Breaking Down The Summer Calendar

It's that time of year again; the calendar for the summer is all set, and the mad scramble ensures to lock in hotels, flights, and other logistical details to ensure a fun, productive, stress free summer.  This summer we have major events in three corners of the country with a World Championship overseas, so if you're still trying to figure out exactly what your schedule looks like this summer, I'm going to break it down for you here.  Here are the three tracks for the summer as I see it:

1. International Competitors
If this is you, you already know it, and you probably already know the drill; ODP camps, travel regattas in Newport, the Gorge, Medemblick, and San Diego, and not much rest in between! If this is you, the name of the game is time on the water with the best sailors and the best coaches, and that means traveling.  To ease the pain, the class and the US Sailing ODP have been working on simplifying some of the logistics, but be sure to either get your boat on the trailer to ensure that it makes it to each spot, or book a charter with Zim.  If you're not well on your way to locking down all of the logistics, you're going to want to get on that ASAP, because trailer reservations go fast if they're not already gone, as do charters.

2. National Circuit
If you're not yet ready to make the European commitment, you can still sail against the best teams in the country all summer by hitting the Nationals in Rhode Island, the Gorge Regatta in Oregon, and the Youth Champs in Dan Diego.  Think of it as a big, fun triangle of road-tripping.  By committing to the full schedule, you'll not only learn a ton on the water and get to join in a lot of the ODP camps with the top coaches, but you'll also get to learn how to really campaign, and log some valuable skills for the future.  When you decide to take your show overseas you'll need to know how to transport your gear long distances, or setup a charter boat from scratch, so master those skills before you have to go do it in a place where they don't speak English!

3. Regional Groups
The 29er BootCamp clinic series will be back this summer to support the regional SoCal group, and similar groups are popping up all over the country.  If this is your first or second full summer in the boat, and you're still looking to develop your skills without diving into the travel events, you'll get the most bang for your buck by logging those hours on the water with a training team and an experienced 29er coach, so check out the BootCamp details here. If you need help finding a training group in your state or region, shoot me a message here.

If You're Unsure About Conditions, Minimize Decision Points

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When you're not sure exactly what the wind is doing, here's a strategy to try.  Excerpt from the upcoming McBride Racing Tactical Playbook.  Subscribe to our newsletter to get notified of the book launch.

If you’re not sure whether to choose the inside track or the outside track, it probably means that your confidence is low in any specific prediction about the wind, and no pattern is immediately evident in the wind shifts; this is totally fine!  When you are unsure about what the breeze is going to do, the best thing you can do is acknowledge that fact, and choose a high percentage upwind strategy, which allows you to postpone any critical decisions until the race has had a chance to develop a little bit.  A simple strategy to accomplish this starts with a mid-line start on starboard.  Drag race with the fleet until boats begin tacking back from the left corner (probably about half way up the beat), and then ask the question, “Who is winning, and why?”  If the left has gained and you have gotten headed, you’ll have an opportunity to lead back the lead pack.  If the left has gained and you have not seen a left shift, then continue as close to the left corner as you dare – chances are, it will continue to pay for whatever reason it paid in the first place.  If the right has paid, was it associated with a right shift? If so, chances are good that you’ll want to keep going left and wait for your shift to go back on.  If not, it’s time to abandon the left and start digging into the outside track on the right. 

The biggest risk in this strategy, is the risk of a slow persistent shift tricking you into digging for more, when you should be abandoning a losing proposition.  To have the best chance of avoiding this pitfall, keep your eyes peeled for:

  • Changing weather that might cause a persistent shift (clouds, a change in temperature, a shift in current direction, etc.)
  • Wind shifts outside of the range that you saw in your pre-race research
  • Observations that corroborate an earlier forecast, predicting a persistent trend in the wind

This strategy works well because it simplifies the decision making process by minimizing the number of choices that you are making on the beat.