TopTips2020 #30 - Routine for Big Events - by Craig Williamson, GBR
Craig Williamson is a regular at the very front of our RS Aero 7 championship fleets and brings a really good competitive ethos. Here he explains the process of touching all the bases to ensure your best chance of a top result;
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Developing a Routine for Racing at Big EventsI personally find that nerves can get in the way of sailing well at bigger events or important races, and a strategy that has helped me with this is by developing a race day routine. Sticking to this routine gives me a bit of familiarity and something to focus on other than the race day nerves. It can take a while to develop and refine the routine and it is good to practise it regularly at smaller events, training and club racing so that it becomes very familiar to you. Then when you are under the pressure of a bigger event or important race you can just click back into your routine that you have done loads of times before.
These routines will be unique to everyone, but some of the things that I will be thinking about every day at bigger events are:
- Waking up and eating at a regular time in the morning
- Foam rolling/warm up exercises for about 15 minutes
- Listening to music - I have a pre sailing playlist!
- Preparing food and drinks bottles for the day (e.g sandwiches/fruit for before launching, bars/gels for my lifejacket, electrolyte sports drinks for on the boat, milkshake recovery type drink for returning to the shore after sailing)
- Checking the forecast (wind strength, forecast direction changes, tide times)
- Getting to the boat park early and getting the cover off
- Putting the boat near the slipway
- Have a practise sail to get used to conditions - ideally with someone else so that you can compare notes on strategies for the day
- Pre-race routines (line bias checks, planning race strategies etc)
- Washing the boat down after racing and drying kit
- Review of the day (want went well, what could be improved) - I like to talk this through with other people
- Evening recovery (good nutrition, hydration, foam rolling/stretching 20-30 minutes)
- Relax and have some downtime
Once you have developed a good routine, it is also important to be flexible and able to adapt it - for example if there is a long on shore postponement it is important to be able to relax and chill out, ready to get back into the routine when the postponement comes down.
Craig '