High School to College Crewing Guide By
Brooke F. Thomson, St. Mary’s College of Maryland In
high school, I remember someone asking a college crew if sailing ever got
boring because she had already accomplished so much in high school and junior
sailing. She answered, “Well, no matter how good of a crew you are, college
sailing just makes you better.” In my opinion, high school sailing teaches
crews most of the skills they need to know, but college sailing fine-tunes
and expands on those things. College crews come from a huge range of
experience levels and backgrounds, but what they have in common is that
everyone makes changes along the way to adapt. This guide is an attempt to
pinpoint some of the bigger reasons that contribute to this transition and
list all the little details that go a long with it. Some
Thoughts on Boat-Handling More
than anything, it’s a matter of practice. Personally, I learned boat handling
mostly by listening to skippers “input” and watching other crews. Everyone
learns differently, but I’ve found the best help usually comes from the
person you’re actually in the boat with. Eventually
it becomes a matter style and being able to mesh easily to new skippers and
their style. Adaptability is one of the big things that separate a good crew
from the average. For a crew at any level it’s an easy mistake to get stuck
in a rut, but one of the biggest things I’ve learned from college sailing is
that there’s always something that can be done slightly different for better
or for worse. Sometimes a change can be as insignificant as using your left
hand instead of the right, but those little things tend to open the door for
bigger changes. In a way boat-handling style is sort of a creative process.
The best way to perfect boat handling I think is to experiment and take
risks. A
lot of the time if something feels off the best way to fix it is just ask
your skipper to do a few tacks or jibes with you in a row, and focus on just
fixing one thing at a time until it clicks. But basically, with repetition it
eventually falls together. Just don’t over think it. Some
General Things:
a.
This changes
the game in that the crew has to be more aware of sailing smart and being
flexible. It becomes important to be sensitive to “shifting-gears” and making
smaller adjustments more frequently.
a.
Boat handling
becomes more fine-tuned and consistent. Because there are more crews on the
line with similar experience, a couple great tacks when the boats next to you
do a few good tacks can launch you ahead. On the other hand, it’s easier to
fall behind the fleet with just a few slip-ups. b.
Consistency
from race to race makes a huge difference. It’s a lot more common to see
boats that were doing well in the morning get tired at the end of the day,
and consistent teams pull ahead.
a.
Be ready for
longer days without breaks. It’s worth it to bring a snack (and sometimes a snack
for your skipper). For crews a common problem is that by being active all
day, their metabolism shuts down so it’s uncomfortable to eat in between
races. Especially to eat and then hike. I learned the hard way that it’s a
lot easier to do small snacks through the day if you don’t do a real lunch. b.
A crew needs
to be equally good with 420’s and FJ’s. Typically it’s easier to enjoy sailing in whichever
boat your better at. I think a turning point for a lot of crews is when it
doesn’t matter what boat they’re in.
a.
Always pay
attention to the jib size and shape before you start racing. b.
Main shapes
also vary depending on the make of the sail and how
long they’ve been used. Look up to gauge if you need more outhaul/downhaul
for a fuller or blown-out main.
i.
A frequent
mistake is not having enough outhaul on. Along that line, it’s also good to
check the outhaul in the cleat to make sure it isn’t worn out. c.
If sailing 420’s, some places have filled-rails. This means that the
boats are heavier and boat handling needs to be slower and more forceful.
Some More Specific Things On
The Starting Line: On
the starting line the crew is expected to participate a lot more in boat set
up, communication, and tactics. In high school I was often told that a bad
start was mostly out of the crew’s hands, but in college I found that responsibility
is much more shared. 1.
Pre-Start:
Take the initiative to rig and check over the boat and don’t wait for the
skipper to say something. College regattas involve longer days and more
rotations so it’s easy to start letting the little things slide. 2.
When adjusting
a lot of things (like jib halyard) the skipper can’t see what you’re doing.
It helps to always narrate exactly how much your
adjusting things. 3.
Keep vang trimmed as if you’re on a reach on the line, then
trim for upwind after the gun. 4.
Be good at
adjusting the jib halyard without the skipper’s help. The most common method
is for the crew to put a foot against the mast by the vang
and push it away while taking the slack out of the halyard. It helps a lot to
be sailing on a reach or downwind with the jib full. a.
It also helps
make the adjustment faster if the halyard is tied off right. Basically, it
should be a really clean figure “8” with the
slack end of the line should be facing towards you so it’s easier to pull. 5.
