Positioning

At the Kurt Taulbee Sailfit Laser Clinic back in March I learned of many ways in which I need to improve my racing skills. Or to be more accurate, I confirmed that there are many aspects of my game at which I totally suck... and one or two of them were areas where I didn't even know I sucked before. This is progress. I think.

Anyway, one of the areas where I realized I need to improve is what you might call tactical positioning: how to position yourself relative to the rest of the fleet or your closest competition, especially on a beat, to maximize the potential to gain on the opposition. I'm not talking about strategic issues like which side of the course to favor or whether to tack on a shift or not; this "positioning" issue is all about where to place your boat relative to the other boats in the race.

Of course it's relatively easy if you're in the lead, right? Cover your main opposition. Stay between them and the mark. But what if you're not in the lead? What if you're in a pack of boats heading up the beat together, where do you place yourself relative to the others?

It dawned on me that this is a blank spot for me when Kurt debriefed me after the last practice race on Day 1. The winds were light and patchy and we were racing to a windward mark close in by the shore. Port tack was more directly towards the shore so I figured you wouldn't want to sail too long on port because you would be heading into iffier winds close to shore. As luck would have it, I muffed the start and tacked on to port to clear my air as the rest of the fleet went left. About halfway to the layline, I sailed into a header so I tacked and looked like I would cross the fleet. Woo hoo.

I had this idea in my head that I wanted to stay away from the shore so I was feeling fat, dumb and happy that I was now sailing more or less parallel to the shore on a lifted tack and crossing the fleet. After a while it seemed that maybe I wouldn't cross all the other boats so I ducked a few transoms in the hope of better wind the way I was going.

Wrong choice. I was beaten easily by all the boats I ducked.

Afterwards Kurt told me, "You know you could still have won that race if you had tacked to leeward and ahead of that pack instead of ducking them."

"Huh?"

"Yeah. That way you would be perfectly positioned for the next shift."

"Duh."

And I made several other similar but different tactical mistakes in the rest of the clinic that Kurt was happy to point out to me.

Now it's not that I can't see the logic of what Kurt was saying once he explained it to me after the race. It's just that I'm not in the habit of thinking that way when I'm in the middle of a race. Maybe it's all the small lake sailing I've done where it's pretty much all about finding the pressure or a big shift. Whatever the reason, this art of tactical positioning is definitely a weakness in my game.

So what to do about it? I'd appreciate your suggestions...

Should I

1. Play a lot of Sailx the online tactical simulator?
   
   
2. Re-read Stuart Walker's book on Positioning and write a gazillion blog posts here attempting to translate his turgid prose into understandable English and explaining in simple terms how he won that race in 1971 against Melges and Curtis and Perry and the like through his superior brainpower and tactical brilliance?
   
   
3. Don't overthink it dude. Just remember, "Cross 'em if you can" and "Don't let 'em cross you" and you will be right 99% of the time.
   
   
4. All of the above?
   
   
5. None of the above?

Answers please...

Tillerman's Top Ten Blogs of 2009

It's been a while since I published a Top Ten Sailing Blogs list. So here is my definitive 2009 list of the sailing and other boating blogs without which I could not live...

1. EVK4 SuperBlog One of my first favorite sailing blogs and still up there. Has won more Tilley awards than any other blog ever. Check out also SF Sailing Examiner for more of Edward's sideways looks at sailing San Francisco Bay.
   
2. frogma Kayaking, a bit of sailing, a bit of gardening, and slices of life in New York City. Strangely addictive.
   
   
3. Messing About in Sailboats The perfect example for the rest of us of what a sailing blog should be.
   
4. Apparent Wind Words of wisdom from a coach who also happens to sail a Laser.
   
5. Never Sea Land Best blog by a guy with fantasies about women with no legs.
6. Captain JP's log Sailing, canoeing, life by the Thames, a bit of everything.
7. Bruce Smith's Caribbean Voyage Best blog about life in the islands.
   
8. Look to Windward Best Racing Rules blog in the entire universe.
   
   
9. Peconic Puffin Crazy windsurfer, I mean, even crazier than me.
   
   
10. The Horse's Mouth Best blog about fishing on Fridays.
    

Bonus luxury item (definitely not a blog): Sailing Anarchy

Exploring the Land Down Under

Ohmigod (as the young folk say). I finally got it.

