One of your most important pieces of coaching equipment is the power
hailer. For years I avoided purchasing one because they break easily
and I'm cheap. While doing a junior clinic in Greenwich years ago Betsy
Alison (Tufts'80, USA Disabled Sailing Team coach) and I split the
fleet. She coached the Radials while I coached the 420s. I kept having
to raise my voice after every "What?" until I got "Why are you yelling
at us?" Meanwhile I could hear Betsy calmly and clearly coaching her
group from nearly a quarter mile away! That was it; I immediately went
out and bought one.
I had tried the alternative, a big cone with a handle known as a
megaphone. While they project the voice to the pin end of the line, it
is muffled and misunderstood. Every number sounds like "WHOOO" or "HEH."
Power hailers (or loud hailers) cost up to $100 and do break easily.
They dislike salt water and they hate falling off the seat or console of
a 17' whaler. I can buy four of them for less than the price of my
invaluable automated starting box. To protect my hailer from the floor
I place it in a milk crate with a giant garbage bag. St. Mary's coach
Adam Werblow went so far as to build a wooden donut on the floor of his
17' just to hold the hailer.
I can no longer imagine dinghy coaching, race management, and safety
without it unless the wind is calm. The ability to coach (or help the
capsized) in a clear, calm, and positive voice is absolutely crucial.
The ability to be heard by OCS starters makes for a far better game than
scoreboard letters. With multiple hailers, ship to ship and ship to
shore conversions within a tenth of a mile are far easier than using
radios or cell phones. Any athletic department with a crew team will
know where to get the best deals. Every sailing coach and dinghy race
officer should have one or more.
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