We will be holding this practice next week, Tuesday July 31 at the same time. This will be the last practice on-water practice of the year due to JP coaching commitments. I’m sorry for the late notice as my timing predictions proved to be off yesterday and I cannot make it back from Marblehead in time.

If you are out sailing today, I suggest these two drills you can do solo:

1. use a buoy on the water (or bring your own). Set a three minute timer while you are near the buoy, sail away for a full minute, and then spend two minutes returning to the buoy. Can you get it right on? Try from different directions. Can you get creative in slowing down, while still pointing generally towards the buoy? Use luffing, S-curves, rudder stall, and pinching to help you. If there’s a second boat, you can each choose a side of the buoy so there is some interaction (but you can still both get off the mark on time!)
2. using the same buoy, try the “hold your spot” drill where we use the same slowing techniques to hold our bow on the buoy for a long time. In reality, the first drill will often end up being the second drill.
3. bonus option: if there are three or more boats, try rabbit starts. You can do this with the rabbit blowing a few short whistles to say “get ready” and then 30-60 seconds later, a long blast saying “I’m coming”. Try to have the rabbit round within 15-20 seconds of the “I’m coming” whistle.

And of course you can always practice roll tacks and gybes with a crew-mate. Throw in some 360’s and 720’s for good measure.