The Qualifiers are by definition the fairest way of qualifying sailors for international events. Selection (someone choosing who gets a place) is always subject to personal opinion, whereas the results speak for themselves. My belief that the cream always rises to the top and 6 events per year achieves this.  Indeed, even at individual regattas there is rarely an unexpected result. Read more...

I should learn to listen to my own good advice! Not only about on the water things like focusing on the fleet, not just one boat but about taking action (it is nearly always best to do things sooner rather than later): It has taken me a long time to sit down and write about the Olympic games because the fresh emotion at the time always makes it hard for me to put my thoughts into words and as the dust settles and time moves on it is surprising what you remember. Now sat in Weymouth with strong winds forcing the cancellation of the first day of racing at the WPNSA Qualifier, I finally seem to have found the time to write. Click to read full article...

When SouthEast Sailboats asked me to write about the runners and riders for the Tokyo2020 Olympics I hardly knew where to start! With just so much uncertainty around this year’s Olympics it is really, really hard to even know where to start, so why not choose World Sailing rankings? [Read more...]

Perhaps there has never been a more difficult Olympic quad, or should that be pent (it has been a 5 rather than 4 years between games) to call out the top performers? With so few competitions in the 2nd half of the Olympic cycle the chances to compare the top sailors head-to-head have been few and far between and the times they raced on the Enoshima Olympic waters against each other is now a distant memory. Sailing is currently a consistency sport and will remain so until we end up with the winner of the last race wins the regatta format (something that incidentally I would not be a fan of). Therefore, changes in the pecking order can take quite some time, so when not sure we can look back to when we had dominate sailors in each class.... [click to read more].

It has been a busy few weeks and as I always say, time flies when you are having fun. Hard work and fun can definitely go “hand in hand” and if you are not enjoying yourself when you are improving performance perhaps you are doing something wrong. This winter I have spent my entire time in the same time zone whether it be UK, Vilamoura or Lanzarote...[click to read more]

Well, now with the cancellation of Semaine Olympique Francaise de Voile in April (The French Olympic week - Hyeres regatta) it looks like I am almost a resident in Lanzarote. I am now eyeing the increasing number of new Covid-19 cases in Bulgaria, where we are meant to have the ILCA Europeans in May and wondering if that regatta will also be cancelled. We have been so lucky here in the Canary Islands where we have been able to continue to race and train in a very safe way.

This year is the 1st year that I have coached at the Lanzarote winter series and I have to say the atmosphere was great. I have always enjoyed being on the Canary Island and everyone was just so grateful to be racing again. It seems such a long time since the European Championships in Poland and with the recent postponement of the Princess Sofia regatta in Palma until October 2nd – 9th no one is quite sure when we will all be back racing again. Indeed, I suspect most of us will stay here to train until our next major regatta…

In this mini-series of articles, we shall be looking at the main sail controls for the Laser. Now whilst some things are personal preference such as, do you prefer an oval or cylindrical tiller extension, there is always a best way of doing things or at the very least an appropriate way to find the best individual solution for you.

We will start with the Outhaul system perhaps because it is often the most neglected control line and it really shouldn’t be. Indeed, in the dim and distance past long before the advent of the XD control lines we have now, the Outhaul was just ran along the boom to the cleat and many people didn’t adjust it all day or at most adjusted it once a leg!

Much as I love Weymouth it is slightly harder to convince yourself to go training in 2 degrees and a northerly wind than when the temperature is in double figures, especially when you need to be off the water by 16:00 due to lack of daylight. Hence my mind wanders back to Vilamoura and the great work Vilamoura Sailing did with the 2020 RSX Europeans and continue to do with the Portugal Grand Prix and hopefully the 2021 470 World Championships.

It seems forever since I have done any international class racing and the “rust” showed. Simple decisions can make all the difference and my decision making was perhaps not what it should have been!

Being out of practice I decided that it was definitely worth doing the Practice race and the conditions were glamour. Indeed, it turned out to be the best conditions of the whole regatta. Big waves and a strong sea breeze kicked in at 15:00 like clockwork. I picked up the boat from Jean-Luc Michon the day before the practice race. It actually belonged to his daughter Pernelle. We collected our Australian boats in Melbourne at the same time. Therefore the boat was only 1 number different from my boat at home and with my sail, tiller, and South East sailing ropes (plus Gareth Griffiths traveller) it felt exactly the same as my boat at home.

