How to improve your sailing at 7:30 at night

Winter is approaching folks, so less chance to get out on the water. 

At the Welsh Harp Sailing Club, we have finished mid-week racing. Soon we will be down to only 2 races on Saturdays. 

Although I have decided to pull out of going to the 2016 Workd Championships, I want to use this winter to consolidate my experience, and be fighting fit for next year. It would be great to do the "Travellers" series again - maybe even the Nationals in Wales. 

As always, the weakest part of my boat is the Nut in front of the Rudder! Since the limiting factor in my sailing is my fitness;- it is back to the gym in order to build up my stamina and strength ready for next year. 

My tips for getting "sailing fit":-

- get a really good personal trainer. 

- explain what your sport involves and get them to devise a plan that focuses on your specific needs. 

- expect to be doing high-intensity interval training (quick activity bursts) rather than just boring running. 

- let your trainer vary the routine every 6 weeks or so. 

I am convinced that I would not have been able to complete the Nationals this year, if it had not been for the support of Andy Howell, who devised the fitness training routines. 

So it's time for me to invest time in the gym during the winter, and plan for the sailing next year. 

Erith - last Open of the year

I have always liked Erith as a venue for GP14 sailing. It has wide open spaces, usually fairly strong (but consistent) winds, and the challenge of cross-currents to keep you on your toes.

So this must be the third or fourth time I have been to a GP14 Open Event there, and the second time as a helm in my own boat.

This time I had Chris Lomax with me - the dream team from the Nationals at Brixham!

Unfortunately, all did not go to plan. Although there were only 7 boats in the regatta, we ended up at the back of the fleet every time.

Some of this was due to bad starting, in other cases to bad tactical calls on my part regarding wind and tide. The bottom line is that I need more experience to be able to take on the Open sailors.

One interesting observation from Norman Brown in relation to winds and tide was that the tide is relatively predictable - it won't suddenly shift direction - whereas winds are less predictable. A useful way of looking at things, although I now need to understand what to do with that knowledge.

So that is the end of the 2015 Open Season for me. There are a couple of other races in the Southern Travellers, but they are relatively small venues, and my primary reason for travelling is to gain experience at larger, open, preferably sea-based events.

Although we had a great time at the Nationals (see blog entries!), the Open series has been a bit of a disappointment; I had hoped to make improvements on my standing last year. Although I feel that I have sailed better, the results do not appear to back this up.

I am now looking forward to the winter club series. I want to use this as an opportunity to really improve my technical skills - better starting, more accurate managing of wind shifts, and better tactical positioning.

I also intend to update the blog with reviews of all the books I intend to read on sailing and tactics.

Here's looking forward...

Withdrawn from the World Championship

Dreams sometimes die. 

That's true in Sport, and in Life. 

The decision to withdraw from the GP14 World Championships in Barbados in 2016 is the death of a dream. 

There are valid reasons; mainly that my wife's father is terminally ill, and I know that sailing has to take its place in the priority list. I don't regret the decision. 

Nevertheless, it is sad when I remember the effort to get here:

- Hours spent in the gym to get my fitness levels up.

- Professional Physio, Massage, Accupuncture, high intensity interval training 

- Professional Sports Psychology

- Help, guidance and coaching everywhere I could get it from members of the club, including Racing Instructor

- Money on sails, fittings, towing equipment 

- Time and energy away from family and work. 

None of this would have been possible without the encouragement and support I received from friends and family. 

I've enjoyed it all. And we did achieve one of our key goals :- to take part in the UK National Championships in Brixham in 2015. 

But we won't be doing the Worlds in Barbados. 

There is one more significant "Open" event with Chris - Erith this Saturday. 

Over the winter, I will be focusing on improving my club racing, and getting fit for the summer. Then we will see about further plans. 

What will the next challenge be?

The blog "GP14 Dinghy Racing" will continue. 

Poole GP14 Open

The second day at Poole was very light winds, and a fairly frustrating day.

Yasmin did brilliantly - I don't think I know any other crew member with such a strong work ethic! We kept the boat really flat in the beats, but ended up near the back of the fleet every time.

