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Sailing Teamwork

Chris Downham - Autumn 2003
I first gave this talk through an alcoholic haze on a breezy Abersoch beach frightfully early in the morning in August. I subsequently gave it after a couple of beers at Parkstone a week or so later. I therefore hope that as I am now sober it still makes sense...

One of the most important, and most overlooked, aspects of sailing in a small boat is the relationship and attitudes between the crew members. This short missive is a summary of what I have read, worked out and tried to implement. I can�t say it always works or that I/we always adhere to it, but we do try!

The most important thing to remember is that sailing in a two-man (asexual term) dinghy is a team game. If the helm and crew are fighting their way around the race track it is not fast and is likely to damage that relationship, whatever form it may take. For example Tom and I cocked up the first race at the Nationals by being OCS practising the first beat during the 4 minute on a black flag start. Pretty stupid and we were both intensely frustrated, however it was a mutual responsibility to be behind the line with one minute to go, and therefore it was equal blame. No point in knocking each other�s block off � it was too late and there were still 5 races to go.

Communication within the boat is very important indeed. There should be a flow of information both ways between helm and crew. That doesn�t mean any information, but that which is relevant to the situation and/or game plan.

The crew should be giving the helm information about the position of other boats around, if it looks like a shift is coming, checking if there is enough power in the rig, pointing out if he is stuffing, information on gusts upwind etc. The aim is to enable the helm to have a firm grasp of what is going on around him in his head and keep him thinking about how the boat is feeling and responding. It is always better to give the helm too much information rather than too little, just so long that it all remains relevant.

As a crew I appreciate information from the helm. In particular this may be what the starting strategy is, i.e. where and when are we aiming to be on the line in current conditions and given an ideal world (in practise rarely end up exactly there!), the final low down on overall tactics around the race course and information on boat manoeuvres. Although we discuss tactics, it is important to note that everything is variable and depends on other people and conditions, and that at the end of the day the helm has the stick! For information about manoeuvres that may involve telling me when we are bearing away/heading up in waves so that I can trim my spinnaker appropriately.

Psychology within a boat is also very important. If the helm and crew don�t get on sailing together and/or socially then it will be very difficult to achieve their goals. In my opinion one of the crew�s most important roles is to keep the helm focussed on doing the job in hand. It is inevitable that things will not always go to plan, sometimes small, sometimes disastrous, but try to calm him down as quickly as possible so that you can resume sailing fast. A word of caution though � sometimes saying �chill it� will have the opposite effect � you need to be sensitive to the other person�s needs. (Ask Andy Dalby for the low down on the top 10 soothing phrases).

It is essential not to give up either. Just because you�ve been overtaken by 10 boats down a bad run doesn�t mean that you can�t get the positions back. It is very easy for the shoulders to go down, both helm and crew, and it is sometimes necessary for an artificial �come on� either way to get things going again and resume concentration. Whilst to a certain extent if the helm occasionally shouts at the crew in moments of extreme duress it should be water off a duck�s back, if it is a regular occurrence it should be addressed and stopped. In the long run it doesn�t help at all, it merely psychs one or both of you out, which is also true for crews shouting at helms! Ultimately if you fundamentally don�t get on together in a boat, then you should probably each go your separate ways and find other people to sail with � you may be amazed by the results.

The distribution of labour and responsibility between helm and crew is very different depending on the pairing. However, there are several easy ways to enable you to sail faster. Next time you go sailing have a look at another boat sailing up the beat. The chances are you will see them progressing well until, for one reason or another, the helm looks into the bottom of the boat for a string to pull. At that moment you will in all probability see the boat start pinching, heeling etc etc. The odds are this will more than negate the tiny boat speed improvement brought about by pulling the string.

The solution is to ask the crew to pull the string. Even if they don�t know what it does it doesn�t really matter; I can�t think of any crew who can�t respond to �pull the yellow one 3 inches�, and with time they will learn. When the crew leans in you will lose some righting moment, and may well have to compensate be spilling a little wind, but overall you will lose much less. Obviously if the crew is crouched to leeward on a gusty reach of the river Thames then this approach may not work, but applied with common sense it will make a huge difference. Other things are to get the crew to let the kicker off as the windward mark is rounded etc � the aim is to get the helm actively steering around the course as fast as possible.

Physical preparation is in many respects just as important as mental preparation. It is obvious that if you aren�t tired then it will be easier to maintain concentration and motivation; we all know that after the fifth capsize it can be quite tricky to reorganise. That doesn�t mean that everybody has to go to the gym 17 times a week, but it does mean that you should have a degree of physical fitness appropriate to the type of sailing which you are doing, and your ambitions and aspirations. One club race a week in a Mirror is different to campaigning a 49er at the Olympics.

In the end the whole game is meant to be fun and enjoyable. My top tips are to relax, enjoy, and if things get really bad, remember there is almost always beer behind the bar!