All season I've been trying to get out for a race with a boat owned by a couple that sail in our PHRF 2 (non-spin) class. They are decent enough sailors but have become frustrated by their continued finishing at or near the bottom in every race. I told them I wanted to come out with them, watch them sail, and then do a race with them were I could give them tips on their sailing and tactics.
Finally it worked out last Sunday. Jodi had plans with her middle daughter, and the day was perfect with breeze in the mid-teens. So I grabbed one of my portable digital sailing compasses, my gloves and gear, and off we went, practicing for an hour before the race. We agreed that D would drive as normal, I would do main, tactics and be speed boss, and his wife L would trim headsail.
We outlined a overall race strategy, and a plan for the start. We nailed it, and I constantly coached (nagged?) on driver attention for tell-tails, where we wanted the boat on the course, and the importance of very active main trim to keep the boat flat. We sailed the lifts pretty well, and rounded in the lead group! This is on one of the slowest boats in the fleet (Hunter 23) and they were amazed by the boats we were near.
Long story shorter, we sailed well on all 5 legs on the 80 minute race, and finished with the lead group. The corrected results were the talk of the club at the party!
Finally it worked out last Sunday. Jodi had plans with her middle daughter, and the day was perfect with breeze in the mid-teens. So I grabbed one of my portable digital sailing compasses, my gloves and gear, and off we went, practicing for an hour before the race. We agreed that D would drive as normal, I would do main, tactics and be speed boss, and his wife L would trim headsail.
We outlined a overall race strategy, and a plan for the start. We nailed it, and I constantly coached (nagged?) on driver attention for tell-tails, where we wanted the boat on the course, and the importance of very active main trim to keep the boat flat. We sailed the lifts pretty well, and rounded in the lead group! This is on one of the slowest boats in the fleet (Hunter 23) and they were amazed by the boats we were near.
Long story shorter, we sailed well on all 5 legs on the 80 minute race, and finished with the lead group. The corrected results were the talk of the club at the party!