What is my aim when coaching junior sailors?

Ahead of winter coaching this year I have been thinking, what is it that I really want to achieve when I run a series of training sessions? What I would really like to see is that in 40 years the kids I am coaching are still sailing and loving it.  Ultimately it would be great to see the kids carrying on to one day in the future, become some of the best sailors in the country, however to be the best in anything takes a rare mix of ingredients. From reading autobiographies and articles about some of the worlds best sailors what seems to separate them from the rest, certainly at a young age is....

          1. A lot of time of the water combined with a desire to improve. All cite they just loved being afloat and this was very self motivated.

          2. In their early days of racing there is always a group of likeminded kids worked hard to beat each other which they are part of . Great friends off the water and desperate rivals on.

          3. When the above two factors come together it seems a melting pot of talent is created, which can lead to some very skilful kids in a sailing club, however to get to the very top a third factor is needed. Namely some very committed individuals that are prepared to spend a lot of time and money on the young prodigy taking them around the country to sailing events and buying the right kit for them. This role is usually fulfilled by the parents.

The need for coaches to teach the fundamentals of racing, certainly at the early stages is questionable. It appears that many of the countries best had relatively little skilled coaching until they were already fairly advanced in their racing careers. So what is the point of me?

Certainly I think there is a big benefit in having help learning the complexities of racing, speeding up the learning process is always a good thing in itself, and improving is motivating to continue sailing.

In addition to this I see my role as a coach, who is coming in fairly early in the young sailors development, is to increase the frequency with which the above 3 factors come together. I want the kids to develop a passion for sailing and learning, with the aim of making their improvement self motivated. I want all sailors to spend as much time on the water as possible and when not on the water be watching YouTube videos trying to work out how to get better, and filling their school work books with sketches of boats..

My role could also be to help develop friendly competition whereby the sailors are learning from each other and trying like mad to beat each other.

While I can't directly influence point 3, maybe I can help parents to support their kids by giving advice on what to buy and where and how to help their children get to the next level.

This all seems a bit more complicated than running a bit of tacking on the whistle and follow the leader, I had better get planning.

Andy

The hidden complexities to getting to the start line.

 Why is getting on the start line so difficult? Even without the distraction of other boats and the pressure a man in a boat scrutinising your position and the ever present threat of OCS on your score card presents, a lot of perfectly decent sailors really struggle to get to where they want to be on a start line when the gun goes. One area that I have been coaching a lot on over the summer is that no two start lines are the same. Minor changes in the angle of the line to the wind can have major repercussions on how the line should be approached, however a lot of racers seem to perform the same start for all occasions and the first time they try their approach to the line is when the start gun is about to go.

I had quite a bit of fun while coaching starting over the summer. Playing with start line bias had a big and predictable effect on how a fleet managed to get to the line. A square line generally meant one or two boats were over, and most of the boats crossed the line within 15 seconds of the start signal. Dropping the start boat back a bit to induce a slight port end bias led to generally all boats being behind the line and about a quarter of the fleet struggling to cross the line within 20 seconds. A moderate port bias would normally mean the first boats crossed the line 5-10 seconds after the go and it would take about 30 seconds for over 50% of the fleet to get on course side. Change this to a slight starboard bias and no such issues with getting to the start line existed, quite the opposite. When setting a line with moderate starboard bias I frequently had to turn away and cringe as boats would pile into the back of my rib while other sailors reached down the line completely unable to slow down. Inevitably lots of boats would be over when the gun went and few managed to stay even remotely near the favoured end of the line.

Why was this happening? The kids I was coaching had developed one procedure for starting that sort of worked when the line was very slightly port biased but not for anything else. It seems obvious when you look at it, but changing bias of a start line means the sailor needs to change their approach to the line, not just to get to the favoured end but merely to get to/ not be over the line.

The first thing to consider is how to control your speed and direction. At a very basic level, to sail slowly the sail needs to be able to completely flap. This will only happen when sailing on a close reach or higher. The closer to the wind a boat turns, the less the boat will move forwards, however as the boat turns closer to the wind the ability to control direction diminishes and the boat will tend to drift sideways and if the sailor isn’t vigilant, backwards.

To put it in crude terms a sailor must approach the position they intend to start at on a start line on a close reach to close hauled course in order to control their speed, while still being able to control where the boat goes.

Now if I put this ideal route on a few different diagrams of a start line it becomes obvious why the same approach to all lines can’t work.

Fig 1: Shows a boat approaching a square line. It is fairly easy for the boat to reach the line on starboard tack. However if the sailor gets to the line a little early it can be difficult to slow down sufficiently to avoid being OCS 

Fig 2: Shows a boat approaching a port biased line. Now it is far harder for the boat to cross the line and in order to be on the line at go the sailor must position the boat a lot closer to the line in the pre start than in Fig 1. Dirty wind from other boats on the start line will have the effect of reducing how high the boat can sail meaning if you are in the second row it can take a frustratingly long time to cross the line. On the plus side it will be a lot easier to slow down if you are on the line early. 

