I know that a fair number of visitors have come here the past few days from the Tacticat site, thanks to a nice booster link for Proper Course prominently placed on Tacticat. Thanks for that Senor Tacticat.
But, so far, my visitors from Tacticat have been totally silent here. Maybe they find my posts on Tacticat tactics boring? Or maybe they don't understand how this blogging thing is supposed to work? Hey guys, it's all about community. We bloggers don't just write all this stuff so that our words can disappear into the aether with no response.
I know, I know. Einstein disproved the existence of the aether. I was speaking metaphorically.
Where was I?
Oh yes. Please take the time to leave a comment and let me know what you think of my Tacticat tips. I've only been playing the game a few weeks so I'm certainly no expert. My exalted place in the top ten in the Tacticat rankings this week is entirely due to my amazing sailing skills, not through superior knowledge of the game. That, and being retired and being able to race any time there are enough players there to give me some decent scores, but we don't mention that.
Where was I? I seem to be rambling off subject a lot today.
Oh yes. Please leave a comment here. You don't need to sign up for a Google account. Click on that sad "0 comments" link at the bottom of a post, use the "Other" button under "Choose an Identity", enter your Tacticat boat name so I know who you are, and leave a comment. (Or comment anonymously if you're shy or want to be extremely rude) . Disagree with me. Tell me something I don't know. Tell us your secrets for achieving a perfect start, or smelling the wind, or whatever.
I know you have a voice because some of you talk to me on Tacticat when we're racing. We'll be going up the first beat and you'll send a message saying something like "great blog Tillerman". I appreciate it. I really do. And being a polite kind of guy I feel obliged to reply. Just to say "thnx" or something equally cryptic. But that means I have to take my eye of the screen and look at my keyboard. And move my right hand from hovering over "Enter" to find the "M" key. And move my left hand from its normal position glued to "Z" and "X" in order to find "T". And you always seem to want to tell me about my blog just as we are heading into a crowded windward mark rounding. You couldn't be trying to distract me, could you?
So thanks for the kind words about Proper Course. But, as I have ten thumbs and am keyboard-dyslexic, please don't chat to me in the middle of a race. I am unable to walk and chew gum at the same time. Let's chat between races. Or even better leave a comment here. Talk to me. Please.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Watch the Wind
Tillerman's Tacticat Tip #2 is Watch the Wind.
Remember, in Tacticat, other things being equal, all boats have the same boatspeed. You can't beat your competition around the course like you do at your home club in real world sailing by just having a boat that's tuned better or by having superior boatspeed due to your amazing helming skills. In Tacticat if two boats are sailing in "sail by the telltales" or automatic mode, and they are both in clear air, then the boat in stronger wind will be faster. So one of the best ways to edge out on the rest of the fleet is to find that stronger wind.
As far as I know there are only two ways in Tacticat to "see" the wind velocity.
One is by using the W key, and then zoom in (Z key). This displays wind strength either in numbers (who knows what units) or shades of grey. Unfortunately you can only see the wind in the area of the course fairly close to your boat. (Just like it is in the real world for sailors with less than perfect eyesight such as myself!)
The other method is to use the I key which enables you to display the wind velocity for all the boats racing. So then you can check out whether the guys on the far side of the course are in stronger or lighter winds than yourself.
So in Tacticat everyone can be a 2 on Tillerman's spoof Not-the-Beaufort Wind Scale. Anyone worked out yet how to be a 1 in Tacticat - i.e. predict the wind before you can see it on the screen?
Check where the wind pressure is before the start. Develop your start strategy with this in mind. Keep checking the wind. It does change. Check it before the start of every leg. It may determine which side of the course to sail on the run, which gate mark to round, which way to go on the second beat.
Keep an eye on the wind direction too. There are persistent shifts and oscillating shifts and sometimes both. Use them, just as you would in real world racing. I always keep the laylines of my boat displayed (Y key) and tend to judge the shifts from watching the laylines move. There is also a wind indicator on the top left hand corner of the screen which shows which way the wind has shifted and by how much.
One of the things I appreciate about Tacticat is that it is much easier for me to see immediately what is happening to wind velocity around the course than I find it to assess in real life. So I can make tactical decisions based on what the wind is doing and observe the effects immediately. Teaches me to get better at observing the wind in real racing. I hope. Hey, there's got to be some payback for all these hours I have spent this winter wearing out my Shift and Enter keys!
