Sailing Goals and On-Water Tasks
January 2005 (updated May 2005)

This is scan of my sailing goals list since I started sailing Moths in January 2001. I didn't set dates on any of these, but Andrew McDougall did set myself five years to win a World Championship in 2002. Anyway, you can see how I began with very basic goals like finishing a race without tipping over and even added some more in as I went along. Yes, I was a hack just like every other mothie that starts out, in fact I considered myself to be a lot slower to pick up the Moth compared to some others today.

I think this is really important for anyone wanting to improve on their sailing as someone might have a goal to win a worlds or a Nationals, but may just be too much of a task without having some intermediate and short term goals to achieve first. Writing them on a list and putting it in your bedroom means that you can keep looking at it to remind you of how much you have achieved. Crossing each one off the list or writing a date next to it is best part though.

However I think the real drive in suceeding in sport doesn't necessarily come from goals like this, it comes from really enjoying what you are doing.

Recently we had a discussion at the VIS with some elite athletes and coaches where we talked about what motivates us to suceed. What was common that we had goals to do win some event or make some team or do a PB, but when we got on field/course, all that disappears as we are so immersed in doing our sport better than the last time we went out or enjoying it so much, that we just stay out there all day without realising that we are actually practising skills and techniques with repetition.

Basically I always want to go down for a sail but if I get out there and I am not enjoying it (racing or training) then I go in and go home. There is no point getting frustrated with sailing as it doesn't make good use of your time and I don't see any positive outcome for the effort. Instead I might be more motivated to go and improve some control lines on the boat or fix some mechanisms on the foils.

The point is to make the most of your time and do the things that you like to do. Another day will come around where the weather will be better and you will stay out for hours non-stop.

However when it comes to racing, I find it diffcult to not to stay out there and to not only win, but to win by as much as I can. For some reason I usually race by time and not by place, ie how far away I am from the leader (it doesn't have to be the same class either) or how far in front I am of the next boat.

I have seen a number of people race that might get in front and are happy with that, so they just stay there covering and protecting their lead. Sometimes you have to do this in big races, but for club racing, this is not a good practise. I always pretend that I am a lap down on any boat ahead or behind of me, and each race it is my goal to catch up to them and pass them. Once in front, I have forgotten about them and I am immediately looking for my next target.

What is important that any of these boats that you are aiming to pass, do not have to be from your same class. They can be a pack of optimists a leg ahead, and sure you are going to pass them eventually, but the sooner you do, the sooner you can aim for something else. I call these mini-goals or tasks.

I think you should only ever have one mini-goal or task on your mind at one time. Any more than that, and it can be confusing about which one is more important. Here would be a typical task list for me in a club race at Black Rock starting 10-15 minutes after the first start (these tasks make up your race plan):

1. Check for wind ossocilations and favoured side of the course
2. Check location of each mark to round
3. Get start sequence on watch
4. Get an idea of where most boats will be starting and to start away from them (maybe on opposite tack) with clear air
5. 30 seconds to go, confirm exact starting position and on which tack to head to favoured side of course
6. 5 seconds to go, maximum speed
7. Pull away from fleet to get better air
8. Look ahead for wind shifts (use other boats as a guide) and confirm favoured side of course
9. Pick the leading boat of the start in front of me and sail as fast as possible to be in front of them before the top mark
10. Be the first around the gybe mark of all boats
11. Establish a clear lead of around a minute or so to the next boat (any boat)
12. Aim to catch the next boat ahead on the windward leg (now a lap behind)
13. Once passed them, look ahead for the next boat to pass, and so on.

Never anytime during the race would I slacken off and not be sailing as hard as I possibly could. Right up to the finish line, even if I am long way ahead, I would sail even harder to get those few extra seconds in front.

I think the reason why I always do this, as I used to sail a lot of yardstick regattas, where everyone races against each other using their handicap. After doing so many of them, I realised that another boat might be a lap behind you, but they may beat you by a second on handicap. So now I always sail like I am racing on handicap, and I have to sail as fast as possible every race, just in case someone else in another class is sailing slower, but with a higher handicap.

Where does this tie into racing in a Worlds or Nationals? Well the way I see it, is that you are training yourself to sail as fast as possible on time, not by place. When you come to a championships, you may not know how fast someone else from another country or state will be (especially if you havn't raced them in the last 6 months), and therefore you will be in the best possible form for your boat speed. All you have to do is sail a clean race focusing on the immediate task at hand and executing each tack or gybe with 100% confidence.

I always try and sail my own race too, and hopefully without any interference from any other sailors. Generally I would look to avoid any close sailing another boat, as by getting involved with a fight for a position with one boat, means that you could loose 10 places to those not involved in the battle. Therefore it is my goal in every race to lead from the start, then you don't have to worry about trying to get back in front.

If I find that I am behind at the start, I will always try to sail away from them, or at least sail lower with speed if I know there is a shift coming or higher to windward, otherwise I would see it difficult to get in front if you are doing everything the same as them.

If someone does beats you on the day, then you will not feel disheartened at all as you know you sailed as fast as you can and as best as you can, and that still feels good. If someone beats me, I am actually really happy for the person who won, as I know what it takes to get there and obviously I was not good enough. On the other hand when I was younger sailing Sabots, I was quite the opposite. The sooner you can get out of this habit of being dissapointed whenever you lose, the more effective your time on the water will become.