Clouds

How do we value ourselves? Some folk take pride in how well they have managed their investments or in the supposed value of their houses or in how far they have risen up the ladder in their careers. Students (and parents of students) compare their grades or their test scores.

Athletes are obsessive about numbers. Runners talk about their personal best at their favorite distance. Baseball players compare minute differences in batting averages or earned run averages. Golf players brag about their handicaps.

Elite sailors can look at their ISAF rankings, or their performances in the last big regatta, or how many world championships or Olympic medals they have won.

Numbers, numbers, numbers. We all want to keep score.

Even we puny winter-time Tacticat sailors like to see our names up there in the Top Ten. Someone even left a note on their blog today pointing out how well I was doing at that silly sailing game. My little chest puffed with pride.

This afternoon Tacticat had an announcement...

We are VERY sorry to announce that due to a database corruption and our bad habit to forget to backup, ALL RESULTS OF LAST 15 DAYS ARE LOST. The responsible will suffer punishment and humiliation from the rest of Tacticat team.

We all lost our rankings. Our numbers are gone. Our achievements are deleted.

How foolish we were to take pride in our scores, grades, rankings...

It's a reminder of what really matters in life. Health. Family. And the time to enjoy looking at the clouds.

Update: Thanks to soulsailor for the link to the Cloud Appreciation Society.

Off Track

Fellow Laser sailor and blogger ab wrote a post 365 Days last week in which he takes stock about whether he is on track to achieve his goals for the Laser World Championships in Australia in one year's time. His answer is no. Not enough sailing. Not getting to the gym or out on the bike.

I know how he feels. In September last year I set myself a goal for the Laser Masters Worlds in Spain in September this year but by November I was already asking myself in Commitment Questions about why it seems so much easier to stick to my marathon training program than to a program for training to become a better sailor.

Like ab I too feel than I'm not on track with what I need to do to achieve my sailing goals. There are positives for sure. I had some excellent weeks of practice in Menorca and Cabarete with some high quality input from coaches on what I need to improve. On the other hand I haven't done as much sailing at home as I had hoped in the last few months. Nor have I worked much on my fitness other than cardio and endurance work through running.

However I am still on track with my training for the London Marathon in April. Completed the 23 mile run on Saturday with nothing worse than the normal expected tiredness. Only two more long runs to do. I really feel I'm going to make it.

Outside there is snow on the ground and the lake is still mostly frozen. The wind chill today is below zero Fahrenheit. The good news is that the Laser sailing season at my frostbiting club starts two weeks on Sunday. Can't wait.

Go Figure

Today's competition: what is that picture? Free instructions on how to make a rose out of duct tape to the winner.

One of the beauties of the Interwebs is that you can find an interesting article from an area of your interest that has a link to a related topic that branches off to another fascinating theme that somehow connects to a totally different subject in which you are also interested. That's how I found that photo.

Clue: The topics along the trail to that picture included a discussion on science writing and a website of someone interested in hyperbolic geometry.

Clear Air

So if all the boats in Tacticat are sailing at the same speed, why is that some of them seem to pull ahead in the race and others fall behind?

It's just like real estate. The answer is location, location, location. Or as Stuart Walker would say Positioning: The Logic if Sailboat Racing.

I already wrote a post about one way to go faster: find the stronger wind. Another vital key to boatspeed and racing success in Tacticat is to sail in clear air. Don't get caught in the wind shadow of another boat. Just like real sailboat racing again.

It's actually easier in Tacticat than it is in real life to know if you're in another boat's wind shadow. Hit the S key and you will see the shadows cast by every boat. And if you hit the E key you will see a text display of various aspects of boat performance. The percentage shown against the word "Free" will be 100% when you are sailing in clear air and less if you are in dirty air or a wind shadow.

