PREPARING TO WIN

Soling gold medalist Robbie Haines explains his priorities when getting ready for one-design and big boat regattas.

DAVID: One of your secrets to success has always been preparation. What makes you good at this?

ROBBIE: When I was growing up, I sailed with a guy on a P Cat who said that one of the worst ways you can lose is to break down. That really had an impact on me, and ever since I've been a fanatic on preparation.

Once you've decided to go to a regatta, what are the first steps in planning?

Before any regatta, I check over every part of my boat to make sure it's not going to break. When anything looks marginal, I replace it.

Another important thing is taking care of your bot­tom. I can't tell you how many programs I see where bottom preparation is almost totally neglected. If you use a diver, one of the biggest problems is that many of them usually clean tugs. Make sure your diver knows what you want for a racing bottom, and don't be afraid to check your bottom yourself the first time or two.

Before you go to an important regatta, ask your sailmaker to come take a look at your sails. Often your sails will need a little tweaking because they have aged or because you have different wind or wave conditions where you are going.

Putting together the right crew is also very impor­tant, of course. On bigger boats, I consider the bow and pit to be the two nerve centers of the boat, so I start my crew selection by getting two good people for those key spots.

When you're serious about doing well, you should also learn as much as possible about local wind and weather in the place where you're going. That's why it's good to get to the regatta site as early as possible. When we were doing our Soling Olympic campaigns, we were often the first competitors to arrive. We'd go to the local airport and establish a relationship with the meteorologist there. After a week or so, we'd know what our confidence factor was in the local forecasts.

Good boat preparation is obviously key to getting ready for a big regatta. On what areas do you concentrate? I focus mostly on the bottom and the rig. With the hull, for any size boat, we make sure the bottom and foils are fair and smooth. With a dry-sailed boat, of course, we'll finish the bottom with 600-grit wet/dry sandpaper.

If the boat is wet-sailed, it's easy to fall into the "out ol' sight, out of mind" mentality. Ideally, I like to haul it out a few days before the regatta and sand it with 600-grit. At that time I'll make sure the leading and trailing edges of our foils arc straight. And we make sure the propeller is as smooth as possible. Most big boat propellors have a cotter pin that sticks out -make sure this is pcened over. Take the zinc off the strut and use a flared cone just forward of the strut.

With the rig, the goal is to make sure it's straight in the boat. The halyards should be examined frequently for wear, especially around the nico-press thimble and where the line runs through the stopper.

Other areas to look at for breakdown prevention include your sheets, right around the J-lock. The boom vang is probably the part of the boat that breaks the most. Therefore, be sure to check the mast and boom where the vang attaches, and don't over-vang on the race course. On smaller boats, make sure you also check the tiller head and hiking straps.

Now that you sail mostly bigger boats, how is preparing for a regatta different?

I think preparing for a big boat regatta is really quite similar to getting ready for a one-design championship, except for one thing. The more people you have in your crew, the more complicated things become. You end up spending a lot more time organizing and less time sail­ing. This is true even with smaller boats. For example,

I've found it much easier to prepare for Star regattas than for Soling regattas. Mostly that's because you have one fewer crew.

How important do you consider practice time?

Practice is critical if you really want to win. It's proba­bly never possible to spend too much time practicing, because there's always something else you can do to go faster or to prepare. Getting your crew to work well together is so important that I often choose an above average crew who can spend time practicing over a superior crew who only shows up for the races.

Since no one has unlimited practice time, use the time you have as effectively as possible. Set up a rea­sonable practice schedule well in advance. This might include one afternoon or evening session each week during the month before your regatta. Then, when you sign up crew, have them commit to these sessions as well as the racing. Make sure you communicate often and clearly with everyone.

Once you get out on the water, use your time to work on those skills that require the most teamwork, like tacks, jibes, sets and takedowns. Leave things such as rig tuning and sail checking for those times when you have less than a full crew. I think it's a good idea to schedule at least one or two work sessions along with the other practice time. By getting everyone to work on the boat, you'll increase their commitment to the pro­gram and improve your preparation too.

How do you prepare psychologically for a big regatta?

I don't do anything too tricky. Since I hate going into a regatta and not being organized, the best way for me to prepare mentally is to do a good job at all the things we've been talking about. If I'm convinced that I've done everything within my power to prepare my boat and crew for the regatta, then I'm in great shape to start that first race. I also try to have fun.

Do you have any secrets to success in managing all the details necessary to get ready for a big regatta?

I think the key is paying attention to small details. Your goal is to be organized in advance, so when the regatta comes around you can focus completely on the sailing.

One thing I've never been too great at is keeping good records of the races and regattas we sail. Ideally everyone should have a notebook that includes what the wind did each day. weather conditions, waves, mis­takes you made, ideas on how to avoid future mistakes and so on. It would also cover ideas about regatta preparation, practice sessions, crew communication, a regatta checklist and boat repair notes.

Another area that needs a little pre-regatta thought is protests. Having served on many protest committees, I can tell you that winning or losing depend at least as much on how you present your case as on whether you are right or wrong. When I go to a regatta, I usually bring a duffel bag containing the rule book, appeals book, Dave Perry's book, Elvstrom's book, boat mod­els, protest forms and so on. That way I don't worry about what will happen if I'm in a protest.

What's your strategy for each race of a regatta?

A lot of it depends on your boatspeed. If you're fast, you have the luxury of not needing to take very many risks. In other words, you don't have to start right at the favored end, and you can stay close to the middle of the course. When you're slow, however, or sailing poor­ly, you have to consider a few more risks.

I'm a firm believer that you shouldn't take major chances early in a regatta. I've lost many regattas by making silly mistakes in the first couple of races and not being able to recover from them. Some people think that when you have a throwout it's OK to take chances early on. However, I disagree. Try to save your throwout race as long as possible.

How do other competitors enter into your tactics?

When I was younger I was pretty ruthless. I tacked on people when I didn't have to, and that came back to haunt me. If you make enemies on or off the race course, I guarantee you won't get many breaks whenev­er you're behind. So you must pick and choose when you will tack on people. If you don't have to. don't do it. Buddy Melges taught me this because he is such a nice guy both on and off the water.

Before the regatta, it's a great idea to cooperate with your competitors. The only exception might be at the highest levels where you're competing with some­one for an Olympic berth. Howewr, in almost every other situation you can learn a lot by teaming up and helping each other. Most other sailors will try their hardest and give you honest answers. On the morning of a race, I almost always look for the fastest boat to tune up with and see how we're going.

Which of your past regattas do you remember as being particularly successful in terms of preparation?

I guess I'd have to say the f984 Olympics because we peaked at just the right time and won the gold medal. Peaking is a difficult thing to describe. One thing that's important is to avoid burnout. At the same time, you have to keep working hard and focus on your ultimate objective. For example, our goal in '84 was not just to make it to the Olympics; we wanted to win the gold medal. Therefore, after we won the U.S. Trials, we couldn't let down at all. We had to stay confident. •

David Dellenbaugh, former starting helmsman for America3, publishes Speed&Smarts, a monthly newsletter of how-to information for racing sailors. For subscription information call: 800-356-2200. To order a new subscription, click