I guess in a way you could say that I am the son of a son of a sailor, in that when I was little, my grandpa would take me out in his little dingy converted with a sail. It was about 30 years old when I came along, and I think it was mostly held together by the old green paint that had covered it numerous times. I remember the wind blowing in my face, and falling asleep while grandpa would work the lines and we would drift along lazily, enjoying what little breeze there was. It would be a sunny afternoon in July that I got my first sailing lessons. You’re here to forget about life for a while, no hurry to get anywhere, just lay back and look up at the sail and wonder at the majesty of the simple glide through the water, the occasional wave breaking against the side of the boat sending a splash into my face.
“Sailing is a game of inches,” he would say, as he would let out the sail so it could fill with air. I would curl up in the front of the boat while we would tour the lake and enjoy the nicer things in life.
Trim is about balance, and once you find it, using it to get where you want to go. I have had the good fortune to sail with a friend of mine for the last few years. We recently spent the day out on the lake with a sailing instructor whose mission was to teach us how to race.
“There is nothing you can do to make the boat go any faster. Boat speed is a function of hull length and wind speed. In racing what you want to do is to stop doing those things that make you go slower.” He pointed at the rudder, “that is a brake, the more you use it and rely on it, the more it will slow you down.”
We talked about feeling the boat, looking for balance. Yeah right, I thought. My job was ballast. Basically hang off the side of the boat when the winds pick up and lean in when they die down. I remember when I first started sailing someone told me that I steered the boat with my weight. It never really sunk in, it seemed pretty theoretical. It was suggested that we tie off the rudder and get a feel for the balance of the boat. Once the ropes were attached, we found the boat was turning slowly to the right, or starboard in sailors lingo. “Shift your weight to port,” and we all moved to the left. Now the boat was turning left sharply. “One at a time!” and we moved back until the boat traveled in a straight line.
We sailed for some time like that, and found that with very small movements we were able to steer the boat around the lake. We would all lean to one side hard, and tack to the other direction, pick our mark and bring the boat back to balance. It was amazing to really feel the boat, and find its balance, its trim.
Sailboats are like airplanes, with a big wing in the sky, and a small one in the water. The wind blows on the big one, and the small one slows you down. In an airplane if you let go of the controls, the airplane will level off into a straight level flight. This is called aerodynamic trim. Sailboats have a trim point that they want to find, and when they do, the boat feels wonderful. You are going as fast as it is designed to go, and you can focus on the tactics of sailing.
I have found that the concept of trim applies to life as well. We find that when our lives are out of balance, we rely too much on the rudder to try to force our ways down a particular path. We may make it, but our journey is much easier and faster if we can tack and take the new weather into consideration. We need to find a balance between the various aspects of life. Letting ourselves become too centered on one aspect leaves the others weak and in jeopardy of failing us. The balance between physical, social, spiritual and personal is what makes us feel comfortable and in sync with the world around us.
How do we find that balance, and what do we do when the winds change?