Fig 3: Shows a boat approaching a line with starboard bias.  Now the boat will have little difficulty covering the distance to the line. However if they get there too early bearing away along the line will give the sailor no way of slowing down leading to being away from the favoured end or being pushed over the line early.

While line bias may influence the end of the start line you choose to start at, these diagrams also show that it has a fundamental effect on how you need to plan your run in to the line, and where you need to position your boat pre-start.

While other boats will strongly effect how you perform your start, in order to have a fighting chance of pulling off the start you would like to, I very strongly recommend working out the ideal line of approach to where you want be on the line, when the gun goes. This ideal line of approach will be slightly class and wind dependent but will ultimately be as described above, somewhere around a close reach. If it is as high as a close hauled course you are likely to drift sideways away from where you want to start, while if it is broader than a close reach slowing down will be tricky and you will be susceptible to boats to leeward luffing you and preventing you from getting to where you want to be.

Find this line into the start and try sailing into the start line a few times, controlling your speed on each run in. Work out how far away from the line you want to be at 1min and 30 seconds then be prepared to adjust this depending on boats around you.

Fig 4: For example to be at X on go find the red line in to start, then have an idea where on the line you want to be at set times before go, then work on being confident you can adjust your speed to adapt to other boats. 

Last year I was lucky enough to be helping out at an event at Queen Mary SC where a handful of Olympic squad sailors came to offer coaching advice to the club sailors. After videoing the Sunday racing a few of the squad did a video debrief, one of whom was Alexandra Rickman the Paralympic bronze medal Skud sailor. After watching the Laser start on video she turned to the club sailors and said incredulously, ‘why don’t any of you guys do run in’s before the start?’ (Or at least that is what I remember her saying…..) She couldn’t understand why none of the sailors practised their approach to the line, preferring instead to haphazardly approach the line for the first time as the gun went. Needless to say most of the starts in the video were far from Olympic standard.

Add working out your approach to the line part of your pre-start routine. It doesn’t take long and is a massive step into pulling off consistently good starts. It’s what Olympic sailors do and they are quite good at it. While there is a lot more to getting the perfect start by ticking this box you will be on the right path. 

Upwind sailing in medium winds

I have deliberately left medium wind upwind sailing to last, as it tends to have a little overlap with strong and/or light wind technique depending on the day in question. By medium winds I mean wind strengths from starting to hike, using full power in the sail, to depowering using controls, but not having to persistently spill wind.

In these conditions a lot of sailors tend to be quite fast, and there is often a smaller difference in boat speed between the front and middle, or middle and back of the fleet. To do well in these conditions speed is important but making the most of every fluctuation in wind direction will, especially in inland locations, make the difference between you and the competition.

Firstly a look at boat setup; keep your sail as powered up as you can, then depower progressively if you are having to spill wind. As in strong winds, there will likely be a fluctuation in wind strength by about 20% either side of the mean (Frank Bethwaites Higher Performance Sailing has a good deal on this and the causes) so be prepared to depower and power up the rig as the wind strength changes.

Outhaul: Leave it fairly deep, about a hand span at the deepest point should do the job. Unless there is a big change in wind strength I tend to leave it like this.

Downhaul: Just use enough to remove big creases unless you are having to spill wind, then pull it on progressively.

Kicker: No need to use it until you are starting to get overpowered. Just take the slack up and use the mainsheet as the principle control to control the leech. In flat water start depowering with the kicker, then use the downhaul, in waves use more downhaul than kicker to control the power. Having said this, just remember it is important to use both to balance the sail.

On to sailing the boat fast, revisit the basics, make sure you have good trim, and are keeping the boat close to flat. Beyond that power the rig up and be prepared to adapt the way you are sailing and the rig to suit the changing wind.

In medium winds I work hard to make the most of any change in wind direction, milking as much height as I can from the boat.

Most boats will naturally have a small amount of weather helm, hold the tiller extension lightly and use the boats natural tendency to head up to help find the wind direction and make the most of the fluctuations. If you are marginally overpowered, pinch to depower to gain more height. My rudder is rarely completely still in these conditions, lots of small movements to adjust the boats course to the wind.

Doug Peckover in his blog Improper Course, has some interesting thoughts on squeezing every last bit of speed from your boat. Definitely worth a read.

http://www.impropercourse.com/2012/11/laser-cheat-sheet-sailing-fast-pressing.html

In conclusion, if you can sail fast in light and strong winds then medium winds you should be able to get pretty close to maximum speed at any one time, to keep the speed and squeeze that last few drops from the boat, work hard at changing gears as the wind does, and make work of every tiny fluctuation in the wind, each small gain will add up to big gains.

