Sailing Drills Presentation [Compatibility Mode]

This presentation is about ways that you can offer drills that will improve your practices,

and what pitfalls to avoid when running these drills. This video is off of sailgroove.com and and what pitfalls to avoid when running these drills. This video is off of sailgroove.com and

shows the Hobart/William Smith Sailing Team and their coach Scott Ilke.

1. In the video we saw that 2 of 3 drills focused on starts.

2. Often times having imperfect conditions/set up will mirror what your sailors actually

see, especially in high school regattas

As we developed this presentation we asked sailors and coaches for ideas for the drills

(what better source?). This was what we specifically asked for, although we didn’t always (what better source?). This was what we specifically asked for, although we didn’t always

get this specifically. Our goal was to make this as straight forward for you as possible.

Please also keep in mind that you may know a drill under a different name or a variation on

one of these. These are just a few that we’ve found successful.

We’ve tried to break the drills down into a few categories.

Ideal Wind condition: Any

Number of boats: 3+Number of boats: 3+

Equipment required: Whistle, 1 (optional) mark, powerboat

Goal/Focus: To create an even start for all competitors

Running the Drill: Pick one boat to be “the rabbit” and have them prepare to do EITHER a starboard or port tack approach. All other

competitors will assume a position opposite to that of the rabbit. Run a three minute starting sequence and at go have “the rabbit” sail

in front of the fleet at full speed. All the other competitors should duck the rabbits stern. Once all boats have sailed past the rabbit,

he/she is allowed to tack.

Things to keep in mind:

You can use a mark to indicate one end of the mark if the rabbit is having trouble starting. The rabbit

should round the mark to leeward, essentially making it a starting line guide mark.

Make sure that all sailors are clear that they must sail BEHIND the rabbit.

MYSTERY STARTS

Ideal Wind condition: AnyIdeal Wind condition: Any

Number of boats: 1+

Equipment required: Whistle, 3 marks (4 if you set a windward mark), powerboat

Goal/Focus: Staying close to the starting line, accelerating quickly, holding a spot

Running the Drill: Setup a starting line (one end can be your powerboat if you choose). Begin a three minute starting sequence but any

time after you reach 1 minute you can blow go. This means that you can start the race at :50 seconds or at 4 minutes AFTER when go

would have been.


Make sure sailors are aware of how current effects them trying to hold a position.

This drill works very well for the sailors who have a difficult time holding a position on the line, or are

in perpetual motion.

BOX STARTS

Ideal Wind condition: Less than 15 ktsIdeal Wind condition: Less than 15 kts

Number of boats: 2+

Equipment required: 4 marks (5 if you set a windward mark), whistle, powerboat

Goal/Focus: Teach kids to stay close to the starting line, operate in tight spaces and be on (or close to) the starting line at go.

Running the Drill: Set a starting line using 2 marks. Drop a mark directly below the port end mark (approximately 200 feet). Set the

fourth mark parallel with mark # 3 but approximately 50-75 feet past the point where it would be perpendicular with the starboard end

of the starting line. Run a 3 minute starting sequence. Any sailor who goes outside the box during the 3 minutes must do either a 360 or

720.


Depending on wind and number of boats you can adjust the size of the box. Sailors must be aware of

where everyone else is.

This can be mixed in with a mystery start for added effect.

TIMED STARTS


Number of boats: 1+

Equipment required: Whistle, 4 marks (5 if you choose to have windward mark), powerboat

Goal/Focus: Starting with speed, being on the starting line on time

Running the Drill: Set up two identical starting lines, one of which should be :20 seconds upwind from the other (will vary depending on

wind). The lines should be positioned so that sailors can make the further upwind line on a close hauled course. Start a 3 minute

sequence. At :20 seconds, the sailors can start sailing towards that upwind line, which is the ACTUAL starting line.


Sailors must be aware of how much time is left until the start and be able to hit the line with speed.

The distance between lines will vary depending on the wind conditions.

The drill is very useful but sometimes tough to set up.