Remember, in Tacticat, other things being equal, all boats have the same boatspeed. You can't beat your competition around the course like you do at your home club in real world sailing by just having a boat that's tuned better or by having superior boatspeed due to your amazing helming skills. In Tacticat if two boats are sailing in "sail by the telltales" or automatic mode, and they are both in clear air, then the boat in stronger wind will be faster. So one of the best ways to edge out on the rest of the fleet is to find that stronger wind.
As far as I know there are only two ways in Tacticat to "see" the wind velocity.
One is by using the W key, and then zoom in (Z key). This displays wind strength either in numbers (who knows what units) or shades of grey. Unfortunately you can only see the wind in the area of the course fairly close to your boat. (Just like it is in the real world for sailors with less than perfect eyesight such as myself!)
The other method is to use the I key which enables you to display the wind velocity for all the boats racing. So then you can check out whether the guys on the far side of the course are in stronger or lighter winds than yourself.
So in Tacticat everyone can be a 2 on Tillerman's spoof Not-the-Beaufort Wind Scale. Anyone worked out yet how to be a 1 in Tacticat - i.e. predict the wind before you can see it on the screen?
Check where the wind pressure is before the start. Develop your start strategy with this in mind. Keep checking the wind. It does change. Check it before the start of every leg. It may determine which side of the course to sail on the run, which gate mark to round, which way to go on the second beat.
Keep an eye on the wind direction too. There are persistent shifts and oscillating shifts and sometimes both. Use them, just as you would in real world racing. I always keep the laylines of my boat displayed (Y key) and tend to judge the shifts from watching the laylines move. There is also a wind indicator on the top left hand corner of the screen which shows which way the wind has shifted and by how much.
One of the things I appreciate about Tacticat is that it is much easier for me to see immediately what is happening to wind velocity around the course than I find it to assess in real life. So I can make tactical decisions based on what the wind is doing and observe the effects immediately. Teaches me to get better at observing the wind in real racing. I hope. Hey, there's got to be some payback for all these hours I have spent this winter wearing out my Shift and Enter keys!
Monday, February 05, 2007
Tacticat Starts
Here is the first in a series of Tillerman's Top Ten Tacticat Tactical Tips...
Geeze, how many T's is that? Guess we will have to call this T6 #1.
OK. T6 #1. Get a Great Start.
What? That's the amazing insight we've been waiting for?
Yup. Racing in Tacticat (at least in this respect) is just like real world sailboat racing. The start is a huge part of the race. Get a good start and you will likely end up in the top five. Get a crap start and you will be sucking for air and will be struggling to get back in touch with the leaders.
OK. OK. So how do I get a good start in Tacticat?
Well, it's pretty much like real sailboat racing. A good start means you are...
You're new here aren't you? If you'd been reading this blog before you'd know that I am totally useless at starts in real sailboat racing. And I'm crap at starts in Tacticat too. I have no consistency. But the beauty of Tacticat is that it enables you to try lots of different approaches and strategies to an aspect of the game like starting and learn from your mistakes, work out what works and what doesn't work, improve over time. I hope. Maybe...
So what have you learned?
Not a lot. OK. Maybe a few things.
1. Squirrel Starts. This is where you hang out near the right hand end of the line hoping that at the last minute a gap will appear in the pack of boats luffing on the line near the buoy and you will be able to power through that gap just as the gun goes off. This is a great move if you know the right side of the course is favored. (More on that in another post.) As Tacticat courses are pretty short it's also an advantage (other things being equal) to be on the right side of the fleet with starboard tack advantage coming in to the first mark. I would say that some of my best races have been achieved with a squirrel start. Litoralis is a master at this on Tacticat; I will be fighting my way through traffic and then look up the course to see that he has found a gap, blasted through, tacked, and is already several boatlengths ahead of the pack heading towards a puff on the right side of the course. How does he do it?
Just as in real sailboat racing, squirrel starts are a high risk, high gain strategy. There are just too many ways you can screw up a squirrel start. Or at least, that I can.
2. Be a Shark. This is where you cruise down the line looking for a gap, head up into it at the last minute, sheet in, accelerate, time the start perfectly, win the start and win the race. Works sometimes. Unless you're too late. Or too early. Or hit somebody. Or there are no gaps left. Go on. Try it. What do you have to lose?
3. Protect Your Hole. OK. So you decide to go for a conventional start. Line up with all the other guys, luffing a boatlength or so below the line. Try and maintain a gap to leeward so you can bear off and accelerate a few seconds before the gun. Try and be bow out on the boats to windward and to leeward without being OCS. This will work if your timing is good.
