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Goal Setting – The Professional Approach

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Goal Setting – The Professional Approach

Have you set any goals for the coming season? If you have, then well done – you are on the right track. Of all the things that full-time, professional sailors do that the rest of us weekend warriors do not do, structured goal setting is probably the most important. Fortunately it is also one of the less demanding activities (compared to, say, completing 10,000 perfect tacks). With the right approach it can be done quickly – and it can even be fun.

Why goal setting makes a difference

It’s not just about the time and money (and energy!) you have available, it’s how you spend those resources. For example, practising some boathandling exercises might be a better use of a day’s sailing than doing a couple of club races. Or maybe a day’s coaching is a better investment than buying a new jib.

Think about what you want to achieve, then set some specific goals. Goal setting has been shown to be a major factor in improving performance in almost every area of life; yet most of us still do not set any goals, let alone reach them. Maybe we are protecting ourselves: if we do not set goals we cannot fail at them! But that is lazy thinking and it brings only frustration.

So let’s look at setting some sailing goals – and planning how to achieve them.

Mapping out your road to success

Think about your long-term sailing goals. How exactly do you want to improve? What specific goal will motivate you to do everything you need to do to achieve it? Maybe you want to be so fit and skilled that you are ‘at one with your boat’ in all conditions; or maybe you just want to be able to compete in 25 knots without capsizing.

Try to stick to Performance and Process goals: those that depend entirely on your own efforts and abilities. You can set Outcome goals: winning a club series or a championship – or even an Olympic medal. But you have to accept that achieving such goals is not completely within your control.

You want to improve as much as possible with the talent, time and money you bring to the game, so aim high. Describe your goal in inspirational terms and write it down somewhere as your Main Goal. Once you know where you are going, you can start to work out how to get there. What’s most important in the goal-setting process is the journey you take to reach the desired outcome.

You can do quite a lot on paper – as long as you keep it somewhere safe and easily accessible. With decent software though, not only can you define goals and plans, you can also track your progress dynamically and adapt quickly. I like Goalscape (www.goalscape.com) because it can capture an entire campaign in a single picture (as shown in the screenshots that accompany this article) – and because it’s really easy to use.

Lots of sailors in Olympic classes use this tool, but in fact it can help anyone who is serious about improving their skills – and results.

Next year’s results depend on what you do right now

The best way to plan your route to your main goal is to break down your sailing into different areas and work out exactly what you need to do in each.

The fundamental ‘building blocks’ are always the same, whatever your current abilities and whatever your goals. In the diagram below these are the top-level subgoals around the main goal in the centre. (The size of each subgoal’s slice represents its relative importance.)

Three of these goals are about arriving at the starting line in the best possible shape:
• Logistics (planning the year: training, events, travel and accommodation, etc)
• Gear (hull, rig, sails, foils, fittings, clothing, etc)
• Budget (money available for equipment, events etc)

These goals are all about preparation. You can start thinking right now about what you need to do and how to do it.

The other three are about the abilities you need when racing:
• Boat handling (executing every skill in all conditions)
• Finding the best course (strategy and tactics)
• Fitness (mental skills, physical strength, balance, etc)

These are the core goals for maximising your performance on the water.

Define specific goals in each area and plan exactly how you are going to achieve them. Break down each subgoal area into further subgoals:

Keep breaking down the subgoals even further until you have defined specific actions to achieve them all. Below is a detail view of the ‘Boat handling’ area, showing the key aspects of boathandling that you need to master in order to race properly and the specific manoeuvres involved. (Can you guess what the ‘hidden’ one at 11 o’clock is?)

The full structure shown below is suitable for Olympic athletes and club sailors alike ( from time to time GoalScape make available these goal maps for sailors and other activities when you purchase their software, contact them for details of what currently they will offer for free).

You can adapt this framework to reflect your personal goals and circumstances – and to suit class-specific requirements. You might want to change the importance you assign to each goal, delete some lower level goals or even add some new ones of your own.

