Nik Pearson won the Etchells World Championships doing the bow for skipper Stuart Childerley and Simon Russell working the mainsheet. Every team is different in its make-up of skills, but there are some good general principles of communication here that will work for any sailor looking to improve teamwork in the boat.
Before you get too far down the track with a new sailing partner, make sure you have the same goals and aspirations, warns Jon Emmett. Do otherwise, and you're storing up trouble for the future....
Terry Hutchinson says you've got to talk about when things go wrong, but not WHEN things go wrong... Er, not quite clear, well listen in and see what this multiple keelboat and multihull champion has to say about communicating with your team mates in a constructive way...
Ed Baird likes to take time out from the rarefied world of America's Cup racing to do some good ol' fleet racing in sportsboats, including the Melges 32. Talking to Justin Chisholm, the American pro sailor shares his views on mental approach, learning from mistakes, and how the team works together...
Peter Greenhalgh won the 49er Europeans in 2010 with Chris Draper after a 'disappointing' sixth place at the Worlds. What changed? One of the primary things this British team worked on was their communication, talking the same language. Justin Chisholm interviewed the sailors...
Emirates Team New Zealand is competing on the Audi MedCup Circuit as a test bed for everything they do as and when there is an America's Cup for the Kiwis to get their teeth into. Team coach Rod Davis says one of the key areas that they are focusing on is how the sailing and design teams work together. "My job is to try to promote the learning process between the sailing and design teams, to build up the communication between the different parts of the team," he says. "It's a good dress rehearsal for the same process that we'll have to go through when we start building up to the next America's Cup."
Professional sailing teams love to measure stuff. If it can be calibrated, it will be calibrated. And so America's Cup teams will go through 200 or more keel bulb designs, and test hundreds if not thousands of hull shapes, sail shapes, mast configurations, deck layouts, and so on. But what about the human element? Do sailing teams invest as much time and effort in perfecting the human technology on board the boat?
Video: Sven & Kalle Koster are one of the top Men's 470 teams in the world. They are one of a number of brother teams competing in Olympic sailing, but is sailing with your sibling good, bad or both?
Tough team talk from Terry Hutchinson, after a couple of unusually bad days from the Quantum Racing team. A big insight into the professionalism and focus of a top racing team. These post-race debriefs are critical to making improvements the next day, especially when things are going badly...
Watch a John Belushi lookalike hand out some wonderful advice to the crew from the comfort of the cockpit. A great example of how to encourage the very worst from your team mates. It almost makes you wonder if this is a spoof, but I don't think so....
Nik Pearson won the Etchells World Championships doing the bow for skipper Stuart Childerley and Simon Russell working the mainsheet. Every team is different in its make-up of skills, but there are some good general principles of communication here that will work for any sailor looking to improve teamwork in the boat.
Ed Baird likes to take time out from the rarefied world of America's Cup racing to do some good ol' fleet racing in sportsboats, including the Melges 32. Talking to Justin Chisholm, the American pro sailor shares his views on mental approach, learning from mistakes, and how the team works together...
Emirates Team New Zealand is competing on the Audi MedCup Circuit as a test bed for everything they do as and when there is an America's Cup for the Kiwis to get their teeth into. Team coach Rod Davis says one of the key areas that they are focusing on is how the sailing and design teams work together. "My job is to try to promote the learning process between the sailing and design teams, to build up the communication between the different parts of the team," he says. "It's a good dress rehearsal for the same process that we'll have to go through when we start building up to the next America's Cup."
Professional sailing teams love to measure stuff. If it can be calibrated, it will be calibrated. And so America's Cup teams will go through 200 or more keel bulb designs, and test hundreds if not thousands of hull shapes, sail shapes, mast configurations, deck layouts, and so on. But what about the human element? Do sailing teams invest as much time and effort in perfecting the human technology on board the boat? 
Tough team talk from Terry Hutchinson, after a couple of unusually bad days from the Quantum Racing team. A big insight into the professionalism and focus of a top racing team. These post-race debriefs are critical to making improvements the next day, especially when things are going badly...
Watch a John Belushi lookalike hand out some wonderful advice to the crew from the comfort of the cockpit. A great example of how to encourage the very worst from your team mates. It almost makes you wonder if this is a spoof, but I don't think so....