Before or in
the beginning of sequence spend a second with the skipper looking up the
course. Know where the marks are, which side of the coarse and which side of the line is favored. Look for
things like wind-shifts, current, anything particular to that race. Try to
start thinking one step ahead of the race committee, for example, if you
noticed a big wind shift expect the race committee to move marks. 6.
Being verbal
on the line is more important. Ideally, the skipper shouldn’t have to look
behind the boat or below the jib to know what’s happening. 7.
In the last 10
seconds or so, look both ways along the line to gauge if you’re over or under
the line. 8.
As you rock to
leeward, be sure the timing is right. As you trim the jib, it’s really
important to not trim it too fast. Let the front few inches of it luff just a bit until you’re fully headed upwind. a.
Trimming the
jib too fast will make the bow want to head down, which would counter-act
what the skipper’s trying to do with the main and bodyweight. Upwind: 1.
The first 45
seconds after the race are the most important. Managing attention between
boat speed and tactics can sometimes be a little bit like rubbing your belly
and tapping your head. In high school, it’s easier to get away with doing one
thing at a time, but in college it’s more important to be able to do both at
once. 2.
Detailed vang trim makes a big difference. Up the course, every
time there’s a puff or lull big enough where you have move in or out of the
boat, its time to adjust the vang.
a. In a 420 with breeze, take the slack out and then
another inch or two. 3.
It’s
worthwhile to be really good at ducking boats. Make sure to ease and trim in
sync with the skipper in order to get that extra pump. Also, bodyweight
placement makes a difference. 4.
Keep the boat
flat. You can use the line of the back of the boat and make it parallel to
the line of the horizon, or at least so it doesn’t move much compared to the
horizon. Sometimes this takes concentration, and also looking up the coarse
to predict little puffs making and making little adjustments before it comes.
5.
The course.
Always be looking around for the wind and what the fleet is doing. 6.
Bail! Bail
whenever possible! 7.
Call layline. Tacks:
Downwind: 1.
Like upwind,
the main goal is to keep the boat flat. If you think of it like a balance
board, start to predict each little tiny movement and counter-act it before
it happens. Once again, to begin the best way to gauge this is to watch the
bow or stern of the boat and try to prevent it from moving. 2.
Sitting versus
standing. It’s tempting to relax on the centerboard trunk, but you constantly
have to be moving. Start making smaller adjustments by using shoulders, and
then bigger adjustments use entire body. 3.
The crew
should always be looking
backwards. 4.
If you’re
having trouble with heel, use at the tiller as a gauge. Use your weight to
make the tiller stay in place without the skipper holding it. Usually that
place is slightly away from the skipper (roughly a 45 degree angle pointed
away from the skipper). 5. When holding the jib out on a reach, hold onto the
jib sheet that goes to the windward block. It’s natural to hold onto the line
that feeds into the leeward ratchet (your side of the boat), but it’s easier
to grab the other one (the one that sits in front of the mast). This makes it
so you can keep the slack out of the leeward sheet and trim from the ratchet
faster if you’re skipper needs to jibe or head up suddenly. 6.
There’s a lot
more adjusting the vang. Smaller adjustments more
frequently are important. a.
The easiest way to think of vang trim is to consider it like adjusting a separate
sail. Look behind you to anticipate puffs, and trim or ease the jib slightly
to prepare. A lot of crews always have a hand on the vang
downwind. b.
In breeze, de-power using vang, not centerboard (unless you’re about to flip). Look
behind you to watch puffs coming your way and have the vang
on before they reach your boat. Remember to take the vang
off the second the puff passes. c.
Watch the twist at the top of the sail.
Another way to tell is to look at end of the boom. In puffs, the boom should
have some breathing space to come up a bit in puffs, but you don’t want it
moving too much. 7.
Bail! Jibes:
a. Before the jib fills, and as you stand up (pushing
the boom out to the shroud) yank it over to the other side. It helps to
imagine the hand going straight from the ratchet to the top of the mast. If you listen to the ratchet it should
sound like one ripping noise, instead of hearing all of the individual
clicks. b. To make sure it works every time, it takes some
maintenance between jibes. If there’s any slack in the jib sheets before a
jibe, you’re arm won’t be long enough to get the jib full in one movement.
Before jibing, take all the slack out on either ratchet and during the jibe
don’t let the jib get too loose. c. If the jib feels forced, either you’re not pulling
it over fast enough or you’re coming out of jibes too high. Either you’re
rolling too hard or you need to tell the skipper to use less tiller. |
©
2009 Brooke F. Thomson
Any reproduction of the information herein must
credit as follows: Brooke F. Thomson/Scuttlebutt