Focus your efforts

When you first do a proper goal setting exercise, it can be exciting when you see all the different areas where you can improve. It can also be overwhelming! A common mistake here is to go from doing nothing to trying to do too much all at once.

A good way to start is to identify a maximum of three areas that offer the greatest opportunity for improving your performance. How do you do that? One way is to think back through your last season, or even your last race. Be honest: what did you do well and what let you down? Where could you make the greatest improvements in the shortest time? If you capsized a lot when tacking in strong winds for example, you have an easy answer.

So if you can come up with three ideas for tacking more safely, then you can write them into your tacking process breakdown as subgoals:

1. Ease sails sooner before the tack
2. Steer more slowly through the tack
3. Move more quickly up to the new windward side

Work out some good ways to practise and how to measure your progress. If you train in a pair or a group, watch what the others do. Ask them to watch you and give you some specific feedback.

On the other hand if your boat handling is good but your race strategy is poor, look at your information-gathering and decision-making processes.

Find out how other people do all this: talk to some of the good guys – or visit a sailing forum. On Andy Rice’s www.SailJuice.com, anyone can ask a question: an expert contributor or another member will answer it; or Andy will ask some top sailors for their views.

Debrief thoroughly after each practice or competition. Be positive: agree where you have improved and how much. Update your written plan – seeing your progress advancing increases your motivation – and highlights what you need to prioritise next.

The chart below shows a team’s progress (darker shading) with a month to go before their nationals.

These guys need to keep practising their boat handling, especially in strong winds. They also need to do some serious work on their starting process and slow sailing skills. Better starts will help their first beats as well!

If you identify specific problems in every area and find three possible solutions for each of them (or just one!), you are already doing better than 95% of your opposition.

Stick at it!

Persist with this process of gradual, incremental improvements in the key areas of your game and your weaknesses will start to disappear. You may find that your old failings become your new strengths: each is a separate proof of the effectiveness of your process.

Soon you will enjoy doing the very things that you used to hate or fear. If you were nervous in strong winds you will be more competent and more confident: you will love racing in a breeze when you can stay upright while your rivals are falling over.

Double Olympic Champion Iain Percy once said: “I enjoy the process of improvement almost more than the winning itself. That’s where the real satisfaction comes. Identify your weaknesses, set goals, practise until you get better – and the results will look after themselves.”

So start setting some goals for your sailing right now. It is the single activity most likely to improve your performance and results, so there is simply no excuse not to do it. And don’t stop, even if you reach your goals – in fact especially if you reach your goals. Instead, set yourself new goals in every area – and start working on them immediately.

Richard Parslow & Andy Rice
© www.Goalscape.com & www.SailJuice.com

reproduced on www.sailfun.co.uk by kind permission of the authors

Goalscape Discount and Promotional Codes

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Goalscape is a great piece of software developed by Olympic sailors to really visualise goals. Of course goal setting is critical to becoming the best in the world in a sport, but this great piece of software has so many uses in ‘normal’ peoples’ personal and business lives.

We wrote about Goalscape as a goal setting tool in sailing here, where they describe in detail hour to set goals for a campaign and how to leverage goalscape to help visualise and track those goals.

Goalscape rarely, if ever, provide a goalscape discount, discount vouchers or promotional codes for their software. This is because their software is already great value for money, but for one day only they are giving 40% discount as a special promotion. They have offered a 40% discount for 1 day only.

You may already be too late, but pop over to www.goalscape.com  and see if you can grab a discount or deal (they offer educational / acedemic deals for Goalscape all year long). If you can’t don’t fret, download the free trial and give it a go, I’m convinced you would buy it even without the 40% discount. It won’t take much to get serious payback in terms of succeeding with your goals, using this software.

Goalscape has been adopted by many organisations and has multiple uses, beyond personal or business goal setting. The visualisation techniques really can help with managing project project, comparing products, selecting staff. The uses are pretty much endless. If you can get a Goalscape discount, because of an active special offer or Goalscape promotional code, then great for you.

