Episode #213: Stuart McNay on Coaching Sailing

Tune in as we chat with Stuart McNay about the inspiring world of coaching on the water. Stuart is a professional sailor, a sailing coach, and a five-time Olympian.

In this episode, with host Ryan Foland, Stuart shares about the first time he knew he’d make an Olympic run, the traits shared by his favorite mentors, how to find the right sailing coach, whether coaching will ever be replaced by AI, and where the magic of coaching works best.

Here’s a sample of what you’ll hear in this episode: 

• Can anyone become a good sailor?
• What a session look like with Stuart
• How loss has shaped Stuart’s racing career
• Pursuing Olympic sailing
• The importance of mentorship in sailing

Learn more about Stuart on Instagram @StuMcNay and Ryan at Ryan.Online

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and your other favorite podcast spots — follow and leave a 5-star review if you’re feeling the Good Jibes!

Check out the episode and show notes below for much more detail.

Show Notes

• Stuart McNay on Coaching Sailing, with Host Ryan Foland
  • [0:12] Welcome to Good Jibes with Latitude 38
  • [0:14] Thank you to OceanPlanet Energy for sponsoring this episode
  • [0:32] Welcome aboard, Stuart McNay – Olympian, pro sailor, and sailing coach
  • [1:26] Stuart’s first Opti regatta – The formative Beverly Yacht Club Junior regatta
  • [4:45] How the loss shaped Stuart’s racing career
  • [6:08] Getting into coaching and the transition from casual to competitive sailing
  • [9:35] Making the decision to pursue Olympic sailing
  • [11:31] What makes a great coach – Common threads among mentors
  • [14:28] Sailing as an individual vs. team sport
  • [16:17] This episode is brought to you by OceanPlanet Energy
  • Learning Sailing
  • [17:14] Can anyone become proficient at sailing?
  • [19:49] Learning sailing at different ages – Children vs. adults
  • [21:15] Wing foiling tangent – Getting started with foil boards
  • [25:10] Coaching approach – What a session looks like
  • [30:12] Are you replaceable? – The StuartGPT conversation with ChatGPT
  • [34:18] Testing ChatGPT’s sailing knowledge – The spinnaker trim question
  • [38:44] This episode is brought to you by OceanPlanet Energy
  • [39:41] The value of human coaching vs. AI (Artificial Intelligence)
  • [43:01] The importance of mentorship in sailing
  • [44:30] How to find and choose the right coach
  • [47:50] Remote coaching vs. in-person coaching
  • [50:14] DM Stuart on Instagram @StuMcNay to get in contact
  • [51:39] Check out Ryan’s book SpeakerShip
  • [53:07] You’re never too old to learn
  • [54:33] Thanks again to OceanPlanet Energy
  • Make sure to follow Good Jibes with Latitude 38 on your favorite podcast spot and leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts
  • Check out the October 2025 issue of Latitude 38 Sailing Magazine
  • Theme Song: “Pineapple Dream” by Solxis

Transcript: 

Please note: this transcript is not 100% accurate.

00:02

I do believe that, you know, in  a competent person who’s  willing to put in the time can become very proficient at sailing.  Welcome to Latitude 38’s Good Jibes with this latest episode brought to you by our friends at OceanPlanet Energy. Ahoy, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Good Jibes, a podcast brought to you by Latitude 38 to connect you with sailors across the West Coast. And do we have a treat today?

00:32

We’ve got Stuart McNay, who’s not only an Olympian, he’s a pro sailor and he’s a coach. And today he’s going to be my coach, your coach, your inspiration.  And we’re going to get to know him, learn a little bit about his crazy adventures up until now. And I’m sure the future winds hold strong as well. Stuart, welcome to the show. How are doing today? Doing great. Thanks for having me on, Ryan.

00:57

Yeah, well, speaking of Ryan, I want to shout out to Ryan and Nikki, who are some Olympic hopefuls who I had a chance to talk with. And when I was asking for advice, they’re like, you got to connect with Stuart. He is just the man. He knows it all. He’s the best. We’re talking about coaching and whatnot. So I’m glad full circle to get you here. And I love the word of mouth referrals because it seems like every sailor knows another sailor to talk to. It’s some sort of sailor inception. So I’m glad we got you here. We’d love to start off with

01:26

little story time. I am assuming you have plenty of stories for plenty of podcasts, but is there one  sailing story that sticks out in your mind that really shaped you some way or another? Yeah, you know, I think my first Opti regatta, it was the Beverly Yacht Club Junior regatta. you know, hadn’t really  hadn’t really raced very much. I think I

01:55

I might’ve done a couple of weeks  at the Beverly Yacht Club Junior program. And my mom had  heard through the grapevine that  optees were  the thing that kids were doing to race.  And  she didn’t have any connection to the racing scene or even what it  looked like to race. so she, you know, I…

02:21

think I was 11 years old and she helped me register for the regatta and then it was like, what’s your, what’s your sail number? And I was like, Oh, I don’t know. We got some duct tape. What can we put on the sail? And so we went with number 44 and my opdy at the time, it was an old red opdy I was sailing then and its name was trim.

