Sailing diary - is it needed?

Hello everyone!

I tried to write posts more regularly over the winter, thinking there’d be more time for that in the off-season, but it didn’t quite work out. A large statistical analysis—covering the 1988-2018 Optimist European Championships—took most of my energy. The analysis is done, but the presentation is still pending. For those who attended the MVSZ presentation, you may have seen a few charts from it.

Today’s topic is a bit lighter, yet one I consider important. From the feedback at the presentation, it became apparent that most sailors don’t regularly keep a training log.

Keeping a training log is often underestimated. Coaches recommend it, but competitors often lack the motivation to actually write one (with a few exceptions). When I was competing in my adolescent and youth years, I didn’t particularly enjoy writing one either, but I did it. As an adult, I find that those notes have become valuable—and the logs I write now are even more useful.

When can a training log come in handy?
My Nationals statistical analysis highlighted that four locations hosted 62% of the Hungarian Nationals over the last 30 years. The remaining 38% was split across seven other locations. These locations don’t need much explanation—they’re at clubs known for youth development programs.

Year after year, you and others return to the same familiar spots, whether it’s the waters near your home club or a less frequent but annually visited venue. Here’s the key point: wouldn’t it be great if, during a regatta at somewhere like Füred, Keszthely, or Sopron, you could head out on the water already having some baseline knowledge of the location? After all, it’s unrealistic to remember everything about last year’s conditions—wind directions, favored sides, etc. (Of course, there may be exceptions if a particular event went extremely well or poorly, making it memorable.)

This is where a training log becomes invaluable for recalling those memories and insights.

For example, there’s a ranking regatta every fall in Füred (though it used to be in spring). Outside of locals, the fleet only sails there for those three days—maybe five if you hold training the weekend before. It’s understandable that most competitors don’t gain full familiarity with Füred Bay over three or five days annually. So each year, you need to rethink, “What’s happening here? What are the local specifics?” If a training log had been written in previous years, you could simply review it, verify on the water, and voilà—planning your strategy becomes much easier.

Of course, there’s a difference between a planned strategy and executing it (that’s where experience comes in), but it still brings you a step closer to good solutions. This is why writing a training log is so useful. Not to mention that post-Optimist classes often compete at these same locations, where you’ll already have some familiarity by then.

And that’s not to mention international regattas: Naples, Palamós, Garda, Workum, Izola, Koper, Portorož, Pula, Krk, Neusiedl, and so on. They’re all the same venues year after year.

Many people think they need to write a novel and perhaps avoid it for that reason… but they don’t. Writing keywords is often enough, as they immediately bring back memories of what happened. Drawings can also be helpful.

What should be included in a training log?

Date, location, wind strength, wind direction
Weather (sunny, cloudy, rainy)

For training:

Number of sailing days
Skills practiced
Observations/new insights from the training day
Boat and sail settings (mast rake, control lines)

For regattas:

Boat and sail settings
A sketch of the course and its relation to the shore; indicate which side was more favorable
Feelings about the day
For theoretical sessions, write down key points from the presentation, especially anything you found new or useful.

Drawbacks of keeping a training log: it requires regularity… but it only takes 5-10 minutes.

Regular training and exposure to various training and competition venues play a critical role in developing the skill to quickly assess a location and, after a few days of sailing, identify its quirks. This is a skill that needs continuous development, and keeping a training log is part of that development.

Summary
Writing a training log is part of the process of truly learning something new. Once you write down what you think, it’s already something you’ll remember. Without it, races, locations, and strategic solutions will eventually blur together.

Tip: There’s a digital training log, developed by Gergő Bihary, available here.