Not ready

I was on the harbour with some beginner sailors last week. The conditions were very benign. Low wind, high sun - it was gentle and relaxing to be there. The task was to sail back and forth between two marks that were 50m apart. The boats did this in lackadaisical fashion, bobbing and bumping together with moments of breeze and clear direction. Shoes came off, hair was dipped in the water and the little fleet dripped with confidence and complacency. Then some wind came.


It wasn’t a lot of wind, however compared with what had been happening it was quite a shift. To manage this sailors had to sit up, steer, haul and actively control their boat to travel with direction and purpose. This proved to be very hard for the sailors.


Reflecting on the experience it feels like the main issue was the pre-challenge state of mind. If we had of pushed out into the wind that came at the end, I suspect everyone would have been focussed and ready to take it on and be successful. After an hour of drifting though it was very difficult to get back from the torpor the group had descended into.


It was a statement on mindset and preparation, potentially true beyond a boat on a harbour.