Hebe Jebes Issue Sep to Oct 2013 Sep 2013 | Page 25
training and were all happy to let their kids be par t of the Hebe
Dragons. The children were now settled into the team. One of the
first skills they were taught was how to take care of the boat (set
up, cleaning, rigging, etc.) as each sailor must remember that he/
she is fully responsible for his Optimist!
By that point the regatta season had star ted and we star ted to
work on star ts. This was very impor tant for us because it is always
a big problem for sailors that are new into racing—they always
struggle to get star ted and end up going the wrong way.
you must have your boat balanced to get the maximum speed
possible), upwind and downwind sailing, sail trim, etc.
This year’s sailing rules & tactics (2013 – 2014)
We are now working more on tactics and rules off the road,
we star ted doing team racing at the summer clinic we had in July.
This will help us learn a lot about rules and tactics and also how
to defend against and attack an opponent.
What to remember when starting:
• time and distance from the star ting line (good evaluation
of the wind/current verse the countdown);
• practise slow starts (do not cross the line before the signal);
• mid-line judgment star t practice (be in the right position
at the right time);
• por t tacks star t practice (to have right of way); and
• shor t lines star t practice.
Boat handling & learning to sail
After many hours of training, all the Dragons were getting good
star ts (for some even in second or third position) in each regatta,
but they would get lost just a few minutes into the race as they
were not able ? ?Z[ ??\? K?] ?\? [YH ??] ? H ?X???]?[ ?] ??[? ?\? ? X???
??[?H [? ?YH [Y\? ??? H \ ?[?X\?? ??YH ?\?H X??[?? \ ? ?]?[??ZY? [Y\?K??X?\???KY ?[?[??? ?Z[[?? ? ?ZY? [[?H \ ?[? ?Z[[??
H??????[? ?][?\??YYY ??? ? ?ZY? [? [?H[\? [? K???\ [X?\?????\? ? L?????