But in Tacticat, at present, there is a huge potential problem for boats just hanging out below the line. Another boat can come in to leeward and just tap your leeward quarter and you will get the penalty. In real sailboat racing this doesn't happen because under Rules 15 and 16 the leeward boat has to give you room to keep clear. And you do not need to start taking evasive action until the overlap is established. However, the software in Tacticat doesn't seem to allow any time for the windward boat to respond. There has been some discussion about this on the Tacticat forums and I suspect this issue may get fixed in a future version.
But, for now, be very very wary of boats approaching to leeward before the start. Many of the regular racers are good guys who play by the real rules. But there are some nasty characters out there who will deliberately cause you to take a penalty just before the start by coming in to leeward and tapping you. I don't really know a total solution to protect yourself from this. Clearly setting up to windward of another boat, close but not too close, will discourage many of these pitiful creatures. So, just as in real sailboat racing, protect that hole to leeward at all costs.
Funny. Even the top Laser sailors have problems with idiots jamming into that gap to leeward. Check out Andrew Campbell's story of an incident at the Miami OCR that cost him dearly.
Maybe Tacticat is pretty true to life after all.
Geeze, how many T's is that? Guess we will have to call this T6 #1.
OK. T6 #1. Get a Great Start.
What? That's the amazing insight we've been waiting for?
Yup. Racing in Tacticat (at least in this respect) is just like real world sailboat racing. The start is a huge part of the race. Get a good start and you will likely end up in the top five. Get a crap start and you will be sucking for air and will be struggling to get back in touch with the leaders.
OK. OK. So how do I get a good start in Tacticat?
Well, it's pretty much like real sailboat racing. A good start means you are...
- on the line at the gun
- going at full speed at the gun
- with nobody close to leeward giving you bad air
- and nobody to windward on your air
- near the favored end of the line
- heading towards the favored side of the course
- with freedom to tack when you need to.
You're new here aren't you? If you'd been reading this blog before you'd know that I am totally useless at starts in real sailboat racing. And I'm crap at starts in Tacticat too. I have no consistency. But the beauty of Tacticat is that it enables you to try lots of different approaches and strategies to an aspect of the game like starting and learn from your mistakes, work out what works and what doesn't work, improve over time. I hope. Maybe...
So what have you learned?
Not a lot. OK. Maybe a few things.
1. Squirrel Starts. This is where you hang out near the right hand end of the line hoping that at the last minute a gap will appear in the pack of boats luffing on the line near the buoy and you will be able to power through that gap just as the gun goes off. This is a great move if you know the right side of the course is favored. (More on that in another post.) As Tacticat courses are pretty short it's also an advantage (other things being equal) to be on the right side of the fleet with starboard tack advantage coming in to the first mark. I would say that some of my best races have been achieved with a squirrel start. Litoralis is a master at this on Tacticat; I will be fighting my way through traffic and then look up the course to see that he has found a gap, blasted through, tacked, and is already several boatlengths ahead of the pack heading towards a puff on the right side of the course. How does he do it?
Just as in real sailboat racing, squirrel starts are a high risk, high gain strategy. There are just too many ways you can screw up a squirrel start. Or at least, that I can.
2. Be a Shark. This is where you cruise down the line looking for a gap, head up into it at the last minute, sheet in, accelerate, time the start perfectly, win the start and win the race. Works sometimes. Unless you're too late. Or too early. Or hit somebody. Or there are no gaps left. Go on. Try it. What do you have to lose?
3. Protect Your Hole. OK. So you decide to go for a conventional start. Line up with all the other guys, luffing a boatlength or so below the line. Try and maintain a gap to leeward so you can bear off and accelerate a few seconds before the gun. Try and be bow out on the boats to windward and to leeward without being OCS. This will work if your timing is good.
But in Tacticat, at present, there is a huge potential problem for boats just hanging out below the line. Another boat can come in to leeward and just tap your leeward quarter and you will get the penalty. In real sailboat racing this doesn't happen because under Rules 15 and 16 the leeward boat has to give you room to keep clear. And you do not need to start taking evasive action until the overlap is established. However, the software in Tacticat doesn't seem to allow any time for the windward boat to respond. There has been some discussion about this on the Tacticat forums and I suspect this issue may get fixed in a future version.