I think part of the problem was that the helm (me!) never really got into the "zone". I got my timing wrong at the Starts; in light winds if you don't start well you might as well give up.

Yasmin also thought that I had a tendency to "go wide, both on the beats and on the runs, and this meant we had more distance to cover. I thought we were working the wind-shifts reasonably. However, I guess the lesson is to keep close to the rhumb line in light winds - "bow forward" as I understand the late Richard Estaugh used to say.

The first race was so slow that it was abandoned. Then the sea breeze kicked in and we had two further races. Our final position was 14th out of 21 entries. Although, in practice, all of those behind us were "DNC", and we only really beat Den Valentine - by just one point. 

A humbling experience. But all experience is good if you take advantage of it.

Photo by Mike Millard of Poole Yacht Club shows 13941 with Spinnaker.

Mike's photo sets are here: Mike Millard Flickr Albums

Poole - Round the Island (again!)

The annual Poole Round the Island race was the first time back on the water since the GP14 Nationals - how would I do? Would the experience at Brixham translate into improved confidence on the water at Poole?

Poole Yacht Club is a favourite place to visit - always welcoming - a sort of "second home" to some people from Welsh Harp Sailing Club. The Harp also had a couple of novices in a club boat this year. It was also the first event I had helmed at - back in 2014.

The event consists of teams of 3 boats. We were with Richard Lord and "Scooter" in the WHSC "A" team, which ended up second overall. Our positions  were 16th & 17th out of 22 boats; so we provided the "discard" scores!

Great crewing from Yasmin Hales, who has only been sailing a year, but did brilliant work. 

No prizes - but the Adams/Hales team acquitted themselves well! 

Final races - final reckoning

It was not clear whether we would have races 8 and 9 at the GP14 Nationals today; the wind in Tor Bay was expected to be very light.  Bearing in mind that it took half an hour to sail to the race area, racing today might have been cancelled. 

In the end, the race officer let us out and we had the final two races back-to-back. 

It was a pleasant way to finish off the week. The light winds meant that it lacked the scare factor of the first few days. Light conditions should have suited "pond sailors" like myself, but I was unable to improve on my typical 37th or 38th places.  

So the 2015 Brixham Nationals are over. 

It has been a real mixture of different sailing conditions.

The final reckoning for me was that I competed in all 9 races, my best score was 24th, and final score (based on 2 discards) was  37th out of 44 registered entrants. 

It is the fulfilment of the idea of going to the National Championships in my own boat - two years in the planning & preparation. 

A big thank you to everyone at Welsh Harp Sailing Club who has encouraged and helped me, particularly Andy & Helen, and crewmen Mike, Maciej, Penny and especially Chris who sailed with me this week. 

Thank you to everyone who has followed on social media. 

Thanks to Dixon, who is towing the boat to Poole, ready for the next event...

Thanks to my extremely patient wife Jeanette; how do you feel about a holiday in Barbados, at the GP14 World Championships in 2016?

Races 5,6,7 GP14 Nationals

Thursday was much quieter winds in Brixham - 10 to 15 knots, so a bit more manageable for someone with my experience. 

In contrast, feedback from many people afterwards suggested that it was an eventful day - difficulties getting boats to "point", getting spinnakers to fly properly, a couple of "close encounters", with minor damage. 

Fortunately, we had a relatively easy day compared with others - no issues or incidents. 

My own focus was to ensure that I picked up wind shifts from the prevailing wind coming across the land. So much of my time was spent "head out of the boat".

The fist race was a Gate Start, which we managed to achieve reasonably successfully.  After that, it was a case of managing the wind shifts and trying to get used to spinnaker reaches. We ended up with 24 points - best result to date. 

The other two races were "line starts", which we were less successful at. Maybe I was loosing concentration. Either wsy, we ended up 35 & 36, respectively.  

Going into the final day, we are 34 out of 44 boats. We need some good results on the last day tomorrow to consolidate the position.  

The photo was taken at the end of race 7, and shows the Welsh Harp Salling Club representatives at the Nationals.

From left to right: Andy W, Helen, Dennis, Chris, Andy S, Steve, Michal, Duncan.