帆船赛技术分享之三 舵手与船员的沟通和交流Accommodating your crew for success

当你在评价你的船员和船队时，想想你有没有给他们足够的时间？你是不是每次都提前告知你的计划？百分之九十的操作失误来源于船长在转向或者升降球帆前没有与船员沟通好。我希望大家读到这篇文章时可以换一个角度想问题，尤其是再听到有人抱怨自己的船员时。...



今天厦门下雨，海上风小，在家喝杯咖啡顺便翻译文字分享给大家，祝大家周末愉快。另外插播一条消息，Jim去韩国比赛的帆船队因为队员临时有事空出两个位置，所以大家还可以联系我们报名，具体信息请关注上一条公众号文章

（译文）

舵手与船员的沟通与交流

我们经常听到舵手抱怨自己的船员，自己船员在比赛操作中的种种不到位。事实上，多出情况下责任不在船员，而在舵手。我可以地告诉大家：即使在船员水平不高的情况下，如果舵手根据船员的能力和配合熟练程度掌握好时机和节奏，也可以赢得比赛。不要一切求快而不顾及船员的感受。每个水手都会犯错，指责别人也无可厚非，但是作为船长，你也要及时承认自己的错误。你并不会因此失去面子，相反会赢得更多船员的尊重。



关于训练：任何船队都需要训练，但是我观察到一个不好的现象：训练中船员们只是学会了操作，而忘记了思考。船员在训练中该学会正确的时间进行正确地压船，船员操作时候该思考如何提高效率。对于船长，训练中交代好每个人的工作之后（比如张三负责前甲板，李四负责前帆球帆等等），船长要观察水手（操作完成得好坏，需要多少时间等等）。多数情况下，船员会很快学会自己的操作。但是想把自己的工作迅速做好，需要花一段时间进行训练。而作为舵手，了解船员们的操作时间至关重要，这样舵手在比赛时才能做出适合团队的决定。训练中每个人的资质和特点不尽相同，有人动作快而有的人理解舵手指令比较慢，船长在训练时针对初学者和优秀水手的训练内容也会不同，你可以根据船员的不同的特点提供帮助或者做出调整，但最终的目的都是让团队每个人发挥自己最好的水平。另外，作为船长要提前让船员了解你的计划，而后让他们去思考如何操作。比如过了一标之后，如果你已经有了计划，那就告诉船员们，我们要做几次顺丰转向，在离标多远时降球帆，让中舱的水手去思考如何完成这些操作。比赛时不能给水手们过大压力，比如在训练中你们在离标四倍船距离降球帆，而在比赛中你只给了船员们两倍的船距，那么操作中得失误就是船长的责任，因为你没有给船员们合理的时间，过了下风标还没有降球帆，后果很严重。





关于掌握时机：训练中的时机把握与比赛中相同又有所不同。我是如何训练水手们找准时机的呢？事实上，训练中升降球帆的次数越多，水手操作就会越快。举个例子来说，今天风力12节，我带了一个新手的团队训练，他们会操作球帆，只是没有在比赛中操作过。训练中我会记下船员们降球帆所用的时间。到了比赛中，第一轮比赛过下风标时我会提前更多的时间要求他们降球帆。新手在比赛中一定会紧张并且非常想做好。提前降下球帆会在心里上很好地缓解他们的紧张。第一轮的时候，他们可能会觉得我过早地降下了球帆，但是在过标之前一切准备就绪会给他们带来自信。于是他们可能会说，下次我们能做的更快更好。这时， 你在下一轮中压缩下风标降球帆的时间。这样的安排会比从头到尾一直让船员赶时间更稳妥。

关于比赛中的计划：在我掌舵的时候，计划和沟通十分重要。每一次转向时，我的口令都是“1 -2-3”在训练中我告诉我的船员，我喊“1-2”的时候，只有前帆手移动自己的位置。当我喊3的时候，船员移动到船的另一侧，同时前帆手松掉一侧撩绳拉紧另一侧撩绳。值得一提的是：当前帆手开始移动位置时，船长应该已经开始转向了，这样船向上风偏转可以抵消前帆手的位置移动，船体可以保持倾斜不变。但是不同的风况下我也会采取不同的操作，小风天的时候，我希望船能有更大的倾角，而不必太平。我会要求船员在转向后不要急于换边压弦，这样可以保持船速。而你如果在转向前没和船员么沟通这些细节的话，他们会习惯于在转向之后立即换边，此时船就无法获得加速度了。