This Video of me sailing a Radial at QMSC shows a lot of what I have written about. Notice how the heel of the boat remains flat or very close to flat. As the wind drops I release the Downhaul and ease the Kicker. I am constantly gently changing course to keep the boat on the wind. If you watch the boats in the back ground the sailors remain static, it is visible that their boats are rarely flat. In critique of myself, I was occasionally using too much rudder as I move my weight out of the boat, and have a slightly compromised hiking style. Both I can try to blame on the short tiller extension. To illustrate the difference all of this made, and as a little brag, I was comfortably second  to the windward mark from about 25 Lasers. I was sailing a Radial while most of the others were using a standard rig. 

To practise, get to know the weather helm in your boat, feel the boat, how the boat responds to the wind through the tiller and your legs/ backside. Try a few training upwind runs with the rudder slightly raised, this will amplify the feedback the boat gives through the rudder, try to keep a slight and constant leeward heel, this should help you feel how the boat wants to turn towards the wind, don’t fight it hold the tiller extension lightly (possibly holding the extension in a frying pan grip behind you will help) allow the boat to turn. Hopefully you should find that in any gusts or lifts the boat heads up slightly then as it depowers comes flat and may heel slightly to windward, at which point a slight pull on the tiller will power the boat up again. Once you are starting to feel how your boat responds pop the rudder down, and try it with your eyes closed. If you can do it blind you can then free your eyes up to look around the race course.

Happy sailing

Andy

Changing Gears

Changing gears.

A commonly heard phrase referring to changing the way you sail a boat and set the sail to suit changes in wind strength. ‘Changing gears’ is something that has cropped up a lot in my recent coaching and as a consequence I have been pondering over the best way to explain it. This blog post is the result of my current thoughts.

 

What is it all about?

Essentially, at different wind strengths, to optimise your boat speed, it is important to alter the sail shape (or adjust controls to maintain the sail shape) and alter the way you sail the boat.

Keeping with the changing gears analogy I have come up with a few of the main gears and the difference between them. This is just a rough guide to help illustrate what I mean and may differ between sailors and classes of boat. This guide is with a Laser or Topper in mind, sailed inland. Some minor adjustments would be needed for coastal sailing to take account of the prevailing sea state.

Gear	Wind strength	How to sail the boat
1st	Drifting, not enough wind to fill the sail. Few ripples and glassy patches on the water.	·        Weight well forward. Trim transom out of the water ·        weight induced leeward heel to allow gravity to fill the sail ·        Prioritising speed ·        Sail set relatively flat, Kicker used to hold boom down
2nd	Enough wind to fill the sail, can sit on the side deck of a Laser. Constant ripples on the water.	·        Similar to above, leeward heel less. ·        Slight wind induced leeward heel to help give feel to the rudder. ·        Weight forward, trim transom just skimming the water. ·        Speed still the priority, but watch tell tales closely to try to gain height in any slight wind shift.
3rd	Sitting on the edge of the deck, starting to hike.	·        Boat flat or very slight leeward heel. Squeezing extra power from any gusts. ·        Transom just in contact with the water. ·        Sail set with more shape to give more power ·        Mainsheet increasingly used to keep leech tension. ·        Speed and pointing equally important.
4th	Hiking most of the time, occasionally having to spill wind	·        Boat flat or slight leeward heel. Squeezing extra height and power (if needed) from the gusts. ·        Transom in the water, wake should always be smooth. ·        Prioritising pointing ·        Increased kicker and some downhaul used to control excess power. ·        Mainsheet block to block as much as possible. ·        Pinch to control excess power.
5th	Slightly overpowered most of the time	·        Hike hard, boat likely to have some leeward heel. Try to keep this constant by power control. Pinch and ease the sail to do this. ·        Controls used to depower and keep the sail controllable ·        Pointing important, but the sailor must work hard to keep speed up to prevent the boat stalling.
6th	Windy	·        Read my post on windy upwind sailing.

1^st and 2^nd gears are for light winds, 3^rd and 4^th represent medium winds, while 5^th and 6^th are when the wind is strong. (See my previous post on upwind sailing for a definition of wind strengths)

For me I think I probably have about 6/7 gears and while they are different, when the wind is around the changeover point from one to another there will be a blend of the two.

 

 When to change up or down?

As a car has an optimum rev range, so does a boat have an optimum wind speed, or power range to change gear. As you get to 3^rd gear and beyond this will vary depending on the weight of the sailor, but the change from 1^st to 2^nd to 3^rd and back again should be at pretty much the same wind strength for a given class of boat regardless of sailor weight. Simply put when you could be sailing more efficiently in another gear, it is time to change. To start with you can look at other boats around you to see what they are doing, if there is a range of gears being used look to see who is sailing fastest. As you get more proficient it is possible (and desirable) to develop a feel of when to change gears.

