Learning to Win
Persistent Shift Those who fail to learn from their mistakes are bound to repeat them, says Tony Bull.
Lost a yacht race recently? I know I have! In fact I am sure that the vast majority of people reading this are nodding sagely. We have all done it on a regular basis. It’s not that the opposition wins them but we tend to lose them. Sometimes we lose days before the race even begins through poor preparation, but mostly we lose them on the actual race course. In any sport it is virtually impossible to jump in and win consistently without effort, and sailing is no different. We need to develop our skills and knowledge to enable us to perform at an appropriate level. Exposure to sailing at an early age in fairly rudimentary vessels enables a sailor to develop innate skills which will stand them in good stead through the years. The ability to perform simple tasks like steering, tacking and gybing as second nature frees up the mind for the more cerebral aspects like tactics and strategy. I quite often draw the comparison of an America’s Cup sailor who decides to go car racing. He will have a lot of fun and enjoy the sport but will struggle to win against other drivers who began racing go-karts at a tender age. That’s not to say success is unachievable, but he will have to work harder than those with long-term experience. Similarly with sailing, hard work and a thorough approach are required. It is far easier to get involved in sailing at a later age on the keelboat level where a multiple crew will mean your roles are more task-orientated and therefore easier to learn and then excel at with time. On the other hand sailing small boats is a lot of fun and I have seen some individuals get in and with the passage of time become quite proficient, but it is a long road.
Learning to win.
I have had the pleasure of sailing with some incredibly talented sailors over the years and one common element is their capacity to acquire knowledge. Despite the fact they have few peers, they still assess what their opponents are doing differently and why. Walking through a yard full of boats rigging up, something will catch their eye and they will stop and enquire. They always want to learn and develop their craft. If we want success, we need to develop a similar attitude. We are going to lose races, and to improve we need to know why we lost them. If we spend a little time analysing the reasons it will stand us in good stead in the future. It can sometimes be a bit confusing when we are dealing with the vagaries of wind and water. If our arch rival Dastardly Dan passes us up the last beat when he goes way out and bangs the left corner while we stayed with the bulk of the fleet, what do we do? The simple question to ask is, confronted with the same situation again would you do differently? It worked for Dan this time but it was against the percentages and the chances are you could risk losing more places by going with him. The important thing is not to overreact and get away from the basics. They will stand you in good stead in most cases. If Dan begins to do this repeatedly then there is a reason, maybe the wind strengthens in that corner late in the day in a given breeze direction, or the tide becomes a factor? Learn through analysis whether you need to change or to reinforce your approach.
Things you can easily fix.
Losing races through crew work mishaps is perhaps the most frustrating but the easiest to address. If a spinnaker drop or any manoeuvre goes wrong, just work through it with the crew and ascertain what caused it. It could be something simple or perhaps you need to ask an expert for help. The yachting fraternity are always willing to help each other out – don’t be scared to ask. I have heard some of our best sailors ask their peers how they do certain things. In my opinion the worst way to lose is by poor preparation – things that are broken and not attended to. Your boat and equipment need to be ready to race to give yourself the chance to do well. When I am asked to go sailing on a boat to give a bit of help or advice, there is nothing that makes my heart drop more than walking out and seeing several inches of growth on the bottom of the boat. We have lost the race before we even left the pen. What about those little things from the previous race? The headsail foil still jams? The light spinnaker never got repaired? These are all things that have a major effect on your performance. When things go wrong, say a wind shift catches you out or you spend some time trawling your spinnaker and find yourselves behind the eight ball, it is important to remain upbeat no matter how difficult. The race is not over and you can learn from what happened. Remember the race is from here onwards, there is no point dwelling on what has gone before. A skipper that rants or raves or announces the day over is not going to help anyone, particularly his boat’s performance. There is still a lot of sailing to be done and negativity is contagious. Some of my most satisfying races are when something has gone wrong and the crew pulls together and works their way back to a reasonable position. Just keep working as a team because the race is not over until you cross the finish line. And on the odd occasion funny things can happen. Remember that day when Dastardly Dan hit the corner on the last beat? By looking at how we lost one race, we can take a step toward winning the next one.
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