Sailboat rudder design

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Most dinghies sailors won’t care less about rudder design, as many classes are fairly prescriptive about the shape and size of their rudders – to be ‘in’ class.

If that applies to your sailing boat class then, you just need to keep your rudder blade in perfect condition, fill any nicks and dents and ensure that it is a smooth as it can be.

However, if you sail a a dinghy in a development class, or even some restricted development classes, you may find your class rules allow virtually unlimited choice. The question then is ‘what is best’.

This is where is gets rather technical, so I did a little web research and found the following:

It may be of use…. take a look.

Discussion on rudder profiles – http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/sailboats/rudder-daggerboard-profiles-937.html

Free foil design software (GNU Public Licence) from MIT – http://web.mit.edu/drela/Public/web/xfoil/

Understanding Risk of Collision for the Recreational Boater

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Understanding Risk of Collision for the Recreational Boaterr
By Captain Andrew F. Seligman

An essential part of being a responsible and prudent recreational boater is to know and understand the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (72 Colregs) and the United States Inland Rules. These two sets of regulations and rules, commonly known as the “Nav Rules” or the “Rules,” apply to all waters navigable by sea-going vessels. The Rules are designed to address vessel traffic scenarios where two vessels are in one of the three approach situations and, to a lesser extent, “special circumstances.” The three approach situations are: Head-On, Crossing, and Overtaking. One of the definitions of “special circumstances” applies when more than two vessels are in a combination of the three approach situations.

The Rules consist of five Parts, five Annexes, and some other “goodies.” The five parts include: Part A—General; Part B—Steering and Sailing Rules; Part C—Lights and Shapes; Part D—Sound and Light Signals; and Part E—Exemptions. Each part and rule has both an “International” and “Inland” version.

Part A consists of Rule numbers 1 through 3. Rule 1 contains the applicability provisions for the entire Rules. Rule 2 describes the general responsibility provisions and Rule 3 covers the definitions. In this article we will discuss Rule 2 as it relates to the recreational boater. We will then discuss two critical rules contained in Part B: Rule 5 (Look-Out); and Rule 7 (Risk of Collision) as they pertain to the recreational boater. It is important to remember that Part B (Rules 5-10) is applicable to all conditions of visibility. You can download a complete copy of the Colregs at the following web address: http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/mwv/navrules/download.htm

Rule 2—Responsibility, is often commonly referred to the “The Rule of Good Seamanship.” A portion of Rule 2 states the following: “Nothing in these Rules shall exonerate any vessel, or the owner, master or the crew thereof, from the consequences of any neglect to comply with these Rules, or the neglect of any precaution which may be required by the ordinary practice of seaman, or by the special circumstances of the case.”
This basically emphasizes that all vessels, including recreational vessels, are required to comply with the Rules; and blatant disregard for the rules is on its face, evidence of poor seamanship. When a collision between two vessels occurs, including recreational vessels, courts have consistently defined “ordinary practice of seaman” and “good seamanship” to be the same. There have been many land-mark collision cases that have served to consistently define these terms. The first major case, which, to this day, serves as the basis for collisions occurring in the United States is The Pennsylvania Case. In 1876, a vessel named “Pennsylvania” collided with another vessel off the coast of New York harbor. The court’s decision started the precedent that “good seamanship” and “ordinary practice of seaman” has the same meaning. The court decided the “ordinary practice of seamen” to mean the specific skills needed to safely navigate any vessel. Furthermore, and equally important, the court decided that liability is assigned to a vessel and its operator if it can be shown, the collision/accident would never have happened if no Rule was broken—a very difficult position to prove. The following example may underscore this position1: Two vessels meet and collide, the port light of the Stand-On vessel is lit and the starboard light of the Stand-On vessel is not lit. Although the stand-on vessel was in-violation of a rule by not having her starboard light lit, the accident would have occurred any-way because the port light of the Stand-On vessel was lit and the collision occurred. The Pennsylvania ruling is the first major case in the United States that legally provides for all mariners, including recreational mariners, to be sufficiently trained and experienced for the duties upon which they are acting.

