This is the first post of hopefully many that will allow for open communication among racers here at MCSC.
The goal is to be able to make posts and comment on posts in order to organize people, discuss racing, and all around be able to communicate openly with other racers.
Right now the blog is a work in progress. Feel free to contact me with comments or suggestions.
Joe
Milwaukee Community Sailing Center's Racing Blog
Welcome to the MCSC's online racing blog. Our goal is to stimulate and facilitate open discussion on racing topics and allow everyone to see recent updates in news, events, and results from the local and national racing circuits, including MCSC's summer regatta series. The blog is managed by Joe Fillingham, MCSC adult instructor and racing contact.
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Contribute to the Blog
Contributing to the racing blog is simple. There are two ways: one, make a comment on a current post to stimulate further discussion on the topic, or two, join the list of blog contributors by signing up for a google account yourself and sending this information and your intentions to
Joe Fillingham at jhfillingham@gmail.com,
who will make you an official contributor. Once you are a contributor you can make posts on the blog on topics that are important to you. These posts can be read and commented on by all blog readers. Anyone and everyone is welcome to join and contribute. Hope to hear from you!
Joe Fillingham at jhfillingham@gmail.com,
who will make you an official contributor. Once you are a contributor you can make posts on the blog on topics that are important to you. These posts can be read and commented on by all blog readers. Anyone and everyone is welcome to join and contribute. Hope to hear from you!
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8 comments:
Just a test to see if I am set to post. Thanks for getting us set up Joe.
Hello MCSC racing enthusiasts!!!
Mel
I Love the lead picture, how many times are we in the grove and forgot we are on port.
Just remember at MCSC even if your on starboard your still on port as Jeff graciously demonstrated in last Sundays race.
Thanks to Joe for organizing this site. The discussion last night was very interesting and fruitful. At the risk of being presumptuous, the general theme of the discussion was “How to attract more members to racing and maintain interest in new racers.” That would be a worthy goal.
There are several things I really like about the set up right now and I hope we maintain:
o We get lots of races in. The more starts we have and marks we round, the more we learn. We did 4 races last week. In many fleets, it takes a month to get that many starts in.
o The racing is low key. Nobody gets too bent out of shape. We don’t keep score.
I had some ideas about attracting and keeping newer skippers. For the neophyte, it has to be fun. Going out losing the first time may not be fun. A new skipper may not understand how to helm the boat competitively, and may not know the rules either. Considering that they may be up against other skippers with decades of experience, I wouldn’t like those odds either. Here are some thoughts on how to keep people coming:
o Share knowledge: Take 10-15 minutes before the skipper’s meeting to go over topics to help newer skippers be more competitive. Our races are short, so it’s easy to focus on just a few things that can make a dramatic improvement. If all the teams knew how to set-up the boat for racing, how to get a good start, and basic helmsmanship, there would be an immediate and dramatic improvement. We could also use this blog to share information along those lines.
o Make sure we canvass the newer skippers at the skippers meeting and try to get them out with experienced skippers. This is sometimes done, but often not.
o Explain to everyone that we are trying to develop the newer skippers so they are aware of what we are doing and why we are there.
o Stick around after the races to discuss what happened while it is fresh in your mind. Taking off without having some sort of time to talk is not only socially inept, we miss the best opportunity to review what worked or didn’t work. I always enjoy the group that convenes after the series races. The discussion is always lively and entertaining. We might consider a very short low key BYO social event after the races to kick things off.
o Encourage people to participate by having them helm the boat at least one of the races. Ashley mentioned that you sometimes have to be pushed like she was. (I bribe her with a cappuccino on Sundays, if you want to call that pushing. Otherwise she’d sleep until noon.)
Gale warnings tonight on the lake!
Joe-
You desperately need some current pictures!!
Ashley
Skippers make lousy crews...
I finally figured out why I was having so much trouble with the spinnaker today. I was so preoccupied with everything else, I put the pole on the wrong side.
Fortunately, Ashley had a good day at the helm with some good starts and unpwind legs, but she has (rightfully) laid the blame on me for an abysmal downwind performance today. While I have maintaned that I really like that we don't keep score, she's put this one down in my permanent record. The ignomy!
Joe:
Is there a way to change the rake on the soling mast? I noted that Cypress is raked significantly and enjoys decent upwind performance but Barracuda is almost vertical, didn't point as well as Cypress, but outpaced cypress downwind. Also, we were block to block in Cypress when sheeted in whereas Mark and Jim in Barracuda said their boom was high. I don't see any adjustment on the headstay.
Signed,
Seriously Sheeted in on Sunday
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