How often to change gears?

As often as you need, which is more often that most sailors do…….

Unless it is strong winds, I often find I will be changing through 3 gears or more during a race. On any one beat, especially in light to medium winds, 10+ gear changes is not uncommon.

 

What happens if you are in the wrong gear?

I often see sailors sailing in 1^st gear when there is sufficient wind to shift into 2^nd, which would give them greater speed and stop the boat slipping sideways by bringing it flatter.

Another common mistake is getting into 3^rd gear, sheeting block to block, but then as the wind drops not shifting back into second. Although the boat points well as a consequence the speed is rubbish flow over the foils is reduced and the boat slips sideways. Ease the mainsheet slip into second and keep the speed up.

 

In summary. The best sailors will be continually adjusting their sails and what they do to suit the changing wind and water conditions. If the wind has changed and boats around you are moving faster do you need to change up or down?

Happy sailing

Andy

Squeezing a bit of extra speed from your boat.

Squeezing

In medium winds have you ever noticed how some sailors seem to manage to get more speed out of the boat, and gradually seem to be able to point higher? I certainly have, it has been something I have been working on for the past few years, and while I am definitely not a master at it, I think I can claim a level of competence.

This is something quite specific I am going to write about and is really a technique to look at once you have upwind sailing pretty well sorted and you are searching for that extra bit of speed.

Over the past weekend I was coaching a keen group of young Laser sailors, the focus was predominantly upwind speed, on Saturday constant heel was a phrase that often cropped up, and I talked about how you could feel the increase in pressure associated with more wind, through your legs and bum. By reacting to this it is possible to resist the push with your weight and squeeze the boat forward, and possibly slightly closer to the wind. On the Sunday I was in a Laser Radial doing some 2 boat tuning runs with one of the sailors. It was this that gave me a greater understanding of what is happening and the advantage it gave.

                                                         Two Boat tuning run.

To set the scene, we had both boats sailing upwind parallel to each other, both of us were sat on the edge of the gunwale but not hiking. Initially both boats were about the same speed, then we sailed into a small band of increased pressure, while the other Laser heeled slightly and was then brought flat, I felt the increase in pressure, in response rocked my shoulders outboard and resisted the push of the deck, this squeeze gave me a real sense of acceleration and I almost instantly gained about a third of a boat length. The other sailor had let his boat heel which wasted the winds energy and pushed the boat sideways ever so slightly. While he got up to speed by pumping his boat flat again that was distance he couldn’t make back up. 30 seconds later the same thing happened, and within a few minutes I had gained over a boat length of distance forwards. Additionally I had managed to point slightly higher in each wind band, so had gained about a boat width advantage directly upwind as well.

The technique

Essentially it is just keeping the boat flat (or at a constant angle of heel) however it is not quite as simple as that.

As you feel an increase in wind pressure, this is usually felt through whatever you have in contact with the side deck, resist the push and press the deck down using your weight. I like to think of squeezing the juice from Oranges, or squeezing a bar of soap between both hands. The net result is the soap shoots forwards. Often the increased flow over the foils allows you to steer ever so slightly closer to the wind as well.

A few Tips

Hiking pads can dull the feel so in lighter winds think, do you need to wear them, or could you get by without?

It is quite a subtle feel and movement, and will take practise to get your response exactly right to a certain amount of pressure. Try sailing along concentrating on the feel through the backs of your legs, you can even close your eyes.

Sit upright with a straight back, this will allow you to gain the most effective leverage when you lean back.

As the wind increases you may be squeezing the mainsheet in at the same time, and easing it again when the pressure has passed.

This is a technique for Medium winds, (See my earlier post for a definition of this.) and relatively flat water states. The technique will change as the wind does. In my earlier description from my coaching, I have described the light end of the medium wind spectrum. In slightly stronger winds when you are mostly hiking you may find that you don’t have enough weight to give to resist the push in the gusts. When this happens squeeze as much as you can with your weight and also use the rudder slightly to squeeze the boat closer to the wind to gain height.

Try lining up with one or more other boats and have a drag race upwind. Afterwards be open and chat where gains and losses were made, by sharing you will all get better.

Once you are starting to depower and having to spill wind regularly you need to change gears and adopt your strong wind sailing style.

 

Hopefully this should help you get a bit of extra speed sailing upwind, but the same principles can be applied on a reach as well.

