... Tips From the Winter part three

Unrelated to this blog, here is a photo that I found from one of this 'winter's' training camps.  It is an example of the super-flat technique that I talked about two blog entries ago.  The boat on the left probably feels flat but is definitley not.  This is very common.  The boat on the right is dead flat (maybe even a hair to windward?  The mast is definitely not heeled to windward.  Also the picture is not quite level).  These subtleties in heel make a world of difference in boatspeed and pointing especially if you can keep the heel steady and consistent.

Downspeed

Ready Position: your go-to position while on the start

It is super important to have good form in ready position to minimize side slipping and hold your spot.  Never heel to windward: keep the boat flat for the full use of the centreboard.  Always sit across the boat squatting on your toes (as opposed to facing the bow).  Putting the weight on your toes is related to keeping the boat flat because if you sit back on your butt the boat heels to windward.

Vision 

Keep an eye out for changing situations, people coming to steel your hole, an opportunity to double tack, line sag etc.  Know where the line is and how it is changing (this can also inform your strategy for the first upwind).  Recognize bad situations as they develop and bail out or take advantage.

Reverse to Windward

I don’t know what else to call it, but it is a brilliant move that we were introduced to.  It relies on the fact that foils can produce lift or at least engage nicely moving forwards OR backwards.  Foils only don’t work when you are sitting static on the line like we mostly tend to do gradually drifting to leeward through the start sequence.  Let me describe reversing to windward.

1     -Turn up straight into irons and wait until you have no forward motion

2     - Leaning to leeward, press the sail way out of the boat: 90 degrees to centre line.  Get a lot of backwards speed.  Hold your tiller tight.

You heel to leeward because the power that comes from pushing the boom out often wants to put you onto port tack but you want to stay on starboard throughout the maneuvre.

3     - As you accelerate backwards push your tiller gently away from you and you will coast backwards and to windward in an arc gradually making it to a backwards beam reach.

4     - On a beam reach coast to a stop with the sail flapping.  You need a long mainsheet for the sail not to keep pushing you forward.  If your mainsheet isn't long enough you might need to reverse at a lower angle.

                You are now stopped in a position astern and to windward of your original position.

5     - Heel to leeward, sheet in and steer to windward.  Turn sharply and flatten powerfully steering up to head to wind (or even shooting up briefly beyond head to wind).   

                You are now bow-even with your initial position but you have climbed to windward!

Downspeed Control Settings

Lots of people go sailing upwind before the start to get their settings just right and then they leave their controls for the start sequence.  Or they leave their cunningham and outhaul on and let their vang off completely.  This means that you don't need to make any adjustments during the tense seconds leading up to GO except possibly your vang.  Unfortnatly it also means that your sails are set in a way that limits the effectiveness of the downspeed manoeuvring.  What you can do is put markers on your outhaul, Cunningham and vang for various settings.  You should still sail upwind before the start, but instead of leaving the controls make a note of your setting.  Then when you are double tacking, reversing and spinning on a dime to get set up your perfect start you can change your settings to downspeed settings that will help you execute the maneuvres.  With 15 seconds left, pull on your lines back on to the settings that you noted for upwind by using the markers and your memory (or your notes written in grease pencil on the deck) and go to accelerate. 

The idea of leaving your controls at their upwind settings at the start is outdated because we are starting to understand how critical the start is and downspeed maneuvers at the start can be performed more effectively with appropriate downspeed control settings.  Play around with how much vang you need to power you through a 360 or to keep your bow from falling off the wind (more vang tightens your leach bringing the effort in your sail back and helping pivot your bow up.  Less vang will make it easier to get out of irons if it is windy).  We were finding that an effective vang setting for downspeed (at least in 6 knots) is for the boom to be pulled down to 90 degrees.  This gives the boat a much different feeling and handling than having it completely loose.  Also, don’t stand for wrinkles up the front of the sail from a tight upwind-setting Cunningham.  You want your sail to be working properly to help power through the various downspeed boathandling maneuvres.  Don't put up with awkward sail adjustments before the start.  Many races are won or lost at the start because of how well you were able to execute your downspeed skills to get to the right place at the right time.

...tips from winter Pro D continue

Roll Tacks

Footwork

The national team coach would not let us put our back foot over the hiking strap before the tack.  You were to jump across the boat and catch the hiking strap with both feet/toes.  It is difficult to break this habit but once you do, you realize that your legs and feet are more powerful working as a unit.

