Everybody knows that during the World Cup, nothing else really matters. I mean, we still do other stuff but its just “stuff” until one or two weeks after the Cup,. That´s the way we live it, specially in Argentina. But this time there was a particular event that drew my attention and was inevitable for me to make an analogy and reflect.

I´m sure everybody saw the dramatic ending of the Uruguay – Ghana game, were a field player (Suarez), now a national heroe in Uruguay, saved the team from a goal by stopping the ball with the hand in the last minute of the second overtime.

In Soccer, a player different than the goalie, intentionally stopping the ball with the hand inside the penalty box has two direct consequences: (1) a penalty Kick, (2) a Red card for the player that stopped the ball. The referee made the right call and both those things happened. The inmediate reaction for the Ghana team was to celebrate, they expected to change the penalty for a goal and move to the semifinals. What they forgot is that the World Cup is full of dramatic moments and unbelieavable outcomes: They missed the penalty, went to penalty kicks elimination, and lost. Uruguay won the game and moved to Semifinals.

So the million dollar quesion. Heroe or Villain? I´m not going to get into this debate that is covering the pages of most papers around the World. The facts are clear: Someone broke a rule, the appropiate sanctioned got applied, but the incident still benefited the team breaking the rule.

It´s clear that Sailing is very different that Soccer in this aspect. “Sailing is a Gentlemens sport”. Rule 2 – FAIR SAILING - is very clear about this, “shall compete in compliance with recognized principles of sportmanship and fair play”.

But in addition to Rule 2, there is one rule that applies sepecifically to this concept: Rule 44.1 (b) ”if it gained a signficant advantage in the race or series by her breach her penalty shall be to retire.”

The typical example for this rule is when approaching a mark on portack inside the three boat length circle. Many times boats come in without respecting the zone, hit the mark, and get off by doing a quick 360, which is much better than ducking a row of 15-20 boats. It is important to teach our sailors that you cannot do this, that it is not fair sailing and you are not only breaking rule 2 but also 44.1 (b). That is why we insist so much on trying to avoid approaching the mark on Port-tack and make them understand the importance of Fair Sailing.

Going back to the analogy, if this rule applied to Soccer, The Uruguayian team should have retired from the game. But since Soccer is not Sailing – VAMOS URUGUAY!!!!

 Its been a couple of years since I wanted to go visit Bocha in Puerto Rico and see first hand what those that had the chance to visit, described as the perfect place to train Optis.

Sailors arrived on Sunday evening. 40 minutes after landing, surfboards , kayaks and lunch on the beach, 2 blocks away from Bocha´s and Male´s house, where we received the sailors.

Play Hard – Sail Hard. That same evening we left to Salinas where the training center is located, and where we would get – “perfect conditions for training”. 

We parked on a street by the water and Bocha started pointing with the hand “these are the houses, that container has 25 boats, here is where we rig, there is were we launch, and out there is were we sail”. You really can´t ask for anything more convenient; Don´t get me wrong, this is no Club Med; the accommodations are just what they need to be; rooms with A/C, a kitchen to cook, a projector to show videos and lots of grass to rig.

30 steps from the bed to the boat….. 20 steps from the boat to the water. 10-18 knots sailing conditions and hidden bay on an island where we stop for lunch, snorkel around and talk about the plan for the afternoon. Can you really ask for anything else?

“Can you look at me on the next upwind?, I want to make sure im working the main correctly when I go through the swell” asks Wiley at lunch. Andy comes to me on breakfast “Can you help me on the surf today?” – Its 8 AM and we already know… Its going to blow 15-18 again.

Spending all day with the sailors, with no parents around and focusing only on what matters, creates a lot of opportunity for sailors and coaches to really bond and create a stronger relationship.

As we are having lunch, Zane looks to the water knowing what´s coming; for many of the team, perfect 18 knots with 6 foot swells, for him at 8 years old and 50 pounds, an incredible challenge…..

Sailors don’t come here to just sail…. They come to learn to become sailors; at the training center they live the life of an athlete.

If you are looking for a SPA, don’t even show up. Here, sailors and coaches learn to live together and get everything done by helping each other. It was impressive to see the change in attitude of some sailors, first day they wouldn’t help clean a plate, the last day they were taking care of the place and cleaning up better than some of us. I personally felt proud for how this sailors matured and changed through the week.

As we plan the rest of the summer for our team, the memory of Salinas keeps coming up and the temptation to return is too big. This is the place where you show up with a training plan and you leave with a list full of ticks on the checkbox.

Thanks Bocha and Male for having us, we will be back!

Ale

PS: Check out the video that Male put together with some of the images from the clinic!

USODA Team Trials came to an end last Sunday, after 4 days of great competition and many months of preparation.  It has been, by far, the best TT in many years.  Not only we had very favorable and fair sailing conditions, we also had a great RC and a group of very hard working organizers.

Congratulations and thanks to our friends from TCYC, y’all made a fantastic job!!

 Going into sailing, we can be sure competition was fair and after 13 races and 2 drops, only the really best sailors stay in the top. The regatta started with heavy breeze on the first day, getting slightly lighter day after day. With the wind blowing mostly from the South and offshore, we experienced gusty conditions with significant shifts. This made the tactics and the wind strategy the number one priority.  For some other regattas, with steady and lighter conditions, being fast becomes more important. But I feel that for this TT, being alert to the wind changes was the first priority.

