Get this on your Christmas list!
Over the years, there has only been one job on the boat for me and that was cockpit, or ‘pit’, and I have never been needed to (or indeed wanted to) make tactical decisions on the water as the boat I sail on has a top tactician already on board, so when over the summer I was called upon to ‘do the tactics’ I was understandably quite daunted but agreed to give it a go.
We managed to get around the courses really well and I made some great decisions, based on nothing other than a ‘gut-feeling’. I even helmed to win a race! But sometime during the summer I realised that although I had learned quite a bit about decision making, I didn’t really know why or what I was doing and I wanted to understand the basis for my instincts.
Luckily, I bumped in to Jon Emmett, Professional Coach and National, European & World champion who handed me a copy of his book ‘Be Your Own Tactics Coach’.
I set to work, reading each section and going through the diagrams, then watching out for the scenarios on the water each weekend and it all started to fall in to place. I started to unravel the rudimentary understanding that I already had and fill in the gaps, picking up new tips along the way.
The most useful parts of the book for me were the pre-start and starting sequence as that is something which just bamboozles me! Talk to me about line or course bias and wind shifts and you may as well be speaking Cantonese! But the diagrams in Jons book really explain these scenarios simply so that I can understand them. I still need a greater knowledge of the racing rules, and a lot more practice, but with my new understanding of the basics, I feel that I can be more involved in the team and help with decisions.
To conclude, I would say that whether you are a solo dinghy sailor, or part of a large team, or if you never even go within 2 feet of the tiller! you really should read this book. It will undoubtedly make you a much better crew.
‘Be Your Own Tactics Coach’ is available NOW at Amazon.co.uk. While you are there, why not check out the hugely popular ‘Be Your Own Sailing Coach’.