I don't know much about ocean racing and cruising. My kind of sailing is the other end of the sport. I race a 14ft fiberglass slab round some buoys for a few hours, have a couple of beers afterwards with my mates, and then home for a hot shower and a delicious dinner with the beautiful Tillerwoman, and so to bed.

No, I don't know much about long ocean voyages, but how did I overlook this?

It dawned on me while I was researching what to write about Robin Knox-Johnston for the upcoming blog extravaganza of April 22 - Robin Knox-Johnston Day on the Web, April 22 being the 40th anniversary of the day when RKJ became the first human being in the history of the world to sail single-handed and non-stop around the world. I came across this account of an appearance by RKJ on the David Frost show in 1970.

On the David Frost television talk show one night early in 1970, there appeared as one of the guests a young bearded man of remarkable poise, engaging of personality, with a well-modulated British accent of the kind that seems to fascinate Americans. Unlike many of the tortured, self-righteous, bearded young dissidents of the period who populated this production, this one seemed almost disgustingly "normal" in political views and reaction to social stimuli. In fact, Mr. Frost had some difficulty keeping his guest's mind off one of the other guests a beautiful and voluptuous movie starlet.

What had he missed most, Frost asked, on his 313-day nonstop solo voyage around the world in Suhaili?

The young man leered at the other guest and replied: "What do
you think?"

Duh. Of course.

When you embark on one of these long ocean voyages you can take all the food you need; I assume you either take water or collect rain along the way; I guess you can stash a few bottles of your favorite tipple; and you can take some books to read and your favorite music. As long as you can cope with the occasional dismasting and icebergs and 40 foot waves, it's a breeze.

But no umm "female companionship" for 313 days? Geeze. That's real hardship. I'm sure Sir Robin did miss it. What are you supposed to do?

No, don't tell me.

Reid Stowe thought he had the solution when he set sail in the schooner Anne on April 21, 2007 with the intention of staying at sea without outside support for 1000 days. The 55-year-old Stowe took 25-year-old Soanya Ahmad with him as "first mate" (ho ho ho) on the voyage. Problem solved.

However Mr Stowe and Ms Ahmad seem to have overlooked a few critical issues in their ambitious plan...

1. Birth control
2. The average length of human gestation is 260 days (less than 1000 days)
3. Morning sickness + sea sickness = not fun

So, after 306 days, Reid had to dump Soanya in Australia and carry on alone. Soanya subsequently gave birth to the couple's son in New York City on day 452.

Oh well. Nice try dude.

Then it dawned on me. I had been wondering why the peregrination known as the Volvo Ocean Race has so many "stopovers". This isn't so much a round the world race as a frolic from port to port to port to port to port.... 11 ports in all in fact. Cape Town. Singapore. Rio. Stockholm. etc. etc.

Then I realized. It's all about the nooky. It seems that these Volvo Ocean Racing dudes have pretty much every creature comfort on board except the one of which Sir Robin spoke. These poor sailors sometimes have to spend over 40 continuous days at sea without any you-know-what. Winston Churchill is famously supposed to have said that the only traditions of the Royal Navy are "rum, sodomy and the lash." But I suspect that the culture aboard a Volvo Open 70 is somewhat different from the good old days of the Royal Navy.

Isn't it obvious? These red-blooded young sea dogs need their "stopovers" for a bit of hokey-pokey in every port. I would.

So where are these little stud muffins headed next? Let's see.

OMG (as the young folk say). They are due to arrive in Boston in a couple of weeks.

So, all you good Catholic mothers and fathers of New England, watch out. The Volvo sailors are coming. Lock up your daughters... now. You have been warned.

Monty Python's Fish Tank

Thanks to harrymvt for drawing my attention to another classic piece of YouTube fishy humor. I've a feeling that the Fish on Fridays series may be making a comeback on this blog.

Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu!

Wouldn't That Be The Life?

April 22 - Robin Knox Johnston Day?