But, for now, be very very wary of boats approaching to leeward before the start. Many of the regular racers are good guys who play by the real rules. But there are some nasty characters out there who will deliberately cause you to take a penalty just before the start by coming in to leeward and tapping you. I don't really know a total solution to protect yourself from this. Clearly setting up to windward of another boat, close but not too close, will discourage many of these pitiful creatures. So, just as in real sailboat racing, protect that hole to leeward at all costs.
Funny. Even the top Laser sailors have problems with idiots jamming into that gap to leeward. Check out Andrew Campbell's story of an incident at the Miami OCR that cost him dearly.
Maybe Tacticat is pretty true to life after all.
Heavy Traffic
DailyBlogTips ran a group blogging project for tips on how to increase traffic to your blog. I participated, and here are the group results...
1. Tillerman
Be the first to write a post about the ‘Top Ten Blogs’ in your niche. The post will rank highly in any general search for blogs in your niche and other bloggers in your niche will write about the post and link to it.
It's true. My posts on Top Ten Sailing Blogs of 2006 and ditto 2005 have been two of the most popular posts on Proper Course.
2. EngtechCommunity. It’s one word but it is the most important one when it comes to blogging. The only “blog metric” that makes sense is the vibrant community of readers it has. Building a community around your blog will bring you increased traffic, but how do you start? The boilerplate response to building traffic is always “SEO, social networking sites, and commenting on blogs” but it can be simplified to “be part of a community”. The easiest way to seed your blog is with an already existing community. But the only way to do that is to be part of the community yourself.
3. Alan Thomas
Don’t forget your archives. I just posted a roundup of all interviews I did over the past seven months. One of them generated a new link and a big traffic spike from a group of users that look like they will be loyal readers now.
4. Brandon Wood
A simple trick I’ve used to increase traffic to my blog is participate in group writing projects. In fact, that’s what I’m doing right now.
5. Eric Atkins
Create a new design for your website. Not only will it be more attractive to your regular readers, but you can submit it to some CSS gallery showcase sites that feature great designs. This will give you exposure on those sites while generating a lot of traffic and backlinks from those types of sites.
6. Sridhar Katakam
Keep track of blogs and leave comments on them. How do you know which blogs to keep track of in the first place? Add the MyBlogLog widget/code to your blog. When you notice a MyBlogLog user visiting your blog, visit that person’s in turn.
7. Dennis Coughlin
Find the best blogs on your niche and contact the authors. Introduce yourself and send a link of your blog. This might help them to discover your blog, read it and possibly link to it.
8. Guido
Comment on blogs, write useful content and make good friends on forums.
9. Grant Gerver
Try to be polemic. I write obsessively about all-things political from the left-wing perspective in the form of humorous, sarcastic one-liners.
10. Megan Taylor
Participate in conversations on related blogs. Start conversations on your own blog. Don’t just post about a story and leave it at that, engage your audience.
11. Ramen Junkie
Newsgroups. I always see a spike when I post a review to a newsgroup.
12. Ian Delaney
Nothing creates long-term traffic more than value. Making a post along the lines of ‘Evaluated resources for XYZ’ is useful. Useful things get linked to and they get onto del.icio.us, which is far better long-term than a digg front page.
13. KWiz
Write something controversial. I don’t think it’s good to write something controversial just for the purpose of getting traffic necessarily (especially if it’s only for that purpose and you’re being disingenuous), but it works.
14. Splork
I’ve had good success writing articles and submitting them to EzineArticles. Articles that have been written from well-researched keyword phrases and accepted by EzineArticles tend to rank very high in Google for that search term. Placing anchor text in the footer of those articles so the reader can visit my relevant website has always increased my site traffic.
15. Kat
I’ve recently gotten involved with several “MySpace-like” community sites that focus on my target audience. I share my thoughts in their forums, post intros to my real blog on their system blog and I’ve even created a group for my specific niche. It’s been very, very successful for me.
16. Daniel
A simple tip that will probably boost your page views: install a translator plugin. I decided to use a paid plugin for this, but if I am not wrong there are some free ones as well. The translation is not very good, as you can imagine, but it helps to attract readers that are not fluent in English.
17. Brian Auer
According to my Google Analytics, about 35% of my traffic comes from other people’s blogs and 25% comes from the forums I’m active with, while search engines provide about 15%. I post comments on other blogs that are related to mine, and I post my site link in my signature at the forums.
18. Goerge Manty
Post 3-5 times a day. Use ping services like pingomatic or setting up wordpress to ping some of the ping services. Engage your readers. Put up polls, ask them questions, give them quizes, free tools, etc. Make them want to come back and tell their friends about you.
