Keep working to improve

The sports psychologists talk about "marginal gains"; those small subtle changes and improvements that combine to give the difference between winning and loosing.

These days, it's my aim to try to systematically find these and apply them.

One of these aspects came to mind very forcefully a weekend ago. The club organised one of those occasional "fun" type events - a race for GP14 and other two-man dinghies, but with the added twist that only one person was in each boat. What that meant, in practice, was that I was on one occasion holding the tiller extension, Main sheet and Genoa sheet all in the same hand, whilst I had to adjust some other controls on the boat.

A single handed race is always good fun, whether or not you do try launching the spinnaker as well; I didn't, because it was a northerly wind (at least, that is my excuse!). But, for me, the real value was what it taught me about the boat. 

Everyone who races knows that the rudder is just a "brake", to be used with care, and that the boat sails best when flat. For the single-handed race, I had hooked a bungee onto the tiller extension. This mean that I could drop the tiller in order to sail single-handed. But the other effect was that I felt a strong pressure whenever I tried to apply the "brake". It was really striking how much I must have tried to slow down the boat. Lesson one: don't use the rudder too much.

The other aspect that was highlighted to me was how much the boat flies better when it is absolutely flat. During the single handed race, I was the only person on the boat, so the "feedback" was just from the boat itself. It's amazing how much more sensitive you can become if it is just you and the dinghy. Lesson two: keep the boat really flat.

It's great to learn these lessons, but the trick is to put it into practice. We have had a number of "good" races recently :- although the results do not always suggest that. For example, last Saturday, after a really bad start we were at the back of the fleet, and gradually began to pull up to the tail-enders, just by keeping the boat really flat.

So I have learnt a lot, and am looking forward to the next race. Watch this space...

I want to Start To Win

Have you ever noticed how the real experts (in whatever field of expertise you are interested in) always make winning look easy?

It's true for businessmen, craftsmen, and for sportsmen, including dinghy racers. I've been watching videos recently of top dinghy sailers. I've also been keeping me eyes on the really good sailers at the front of our club fleet; they all make it look easy. Myself, I'm still habitually at the back of the fleet, and looking for that secret ingredient to help me win. 

I can't claim to have the secret (I'll tell you  when I do...), but I do know that a combination of things will help. Some of these involve "on the water" behaviours (keeping the boat flat, roll tacking etc.) and some of these involve "off the water" preparation (fitness, tactical planning, priority setting etc.). Amoung the latter, I've been re-reading "Start to Win", by Eric Twinham.

There seems to be two elements at least that are key to winning, and neither have got anything to do with how you sail the boat.

The first seems to be attitude, and focus. I must admit that this is probably the area where I am weakest. Unlike many people, I find it really tricky to keep razor-sharp focus on my sailing. That almost trance-like state where you just know what to do next, and everything is a fluid dream.... I have known a few races like that, but not many. I find a similar challenge with my gym sessions - there is a degree of ruthless focus that is needed, to help implement that extra edge.

Of course,  it is no good being focused if you don't actually know what to do - that the tack into clear air is the correct choice. But, on the other hand, I often feel that I know how to race in theory, but struggle to put it into practice. I have some techniques that I want to employ to help build and maintain focus.

The second point that Eric raises is the importance of having a critical attitude. This means having the willingness to objectively understand what you are doing wrong, without "excusing" your mistakes.

A case in point occurred last Tuesday. The wind was fresh, and Maciej had agreed to crew for me. The wind was westerly. We had recognised that the left hand side of the course was stronger, so started left and hugged that southern shore. That way, we were first to the windward mark and led for the first lap. However, on the second lap, we were overtaken. Why?

It would be simplistic to say that we were overtaken by better sailors (which was clearly the case), but my challenge is to understand what made them better. Was it that they had spotted that the wind strength had changed to the middle of the course? Was it more efficient tacking? Was it a more responsive approach to wind shifts on the beat and the run?

My aim is to find out the answers to these questions.

For the record, we ended up in second place, behind Roger Walton and Norman Smith. A successful result, so of course I am very pleased.

But the challenge is, "can I do better?" If I can develop my ability to focus, and my willingness to take a critical attitude, then maybe the answer is "yes".

Watch this blog to find out what happens in future....