This past weekend, eight boats showed up at the Surf City Yacht Club in NJ for the District 1 Snipe clinic: two intense days of training, drills, and laughter with Greg Fisher. The level of the group was high and little time was lost on shore with boat tuning; instead, since we all craved boathandling and starting drills, that is what Greg gave us. Start after start on short lines, long lines, boat favored lines, pin favored lines, and best of all the chance to hear in the bellowed voice of boat driver Jack Elfman when you actually hit that elusive spot.
Greg's attitude was as always light and friendly, which spilled over to the rest of the group; though we are all good friends, we are not used to cooperating with each other on the water. But since there were no trophies to be won (or lost), and since everyone would go home a winner as long as they learned something new, all were open to critique and pushing the limits of boat to boat interaction. The buzz words by the end of the day Saturday were, "It's just a clinic", which seemed to excuse all sorts of rule testing.
Two favorite drills: the first was "raise your hand when you think you are on the starting line." My crew Jerelyn Biehl and I hit it right a few times, but it is surprising how variable your perspective is even when the line is short and there are no other boats around. No wonder it is so hard to figure out in a real racing situation.
Our second favorite drill was "stop and go". All eight boats started in a line up; one whistle was stop, two whistles was go. It was easy to tell if you were gaining or losing on the boats around you, but it was also easy to leave your ego at the door; if the boat above gained, you could always get your crew to say they weren't totally stopped. (The penalty for not stopping was buying the drinks after racing, so she was probably lying, but it helped.) Later on we got to apply our newly learned skills to acquire and protect a hole on a very short starting line.
The video Saturday night was also enlightening; how often do most of us get to rewind our sailing and have it analyzed by 17 of our closest friends? We picked Greg's brain for two hours about sail trim and mast sag as well as angle of heel and boathandling techniques, though we probably only scratched the surface of what he knows about making a boat go fast.
But the best part was that everyone had a good time and learned some new tricks in a very non-threatening but competitive atmosphere. Try crossing that guy who's on starboard... he won't hit you or throw you out of anything crucial, but he will tell you if he had to duck. After a not so stellar start, ask the boat who managed (again) to steal your hole with ten seconds to go what you could do differently. Tack in underneath that guy on starboard layline and see just how close you can push it without a foul.
All in all, Greg's clinic was a great addition to the Snipe calendar. Eight boats evenly matched creates a fantastic learning environment, and I recommend it for every fleet. Just get your reservations in early.
RESULTS Most Improved Mark Schneider/Ashley Schneider Best Gybes Paul Cronin/Kate Fears Most Determined Darryl Waskow/?? Most OCS Carol Cronin/Jerelyn Biehl Most Vocal Lee Griffith/Lisa Griffith Most Quiet John MacRae/Barb Evans Flattest John Manderson/Monique Gaylor Highest Pointing Pedro Lorson/Mimi Berry