Sailing Skills Clinics in Antigua: Learn to sail course for novices in the Caribbean
Racing Skills Clinics
Sailing on a Cruising Yacht is one thing – Sailing on a Racing Yacht is something completely different!
All manner of practical and theoretical elements are involved, and if you have a competitive streak, and a desire to win, you have to know what they are, and be proficient at all of them!
Some of these skills will come from your sail cruising experience, but many are specific to yacht racing and must be honed to perfection.
It is the driver that wins a motor race. It is the crew that wins a yacht race!
Of course technical design, build quality, and reliability of the equipment play a part, but these factors alone are not sufficient to ensure victory. Combine them with an effective, competitive crew, and you have a potentially winning combination.
Our Racing Skills Clinics run over 5 days with tuition from our professional racing skipper Lorna Saunders. Throughout each Clinic you will learn:
- Weather – how to read it and how to use it.
- Tides & Currents – spend some time on local knowledge
- Tactics – the fastest time between two points is not necessarily a straight line.
- Boat and Sail Handling – close quarters helming, fast sail changes. Spinnaker hoists and drops
- Weight & Balance – keep an even keel.
- Preparation – the 6 P’s
- Team Work – this is what a successful crew is all about
- Sail & Rig Trim – millimetres matter
- Safety – don’t leave anyone out on the race course
- Do Nots – any one of these could ruin everything
- Positions & Crew Boss – who are the best people for the job and who manages them
- Starts - time lost here is difficult to make up
- Mark Rounding – slick and fast as vital seconds can be lost
- Racing Rules – understand and obey them otherwise races are lost in the Protest Room
- Time Keeping – critical at the start! Good idea to check at the finish also
- Course Management – know where you are and where you’re going
- Sailing Instructions & NoR's – written rules that must not be broken
- Handicapping – understand your competition
- Race End Debrief – improvements can be made. Understand what they are.
Ideally a Racing Skills Clinic will run immediately before an event, and is best suited to full crews wishing to charter the yacht for racing. Training will be on the chartered yacht and your skipper/tutor will be with you throughout.
Our Race Charters offer 2 days of Yacht Familiarisation and Training as part of our Charter Packages. Racing Skills Clinics are optional. It depends how much you want to win!
Alternatively, we will consider training individuals providing we have sufficient crew on board to maximize the benefit of the training.
Please contact us for details