And this was critical at the starting line too. There were many races where we had big shifts during the sequence that would change the favored side of the line, so sailors had to be open minded and flexible in their starting plans until the last minute. We saw many starts where ¾ of the fleet was on the RC end and a big shift to the left would come in at last minute. Only few sailors that were alert would take advantage of that, sail to the pin and port tack the whole fleet.

This kind of situation brings me to the first point I want to make: sometimes you will find opportunities in a racecourse that no one else will. And you need a lot of determination to trust what you see. The fleet is wrong many times. Only few sailors are thinking, all the rest are just following. So you must be alert and take those chances that the fleet gives you.

Knowing which is the lifted tack sailing out of the starting line is my second point. As soon as the gun goes, you have 2 basic options. Sail on starboard or sail on port. And you should straight away know which tack is your favorite. Why go to one side and not to the other…. Am I lifted or headed? What is my strategy for the upwind? Where is the first shift coming from? Is there a longer tack? No matter what the reason is, you must have one and commit to it. If you hesitate during the first minutes of the race and do too many tacks, you will end up being passed from both sides. In these conditions, you must pick a side and go for it. And always try to “win your side” of the upwind.

My third important observation is the lack of technique for reach and downwind. Fast sailors in open angles had a great chance in this regatta. The choppy conditions were just perfect for optimist surfing, so if you were good at this, that was a big advantage. And I could see people passing 5 to 10 boats in just one leg. And this tells me 2 things: that one sailor is sailing fast, and all the rest are just sitting there, taking it easy and waiting for the next mark to get closer. A clear example is Duncan Williford. He made World’s team thanks to great recoveries on the reach and downwind legs.

I saw very few yellow flags, and we can understand this in 2 ways:

-       “Good job sailors, you are respecting the rules”

-       “Bad job sailors, you are not working your boats hard enough, and you are not pushing the limits to sail faster”

I go more with the second statement. 

And same thing applies for the starting line…

-       “Good job sailors, very few people were over” or

-       “Bad job sailors, there were huge line sags in many of the starts, no one has a clue of where the line is and only few are fighting for the best spot”

And please don’t get me wrong here. The Rule Book has to be respected, but we shouldn’t be afraid of it. Competitive sailors are always pushing the limits, not because they are trying to cheat, but because they have a true desire to win. Getting an OCS is much better than starting in fifth row. Getting a yellow flag for pumping is much better than sitting in your boat like a bag of potatoes for the whole downwind.

I believe the overall level of the fleet is still very low if we compare with int'l level, but I also think that there is a little bunch of sailors that have worked hard in the past years and have raised the level of the top group. The World Team selected for Malaysia is the strongest US team I’ve seen in many years. And from my point of view, you are taking one of the best coaches in the world to train with them.

Congratulations to Wade, Chris, Richard, Duncan, Harry and coach Lucas.  Good luck in Malaysia!!!

And to all the sailors that made other teams and regattas, enjoy your experience and keep working hard to get even better!!!!

 We would like to hear your thoughts so send us an email or add your comment on the web.

Good winds!!!!

WINTER CLINIC 2010 – half way through…

By mid-day we are coming into the bay for lunch, next to the castle “El Morro”, watching cruise ships sail in and out of the bay.

Afternoon training sessions are inside the bay, focused mostly on starts and wind strategy. Most of sailors (from Ecuador, Virgin Islands, Netherlands, USA) are used to sail with oscillating breeze. Inside the bay we have the chance to practice with short and fast shifts, using a different type of tactics and strategy.

Today was lighter wind, unsteady until noon and better after lunch, shifting south and increasing in speed. Tomorrow we look forward to do some practice races inside the bay and move our base to the regatta venue, on the other side of the bay.

The upcoming regatta (Friday thru Sunday) will be sailed inside the bay as well, in this challenging racing area.

Hope you like Tino´s picture shooting!!!

There is a moment in the life of any athlete when it needs to stop admiring their heroes and start thinking about beating them. Only when that mental switch happens, there is a chance that it might actually happen.

Yesterday, my fellow country men, Juan Martin Del Potro, with only 20 years old, won the US Open after beating who many consider the best player of all times, Roger Federer. The 4 hours, 5 set game was a demonstration of how to never give up, even when you are playing against your maximum idol.  Federer was 2 points from winning the match on the 4^th set, but that didn´t stop Del Potro from believing this could be his time.

I´m sure you are wondering, what does this have to do with sailing, and more specifically optimist sailing? I am strong believer that many sailors take longer to get better only because they don’t “believe” they can beat the older sailors, and they just wait for the natural process of older sailors aging out, and only then sit on the empty chair.

Through times I have seen many sailors that have always believed that they can be number 1 from very young, and at least not surprisingly for me, they have achieved it.  We have seen many sailors that at the age of 11 or 12 have been at the Top 10 of international events.

What is my advice for the young sailors? There is nothing out there that is stopping you from learning faster, becoming smarter and a top sailor. It is only how much energy you put into the sport, and how much drive you have that can stop you from being one of the best of the world, no matter how old you are.

Go get them!!!

Ale