So when should you check if you are in clear air? Basically any time you are near other boats. Upwind and downwind. When you tack or gybe. When boats tack or gybe on your wind. Working upwind you want a lane where you will have clear air. Downwind you don't want another boat on your wind. Immediately after the start you need clear air. After you have rounded a mark you want clear air. Think about it. Plan ahead. What will you do if that boat tacks on your wind? Where should you tack to approach the mark in clear air?

To me this is one of the most valuable teaching aspects of Tacticat. It is constantly letting you know how to position yourself with respect to other boats to keep your wind clear. After a while playing it you will absorb the lessons and positioning will become second nature. Do you have a lane which enables you to tack on every shift and still be in clear air? Should you tack before or after that boat near to you? It will all become natural the more you play.

And then it will become even more interesting because you will move on from playing a defensive game and start to become aggressive about using your wind shadow to slow down other boats.

Be mean. Be nasty. It's fun.

And just to reinforce my message that looking for clear air in the silly game of Tacticat will serve you well when you play the equally silly game of real life sailboat racing, here's an article from Sailing World about Top of the Beat Tactics.

Location, location, location. Be a "vulture".

Happy Valentine's Day

Regular readers of this blog will know that the author has a serious duct tape fetish. At various times I have promised instructions on how to make a duct tape cup-holder for your yacht. Today I go one better. If you have forgotten to buy your beloved a romantic gift for Valentine's Day, here are full instructions (thanks to the Duct Tape Guys) on how to make the offering she will remember for ever, a duct tape rose.


Cut several strips of duct tape – about 2 inches each.

Sticky side up, fold one edge over itself, leaving some stickiness on the side and bottom.

Take the parallel edge and fold it over, leaving only stickiness on the bottom of the strip. (Photo 1)

Roll this across tightly; this is your center. (Photo 2)

Repeating steps 2-3 with strips of duct tape, loosely bind the strips around the center (these are your petals). Continue until you’ve reached the desired size.
For the stem, take a thin piece of floral stem wire, and a large strip of duct tape (the duct tape should be about a 1/2” shorter than the wire). Place the wire on the strip (parallel) and roll the wire across, wrapping the tape tightly around. (Photo 3)

Insert the end with the 1/2” of wire (the end that doesn’t have tape on it) into the rose. Make a petal (steps 2-3) and secure the stem to the rose. (Photo 4 - Ta-da!)

Starboard Tack Danger

My last Tacticat Tip was about the dangers of approaching a crowded windward mark on the port tack layline.

So here's the bad news kiddies: even if you approach the mark on starboard tack you can still screw it up and lose many places in the race. The easiest way I find to achieve this disgrace is when I approach the mark just shy of the layline with boats to windward of me or on my windward hip so I can't tack twice to clear the mark. So I try and shoot the mark and end up hitting it and maybe fouling a windward boat too. I lose way, stop altogether, start drifting backwards as other boats start piling into the traffic jam at the mark that I created. By the time the mess clears the rest of the fleet is sailing down the run.

So why would you approach the mark shy of the layline Tillerman? You may well ask. Sometimes it's because when I approach the parade of boats on the starboard tack layline I am tempted to tack below them rather than find a gap to sail through. Or maybe when I tacked on to starboard tack I was above the layline but then there was a header. It's easy to do, believe me. Done it many times in Tacticat.

So learn from my mistakes. Think ahead. Is the wind oscillating? Are you likely to experience a header before reaching the mark? Also, try and find a slot in the starboard tack parade where you have freedom to tack out again if the worst happens. Easy to say, harder to do.

And just to reinforce the point that it's not only crap Tacticat sailors like me that can make this mistake, here's another post from CampbellSailing.com where Andrew owns up to a similar error in real world sailing.

Do other Tacticat sailors have this problem? Do you have any other tips on how to avoid it?

Barry Dobson Interview

Last Friday I was surprised to get a call from the renowned sailing broadcaster and writer Barry Dobson who wanted to interview me. Here is the full text of the interview (which probably won't be appearing in Sailing World any time soon).



BD: Congratulations Tillerman on your second place finish in the Altea Cup.

