Little League Sailing


There have been a few posts out there in the cyber sailing world about coaching from the sidelines as it were... When kids race solo (or single handed), they're sometimes followed around the course (at various distances...) by a parent. Such support boats shall now be referred to as Mommy Boats. The thoughtful parents follow at a distance. There's no yelling or obnoxious coaching. They're there in case of an emergency (meaning the boat is swamped and the kid has trouble righting the boat type of thing... not a "YOU NEED MORE VANG" emergency). Not all Mommy Boats are as courteous and thoughtful of others... Imagine all of the little league parents being able to following their son or daughter around the field giving direction and "encouragement". Sometimes it's bad enough when they're relegated to the sidelines.

My approach is to be in the same boat... racing together as a team. I'm sure this causes some problems too. There are just some people that should not race together... or hang wall paper together... or ... you get the idea. (For the record, J2 and I make a great wall paper hanging team but I know that's one task that has great potential to strain a relationship. Sailing on the other hand... Let's just say we didn't get off to a good start and save it for another post.)

Nope, I'm looking forward to racing and learning with Trev. I hope we have fun and learn about sailing and racing our Lido and see signs of improvement... That's it.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I have just returned from serving as a judge at the Snipe Nationals where thgere were a bunch of parent - child teams. That's one of the reasons that I love the class

Hugh Elliot
6:25 PM
Tillerman said…
Thanks for the mention of the Mommy Boat post. I don't think I'd do well sailing in a tw-man boat with my son. Nor do I want to follow him around in a Mommy Boat. (He is almost 30). The solution that works best for us to sail Lasers in regattas together. we did that when he was a teenager and have started doing it again this year.
5:39 AM
smittynewpt said…
Major League Luxury Box...
When you put together a Campaign for a twelve year-old like for the Sabot Nationals held in Newport Beach, and the SI's say No parent on the water... or else the kid gets DSQ'd, thats pretty tough, especially when the coachs are on the water talking to each other about the nights party.... Hey I'm all for that but when it's out -of-pocket, I want a better seat than at the dock, outside the race courst just like the America's Cup, Gov. Cup, Congress. Cup are for spectating and to prompt the sport. The Sabot Nationals are so "OLDE" school, they even mention that it's been done this way for years.... WAKE UP.
8:35 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blue Like Jazz

Image
We've been reading this book by Donald Miller . It's about his life and faith. What's the connection to Jazz in the book? So far, Miller hasn't talked about this theme very much (at least not explicitly). In the beginning of the book, he mentions that Jazz does not " resolve " for him and that similarly he thinks God does not resolve. What does it mean to resolve? resolve v. tr. 1. To make a firm decision about. 2. To cause (a person) to reach a decision 3.-8. [...] 9. Music. To cause (a tone or chord) to progress from dissonance to consonance. 10.-14. [...] Looking at the 9th definition related to Music, Miller suggests he hasn't found a progression from dissonance to consonance in his experience with God. dissonance n. A harsh, disagreeable combination of sounds; discord. Lack of agreement, consistency, or harmony; conflict Music. A combination of tones contextually considered to suggest unrelieved tension and require resolution. conso...
Read more

Bike Commute - Day 8

Image
"Wet ride?" Well it started out pretty dry (relatively). It wasn't really raining (even my my standards of humidity). Then it started raining about half way but not too bad. I didn't wear my "rubber pants" and stayed dry (again relatively). No rooster tail up the back side. Trevor's fender works as expected... I gotta get me some of that. I've ridden almost 130 miles and saved about $19 (just in gas)... but I've spent a little bit more than that on bike lub., tire levers and a pump... and obviously fenders are next. Still it saves gas and mileage on the ve-hicle (the four wheeled vehicled and internal combustion engine vs. the two wheeled vehicle and internal digestion engine). DAY Date Time Distance Cumulative Distance Savings Total Savings Weather 8 5.24.2006 0:41 7.96mi 118.96mi $2.35 $18.73 EUG 7.96mi 126.92mi
Read more

The RC is Always Right....

Image
Except when they're wrong and succumb to pressure and personal bias... Tillerman is at it again with another assignment. Last time, in response to his request for Worst Sailing Mistakes , I posted a story about my Protest Shoe . Overall the response provided many funny stories and a few intense ones. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt (emotionally or physically) in the making of these stories. This time the assignment is Top Race Committee Screw Ups . First and in general, these (for the most part) volunteers to a great job. We couldn't have fun racing without them. The good ones run a race or regatta in such a way you hardly know they're there. On the other hand... they do occasionally make mistakes. In a regatta on our local lake, we were racing on Sunday. IIRC, the points were quite close. We were setting up for what was likely the final race of the regatta. The committee put up the course label and the sequence was rolling. We made sure we new the course, studie...
Read more