During the past season, it seemed to me that there were more incidents at various festivals where a collision occurred or a boat went off course. Many of these incidents were the fault of the steersperson due to poor boat handling skills or a lack of experience in racing or the particular water conditions.
What can be done to reduce the number of incidents? So far we have been lucky and there haven't been any serious injuries, but how long will our luck hold?
Before I go any further, there are a couple of things I want to say:- I am a steersperson. I feel that I am a good steersperson and have received positive feedback from other steerspeople, paddlers, and teams, BUT I DON'T HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS and I'm only human which means that I am occasionally wrong
- We all have bad days. I'm not pointing the finger at any one person or incident. Stuff happens whether it is a wicked wave, losing our balance, or really nasty glare off the water. Some things are beyond the control of anyone.
- I'm looking to start a discussion, not a flame war. Please keep any replies relevant to the topic at hand and let's see where it takes us.
Here are the main areas I've identified:
- Steersperson selection
- Training
- Practice
- Certification
- Racing experience
- Feedback
Steersperson selectionFinding someone to fill the steersperson slot can be one of the most difficult and stressful jobs for a team manager. Most people on a dragonboat team want to paddle so the temptation is to grab the first warm body that says "I might be interested in giving steering a try" and slotting them in as your permanent steersperson.
This probably isn't the best course of action to take as the person in question may not be suited for the job, may hate the position, or have a bad experience and leave the team/sport.
Some things I look for in a potential steersperson
- Physical ability - can they physically handle the boat? Are they strong enough to hold the boat straight while fighting the wash, current, wind, tide, etc. Do they have the sense of balance to stand at the back of the boat while it's rocking around in the waves (think Nanaimo or Kelowna)
- "Feel" for the boat - some people have an instinctive feel for how the boat handles in the water, how it reacts to the oar. For others this is something that takes time to develop. Some people never develop a feel for the boat.
- Confidence - the candidate need to be confident in their ability to steer the boat and to command the team. The steersperson is the person responsible for the safety of the boat on the water and has the greatest individual impact on the team's success during any given race. Do they have the confidence to override the coach's command if there is a safety concern?
- Respect - does the team respect the candidate as their steersperson? If they don't, they won't promptly respond when the steersperson is giving commands.
- Patience - a steersperson's job can be boring at times and down right miserable in nasty weather . The steersperson also needs to be patient when being marshalled at the start line. The water marshals and starter are doing the best they can to get everyone lined up properly and quickly (a topic for another day).
TrainingHow often does it happen that a new steersperson gets a quick 5 minute instruction from the coach on how to steer a dragonboat and is then left to discover the rest on their own while the coach focuses on the paddlers? There is whole lot more to steering than can be covered in a 5 minute course not to mention the boating rules, etc that govern all water craft including dragonboats.
I'm lucky in that when I'm working with a new steersperson I can sit at the back of the boat and focus on the steersperson while the coach handles the team. I can also intervene if something happens that the new steersperson can't handle or recover from. I generally find that doing this for a full practice and then remaining at the back of the boat for the next couple of practices while I paddle really boosts the new steersperson's confidence and helps them gain the basic skills more quickly.
The practical steering course offered by Water's Edge is an excellent course and well worth taking for all novice steerspeople. Steerspeople who have a couple of years experience, but have never taken this course would find it well worth their time.
Studying for and taking the test for the Small Craft operator's license is another valuable training tool for new and experienced steerspeople. This covers the rules of the sea as they apply to small craft and would also allow your steerperson to operate the coach boats provided by your training facility.
Bottom line is - your team needs to invest some time (coach's time) and money in training your new steersperson. The payoff can have a great impact as to how your team performs at festivals.
PracticeSteerspeople get lots of practice, right? They're out there every practice steering the boat gaining lots of experience. WRONG!
Most of the experience a steersperson gains during practice is holding the boat on a straight line or making gentle turns. This is certainly valuable experience, but does nothing to prepare a steersperson for what they may face when trying to get a boat back on course during a race after wave/collision/etc has turned the boat off-course.
