Crewing to Win E-Book

Saskia Clark

• Herausgeber: Fernhurst Books Limited
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

The crew of a racing boat is as important as the helmsman – they work as a team to sail as fast as they can. But different members of that team have different roles in the boat. In addition to the obvious roles which belong to the crew – trimming the jib and spinnaker and helping keep the boat upright – the crew can also contribute to tactics, boat tuning, watching the competition and so on. In this book, Olympic gold medallist crew, Saskia Clark, describes all that is needed to become a top-rate crew, or just be a better crew at whatever level you want to compete at. She initially takes you through getting started as a crew and team – choosing a boat and setting your goals. She then turns to the specific crewing skills of hiking, trapezing, tacking, gybing, handling the spinnaker and having good boatspeed on each leg of the course. The focus then turns to racing and particularly the roles of each member of the team, communication, decision making and execution around the race course. Finally, she brings it all together with advice on how you can be the best crew and a great team. Packed with photographs this is the ultimate book for crews whether they are trying to win a championship or just wanting to sail at their local club. If your helm doesn't buy it for you, treat yourself!

Leseprobe

Dedicated to my Mum and Dad, thank you for getting me going; and Han and Joe for all we achieved together.

And while I have your attention, can I encourage us all as a sailing community to do as much as we can to eliminate the use and disposal of plastic into our fantastic sporting arena. As sailors we are on the front line, so go over your boat and figure out how you could use less or no PVC tape, tidy up around your boat space at regattas, and remember to bring and use reusable water bottles. This is the 11th hour, we have to do better.Thank you x

SASKIA CLARK

GOLD MEDAL & WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP WINNING CREW

Saskia Clark won the 470 gold medal at the Rio Olympics, 2016, sailing with Hannah Mills. This was the culmination of an amazing crewing career which saw her attend 3 Olympic Games, coming sixth in 2008 and getting silver in London 2012 – heart-wrenchingly close to claiming gold.

In the 470 World Championships, Saskia won medals an amazing 6 times over a 10-year period, claiming gold, with Hannah, in 2012.

But is wasn’t always like this, Saskia’s first experience of sailing was in an Optimist at Dabchicks Sailing Club, aged 8 – she hated it! But her journey shows that, with hard work and determination, and an undoubted natural skill, you can aim for the top and get there!

With Hannah, Saskia was voted World Female Sailor of the Year in 2016 and was appointed an MBE in 2017.

In this book, Saskia shows any crew how they can improve their game, whether they are wanting to win the club race occasionally, be competitive at the national championships or even perform on the international stage.

Olympic Games – Women’s 470

• Gold medal, Rio 2016

• Silver medal, London 2012

• 6th place, Beijing 2008

World Championships – Women’s 470

• Silver medal, Haifa 2015

• Bronze medal, Santander 2014

• Gold medal, Barcelona 2012

• Silver medal, Perth 2011

• Bronze medal, Cascais 2007

• Silver medal, San Francisco 2005

Other Sailing Titles

• Laser Radial Youth European Champion, 1996

• Optimist Girl’s National Champion, 1993

© Thom Touw

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS

Rob Henderson

Having learned to sail with his father in the family Firefly and National 12, Rob went on to the Cadet class and then a Laser. He was a competitive sailor; however, it was not until he left school and went to university that he became fascinated by the intricacies and achievability of sailing quickly. This was largely due to the infectious enthusiasm and confidence of his family and contemporaries.

After spending many seasons deliberating with and learning from sailors such as Will Henderson, Alan Roberts, Jack Holden, Rob Gullan, Frances Peters, Christian Birrell and, most recently, Maria Stanley (2018 Amateur Sailor of the Year), the results started to show with a variety of helms (in brackets):

• RS200 End of Season Champions (Rob Gullan) 2016

• RS200 National Circuit Champions (Maria Stanley) 2017

• RS200 Inland Champions (Maria Stanley) 2017

• 5th at Endeavour Trophy (Christian Birrell) 2017

• RS200 National Tour Champions (Maria Stanley) 2018

• RS200 National Champions (Maria Stanley) 2018

Rob’s contributions in this book are in a blue typeface.

