With advice from champions, your boat becomes a missile

Training to win, making the boat walk, optimizing the crew, making the right choices on the race course.
We have gathered some insights on top-level preparation with advice from champions are being developed at the Caprera Sailing Center Academy, which concludes Oct. 19-26 with the Master’s Course by champion Roberto Ferrarese.
An advanced coaching course in the beautiful area of the Maddalena archipelago.

With advice from champions, your boat becomes a missile

When we attended the Caprera Sailing Center Foundation Academy Master’s program, we understood the value of high-level coaching and, with advice from champions, how great sailors train.
To get on the podium, constant training is essential, where you improve yourself and challenge yourself.
This year Roberto Ferrarese is the super-expert coach, a sports psychologist, who will be the protagonist of the Masters week from October 19 to 26.
Both CVC students, who have passed the 2 Academy levels, and already experienced crews from other classes such as J70, J80, RS21, MELGES…. can sign up.
Champions such as Ganga Bruni and Giulia Conti have helped create over the years, together with the instructors of the Sailing Center, an educational training course of excellence.

• REQUEST COURSE INFO

THE SECRETS OF WINNING TRAINING

At the Caprera Sailing Center Academy, you learn how to train to perform at your best on the race courses by having that overview explained by the champions, with advice from the champions who give concrete examples to try every day on the course.
Personalized coaching, and an opportunity to compare yourself with others.
You come out better because you learn more about yourself in racing, and you take home concrete ways to build your own coaching program.

LEAVE AS A RED MOON

We have all observed Luna Rossa’s maneuvers at the start against Team New Zealand in the America’s Cup Round Robins (Checco Bruni’s “Let’s roll over them!”), but how many have really understood tactically when you can decide to put them into practice?
At the Academy we talk about this too of course, Roberto Ferrarese is among the leading experts on Match Race, tactics and strategy, but also on communication with the crew, developing a Plan B, concentration, anticipation, planning.

• REQUEST COURSE INFO

THE ANALYSIS OF THE RACE COURSE

The study of the starting line is one of the most fascinating topics that are part of training, and on the analysis of the race course, a number of topics proper to a sea school return: the observation of water and wind conditions.
Synoptic analysis, local weather analysis, orography, and the study of the course and routes serve to define the racing strategy and tactical options in different situations.
Arriving prepared at the start means knowing how to optimize wave and gust management to one’s advantage, as well as optimizing tacking based on strategy and tactics.

CONCENTRATION AND CALM

One of the themes of the Master’s course is the state of Flow, or the ability to concentrate during sporting activity, and Roberto Ferrarese will explain how to maintain a state of Grace under Pressure, or keeping calm and elegant even in very difficult situations, teaches how to enhance motivation, individual preparation for the race, and optimal interaction between the various roles on board starting from the concept that all-around well-being facilitates good performance.

• REQUEST COURSE INFO

PERFECT IN TRIM AND SPEED STEP BY STEP

One improves, achieving trim speed and perfect times, by successive approximations.
Among the advice of champions given by Ganga Bruni, we recall this example: if you arrive long at the buoy, for example, you repeat the maneuver anticipating a few boat lengths.
You check the result, maybe you are a little too fast, then you repeat by delaying a little … and so on for dozens of times, going to correct by successive approximations, until the timing is perfect.
This method applies to start & stop, tacking in the bow with roll, bare-away hoisting, lowering from upwind and downwind, Gybe-set hoisting, ”kiwi drop” lowering, but also to self-pen maneuvers and handling 360s with white sails and with Gennaker.
That’s why training with thousands of tacking and hoisting is needed to become a champion….
In the evening, we de-brief with analysis of the videos taken from the dinghy, correct mistakes and understand why a crew came before or after us.

MAKE THE BOAT THE FASTEST

The preparation of the boat is reviewed, and we are compared on charts with which the references of the sheet points and the tensions of the mast, backstay, and twist are given, and then performance on the water is checked.
One learns to define speeds, and target angles, make the best use of on-board electronics.
You must reduce unnecessary crew movements, especially in low wind conditions.
Crossing the jib sheets for example can save downwind tailer movement.
Working out, even mentally, sequences of maneuvers,allows for coordination of the movements of the crew, which must move in unison, as in a dance.Each member has a role, and sequences are defined in which for each role there are precise movements.

THE ADDED VALUE OF THE ACADEMY AT THE CAPRERA SAILING CENTER

In addition to all the technical issues of the Academy, there is the value of a human confrontation between athletes and champions, who live together in the Caprera base.
As Ganga Bruni said, being at Caprera is a bit like living on a boat.
Everyone can learn from everyone, and improve themselves.
If a crew wants to go from participating in regattas, to standing on the podium, the best investment to get to winning might be to enroll in the Caprera Sailing Center Academy, and get to participate in the Masters. Info, content and course of the Mater CVC Academy HERE

Who is ROBERTO FERRARESE

He has worked with the Caprera Sailing Center for years, trained Academy 2 instructors, and is a technical trainer in sailing psychology. Class of 1956, he was born in Bari, and began sailing at the age of 10. At the age of fifteen, his first major success came in 1971: he won the European Flying Junior Championships in Germany. From that time for him began a long career on the Olympic classes in 470, Flying Dutchman, Star and Soling. He participated in the 1980 Moscow Olympics, in two America’s Cup Campaigns with Italy in Australia and with the Moor of Venice in San Diego, as well as being a coach for +39Challenge. He has been awarded the Gold Medal for Athletic Valor by the C.O.N.I. three times.
In Italy, he is one of the leading match-race experts): he was a federal coach at the 2012 London Olympics.

Who is Gabriele “Ganga” Bruni

Gabriele Bruni, from Palermo, Italy, of the Roggero di Lauria Rowing Club, competed in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney as a bowman on the 49er Class under the bow of his brother Francesco (Checco, helmsman of Luna Rossa).
Strategist in the +39 crew at the America’s Cup in Valencia.
Strategist in the Azzurra crew at the 2008 Louis Vuitton Trophy.
Since 2012 Technician of the Olympic National Team for the Nacra 17 class where he won with Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti two Olympic golds and several European and world titles.
He also coaches the Young Azzurra team in the 69f class.

• REQUEST COURSE INFO