 

Happy sailing

Andy

 

Swap later

Just a quick one on a small point that has come up recently in my sailing and coaching.
The hand swap after tacking or gybing with a centre main. It seems inevitable that during any hand swap you will loose the ability to sail the boat at its best for a few seconds if this is at a critical point it may lead to places being lost. Practising and being comfortable sailing the boat at near 100% with the hands reversed can mean places gained and greater confidence tacking and gybing in tight places. Only swap when you won't compromise boat speed in doing so.
As an example, at a recent Laser open as I came round the gybe mark there was a slight gust, instead of swapping hands I managed to work the boat on to the plane then swapped hands later when all was settled. The sailors just behind were too slow to make the most of the gust as they changed hands on the tiller extension. The result was that I managed to get far enough ahead that they weren't able to challenge me on the following reach and I managed to turn a small lead into a much larger one, one that I was then able to control for the rest of the race.
There have been a number of other incidents that have got me thinking recently, but overall the message I have taken from all is get comfortable sailing with the tiller behind your back and with a good way of swapping hands, then don't do it untill you can without loosing any performance. 

If you are not sure of the best way to swap hands, as long as you are hiking then under the arm pit gives the fastest way. Have a look at this short video of 2 well know laser sailors.

Laser Sailing: http://youtu.be/nbwJv2n7sFw

What made the difference?

Last weekend I managed to sneak out of the house with the boat on the back of the car, and took myself to Datchet SC for a Laser open. I was pleased with my boat speed, and general tactical/ strategic decisions, and still need to work on my start. (The good thing about a Laser open is that with four races you can expect a couple of general recalls so get to practise at least 6 starts in one day.)
I managed to win despite 2 poor starts almost throwing away the two wins I had managed in the first two races.
After the open I have been thinking about what made the difference that allowed me to win? I was generally faster than most other boats, and more often than the others was on the right side of any shifts. This allowed me to win two races fairly comfortably and sail through the fleet to take a third place in the last race.
There are three things that I noticed I did differently to all or most boats.

1. When I got to the club I had some time to spare as the start was postponed due to lack of wind, I used this to flip my boat over and polish the hull, and make sure my boat was well prepared.

2. As there was a little wind I got out on to the water early, sailed around the race area and practised my tacks. I was first out by around 30 minutes.

3. I adjusted my mainsheet tension upwind as the wind dropped and increased, I didn't get the mainsheet block to block until I was close to hiking and then made sure I eased it again if the wind eased slightly. I didn't notice many other boats adjusting this key control upwind. Most went block to block and stayed there.

If it was just one thing that made the difference or a combination of all three, or something else, I will never know. One thing is for certain, there are three things I will try to repeat at my next event.

Andy

Sail setting

At a recent days coaching at Wilsonian SC there wasn't a lot of wind first thing. I made the most of the time on shore to look at sail setting using a Streaker and Laser 2000, this is the write up I produced after the day as I spouted quite a bit of complex information. Hopefully there are a few good bits in there that anyone can take something from.

Sail setting What each control does:

• Downhaul, adds tension to the front of the sail, flattening the sail and causing the leach to open towards the top of the sail. A very useful tool to depower the sail. It also pulls the centre of effort forwards in the sail.
• Outhaul, controls the shape towards the foot of the sail
• Kicker, Pulls the boom down, which will control the leach of the sail. Also pushes the boom into the mast causing the mast to bend, which has the effect of flattening the middle part of the sail, and moving the centre of effort rearwards. The angle of the kicker can give a good idea of which effect is likely to be more pronounced on a boat.

The streaker has a relatively low boom and kicker mounting point quite far back on the boom. When the kicker was pulled on the mast bend and consequent flattening of the sail was very noticeable, the effect on the leach was less so. If compared to a Laser 2000, one would find the kicker has a far greater effect on the leach as opposed to the mast bend as the kicker pulls the boom down to a greater extent.

·         The mainsheet: When pulling in the mainsheet, the last few inches will not only pull the boom in, but in the absence of significant kicker tension, will pull the boom down. This will effect the leach of the sail.

What to do in each wind strength?

Light winds: The ideal sail profile is relatively flat, so the the wind has the energy to flow around the curve of the sail. Be careful to leave the leach of the sail a little open to allow the wind to exit the sail. In light winds it is easy to tension the mainsheet too much hooking the leach, and causing turbulence at the back of the sail.

These pictures show different leach tensions, on the left the leach is very open, note how the back of the sail twists to leeward, on the right it is quite straight. The straight leach will give good pointing and is important in medium winds, but when the wind is light a slightly more open leach will give better speed.

A flater sail can be achieved by bending the mast slightly, kicker does this in most singlehanders. Spreaders will do the same job without affecting leach tension on boats with more sophisticated rigs.

Keep the outhaul fairly tight as well, any creases in the foot of the sail means too tight.

 

In medium winds when you are trying to gain maximum power from the rig, ease all controls. The leach of the sail should be kept tensioned using the mainsheet.

In strong winds progressively pull on more of each control to flatten the sail. The downhaul and kicker should be used together in most singlehanders to avoid the centre of effort moving too far back in the sail. These are your 2 main depowering controls. Pull the outhaul tight, but leave some shape in the foot of the sail as you need some drive.