Emma McEwen

After a background helming in Toppers and 420s, Emma started crewing whilst team racing at university. Moving on to asymmetric trapezing, she crewed Laser 4000s for four years before taking a five-year sabbatical to sail a cruising boat around the world. She now competes in an RS800 with her husband Luke.

Emma’s major crewing achievements are:

• RS800 National Champions, Hayling Island 2016

• RS800 European Champions, Lake Garda 2016

• RS800 European Champions, Medemblik 2017

• RS800 European Champions, Carnac 2018

Emma’s contributions in this book are in a green typeface.

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

PART 1INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1Welcome

Chapter 2Getting Started

Chapter 3A Day On The Water

PART 2SKILLS

Chapter 4Hiking Technique

Chapter 5Trapezing Technique

Chapter 6Tacking

Chapter 7Gybing

Chapter 8Symmetric Spinnakers

Chapter 9Asymmetric Spinnakers

Chapter 10Straight-Line Speed

Chapter 11Capsizing

PART 3RACING

Chapter 12Introduction To Racing

Chapter 13Pre-Start

Chapter 14Starting

Chapter 15Upwind

Chapter 16Downwind

Chapter 17Reaching

PART 4BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER

Chapter 18Being The Best Crew

Chapter 19Being A Great Team

GLOSSARY

FOREWORD

In all my Olympic sailing career I have sailed as a team – I could have said in a two-person boat, but it is sailing as a team that makes it more than two individual people sailing together. In the preparations for London 2012 I was lucky enough to team up with Saskia Clark who, at that time, had experienced an Olympic Games and medalled at two 470 World Championships.

Sas and I gelled almost instantly, on and off the water. We had similar values, work ethics and of course – goals! In our London 2012 campaign, Sas’s experience was a great help to me in so many areas, but most of all – what it means to be a team. In only 18 months together, we qualified for London 2012 and won a silver medal. However, having initially said she would retire, we felt we had more to give and that we could become an even better team for Rio 2016 with a full cycle to prepare. Sas never stopped searching for what being the best crew she could be looked like and we continued learning as a team right up until the last race at Rio.

We had some amazing successes – particularly our gold medal at Rio 2016 – and some fairly tough times, one of which, people might be surprised to hear, was narrowly missing gold at London 2012. To be voted World Sailor of the Year in 2016, jointly with Sas, crowned a fantastic partnership.

In this brilliant book Sas shares her experience of what it takes to be the best crew and make a great team. Any crew, or indeed helm of a two-person boat, would benefit from reading it. Individual skills are covered – like hiking and trapezing, tacking and gybing, hoisting and lowering the spinnaker – and so are the team skills: dividing the roles in the boat both outside competition, pre-start and on each leg of the course. Sas is not prescriptive – she explains how we broke down the roles but is also aware that each team should work to their own strengths and weaknesses and find the best fit.

Reading this book will improve your skills as a crew and make you a better team, whether you are just sailing at your local sailing club or competing internationally at the top of your fleet – I whole-heartedly recommend it.

I also thank Sas for being a great crew but, more importantly, a great team-mate and friend. I’m so proud of all you’ve achieved with this book.

Hannah Mills

Olympic gold & silver medallist (470), World Champion gold, silver & bronze medallist (470), World Champion (420 and Optimist)

CHAPTER 1

Welcome

Hello and welcome to my book!

How we best work as a team will never be the same as another partnership: we will come to the boat with different experiences, varying strengths and weakness, and practical stuff such as different weight combinations and heights will all alter the best way to do things.

This book is not designed to be read in one go and then go off and become a sailor. Get sailing, enjoy what you are doing and come back to this if you get stuck on processes and need a few ideas to break through.

