Why teams don't win

Although I am relatively new to sailboat racing, I have played competitively in business for some years now and there are a lot of parallels to be drawn in both directions. That is why I believe sailing is a great team-building activity. Have yet to find out whether great teams from work make great sailing teams.

The playing field in amateur sailboat racing is fairly leveled, unless one has a lot of money to buy and maintain a great racing boat and hire professional crew, or has a really crappy boat. The PHRF handicapping system works reasonably well to boats with different performance characteristics can compete relatively fairly. Is it 100% fair - not at all, some boats are better in certain light air, some are not, but that aside, it seems there's a pattern that goes beyond the particular boat or weather conditions. It may seem counterintuitive at first, but some teams that race are not ready to win.

It boils down to experience and teamwork. First, most skippers and teams do not know their boats well. Think of the on-ramp on the highway on the way to work - having driven through it hundreds of times, you know exactly what is the maximum speed at which you can safely enter the turn. You know every pot hole and bump on the asphalt. Sailing is a bit more involved that that and the team has to know exactly how to tune the rigging and sails for particular weather conditions, what the best sailing angles on a beat or run are, what sail plan to choose for particular course, what the wind patterns are in their home port. The only way to learn is to go out and practice, try to get the best performance given the conditions and take notes. Build your own polar charts, benchmark them, print them, post them on the bulkhead and try to do better. Try different sail plans on different courses and determine what is best for the conditions. The same goes for the basics - tacking, gybing, rigging, hoisting and dousing sails. In most races a minute can be the difference between a good time and mediocre time. A minute is easy to spend trying to trim the sails for best performance, tune the mast properly, or deciding whether to change sails or not, rounding because the boat is overpowered or trying to figure out how to hoist a spinnaker. The team has to have most of the answers before they get on the course, not try to find them there and that happens only with experience.

Second, the lack of experience and practice makes everyone an expert and gives everyone's opinion a voice. Every decision is made by consensus in the midst of chaos, while nobody is focused on their particular role. Each role requires a lot of attention and focus at all times - it is a carefully choreographed play where everyone has a specific part. Making a good time on a course requires making the best of every wind shift, every tack and turn and great time on every leg.

So, get out, practice, measure and get better. And trust your team. You may be ready to win soon.