Wind	Downhaul	Outhaul	Kicker
Light	0	some	Little, to bend mast
Medium	0	Loosest setting	Take up slack
Overpowered	Progressively more	Tighter	Pull on progressively
Very overpowered	Lots and lots	Bit tighter still	Tight

What does it take to become world class?

I have just been watching an excellent documentary from BBC, 100 seconds to greatness, the story of David Rudisha 800m Olympic champion and world record holder.

I though that it was an excellent story on two fronts, first it really shows what it takes to be a world beater as an athlete, it also shines the spotlight on an unlikely coach, in the process giving a glimpse into some excellent coaching ideals.

Why is David Rudisha so good? Undoubtedly he was lucky enough to be born with the genes that gave him a good physique for 800m running, but this is far from the whole story. Clues in the documentary hint at the likely reasons.

To become world class in anything takes a vast amount of hard work, something needs to happen in the mind of an individual to ignite the determination, passion and interest needed to succeed. For David this happened at an early age, with his father’s 1968 Olympic Silver medal ever present through his childhood. If this wasn't enough, athletics at the time in Kenya were booming. Athletes were celebrities held in high regard.

Anders Ericcsson (1993) Outlined the theory that to be world class takes around 10 000 hours of deliberate practise over at least a 10 year period. His early ignition set David running at a young age, in the documentary he says that he ran everywhere. In a community where a 10 mile run to school and back every day is not unusual you start to get an idea of the miles he was clocking up during his childhood. Add to the equation that he lived in the highest area of the Rift Valley, at close to 2,500m above sea level, you can get a sense of the strong foundations for athletic achievement that David was able to put in place before he hit his teenage years. An academic from Edinburgh University by the name of Yannis Pitsiladis spent several years studying top athletes from Kenya and other African Countries. He expecting to find a genetic advantage that they all possessed which their relative dominance in middle distance running could be attributed to. What he has so far found has in fact contradicted this theory, but what he has found is that 10 year old boys living in the area that David and 95% of elite Kenyan athletes are from, possess running economy on par with elite level athletes.

Nobody makes it to the top of any sport without assistance, both from the circumstances of the time and place they are brought up, and the people in their lives. David was lucky to have supportive and knowledgeable parents, and then just when he needed more, the guidance of a world class coach in Brother Colm, who was at a stage in his life where he could devote all his time and energies to David. He was also surrounded by other world class junior and senior athletes who were able to push him to great things. His timing couldn’t have better either, Athletics in Kenya was booming as he grew up, as he came of age scouts were on the hunt for a potential world beating 800m runner, and were keen to provide him with opportunities. All of these factors helped make a champion, but ultimately it was down to determination and a phenomenal amount of hard work that saw David rise above the rest.

The documentary is interesting in that it doesn’t just focus on the athlete, but also turns the spotlight on the coach. Possibly an unusual man to be a athletics coach? Brother Colm is a Christian missionary with no previous experience in athletics, before he came to Kenya in the 60’s. Working at St Patricks school he used athletics as a vehicle to reach the youth of the area. The school and Brother Colm, can now claim many top level Kenyan athletes as former pupils. What makes Brother Colm and St Patricks so successful?

As previously mentioned world class doesn’t come easily, it takes monumental amounts of hard work, to keep going while all around are giving up takes super human desire and determination. All around St Patricks and in Brother Colm’s words, are subtle ignition cues to say, "you can do it if you work hard enough." The plaques celebrating former pupils success at world level is one example, “where are you going to be in 2012?” from Brother Colm is another.

The regime at St Patricks athletics camps is set up to promote the fact that success doesn’t come easily, “there are no short cuts,” is uttered by most of the coaches in the documentary at some point. Days are long and gruelling. Honesty is used when giving feedback, never do you hear you are a natural, that’s amazing etc. The open mindset is actively promoted at St Patricks (See work by Carol Dweck on mindsets)

One area that Brother Colm is very good at with his coaching is making it student focused, he takes time to get to know each student individually and works hard at making each athlete feel valued; his coaching is adapted to suit the individual. Coaching like this is hard work and takes a lot of practise, but is ultimately vastly more successful than aiming generic coaching at the group. He clearly has good powers of observation, originally learning his coaching skills from watching how youths in the area were training. Since then it is obvious he has devoted as much time to studying athletics texts as religious ones, his knowledge is encyclopaedic. He knew David Rudisha's fathers PB at 400m, when David was unsure.

Making sure the basics are perfect is vital to build a top performer in any sport, in athletics it is also important to help avoid injury. During David’s first training session as a senior, Brother Colm just wants to see David running at a reasonable pace “I just want to see how you move” there is no pushing to get faster until he is utterly confident the basics are in place. Just watch the Olympic 2012 800m final to see the result of this insistence, David’s running style is beautiful to watch from start to finish. In the last 100m the chasing pack start to look more like a primary school sports day sprint, as the effect of fatigue, lactic acid and the pressure take their toll.

