All,
Former College Sailor Gordon Wanless (Stanford 80's) has a company in Long Beach and has the BEST prices. /www.wirelesssound.com/ The ER- 1015 lasts a long time and does not burn battery's as much as the little big horn. Jay -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ken Legler Sent: Monday, October 20, 2008 2:39 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [ICSA] Coaching Tip - Coaching Equipment, the power hailer 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. ________________________________________________ icsa mailing list [email protected] http://www.collegesailing.org/mailman/?listname=icsa ________________________________________________ icsa mailing list [email protected] http://www.collegesailing.org/mailman/?listname=icsa
