Improving Targets

This is perhaps the time of year where many of us think back over the past year and consider what we might do differently in the next year. It is inevitable as both the calendar and seasons change, so with this in mind I am going to give you the targets that a sample of sailors I have coached have on their list, as well as their clinic experiences. I also turn the spotlight on my own sailing and explain what I will be targeting personally in 2019.

When I came to my first clinic in 2016, I really wondered if it would help me improve. Especially when I read about Jem Hall´s advice like long harness lines and big footsteps, I was not sure if I would even like to follow those tips, because they were the complete opposite of what I had done so far. But I finally decided to try, and not half-heartedly, but to give it a real chance, you know, going for it and do whatever the coach would advise me, irrespective of all my former experiences and thoughts. And then, after a one week clinic I could actually decide for myself if this style suited me or not.

And…WOWWW! In this first clinic I changed everything; I learnt to get REALLY LOW, learnt to trust my gear, and myself, and sail faster than I ever did before. My stance transformed so much that people who knew my windsurfing previously asked me what I had done, as they couldn´t recognise my style any more. For the first time I had the feeling of being a proper sailor, not a tourist on a windsurf board.

One year later, on my second clinic, I started carving gybes and fast tacks. They were awful in the beginning, but with hundreds of attempts, they got better and better. On my third clinic in 2018, I completed better carving gybes, a much higher percentage of dry fast tacks and finally played around with duck gybes and chop hops.

During this time, I felt more and more like a windsurfer and living this sport rather than just a nice holiday extra.