SAILING: AS THE national sailing season steps up a gear this month, crews around the country will be refreshing skills as well as boats and equipment in readiness for leagues and championships in the coming months.
This weekend the first of the Lee Overlay Partners Offshore racing series gets under way under the burgee of the Royal Alfred Yacht Club when the Arklow race commences at 10am tomorrow.
When it comes to finding an edge in club racing, experts agree that some advance planning at this time of the year pays dividends later on. And as safety is always to the fore, some basic precautions never go amiss either.
As far as lessons go, the services of a good coach are certain to deliver benefits despite being shunned by more traditional skippers who prefer to train their crew “on the job”. So what tips are on offer by the pros? “Bottom of the skills pyramid is anything that involves turning corners – tacking, gybing, hoisting and dropping sails,” says Maurice “Prof” O’Connell of North Sails Ireland who recently led a weekend-long course for 70 J109 sailors. “Therefore, whether a two-person or 10-person boat, team work will rely on communication.”
The next step is boat-speed – sailing as fast as possible in a straight-line involving sail-trim, helming technique, crew kinetics and equipment. After that, strategy-planning involving pre-race planning such as weather forecast, tides and course navigation Meanwhile, while a coaching session may not be every crew’s choice, catching up on the basics of racing is a must and the Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) top the priority list. The RRS are weighted towards collision avoidance and with a recent update now in force, several key changes should be noted.
The rules at marks and obstructions have changed in order to simplify these for the fleet racer according to ISAF international umpire Ailbhe Millerick. The zone at the mark has been extended out to three boat-lengths though in reality this won’t make a huge difference as most people tended to call at three lengths – two boat-lengths.
In addition, while avoiding damage and/or injury is upper-most in a close-quarters situation, pushing the rules to the limit is not advised. “The major misconception is that when boats acquire ‘right of way’, they must give the other boat space to manoeuvre,” says Millerick. “This is especially true on starting-lines since a change was introduced in 1995, (but) the change still isn’t fully appreciated.”
And for those who do feel wronged in any sort of collision, the default racing jury view may not be too sympathetic.
On the safety front, keelboat crews have a plethora of precautions available and one service worth considering is offered by the RNLI. Sea Check is a free, friendly and confidential service that looks at safety aspects involved with any boat. And a must-do for any sailing boat, whether racing or cruising is a routine drill for a “man-overboard” (MOB) situation.