World class requires a drive to always improve, and looking to seek any way in doing so. Anyone who thinks I am the best, and stands still doesn’t stay at the top of the tree for long. This applies to Athlete and coach. Brother Colm questions himself, “am I the best thing for David?” At no point does he give up, he just accepts the challenge and tries to rise to it.  

Finally a point about the facilities at the school and in the area of Kenya that are producing so many world class runners. You would expect state of the art right? No far from it. Basic is an understatement. This is a phenomenon David Coyle discovers in his book ‘The Talent Code’ in which he goes in search of some of the facilities around the world which have produced a disproportionate number of world class sport performers, they are all dilapidated old buildings with basic facilities, he terms them “Chicken wire Harvard’s”

Yannis Pitsiladis helps to shed some light on this. "On a track in Kenya, say, you have a great number of Olympians and major athletes all there at one time. They're all watching each other and pushing each other all the time. Some of them are earning lots of money, but they're living in camps with no electricity, no water, that are horrible, dirty, awful."I remember saying to one of them 'Why are you staying here? This is a pretty awful place.'

"He said: 'See that beautiful house up there on the mountain? That's my house. If I live there I'll become fat. Here, I'm sharing a room with a 17-year-old who wants to kick my backside. I'm not going to let him do that.'

"And he stays hungry."(Scotsman 2011 interview with Yannis Pitsiladis)

What can we take from this that can be applied to sailing? I think the key point to take is that success doesn’t come easily, it requires a lot of hard work which in turn takes a spark to inspire and motivate someone to put in the level of work required. But hard work alone won’t make someone an Olympic champion, they need to have a certain amount of good fortune with regards to circumstances and the people they meet at critical points in their lives. Take a look at probably the most famous Dinghy sailor in the world, Ben Ainslie. At age 6 he moved with his family to a house on the shores of Falmouth’s extensive harbour, which offered him the possibility to spend thousands of hours sailing after school and at weekends. An opportunity which he grabbed, however he would never have become Olympic champion if that is where the story ended, he was fortunate to have a local club with some very enthusiastic and knowledgeable parents who were just setting up a junior race group. He along with a few other local children got hooked on racing and pushed each other, to get better, when the next step was needed, he was again fortunate to have parents who had the time, money and belief in him to drive thousands of hours around the UK. Ben’s story continues along a similar vein with him enthusiastically grabbing opportunities as they arose along with a good dose of good fortune.

From a coaching point of view the road is far from easy. It has been estimated that to become a world class performer takes 10 years and 10 thousand hours of practise. To become a top class coach must take twice this time. In his book ‘The Talent Code’ David Coyle states that all else being equal, when selecting a coach go for the older guy or gal. Father Colm must be in his seventies and has been coaching athletics for over 40 years, and teaching children for longer.

A last thought is about religion, a lot of top athletes have a strong faith in a god. In moments of intense pressure on the biggest of human stages, to step up and produce your best form takes a special person. Believing you are not alone but have the power and best wishes of the almighty has been shown to be a great psychological benefit. David’s journey to Olympic champion had immense highs, but also immense lows, for himself and brother Colm, having a god to turn to during both was undoubtedly a great comfort for them both.

 

Work rate in a boat

One big difference I notice between sailors from the back/ middle of the fleet and those that are challenging for the race win is the amount of concentration that is put in. Watch a good sailor, and there are very few occasions around the course they will stop adjusting the sail, their weight in the boat, and the direction it is travelling, they will always be searching for that extra bit of speed/ beneficial direction. Whether it be on a beat run or reach the boat and the sailor will rarely remain in a static state. It helps that the more proficient sailor knows how to play the rudder/main sail and move their weight to get the best advantage, but every sailor whatever their level will be able to make some significant improvements by having a go.

Think how often the wind shifts and/or the water state changes, if you don’t adjust your boat setup it is likely to be wrong a lot more than correct.

A stopped clock is the most accurate in the world twice a day, but is pretty useless the rest of the time.

Try playing the main on reaches, closely watching the luff, adjust it regularly to check you have the perfect sail trim. Then on beats try doing the same with the rudder, gently pinching up into the wind then away again to check you are as close to the wind as possible. As you get more proficient kicker, downhaul and outhaul can be included in the list of controls to adjust, particularly in medium wind strengths.

You may not get everything exactly right all the time, but hopefully you can get close to the optimum more often.

Have fun

Andy

Upwind sailing in strong wind

Following on from my last post on gaining speed when sailing in light winds, I wanted to look at sailing fast upwind in strong winds. By strong I mean when you are hiking hard and having to spill wind over about 30% of the time.
Again my focus is primarily on Lasers and Toppers but the principles apply to most classes.

