Quannapowitt Yacht Club

We had a great Racing Clinic at the club today. Six boats showed up to practice starts, mark roundings and short races. What a difference practice makes! During the first few training starts almost everyone was stumbling along eight to ten boat lengths below the line and most showed up for the start as much as two minutes late. With encouragement to get to the line early and relax about being over early, we started to have a nice little fleet bunched around the committee boat end a minute before the horn and most everyone starting within 20 seconds.

The most common weaknesses were boats getting too far away from the starting line so that it wasn¿t possible to get back in time, poor straight-line boat speed up wind, not tacking far enough so that the boat stopped in irons, excessive use of the rudder to turn so that the boat slowed down, and un-practiced boat handling techniques.

What was promising was how quickly everyone began to improve. It can be fun to just sail back and forth across the lake on a reach, but when encouraged to practice maneuvering and boat handling, everyone began to look like they were ready to race on Sundays or Wednesdays.

If you're interested in getting some coaching or participating in another racing clinic this summer, contact Brian Wilson or Jay Livingston.