Roll Tacks

I have put together videos about light air roll tacks, and I stand by what I have said in those videos for light winds when the boat needs to be powered through the middle of the tack with a shoulder throw.  However in increasing (light) wind, 5+ knots let’s say, there is a simplified tack that can be quite effective.  This tack is initiated with a very slight leeward heel just to match the rate of turn and a gentle push of the tiller to the inner edge of the cockpit (the slight heel to leeward is worth pointing out because it is assumed that you are now typically sailing so flat that you otherwise have more or less neutral helm).  Continue to head up gently and sheet in until you start to lose speed.  As you lose speed, punch the tiller quickly to complete the turn.  As you do this the sail starts to fill from the opposite side.  In 5+ knots this will be a bit of a shock and the boat will quickly start tipping over top of you.  This is your cue to spring to the other side of the boat, catching the hiking strap with your toes and aggressively flattening the boat all the way down to dead flat where you keep it.  The exit of the tack is the same as I described in the Youtube Video.  Steer to windward as you flatten avoiding turbulence off the rudder.  The main differences in this style of tack are in not putting your foot over beforehand and in not throwing the shoulders in the middle of the tack, instead steering smoothly, waiting until it is pretty much too late then rocketing across and saving the tack for a nice flatten.

Roll Gybes

 
The light wind overhand gybes were designed, I thought, to have a conservative gybe that would lose no speed but gain no speed, they would be perfectly legal under rule 42 but they don't need the same recovery time as the old powerful roll gybes needed to get the flow reattached on the sails.  My label for this type of gybe is the Light Air Laser Overhand Gybes and Hanny Buitenwerf does a great example of this in the clip above and to the left.  When I was first coaching these gybes I discouraged athletes from rolling when they were using this style, because if they were going to roll they might as well do a big aggressive roll gybe (take a look at the pics from 2008 when I was working on perfecting the ultra-aggressive roll gybe... and when I had less hair).  But innovation continued and a slight roll to regain lost speed in the overhand gybe turned into a bigger and bigger smooth motion that now gains an incredible amount of speed outright.  I'll refer to it as an Overhand Roll Gybe.  In my opinion, everyone should learn these in training, but the gybes must be toned down while racing.  Juries (acting under Appendix P) have been slow to pick up on the incredible gains that athletes are getting out off their gybes, from my experience.  I have pointed this out on occasions, and have heard the reply several times that sailing is self-enforced, so we are encouraged to protest one another when we break a rule like rule 42 rather than depending on the Jury.  I just bring up Juries and Appendix P because the overhand gybes that we have been practising over the winter are gargantuan.  My team mate can gain over 2 boat lengths on me in one gybe travelling parallel in the right conditions and I am getting there as well.  My take on enforcing Rule 42 is that we should enforce it rigorously and consistently and then when we find that the current rule is oppressive, we should have a conversation about modifying it somehow, possibly in the Laser Class Rules to reflect the current practices.  It could be something like what the Fins and 470s do or it could be something more subtle.  Maybe it could be a system for self-enforcement that sailors would be more comfortable engaging with: a 360 penalty or a DPI penalty of less than fleet score that could be taken if a certain number of sailors file a grievance against an aggressive sailor.   My concern is that Laser sailing is building a culture that is tolerant to breaking Rule 42 instead of making a better rule.  

At any rate the answer is not censure the gybe, so here is the gybe that I am so excited about described in point form.  I hope to get it on film in the not too distant future: 

1-      Start by the lee

2-      Extend your tiller extension out towards the mainsheet that spans from the boom to the traveller so far out that you turns the tiller slightly to leeward.  To match this turn roll the boat gently to leeward and lean out towards the span of mainsheet ready to grab it. 

3-      Hook the span of mainsheet on the end of your extended tiller extension.

4-      In one movement let go of the mainsheet from the mainsheet block and grab both sheets of the span of mainsheet as far up towards the boom as possible.  Help yourself by bringing the sheet hooked on the tiller extension towards your forward hand.

5-      With the mainsheet from the boom in your hand and keeping your arm straight, lean back across the boat rolling it from leeward heel to windward heel thereby causing your course to be an arc.  Allow the arc, following it with the rudder.  This leaning back also starts to pull the sail in.

