One of the easiest ways to lose a sailboat race is to not communicate clearly. Whether its with other boats on the course, as we talked about in Week 11, or within your own boat, any words between sailors should be concise, effective and with the other sailor’s interest in mind. Because I’ve talked about communication with other boats so much I’m going to focus on internal communication within one boat for this week’s rule.

From 420s to 100 footers, the effectiveness of our communication with one and other can be critical to the outcome of our day on the racecourse. Effective communication on the boat can be summed up in three easy steps:

1. Plan out the action and discuss what words to use

This first step is the most important and takes lots of practice. When you’re racing with just one other person, communication can be limited to very few actual words, because you learn how to trust and then anticipate your teammate’s moves, capabilities, and pattern recognition. Through practice, we learn what to look for and what to listen for from our teammates. We also have the opportunity to ask questions and reassess our communication style if need be.

For instance, in the star boat, i knew it would take my crew 4 seconds to be fully prepared to gybe in more than 10 knots of breeze, and 2 seconds in less than 10 knots of breeze. I would have to adjust my communication style for when I wanted to gybe depending on the breeze. If I just yelled out “Gybing” and threw the helm over, then Ian might not be in the correct position to do his job correctly and we might have a bad gybe. Instead, I would say “Standby to Gybe,” thus ensuring that Ian was ready for my call. Then I could say: “Ok, Gybing,” and allow him his time to get properly set up. Ironically, without getting the initial attention of your teammate, the maneuver might actually take more time than if you just yell out “gybing.” The conversation up to that point would also be indicating that a gybe was coming up. We would probably be talking about our options, our course heading to the next mark, our lane choice, or the breeze on the race course. As we talked about it, then the entire team knows we’re getting ready to gybe.

In a boat with lots of role-players that tactical conversation doesn’t always get heard all around the boat. It doesn’t always need to, but it always helps to review the decision with the team before it happens. Even if the anticipatory call is: “Be ready for a maneuver here!” then the team can clean up their stations and listen carefully for the tactician or the skipper’s next call.

2. Be consistent

Lots of practice and discussion of our communication points will enable us to be consistent from maneuver to maneuver. Anybody that races with me on small boats knows that I tend to chatter quietly about what I’m seeing, feeling and thinking. Continue reading →

I have to admit, sharing responsibility is a tough thing for me to do sometimes. But when I step back I realize that I’ve been honored to sail with some great teams. Maybe it was the fact that I sailed Lasers and had to push myself for so much of my formative years in sailing. But even then I was always surrounded by great competitive teammates from the SDYC junior program as well as my teams at both Bishop’s and Georgetown. I experienced valuable lessons of how to be effective as both a player as well as a manager. Luckily, I had great role models from which I could learn how to behave in a team environment, how to lead a team, and how help get the best performances from my teammates. Coaches can only contribute so much to a successful team. That is imperative to the understanding how to succeed. Good coaching can only get you and your team to a certain point. Only when all the teammates buy into the necessary process to win can the team truly ensure a chance at success. Very talented teams and good teams containing elite individuals are often beat by less talented squads that simply do the hard work necessary to win and execute the process necessary to achieve their goal.

My alma mater’s central philosophy is summed up when the Georgetown Sailing team shouts as they break the huddle after every practice: “As One!” Skipper or crew, top recruit or walk-on, freshman or senior, average boater or all-star, every single sailor has a stake in the success and failure of the team. Each sailor holds the potential to improve the team by improving themselves. But, this philosophy only works successfully if each sailor buys into the strategy. The team’s leadership has to show the team that their effort contributes to the success of the entire team.

If you want to win this year, follow Rule #17: Be a good teammate.

Every player doesn’t always contribute in the same way: some sailors kill it in the gym, but struggle to use their fitness on the racecourse; some sailors are great in a tacking duel, but struggle to remember the right play once they’re ahead; some sailors are great at winning the committee boat at the star, but couldn’t win the pin if their life depended on it. Good teammates have the big-picture awareness to not only be critical of the flaws in their teammates’ sailing, but also reassure their teammates that the contributions they are making are critical to the team’s success.

Good teammates have to understand their fellow sailors can better help the group succeed and then pair them with sailors that can benefit from the other’s assets. Being a good teammate is also about recognizing when you can contribute to the team in ways that others cannot. But, it also means shutting up and letting others contribute when you cannot.

Larry Bird had three demands when he coached the Indiana Pacers: Be physically fit, Be respectful, and Be on time. Continue reading →