19. Mark Alves
Participate in Yahoo Answers and LinkedIn Answers where you can demonstrate your expertise, get associated with relevant keywords and put your URL out there.
20. Andrew Timberlake
A great tip for generating traffic is off-line by including your url in all your off-line liturature from business cards, letterheads, pamphlets, adverts through in-store signage if applicable. I even have our website on my vehicle.
21. Inspirationbit
Well, obviously everyone knows that social bookmarking sites like Digg, del.icio.us, etc. bring lots of traffic. But I’m now submitting some of my articles to blogg-buzz.com (a digg like site for bloggers), and I always get not a bad traffic from there.
22. Scott Townsend
Inform search engines and aggregators like Technorati (using the ping functionality) when your blog is updated, this should ensure maximum traffic coming from those sources.
23. Jen Gordon
I came upon some unexpected traffic when my blog popped up on some css design portals like www.cssmania.com and www.webcreme.com. If you can put some time into the concept behind and design for your blog, I’d recommend submitting your site to a design portal not only for
additional traffic but to build an additional community around your site.
24. Chris
Squidoo Lenses are a good way to generate traffic. By using a lense, you can generate your own custom “community” of webpages, including some of the more popular pages in your “neighborhood.” Including your own webpage in such a list is a good way of generating traffic.
25. Kyle
Simplify. Pay attention to complex issues in your field of work. It may be a big long publication that is hard to wade through or a concept that is hard to grasp. Reference it and make a shorter “for dummies” version with your own lessons learned and relevant tips. When doing this, I have been surprised to find that the simplified post will appear before the more complex version in search results. Perhaps this is why it results in increased traffic; people looking for more help or clarification on the subject will land on your blog.
26. Nick
Participating in forums is a great way to get loyal readers. Either link baiting people in your signature or posting great advice and tips will give you high quality traffic, which will result in return visitors.
27. Jester
Leave comments on other blogs. If you’re already reading them, it takes
just a couple of seconds to leave a message agreeing or disagreeing
with the author, you get to leave a link to your site, and you will almost
ALWAYS get traffic from your comments.
28. Cory OBrien
Read lots of other blogs. Leave trackbacks. Make sure your blog is optimized for search engines. Leverage social bookmarking sites like digg (both for new ideas and for traffic).
29. Shankar Ganesh
Just browse around MyBlogLog.com and you will surely get visitors to your blog.
30. Rory
Submit articles to blog carnivals (http://blogcarnival.com). Your article almost always gets posted, and it must generate a handful of visitors, at least.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Speedlinking Saturday
Just discovered bLaugh the self-described (un)official comic of the Blogosphere.
On a more serious note, BMW Oracle Racing Team has a post on how many boats the yacht America beat in the first America's Cup match. Apparently everything you read on the Internet isn't absolutely true. Even Wikipedia had this one wrong. What a shocker!
For the escapists, Kanker Greenacre teaches sailing in Second Life using a virtual boat based on on the Flying Scot.
And then we have the ultimate New England getaway location for a yachtie type: a Nantucket Lightship.
And finally a fascinating article on that affliction of many sailors Two-Foot-itis.
On a more serious note, BMW Oracle Racing Team has a post on how many boats the yacht America beat in the first America's Cup match. Apparently everything you read on the Internet isn't absolutely true. Even Wikipedia had this one wrong. What a shocker!
For the escapists, Kanker Greenacre teaches sailing in Second Life using a virtual boat based on on the Flying Scot.
And then we have the ultimate New England getaway location for a yachtie type: a Nantucket Lightship.
And finally a fascinating article on that affliction of many sailors Two-Foot-itis.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Tacticat Meets Monday Morning Tactician
I have been spending way too much time over the last few weeks playing Tacticat. As I suspected when I first discovered it, it's seriously addictive. Tacticat is a multi-player online sailing simulation. Typically up to 24 players (sometimes more) will race against each other around a two-lap windward-leeward course. There are simulations available for Lasers, catamarans and skiffs.
It's not perfect. What simulation is? But the site administrator is very open to feedback from players and is constantly tweaking the simulations to make them more realistic.
The more I play Tacticat the more I realise that it demonstrates and teaches some very valuable tactical lessons that are useful on the real world race course. And then I realised that several of these lessons were almost exactly the same ones that Andrew Campbell has been teaching us in his Monday Morning Tactician series on CampbellSailing.com.