When I'm working with a new steersperson I'll have them perform S-turns while the team is working on an endurance drill or ladders. This gives the steersperson an idea the kind of forces they will be fighting on the steering when trying to counteract a turn the boat is making. When the team has finished a drill and is letting the boat run, have the steersperson start a 180 degree turn and then part way through that turn, counteract it and get the boat back on the original course.
Doing this during practice will hopefully give the steersperson the skills and experience they need so that when their boat is heading off course they know how hard it is going to be get the boat back on course. I'm sure that a healthy majority of the incidents where a dragonboat veers wildly across the course is the result of a steersperson being overwhelmed by the forces being exerted on the steering oar because they have never experienced it before.
You can also use practices to give the steerperson the knowledge to know when a situation cannot be recovered from and the only solution is to hold the boat, get it straightened out, and finish the race when the water marshal gives you the OK.
You also need to have the steersperson watch how the boat drifts while the team is at rest. This gives them an idea as to how the current and wind will affect the team while they are lining up at the start line for a race.
I'm sure there are coaches out there who would look at the above thoughts and view it as taking away from the team's practice time. I personally think nothing could be further from the truth. Having the confidence that your steersperson knows what they're doing and has demonstrated those skills allows the paddlers to focus "in the boat" and ignore what's going on around them.
CertificationThe steersperson accreditation required by the Alcan festival, FCRCC, and DragonZone is certainly a good requirement, but there are two issues that I see with it:
- Teams from outside the Lower Mainland - I don't know what other clubs require in terms of steersperson training and certification, but I think there needs to be a common standard that all clubs enforce and festivals require before allowing someone to steer a boat in a race situation.
- Testing - it's been a few years since I took the steering test on False Creek, but at that time it was basically holding the boat in a straight line forwards/backwards, moving the boat in a square (forward 3 lengths, draw right, back 3 lengths, draw left), and steering the boat through a figure 8 at speed. I'm not convinced that this is good enough.
For those out there who participated in the SeaVancouver festival, remember the obstacle course on the Sunday? I thought that was an excellent test of a steersperson's abilities. Steering the boat through a slalom at full power, making a hard left and heading to the marshal's boat, from there a hard drive to the second marshal's boat where you had to make two hard turns in a random direction (either clockwise or counterclockwise around two buoys), picking up a floating object in a random place, back to the first marshal's boat, and then the final drive to the finish line. The steerspeople had to have good command of the boat and team in order to finish with a good time.
How about a practical exam where:
- The steersperson has to take the boat at 100% through a narrow channel of buoys
- Slalom course through 5 or 6 buoys
- A section where the examiner calls out random instructions (Boat 1 hold / steer left / steer right / etc)
Race ExperienceThe only way to gain race experience is through racing, but there are different levels of racing.
Before steering at a major festival like Alcan, where there may be as many as nine boats racing in a fairly narrow waterway, a new steersperson should try their hand at some of the smaller festivals and regattas.
A three boat race will generally allow for more room between boat than a nine boat race will. This extra room can ease the pressure on the steersperson and will help reduce the amount of wash the boat experiences from the other teams. Some of the smaller events are also a little more relaxed in atmosphere which can help calm a nervous steersperson.
As a steersperson gets more experience under their belt, they will get a feel for how teams are marshalled at the start line, what to expect from the water marshals and starters, and docking procedures. All of this will hopefully allow your team to have a smoother race.
The steersperson will also get an idea what to look for at any given race. Where is the marshalling line, the start line, finish line? Are there any mid course markers? What is the relationship between the actual finish line and the finish buoys? What are the water conditions like?
For coaches, take some time to talk to your steersperson before their first race. Make sure they know where the start line is, what the route is for getting to the start line, etc. My very first race at Alcan I started to take the boat across the course to get to the start line -
FeedbackWe can all use some feedback, but how it is delivered can have a major impact on a steersperson.
If you have a novice steersperson and they have had a bad race, chewing them out is probably not going to do any good and may result in them leaving the team. Discuss what happened with them and identify anything that needs to be worked on further at practices.
Festivals need a mechanism for providing feedback to steerspeople, especially after an incident or collision has taken place. Some times this may require suspending a steersperson, other times some pointers and tips may suffice.
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Hopefully this has provided some food for thought and we can come up with some workable strategies. Or maybe I'm seeing problems where there are none.
Either way, let me know.
StraightLine.