So my blogging friend Adam Turinas (who messes about in a boat called Messing About and writes about it in a blog called Messing About in Messing About or if he doesn't he should) wants to Make April 22nd Robin Knox-Johnston Day on the Web.

Hmmm. I'm not sure about this. I can see good arguments for and against this proposition.

Against

1. April 22 is already taken. It's Lenin's birthday. OK. OK. So things didn't work out in the long run exactly how he had hoped, but he certainly had a major impact on 20th century history.
   
   
2. April 22 is also Robert Oppenheimer's birthday. We're still living with the aftermath of Dr. Oppenheimer's creation. It will be many decades, if ever, before the human race can sleep easy again.
   
   
3. Oh, and by the way, April 22 is Earth Day. Geeze Adam what were you thinking? As the years go by, the importance of appreciation for the earth's environment will only increase. Why divert attention from Earth Day with some other festival on the same day?
   
   
4. Finally, April 22 is Glenn Campbell's birthday. Like a rhinestone cowboy riding out on a horse in a star-spangled rodeo... Don't you just get goose bumps when you hear the line "There'll be a load of compromisin', on the road to my horizon"? What a brilliant rhyme! I rest my case.

For

1. Robin Knox-Johnston was the only finisher, and so the winner, of the 1968/69 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, becoming the first man to circumnavigate the globe non-stop and single-handed on 22 April 1969. Pretty impressive dude.
   
   
2. He donated his prize money as Golden Globe winner to the family of Donald Crowhurst, who committed suicide during the race. What a guy!
   
   
3. He conceived the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, an event which gives paying amateur crew members the chance to sail around the world.
   
   
4. He has one of those cool double-barreled English surnames that always gives blokes like me with only one name an inferiority complex.
   
   
5. He has a very nautical looking beard.
   
   
6. Come on guys, look at #1 again. He was the first. The first human being in the history of the world to sail single-handed non-stop around the world. Nobody had ever done it before. Nobody even knew if it was possible. Every other guy who tried that year either broke down, gave up, went crazy, or committed suicide. This is right up there with the achievements of Columbus (who was beaten by the Vikings anyway) and Edmund Hillary (who may or may not have stepped on the summit of Everest before Tenzing Norgay, or even Mallory and Irving 29 years earlier.)

OK Adam. I give up. You are right. Let's Make April 22nd Robin Knox-Johnston Day on the Web

18 Reasons Why I Will Never Sail in the Volvo Ocean Race

Sailing is fun. I do it for fun anyway. It's meant to be fun. Isn't it?

OK, occasionally it's not fun. Such as the times when I do something stupid and hurt myself... like the time I almost chopped my finger off.

But the dudes racing in something called the Volvo Ocean Race have taken "doing it for fun" to a whole new level. According to this medical update from the race website, the chappies sailing in this extravaganza are having an extraordinary number of cases of "injured while having fun". Here is just a sample of the fun they have had so far...

1. Kettle burn
2. Kidney infection
3. Two broken ribs
4. Nine mouth ulcers
5. Mashed thumbnail
6. Prolapsed disc in back
7. Head slammed by boom
   
8. Three cases of seasickness
9. Torn medial meniscus in knee
10. Mouth ulcer caused by a bitten lip
11. Grotesquely mangled and bloodied index finger
12. Fifty nine cases of infected skin and sores
13. Torn anterior cruciate ligament
14. Seven head or face injuries
    
15. Five fungal infections
    
16. Torn buttock muscle
17. Knee infection
    
18. Haemorrhoids

Way too much fun for me.

I will never do the Volvo Ocean Race. I may have #11 but I don't want #18 thanks very much.

Until the next time... have fun!

The Tillerman

The Tillerman is enthusiastically fruity, a seductive blend whose texture is smooth, juicy and long.


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Just Ask Tillerman

And so the learned judges of New York State, after an epic legal battle lasting a couple of years, have finally decided that "CNEV" is not a real yacht club and so can NOT be the Challenger of Record for the next America's Cup.

Why didn't they just ask Tillerman? You heard it here first ... in October 2007. And I decided the case based on overwhelming evidence that was not even considered by the eminent justices. Comic!

Bring on the cat fight.