Words of Wisdom

Words of Wisdom – 01-0106 - Mark Bear

"Don't think, just do." That was the advice given to improve my mental game by multiple world champion Keith Wilkins. This advice was surprisingly easy to follow last Sunday, January 1. The combination of sleep deprivation and "dehydration" made thinking out of the question, so all I could do was, well,...do.

The breeze was very unstable on Sunday, so the key was really being able to stay in the middle of the course (in the "cone") so you could tack to take advantage of the shifts. In the first race I ignored my previous word of wisdom and started right at the favored boat end of the line. It worked out OK, however, because I could hold my lane long enough to get to the middle, and then was able to tack on the first big header. I quickly realized that it was really shifty, and the shifts didn't last very long. So all I did was tack on the headers to keep pointed toward the mark. I made a point to consolidate on every gain, by tacking to cross the boats on my hip whenever I could do it. This opened up a nice lead.

The second race I started towards the pin, which had been reset to be slightly favored. The danger with pin starts is that you can sometimes get "pinned" (bad pun) by the boats on your hip. Indeed I was, and I ended up being forced too far into the left corner. I recovered somewhat by sailing a long port tack hitch to get me back into the middle of the cone, below the mark. Then I could again take advantage of the small, rapid shifts to get back in the hunt.

In the third race, I did follow Ferg's advice, and had a very nice start in the middle of the line. I looked over my shoulder and saw that I could cross all the boats on my hip, so I tacked to do so. I sailed on port into
the next header and tacked back, now far above all the boats that had continued on starboard. Man, I felt like Stuart Walker!

In the final race I had a good start at the pin, and fortunately was able to tack fairly promptly -- which was key since the breeze had gone back left, skewing the beat quite a bit. I worried about the next big righty doing me in, but fortunately it turned out not to be a one-tack beat, and I could
still make some hay by tacking on the little flicks that went right. Only Scott Milnes made out by sailing into the right corner.

So, the keys to upwind success in very unstable wind (like Sunday, and typical when the breeze is light) are to (1) stay in the cone, (2) consolidate by tacking whenever you can cross. To execute, you need to get
a decent start and hold a lane until you want to tack, rather than when you are forced to tack. Holding a lane on Sunday required that you keep the boat very powered up. Be alert to start easing stuff, like the cunningham, vang, and outhaul, whenever the breeze gets soft. Needless to say, try to resist the temptation to allow the boat to heel when it goes light -- it feels good, but it is not fast.

And , of course, don't think too much.