So I am going to write a series of posts next week on Tacticat Tactical Tips. These will discuss some of the things I have learned so far about how to be a successful player on Tacticat; and most of them will link to articles on Andrew's site showing how this lesson applies to real world sailing too.
Lest you doubt my credentials to speak with authority about Tacticat let me point out that today I am ranked 14th out of 813 registered players on the game. Not too shabby, eh?
Now if only my real world sailing skills were half as good as my keyboard sailing abilities...
It's not perfect. What simulation is? But the site administrator is very open to feedback from players and is constantly tweaking the simulations to make them more realistic.
The more I play Tacticat the more I realise that it demonstrates and teaches some very valuable tactical lessons that are useful on the real world race course. And then I realised that several of these lessons were almost exactly the same ones that Andrew Campbell has been teaching us in his Monday Morning Tactician series on CampbellSailing.com.
So I am going to write a series of posts next week on Tacticat Tactical Tips. These will discuss some of the things I have learned so far about how to be a successful player on Tacticat; and most of them will link to articles on Andrew's site showing how this lesson applies to real world sailing too.
Lest you doubt my credentials to speak with authority about Tacticat let me point out that today I am ranked 14th out of 813 registered players on the game. Not too shabby, eh?
Now if only my real world sailing skills were half as good as my keyboard sailing abilities...
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Not-the-Beaufort Wind Scale
Over a few drinks in Cabarete earlier this month, we were chatting about the different abilities that racing sailors have to predict, read, and react to the wind. We decided there are five types of sailors...
1. "I know what will happen." These are the sailing superstars who seem to have a sixth sense for what the wind is going to do, way before we mere mortals have any clue. They just know that the left side of the course will be favored or that the sea breeze will kick in at exactly 1:50 pm.
2. "I can see what will happen." Blessed with excellent eyesight, these are very good sailors who can look up the course and see that a big righty shift will be here in seven minutes.
3. "I know what happened." These are the average sailors with little ability to predict the wind, but at least they know what to do when the wind changes. They can recognize the difference between oscillating and persistent shifts, and know whether to tack or not on a header. They can change gears when the wind velocity changes.
4. "What happened?"
5. "Something happened?"
Where do you rank on the 5 point scale?
1. "I know what will happen." These are the sailing superstars who seem to have a sixth sense for what the wind is going to do, way before we mere mortals have any clue. They just know that the left side of the course will be favored or that the sea breeze will kick in at exactly 1:50 pm.
2. "I can see what will happen." Blessed with excellent eyesight, these are very good sailors who can look up the course and see that a big righty shift will be here in seven minutes.
3. "I know what happened." These are the average sailors with little ability to predict the wind, but at least they know what to do when the wind changes. They can recognize the difference between oscillating and persistent shifts, and know whether to tack or not on a header. They can change gears when the wind velocity changes.
4. "What happened?"
5. "Something happened?"
Where do you rank on the 5 point scale?
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
I Don't Know
In my recent post Broken Record, I let slip that I had been pumping some of the better sailors in Cabarete for tips on how to sail in extreme conditions. A couple of commenters to that post, other Laser sailors I guess, requested that I write about what I learned of how to keep the white floppy thing over the blue shiny thing in very windy and wavy conditions.
Now, of course, I have no problem with sharing such information with other Laser sailors. But my grasp of how to keep a Laser upright in strong winds and big waves is so shaky that I am reminded of Donald Rumsfeld's famous quote ...
I do have some things that I know that I know on this topic. For example I do know that you have to release the vang before rounding the windward mark. I could write about those things but you can find them in almost any book on Laser sailing. Might not be all that interesting or informative.
Then there are some things that I know that I don't know. Some of these are things on which I have read or heard conflicting advice from different sailors. And I may have tried some of their advice and still I know that I don't know which way is the best option. (An example would be how far to release the vang when sailing downwind.) That would make for a very confusing post but it might be an entertaining ramble.
Finally, given the amount of time that I spent swimming that Saturday in Cabarete, I strongly suspect there are some things that I don't know that I don't know about Laser sailing. How would I know? Is it possible to write a post about what I don't know that I don't know? What would Donald do?
Having said all that, maybe I will write a few posts on this topic discussing what I know that I don't know that I don't know... whatever. Perhaps some kind reader will fill in the gaps in my knowledge. You never know.
Now, of course, I have no problem with sharing such information with other Laser sailors. But my grasp of how to keep a Laser upright in strong winds and big waves is so shaky that I am reminded of Donald Rumsfeld's famous quote ...
