Chris Nicholson’s prowess in 18ft Skiffs and three World Championship titles in the early days of the 49er Olympic dinghy drew the attention of Grant Dalton when he recruited the Australian to join his crew for the 2001/02 Volvo Ocean Race on-board the Volvo 60, Amer Sports One.
Nicholson had been somewhat economical with the facts at the job interview with his new boss, as back then ‘Nico’ had next to no experience of sailing out of sight of land. But Dalton recognised the potential of this new breed of skiff sailor for understanding the demands of helming twitchy, highspeed race yachts like the VO60.
Nicholson showed he was worth the gamble, proving to be one of the fastest natural helmsmen of the boat, particularly valuable at night when ‘feel’ and instinct become even more crucial. Here he reveals five of his best tips for fast and effective steering at night.
However, as he points out: “The primary focus at all times is to keep everybody safe, and a good place to start is to have a clear compass heading to steer to.”
1 HAVE A SAFE NUMBER
Have a clear number in mind that you should be steering to. If the boat feels like it’s getting twitchy, know what your safe number is to bring it to a feeling of safety.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 2022-Ausgabe von Yachting World.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 2022-Ausgabe von Yachting World.
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Nikki Henderson- Want to be a better skipper? think like an instructor
Recently I was fortunate enough to find myself on the bow during a race. Well, I thought it was fortunate but appreciate that sentiment could be up for debate... I don’t get so much opportunity to play on the pointy end these days. It was fun!I was readying the symmetric spinnaker for a bear away set. Having just fed the sheet and guy around to the starboard side and under the jib, I was bracing myself in some sort of yoga-starfish position. Right foot braced on a stanchion, left foot on the pulpit, my core muscles just about keeping me upright as I rolled the lines around to make sure they weren’t twisted before attaching them to the clew.
NIKKI HENDERSON
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