Percentage Tennis

by John Curnow on 31 Oct 2016 It must have been that pic from last week of a very young Andre Agassi that has had me off on a tangent all week. Every time I paused to reflect on anything, all I could hear was one of my tennis coaches going off about shot selection and ‘was that percentage tennis?’ I am glad he beat that into me (metaphorically speaking of course), for it is one of those life lessons you then get to apply elsewhere.

To be honest, there are many games that utilise similar stratagems. Backgammon is another that comes to mind very quickly with it’s forward or backward game and moves designed to leave pieces in certain places or march them on expeditiously. As I type, I can see the countless hours I spent playing and yes, drinking too, with a Skipper I once worked under. Despite the haze, the repetition managed to let some of the ‘rules of the game’ sink in. A bit like Colgate’s Mrs Marsh and that chalk.

But this is sailing, after all, and despite the miscellaneous ramblings that often walk through advertising, fashion, culture, bands, films, plays or composers, and so on, there is an overarching nautical component to these little ditties. So if you are thinking this is a long, long bow of possibly medieval times, then you could be right, save for the fact that two of the key elements in ‘percentage sailing’ were reminded to me recently, and thank you to the crew and fellow competitors for that.

For sure, everybody will have their own theories on the matter, like don’t punch the corners of the envelope, especially in light weather. However, my two faves have to be work really hard overnight, because your opposition either won’t be, or if they’re good, they’ll be trying really, really hard. So you can either smash them or wake up to find the next radio sched doesn’t hold a bucket full of tears. OK. These days you only have to fire up the interweb to get an instantaneous answer, but the point remains.

Now heavy weather might be tough on the body, the boat and the gear, but it is the super-light that is really hard work. You need to keep the boat moving at all costs. Often this is not entirely in the direction you might require, but apparent is apparent, and if you have significant displacement, then it is even more crucial.

You will have momentum on your side, but should you stop, that very same mass will be your enemy. You’ll move about the place, if at all, with cat like precision and poise, and keep halyards soft. Your focus must remain out on the water and to any landmass that may offer a sea breeze or some katabatic effect. Discussions will be numerous, but all as softly spoken as the very breeze you’re chasing, or quite likely by now, actually making yourself. If you’re inshore, then there’s tide to consider too. Now this is percentage sailing.

It could all be poppycock too, you know. Even older theorems like, ‘the breeze always arrives when you crack the first can’, could be more accurate. Alas, the only issue with that is, by the time it kicks in, your desire to do something with it is far less convincing than it once was, and those other crews you worked so hard to stay in front of will be happy you chose the aluminium path.

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