If a section is on a green background that topic is aimed at beginners. There is also a glossary at the back to help describe sailing terms you might not know. Opposite there is a diagram of a boat, just so that you know what I am referring to in the book. There are other diagrams as appropriate in the book.

Saskia Clark

Get sailing and enjoy what you’re doing!

CHAPTER 2

Getting Started

Being A Crew

Crewing is often a simple way to get into sailing: you can put a notice on your local sailing club’s board or Facebook page advertising your keenness and from there could easily get some crewing time on yachts or a dinghy.

I think it’s for this reason that crewing is often considered to be not as important as the helming role: because you can just jump in and go.

In the early days of your crewing career this might be the case but if you want to form a world-beating team, contribute equally to the speed, decision making and outcome of your racing, or simply understand better what is going on, then hopefully this book will be useful to you.

Hannah and I became a world-beating team

© Thom Touw

Choosing A Boat

The choice of boats is huge.

If you are new to sailing, it’s likely that you will go along with whatever you get invited to sail on – and that is a great way to get experience in different types of boats and sailing with different people.

If you are thinking about buying a boat, get down to your local club and see what kind of racing is happening, whether it is one design or handicap and join in with a similar size or type of boat. Other important considerations are:

• How much you want to be pushed physically (will it be hard work for you to sail this class?)

• How much time you have to invest in upkeep (a wooden boat takes a lot of care and attention, while a glass fibre boat is less work, but some types of glass fibre boats still require quite a bit of maintenance)

Forming A Team

I realise that a blank canvas to build your team is unlikely, but a few things to consider when thinking about what and who you would want to sail with.

Weight, Height & Physicality

These will be deciding factors on the boat that you will be most suited too.

If you are tall, trapezing would be a great avenue for you because of your superior leverage; if you’re shorter, it will present a challenge in the windier conditions.

If you are heavier than optimum for your choice of boat, ideally you would team up with a small helm to stay competitive against others and likewise, if you are on the smaller side for a crew, a bigger helm would help.

Some boats, like the RS800 are weight-equalised so that everyone is equally competitive in all wind ranges, regardless of size and weight. The RS800 is both weight and righting-moment equalised with light-weight teams carrying extra lead and short teams on wider rack settings.

Racing and sailing can be as physical as you want to make it, but talk to other sailors about the challenges the boats they sail bring and think about whether that is something you could embrace and enjoy.

Crewing on an asymmetric boat can be a physical work-out

Your Goals As A Sailor

It’s important that your goals align well within your team. If one of you is all about the social and fun and the other is interested in winning titles it will be hard to create a fulfilling atmosphere. But importantly those categories are not mutually exclusive to each other and often having fun is one of the keys to success, but it is worth having those conversations early on to avoid arguments.

Make sure your goals are compatible: Hannah and I wanted to win, but also had fun! © Thom Touw

Your Skills

There might be the option to form a team with sailors from a variety of different backgrounds (e.g. 2 helms from single-handers, 2 crews with one moving to a helming role). Whatever your previous experience, it won’t prevent or make you less likely to become a great team in the future but, when you are thinking about starting a new partnership, it’s a good time for a bit of self-reflection: question what your existing skills are and consider potential team-mates that would complement them. It’s definitely worth canvassing opinion on this as we all tend to have blindspots in how we view ourselves.

Your Crewing Role

If you are new to sailing, as soon as you have a basic understanding of what is going on in the boat, it is important to take ownership of the roles that are appropriate, if you want to be more than just a passenger.

In this book, each chapter deals with what the crew’s roles have been in my experience, but I think it’s important to realise that everyone will bring their own skills to the boat, so things might work out differently in your team.

CHAPTER 3

A Day On The Water

What To Wear

If you are just giving sailing a go then just wear something that you are happy to get wet in, ideally quick drying and take some kind of wind / waterproof jacket if you have it, as it will always be colder on the water than you are expecting. Any kind of trainers will be fine.

