Elise : Nationals Practice

The main crew for Nationals this year practices gybes for half a day along the city front.

Consistent Training

The most common experience even with top athletes is that consistent training (as opposed to way too much training) in small dose is much more likely to bring improvements so we are keeping the sessions short and focused

Focus on improvement points

We are focusing on our weak points and whatever little time we have for practice we will address what will most likely bring the most improvement. In sailing, often it is about not messing up! The less time we spend practicing, the more focused we have to be at practice - and we need to heavily prioritize that time.

Lasting Commitment

It is also helpful to train to be successful. The best boats in the fleet have been sailing TOGETHER for over 10 years. Consistent crew that can grow and learn together is probably one of the most important success criteria. Success does not come immediately, the rewards will be reaped after years of hard work. So being able to have an environment that is fun for the team, that provides learning and growth for everyone is great so that the commitment can be a lasting one.

People who do not mind training in the rain, who do not mind training alone, with a can do attitude, looking at constant and small improvements without sweating the small stuff are the ones I recommend having onr your team.

Make sure you don't burn people out. Asking for too much too quickly or too early is probably a sure recipe to have no crew again very soon or no one turning up for practice.

Have A races (your goals) and B races

Racing is a great practice at ... racing! Doing individual practices in a slow manner just to rehearse maneuvres, that you can isolate away from any kind of tactical settings is great. Alternating this with 'real-life' practice settings in a race where you don't care so much about the results but have an objective to maximize learning is also great. If every race is about finishing in the top 3 then you won't progress as much and your results won't be consistent. You are also likely not to hit these goals and will be disappointed. If the class events are the ones you want to score high at, enter other races to be around other boats, even if it is PHRF and not EXACTLY the same type of racing. If you are learning to start in a busy start area, it won't matter what the other boats race, if you are practicing mark rounding around a busy mark, pick a light air race (almost guarantee to have a pile up, regardless of rating)

Be flexible and have a larger roster of team members

You will be tired. Some will have business trips - start with a plan and be ready to make changes.

I feel so lucky this season. We have a strong fun and solid team. We are all racing to become better sailors and to have fun. And we are sticking together to make things happen. Elise is one lucky girl.

Photos courtesy of my mom and of Serge.

Pre-practice briefing

Not sure why someone would take a picture of my butt...it isn't wet yet

'Our training grounds

The other side of it :)

Words from the observer on shore (my mom) taking photos on the first leg of practice (where we had one round up, one round down with perfect recovery and a lot of messed up gybes and collapsed spinnakers)

I saw this boat really close to shore but I couldn't see the sail number. I was thinking 'what a bunch of morons, they really suck at this and they pick an itinerary that is close to one of the busiest part of the Bay.
I do not think that it is normal to sail with a vertical deck (note from Nat: this was a comment after a round down)
Is it normal to put the keel out of the water? (note from Nat: this was after a round up)