Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Melges 24 Boathandling Sets

Video from source on youtube by:purolio

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Thistle Nationals 2007-Day 3

Scott Griffin and Skip Dieball talk about the 2007 Thistle Nationals in Eugene,OR

Monday, April 16, 2007

Quantum University Opens Spring Training

Quantum University Opens Spring Training

Yesterday I conducted my first seminar and on the water clinic for the Spring Semester of 2007. I thought it might be helpful to review the format used, the objectives for the day, and the lessons learned from the experience.

West River Sailing Club, located just south of Annapolis, has invited me for some years now to conduct an opening day clinic for their “Big Boats”. Since the timing of the event usually falls on the weekend of my birthday I consider it my annual present to myself to accept their invitation! It occurred to me on the drive home last night that my dedication to conducting this seminar was in the simplistic beauty of the format they have developed and should be shared for your consideration.

The Format:

Advertised as “Spring Sprints” we endeavor to put together a fast paced, all encompassing day that is more familiar to dinghy clinics. We start the day with a seminar at 9:00 A.M. for an hour or so while the weather settles in and then go onto the water for drills followed by a wrap up concluding in time for all to make their commute home to fulfill family and social obligations. Given that this is the first time back on the water for most, and that many are using this opportunity to try out or get new crew acclimated to the boat and teammates the event is not result orientated; rather the objective of achievement is in skill building and “mistake correction and avoidance”. more...

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Create Focus for 2007 Part 8

Part 8 Is Enough

Over the course of these last two months I have had the pleasure of introducing to you my concept of Creating Focus and presenting some tools, both empirical and practical to help you do just that. My motivation for this topic was that from my experience giving seminars and lectures, many of you really did not have a plan for your racing; most felt that the sheer quantity of racing experience would lead you to the Promised Land and had not paid much attention to the quality of those experiences. Somewhat frustrated by this perception I once asked a spontaneous, rhetorical question of my audience: more...

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Create Focus for 2007 Part 7

In this installment we will speak of using more traditional, but costly tools for improvement: Sailing Schools and Coaches. I know that many of you are going to be reticent continuing with this article with the reasoning that you have been sailing since you were a kid, have been racing for years and what of any value could a sailing school teach you? Are you, with all that experience getting the results you should be? Can you honestly say your program has been improving from year to year in a measurable, noticeable fashion? Come with me and let’s get some value… more...

Create Focus for 2007 Part 6

I recently attended a leadership conference at the United States Naval Academy where former Super Bowl winning NFL coach and television announcer Dick Vermeil was the keynote speaker. I took note that in the evening’s program listing Mr. Vermeil’s accomplishments it gave his reason for retiring from coaching the Philadelphia Eagles as “burn out” – in italics even! I recognize that this is true even in sailing, which we do supposedly for pleasure. I have wondered about the teams that race every race but have no improvement in their standings, about the boats that have trouble keeping crew for any extended period of time, the new additions to the fleet with so much promise and excitement that disappear after 3 years. In this segment we will focus on how to avoid burn out and keep our learning curve, energy, and excitement at a high level! more...

Create Focus for 2007 Part 5

We have all seen onboard footage of Grand Prix racing where the crew executes everything from slight sail trim adjustments to wholesale direction changes and sail sets with few words spoken. As admitted amateurs we think to ourselves: “They are professionals, they practice, they know what’s coming next.” We have also seen a now infamous clip from the internet of the down wind boat with the big guy in the middle bellowing directions and invectives constantly while the seemingly hapless crew scurries around trying to fulfill their master’s demands, feeling more and more like laboratory rats on a treadmill. My bet is that the noise and anxiety level on your boat around the racecourse is somewhere in between, but that there is still room for improvement. more...

Create Focus for 2007 Part 4

Bary has been sailing and racing since he first set sail on the tidewaters of Stone Harbor N.J. at the age of seven. In 1988 Bary moved to Annapolis accepting a newly created position of J-24 Coach with in the Offshore Sailing Program at the United States Naval Academy. Since 1992 he has been employed at Quantum Sail Design Group working in the Annapolis loft. He began his Quantum tenure working in the spinnaker department and moving through the loft. Today Bary is a seasoned a sail designer and director of Quantum's global standards program.

“The key to winning, from a Laser regatta to the America’s Cup, is time in the boat”. Countless better authors before myself have preached this concept from their pulpit. What they don’t say, but are implying without elaboration is that you need “quality” time in your boat. Some people achieve this through countless hours in the boat, but for us regular folk we need to know how to maximize our limited hours available. I would define quality time as looking at the conditions for your practice session, the number of crew available and then deciding what you would like to work on for that particular time frame. Below I will give you some example drills and the purpose behind them; they may seem basic but are the first step in mastering your tool of choice, your boat. more...

Create Focus for 2007 Part 3

Bary B. Gately has been sailing and racing since he first set sail on the tidewaters of Stone Harbor N.J. at the age of seven. In 1988 Bary moved to Annapolis accepting a newly created position of J-24 Coach with in the Offshore Sailing Program at the United States Naval Academy. Since 1992 he has been employed at Quantum Sail Design Group working in the Annapolis loft. He began his Quantum tenure working in the spinnaker department and moving through the loft. Today Bary is a seasoned a sail designer and director of Quantum's global standards program.

Most of us can name two revolutions that have seriously affected how business has been done in the past 200 years. The first, long before our birth, was the Industrial Revolution and the second, which most of us have lived through, is the Information Technology Revolution. Both of these caused a paradigm shift in the workplace and, hence how management and workers alike viewed their roles and relationships in the workplace. more...

Create Focus for 2007 Part 2

Bary B. Gately has been sailing and racing since he first set sail on the tidewaters of Stone Harbor N.J. at the age of seven. In 1988 Bary moved to Annapolis accepting a newly created position of J-24 Coach with in the Offshore Sailing Program at the United States Naval Academy. Since 1992 he has been employed at Quantum Sail Design Group working in the Annapolis loft. He began his Quantum tenure working in the spinnaker department and moving through the loft. Today Bary is a seasoned a sail designer and director of Quantum's global standards program.

In my first installment I argued that part of the problem with underachieving racing teams is that while they all want to win, they don’t have the focus necessary to create a plan for that success. In this segment we will begin what to address what we need to focus on and start putting in place some plans and tools. more...

Create Focus for 2007 Part 1

Bary B. Gately has been sailing and racing since he first set sail on the tidewaters of Stone Harbor N.J. at the age of seven. In 1988 Bary moved to Annapolis accepting a newly created position of J-24 Coach with in the Offshore Sailing Program at the United States Naval Academy. Since 1992 he has been employed at Quantum Sail Design Group working in the Annapolis loft. He began his Quantum tenure working in the spinnaker department and moving through the loft. Today Bary is a seasoned a sail designer and director of Quantum's global standards program.

This being a time of transition from one racing season to the next I thought it would be an appropriate time to reflect on my observations from coaching sessions this past season and pass them along in hopes of helping you find your 2007 racing season more fulfilling. more...

Bary Gately's Bio - The Instructor

Bary B. Gately has been sailing and racing since he first set sail on the tidewaters of Stone Harbor N.J. at the age of seven. He grew up racing and crewing in dinghies such as the Sunfish, Moth, Comet, Penguin, G.P. 14, and others. He began working for five-time America's Cup sailor, John Wright while in high school gaining him experience in boat building and rigging as well as an introduction to keelboats like the J-24, J-27 and J-29. Around this time he began his speaking career by giving a series of winter seminars for the local G.P. 14 fleet on subjects such as rules, boat layout, tactics/strategy and such.
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