If you are committed to spending some money, then my vote would be for a good fitting wetsuit with quality neoprene, so it is nice and flexible. I prefer wearing a long john wetsuit and layering up on thermals as it gets cold, rather than a steamer, to keep mobility in my shoulders and elbows.

Boots with a good grip but flexible sole are a vital bit of crewing equipment. Some people pull off bare feet whilst crewing, but stubbing your toe is one of the most painful experiences known to humans, so it’s not something for me. Also, there is the uncomfortable bit of launching in bare feet.

My boots are flexible, but with good grip

For me, gloves are a must when going out sailing, except if it is very light winds. I use full-finger gloves except for thumb and index finger, so that you can do fiddly knots and split rings. It’s important that the gloves are not so thick that you lose grip.

I use full-finger gloves except for the thumb and index finger

In the summer, many like to wear a baseball hat to keep the sun and spray out their eyes. In the winter, a woolly hat is an affordable way to stay comfortable in cold weather. Do ensure there is somewhere to put it during a race if things heat up. This can be a pouch on the boat somewhere or it can just be tucked under a buoyancy aid.

Hiking

Here and elsewhere in this book, I have asked Rob Henderson to give advice on hiking boats specifically.

Dressed in ‘hot and light’ mode (right)

The same kit with an additional layer underneath and a spray top in more breeze so I stay warm and dry

For my summer wetsuit, I prefer the use of ‘hiker’ or ‘long-john’ style wetsuits. My current wetsuit covers the legs and hooks over the shoulders, while leaving the arms entirely free. This basic setup gives me full protection throughout the wind range, articulation and the ability to accessorise based on temperature, precipitation and wind conditions.

In the winter I like to wear a drysuit. Although bulkier and rather more expensive, I think that comfort, warmth and being dry are the priorities.

The other main consideration is footwear. Footwear is often an afterthought, with some choosing to forgo it entirely and, contrary to their tough persona, to their detriment. Saskia’s advice about footwear also applies to hiking dinghies, however it is also important for boots to grip the toestraps, distribute the load across the foot comfortably and strike the right balance between rigid support and ergonomics. In an RS200, I opt for an all-round boot that is light and flexible enough for me to move around smoothly and be comfortable when fully squatted, but also ensures that I can lock into an effective hiking position for an extended period of time.

Having said this, I do have a heftier pair of boots either for use in the winter for extra warmth and / or at clubs where the launching area is rough or requires good grip underfoot. Under these circumstances, the pain is not worth it. If you can’t feel your feet because they are cold then you are in trouble, regardless of how much ‘feel’ the boot claims to give.

Trapezing

For trapeze crews, a comfortable harness will take some finding: different models will offer different levels of support across your back and shoulders, and finding the right shape can really help manage any back problems you may have. I am always looking to get locked in to the seat of my harness so prefer the lace up fronts; if you are using kinetics (pumping and bouncing), it means that more energy transfers up the wire to the mast rather than getting lost in a baggy harness. I use a lightweight, flexible nappy harness in light winds, for maximum manoeuvrability.

It’s a great idea to try them on and put them under load, so try to rig up some kind of ‘trapeze wire’ so you can actually feel how they fit, where they are supporting you and where you might want more support. Remember to crouch into a ball to replicate light wind, in-the-boat sailing.

I wear a long john wetsuit with thermals and a front lace up harness

Food, Drink & Sunscreen

I think that, maybe, being hungry is more miserable than being cold, so good snacks are vital to an enjoyable day on the water! There are whole books written about sports nutrition and food for performance, so I’ll leave that up to them. Personally, having something I really like, so I can eat it quickly and often enough to maintain a positive energy balance is more important than the detail of the nutritional value.

Again, drinking enough when racing is hard, so make sure it’s something you actually like. If you are trying to build or maintain a weight, it’s important to consider how many calories you are getting through your drink and whether here is a good opportunity to add or take away calories.

