Thoughts on Sportsmanship

by Dave Dellenbaugh as seen in Etchells Newsletter

Reprinted with permission. Dave Dellenbaugh publishes Speed and Smarts, a

newsletter to help sailors go faster and sail smarter. For more information or to subscribe, call 800-356-2200 or contact the website at www.speedandsmarts.com.

The subject of sportsmanship in sailing is a frequent topic at post race discussions these days. There has also been a lot written about sportsmanship problems recently. Sailors are concerned about illegal kinetics, lying, unfair tactics and unprotested infractions, to name a few. I agree that there are some problems. But instead of focussing on the negatives, I'd rather look at what we can do about the situation. So I have made a list of actions that any sailor can take to make our sport a little more pleasant for us all.

Compliment your competitors when they make a good move.

A few weeks ago during one frostbite race, two interclubs rounded the weather mark, one with a pretty good lead over the next boat. "Nice weather leg, " I heard from the second place boat. At which point the leader smiled a bit and said, "Thanks." Another natural time for compliments is after the race. It's easy to say, "Good going" to the top couple of boats, but they'll hear that from almost everyone. It's more of a challenge to notice what someone in the middle or back of the fleet did well, and appreciate that. "Hey, George," you might say, "I know you didn't end up so well, but it looked like you played the shifts almost perfectly on the second beat." I'd feel pretty good if someone said that to me.

Make it part of your goal to play by the rules.

It's clear that winning is a major objective of sailboat racing. Unfortunately, some people seem willing to use almost any means to get to this end. But that only makes for a hollow victory. If your goal is to play fair and square, you may not win as many races, but I guarantee that the respect you get from your competitors will be much greater. And this will certainly be the best strategy in the long run.

Pretend for a minute, that you're leading the race and you hit the last leeward mark. No one sees this except you and your crew. Do you keep going and win the race, or re-round the mark and lose a few boats? Either choice is possible; it depends on what you value. If winning is not your only goal on the race course, you'll certainly be happier more of the time.

Offer a prize for sportsmanship at your regatta.

If possible, have the competitors vote for who they think should get this prize. If the regatta organizers give this award all the importance it deserves, you'll notice a pleasant difference on the race course. It's true that we don't want people behaving like good sports just to win a prize (the motivation should be internal). But in the short run, this is sure to get everyone at least thinking about the issue.

Say thanks to the Race Committee and regatta organizers.

This may seem too obvious, but I bet if we took a survey of all the race officers in the world, a majority would say that they'd like more appreciation from the racers. It's almost impossible to give hard-working volunteers too much credit. You may not agree with the action of a Race Committee or the decision of a jury, but that doesn't mean you can't thank them for giving their time. Another thing that I've done is to write a letter to the membership of a club where I've just been to a regatta, thanking them for going out of their way to make us racers feel at home. If you send this to the regatta chairperson, he or she is usually willing to post it on the club bulletin board.

Share your knowledge - be a teacher.

You don't have to be a "rock star" in order to be helpful; in fact, the odds are overwhelming that there are a number of people on the race course who can learn something from you, no matter how you usually finish. Learning and improving are a large part of what the sport is all about, and both of these happen much more quickly if we make them a cooperative effort. If you can help someone understand even a little more about what he or she is doing, then you will both be better off

Give another boat the benefit of the doubt.

I know this is hard to do in the heat of battle, but try it. For example, you're approaching the jibe mark and a boat behind is pressing for an inside overlap. Often you're not really sure yourself if the other boat has gotten an overlap or not. So instead of automatically yelling, "no room", give the other boat a break, at least once in a while.

Praise the other people in your boat.

Sometimes it's easy, especially for the skipper, to get a little frazzled and negative in the middle of a race. This is probably not desirable, but it's understandable, given the tension that sometimes materializes on the race course. What's not so understandable is why the opposite doesn't happen as well. In other words, why don't we express positive feelings as much? Wouldn't it be great if the skipper frequently said things like, "Hey, that was a great roll tack" Or if the crew said "Good move on the weather mark". Then maybe we could handle a little criticism (constructive, if possible) every once in a while.

Enforce the rules.

Perhaps the hardest part of sportsmanship is taking the responsibility for seeing that the rules are followed. We all want to be "nice guys" who don't make waves. But our sport is a self-policing one. If we don't enforce the rules, no one will. If you see a collision on the course, for example, it's easy enough to go up to one of the boats after the race and say, "Excuse me, is one of you filing a protest or withdrawing?" They may think that you're being a pain, but deep down inside they know the rules require one of these two actions. Responsibility for rule enforcement doesn't end when you cross the finish line, since there are rules (or standards of behavior) anywhere we go. This is especially true at a host club. It seems that a lot of sailors think regatta organizers should also function as policemen. I know that if I were running a regatta, this is one of the last things I'd want to do. I'd surely wish that the competitors would "police"themselves.

Sailing is a great sport because it puts the question of Sportsmanship in our own hands, unlike most other sports. We don't have referees who force us to follow the rules. That's why we have to start doing more things, such as those listed above, on our own initiative. It will make the sport much more rewarding for everyone.