Sunday, April 07, 2013

I Have Stumbled on the Answer

I haven't sailed for a week or so.

I haven't even blogged about sailing for a week.

But I have been thinking about sailing.



I have been thinking that one reason that I suck at racing is that I don't concentrate on the right things when I'm racing.



Some of the things I should be thinking about when I am racing...
  • Which side of the course is favored?
  • What is the current doing?
  • Am I on a lift or a header?
  • What is the wind doing?
  • Where is the next gust?



Some of things I am actually thinking about when I am racing..
  • Do I need to adjust my sail controls?
  • Can I cross this starboard tacker?
  • What are my telltales doing?
  • Why am I underpowered?
  • Why am I overpowered?


In other words, I am spending way too much time with my head in the boat and worrying about how to sail the boat faster and dealing with the boats in my immediate vicinity, and too little time thinking about the big picture of how to get to the windward mark in the lead. (Ha ha! Well, at least to get to the windward mark in the top half of the fleet.)


It has become clear to me that I have penetrated to the very core of things and I have stumbled on the answer...



Leonard Cohen has a very similar revelation about 7 minutes into this video...






Am I overthinking this?


11 comments:

bonnie said...

Marvelous answer.

George A said...

Doo dum dum dum de doo dum dum. Works for me. Great youtube share. Thanks!

Tillerman said...

Thanks George. Been an LC fan for a long time. He just seems to get better with age. Like me. Ha ha!

O Docker said...


Doo, or doo dum. There is no try.

Baydog said...

Anthony Bourdain.

And who is Adam Cohen? And why would I want his album "Like a Man'?
adamcohen.com

Anonymous said...

I said to Robert Scheidt: how lonely does it get?
Robert Scheidt hasn't answered me yet
But I hear him coughing
All night long
A hundred floors above me
In the Tower of Vang

Pandabonium said...

That's so enlightening. You know, I stumble upon most of my answers as well. I need to cut back on the wine....

Anonymous said...

Tillerman,
Very similar thoughts go through my head...while looking at a whole lot of transoms.
Thanks for putting your answers in perspective.
I tell myself to just keep trying and good things will happen

Tillerman said...

I'm glad I'm not the only one!

I have a couple of other posts on what we can do about this trying to form themselves in my head. Watch this space.

Anonymous said...

Tillerman,
I look forward to reading your blog everyday.
Please keep writing..and sailing
Thanks

Manassas said...

But the is nothing like spring in the Dagobah system. I think Leonard Cohen opened for Hermie and the Hermits there.

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