ADAPT
The BSA visits a wide variety of locations and over the course of the season we usually get the chance to race on every sail and board in the quiver. It really is a question of trying to ensure that you perform well whatever the water state and wind strength. At times it may be better to be on comfortable, controllable kit than kit that has outright speed at the expense of comfort. The nature of our low-pressure systems means that the wind strength can change frequently during a day’s racing and so you need to learn to sail both over and under-powered. We often race at locations at which it is difficult to change sails between rounds and paying close attention to the most up-to-date forecast can help you make the right choice when you are deciding what kit to race on for what might be a stint of a couple of hours.
LEADING
You definitely have to get used to leading a race. I remember one of the first times that I led a national level race was Hove many years ago and with Jamie Hawkins hunting me down I felt myself tighten up and start to sail with the jitters. What you need to do is relax and remind yourself that you are in the driving seat. You have clean wind and the luxury of choosing your gybing line on undisturbed water. Over time I have learned to enjoy the lead and I am sure that I am harder to overtake as a result.
PUSHING
When it comes to winning events and championships it is very important to stand back and look at the bigger picture, knowing when to push and when not to This is especially so in the heat of competition. There is always a danger in slalom of getting drawn in by emotion and pushing too hard at times when you should be racking up a safe finish. The races are over so quickly that there is a fine line between success and failure. When you are pushing hard it is very easy to make a mistake or two and then have a bit of bad luck. The next thing you know you are coming to the end of an event with three poor results and only two discards and your overall championship campaign has taken a big hit. Looking back to the first event of the 2016 British Championships and the wind finally arrived in Weymouth in the last possible hour of competition. There was going to be one final to determine the event result. I chose to start upwind away from the Ross Williams and Kevin Greenslade GA/Tabou duo, as taking them on at the pin end of the line would have been a very high risk strategy. Getting rolled by one or both of them may well have set me up for a disastrous event result which could have compromised my whole 2016 campaign. With the lower risk start I had no hope of a win but I was able to come away with a third place, which was very acceptable in the circumstances.