6-      At the end of the roll flick the sail the rest of the way across the boat by pulling it over with your arm (without letting go of the sheets).

7-      Pause and let the sail fill on the new side keeping heel on the new leeward side.  As the sail fills you will feel a bit of pressure on your hand.  At this point drop the mainsheet from the boom and pick it back up from the mainsheet block.  As you do this, sit down on the new windward side of the boat shifting the heel now to the new windward side and curving the boat’s course towards the new by the lee angle. 

8-      Adjust the sail as necessary for the new by the lee angle

9-      Complete the hand exchange

There are a couple of major changes between what I have called the Light Air Overhand Gybe and the Overhand Roll Gybe.  In the Overhand Roll Gybe you pull the sail mostly with your body rather than mostly with your arm (tricep).  Also in the Overhand Roll Gybe you follow a slightly curved course matching the roll of the boat instead of keeping the boat straight through the pullover.

At the end here are some pictures from 2008 of the ridiculously aggressive roll gybes that we used to practice.  Again this is not for racing, but when you learn to propel the boat with extreme kinetics you get to know the feel of the dynamics of the boat and that gives you more versatility to do all sorts of different manoeuvres.

 

Thanks to the Calgary Yacht Club for letting me use their camera while coaching Hanny.
Thanks to Hanny Buitenwerf for letting me use her clip.
Thanks to the Able family in Victoria for letting me take part in the on-water professional photo shoot that they organized back in 2008.

Laser Tips Fresh From My Winter Professional Development

A heavy wind day out in the Juan de Fuca Straight in February.

 

I mean Torch Tips? www.kirbytorch.com

Since January I have been training hard with the Royal Victoria Yacht Club Racing Team and we were fortunate to have one of our training camps with National Team coach Erik Stibbe who brought with him some fresh ideas.  Over the next few blog posts I will summarize some of what we learnt and have been practising since then... 

2013 Midwinters West, Los Angeles

 
Heel

This isn’t really new but it is re-emphasized.

Consistency of heel is paramount.  If you take a while to react to changes in the wind or let yourself get tossed around in the chop the sail will not be as efficient.  React to changes in pressure and wind direction as they happen or even a half second before if they are predictable to keep the sail cutting evenly through the air.  In waves this also goes for fore-aft stability.

Flat Is Fast

The concept is old but we just haven’t been doing it.

In the past I have said that my athletes can have 5 degrees of leeward heel in flat water 0-8 knots.  You can still have this in 0-2 knots but as soon as the sail is full the boat should go dead flat and even a hair to windward possibly as long as you keep the heel consistent and you have no lee helm.  Sailors will think that the boat is heeling over top of them because they are used to sailing with leeward heel and the laser deck is slanted outwards so the windward half of the deck should be very slightly angled to windward rather than flat.  Look at water in the cockpit or the edge of your compass for feedback on when you are perfectly level.

This significantly changes the feel of the tiller.  There should be none or the slightest touch of helm on the tiller.  You should be able to put the tiller down for a second without going off course and you should be able to hold the tiller easily with two finger tips.  Sailors who are used to sailing with 5 degrees of heel (and so they are used to slight but constant weather helm) will tend to bear of and stall the boat when they first try sailing dead flat.  Their heel will also likely become more inconsistent because a dead flat boat is less stable.

Note

The physical sensations of pinching and stalling are more subtle when you have a dead flat boat.  If you are used to a heeled boat it may take a while to get used to the feel of a balanced (flat) boat.  That is okay because you point higher and sail faster.  Get in pairs and try it out.

As the breeze increases, keeping a dead flat boat means exerting a huge amount of effort.  For example, picking some numbers out of the blue: with a properly powered up sail in 8 knots you may have to hike at 60% effort to sail with 5 degrees of leeward heel, but you might have to increase to 90% effort to sail dead flat.  Again that is okay because you sail faster and point higher.  Hit the gym if need be.

This doesn’t change the technique of heeling the boat to leeward to navigate a terrible patch of waves, however you should then flatten the boat back out when the waves have passed.

