Singlehanded Winning Attitude Study is Complete

[Foolish]

I have finished my study on “How to Maintain a Winning Attitude for the Duration of a Long Distance Singlehanded Race” based on the 2012 SH Transpac. Seven of the racers completed twice daily surveys on their moods, attitudes and how aggressively they sailed. I compared this with a study completed by racers in the crewed Vic-Maui.

You can find the complete study in Chapter 8-B of my book “Thoughts, Tips, Techniques & Tactics for Singlehanded Sailing – Third Edition” available as a free download at http://www.sfbaysss.org/tipsbook

As always, questions and comments are welcome.

Andrew Evans

[Philpott]

Thank you, Andrew. Again I ask whether you ever intend to publish this in a cheap (or expensive!) version. Some of us here in the SF Bay area still read books. When will you come visit? Assuming that Charlie was Jim Quanci, I think it might be useful to know the degree to which type of boat factored into the results. Jim might have settled into a comfortable cushion, poured himself a fresh cup of coffee and bitten into a croissant sent by his wife, while Ronnie was digging around trying to find a dry pair of socks under a pile of sails. Big difference in, as you call it, perception. Daniel Willey talked about napping on his 52 foot boat. No sleep deprivation there. Boat as variable, how about that?

[Foolish]

The book was laid out so that it could be easily printed. Just take it to any print shop and ask them to print it double sided, with the front and back covers on heavy stock. Then have it coil bound. I did a dozen copies at my last job where printing was free (at least free to me). These copies were all given to important singlehanders/friends of mine.

[Philpott]

Thank you. I didn't know how to do that, but now I will.

[BobJ]

This Friday night at Vallejo Yacht Club, Ruben Gabriel will talk about his SHTP experience and will show some never-before-seen video of the Bela Bartok rescue, from a rescuer's perspective. I don't know the time but it will probably be during the usual Friday night dinner at the club - I'm guessing around 1830.

Having talked to Ruben about his SHTP experience, I don't expect this to be the rah-rah "this was the greatest thing I've ever done" talk about doing the SHTP - I expect it to be far more sobering.

I mention this here because in his study, Andy refers to the point where Ruben just let the boat sail where ever it wanted to go, because he had to get some sleep. If you know Ruben and especially if you know the circumstances that led up to that decision, you know it had nothing to do with a lack of winning determination.

So like the choice of boat, there are other factors involved besides attitude.