Beethovens are awesome

I love it when people come w/ feedback. It is sometimes hard to know that there is a problem, particularly if you are largely contributing to it by attitudes and approaches. Just being made aware of the problem often triggers a bunch of positive reaction. I so hope that more will come forward with comments.

In particular, I have learned some very valuable lesson today - maybe others will find it helpful - at least, I hope that the Beethovens will have other suggestions on how to change things for the better.

Not so good, eg. I can do a better job

1. I am very forthright in my discussions
2. It feels (to the crew) like I'd rather do all the positions myself rather than rely on the team

In other words, I am a competent single-handler but can do much better as a team member.

Good and I should keep doing

1. I have many good teaching points and it is good to keep teaching
   

Things to change on Elise for the better

1. Tell no one what to do during a race, everyone knows what to do
   
2. Encourage everyone to ask when they are not sure or want help. If #1 is respected, #2 should be easier
   
3. Appoint one person to coordinate crew work (particularly if fast responses are required) during a race, someone the crew respects and may even elect. Examples of command may be 'get upwind controls ready', 'prepare to douse the spinnaker'
4. Make sure that team members talk to each other, particularly the folks that need to work as a team.
1. Trimmers and driver
2. Pit and foredeck
3. Tactician and driver
   
5. All maneuvre calls will be made by the tactician of the race. It is OK to discuss with the tactician as this person cannot see everything that's happening. However, once the tactician has made a call, the boat will just go for it - calls need to be clear and heard by everyone.
6. If someone makes a mistake (we are all human, it will all happen), we work as a team to sort things out and we keep going. If we need to debrief, we can talk about it after the race
   

And finally, practice together, have fun together and learn about each other, our personalities and preferences.
 
As one Beethoven put it 'the tension should come from wanting to excel'

I have so much to learn from everyone on the team...