I always do my best to be prepared both as a Coach and a Sailor, and attention to detail on race day can make all the difference to one’s performance. We need to remember that weather forecasts are just that, forecasts: they can be wrong (or often it is just a case of the timing being off).

Therefore, when heading to the water I always try and be ready for anything. More food and drink than I can possibly use (and in the case of the Coaching RIB, more fuel) and suitable clothes should the weather turn significantly hotter or colder.

I guess my biggest project during Covid-19 crisis has been Restart Sailing. To get people back on the water sailing safely. We have of course seen extremes with some people very unwilling to leave their houses to others who just wanted to carry on as normal. Of course, this was perhaps led by their own personal experiences or scientific knowledge. Personally, I have had friends die and other friends who had the Corona Virus with absolutely no symptoms whatsoever. The good news is sailing is probably one of the best and safest activities we can be doing and the ILCA Nationals is one of the few Nationals going ahead this year and will be definitely be featured on the next show.

The aim of Restart Sailing was clear. To help people get back to sailing in a safe and fun way by carefully managing the risks. A packed changing room is obviously not a safe place if someone may have/be spreading the virus. Whereas once out on the water, hopefully on a nice sunny day and strong wind is perhaps the best environment you can be in! The RYA have done a great job here and I want to thank the RYA’s Racing Director Ian Walker for appearing on the Restart Sailing show.  The  show is shown live every 2 weeks on the Coach Yourself to Win Facebook page and then uploaded to the jonemmettsailing YouTube channel.

This weekend I did my 1st Sunday club race of the season at Castle Cove Sailing Club. The conditions in Portland harbour were great: 20 knots, gusting 26 although there are no photos to prove this because the race team of Kev and Dave had their hands full looking after the fleet and perhaps for me it was good there was no photographic evidence after such a long time out of the boat.

Well I was going to write a blog entitled, “We are going to the Olympics” and then… everything changed.

Laser2020 seems a long time ago and so much has changed since then. With the 2020 Radial World Championships being the final event in the qualification we did the best possible preparation. Indeed Sandringham Yacht Club feels very much like home and I do miss it. James Mitchell and his team did an amazing job and I also need to say a special thanks to Ajay and Hannah who looked after our stuff over the Christmas holidays. You can see many interviews from all these events (Standard Worlds, Radial Worlds and Masters Oceanic Championships) on the Jonemmettsailing youtube channel.

We are Going to the Olympics!

Well I was going to write a blog entitled, “We are going to the Olympics” and then… everything changed.

Laser2020 seems a long time ago and so much has changed since then. With the 2020 Radial World Championships being the final event in the qualification we did the best possible preparation. Indeed Sandringham Yacht Club feels very much like home and I do miss it. James Mitchell and his team did an amazing job and I also need to say a special thanks to Ajay and Hannah who looked after our stuff over the Christmas holidays. You can see many interviews from all these events (Standard Worlds, Radial Worlds and Masters Oceanic Championships) on the Jonemmettsailing youtube channel.

Looking back it seems a long time ago I won the Apprentice Masters Worlds in Holland and you may be surprised to read that I was not completely happy with my performance. Lack of practice in light areas showed and it is definitely something I need to work on. Read more...

Hyeres has always been one of Tuula’s favourite regattas, and Hyeres 2019, just like 2017, came down to the final race with Tuula guaranteed Silver but needing 4 boats between her and Mari Erdi to guarantee Gold. A good start and good positioning gave Tuula the points difference she need. You can see her celebrating her win here.

Finishing 4th is always frustrating to say the least and this is where we ended up at the Princess Sofia regatta after a photo finish in a big wind and big wave medal race…

After racing in Miami, it was back to Europe for our next training block, this time in Spain. Having done 2 camps in Vilamoura, we moved to Cadiz for this one, and started training as soon as Tuula had finished her latest exam. The advantage was it also meant that we were able to do a regatta, Andalusia Olympic week, where Tuula finished 3rd behind her training partners for the week, Sarah Douglas and Emma Plasschaert.

Summary of the year so far...

A summary of 2018

In 2017 Jon became Technical Director for Malaysia.

The Olympics is perhaps not what you would expect

They say variety is the spice of life and I am always keen to learn. By doing different jobs it not only makes the coaching more interesting and enjoyable but new experiences make a great way to improve.