{"id":153621,"date":"2024-09-03T06:28:04","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T05:28:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/?p=153621"},"modified":"2024-09-03T09:31:06","modified_gmt":"2024-09-03T08:31:06","slug":"5-expert-tips-how-to-build-a-great-sailing-crew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/5-tips\/5-expert-tips-how-to-build-a-great-sailing-crew-153621","title":{"rendered":"5 expert tips: How to build a great sailing crew"},"content":"The double-handed team of Deb Fish and Rob Craigie have got mainsail reefing down to a fine art. \u201cEven when we\u2019re really familiar with each other and we know our processes, we still talk everything through before we start. Good planning and communication are the most important ingredients for making sure things go well and avoiding the big mistakes,\u201d Fish explains.\r\n\r\nOn a double-handed<\/a> boat like their Bellino it\u2019s also about sharing out the workload as evenly as possible. Whatever works for a two-man team should work when sailing fully crewed where more hands make lighter work of the job. Deb says the overriding goal is to get from no reef to reefed in as short a time as possible to minimise the risk of damage to the sail.\r\n

Plan ahead<\/h2>\r\nOur reefing system is just normal slab reefing because we want to keep things simple with the minimum chance of things going wrong. A few items will make life so much easier for any reefing manoeuvre, eg constrictors on some lines. When you\u2019ve got a reef in, you need to have the main halyard, jib halyard and reefing line all in tension, ideally on winches<\/a>. But because we don\u2019t have three winches available, we put constrictors on the main halyard and the reefing lines.\r\n\r\nBefore you start a long offshore race you\u2019ll have looked at the forecast and you\u2019ll have a pretty good idea of what reefs you might need to use, if any. If we\u2019re looking at a really light airs race we won\u2019t have the reefing lines in. But if in doubt we\u2019ll be set up for having the first reef, or if there\u2019s the slightest chance of needing the second reef, we\u2019ll put it in.\r\n\r\nArticle continues below...\r\n\r\n[collection]\r\n\r\nThe other consideration is knowing which tack we\u2019re likely to be on when we\u2019re putting in the reef. The aim is to have the reefed part of the sail on the opposite side of the boom to the reefing line. You can control the sail from the mast if your boom is eased sufficiently for the sail to be flapping head to wind.\r\n

Steer to the best wind angle<\/h2>\r\nJust before reefing we\u2019ll change course if necessary to allow the mainsail to flap freely without pressing on the spreaders when the kicker and mainsheet are released. If we\u2019re beating we don\u2019t need to change course, but if we\u2019re deeper than about 70\u00b0 true wind angle we\u2019ll come onto the wind, and adjust the jib accordingly.\r\n

Be safe, sure and fast<\/h2>\r\nThe better you have talked through the manoeuvre, the better equipped you\u2019ll be to execute the reef safely, securely and quickly. Putting in a reef should take no more than a couple of minutes provided everything goes smoothly. We minimise time out of the cockpit by doing all the prep first. I then move to the mast where I clip my short tether to the base of the mast to allow me to brace securely and use both hands confidently.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nBe meticulous about doing things in the right order. For example, make sure you tension the mainsail luff before you put the reefing line in, otherwise it\u2019s easy to damage the luff of the sail.\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s also important to have the reefing lines secured at the right position along the boom for your re-reefing points \u2013 if your boat doesn\u2019t have a fitting in the boom, you can use Dyneema line. I also control the sail to the desired side so that the reefing line runs straight from the reefing point to the boom, with the sail on the opposite side.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_145975\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"630\"]\"\" Photo: Richard Langdon\/Pip Hare Ocean Racing[\/caption]\r\n