There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know we don't know.
I do have some things that I know that I know on this topic. For example I do know that you have to release the vang before rounding the windward mark. I could write about those things but you can find them in almost any book on Laser sailing. Might not be all that interesting or informative.
Then there are some things that I know that I don't know. Some of these are things on which I have read or heard conflicting advice from different sailors. And I may have tried some of their advice and still I know that I don't know which way is the best option. (An example would be how far to release the vang when sailing downwind.) That would make for a very confusing post but it might be an entertaining ramble.
Finally, given the amount of time that I spent swimming that Saturday in Cabarete, I strongly suspect there are some things that I don't know that I don't know about Laser sailing. How would I know? Is it possible to write a post about what I don't know that I don't know? What would Donald do?
Having said all that, maybe I will write a few posts on this topic discussing what I know that I don't know that I don't know... whatever. Perhaps some kind reader will fill in the gaps in my knowledge. You never know.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Pushing the Limits
Scuttleblog raises an interesting issue in a post about Paige Railey entitled Bad Habits. For those of you who have been living under a stone for the last few months, Paige has recently won honors as ISAF Female World Sailor of the Year and US Sailing Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year, and is one of the two leading contenders for the US spot in the Laser Radial class at the next Olympics. On the other hand she has been disqualified from two recent major Laser Radial championships for illegal use of kinetics. In each case she was flagged three times by the umpires for violating Rule 42.
Read what Scuttleblog has to say, but also go to Jobson Sailing and click on Rolex Laser Radial Moment under Online Video Reports. There are some aerial shots of Paige sailing and an interview about this issue with her. Sounding remarkably composed for someone just bounced from a major regatta she calmly explains that she was trying some new things that were "not good" for the judges.
What do you make of this? Everyone accepts that to perform at the highest level in the Laser and Radial classes you have to push the limits of what is acceptable in using kinetics to propel the boat. Does Paige not know the limits? Does she not know how to adjust her game after the first two flags in a regatta? Is this, as Scuttleblog implies, a "bad habit" of hers?
Or is she actually playing an ultra-smart game by trying out different techniques prior to the Olympic Trials and the Olympic Games in order to assess what the limits of acceptable kinetics are and what the judges will call? As in many aspects of sailing -- and life -- do we need to cross the line before we know exactly where the line is?
Read what Scuttleblog has to say, but also go to Jobson Sailing and click on Rolex Laser Radial Moment under Online Video Reports. There are some aerial shots of Paige sailing and an interview about this issue with her. Sounding remarkably composed for someone just bounced from a major regatta she calmly explains that she was trying some new things that were "not good" for the judges.
What do you make of this? Everyone accepts that to perform at the highest level in the Laser and Radial classes you have to push the limits of what is acceptable in using kinetics to propel the boat. Does Paige not know the limits? Does she not know how to adjust her game after the first two flags in a regatta? Is this, as Scuttleblog implies, a "bad habit" of hers?
Or is she actually playing an ultra-smart game by trying out different techniques prior to the Olympic Trials and the Olympic Games in order to assess what the limits of acceptable kinetics are and what the judges will call? As in many aspects of sailing -- and life -- do we need to cross the line before we know exactly where the line is?
Monday, January 29, 2007
Fifteen Seconds
"Congratulations Tillerman! You're beating a world champion."
What? Am I at the right blog? Is this Tillerman, perennial loser, capsizer, Laser breaker, and all-round crap sailor?
Yes dear reader, you are at the right place. Allow me to explain.
"Congratulations Tillerman! You're beating a world champion." OK, that wasn't exactly what the coach said to me as I rounded the windward mark in a practice race at the pre-regatta clinic in Cabarete a couple of weeks ago. No, he didn't say "Tillerman". He used my real name. But he did say the bit about beating a world champion and he was right.
What? No way! This is Tillerman's blog, right?
Yup. It happened like this. On the last day of the clinic the winds were somewhat lighter and the water somewhat flatter than they had been earlier in the week. Almost like the lake sailing with which I am all to familiar. We were mainly doing starting drills and practice races, and a couple of other sailors who hadn't attended the clinic (but were entered in the regatta) joined us for the drills. Most prominently some fit-looking young guy with the letters POR on his sail.
The drill was for even sail numbers to start in the right-hand end of the line and odd sail numbers to start nearer the pin. I cruised down the line looking for a gap between two even-numbered boats luffing on the line, found one, reached in to it, sheeted in and crossed the line at full speed as the start whistle went. A perfect starboard tack shark attack start just like John Kolius taught us.
