Interview with Daniel Lucchini, President of the blu26 Class

Rising Tide: It's the eighth Blu26 regatta training at Lake Garda - for the first time in Riva del Garda! Daniel Lucchini and his crew are taking part for the sixth time. Time for an interview with the President of the Blu26 Class.

It is a success story! For the eighth time in a row Bluboats and the Sailing Center Tegernsee organize the blu26 regatta training at Lake Garda. Again this year during four days, sailing pro Christian „Blumi“ Scherrer and Stephan Eder will coach well-structured, intense training units, on and offshore. For the first time the training takes place in Riva del Garda, hosted by Fraglia Vela Riva. The camp traditionally kicks off the blu26 regatta season - for ambitious regatta sailors and all those on their journey to become one.

Daniel, sailing requires full body performance, team spirit, tactical cleverness, and many other attributes. How does the training consider this comprehensive scope?

The circumstances at Lake Garda are favorable. The wind can be predicted relatively well, which allows the coaches to prepare a wide-ranging, reliable training program. Usually there is only little wind in the morning that increases gradually during the day to become quite strong. The blu26 boat copes with all conditions. Be it a light or strong wind regatta, the boat convinces by its capacities, safety and stability. At all times, I observe fast individual learning curves and teamwork improvements, thanks to the professional and close coaching of „Blumi“ and Stephan on and off-shore. Extremely helpful are the video analysis that ensure a 360-degree feedback. By unfolding good and weak maneuvers and jointly elaborating improvement strategies, the crews not only benefit for themselves, but also from one another.

It is for the sixth time that my team participates in the training. It allows us to tune into the season. Moreover, the program strengthens the connection within the class, and we much appreciate the collegial, relaxed atmosphere in the evenings.

The camp by tradition opens the regatta season. What are you expecting?

As said, the training prepares the season. We need that as a team. Over the winter break, I always notice that routines tend to get a bit ‘blown away’ – and we are not getting any younger! Our objective is to practice as many repetitions as possible, to establish automatizations. This is why the training is worth gold.

The first days we concentrate on maneuvers and trim work. The days after we transfer the drills into a regatta mode. This setup permits a sharp transition and it is fascinating to see how teams that rarely sail a blu26 together catchup with the established field at the end of the training. Every detail counts. This fine-tuning is what my team will focus on.

How does a typical ‚boot camp‘ sailing day look like for you?

After an enthusiastic “good morning everyone” by the coaches, we structure the day and define the objectives. Thereafter the crews prepare the boats, start with easy maneuvers and prepare for lineups and other exercises. Now the video analysis and coaching starts on board or from the rafts. This approach allows us to convert instructions quickly, on individual basis but also as a team. After lunch and before dinner we evaluate the tapes, which is interesting and quite often surprising. As a team, we discuss improvement potentials, assess how these could best be put in place and concentrate on these the next day.

Of course socializing plays an important role. We are quite well connected as a class, and the nice dinner venues and the local ‚italianita‘, make every evening very pleasant.

Who do you think should participate at the training?

The training fits every class. The blu26 boat is agile to please a jollyboat sailor and secure enough so that a yacht sailor with regatta experience feels at ease. Everyone that likes sailing and wants to learn more should attend. The blu26 boat serves a crew of four typically, which allows a very beginner to join a crew that is operating well together. I would not recommend the training to a full beginner’s crew though.

The Lake Garda Regatta Training takes place March 30 to April 2, 2017.

For the announcement and registration visit here

Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

To learn more about the blu26 regatta season visit here

Interview: Céline Zuber, Blu26 Class Communications | Photo 'Crew Change': Marcel Ban