Tillerman: Thanks very much Barry. There was some tough international competition and I was lucky to be able to string together some consistent results.

What was your strategy for the regatta, Tillerman?

Well Barry, I figured that with a large fleet and a short course it would make sense to start at the starboard end of the line and stay to the right of the fleet. I didn't want to get trapped on the left and end up coming to a crowded first mark on the port tack layline. Also with no throwouts in a three race regatta it would be important to sail clean races and stay out of trouble. So I started near the right-hand end of the line, tacked out immediately for clear air, and then headed for the side of the course with better pressure.

Well it certainly seemed to work for you. What about your equipment?

Glad you asked Barry. I've been very pleased with my decision to use the Dell loft in Austin. I think the wider cut of the Inspiron 6000 series is a definite plus downwind and the crisp keyboard action helps in the tacks and gybes. All my lines are by Cablevision, specifically the Optimum Online range. Their reliability is excellent. You can't afford to have a line breakage in mid-race.

Any special preparation for the regatta, Tillerman?

Oh yes Barry. I always give my screen a polish with isopropyl alcohol before an important race. You know what they say: a clean screen is a fast screen. And I trained hard in the days leading up to the regatta. A lot of the credit must go to my training partners, Guest_23 and Guest _47. Those guys are awesome.

What was the highlight of the regatta for you, Tillerman?

No question Barry, it was the end of the first beat of the second race when I was approaching the windward mark in second place right behind my sailing hero, Litoralis.

Why is he your hero?

Barry, need you ask? Lito was the brains behind the Tacticat Laser!!! That puts him right up there with Bruce Kirby and Julian Bethwaite in my book. And as a Tacticat sailor he is in a class by himself. Let me give you an example. We were sailing together in a practice race a couple of days before the Altea Cup. We were luffing below the line just before the start and he told me to "Go". Well, when a sailing superstar like Lito says go, I go. I accelerated to the line, and it was amazing, he had timed it just right so that I was OCS and he had a perfect start. What an evil genius! I try and emulate his style of aggressive sailing but I think you just have to be born with a mean streak like that.

Who are the other sailors you admire?

Well, windvane of course for winning the regatta. And trencher, always up there in the rankings. And dwsc:Foiler, he has amazing downwind speed. Oh, and pudge.... how many other sailors' names have become verbs as in, "I was pudged at the start"?

Why are British sailors doing so well in Tacticat?

It's all the support we get from the National Lottery, innit.

So how much funding have you received from the lottery, Tillerman?

Sorry mate, that's a state secret. If I told you, I'd have to kill you.

Thanks for the interview Tillerman.

You're welcome Barry.

Ethics

For today's Speedlinking Saturday post, check out the debate that has been rumbling on in the past few days about Rule 42, cheating, ethics, Laser sailing kinetics techniques, pushing the line... all triggered by what happened to Paige Railey at the Miami OCR.

We touched on this topic here in Pushing the Limits and the comments to that post covered a broad spectrum of reaction.

Paul Henderson, former ISAF President, weighed in on the issue on Sailing Anarchy in an interview with the headline Hendo on Cheating.

This triggered a lengthy debate in the Sailing Anarchy forums that expressed about every possible view it would be possible to have on the subject from one extreme to another.

But perhaps the most reasoned discussion on the matter came in a second post by Craig Leweck on Scuttleblog titled Is it a question of ethics?

I'm still confused about my own reaction to Rule 42 violations. It annoys the hell out of me when I see other sailors breaking the rule. But I still can't see logically why 3 yellow flags at a regatta is somehow more morally reprehensible than 3 OCS scores.

Beware the Port Tack Layline

Tillerman's Tacticat Tip #4 is Beware the Port Tack Layline.

Here's the scenario. Before the start in Tacticat it looks like the wind is stronger on the left side of the course. You read Tillerman's Tacticat Tip #2 Watch the Wind and so you decide to start near the pin end of the line. You get a good start but boats to the left and right of you get slightly better ones. As you head out to the left side of the course you never extend far enough ahead of the boats to windward of you to be able to tack and cross them safely.

