Coaching Tips

General Success:
The team that wins is not the most brilliant; it is the team that makes the fewest mistakes.

• When the crew makes a mistake; it’s the skipper’s fault.
• When the skipper makes a mistake; it’s the crew’s fault.

Strategy & Tactics:

• Strategy is good, tactics are evil.
• Find the line.
• Start where the others are not.
• Play the favored side of the fleet, not the corner of the course.
• When boat A hails “starboard” to boat B, boat C gains.
• At a crowded weather mark, overlay the mark and the traffic.
• Never get fouled.
• Lateral Separation is better in the long run.
• The passing lane is outside the wake.
• At a crowded leeward mark, slow up to win.
• Round the gate mark that has the path of least resistance.

Current:

• Unlike the wind; the current is a known variable.
• 100’ of drift in 1 minute equals 1 knot of current.
• Overcompensate for current as others under compensate.

Driving Safety:

• What time you arrive at a regatta is not a function of speed; it is a function of what time you leave.
• Avoid the three deadly D’s: Drunk, drowsy, distracted.

Personal Risk Management:

• Never, ever break two laws simultaneously.