Rule 5—Look Out. Rule 5 requires just that– a look-out to be posted at all times. The purpose of the look-out is to detect, assess and manage risk—especially Risk of Collision. If you, as a recreational mariner, were to be involved in a collision, the test as to a look-out is not just based on a person being aboard assigned to be a look-out; The test is based on if a person on-board is actually performing as look-out. If the answer to that test is no, then there is a clear violation of Rule 5 and therefore Rule 2. Needless to say, single-handers, especially when operating while asleep, operate non-compliant with this rule.

Rule 7-Risk of Collision, prescribes how to determine when a Risk of Collision exists. This Rule works integrally with Rules 5 and 6 (Safe Speed.) Rule 7(a) states “Every vessel shall use all available means appropriate to the prevailing circumstances and conditions to determine if Risk of Collision exists. If there is any doubt risk shall be deemed to exist.”
Basic mariner training, (and therefore the courts), use standard methods to help decide when a Risk of Collision exists. Once Risk of Collision is established Rule 8—Action to Avoid Collision is triggered, vessel rights and responsibilities are established, and collision avoidance rules must be adhered to. It is logical to see that Risk of Collision and the nature of the Risk must be ascertained before appropriate action should be executed.

A very common and rather basic method to help establish Risk of Collision can be demonstrated using the Collision Avoidance Funnel. We can think of vessel meeting situations as a set of four stages. Stage 1 is the time when two vessels are far enough apart that no Risk of Collision exists. Stage 2 starts when the look-out and/or operator of the vessel first determine a Risk of Collision to be established. This is often, but not always, concluded by determining if the two vessels view each other at a Constant Bearing and Decreasing Range (CBDR.) During Stage 2 each vessel operator must determine whether or not their vessel is Stand-On, Give-Way or has Right-of-Way. There is a very significant difference between a vessel having Stand-On versus Right-of-Way privileges! A vessel has Right-of-Way ONLY when traveling down-bound with a following current on the Western Rivers, Great Lakes, and Waters designated by the Secretary. Stage 2 is also the stage, after determining if the vessel is Stand-On; Give-Way; or has Right of Way, where the operator begins to decide on (as it states in Rule 8) “the action to avoid collision shall be taken in ample time and in observance of good seamanship.” Stage 3 of the funnel is where Risk of Collision exists and has existed for a relatively significant period of time. Stage 3 is the latest time by which action to avoid collision is to be undertaken. Stage 4, the final stage, is the stage in which no mariner wants his or her vessel to encounter. Stage 4 is known as “in-extremis.” Essentially the vessel has little or no time to maneuver and in most cases collision is imminent.

The inability to recognize Risk of Collision, as defined by the Rules and therefore “good seamanship” can often have very serious consequences for recreational boaters. In October 2007, a recreational boat was unknowingly in a Risk of Collision while it approached a tug with a stern tow consisting of barges at night off the New Jersey coast near Ambrose Light house. The recreational vessel failed to observe the CBDR of the tug with tow; and did not have the ability to discern the tug was actually towing astern. The distance between the tug and the first barge was very long indeed. The operator of the recreational fishing vessel did not understand the light configurations for a vessel towing and vessel being towed. The recreational vessel piloted his vessel between the tug and the first barge. The accident caused the demise of at least one member of the recreational vessels crew. The United States Coast Guard investigated the accident. The Coast Guard first determined the recreational vessel was the give-way vessel, and lack of operator training caused the collision. Second, the Master of the tug and all it’s crew were exonerated because they complied with every requirement of the Colregs/Inland Rules; and took several extraordinary steps to avoid the collision. The latest report stated the Coast Guard is considering charging the owner and operator of the recreational boat for a crime. Additionally, the recreational vessel caused damage and delays to the tow and may be responsible for civil damages.

