Texts from Coach Bobby - a review of skills from last weekend's Practice

As I was off Sniping, I asked LYC Opti coach Bobby Noonan for a synopsis of last weekends Gold/Silver Opti practice. As we didn't have time to talk, he sent it to me as a text message (definitely not while he was at work!!) that I think should be helpful for sailors to review as well! Enjoy!

We worked on:
1) Downwind sailing in big breeze and huge waves (using body weight to surf, and steering across the wave to stay surfing as long as possible without smashing into the bottom of the trough).

2) Also worked on sail trim, Daggerboard height and hiking on long reaches. As Pili (Opti Coach Pilar Callabresse) said "on reaches, we want Daggerboard up as much as possible --just to the point where the boat keeps from slipping sideways."  Having the Daggerboard up will keep the bow from Plunging!

3) Making sure you have plenty of boom vang and sprit tension for reaches will also help a lot! We told the kids to make sure they were paying attention to the leech of their sails. If the boomvang is too loose, the leech will flop open and dump the wind out. AB Note: Also more twist leads to a downward vector for the top of the sail that can submarine the bow! 

4) Starts. Too many of the kids were worried about being the leeward boat and trying to draw a penalty on the windward boat, but not focusing on their starting position and keeping a hole to leeward. At the end of the day, you have to be able to accelerate. AB: Agree completely (see my last regatta debrief). At Wednesdays practice we had 16 boats on a line and I called the Black flag rule. 3-4 Gold and Silver Fleeters were getting DSQ'd every start. We will continue to practice the black flag rule, using line sights, and keeping time. 

5) If you do get a bad start, you need to focus on getting a clean lane as quickly as possible. That  means tacking out if you are getting covered -- BUT sticking to your game plan! (If you wanted to go left don't duck the entire fleet to go right).

6) Being a Sportsman (or Sportswoman). If you foul, Spin! No questions asked. Spin right away and get back into the race as quickly as possible. At the end of the day, your reputation is all you have, and it is better to finish mid fleet by being a good sport, than to finish first by being cheater.


Looking forward to practice Saturday, we are off for Easter!
-Arthur Blodgett