Work as a team<\/h2>\r\nMake sure your roles are well defined and know where the potential sticking points are in the process. For example, when you\u2019re shaking out a reef there can be a lot of friction in the reefing line, especially if you\u2019re using a constrictor.\r\n\r\nIf Rob is struggling to wind it up, I\u2019ll be pulling it through for him to make his life easier. The same for when I get back to the cockpit, I\u2019ll pull in the mainsheet as Rob has already been working hard on the winches for the past couple of minutes. It\u2019s about sharing the physical workload as much as possible.\r\n

Tidy up<\/h2>\r\nOnce you\u2019ve completed the reef, get back up to speed before tidying up. Lastly you\u2019ve got to decide whether you want to tie the base of the sail up with sail ties. If the reef will be in for any length of time it\u2019s worthwhile, not least because you have much better visibility.\r\n\r\nI find this the least secure part of the operation \u2013 at the mast you\u2019re very secure, the middle of the coachroof is less so. So depending on how long it\u2019s in for, we may not bother with any ties in the middle, we might just secure the front and the back. Just make sure you have your backup plans for anything that might go wrong. Plan for what you\u2019ll do if the reefing line breaks, because they do from time to time. They\u2019re under a lot of load. Replace often and keep an eye on them for wear and tear.\r\n\r\nIf you do tie the reef in, put the sail ties around the sail, not around the boom. If the reefing line did break, the clew would just go up in the air, whereas if the sail tie was tied around the boom then it would rip straight through the sail.\r\n\r\n
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Every crew has its own DNA, its own ecosystem. Making that the best and healthiest crew dynamic possible is a big part of what interests Richard Parslow. \u201cPsychology is a huge part of the sport,\u201d he says. \u201cThey say the longest four inches in golf is between the ears, and how we interact with each other in the boat also has a huge outcome on the race course. I\u2019ve been fortunate to be on a lot of successful teams where we\u2019ve had a shared outlook on the campaign, usually pretty laid back, laughing a lot, but in the background really organised and committed to doing the work.\u201d When it comes to building a crew, he says: \u201cYou need to think carefully about the team you are assembling, choosing those who are the best fit for the long term, not necessarily because they are the best in the world at a particular job.\u201d Here are Richard\u2019s five best tips for getting everyone on the crew pulling in the same direction. Have shared goals I remember driving back from a youth event once and my helmsman said what a good regatta we\u2019d had, and I was thinking how badly it had gone. He was enjoying himself and I was all about trying to win the event. It\u2019s really important at the start of the campaign to make sure everyone\u2019s goals are aligned, that you share the same aims. Assuming it\u2019s about winning, everyone needs to be highly motivated. Back in the day when we raced on the Ultra 30s you had nine people on a big dinghy which capsized easily, and you could just about swap out one person in a weekend without it affecting your team coordination and performance, but no more than that. That was a big part of why we used to win in the Ultra 30, that consistency of crew on board. Article continues below… Bring skills As well as skills to race the boat, make sure the crew brings complementary skills for the onshore stuff and the logistics \u2013 the ability to work with glassfibre or carbon, metal work, fix engines, maintain the coach RIB, cooking and good technique in the protest room. Have as many bases as possible covered within the team. Hone the process I\u2019m a big believer in the regatta process, that you\u2019ve got a consistent thing that you do every day. It starts before the event with logistics of travel and accommodation and then goes into a daily process for each race day, from \u2018wake up to write up\u2019. Everything on a checklist is one less thing to think about on what\u2019s already a hugely complicated day. Man is a habit forming animal and we\u2019re very happy when we\u2019re able to go through a repetitive process. It means you\u2019re unlikely to forget anything. Without a systematic approach, because of potential \u2018diffusion of responsibility\u2019 in larger teams, some things might slip through the cracks. Cool off I\u2019ve been pretty lucky with most of the …Continue reading »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5203,"featured_media":153622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[846,1633],"review_manufacturer":[],"acf":[],"introduction":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153621"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5203"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153621"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":153628,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153621\/revisions\/153628"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153621"},{"taxonomy":"review_manufacturer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review_manufacturer?post=153621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}