TRANSIT DRILL


Number of boats: 1+

Equipment required: Whistle, 1 mark, powerboat

Goal/Focus: Identifying when your boat is on the starting line

Running the Drill: Set up a starting line which is long enough to mimic whatever the size at an upcoming regatta will be (longer for bigger

fleets, shorter for high school races). Have the sailors sail through the middle of the line and raise their hand (or shout) when they think

their boat is on the line.


The coach can blow the whistle when they are ACTUALLY on the line.

Works better with many boats otherwise the “down time” makes the drill get boring quickly.

Sailors can set up on one end of the starting line and find something on land to use as an indicator,

or transit, of when they’re on the line.

HOLD POSITION DRILL

Ideal Wind condition: 8-12 knots (current can be a big factor on this one)Ideal Wind condition: 8-12 knots (current can be a big factor on this one)

Number of boats: 2 (must be done in pairs)

Equipment required: Whistle, 1 mark

Goal/Focus: Holding position, boat handling

Running the Drill: Drop a mark in the water and have each boat set up, about 1 boat width away, on either side of the mark. Starting at

the same time, both boats should try to hold their position next to the mark and keep themselves in line with the other boat.


The mark in this drill simulates a space on a starting line while the other boat simulates the

competitor.

Sailors should use all means possible to keep their boats in position including sail trim, weight

placement and rudder movement.

Having a little bit of wind and a very small amount of current is helpful for running this drill.

LATE SHIFT DRILL


Number of boats: 2+

Equipment required: Whistle, 6 marks, powerboat

Goal/Focus: Teaching sailors to avoid going to laylines too early; Handling wind shifts.

Running the Drill: Set up a starting line and a windward mark square to the line directly upwind. Then place 2 marks on either side of the

initial upwind mark. Designate the marks 1 to 5 from left to right. Run a 3 minute sequence and immediately before the :30 second

whistle, announce which mark you will be using.


If you are limited on marks you can use 3 windward marks instead of 5.

You can announce a change in the windward mark AFTER the start to simulate a wind shift.

20 POINT DRILL


Number of boats: 3+

Equipment required: 4

Goal/Focus: Boat handing in close quarters and practicing penalty turns

Running the Drill: Set up a medium sized triangle course. Run a 3 minute start (can be done with two marks or a rabbit start). The 1st

boat to reach the windward mark must do a 720 but gains 3 points, the 2nd boat must do a 360 but gains 2 points, and the 3rd boat gets 1

point but does not have to do any penalty turns. The drill continues on a continuous loop until someone reaches 20 points.


Remind sailors that are doing turns to stay clear of the fleet.

If you have 6 or more boats, the drill can be broken down into groups of (approximately) three boats

to ensure lead changes.

CONE DRILL

Ideal Wind condition: 5+Ideal Wind condition: 5+

Number of boats: 2+

Equipment required: Two marks, powerboat, whistle

Goal/Focus: Identifying laylines

Running the Drill: Set up a starting line between two marks and place your coach boat in the center of the line, approximately 2 to 3

boat lengths to windward. Your boat will BE the windward mark in this drill. Run a three minute sequence and then accelerate far

enough up the course where the farthest boat away cannot make the “layline” between the start line and the back of your engine. As

sailors approach the laylines you’ve created, they will have to tack more frequently creating congestion at the top of the “cone.”


Sailors who sail past the layline will force you to drive your powerboat up the course.

If you have sailors who are well ahead, you can send them back into the drill.

SUICIDE SLALOM

Ideal Wind condition: More is betterIdeal Wind condition: More is better

Number of boats: 1+

Equipment required: 4 or more marks

Goal/Focus: Handling buoy room, close reaching high/low situations and off the wind boat speed

Running the Drill: Set up 4 (or how ever many marks you have) in a row running windward to leeward, offset for tight reaching. Have all

sailors line up at either the top or bottom and through the course.


This drill works better with heavier wind, however, the more wind you have the farther apart the

marks should be.


Number of boats: 1Number of boats: 1

Equipment required: 4 marks

Goal/Focus: Improving starts and mimicking tight mark roundings.

