HAPPY LASER BRAIN

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Neuroscientist Jules Jung Beema showed that people in good moods had 20 % increase in word puzzle solving skill. Better than cranky and depressed people.

He speculates that the prefrontal cortex and the ACC are not preoccupied with managing the emotional life and better able to help with the quick action emotional decisions.

IS THE HAPPY SAILOR THE FASTER SAILOR?

Try it-- up early, breakfast, check list, smile, laugh, sing and dance a little as you get the boat in the water.

Let me know how it works!
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MORE LASER BRAIN

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What happens when the brain has a lot of training?

1973 Buddy Melges, "Confessions of a Winner". " I love to completely involve my MIND, my body, and all my senses with the boat and her path through the water. I very seldom watch the sails; rather a blank stare at the horizon forward gives me the angle of attack. The jib stay enters and allows me to watch every wave and every bit of wind without interruption."

OK Buddy, we will try that next time out, but if we are not way out in front, we had better look at the sail every now and then and around at the other boats that maybe coming at us.

On an A scow Buddy has a lot of other people to keep track of that stuff.
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THE LASER BRAIN

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Your emotional centers in the brain (like the nucleus accumbens) react more quickly than the logical mechanism.

That is the way we hit a baseball or react to sudden changes. You don't debate the good and bad with your cortex and then sleep on it.

The nucleus accmbens send out dopamine to make you feel good--the signal to strike at the ball or to miss the starboard tacker.

The anterior cingulate cortex detects errors and guides changes in the emotional areas like the nucleus accumbens.

So we can train your brain and it will learn to do better for the fast things-- and it works from errors. We learn by making mistakes. Big news? So to train your brain, you need to identify the errors.

Things like leeward mark roundings you can practice before or after racing or on practice sessions. Things like boat crossing, you need large fleet or at least another boat.

So get your brain making dopamine, the happy hormone.
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WHEN FOR LASER RULES....

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Racing rules start with the PREPARATORY signal. At Lake Eustis Laser with a three minute sequence, it is the 2 minute signal with the "blue peter" flag (blue with white square in middle). In the Five minute sequence it is at the 4 minute signal..

After that, anytime you hit a mark or committee boat you need to do a penalty - get clear of other boats and do a 360 degree turn with one tack and one gybe.

If you foul another boat, then it is a 720 turn with two tacks and two gybes. If the foul happens before the start, you can do the turns before the start.

You finish by part of your boat going across the finish line. The boat doesn't need to cross the line, but you need to not hit the buoy or the committee boat. If you do then you have to do the 360 turn and recross the line from the course side.

Do your penalty turns-- it proves you are a good person and interested in the game.

After you have finished and not hit the mark, then you can bump into people and the marks again until the next PREPARATORY signal.
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LASER RULES "OF THE ROAD"

Welcome to Sam's rules of the road. (I do this Friday night because I have a little time and this is the blog for Saturday.) I hope you find them easier to use than the rule book, if you are getting started with your sail racing. The red boat is the burdened and the green the go ahead.

I tried to put this note up at the top, but was lucky to get "rules" on in order.

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FUN WITH THE LASER

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While we are talking about the FUN thing------

A few years ago, sailing coach Skip Whyte, worried that we were often forgetting about the FUN in racing sail boats. Do we still do that some??

We give trophies to the winners, but what about the other folks ( and there are so many of them).

Maybe the answer is Learn to love THE GAME! If you have an old tired boat-- perk it up the best you can and try to pick off as many of the fancy jobs as you can.

If you are being beaten try to understand how and admire that part of the game that is doing it. Become a student of the game, so that you can appreciate all the moves-- and admire the good ones even if you don't do them.

If you are around Eustis, come to our Fundamental Rule 2 Regattas, or the Wednesday night North U. when we talk about "THE GAME".
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LASER FUNDAMENTAL RULE 2 REGATTA

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Yesterday we had the First Annual Fundamental Rule 2 Regatta and it was a great success. There were three sailors that for the first time sailed the race course. They were out in maybe force 3.5 wind with 4.7 sails. The most wind they had sailed in.

The Fundamental Rule 2 rules were in effect. Youth and women start first and the others later. No roll tack. No roll gybe. First one to the mark rounds first. No shouting. No yelling. The first near finish wait for the others so we all finish together. We help each other get the boats out. Then Pizza, Greek Salad, Spinach pie, Ice Cream and cake.

The down side is that we discovered that some of us wanted to WIN. Or if we didn't today, then next week or next year.

Now we have slipped down that slope to better and better, trying harder and harder.

We will be back to regular racing this weekend, but could have the Second Annual Fundamental Rule 2 thing again anytime.
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