MBL Coaching Clinic

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MBL Coaching Clinic

• Fran Charles and Mike Kalin
• MIT Sailing
• March 2, 2006

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Foundations for Speed

• Sail the way all the fast people sail...
• Tech Dinghy
• Sail set up- halyard, downhaul, outhaul, vang
• Rake- Always needs to be checked. One or two
  fingers, centered, not too tight
• Tanks- Quick check
• Centerboard- Most important adjustment on boat.
  Upwind, Downwind, Prestart, Changing velocity
  conditions.
• Weight centered around thwart at all times.
• Practice-
• Starting, acceleration, tacking, tacking,
  tacking. Crew helping trim at bottom mark.

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FJ Speed Tips

• FJs-
• Halyard Tension- More breeze, more firmness
• Jib Lead position- Usually 3 holes open behind
  car in light conditions moving aft with more
  breeze.
• Jib Sheet- Critical for crews to adjust sheet to
  help steer the boat and keep it from heeling.
• Centerboard- All the way down in all breezes
  upwind. Make certain that the bungee is doing its
  job.
• Mainsheet- Always get it back in. Turn the boat
  up and feather in the puffs. If sail went out,
  relieve the helm by heading up and get the sheet
  back in. Constant angle of heel achieved by
  steering and trying to stay sheeted in.
• Vang firmly but not too tightly.
• Practice-
• All crews must face aft upwind and forward in
  prestart and downwind. Make transitions by
  leading your body with the hand that holds the
  jib. Extra roll in tacking accomplished by trying
  to rip the ratchet from the leeward tank.
  Skippers must sit forward so their knees are
  pressed together along thwart at all times.
  Downwind drills need to focus on seamless changes
  from jib reaching to wing and wing to jib
  reaching with both sails always working
  effectively.

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420 Speed Tips

• 420s-
• Halyard Tension- More breeze, more firmness
• Jib sheet should always be trimmed through the
  cleat until the foot begins to curl. Then, trim
  the windward sheet hard through the cleat until
  the jib clew lines up with the vertical wall of
  the leeward tank. In extremely strong breeze duct
  tape over the cam cleats and dont worry about
  windward sheeting.
• Crew weight needs to be kept forward dramatically
  in light breeze- crew on their toes or leaning
  over the jib cleat on the leeward tank while the
  skippers rear is forward of the traveler tube.
  As breeze velocity increases hiking power needs
  to be increased- change crews- and weight moved
  aft to center on traveler. All crews need to
  check their hiking straps and, if short legged,
  adjust the straps looser. Centerboard needs to be
  depowered between races and upwind in strong
  breeze.
• Practice-
• Starts and straight line speed accounts for 90
  of a 420 race. Rabbit start and try to hold a
  lane. Skippers need to sail the boat with the jib
  full at all times and easing the mainsheet to
  keep the boat flat. More breeze immediately
  equates into much more vang tension. Starting on
  time is difficult because the tacking angles are
  so much wider and holding your lane for a long
  period of time is imperative. Remember that
  tacking a 420 is always expensive. More than one
  tack in the first 2 minutes of a 420 race almost
  guarantees a very poor finish. Likewise, a double
  tack near the windward mark because of a poor
  layline call can be disastrous. No more than 4
  tacks/ beat should ever be employed.

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Tools of the Trade

• Skippers- Bookmark coastal waters forecast and
  sailflow.com Should be in tune with the forecast
  trend before arriving to sail. Polarized
  sunglasses, good snug hat, warm gloves, fleece as
  well as goretex socks. Appropriate spray or
  drysuit gear at hand. Small water bottle and
  sunscreen.
• Crews- FJ bailer as well as tech/420 bailer with
  their names indelibly marked on them. Lock up do
  not leave hanging around anywhere. Extra bailer
  gets tied in on halyard tail and loose bailer
  gets used. Have spares available at home.
  Cassette tape and yarn tell tales precut to the
  right length and taped to the inside of
  lifejacket. Only tie on with a rolling hitch.
  Polarized sunglasses, good snug hat, warm gloves,
  fleece as well as goretex socks. Appropriate
  spray or drysuit gear at hand. Small water bottle
  and sunscreen. Know which boat you start in and
  where you will be rotating to before racing
  begins. That way you can keep an eye on your next
  boat for capsizes, swamping and rigging problems.
• Coaches- Extra warm clothes. It is much colder to
  coach than it is to sail. Always wear water proof
  boots and have a larger than usual pair of spray
  pants to easily pull on/ off over footwear.
  Lifejacket, polarized sunglasses, sunscreen and
  little snacks for your players. A jug of water
  for those who dont bring their own. Whistle and
  personal loud hailer are essential. Buy extra
  whistles and keep them in your glove box.
• Staying active in the game in other ways besides
  coaching- Play the game. There are many
  opportunities to organize an older folks team
  race series. This is the one area of our sport
  which is exploding in new growth. Two on two is
  simple- last place loses. Four on four is a bit
  more complicated but, essentially dont finish
  last or second to last. Race some class of boats.
  Frostbiting in keelboats or dinghies is easy and
  not even close to a full days commitment away.
  Know the rules, take a judging seminar and
  volunteer to help out with the local colleges
  from time to time. They always need help with
  race management and judging. You get the bonus of
  seeing techniques of sailing and coaching up
  close.
• Set goals and measure up- Practice goals, racing
  and skill building goals, season long goals.
  Focus on acquiring and refining skills not
  necessarily finish positions.

