How to prepare for your first regatta?

There are many excellent reasons to start participating in regattas with your sailboat,
even at a completely amateur and, let’s say, convivial level. For the sailor, it is first and
foremost a pleasant pastime to enjoy with your team of friends, perhaps spending
weekends together in the open air. But that’s not all: practicing this type of
sailing can improve your sailing technique, helps you get to know your boat better
and, it should be emphasized, to care for it and experience it to the fullest. And certainly
there is no shortage of opportunities to start racing, knowing that many
interesting events are organized along our coasts, practically for any type of boat and experience: we at Marina Porto
Antico can obviously only think of the VSG Cup Championship, a team sporting event,
interregional and inter-sport, which promotes passion for sailing, skiing and golf, and which
sees our tourist port of Genoa among the proud organizers.

How to prepare the boat

To prepare for your first regatta, it is necessary first of all to ensure that your boat is ready
to face this type of competition, however amateur. You start with normal
maintenance operations, which however should be carried out with particular care in view of this challenge. Think about cleaning the hull, knowing that dirt and fouling will negatively affect
the boat’s performance due to their friction. Then move on to the
meticulous inspection of every mechanical and non-mechanical element, to avoid disturbances, slowdowns, annoyances or
even breakages at the worst moments: from winches to sheets, from blocks to spreaders, it’s better to take
a look at everything. It goes without saying that, for an amateur regatta, your cruising
sails are perfectly fine, as long as they are in good condition.
You must also absolutely not neglect checking the boat’s safety equipment, starting with
life jackets, to be certain of setting sail while minimizing risk.

The crew

The boat is only one of the elements that can make the difference in a regatta. The second is
obviously the crew. There is indeed a big difference between the help required by a sailor during
a peaceful cruise and that needed during a regatta: in this second case it is
essential to be able to count on capable, ready, competent and above all coordinated people.
During a regatta a sailboat must host a team that, animated by sporting spirit, must
commit to working in unison, with the specific objective of completing the race in the
shortest possible time. So every member on board must know their
role perfectly and respect the hierarchy on board, and therefore face the assigned tasks without objections. After taking care of the boat, therefore, it is good to coordinate and prepare your team.

The strategy
The boat is ready, the crew too: what remains to be done to prepare for the regatta? Obviously:
you need a strategy. Certainly, in regattas like the one organized by our tourist port of Genoa
you don’t need strategists of the caliber of those of the America’s Cup, but it’s still good to outline

tactics, studying the context to then be able to move at your best. The advice is in any case
to leave your berth and therefore the moorings early, to go to the race
course in time to study the situation: how is the wind? Which way will it move, and with what
intensity? And again, is there a favored side on the starting line? Every detail can make the
difference.
But ultimately, the important thing is always to have fun and be together. Good racing!