Fear Itself

My great friend and sailing compadre, John Morran, has a 12 year-old daughter named Meredith. She is rapidly becoming obsessed with racing her Laser 4.7 with our fleet of 25 or so Lasers on Wednesday nights here at the Austin Yacht Club.

Meredith is truly passionate about the sport and is like a sponge when it comes to absorbing information. The best part of what I see in Meredith is that she is absolutely fearless! It doesn't matter how hard it is blowing or how many times she capsizes. She is giddy when she is out sailing her Laser.

A few Wednesday nights ago, I was set up near the pin end of the starting line, defending my position from the boats to windward of me and was confident that I was going to win the start. With about 10 seconds before the start, out of no where, Meredith comes cruising in from behind with speed, ducks to leeward of me and absolutely nails the pin end at the gun with great boat speed.

She doesn't have the experience yet to maintain a top position in the fleet around the whole race course but eventually she will.

After the race, I asked her how she knew the pin-end was favored? She quickly replied "because that was where you were starting, Scott". I almost fell out of my boat laughing but later reflected on the simplicity of her strategy and the fearlessness she showed in executing it.

How many of us purposefully start at the wrong end of the starting line because we are afraid of mixing it up at the favored end with the top boats? Why do we accept mediocrity and settle for the "pecking order" when it comes to how we approach our strategy for racing.

What is so wrong with coming into the start a little late with speed and sailing into the hole that Russel Coutts worked so hard to create? What is he going to do to us for taking his position on the starting line? Its just a sailboat race!

Why not pick a regatta on your schedule and decide from the outset that you will not worry about your overall finish, but that goal will be to get in to the mix on every start and perhaps even have an OCS or two to show for it?

What is wrong with deviating from the standard operating procedure that usually results in mid-fleet finishes?

Getting good at starting is kind of like getting up on a wake board for the first time or learning to snowboard. There is a lot of pain in the learning phase but once you have that "eureka" moment, suddenly it almost seems easy and effortless. And.....once you learn how...you never really ever forget.