The Cocoon of Concentration

Harvard's Cardwell Potts and I focus on our next move during a close race at the 2004 College Team Race Nationals




The saying goes: "How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, Practice, Practice!" It is certainly true in laser sailing, because technique and execution are the only things that seperate the champions from the pack. But what is accomplished in days upon days of practicing boathandling and speed testing? In the past week I've sailed in a three day training session in Massachusets with fellow competitors Emery, Clay, and Ben, and now I am sailing for three more days with the team at my alma mater, Hobart.

The benefit of dedicated practice is that it not only hones the skills and techniques that we use to make our boats go fast, but that it also gives us a daily dose of pure concentration. Practice is a time when we leave behind distrations and enter the "cocoon of concentration", a place where your thinking mind becomes quiet and your actions and instincts take over.


Reknowned basketball coach Phil Jackson writes in his book "Sacred Hoops": "Basketball is a complex dance that requires shifting from one objective to another at lightening speed. To excel, you need to act with a clear mind and be totally focused on what everyone on the floor is doing. Some athletes describe this quality of mind as a 'cocoon of concentration.' But that implies shutting out the world when what you really need to do is become more acutely aware of what's happening right now, this very moment. The secret is not thinking. That doesn't mean being stupid; it means quieting the endless jabbering of thoughts so that you body can do instinctively what it's been trained to do without the mind getting in the way."

9th at CORK

This past week I placed 9th at the CORK regatta in Kingston, Ontartio. This made me 4th American in the 120 boat fleet against the best competition that we have had in North America this summer. Canada's Bernard Luttmer, who is ranked 12th in the world, won the regatta on his home turf in tricky conditions that made it very hard to be consistent. A frontal weather system was fighting the normal southwest Kingston lake-breeze, which made the wind shifty and random throughout the five day event. Many sailors were heard screaming at the wind mid-race as it shifted away from them or as a huge puff filled in on the opposite side of the race course.

I sailed well overall, although I kept myself from having a really great result by being too conservative on the second day of the regatta. The Pin end of the starting line was heavily favored, but there was a black flag up throughout the day, meaning that any sailor who sailed over the starting line before the starting gun would be automatically disqualified. I didn't want to take that risk, and so I started away from the pack. It was a safer move, but it essentially gave half the fleet a head start in each of the three races we did that day. I learned my lesson, and I will certainly be on the attack throughout the Olympic Trials Regatta in October! It is a winner take-all event, so the challenge will be knowing when to make aggressive moves and go for the win, and when to play it safe and mark down some consistent scores. Ah, sailboat racing!

Training Camp in Kingston

Emery Wager and I will be in Kingston, Ontario from August 15th- 22nd for 8 days of training and competition. We are staying in the Dorm's of St. Lawrence College, with our own refrigerator's to fill with good, nutritious food, which is a real treat when you spend most of your time on the road! There is also a gym right across the parking lot for some post- sailing work outs. We'll be practicing with some of the top Canadians over the next three days, and then competing in the Canadian Olympic Training Regatta, CORK, from Saturday to Wednesday. It brings back memories for me, because CORK was the first big regatta I ever did, back in 1998! It's nice to be back almost ten years later.

4th at US Laser Nationals

Charley Williamson and I pose with our awards after the US Nationals. As a teenager, I spent my summers practicing with Charles, who is also a world reknowned physics professor at Cornell.

Last week the Laser Tour took us to Mallet's Bay, Vermont, just north of Burlington, for the 2007 US Laser Nationals. Mallet's Bay is just off of the main body of Lake Champlain, and is surrounded by green mountains on three sides. I arrived at the Mallet's Bay Boat Club on Tuesday evening, and I was happy to see about 15 lasers ready to go out for the local Tuesday night race! I joined the group for the evening races, and it was a great opportunity to get to know the local sailors and enjoy a really nice sunset. Sometimes Laser sailing is pretty nice. I retired to the van/RV for the night, excited about the week to come.

After practicing on Wednesday and Thursday out in the main bay, the racing started up Friday with a great 10 to 15 knot breeze and warm weather. I was feeling pretty sharp that day, and my new boat was all dialed in and going well. I scored a 2nd and three 4th's based mostly on good starts and staying out of trouble around the course. That put me in 2nd after the 1st day.

Day two was a trying day, because there was hardly any wind. After sitting on the water for 5 hours in postponement, we finally raced starting at 3 pm, but the wind completely died half way through, and we were left to drift to the finish. The race took two hours and was very frustrating for everyone, but it is the regatta organizer's decision to keep racing.

On the last day, we managed to get in two races in a variable wind that ranged from 0 to 15 knots. In race one I put my faith in the left side of the course, but it soon became clear that the right was going to pay. And to add to that problem, the 1st place competitor, Canada's Dave Wright, was putting a tight cover on me and forcing me further to the left side! Dave knew that I was the closest threat to his lead, and so he decided to focus on me rather than the fleet, putting me in a tough position. Meanwhile, USA's Trevor Moore was in the lead in the race, with Kyle Rogachenko in second! They sailed a great race, and that shifted the results so that Kyle placed second overall and Trevor placed Third. I finished 4th and training partner Emery Wager was 5th out of 83 total competitors.

Leaky Boat, 2 OCS's make BBR a tough regatta

The Buzzard's Bay Regatta (August 3-5, New Bedford, Mass.) didn't go as well as planned this weekend, although it was a good warm-up event for the upcoming US Nationals and CORK regattas. After a week of driving cross country and getting organized on a new coast, I wasn't feeling too energetic, and it showed with a couple of big mistakes mid-way through the regatta. On Day Two I started two out of three races just over the starting line, meaning that I was scored OCS (on-course-side) and received 65 points per race. Each competitor is allowed to drop one score from their overall point total, so I was able to not-count one of these big scores, but the other 65 I had to count, driving me well down on the results page. I did win the final race of the regatta, but overall I was feeling a bit off-point and my concentration was lacking. I finished 14th out of 64.

Another setback was the fact that the brand new boat that I purchased on Thursday was a lemon and leaked over a gallon of water into the hull on Friday and Saturday. I made sure that Vanguard Sailboat's knew that I wasn't so happy about that, and so on Monday I went to the factory and traded the boat in for another new boat that hopefully will not leak at all. No permanent damage done, but it was a distraction.

This week the Laser Tour takes us to Lake Champlain, Vermont for the US Nationals. The Regatta will be held from August 10 to 12th, but I will be there for practice starting on Tuesday the 7th.

Thanks to the Nadler family for housing me along with friends Trevor Moore, Emery Wager, Mora O'Malley, and JM Moddisette. Your generosity is appreciated!

IYC Sailing Presentation

Thanks a ton to everyone who came to IYC tonight for my presentation "The Road To The Olympic Trials".

The turnout was awesome, and I really enjoyed talking with all the sailors and supporters who came! And on top of that, it looks like we raised over $1500!!!!!! I really really appreciate everyone's generosity and this money will really help me be as prepared as possible for the Olympic Trials this fall. It was also great to see that the young sailors are still playing WallBall at a championship level! Just like old times. Thanks again, and I'll be back in Ithaca in the end of August!