Lots of 29er HP Teams climbing the ladder at the 29er Midwinters this year! Looking forward to an awesome summer season for all of these guys and girls!
29er HP Team Spotlight: Jacob Rosenberg
Jacob and Evan competing at the 2015 Midwinters in Coronado, California
29er HP Team member Jacob Rosenberg won the Open Orange Bowl regatta in the 29er class in December, sailing with crew Evan Heffernan. We checked in with Jacob to find out how the regatta went:
When did you start sailing 29ers?
I started sailing 29ers about a year and a half ago in the summer of 2013, and after sailing with a few teammates, started sailing with Evan at the beginning of this school year.
Talk about your team dynamics; how do you and Evan divide the responsibilities on your boat?
In the pre-start, we devise a strategy and game plan together figuring out where we want to start and go up the first beat. Off the line, we communicate together about pressure and the fleet mostly focusing on boat speed though. From there, we work together on the big picture of where to go and I make the small decisive decisions with boat on boat. Usually Evan looks around and finds pressure upwind while I look downwind because he focuses on the kite.
What gave you an edge at the Orange bowl?
At Orange Bowl, Evan and I felt very fast, especially downwind. This speed gave us an edge that allowed us to always be catching boats or extending our lead. Downwind we were clearly the fastest team and caught many boats on the runs.
You've been doing very well on the high school sailing circuit in Southern California. How does high school sailing compare to 29er sailing? Do the skills translate from one boat to another?
High school sailing definitely has its similarities and differences to 29er sailing. High school sailing is shorter course with a focus on tactics and an emphasis on the start. In high school sailing, everyone is equal speed so tactics and the start are much more important. In 29er sailing, speed varies a lot between boats so having speed [to get to pressure] is very important. Because the boats are so fast, the tactics [in the skiff] are for longer courses so it’s more about the big picture. In both high school and 29er sailing, a good start is key to be able to go where you want.
What is the biggest challenge in 29er sailing?
The biggest challenge in the 29er is staying focused on your own boat. Because speed and angles vary so much as everyone is in different breeze with different apparent wind, staying locked in to your own boat is the key to keeping the boat going fast. Many people will try to match other people’s angles upwind and downwind when they are going slow but that will just make the problem worse because you have to gain the speed then work it up or down. It is so easy to just try to copy and imitate other boats going faster than you, but it is vital to just keep focused on your own boat and feel the speed.
Evan Heffernan (left) and Jacob Rosenberg (right), members of the 29er High Performance Team won the 29er Orange Bowl earning seven points in six races.
What are your goals in the next year?
For 29er sailing, I have a few main goals for the next year. Most of all, I am working towards qualifying for the 2015 Youth Worlds in Malaysia by winning the 2015 Youth Champs. Other important events for me that I hope to win are the 2015 North Americans and 2015 Nationals.
Impetuous Racing At The SB 29er HP Clinic
The Weekly Routine: 29er Pathway
With the revamped US Sailing Olympic Development Program announced recently, junior sailors around the country will be making a push to earn invitations to "ODP" Training Camps, but in the scramble to get on the inside track, it's important to keep the fundamentals first, and keep the big picture in perspective. Every month, I coach sailors who believe that they're just one revolutionary piece of advice away from a breakthrough performance - that all they need to do is find the right coach, who can tell them how to sail the boat correctly, and that they'll suddenly jump to the front of the fleet.
The truth is that the best coaches - the ones who consistently produce standout athletes - aren't primarily teaching boat speed, tactics, or boat handling. The aspects of training which cause the best sailors to rise to the top of the stack have more to do with big picture program creation, which over time create the other advantages. While coaching from an expert in your class can certainly be a useful tool in the climb to the top, and the US Sailing ODP will definitely be a great resource for sailors looking to compete at the top international level, if you think that getting advice from the ODP coaches is the big boost you need to jettison you to the top of the fleet, it's probably a good idea to take a step back and evaluate your big picture program first.
Focus on the process of improving
Kevin Hall wrote an awesome article for Sailing Anarchy about the importance of "meta-practice", or practicing the process of practice (if you haven't read the article, check it out here). In the article, he argued that the best America's Cup teams aren't the ones who practice effectively right out of the gates, but the ones who develop a systematic training process over time. In junior sailing, this idea is even more pronounced because of the fact that there is such a wide range in training programs and skill levels.
The first, and most important part of this idea is that in order to improve, you need to reflect on every single practiced session. Getting on the water for a few hours is a great way to keep your skills sharp, and build up muscle memory which will help you execute on race day, but if you're not spending some time after practice, talking or at least thinking about what went well, and what didn't you will not progress beyond mastering the fundamentals. "Practice makes permanent", so only perfect practice can make perfect. Unless you are already doing a technique perfectly, practicing without reflecting on what needs to change will only solidify improper techniques and habits, so even if you just pick one lesson to reflect on from each practice, start cataloging lessons learned, and using those to dictate the focus of future practices.
The second point that Kevin articulates well, is that not all of your reflection should be about speed, tactics, and boat handling; the best sailors spend time thinking about the process before anything else. If you can create a habit of reviewing your practice efficiency, and finding places to improve the time spent on and off of the water, you will get more out of each practice, and over time, will develop the edge that will put you at the top of the leader-board.
How can you get the most out of the US Sailing ODP Camps?
With a solid plan for improvement in place, the ODP training camps and regattas will be a great supplement to your training schedule, so when you have the opportunity to take advantage of the coaching, it's important to go in with a plan. In our 29er HP camps, we strive to send sailors home with a clear picture of their next month's training requirements, and at the ODP's this should be the goal for your team. Take notes, write down quotes from coaches, and be sure to ask questions about what the most important things for you to work on are. If you do a good job at the camp, you should have material to work on for several weeks after.
Finally, own your own development. Don't adopt a technique just because a coach tells you it's right unless you fully understand, and agree that the technique is superior. As a coach, one of the most rewarding experience for me is to have sailors question techniques that I'm teaching. The main job of a coach is to help sailors learn the process of improvement, and a major part of that process is questioning new techniques until you totally understand them, and feel comfortable enough to call them yours. There are many ways to go fast, so ask questions, and don't wait for the magic bullet.
The bottom line is that being the best is never an overnight development. There is no magic bullet, so it's important to put together a plan that is completely within your control regardless of whether or not you get selected for a training camp, and then execute, taking advantage of opportunities if they arise.