Be Your Own Sailing Coach 20 Goals for Racing Success JON EMMETT With Contributions from Paul Goodison, Simon Hiscocks and Joe Glanfi eld Illustrated by Karl Brandt Be Your Own Sailing Coach “To Mum, Dad and Emily. I could not have got through this project without you.” Be Your Own Sailing Coach 20 Goals for Racing Success JON EMMETT With Contributions from Paul Goodison, Simon Hiscocks and Joe Glanfi eld Illustrated by Karl Brandt Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 8SQ, England Telephone (ϩ44) 1243 779777 Email (for orders and customer service enquiries): cs-books@wiley.co.uk Visit our Home Page on www.wiley.com All rights reserved. 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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Emmett, Jon. Be your own sailing coach : 20 goals for racing success / Jon Emmett; with contributions from Paul Goodison, Simon Hiscocks and Joe Glanfi eld. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-0-470-31929-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Sailing. I. Title. GV811.E48 2007 797.124 dc22 2007029093 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 978-0-470-31929-1 (PB) Typeset in 10/15 Futura by Thomson Digital, India Printed and bound in Singapore by Markono Print Media Pte Ltd Contents v Contents Preface ix Introduction xi 1 Goal Setting 1 1.1 The importance of goal setting 2 1.2 Smart goals 2 1.3 Short-, medium- and long-term goals 3 Advice from Paul Goodison 7 2 Self-preparation 9 2.1 How prepared are you? 10 2.2 Peaking at the correct time 11 2.3 Checklists 13 Advice from Simon Hiscocks 16 3 Venue Preparation 17 3.1 Logistics 18 3.2 Weather patterns 21 3.3 Wind patterns 25 Advice from Paul Goodison 30 4 Technology 31 4.1 Keeping up with the trends 32 4.2 Finding the perfect solution 33 vi 4.3 Keeping it simple 33 Advice from Simon Hiscocks 34 5 Starting 37 5.1 Time, distance and acceleration 38 5.2 Considering wind and tide 45 5.3 Remember the rest of the race 48 Advice from Paul Goodison 54 6 Boat Handling 57 6.1 Top and bottom turns 59 6.2 Tacks and gybes 62 6.3 Changing gear 69 Advice from Paul Goodison 72 7 Tactics 73 7.1 What are boat-to-boat tactics? 74 7.2 Upwind tactics 76 7.3 Downwind tactics 84 Advice from Paul Goodison 92 8 Strategy 93 8.1 What is strategy? 94 8.2 Upwind strategy 97 8.3 Downwind strategy 107 Advice from Simon Hiscocks 117 9 Rules 119 9.1 Rules: the basics 120 9.2 Using the rules aggressively 136 9.3 Using the rules defensively 139 Advice from Simon Hiscocks 142 10 Meteorology 143 10.1 Sources of weather information 144 10.2 Understanding weather forecasts 145 10.3 Using weather forecasts 148 Advice from Joe Glanfield 154 vii Contents 11 B o a t S p e e d : U p w ind 155 11.1 Ri g s e t - u p 156 11.2 Making the boat ‘point’ 161 11.3 Making the boat ‘foot’ 164 Advice from Joe Glanfield 165 12 Boat Speed: Reaching 167 12.1 Rig set-up 168 12.2 ‘Soaking’ low 169 12.3 Going for speed 171 Advice from Simon Hiscocks 175 13 Boat Speed: Running 177 13.1 Rig set-up 178 13.2 Sailing by the lee 181 13.3 Apparent wind sailing 184 Advice from Paul Goodison 186 14 Fitness 187 14.1 What is fitness? 188 14.2 How fit do you need to be? 191 14.3 How to improve your fitness 192 Advice from Paul Goodison 197 15 Diet 199 15.1 Understanding nutritional labelling 201 15.2 What we need to eat 204 15.3 Diet suggestions 206 Advice from Joe Glanfield 208 16 Body Weight 209 16.1 Maintaining body weight and recovering 210 16.2 Losing body weight 211 16.3 Gaining body weight 212 Advice from Joe Glanfield 214 17 Mental Attitude 215 17.1 The importance of correct attitude 216 17.2 Dealing with negatives 218 viii 17.3 Relaxation techniques 219 Advice from Joe Glanfield 221 18 Racing Log 223 18.1 Why keep a diary? 224 18.2 How to keep good records 226 18.3 Race analysis 229 Advice from Joe Glanfield 231 19 Concentration 233 19.1 Looking at mental stamina 234 19.2 Maintaining focus 237 19.3 Peak concentration 240 Advice from Joe Glanfield 241 20 Boat Preparation 243 20.1 How prepared is your boat? 244 20.2 Dealing with boat work 247 20.3 Checklist 249 Advice from Simon Hiscocks 250 21 Finance 253 21.1 The true cost of sailing 254 21.2 Campaigning 256 21.3 Sponsorship 258 Advice from Joe Glanfield 260 Glossary 261 Index 267 [...]... 