Now you're starting to approach the port tack layline and still you can't tack. Maybe you start sending messages to that boat on your hip...

"Tack."

"Tack now!!!!"

Eventually he gets the message. He and the six boats to windward of him flop over on to port, but by now you are on the layline, or perhaps even above it. Worse, it turns out that there was some decent pressure on the right too and some of the boats that went right are going to cross you. There are already fifteen boats lined up on the starboard tack layline and you can't see any gaps in the line.

Now you're approaching the mark.You can't tack inside the starboard tackers; they are too close to the mark. What are you going to do? Bear off and duck a dozen or more boats? Sheet out and wait? There are boats ahead of you on starboard. There are boats to leeward of you. There's nowhere to go. You're screwed.

So how do you deal with this situation and get around the mark cleanly and still be up with the leaders? Beats me. Basically you can't get there from here. I guess you should have anticipated the problem earlier and maybe slowed down earlier so you could tack on to port, duck some transoms and get into the starboard tack parade before all the gaps filled up.

If it makes you feel any better this happens to top sailors too. Check out this Monday Morning Tactician tale from CampbellSailing.com. Andrew thought he had an opportunity to round the mark with the leaders but ran into extra complications caused when another port tacker stole a late inside overlap.

Diagram stolen shamelessly from CampbellSailing.com.

Stay out of Trouble

Tillerman's Tacticat Tip #3 is Stay out of Trouble.

What do I mean? Well, just go to Tacticat and enter a "field" where 20 or more boats are racing. Sit back and watch a couple of races. What will you see?

Even before the start, boats will be crashing into each other. Those boats with red dots on them are the ones that Tacticat decided were at fault in the collisions and they will be penalized by being forced to sail more slowly at the start.

Then there is that crowd of boats luffing at the right end of the line, hitting each other and the buoy. More boats trying to start at that end are smashing into the back of the boats at the buoy in a forlorn attempt to sail through them.

There goes the start signal. Off they go.

Now boats are trying to tack from port to starboard and fouling other boats. There's a boat on port trying to cross a starboard tacker and failing. There's a clump of three or four boats all stuck together and going nowhere.

Look, now the leaders are lined up on the starboard tack layline to the windward mark. Port tackers are trying to cross that line of starboard tack boats and fouling them.

Oops. Now a boat is stuck on the windward mark and other boats are piling into her.

There go the leaders off down the run. The best sailors are planing. Here come the six leading boats on a screaming reach approaching the gate, some on starboard, some on port. Ouch. I daren't look. Total mayhem.

You get the picture. Half the competitors (at least) are putting themselves out of contention through collisions with other boats, trying to sail through other boats, hitting marks, etc. etc.

So the best thing you can do when you want to do well in a Tacticat race is just... stay out of trouble. Watch out for starboard tackers. Look out for packs of boats stuck in a raft on a buoy ahead of you and sail round them. Even if you have the right of way you can't sail through or over other boats and you will lose distance. Stay sharp. Keep your eyes open. Sail safe.

Does this bear any relation to real sailboat racing? Sure. Just ask this young man.


Thomas Barrows took a first place finish in the recent Miami Olympic Classes Regatta but then disaster struck when an oncoming boat at full speed T-boned him and put a hole in the side of his Laser the size of a small water-melon. The photo shows the subsequent repair in progress. It's amazing what you can do with duct tape.

Update: I didn't know when I first wrote this post that the coach repairing the boat is Rulo from the Laser Training Center in Cabarete. Rulo is an amazing coach and was hired by five sailors to aid them at the OCR, including Thomas. With all due respect to duct tape one also needs the brains and imagination on how to apply it. Also, the details of how to get the Laser on to the RIB for the repair does not come with the duct tape roll instructions manual.

Thanks to Sailing Anarchy for the story and photo from the OCR.