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Singlehanded Sailing Society
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Singlehanded TransPac and the Art of Psychological Warfare
It may not be apparent to the casual observer, but the folks in the TransPac
engage in some of the most despicable, desperate acts of psychological foul
play imaginable - and we do it for fun! Plus you get to needle the other guy.
The reason we engage in this foul play is simple - we can't see the other boat,
so there's no way to be seen outpointing them, footing off faster, or gybing
better; instead we must resort to more fiendish means.
For example, a casual conversation regarding this evening's meal, which may
start as, "I'm planning on opening up some lentil soup tonight. How about
you?" can result in the immediate come back, "That sounds great! Earlier
today I pulled the Harris Ranch new york steak from the freezer, had to shift
aside the ice cream to get to it, it's been thawing in the sink and should be
just about ready after roll call." The owner of the steak has just committed
an egregious act of psychological warfare: not only did he point that he has
freezer, he also has ice cream, and probably a sumptuous galley to go with it.
The hapless victim is left standing in his own formica-topped galley holding
a can of soup and a spoon. You get the picture.
At the moment we are mischievously engaging each other with comments such as,
"I had my second shower of the race this morning", the above-mentioned
dinner episode, and "Hmm... maybe I should try putting my kite up".
But psyops go further than mere on-the-course commentary. In fact, the one-upsmanship
started weeks before the race, such as when a competitor mentions that he's
hauling out to put on new bottom paint. The proper response is not, "Which
paint?" but rather, "Excellent. I had the yard spray on the paint,
and will dive the boat and touch up the foil leading edges with 400 grit".
Another most insidious approach is to continually supply the lower end of your
speed range at roll call, therefore the other guy can actually see what your
instruments are showing and suddenly he knows that he's 0.2 knots faster! Imagine
the devastation at the following roll call only to discover that rather than
gaining, he has merely held even, or, worse, lost mileage to the obviously slower
boat. I personally like this one a lot.
Sleep is a topic dear on our minds, and causally mentioning that you, "Went
wing on wing last night and got in a great night's sleep" scores a bulls
eye every time.
By far the most damaging psychological blow is the full body slam: wait and
wait and wait (you have to time this perfectly) for someone that is clearly
chasing you to finally state over the radio, out there for all to hear, "All
right! I've been trimming the kite really really hard all day today and made
four miles on you." This is when you respond, "Wow! I actually took
the morning off, got in some sleep, read part of my book, and have been letting
the downwind twins do the work. I'll probably set a kite later on today."
This can crush an opponent.
Above all, the psyops approach only works with a group of friends that know
none of this is to be taken seriously. And that's what we have out here this
race: a bunch of good competitors, trying hard, having fun, and aiming at the
finish line. Even if Alchera did dive his boat looking for something wrapped
on the keel; I wonder what it was that made him think he was slow?
- rob, Tiger Beetle