May and June 2013 Training Schedule

2013 looks to be an exciting year for sailing in Alberta.  It is a Canada Games year, it is the first year of the new olympic quadrennial, so the New Rules come into effect.  Alberta Sailing will have a lot of instructor development especially in terms of racing skills so there may be many opportunities to join with these clinics and help raise the calibre of instructor sailing.  CANSail is continuing to evolve and improve.
Perhaps most notably... we have a new regatta schedule designed to work better with training principles and keep people more engaged throughout the summer.

Here is a message about it from Alberta Sailing:



Hello Alberta Clubs, teams and schools,

Please circulate to your membership and in particular everyone involved in youth sailing at your club, team or school. We have changed our approach to setting the May - June training camp schedule for 2013 by proposing the following schedule and looking for feedback from stakeholders. We are open to changing dates and locations as well as adding training opportunities where we can support. The July training camp and regatta circuit is finalized except for the possibility of moving the Provincial Regatta from Labour Day to the last weekend in July. August is almost completely open to opportunities for Alberta Sailing to help build or improve sailing at your club, team or school. ASA would like to be at your club helping to build the sport.  

Our first priority for the May - June training camps is to support the development of sustainable local youth training programs. All camps can include some kind of coach / instructor development and certification as well as training for adults and other classes where there is interest and our resources can support.  

Early Season Training Camps

1. May 4 - 5 has been left open as the water is still very cold and often hard this early in the season. Might be an opportunity for some dry land training. Rules clinics???  

2. May 11 - 12 Glenmore Sailing Club and Glenmore Sailing School.  

a. We plan to include Sailing Skills and other clinics for coaches and instructors.  

3. May 18 - 19 Calgary Yacht Club, note that the Glenmore Sailing Club youth team may be moving to CYC around this time due to low water levels in the reservoir.  

a. We plan to include Sailing Skills and other clinics for coaches and instructors.  

4. May 25 - 26 Wabamun Sailing Club  

5. June 1 - 2 Newell Sailing Club  

6. June 8 - 9 Edmonton Yacht Club  

7. June 15 - 16 Calgary Yacht club  

8. June 22 - 23 Icebreaker Regatta Calgary Yacht Club. New date and warmer water  

9. June 29 - 30 Edmonton Yacht Club  

a. We plan to include Sailing Skills and other clinics for coaches and instructors.  


We want to finalize the training schedule by the end of January so we can get the word out and move forward with planning. All dates are currently listed on the ASA calendar http://www.albertasailing.com/events_calendar  


I am happy to discuss the schedule and any other sailing opportunities with individuals or groups by phone, email or in person anywhere in the province.  

Peter MacDougal  

Sailing to Win - Sport for Life  

Alberta Sailing - Sail Canada  

403-617-9092 info@albertasailing.com.

September Winds

Saskachewan Short Course on Redberry lake 2001.  In front is Stephen Huszar, in the background with the disco sail is Ian Elliott... without much leech tension...too sheeted out...  hold on!!

This weekend, we have the final event of the Dick Degner Grand Prix in which you need at lest one Saskatchewan and one Albertan event to be scored (so this is the last chance for Albertans without a Sask event).  The event is called the Saskatchewan Short Course Championship at SSC.  This will also be the 2012 District 5 Championship (District 5 is Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba).  Here is the notice of race, and Here are the SI's.

The Paralympic Final races are tomorrow September 6th.  If anyone finds a way to view them, let us know!  Saskachewan Logan Campbell who has sailed several Saskachewan Short Course Champs is sailing Sonar with skipper Bruce Millar and second Crew Scott Lutes, they are sitting in 8th.  Royal Victoria Yacht Club sailors John McRoberts and Stacie Louttit are sitting in 4th in Skud class.  These two have often joined in on the Junior Race Team's drills at Royal Vic and so I have had the honour of training with them also.  Finally, Gold Medallist Paul Tingley from RNovaScotiaYS is sailing 2.4mR and is sitting in 5th.  Click here for the Paralympic website where you can find results and bios etc.

Bruce, Scott and Logan leading up to the 2012 Paralympics.  Logan is out on the rail.

John and Stacy on Day 3 at the 2012 Paraolympics

Paul Tingley at Sail Melbourne 2009

Back at CYC...

Tuesday Night Laser Race Team at CYC has come to an end with another good showing on Tuesday the 28th of August.  The plan is to continue to have Tuesday night as a group training session, but I will not be coaching, instead I will be out in my Laser training with everyone else.  Yesterday, Tuesday the 4th, we had eight people out in spite of dead calm and five of us went out for a short sail regardless of the lack of breeze.

