B – ACTION A rib and at least one extra crew/sailor on board. The number of 420 boats that you are going to use depends on the level of your teams, always remembering that safety comes first. 1. Communication with the sailor 2. Control of the boat a) Steering through the waves b) Balance of the boat during or after the gybe (or both)
Line up the team to downwind, set the spinnaker but keep enough distance between the boats, to avoiding any contact if anyone loses the control of the boat while gybing If the teams start performing well while gybing, upgrade the difficulty of the exercise and ask them to gybe within 10 seconds after your whistle
1. One of the main problems for the helm is how to steer and keep the control of the boat. Ask him to steer the boat fast, especially through the gybing moment 2. It is very important to keep the bow out of the waves 3. For the crew the main issue is to keep the balance of the boat especially right after the gybe 4. If the crew(s) cannot perform the above exercise properly, you ask them to abandon it and perform regular gybes without spinnaker
If the helm loses control of the boat, he should ease the leeward sheet and reduce the power of the spinnaker until he regains control of the boat. Then he can sheet back in. Difficulties that may occur here is that the spinnaker sheet may pass over the boom Ask the helm to hike while the crew sets up the pole and steers the boat higher than normal if possible
The debriefing will be longer than normal because you must discuss and comment on: Mistakes on gybe especially on balance The reasons that the boat capsized at times Ways to recover faster from capsize
Improvement Exercises for Coaches and Sailors
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