PRESSING

by Pam

Pressing … that’s the term Doug uses to describe how he squeezes a little extra speed out of a boat. He’s known how to do this on a Laser for years but is just learning how to do it on a Butterfly and Fish. I quiz him after regattas in other boats because I’m just sure he’ll figure out some special go fast tricks once he gets to know the boats. Up until the last couple of months, even though he’s consistently finished at the front of the Fish and Fly fleets, he’s always dismissed it as luck saying he hasn’t learned to feel the boat.

At the State Fair Regatta, Doug was sailing my Butterfly. He swears it’s slow and he was trying everything he could to keep up with everyone. He said he was pressing the boat and it was working and it was the first time he could feel the Butterfly.

At the Wurstfest Regatta, Doug was sailing an old spare parts Fish with a big baggy bed sheet for a sail. He finished second by a couple of feet to a really good sailor with a good boat and a crispy new sail. He said he was finally getting a feel for the boat and had learned how to press it.

So, what does pressing mean? Most good sailors already do it to some degree but probably call it something else. It’s a subtle and legal version of pumping and rocking. Pumping and rocking work because you repeatedly increase the pressure on the sail and the boat accelerates with each pump or rock. If you pumped and rocked all the way up and down the course, you would always be going faster than those not doing it. Same thing with pressing but it’s legal because the top of the sail isn’t moving and you don’t have the kinetics. Doug sails events with judge boats within a few feet. Pressing isn’t something they see or call because there is no obvious difference or advantage (except he’s going faster).

The Laser, Butterfly and Fish can all be pressed but the technique is different for each boat with the Fish being the most different. Since this is a Butterfly website, I’ll only describe the Butterfly pressing. If you sail the other two boats, ask him about it next time you see him.

Pressing on a Butterfly is a subtle weight shift to where you feel the boat on the back of your thighs. This didn’t make any sense to me so Doug had me sit and feel the pressure on the back of my legs. No biggie. Feels like my legs sitting on a chair. Then he said to keep my upper body straight and he proceeded to slightly push me backward and in order to maintain my balance and stay upright, I had to increase the pressure on my legs. Definite difference. That’s essentially the feeling to look for when pressing a Butterfly. If you want to try it, have someone push you backwards while sitting because it doesn't work if you try to do it yourself. I’m still pressing Doug for specifics of the weight shift but he said the key for him was learning where to feel the boat respond to his movements. I’m going to have to get him back on a Butterfly for him to be able to give me a better description but he’s able to describe what he does in detail for the Laser and Fish since he’s spent more time on them.