1 C.H. Allen, 2005. Farewell’s Rules of the Nautical Road Eighth Edition, p.33

Captain Andrew Seligman is a U.S.C.G. Licensed Master, ASA Certified Sailing Instructor and U.S.C.G. License Instructor. Captain Seligman is instructing for Tracey Sailing school www.traceyschool.com. located in New Jersey. Captain Seligman is one of the authors, with OceanWorx LLC, of “The Recreational Mariners Series.” The Recreational Mariner Series is a set of advanced courses specifically designed for the recreational boater. You may find information about the Recreational Mariner Series at www.oceanworxonline.com or contact Captain Seligman directly at aseligman@comcast.net.

Sail Care Guide

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So you’ve just received your new sails for the season… here are some handy tips from Dave Dobrijevic of Dynamic Sails to help you get the maximum performance and longevity out of them.

Over the years sailmaking techniques have advanced and the sailcloth we use on our dinghy racing sails today is very different to the Dacron sails that were previously used.  But how has the way we look after our sails changed?

I have been sailmaking and looking after sails since the age of 15 and take sail care very seriously, I’ve compiled a few tricks of the trade which you can use for your own sails that takes very little time at all.

The three sails you may have to care for are your Mainsail, Jib and Spinnaker. All three are subject to similar causes of deterioration such as sun damage and general wear and tear, these causes can be minimized with this useful sail care guide.

If your lucky enough to sail somewhere where the sun is shining all day, try taking your mainsail out of the sail bag just before setting afloat, your jib can also be furled and your spinnaker kept under the foredeck and out of harmful UV rays as much as possible.

Rinse all sails with fresh water and make sure they are fully dried when they are stored away. If you sail in salt water then make sure you wash the sails with fresh water after use. Salt holds moisture so the sails never completely dry without a freshwater rinse.

Spinnaker specifics:

Before rigging your new kite check around the spinnaker chute and under the foredeck for any loose fittings or sharp edges.  Does your puller have a puller sock? At Dynamic Sails we specifically make a puller sock that fits neatly under the foredeck and protects your spinnaker from catching on fittings when its being hoisted and dropped.

Storage: Its important not to just pack your new spinnaker into its sail bag without first of all folding it.   Spinnaker cloth is firm and has a memory, if it is crushed into a bag it will set looking like its been packed into a bag with twisted and creased tapes that will take a while to blow out.

Jib Specifics:

If you really want to look after your jib you can take an extra minute or two whilst de-rigging and ease off the cunningham tension before you roll the jib up, otherwise the luff wire can be held under a great deal of tension when rolled up.

This next one is a common mistake…  when rigging up only ever furl your jib when you have enough rig tension on, as otherwise you can create a twist at the top of the rigging that can on a worst case scenario enter the mast – not what you want just before racing!

Dynamic Sails top tip: A tighter roll is better when packing your jib away, this can be made easier using a sail tie (these area available from DS) this loop of webbing keeps your jib from unrolling itself inside the bag and this in turn makes it less vulnerable to being squashed.

Mainsail Specifics:

Check your mast track for any wear or carbon splinters that may have an adverse effect on your bolt rope.

Mainsails are particularly vulnerable to damage from spinnaker pole ends and other boats booms etc… give your mainsail a thorough check over after races, if you catch a small nick or tear early it can be easily prevented from becoming a larger more expensive repair.

Lastly, In the boatpark pull your boom out until just before it meets the shroud and tie a knot in your mainsheet at this position – this will prevent the foot of your mainsail from being caught between the boom and the shroud and causing damage while racing.

By following a few of these hints and tips I hope you enjoy your sails that bit more this year and in future years!

For more information contact:

Dave Dobrijevic
Dynamic Sails
Tel: 01243 374495
www.dynamicsails.com