Preparing For Your First European Event

In the last few years, I've had the opportunity to coach several US teams leading up to and during their first international events, and as the US team begins arriving in Arhus, Denmark for the 29er Worlds, it's important for the new teams to be careful of the pitfalls of preparing for an international event.  The first mistake that I see many teams make every year, is trying to take shortcuts for the sake of simplicity.  With 200 boats on the line, there will often be 20-30 teams who have equal speed, boat handling, and tactical knowledge to you; of those 30 teams, half will usually take themselves out of the game through lack of preparation.  A few things you can do to ensure that you will be comfortable and prepared at the venue are:

• No matter what the forecast is, pack for all weather; bring everything from wetsuits, to board shorts.  Make sure that you have comfortable clothing for on and off the water. 
• Bring spare parts such as extra sails, shackles, pins, etc.  There is no guarantee that there will be a marine store within 30 minutes of the venue, so don't limit your tool box to 1-2 shackles, pins, blocks, etc.; bring lots of each in all different sizes
• Bring your own lines, wires, and anything else you can fit in a bag.  You don't want to spend the first few days getting used to charter equipment, so you should bring everything you can from your boat at home.  $50 for an extra checked bag is nothing compared to the time and money wasted by not being 100% prepared on your first day of European training.
• If you cannot bring your own lines (ISAF Youth Worlds for example), try to find out what the stock lines will be, and start practicing with them on your boat at home prior to the trip.

Here is a packing list of things you should not forget at a European event (or any other event!)

The second mistake that most new US teams make is failing to prepare for the mental aspects of sailing in a large fleet.  With so many teams who are so similar in skill level, "pecking orders" rarely get established even by the end of the regatta, so it is incredibly important to treat each point equally, and just keep making good decisions and let results take care of themselves.   Too often, US sailors who are fast, smart, and good at boat handling get frustrated when less experienced teams beat them.  Frustration changes their decision making process and results tend to spiral downward from there.

As you pack your bags for this season's European 29er events, be sure to avoid these two major mistakes!