2/12 /200 8 30 3 Hoists 2/2 /200 8 15/3 /200 8 30 4 Drops 2/2 /200 8 15/3 /200 8 30 Upwind boat speed 2/1 /200 8 27/9 /200 8 171 5 Duration 6 Downwind boat speed 2/1 /200 8 27/9 /200 8 171 7 Starting 2/1 /200 8 5/9 /200 8 70 Technology 2/1 /200 8 5/9 /200 8 70 Short course racing 3/1 /200 8 5/8 /200 8 48 8 9 10 Training regattas 22/2 /200 8 31/10 /200 8 11 Study rules 12 Extra attention to diet 5/1 /200 8 8/8 /200 8 71 13 Key regattas 7/1 /200 8... 30/8 /200 8 44 14 Reports/ major admin 30/8 /200 8 1/1 /200 9 88 15 Rest period 9/1 /200 8 16/9 /200 8 11 16 Sponsorship 17/9 /200 8 10/8 /200 8 15 17 Hospitality 30/8 /200 8 18/10 /200 8 34 18 Sell old boat/ prepare new one 9/1 /200 8 15/11 /200 8 55 19 20 Fund raising 1/1 /200 8 7/8 /200 8 180 10/1 /200 8 6/12 /200 8 Offseason fitness 11/1 /200 8 24/12 /200 8 135 48 37 2.3 Gantt chart rather than several, you save time that can be better... coach can be useful in all the above examples, but time and money may restrict you to having a coach only for some sessions, and therefore you need to consider for which sessions a coach would be most useful Maybe book a number of days with a coach and chat with him or her beforehand about the goals you have, or attend some of your class training that uses the venues and coaches you believe will be the... stressed for the regatta Perhaps it would be better just to get the important things done, and then relax before the first race Think: does this really need to be done now, or can it be done later? Having said this, if a task needs to be done now, get on and do it! Being prepared does not mean planning everything in the tiniest detail It may be best to get up at the same time every morning when training /racing. .. your own targets xiii Tacking on the whistle 720 Tied tiller tacking Tacking in short race Fixed sheet tacking Riverboat 0.1d Dartboard of actions You should aim to be rating yourself relatively highly in each aspect of sailing before you attend a major championship The dartboards can be really helpful when it comes to time management! Keep careful records of your progress so you can review your sailing. .. set your goals, as this way they can double-check that you are setting the right goals and help to monitor your progress It is important to monitor your goals regularly, as this way you can record any improvements and see if you are concentrating on what you set out to achieve If things aren’t moving forward you can reassess your goals, and hopefully set new goals to move forward with The short-term goals. .. in the best state of mind for that key regatta It can actually be very hard to know when you have peaked Often you will be on the up, but then in order to make the next jump you may have to go down a bit in performance (while trying a new technique) before you go up again This can be viewed like a never-ending mountain range, going on and on You just need to make sure you are near the top of your particular... mean that any dream goals are unlikely to be achieved Timed: A goal which may be highly unrealistic in one time frame (too easy if the time is too long, or too hard if the time is too short) may be an excellent goal in another time frame Remember to record and monitor your goals! Keep a detailed list of all your goals so you can refer back to them Try and make a wide range of smart goals 1.3 Short-,... reading (this book) from the comfort of your armchair Coaching is an extremely important part of learning, but for the vast majority of sailors it is not possible to have a coach all the time In fact, because of the constraints of time, money and location, many sailors may only have a coach on rare occasions This book is for all those busy people who still want to be successful, and need to optimise... well before the first gun goes in a championship (It could start four years before!) The aim is to get you, your boat and all your equipment to the regatta in the best shape possible This may mean getting there very early so as to recover from jet lag and get comfortable with your surroundings, or it may mean getting there late so you can finish that all-important piece of work (which would affect your . Be Your Own Sailing Coach 20 Goals for Racing Success JON EMMETT With Contributions from Paul Goodison, Simon Hiscocks and Joe Glanfi eld Illustrated by Karl Brandt Be Your Own Sailing Coach “To. without you.” Be Your Own Sailing Coach 20 Goals for Racing Success JON EMMETT With Contributions from Paul Goodison, Simon Hiscocks and Joe Glanfi eld Illustrated by Karl Brandt Copyright © 200 8 John. electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Emmett, Jon. Be your own sailing coach : 20 goals for