关于球帆的计划：在船离岸之前，我们就该有一个计划球帆要在那边升？而离岸之后，最好在比赛前做几次球帆训练和模拟绕标，如果下风标的位置已经确定，那就模拟相似的角度进行一次绕标训练。并且此时你要做最后的决定，关于比赛时需要在那边升球帆，之后告诉水手们把球帆降到你希望的那一侧，这些都是赛前准备的一部分。比赛中，过迎风标之前，我会回顾我的计划，可能计划是过标后下风偏转之后保持航向，或者过标后尽快顺风转向，亦或是过标后顺风转向之后再升球帆。我会跟我的船员沟通好我的过标计划。这样做的好处是船员对计划心中有数之后会有自己的操作方案，如果他们不知道如何操作会提前问其他船员，不会影响到舵手的操作，舵手就可以专注于水面上的种种变化。过下风标的时候亦然，有时候过标的船很多我可能需要更多的方案，但是我一定会提前和船员沟通好。作为船长我会一直思考下一次在那一侧升球帆，这决定了船员会在那一侧降球帆

去年我带了一个没有比赛经验的团队参加中国杯帆船赛，船员们的操作效率并不高，但是我并没有给他们太大压力，因为比赛时有18节到20节的风，这已经超出了他们的适应范围。所以和船员们沟通好我的计划以及了解彼此的节奏变得至关重要。我在船上讲了很多我的计划，并且提醒他们注意各方面的细节。过标之后我没有让他们着急升球帆，而是等船平稳之后我们再升起球帆。新手总是着急升球帆，那样过标转向就会很困难，我告诉他们不着急，慢慢来，我可以轻松快速地过标。船过标平稳之后，船员们升球帆会更加得心应手。过下风标时，我也同样采用这样的方法，既然船员的操作并不娴熟，我在离标4-6船距时候就要求他们落球帆，对于很多人来说可能有些早，但是对我我的船员，在20节的风力下，早落球帆是正确的选择。早落球帆，我们并没有落下名次。有一个误区是这样的：很多人认为，如果我领先，我可以慢慢来，如果我在追赶前面其他的船，我就应该越晚降球帆越好。这时不明智的，时间太紧迫的话，你的船员无法完成好自己的操作。你可能会在过标时遭到其他船的抗议，你的船员也会抱怨你的决定，这是得不偿失的。

当你在评价你的船员和船队时，想想你有没有给他们足够的时间？你是不是每次都提前告知你的计划？百分之九十的操作失误来源于船长在转向或者升降球帆前没有与船员沟通好。我希望大家读到这篇文章时可以换一个角度想问题，尤其是再听到有人抱怨自己的船员时。人非圣贤，孰能无过，况且我们玩帆船是为了快乐。

（译文完）

Sailingin帆船队同时公布了下半年的参赛计划，会根据比赛招募部分学员水手，欢迎大家提前报名，也欢迎公司企业咨询赞助冠名相关事宜。



6月17日~23日

威海-仁川中韩拉力赛

6月30

新疆博斯腾湖国际帆船公开赛

7月16日-7月18日

富力湾杯帆船邀请赛（海南陵水）

9月4日

环渤海杯大帆船赛

9月18日

俱乐部帆船赛

10月15日-10月18日

柳州内河国际帆船赛

10月30日~11月2日

第十届中国杯帆船赛（40.7组）

11月6日-11月9日

西昌国际帆船赛

11月10日-11月13日

泸沽湖国际帆船赛

12月4日~12月12日

泰王杯国际帆船赛

3月中旬

环海南岛帆船赛

4月1日-4月4日

抚仙湖帆船赛

4月12-4月19

青岛CCOR城市俱乐部杯帆船赛

联系人：张先生 13976842736



Accommodating your crew for success

We have all heard it from the inexperienced to the experienced sailors.  They blame the crew for all the problems that go on in the boat.  But the reality is that its not the crews fault most of the time.  I am here to tell you that if the driver sailed the boat to the crews ability rather then push the crew to do what they are not comfortable with they can still succeed.  Everyone makes mistakes and it is ok to point them out but also make sure if you are a driver that you point out your own mistakes as well.  You will have more respect from your crew if you due.

Practice:  We all need more practice but there is an important fact about practice that most drivers trying to train a crew forget to think about. After you get past who's job is what when going up and down with the spinnaker, jibing and tacking then it really comes down to how well they do it and how much time do they need.  The crew in most cases can learn their responsibilities quite fast.  But to do it well takes time and with that time they get better at using their body better, moving their weight better and reducing the amount of time it takes to complete a task.  As the driver you need to be very aware of how much time they need.  What the practice is doing for the crew is very different then what the practice should be doing for the more experienced driver.  The crew is trying to figure things out to the best of their ability.  Some are slow, some are fast and some are just slow understanding why we do things.  But you as a driver have to work with what you have and make adjustments in the crew if you can to help the overall boat handling.  But more then anything you need to know their capabilities and let them know how you are going to communicate what you plan to due.  If in practice it takes 4 boat lengths to take a spinnaker down and in the race you only give them 2 boat lengths then any mistake the crew makes is really yours.  You didn't give them the time they need.  It is devastating to racing around the course when you pass the leeward mark and the spinnaker is still not down.  It is also devastating to the crew if you just yell at them the entire time for something that they were not capable of doing in the first place.  Think about the timing.