02:50

as in luff and trim.  You know, had to be sailing terms, of course.  And  I remember being out there  in the Buzzards Bay sea breezes. Regatta was in the middle of August, and so sea breezes were pumping.  And it just felt  so windy. I was super cold. I remember watching the kids, you know,

03:19

at the front of the race who just, you know, were just miles in front at that stage.  And I, you know, I, was, it was a struggle to finish races. Like, you know, I capsized and I get,  get this thing up. Let’s get going again.  But I, I, I remember that and, I got sick at the end of the regatta, like as, as you do when you give everything you have to.

03:47

finish something out of the elements. I remember at the end, you know, when it was all said and done,  not being not being discouraged, but  thinking I want to be one of those guys who can who are racing out in front look really good in the boat. So, you know,  a few years later, came back and I won the Junior Regatta there  at the Beverly.  And it was

04:15

It was pretty cool how it came full circle and you know, the Beverly Yacht Club had some really good coaches over the years. There’s this guy, Brett Davis, who campaigned in the laser and this  other guy, Andy Hurley, who  I think he did a campaign on the soloing  at one stage. And so there were some really good coaches who came through that area, but it was a formative experience for me.

04:45

in my racing career.  love how the loss is formative, right? I mean,  you think that some  some kids might just be like, this is the worst. Mom, what did you do? I’m out.  No more trimming. How did how did you initially get into the boat? Like  was your family sailors and how did it originate? You know, my family has been  connected to the water. My my mom and dad had a house in Wareham.

05:14

Massachusetts, which is kind of in the northern part of Buzzards Bay. And my older brother,  he  would race in the sunfish on the really, really local weekend race. so, you know, every Saturday in July and August, there was a sunfish race, which he would do. And then he started bringing me along at one stage. He’d also bring me out on his windsurfer too.

05:44

my mom’s mother who at the time lived up in Maine, she had a little, you know, like a 23 foot keel boat. And so, you know, there were sailing veins, but there, you know, certainly wasn’t a connection to the racing community. Right. And the number 44, was that your hockey number or was that some sort of, what was the number, what was the meaning behind that duct tape?

06:08

I don’t even know where it came from.  It was like, this just works with duct tape. don’t know. Yeah, good, good, straight lines.  Exactly. zeros, no curves.  Now, in between that first race when you came back and won, were you  just learning on your own or did you dive into the coaching scene? Tell me about that transition. Yeah, yeah. I  started to dive into the coaching scene. There would be

06:36

you know, sometimes traveling coaches would come through. There’s this guy, Mike Zani, who at the time was kind of  running some  coaching through Vanguard sailboats. And so, you know, that’s, you know, he coached me for a couple of days. And then  I think I did the Beverly junior program for some summers.  And  then it ended up kind of

07:04

connecting with the traveling team.  There’s this guy, Jay Kehoe, who  he’s still out and about  in the sailing scene. And he pulled together an Opti group. It was a bit of a regional traveling team. And so  it  was kind of like  one thing led to another. Had some good training, although it was only for the couple months over the summer. That’s just kind of how.

07:34

how for me New England sailing was. Once the fall came, I’d play a bunch of soccer and then.

07:43

In the winter I would wrestle and in the spring, know, cross or tennis or that sort of thing. Nice fellow wrestler. I wrestled as well. The most amazing combat sport ever. Those that just don’t wrestle, they don’t know those that do. They’re like, all right, what did what did what weight did you wrestle in high school? I wrestled 135 in high school. OK, I was 119 to 125 and then beefed up to the 135 towards the end of my career.

08:11

Yes, yes, I  ended at 135 but  yes, I also  passed through 119 and 125 as well. Nice. I feel like  my wrestling skills just translate to everything, I’m sure, including sailing.  Did  you have any Olympic hopefuls uh or spirit for any of these other sports or did it just land on sailing? Were you going to be an Olympic wrestler? Because that’s pretty badass too.

