April 2009
Monthly Archive
The Champion Speaks, Lake Norman April 18-19th, 2009
Posted by Glenn on 25 Apr 2009 | Tagged as: News
The Lake Norman Championship Regatta #2. By winner Eric Oetgen
At 7am I get out of bed and study the wind for 15 minutes and do the same the night before and 2-3 days before to stay in tune with the weather forecast, with a new boat I wasn’t ready for the first race b/c of all the rigging. I like to have my lunch, clothes, boat together and read the sailing instructions at least 3 times and maybe write notes about the sailing instruction, weather, or just write something in my boat to stay super focused. 8am -10am I’m stretching, checking the wind patterns from the parking lot through the compass. When I’m headed to the start and touch the water for the first time that day I’m racing from that point on and from then on I either want to stretch the legs in the straps up wind or start practicing sheeting in and out for the downwind runs with movement of your body downwind. I’ve had years trying to get quality results so sometime back in the day I was practicing during these regattas and trying to build up my endurance for a long and I mean long day on the water. People give up when you’re fatigued and that’s when there is an opportunity. I’m getting more wind readings, boat handing practice, boat setup and making sure I have everything together. The 7 p’s.proper planning prevents piss poor performance and I live by that saying. Lets say I’m at the master championship or lake Norman regatta it doest matter what kind of championship or it might be practice by myself. I head for the committee boat. Are they anchored if so I start my planning for the start. I get zillions of line sites thought the RC flag and pin end or I tack on the flag and look at the pin and I mean zillions. I’m now comfortable of how the line is set. So now its time to get wind readings on both boards which mean port/starboard. I spend good quality time doing this drill and I write these numbers down on the boat. the start is the most critical part of the race and I spend all my time with that for a race b/c I know already I’ve practice my straight line speed weeks or months before this race with my training partners but I will go up with some one who I think is faster than me like Brett Davis, Mike Matan, Rodrigous. After the start is the boat up on starboard or down from the heading of the compass. Their are allot of things I think about while I race upwind during the first 3rd of the leg to the last third of the leg, but I never think about the pain suffering or I’m 8th or 15th rounding the top mark . If you start thinking about those things that’s another advantage I will take to win the race. Downwind when someone mentions downwind to me I start smiling. Downwind is the chance to make up ground or distance yourself from the others. I love downwind. The next regatta if I win I will talk about down wind sailing. The regattas itself is long so never get discourage. I do sometimes but I’m able to throw the discourage or failure away in seconds. I then turn back to focusing on my starts and chasing the wind down. you have to stay in tune with the wind 15-30 minutes before the start to see which end is favored anyone can do it if you stay very focused. I spend little time with boat setup b/c I read about the laser or I talk to the top guys about setup and write it down in a notebook and read it over and over. That part should stay constant and you should learn that within a couple of months and then throw it out the window b/c you know the setting from 0-30. Its then time to start thinking about fitness and sailing around the course the quickest. I’m giving a 2 day race clinic before the d-12 savannah regatta and I will answer any questions during the regatta for anyone. I’m also interested in coaching youth to adults. Thanks LNYC for hosting this D-12 event!
E.O.
Make note folks, RACE CLINIC BEFORE THE SAVANNAH REGATTA, also GARY JOBSON will be speaking at the Savannah Yacht Club that Friday evening May 29th from 7pm-9pm. Reservations are required. Please call 912.352.4334 or email Ms. Dana Whitfield. dana.whitfield@lls.org
GW