Always have something ready for the tow / sail in or on shore to eat. You’ll be surprised how much energy 3 races in cold conditions uses and it’s hard to eat enough in the gap between races. If you’ve got a championship week, this WILL make a difference as the week goes on.

And finally, it is so easy to forget sunscreen, but we know that the water reflects the sun and so a day on the water is a day exposed to the sun. Build applying sunscreen into your routine, so you don’t forget it.

CHAPTER 4

Hiking Technique

Since most of my recent experience is in a symmetric trapezing dinghy, I’ve asked top hiking crew, Rob Henderson, to contribute this chapter. You can read on p6 about Rob’s achievements and why what he says is worth reading!

Starting Out

Hiking is essentially very simple: you are maximising your leverage on the hull / rig by hooking your feet under the toestrap and extending the suitable amount of weight overboard.

If you are new to hiking, go sailing with your helm and have a play. The main aim being to instil your confidence and feel for it. Try sailing in breeze that is strong enough to make hiking necessary, but light enough for you and your partner to sail safely without doing so. As you sail, try to familiarise yourself with the sensation of hiking while trimming sheets, looking around and talking to the helm.

Once you are comfortable with straight-line sailing and hiking, you can look at tacking and becoming happy with hooking your feet into the toestraps after the tack instinctively rather than cognitively.

Advanced Techniques

You will quickly master the basics of hiking and realise that, as soon as conditions approach those in which the rig is ‘powered up’ and requires righting moment beyond the just sitting on the gunwale, the crew’s ability to hike effectively and for longer than their competitors is one of the greatest weapons available on a hiking dinghy.

As a relatively big crew in the RS200, it took many seasons for me to refine my hiking technique and fitness. When I started out, I weighed 80kgs, did not consider toestrap position and assumed that those out-hiking me just had higher pain thresholds, leg strength and cardiovascular ability... How wrong I was.

The art of effective hiking requires some practice, refinement and enjoyment. When reading this, please do bear in mind that everybody and every boat is built differently and so, although my advice may be useful, it is not the hard and fast rulebook. For example, the two boats I sail at the moment (Merlin Rocket and RS200) require quite different techniques but are underpinned by the same fundamental principles.

Some crews like to cross their legs or drop their bottom right down outside the gunwale with their chests up against their knees. Although these techniques might feel comfortable for a while, they leave you prone to injury and do not do the boat’s speed as much good as hiking with good technique.

If your legs are crossed, you are straining the ligaments across your knees and distorting your back. Furthermore, if a quick movement forward or aft is required (when the boat begins or stops planing downwind or in waves upwind), having your legs crossed is not a dynamic position from which to begin.

‘Drop hiking’ can give the crew the feeling that they are hiking effectively, however you would be more useful perched on the side deck and applying a slight lean overboard, such is the extent of your centre of gravity in this position. Not only are you likely to drag your backside in the water when the boat is flat and jerk the boat when it comes to a lull or tack, you are putting undue strain on your knees and shins. As with crossing your legs, you are little stuck when you are hooked over the side deck should your weight need to be shifted.

In lighter winds, the crew may not sit on the side deck all day long, and so your movements will need to be refined, smooth and your static positions sustainable. Any movements that are not smooth tend to jerk not only the wind out of the sails, but the helm’s concentration.

You are working dynamically from a crouched position in the cockpit (bilges!) to your hiking position and any range in between. Work with your helm to establish their preferred movements around the boat and where your body should be in various conditions.

In addition, a hiking crew has greater influence over fore / aft movements than a crew on a trapeze wire. When sailing with Frances and Maria, I was very much the heavier member of the team and so my movements over the waves and through the puffs both upwind and downwind were critical.

Things To Make Life Easier

As well as working on your fitness, you can set your boat up to enable you to hike better and for longer.

Toestraps