Talk It Out

With 46 boats on the line, racing is scrappy all the way around the course, making attitude onboard each boat a big determinant in success.  Teams who stay calm, focused, and cooperative have a big leg up on the teams who regress into anarchy and chaos when the heat is on.  The 3 person dynamic places a premium on objective evaluation, but the same principles need to be applied on the 29er as well.  Here are a few tips to help your team stay focused and objective in the face of adversity.

Be Manipulative: One tip that I like to give my high school crews is is to work on understanding how your tone of voice, and overall communication affects the mentality of your teammates.  I have sailed with many different skippers, and with some, when disaster strikes, all it takes is a quick, “Calm down,” and we’re back on track.  With others it is a different story… One of my skippers used to get very frustrated when bad things happened, and if I didn’t get frustrated along with him, he would get even more frustrated that I wasn’t frustrated (he interpreted this as me not being invested in the racing).  To get him back on track, I learned that I could act frustrated for a few seconds, and then “remember” that we should calm down and focus on the situation at hand.  Pay attention to how your teammate responds to your attitude, and use this understanding to keep the mood in the boat positive.

It’s All About Tone:  Regardless of the words that come out of your mouth, I use tone of voice to convey urgency or calmness on the starting line depending on whether I think that we need to be closer or farther from the line.  Saying the numbers quickly, in a slightly raised voice can often make your helm a bit gun shy, and prevent OCS’s when the boat is very close to the line, while a soothing, slow, cadence will serve to boost confidence that you have all the time in the world to pull the trigger.  Next time you are counting down the time until go, experiment with how different tones of voice change the mood and execution on the boat.

Consistency Is Key:  Using consistent communication on the boat is the key to good teamwork.  Work on developing a standard vocabulary for everything you do.  Do you say “header” or “knock”?  “Pressure” or “puff on”?  By creating a baseline that your whole team is familiar with, you will be able to respond to unexpected situations much more quickly and effectively.

Make sure your teammate knows that you appreciate them!  When things get rough, and tensions get high, it’s important that your skipper or crew knows that you enjoy sailing with them, and that there is no one that you would rather sail with.  Remind them of this frequently so that when the tough situations are over, your teammate can get past the raised voice, and remember that they are appreciated!