08:38

Well, the answer is no. I was a little late to the game in wrestling, but you know, kind of had a formative summer where I had all these wrestling camps lined up, but then also some sailing regattas and kind of like right at the beginning of the summer, was just, I’m not gonna do any of the wrestling. I’m just gonna go all into sailing. That was a,

09:08

transition point, you know, I had a really  rewarding high school wrestling career, but I, you know,  when I didn’t do it in the off season, I was where my wrestling was going to end. Yeah, I hear you. I every year I made fourth place for CIF. So I was just an alternate every time. Never, never, got into the big tournament and didn’t become a professional wrestler, but it’s still there, still channeled. So

09:35

At what point did you think or know you were going to make a run for the Olympics? Tell us about just that, how that worked out. Late in high school, I became aware of sailing as an Olympic sport and actually coach Jay Kehoe, would always be talking about the Olympics. He’d say, you’re 470 size to you’re 470 size. Because through high school, I mostly sailed laser radials.

10:03

otherwise known as the Ilka 6 nowadays. that, know, I didn’t have to have a teammate. could just do it. And so it was a lot easier than to put a 420 thing together. And then in college, started double-handed sailing more. So that’s really where I learned double-handed boats a bit more. Jay Kehoe had

10:32

had facilitated me purchasing  in an old 470. So I got to get in on some some skip white clinics when he would put them together both to try to introduce people to the class, but also to train up people who were already good in the 470 in the US.  And that was really that provided a real introduction into the class. And  then I

11:02

Yale sailing,  Zach Leonard had just become the head coach and he had done a couple Olympic bids in the tornado and  that will, know, he, he loved the Olympics and sailing. And so those things that, and, and he was a great mentor for the next, for the next steps in my Olympic career. With all these people who are  mentoring you and pushing you and sort of helping you to see that there’s these different pathways.

11:31

Is there a common thread throughout them?  Did you find that it was just the inspiration? Were they just old dogs who wanted to live through a youth? And you being full circle, pro, and then a coach.  What are those traits that really stick? Because they’re just names here for somebody who doesn’t know them. But you can tell when you talk about them, there’s just deep relationships with each one of them.  what was it? Were they more inspiring? Were they more educational? Were they more of a wrestling kick your ass kind of thing?

12:01

Yeah, each each one had their own role. mean, like  Jake Kehoe, he made sailing fun. He pulled together a uh group of kids that was, you know,  were working really hard, but it was also a hilarious time.  there, you know, other other coaches, you know, Zach is like he’s  he’s a lot more measured, but he’s, know,

12:30

incredibly smart and he knows the sailing game very well. And so he was a very tuned in guide at some key moments. And what was the common? Of course, they love the sport of sailing. I mean, think it’s an interesting look. mean, just looking at

12:59

like rather than attach it to a specific person, but just looking at people’s motivations and what they do,  you know, and in the sport of sailing, it’s, you know, it’s often  some mixture of a passion for the sport. There’s, you know, different levels of economic necessity for different people. And, um you know, and so that drives people’s relationship with this, with the sport in different directions.

13:27

You know, I think generally coaches thought it was cool that I like to work really hard and was usually a pretty good learners. When you say you were someone who worked hard, what does that translate to? Did you just show up early, stay there late, hike harder? Like how do you define that? Is it just you were just all in and some weren’t or? um I’m not necessarily the show up early guy, but when I’m there, I’m all in. And, you know, just  really

13:58

working really hard in the moment and then after hours thinking about how to be better next time. Yeah, it’s interesting because you know, you’re the student that has the coaches, you become the coach  and there’s always people that need to be coached. So it’s interesting this dynamic and you you came top of mind for Ryan  as a coach to be connected with. And he  in turn became a coach for others to help him going through. And so sailing is such an

14:28

individual sport, but it seems as though when it gets to this high level  competition, it’s not an individual sport. It seems like there’s got to be somebody there. Personally, I’ve never done much racing. All my stuff has been just me out in the wilderness, Catalina, no structure. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a formal regatta. I’ve done Wednesday races and I’ve done a couple of offshores and stuff, but it’s fascinating just from the outside.

14:55

I think in other sports, it may seem more intuitive, like a wrestling coach, you you’re there  and you know, you’re on the mat, you’re next to him.  Your coach isn’t in your boat, they’re on a boat, but it just, it’s interesting, you know, what makes somebody a good student? What makes somebody a good coach? And I think  you might have some interesting insights because you were, and you are both of that. So,  you know, the traits like keeping things fun, having been measured, being smart.

15:24

on the mentor side, but then just being what I mean, if you’re just willing to work, is it something that you’re going to be good or is there, does it have to be that innate talent? You know, what, what do you look for in somebody who you’re coaching? Well, there are certainly people who work hard, but you know, progress seems slow.  And there those who are able to  mix hard work with the right amount of

15:53

kind of awareness and ingenuity  and  progress will happen a little bit faster. So, you you certainly don’t want to be banging your head against the wall, but on the flip side, you don’t always want to be trying new things. There’s a place in the middle  where, you you develop your product that works really well on a race course.

