Garmin Foretrex 2001
More Speed Please
In one design boats there are many ways to increase speed. The most common way is through two boat tuning with a partner that has an equally well set up boat. Hours spent on the water recording tuning settings will usually result in speed improvements.
When you are training alone it is however much more difficult to make speed gains and to quantify them. Early in 05 I was lucky enough to be given a small wrist size GPS by Garmin to test and it has certainly helped me increase my speed.
The way I've done this is by just using two of its many functions - speed over ground and velocity made good. Initially I mainly concentrated using it to show me how much my speed dropped through my manoeuvres such as tacking and gybing and mark rounding. I kept practicing and changed the way I made the manoeuvres until I reached a point where the de-acceleration was minimised. I also where I could see it easily and I spent hours on the water just sailing up-wind endeavouring to keep the speed within 0.2 or 0.3 of a knot of the maximum I could achieve in the wind and sea conditions of the day. This total concentration on speed has certainly paid off and I now believe that my base speed is amongst the best in the fleet.
Sponsors Needed
Yachts & Yachting used a picture of me sailing in Palma, Majorca on the front cover of their 21st May 2004 issue.
Great coverage and very good news for Zurich, sponsors for the last two years.
I am currently seeking new sponsors and help is required at all levels.
November 7, 2009
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Michael Cogswell
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