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Team racing Groundwork

• Team work and sportsmanship
• In Team Racing, unlike other sailing, the result
  is either a W or an L this can be harsh, unless
  approached with the right attitude.
• Remember to respect your teammates, your
  opponents and to thank the myriad people who
  volunteered their time to put on the event.
• Always thank the finish boat after each race,
  acknowledge your opponent then gather up with
  your team and tell them how you can improve
  resist being too critical. Every race is a
  learning experience even the ones you win!!!
• Team confidence is crucial try to get over
  mistakes and bad feelings the next race is only
  minutes away.

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Course Overview

• The N course versus the Port Triangle target
  time 6-9 minutes
• Where to start?
• Run some races to expose all facets, then break
  it down with drills. I dont like to run many
  races bad habits get compounded.
• For practice, any course will do WHishbone
  philosophy square beats not necessary
  repetition is crucial.

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Fundamental Team Race Drills

• The basics drills (two - four boats) focus on
  crews role and keep them engaged!
• Downwind stop/starts learn how to stop boat
  most effectively (overtrim, windward heel,
  excessive steering) also, how to efficiently
  accelerate boat to full speed
• One-on-one around a sausage (in various
  configurations)
• leader controls laggard around the course and as
  slowly as possible
• pig in the middle (around various courses)
• match race around course

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Starting

• You cant win the race at the start, but you sure
  can lose it.
• No OCS
• Dont be a hero and put someone in 6th at risk of
  becoming 5th
• Never fall asleep before the start and wake up in
  the danger zone.
• NEVER attempt risky boathandling before start
  no scooping water no gybing, no spin-outs
• Young, inexperienced sailors tend to be overly
  aggressive and miss the big picture. Teach how
  to manage another opponent and nail the start
  with the match race start.

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The Match Race Start

• Match race start concepts pushing and pulling
• Starting drills (all rolling 3s)
• Match race start one-on-one
• Multiple match race starts with rotations

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The Plays

• Three stable combinations
• Play one 1-2-X
• Play two crucial 2-3-4
• Play four 1-4-5

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Advanced Team Racing Drills

• Once the basics of team racing boathandling are
  at a reasonable level, progress to drills that
  isolate common scenarios on each leg of the
  course.
• Double team formation (see explanation in
  context)
• Setting up the weave vs. ghost opponent
• Compression mark trap drills (1,deep5,deep6 vs.
  2,3,4 only use four boats)
• Double mark trap drill (2,3,6 vs. 1,4,5 only
  use three boats)
• Two-on-two team race

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First Beat Rules

• Know the combo off the line. Crews talk it up
  whos in last? Whos in first? Whos in trouble?
  Look for play 2 early.
• Always tack on the first big shift even if your
  opponent does not.
• Know when to team race and when to sail fast.
  First beat is a fleet race before it becomes a
  team race.

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Downwind Tidbits

• NEVER attempt a radical passback in gnarly
  conditions
• A five boatlength cushion is fairly safe
• - 6-8 BL in puffy conditions 4 BL in steady
  conditions
• more cushion is needed on runs less on tight
  reaches
• If you exceed the safe cushion, you are no help
  to your team when they need you.
• Too small a cushion and you will taunt the
  wolves.

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Last Leeward mark

• Determine the phase of the wind (lefty, rightie)
  and the geometry of the last beat long
  starboard tack or long port tack. Adjust your
  game plan accordingly for possible skewed beat
  geometry.
• Do on to others before they do unto you
• If a trap awaits you, ATTACK behind you!!!
• Never round 1st if you have a deep 5,6 give up
  the 1 and compress as much as possible

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Final Beat and general points

• If you are winning the race, make the race end
  quickly all three boats sail through to the
  finish quickly.
• If you are losing the race, stall and make the
  race chaotic especially at marks use
  compression mark traps.
• Stable combos are nice, but if you are about to
  win the race, dont worry about a stable combo,
  just finish!!!
• Play 2 RULES!!!
• In a 2,3,6 if you are 3, NEVER chase the
  downwind pair.
• In a 1,2,6 6 always covers 5.
• When one boat is occupying two opponents, the one
  boat will probably lose the battle, but might win
  the war!!! hang tough, dont be a hero and do
  your job.