On Building Winning Team Work (Notes on Part 3: Good Function, Strategy and Flexibility)

Good Function, Strategy and Flexibility are three key differences between teams which hover mid fleet with lady luck seldom on their side, and boats which are on the podium more often than not.

Good function is a bit of a cover all phrase I threw in while making a skeleton for the blogg, but in fact on revisiting this term I think it is exactly right- function here meaning that both equipment works and is right for the task at hand, while also that the crew use it properly. A kind of pre-requisite is that helm and crew are in synchrony, not out of step with each other. This applies equally to strategy and tactics, but here it means that in manoevres, the helm calls them clearly and keeps an eye on the safety and progress of his crew through say a gybe or on the start, such that he doesn't get ahead of them and act as if they were fsiliure proof automatons.

Coreography then has to be firmly in place with the back , and this comes either from many hours of sailing together and analising the faults, or from being jockeyed up for a Regatta with 'rock star ringers' - throwing together some highly competent sailors on a well equipped boat to go trophy hunting at that Regatta,  Series or Nationals. Either way winning boats do just this. Crew who don't hold the learning curve or don't turn up to train round the cans need to be ahem, upgraded - ditched or given a wee-chat-in-my-office. Many national champions have sailed as a fixed team for years, and it is a crying shame that the yachting press give crew so little attention.

Any functioning organisation has a management information system, and this is part of "function' way beyond chart plotters. It is a two way street with info and suggestions coming from the rail, and also back. It need not be democracy, but it must be a well informed dictator who brandishes the stick. Usually some one calls the wind shifts and weather signs someone calls the boat threats and opportunities and imho, someone else should be holding an eye on tide and the clock.

Flexibility- plain and simple getting out of bad situations and taking opportunities on the fly. Mistakes and minor mishaps are recovered from, and on board accidents or near misses are taken seriously. Also in the big picture, analysing your startegic plan against actual conditions or performance. Cutting your losses in old money - if you have gone right and left pays, get over quick. If you get the best start and find yourself leading, cover the fleet rather than going right as planned say.

Further to this, flexibility means being open minded to conditions and possibilities within a given strategy. Many a boats throws away a great start and good first beat by not noticing that the second beat is on a permanent shift, or the course from  the leeward mark is skewed compared to the start line half way up it. Sometimes strategy itself has flexibility at its' core - in varied conditions with a bullish fleet, avoiding trouble longer down the line and sailing up the mid cours, taking in the shifts or up the 60' cone until any side becomes clearly better, or the fleet impeeds you and you go early right to get nearer the layline to ramp up places by gunning later right goers down on starboard.

What flexibility doesn't mean is dabbeling and fiddeling about. It is not carte blanche for a helm to try something out because he doesn't like being midfleet off a start, or throwing a corner flyer based on minimal evidence. On the water strategy conversely is not set in stone. You do not preprogramme the route and sail by autopilot. The simplest strategy I ever came upon was from one of the most successful of clyde yachtsmen, who said " get off the start line and tack on the first shift". Given no tide or wind bends, this is as cored down as you can get and is eminently flexible within a simple strategic tool.

Strategy: it goes beyond a wind and tide based plan for the race infront of you.
It entails for winning boats, discussing a race or series with your crew, appointing responsibiltiy for strategic input, measuring progress on the course or indeed through the season. As important as making a plan tuned to the expected weather conditions and tide then, is planning to overcome weaknesses, gain learning experiences and implement multiple, often very small improvements- see marginal gains blogg. In a season you can probably make one major gain in competence, say starts, while a good set of achievable marginal gains can actually make such a difference to for instance, boat speed, that you find you are showing a clean pair of heels to previous peers.

The secret between the leaders of any fleet and the hoi palloi, as I have said many times, is being able to stretch your neck out into clean air and have more open water for your next move and good starts, good boat speed and consumate manoevres. Sailing at the head of the fleet is like having your head out the fog too, because a light cover is easier to carry out within a strategy than fightij your way far left or right, while you have only a few boats ahead and around you tonactuslly worry about and to start tripping up as the wind shifts and roundings pile. Strategy helps get you there over time - learning how to put one in place and whatnis a successful approach to race, series and season.