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Ajax 23ft racing keelboat Swansea |
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J24 4241 South West Coast |
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Mark Aged 42 ![]() Groupie ![]() Joined: 24 Aug 11 Online Status: Offline Posts: 98 |
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Have you analysed why you are at the back? Upwind - Are you picking the shifts? Are you hiking hard enough? Downwind - do you pick the right waves to get planing? How efficiently do you round marks? Is your sail trim good on each leg? Do you handle gusts well? This will help focus your future training.
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ohFFsake ![]() Far too distracted from work ![]() Joined: 04 Sep 08 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 219 |
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I completely agree. Quite apart from anything else fast boats are generally harder to sail than slower boats, so you may well find that it takes you longer to get (say) a Phantom around the race course than (say) a Solo.
Also, if the challenge is to sail in the fleet rather than behind it (and we've all been there!) then the first thing you need to master is getting off the start line in reasonable shape. A fast boat does not help you achieve that at all, and again it is easier to improve your starting technique in a slower and more manageable boat. In summary, as an old guy at our club once observed: "If you are sailing in the wrong direction, the last thing you need is a fast boat!" (apologies if iGRF's advice was actually intended to be tongue in cheek) |
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Paramedic ![]() Really should get out more ![]() Joined: 27 Jan 06 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 916 |
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This is better than sailing a fast boat very badly. In the process of achieving the latter you might spend a lot of time swimming and there is nothing more frustrating when leading a race on handicap in a Solo than being starboarded every other tack by a Phantom who doesn't know where he is going. All good sailors avoid conflict if possible and will do their best to work around you but you'll be putting yourself in a position where you will need a sense of humour and potentially a very thick skin. You'll also be in a fast boat, potentially faster than your ability can cope with and in the part of the fleet with the most traffic - I think this is very poor advice, sorry.
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GybeFunny ![]() Far too distracted from work ![]() Joined: 27 Oct 09 Online Status: Offline Posts: 403 |
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Are there any good double handers at your club? Try offering to crew for the best one, you will learn a lot how the good guys sail around your water.
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wolfram ![]() Newbie ![]() Joined: 30 Jul 21 Online Status: Offline Posts: 23 |
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Thanks for all the advice! Am currently on page 280 of 'hHigh Performance Sailing' it's quite a mental workout!
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Wolfram
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Do Different ![]() Really should get out more ![]() Joined: 26 Jan 12 Location: North Online Status: Offline Posts: 1312 |
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"or have someone who can coach helping you."
I am always surprised to find very little, in my own experience anyway, of buddy training / coaching. Before I took to sailing I spent years from pre teen to early thirties riding horses and ponies. We generally rode in company and generally watched each other, not so much hacking for simple exercise but when schooling nearly always had a buddy watching to critique what we were doing. Fact is you cannot see yourself and more times than not are not doing what you think you are doing.
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iGRF ![]() Really should get out more ![]() ![]() Joined: 07 Mar 11 Location: Hythe Online Status: Offline Posts: 6496 |
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Exactly the reason sailing the same class as everyone else is wrong if you are not up to speed, buy something faster, you were never going to win anything anyway so the spreadsheet results won't matter, sailing a faster boat amongst a slower class gives you an insight into the sailing 'style' of the lead boats and now and again if you can't work out why they did something just ask, they can always tell you to p**s off, but genuinely good guys are usually keen to help others so it improves the depth of the fleet, if for no other reason than to put more numbers between them and a close rival. Ignore them when they tell you to get a proper boat like the one they're using, until you find the confidence to start a race in the first rank and hold your course for the first beat of a given race. By faster boat I mean something like a Phantom racing against Solos or Lasers or if all you've got are Lasers, chuck up that big rig made by Rooster, the only way to get to the front is by boatspeed which then as we all know makes you a tactical genius, except you won't be, it's just helpful to be aboard a viewing platform of what you should be doing. As long as you come back to earth eventually it'll be well worth the effort. Edited by iGRF - 22 Nov 21 at 3:13pm |
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ohFFsake ![]() Far too distracted from work ![]() Joined: 04 Sep 08 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 219 |
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Remember practice doesn't make perfect, it makes permanent! If you are doing something wrong more practice simply makes it more ingrained!
So as others have said, I'd recommend a balance of theoretical knowledge, coaching and practice. Also, racing is not always the best way to get better at racing. You aren't really learning much about tactics if you aren't keeping up with the fleet, and you won't learn much about sailing faster when you are at the back and trying to catch up, all you tend to do is repeat the same things right or wrong. However an hour spent practicing (eg) windward mark roundings when not racing, when you aren't under pressure and trying to rush, when you can experiment with different ideas and see what works and what to avoid, will teach you more than dozens of races. Even more so if you have read up beforehand and / or have someone who can coach helping you. |
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Brass ![]() Really should get out more ![]() Joined: 24 Mar 08 Location: Australia Online Status: Offline Posts: 1143 |
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Warm blue waters ...
Descriptions I read said it was a very methodical program. |
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iGRF ![]() Really should get out more ![]() ![]() Joined: 07 Mar 11 Location: Hythe Online Status: Offline Posts: 6496 |
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That would be Ari Barshi on Dom Rep, Cabarete, lot of good guys go there, but to me as different a thing sailing a Laser in warm blue waters to racing in a grubby green puddle.. Chalk & Cheese don't think it will help much, maybe with fitness and boat handling |
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