DF95 Nationals - Too little too late

I find sailing radio boats fascinating. One day you can sail like a god, avoiding trouble going the right way and delivering results. Then out of the blue you have a shocker of a day and it seems whatever you do, you are destined to fail. Last Saturday was on of those days.

I touched so many boats I lost count. At the end of day one I sailed well enough for 11th place which is unlike me in the DF classes.

On Sunday I was back on form but we had too few races to recover into the top 3.

What was the debrief.

I started well and had great control of the boat before the gun and usually getting to the windward mark in the top 5 and then it all went wrong.

My judgement on positioning with other boats was so poor, I cannot remember how many I hit.

Several times I lost my boat or sailed someone elses

I missed shifts that were pretty obvious

After thinking long and hard about this, it all came down to concentration or a lack of concentration in my case. I do not know why and the lack of focus stayed with me all day. On Saturday night I went through the mantra of focusing on where the boat is in relation to the fleet, then wind and finally the course. If I keep these things in mind all the time I should do better.

Sunday was much better. I did not lose the boat once, mapped my walking routes before each race and was sharp on windshifts. However following the event, I knew I had to do better especially with the ranking event coming up. I think it all comes to concentration and I have to remind myself to have 100% focus and concentration and this needs to be practiced in everything I do.

Looking forward, while storm Amy does her thing, the DF event at Huntingdon this Saturday is postponed but the Clive Hand event is still in play. 8 more sleeps until the all critical ranking at Woodspring.