In strong winds upwind speed is important in all water states but becomes increasingly so as the water gets rougher. Pointing high is useful but unless this is combined with good speed then you will be going nowhere.

First a look at the rig setup, get this right and the rest is a lot easier. There are many good tuning guides so I don't want to go into too much detail, just emphasise the key points. Have a look at the link below for a good one for Laser Radials.
http://www.wwsc.org.uk/TuningGuides/Laser%20Radial%20Tuning%20Guide.pdf

The outhaul: Leave some shape in the bottom of the sail to give you drive. I go for around a fist depth at the loosest point as a good starter for strong winds. If the boat is turning into wind a lot of the time it may be because the outhaul is too loose. If the boat lacks drive then the outhaul may be too tight.
Downhaul: Use more and more as it gets windier, I can't stress this enough. Spend some time getting rope lengths correct and blocks running smoothly, then work on wedging your foot against the front of the cockpit and developing a good technique so you can crank it on hard while sailing.
Kicker: Generally apply more as it gets windier, as a rule as you ease the mainsheet the boom should go out and not up.
This can lead to trouble getting under the boom during tacks. Practise tacking in moderate winds with max kicker on to work out a routine that gets you under the boom. Timing and body position in the cockpit are critical. Figure out what works for you by using your strong wind setup in moderate winds, and slow the tack down to give you time to get a routine in place.

With regards to the kicker and downhaul, both work together to stabilise the sail, if you crank one on and leave the other loose the boat will feel unbalanced. The most common scenario I come across is lots of kicker and no downhaul. This pulls the centre of effort back in the sail, and causes the boat to want to luff in to the wind. Pull on some downhaul and the boat should feel balanced again.

Now on to the sailing.
In a nutshell, hike hard, and play the main a lot.
I will look at hiking first.
Steve Cockerill has written a good article on hiking, have a look at the link below.
http://www.roostersailing.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=hikestyle&Store_Code=1
also have a look at
http://www.rya.org.uk/sitecollectiondocuments/racing/Web%20Documents/Coach%20Development/Resources/Hiking%20with%20David%20Mellor.pdf
Developing a good hiking style, and then hiking at a sustainable level is generally the best way to get upwind fairly quickly. However unless you sail in strong winds on a regular basis fatigue is going to set in, and limits all but the fittest sailors performance. There comes a point when to go faster getting fitter and stronger may be the only option. More on this in another post.

Now hopefully you have got your toestrap set up well and you are comfortable hiking the boat. Leave your lower body locked in place on the side deck and limit your movements to your upper body.

Lasers and Toppers will slip sideways quite dramatically if they aren't sailed fast enough in strong winds, or if the boat is allowed to heel excessively. Get your boat up to speed then keep that speed. To do this there are a few things to focus on
1. Keep the heel angle constant. A completely flat Laser is rarely possible  in strong winds, allow some gentle heel but then try not to let it heel any further. Watch gusts approaching and ease the main as they hit, if you feel the boat slowing ease the main and bear away slightly to get the speed back up.
Once you have this speed and the foils are working you can squeeze the main back in and point a little higher.
The biggest errors I see in strong winds are sailors not reacting fast enough to gusts and letting the boat heel. Another big one is keeping the main in tight and pinching too much to keep the boat flat. This is not to say that you shouldn't pinch slightly to depower, but make sure the speed is maintained.

2.Get the right balance between pinching and easing the main to control power.
In strong winds, wind strength will generally not stay the same over the course of a race or even a beat, but will vary up to as much as 50%, that is to say if you took the average wind strength, the lulls would be 25% less than this and the gusts 25% more than the average. This variation will mean that different depowering techniques may be applicable depending if you are in a lull phase or a gust phase. In a lull pinching may be preferable, but in a gust phase pinching may completely kill your speed. Spend some time practising to get used to how your boat responds, and the level of speed you should be aiming for. (Generally in smaller less over powering gusts pinching will be fine, in stronger gusts easing the main will be necessary and a bit of both in between.)
I admit some of these points are slightly ambiguous, how fast is fast enough? When should you pinch and when should you ease the main to depower? The answer is going to be slightly different for each sailor.
The best way to work it out is to get out on the water and break it down to get a feel. Do a few upwind runs in the breeze concentrating on sailing the boat fast, work hard on playing the main sheet focusing on maintaining that constant heel. (When doing this make sure you have pulled hard on both the downhaul and kicker.)
Next have a few upwind runs where you go for height, pinching to keep the boat flat, only ease the mainsheet in the strongest gusts. You should start to get a feel of when the boat starts to stall, and when it feels happiest. The optimal way to sail upwind is likely to be somewhere between the two upwind runs.
The most practised (and fit) sailors will be able to get the boat up to speed and point high while maintaining most of this speed. This takes time to get the feel for, and takes a considerable sailor input. Keep practising and you will get there.