Most of the fleet tacked out to the right of the course but I couldn't see why as I had felt all afternoon that there was more wind on the left. There was clearly some reason why all the smart money was betting right but sometimes God rewards ignorance and stupidity. I was right. Left was right and right was wrong. So as I headed in to the windward mark just shy of the port tack layline, I could see that I would easily cross the guys on the starboard tack layline with that POR guy in the lead.
So I tacked comfortably ahead of him and that's when the coach told me that I was beating a world champion. POR was Gustavo Lima from Portugal, the 2003 Laser World Champion.
But as I did trash myself in a ritual round of self-flagellation on Friday, please allow me to pat myself on the back with some more self-congratulation today. I was not only leading the 2003 Laser World Champion, but close behind him was the 2005 Laser US Youth Champion. Not to mention further back in the fleet the 1975 Laser European champion and subsequent winner of ten Laser Masters World Championships; and two other guys with at least five more Laser Masters World Championships between them.
Not too shabby. As Andy Warhol said, we all have our fifteen minutes of fame. Or in my case about fifteen seconds of minor glory. Gustavo worked his way inside me on the run and rounded the leeward mark ahead of me. But man it felt good while it lasted. And I still crossed the finish line ahead of the holders of those fifteen other world championships.
Wow. My arm's aching. Must be all that patting myself on the back. So let me end by congratulating Gustavo Lima for winning the Laser gold medal at the Miami Olympic Classes Regatta last week against one of the toughest fleets ever to race in North America including the current World Champion Michael Blackburn.
Cabarete rocks. Tune up in DR and win the OCR!
What? Am I at the right blog? Is this Tillerman, perennial loser, capsizer, Laser breaker, and all-round crap sailor?
Yes dear reader, you are at the right place. Allow me to explain.
"Congratulations Tillerman! You're beating a world champion." OK, that wasn't exactly what the coach said to me as I rounded the windward mark in a practice race at the pre-regatta clinic in Cabarete a couple of weeks ago. No, he didn't say "Tillerman". He used my real name. But he did say the bit about beating a world champion and he was right.
What? No way! This is Tillerman's blog, right?
Yup. It happened like this. On the last day of the clinic the winds were somewhat lighter and the water somewhat flatter than they had been earlier in the week. Almost like the lake sailing with which I am all to familiar. We were mainly doing starting drills and practice races, and a couple of other sailors who hadn't attended the clinic (but were entered in the regatta) joined us for the drills. Most prominently some fit-looking young guy with the letters POR on his sail.
The drill was for even sail numbers to start in the right-hand end of the line and odd sail numbers to start nearer the pin. I cruised down the line looking for a gap between two even-numbered boats luffing on the line, found one, reached in to it, sheeted in and crossed the line at full speed as the start whistle went. A perfect starboard tack shark attack start just like John Kolius taught us.
Most of the fleet tacked out to the right of the course but I couldn't see why as I had felt all afternoon that there was more wind on the left. There was clearly some reason why all the smart money was betting right but sometimes God rewards ignorance and stupidity. I was right. Left was right and right was wrong. So as I headed in to the windward mark just shy of the port tack layline, I could see that I would easily cross the guys on the starboard tack layline with that POR guy in the lead.
So I tacked comfortably ahead of him and that's when the coach told me that I was beating a world champion. POR was Gustavo Lima from Portugal, the 2003 Laser World Champion.
But as I did trash myself in a ritual round of self-flagellation on Friday, please allow me to pat myself on the back with some more self-congratulation today. I was not only leading the 2003 Laser World Champion, but close behind him was the 2005 Laser US Youth Champion. Not to mention further back in the fleet the 1975 Laser European champion and subsequent winner of ten Laser Masters World Championships; and two other guys with at least five more Laser Masters World Championships between them.
Not too shabby. As Andy Warhol said, we all have our fifteen minutes of fame. Or in my case about fifteen seconds of minor glory. Gustavo worked his way inside me on the run and rounded the leeward mark ahead of me. But man it felt good while it lasted. And I still crossed the finish line ahead of the holders of those fifteen other world championships.
Wow. My arm's aching. Must be all that patting myself on the back. So let me end by congratulating Gustavo Lima for winning the Laser gold medal at the Miami Olympic Classes Regatta last week against one of the toughest fleets ever to race in North America including the current World Champion Michael Blackburn.
Cabarete rocks. Tune up in DR and win the OCR!
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