Memorial Day Training with Peter Alarie

We had a phenomenal training weekend with coach Peter Alarie this past memorial day. Below are Teds notes for those who weren't able to attend. We will be trying to get some pics and video up shortly, so stay tuned.  

Top Ten Takeaways from Memorial Day Training Weekend

1. Calibrate your boat up to the Glaser tuning numbers – even if you your sails call for something else, you must be on this system in order to compare settings boat to boat. I have the tuning grid and ram scale for anyone who did not get one. We used North Sails and were 100% on the Glaser grid the entire weekend.
2. Do not assume that your boat is setup correctly – nearly every boat measured was off significantly in some meaningful dimension – mast butt position, ram or rake
3. When in doubt, put your boat on the Glaser numbers if you do not feel fast – rake/ram/board – do not adjust one variable independently of the others – they are meant to work together
4. Mark everything – rake, ram, CB, vang, shrouds, jib leads, jib sheet. If it is marked, you can compare setups and replicate settings from day to day – there are too many variables in 505's to eyeball it
5. Gear must be setup to work throughout the range of conditions – this means the ability to rake from 25'8" – 24'10", ram from 0 to 15. Flattening reef is a must for lighter teams.
6. Biggest cause of flipping was hesitation on the windy gybes – boat must make a smooth turn from full wire through gybe – crew must come in off wire (trimming kite so it doesn't flog), blow pole, duck, flatten, and then get the pole right out and get back on wire. Peter noted that mounting the pole launcher cleat upside down helps in this evolution – crew swings in (already unhooked), blows pole while ducking under the boom in a single motion. Turn has to be smooth and fast - once the boat slows with the crew off the wire, pinch your nose because you are going swimming. Teams need to pick a good place to gybe – turning into the face of a wave was a sure invitation to capsize.
7. In breeze, crews must work to minimize time spent off the wire – this means getting out immediately once the kite is up in wire-running conditions, and out on the wire immediately once you tack – as Skip said "the crew's job is to put their head through the next wave on every tack". Peter noted repeatedly the length of time it took for teams to get off and running once they got the kite up – Parry set the bar, getting the pole out as the kite neared full hoist and swinging out on the wire as he made his final pull. Same concept on gybes. Crews can minimize this delay by pre-setting trap ring higher on final approaches to mark on port and starboard.
8. Keep the boat moving on windy wire runs – keep the heel and power constant – find the line where you are high enough to keep the boat ripping, but not heeling up and dumping power in the puffs – skippers need to make smooth turns down in the big puffs, but heat it back up as the power bleeds off. Many boats were consistently sailing too deep - you must be passing waves for wire running to be effective.
9. In light air – progression upwind with crew to leeward would have no vang, ram up past 0 and shrouds on hard (400 lbs as a starting point) – as crew comes to weather, uncleat ram up (should drop a few #'s), pull some light vang and ease shrouds for more power, ram no lower than 4 until you start to rake
10. Light air gybes are all about keeping the boat moving – big keys are to rotate the kite sufficiently, get a good roll in, and come out of the turn on the appropriate angle. Telltales on shrouds are a big help here.
11. Extra credit: contents of your lifejacket pocket should include a cassette tape for telltales, chapstick, a piece of spectra, some food, and the bag your sunglasses came in.