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Teamwork...

Teamwork is a critical component of racing boats fast. There have been some great individuals that have been rubbish sailing together, and some merely good sailors that have combined to achieve great things. This is the section where we look at this fascinating and sometimes mystical subject. Definitely an art more than science, but worth studying all the more for that very reason...

Terry Hutchinson high-fiving after a Melges victory
Terry Hutchinson and team high-fiving after a Melges 24 victory


Featured Articles

  What makes a Team? Patience & Bithell talk
Luke Patience & Stuart BithellVideo: Luke Patience & Stuart Bithell talk about the mutual trust and respect that's required for success at Olympic level. Luke might be the helmsman, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's the boss. Successful dinghy sailing teams are built on equal partnerships, not hierarchies...
  Team Dynamics - Part 2
Emirates Team New Zealand bowmanEmirates Team New Zealand is competing on the Audi MedCup Circuit as a test bed for everything they do as and when there is an America's Cup for the Kiwis to get their teeth into. Team coach Rod Davis says one of the key areas that they are focusing on is how the sailing and design teams work together. "My job is to try to promote the learning process between the sailing and design teams, to build up the communication between the different parts of the team," he says. "It's a good dress rehearsal for the same process that we'll have to go through when we start building up to the next America's Cup."
  Team Dynamics - Part 1
Bowman acrobaticsProfessional sailing teams love to measure stuff. If it can be calibrated, it will be calibrated. And so America's Cup teams will go through 200 or more keel bulb designs, and test hundreds if not thousands of hull shapes, sail shapes, mast configurations, deck layouts, and so on. But what about the human element? Do sailing teams invest as much time and effort in perfecting the human technology on board the boat?


  MP3: Being shouted at? Should you stay or should you go? ***
Adam BowersTop coach and former Fireball World Champion crew Adam Bowers has been through his good and bad sailing partnerships. Most of us have endured being shouted at, and I doubt many of us get much pleasure out of it. So we asked Adam about how to make sure you're in the right team, and if you're going through a rough patch, when to work through your 'marriage problems', and when to walk away...
  The Koster Brothers: For better or worse
Sven & Kalle KosterVideo: Sven & Kalle Koster are one of the top Men's 470 teams in the world. They are one of a number of brother teams competing in Olympic sailing, but is sailing with your sibling good, bad or both?
  Ed Baird talks Team Work on Melges 32s
Ed BairdEd Baird has returned from the rarefied world of America's Cup racing to do some good ol' fleet racing in sportsboats, in this case a Melges 32 in Miami. Talking to Justin Chisholm from Offshore Rules, the American pro sailor shares his views on mental approach, learning from mistakes, and how the team works together...
  Why shouting gets you nowhere fast ***
A quiet boat is a fast boat, according to Tom Burnham, the pitman on top TP52 Quantum Racing. Which is why it's good to have a team where everyone knows what's going on tactically - even the musclemen on the grinding pedestals. And a shouty boat is nearly always a slow one. Tom offers some tips for how to reduce the noise - and stress level - on your boat...
  MP3: The right ingredients for winning teamwork with Etchells World Champ Nik Pearson ***
Nik Pearson won the Etchells World Championships doing the bow for skipper Stuart Childerley and Simon Russell working the mainsheet. Every team is different in its make-up of skills, but there are some good general principles of communication here that will work for any sailor looking to improve teamwork in the boat.
  MP3: Teambuilding in sportsboats with Justin Chisholm ***
The Melges 24 class is so tough, the demands on team work and good communication are very high. Justin Chisholm made some radical recommendations to improve his team's performance, and luckily he wasn't thrown overboard...
  Tough Team Talk from Terry Hutchinson ***
Tough team talk from Terry Hutchinson, after a couple of unusually bad days from the Quantum Racing team. A big insight into the professionalism and focus of a top racing team. These post-race debriefs are critical to making improvements the next day, especially when things are going badly...
 
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