Timing: I talk about timing in practice and then timing on the race course.  How do I work this out for the crew and how do I push them to get better.  It is true that the more sets and take downs you do the crew does get faster.  I will run through and example of how I do this: New crew that are capable of putting up the spinnaker but have never raced before and we are sailing in 12 knots of wind.  We set before the start and in this practice I am confirming my timing as the driver on how fast they are getting the sail into the boat.  I take a mental note of this and the distance it took.  When we race the first race I normally ask for the spinnaker to come down before that time.  They are nervous and want to do a good job.  But the mental advantage of taking the spinnaker down early on the first takedown has huge benefits.  For one they may feel that it was easier then they thought, two they feel confident everything was done before they round and three they may be giving you some indication that they can do it better next time.  In that case you can push a little closer to the mark on the next take down.  But doing that with their input is better then just pushing the entire time.

Planning: If you sail with me as an experienced crew or novice, planning and communication with the crew is essential to good boat handling around the course.  Every tack the communication should be the same.  I say “tacking in 1,2,3” in chinese for my chinese crew.  When we practice I indicate to the crew that when I am saying “tacking in 1,2” the only person that should be moving is the cockpit person.  When I say “3” is when the crew changes sides and the jib is released and pulled in.  It is important that when your cockpit person is moving into the boat that you are already starting the turn ever so slightly so that their weight into the boat is countered by your turning of the boat so that the boat doesn't heal over any more.  Depending on the wind I also will instruct before any tack if I want some crew to say and not change sides so that in light air we can come out of the tack with some heal on the boat rather then flatten the boat out too fast with all the crew changing at once.  If you are not communicating what you want before you will find that the crew will change sides and the boat will go flat too fast and the boat will not accelerate out of the tack.

Planning for the spinnaker in most cases starts at the dock.  Which side should the gear be set up on or the spinnaker packed on. When out on the water it is good to do a set before the start of a race with a bear away set  like rounding a mark to port. If the course is already set put your boat at similar angles you think you will do racing.  Are you happy with a bear away or would it be better to set up for a jibe set.  You need to ask yourself this. Then tell your crew which side to pull the spinnaker down on so you are ready for the race. When racing I review what the spinnaker plan is when I am about ¾ of the way up the let.  “we are just doing a bare away set and we will probably stay for a bit.  Make sure we can jibe after the set if we need too”  or “ we are going to do a bare away set but I want to jibe as soon as your ready”  or  “we are set up for a jibe sit so we can pull the pole out and pull the tack out before we jibe the boat. It is ok to start pulling the spinnaker up once the boat goes flat before the jibe”  This communication lets people know what we are going to do so they can think about their own jobs.  If they have any questions they can easily ask someone next to them rather then bother the driver.  When doing down wind I am also very early and discussing the leeward mark plan.  In some cases their may need to be more then one plan if there are many boats but before we get ½ way to the leeward mark I have already given them what I plan to do or at least 90% of the plan so that they can think ahead.  As the driver I need to always think about which side do I want the spinnaker on for the next set and this  will determine which side of the boat you pull the spinnaker in on.

This past weekend I was racing the China Cup with a very inexperienced crew.  Overall boat handling was slow and not very efficient but one thing that I didn't do was push them too hard since we were also sailing in 18 to 20 knots which was out of their comfort zone.  So planning and timing with them was critical to make sure they were confident in the jobs that they were doing.  I talked a lot about the plans and gave more detail on what they would be doing. Rather then complicating things with the spinnaker I told them to forget the spinnaker until the boat was flat and we had rounded. With new crew anxious about putting the spinnaker up fast at the windward mark they always come into the boat too soon making it hard to bear off at the mark.  Tell them not to worry about the spinnaker and I can get around the mark easier and faster.  Crew also move much easier when the boat is flat so they are much more effective when you say its time to pull the pole out, tack out and then hoist. In the leeward mark rounding I also kept it very conservative. I knew their timing was slow so I actually took the spinnaker down 4-6 boat lengths from the leeward mark.  To most that would seem very early but for my crew that was about right in 20 knots of wind.  You don't loose much by going early.  The trap is this: if you are leading it is ok to be conservative on the take down.  If you are trying to catch someone you normally try and hold it longer.  That is most peoples mistake. Even when you are trialing you still need a good take down and you can't ask for the take down in too short of a time for your crew to do a good job.  I would go conservative almost every time. Granted as your crew gets better that conservative take down will be closer to the mark but don't push them too hard or you will come out of the mark yelling, slow and with a crew that is not very happy with you.  It just isn't fast.

So when you evaluate your own boat and your own crew. Are you giving them enough time?  Do you let them know consistently what your plans are so that they can think about their jobs before hand.  Keep in mind that 90% of the time there is a problem with a tack, set or takedown it is actually the driver that didn't accommodate the crew well enough making it harder for them to do a good job.  I hope that when you read something like this you think differently of the people at the club blaming their losses on their crew.  We are all here to have fun and everyone makes mistakes.

    关注 Sailingin