Thursday Night Racing continues in September with a 6:30pm start to cope with the earlier sunset.

Looking back, Jimmy Buffet Night went off smoothly and CYC Club Championships were wildly shifty.  Ian H managed to beat Mike H with the help of Bill M, whose bullet in one of the final races took away Mike H's tie-breaking bullet leaving Ian with the Championship.  We think that Ian H and Keith H are the first father and son to both have their names on the Club Championship trophy.

Labour Day Long Weekend we had a wild and windy Provincial Championships at Wabamun Sailing Club.  Friday, some sailors came out early and we had a sunny, warm evening with a fine wind of about 8 knots and some good, even boat speed.  Saturday, the first day of the regatta, was very similar to Wabamun Open with a solid breeze and nice waves and Boat speed started to separate sailors in the long races.  Day two brought even more wind, but it was rainy and colder and we were held onshore until the worst of it blew over... or so we thought.  When we came out after lunch it started out in the teens of knots, but by the second race, it blasted up into the 30 knot range as the clouds cleared and the Race Committee clocked a gust at 36 knots.  They shortened the course and we screamed in on a crazy reach.  A few sailors were saying that they might never have gone that fast in a laser before.  Monday, day three, looked like it would be the mildest day for wind, but by the time we got on the race course the wind was in the high teens again and in the second race, as the clouds cleared again, we got some hairy gusts but also some deep lulls.  A coach suggested that the breeze ranged from 24 knots lulling down to 12 knots, but many sailors were saying that the gusts were even stronger than the day before and the Race Committee suggested that it got into the 30's again.

It was an exhausting regatta with all the breeze and although there were only 7 races, the race lengths were consistently in the 55 minute range and so after fierce battles in the first couple of legs, the positions tended to space out at the front of the fleet as boat speed became paramount.  I came out with straight 1st places, Nick H had straight 2nds in spite of returning to the start line for fear of being OCS in at least two races.  Jay F had been a long time out of the Laser, but he still came in with all 3rds except for the first race and the last race where a collision with Phil P caused Jay to retire (if a collision causes injury, you are not exonerated by doing a 720 and must retire).  In 4th place was CYC Youth Race Team coach Luke H, in 5th place was under-sized Ian H and first Master went to Phil P in 6th place.

In the Fireball Fleet only Greg F and Mike L sailed all of the races, although they said that the competition was good when the others braved the elements.  There were 505s and the Catamaran Bladerunner out sailing in some of the big winds, but most exciting was the huge Opti Fleet.  On the first day some of the braver Optis stayed out in the blow and inspired the others to try the big winds (slightly sheltered by the point).  The second day the Optis were better able to handle the wind and more of them came out and on the last day they were pretty well all racing.  Thanks to Newell Sailing Club, Glenmore Sailing Club and Calgary Yacht Club for supporting the Opti fleet as always and for Wabamun Sailing Club and Alberta Sailing Association for supplying Opti Coaches and ASA's MOSS program for providing so many Optis.  A special mention has to go out to Glenmore Sailing School (as opposed to Club) for getting some of their Optis out for the first time (in a long time?  Ever?).  GSS has long been a huge part of sailing in Alberta, but has rarely contributed many Racers to the sport.  I heard that Elisha A and Elliot A played a big part in promoting racing to their sailing school students, so hopefully with this wild Provincial Regatta, another crop of new racers will have been inspired by the sport and will rant to their friends at GSS who didn't make it about how cool it was.

In the Opti championship fleet, Tom M from Newell Sailing Club finished first followed by Maren from CYC.  Third was a sailor from Glenmore Sailing Club, but without the posted results I can't recall his name or be sure of his club.  But the results are not as important as fostering a healthy future for our sport!

This is the picture posted on the CYA website for 2012 Sail East and Sail Central

 BUT WAIT!

After D5 Champs this weekend the season is not over, there is the Frostbite Regatta at Glenmore Sailing Club September 14-15, Thursday Night Racing continues through September, there is the Brass Monkey October 13th, and if you feel like travelling, there is Fall Dinghies September 22-23 at Royal Victoria Yacht Club and Pumpkin Bowl at West Vancouver Yacht Club probably the second or third week of October.