Running the Drill: Set up a medium sized modified triangle course. Run a 3 minute start (the starboard end can be a mark or your coach

boat). After the start the coach will call “UP”, “Down” or “Out.” Up indicates that sailors should sail for the windward mark, Down

indicates the leeward and Out means they should sail to the reach mark. Sailors will complete a race from whatever mark they are first

sent to.


This drill is excellent at producing pinwheels.

Remind sailors that any collisions still require penalty turns.

Ideal Wind condition: 10 knots+ (more is better)

Number of boats: 2+Number of boats: 2+

Equipment required: 4 marks

Goal/Focus: Perform gybes under control

Running the Drill: Set up 4 marks so they look like a diamond. Sailors should sail around the course clockwise, gybing at each reach mark.

The mark that they gybe around is the most important one because a bad gybe will lead to not coming out high enough to lay the top

mark. The marks need to be square enough so that sailors can make the marks on the next upwind closehauled course.


The drill should be set up so that a sailor who has a bad gybe cannot make the next mark without tacking.

Adjusting the marks is key to this drill staying fun and productive

Sailors must be aware that in this drill boats will be tacking and gybing AT EACH OTHER and therefore they must remember that the rules still apply.


Number of boats: 1 (but a larger number is better)Number of boats: 1 (but a larger number is better)

Equipment required: Whistle

Goal/Focus: Boat-handling downwind on reaches and runs

Running the Drill: Drill can start in almost any location, but is usually started from a downwind start. Boats all start out on one gybe

(usually starboard). One whistle is a transition from run to reach or reach to run and two whistles is a gybe (reach to reach or run to run

depending on what point of sail their on).


As a variation you can add three whistles which means to do a 360.

Sailors should work on not having too big of a gybing angle.

DOWNWIND LEAPFROG

Ideal Wind condition: 8+Ideal Wind condition: 8+

Number of boats: 4+

Equipment required: 2 powerboats

Goal/Focus: Improving mark rounding skills and acceleration on reach legs

Running the Drill: Line up all boats in a row facing upwind on either port or starboard tack. One coach boat sets up at the end of the line

on the side that all the boats are facing. The other coach boat sets up on the other end of the line but 3-5 boat lengths directly

downwind. The coach that is further upwind blows a whistle to start the drill at which point the sailors will bear off and round the coach

boat as if it were a reach mark. After rounding the 1st boat, the sailors will head for the transom of the next coach boat, in turn rounding

that boat.


Can be done with multiple types of boats (lasers & 420s) but they should be approximately the same speed.

Any sailor who hits a coach boat must sail off, do a 360 and return to the drill.

PIG IN THE MIDDLE


Number of boats: 3 (or any number as long as they’re in groups of 3)

Equipment required: Three Marks

Goal/Focus: Practicing passback

Running the Drill: Set up a medium size triangle. Determine which 2 boats are teammates and which boat will be the “pig.” The pig starts

the drill in 2nd place. As all three boats start sailing upwind, the goal of the first boat is to find a way to get his partner, in 3rd, in front of

the “pig.”


If you have an odd number of boats you can keep them going on a rotation whereby you have one

“Pig in the Middle” drill going while the other two match race, then switch.

Other variations on this: 3 vs 2 or 2 vs. 2 (last boat loses). When running 2 vs. 2 it often is easier to

run an actual start to begin the drill, then rotate the teams frequently (at every 2 marks).

GEOGRAPHIC STARTS


Number of boats: 6 (split into two groups of 3)

Equipment required: Three Marks

Goal/Focus: Controlling an area

Running the Drill: Set up a modified windward/leeward course using the committee boat as one end of the starting line. Split the

starting line into three sections- Pin, Middle, Boat. Have each team of 3 assign one section of the starting line to a member of their team.

Run a 3 minute start and at go the assigned boat should be in their designated space.


Boats are not “locked in” to the specific location until the start. Sailors should be encouraged to use

the skills learned in other drills (like the Hot Box) to force their opponent off the starting line.

Documents

Sailing Drills Presentation [Compatibility Mode]