had a very strong
parent support group on the water and on shore and we were very appreciative of
that.
Our team focused on three things for racing in this regatta:
1.Positioning, 2. Sail Trim and 3. Direction. If you are able to master these
three things in green fleet you are very likely to end up in the top 10. All it
takes a lot of focus and practice to be able to consider all three things at
once in a race. In this post I plan to break down each of the three topics:
1. Positioning.
Positioning is where your body should be in the boat in any
given condition. I teach my sailors that you need to always be connected with
your feet whether your weight is forward and in the boat for light air, or when
your weight is out and the top of your feet are connected to the hiking strap
when the breeze picks up. Your weight placement is essential to keeping the boat
flat. Two examples of bad positioning: 1. A stationary sailors with no weight movement
at all and the sailor doesn’t shift their weight in and out according to the
pressure. 2. A sailor with their weight sprawl out everywhere, legs are wide
and feet not together which makes the boat feel and look unbalanced and
unsteady. Always keep your weight together (feet, legs, shoulders) and balance
the boat to keep it flat.try to be one body with the boat, always connected.
On Saturday the breeze died down after the first race. The fastest
boats were the flattest from side to side as well as balanced from bow to stern
for the entire race. When its light your weight should be in (on the balls of
your feet, never knees or butt) and forward so the side of your front shin is
touching the thwart. On Sunday, the conditions were windier and I think one
area our team could improve on is endurance. I saw a lot of sailors not hiking hard
or long enough in pressure to keep the boat flat. Body position is very
important to consider in all conditions especially when sailing upwind because
it keeps the boat moving forward and not dragging any sides or corners in the
water.
2. Sail Trim
Sail trim is equally important for maximizing your speed and
minimizing your distance to the next mark. Upwind=sail should be trimmed to the
corned. I noticed that when sailors have trouble keeping their sail trimmed
correctly upwind it usually is because they aren’t holding and/or
trimming the mainsheet correctly. Your grip for the tiller and mainsheet should
be the same so that your thumbs are facing up around the line or tiller. To trim,
feed the mainsheet from one hand to the other. Bring the line in your front
hand to you back hand holding the tiller and use your pointer and middle finger
to trim in the sheet. After your sail is trimmed properly, then it is time to
fine tune your trim by watching your tell tales!
3. Direction
The third main topic we focused on was direction. This was
very important for this venue, especially on Saturday when the breeze direction
was oscillating from the middle of the course to the left. This meant that for
most of the races on Saturday it paid off to start at the pin end of the line
and tack on to port in to the first left shirt.
Direction is also important for general course awareness.
You should always try to minimize the distance to the next mark. When sailing
upwind you should consider whether you are lifted: pointed closer to the
windward mark compared to the other tack or headed=pointing further away from
the windward mark compared to the other tack. In general you want to be sailing
on the tack that is taking you on a closer angle to the windward mark. For downwind, the concept of direction is
simple just make sure your pointing your bow at the next mark and set up for an
inside mark rounding for the gybe and leeward mark.
Of course the more experienced you have as a sailor, the
more things there are to consider such as advanced boat handling and tactics.
Positioning, sail trim and direction are fundamental to learn and understand
first when learning to race.
Results
Congratulations to everyone for a job well done! More
important than the result is the process it took you to get there. Take
something away or learn something from each race or regatta and apply it to the
next one. You can find the regatta results here.
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