16:17

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16:45

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17:14

this idea of  somebody’s ability to learn and it sounds like it’s sort of incremental and slow. Is that just inherent for sailing? Is it that there’s so much, you know, minutiae in the details and that it’s so like, what fascinates me about sailing, it’s so basic at the end of the day, right? But it can be so complex. There are so many little nuances.  There’s always a level up and it’s hard to see what you’re doing if you don’t know it.

17:42

and from a coach, you you’re also kind of like viewing from far away. So the question is, can you take any schmuck schmuck in the nicest way  who maybe has a mom that has a grandma that has a boat that has something? Can you turn them into an Olympian? And I mean, I’m asking for a friend here. Just, know.  Well,  I mean.  No, but you could I.

18:11

I do believe that in a competent person who’s willing to put in the time can become very proficient at sailing. What if they’re not 11? What if they’re closer to 45?  Well,  I know firsthand how much more slowly I learn now.

18:39

No, no, I mean, so there’s actually the pro sailing is very interesting because I’ve worked with a lot of people who were

18:52

were kind of late to life or  came to sailing later in life. uh Or just later to coaching in life, right? Cause I same kind of bucket. would assume most of what I know, I’d almost have to unlearn or sort of start fresh with a basis. But yeah, yeah, there, there, there absolutely is. And so  exactly like,  let’s say, you know, and an actual sailor who,  you know, has always enjoyed sailing, but at 55,

19:22

they decide, hey, I want to try to win some races here. And it’s a real kind of  reorientation in terms of how  they process the sport.  And at that age, you learn in a different way than  children learn.  Children do a lot more learning by doing through intuition. I think oftentimes, adults prefer learning by numbers a bit.

19:49

But I mean, part of the fun thing, I I really, you I’ve recently taken up wing foiling  and kind of  that is, you know,  a very intuitive version of the sport of sailing.  And yeah, and that’s also actually why I really have appreciated 470 sailing and especially this last campaign I did with Lara,  kind of,  yeah, the intuitive connection  and

20:18

letting your body operate, letting your mind be a little bit looser, ah finding that mix of what  you think you know versus being in the moment and letting  whatever  rhythm comes out that seems to be successful.  I’ve really appreciated those two sides of the sport. as I’m getting older, I think I need to make

20:47

extra effort to spend time in the part of the sport where  it’s performing in the moment, being really present,  tapping into athletic senses,  all the different ways you can say it. I  think you know what I mean. Yeah. OK, so two things I want to draw on. One, the wing foiling. I want to take a side tangent for that, because as soon as I saw that going on, I’m like, that’s for me, because I’ve surfed my whole life, I’ve scurfed my whole life, just being pulled behind a boat.

21:15

you give me a lunch tray and I’ll get up on that shit. Like, you know, no big deal. Skateboard my whole life,  all that stuff. And so first trick was just getting a foil board  and the cost is pretty high. So I convinced my buddy to also get excited with me. And then we convinced his wife it’d be a great birthday present. And so we got a hold of a foil board  and we’ve been towing  just at slow speeds in Marine Stadium here, just kind of the feel and the vibe for it.  And

21:45

My first question is, would assume I need to really, really master the foiling part of the board before I jump into with the wing part. Is that, that’s one question for my coach. That can be very helpful. I think so. think, you know, the couple hours I spent on an E-foil were pretty, were really useful for comfort on the foil. And then,

22:13

a couple hours toe foiling behind a motorboat.  That was very useful.  Quick question for  the toe. You said it was called toe foiling, right? Okay. Toe foiling, like you’re literally being towed behind the motorboat. I initially thought you meant like toe. I’m like, what am I not doing with my toe? But okay, towing.  So that’s where I’m at right now. this, we’ve got three buddies that doing it pretty consistently. And I feel like we had this crazy breakthrough this last time, but I really don’t know and we don’t know. So the one breakthrough was almost

22:43

following parallel to the wake where before we would just kind of get going and then lose momentum and kind of get stuck down so almost like following the wake but Right on the inside crest we seem to find that little juicy spot But then you get going so fast and now it’s a matter of like fast versus pumping and we’re getting to a spot where you know, maybe 20 30 seconds at a time. There’s total slack. So it’s not a toe but

23:12

but really just I can’t seem to sustain it. So my question is when you’re being towed at a certain point, you’re under your own momentum  and you know, super slack. And if you kind of get Bailey, then with the driver slowing down, you can stop and pop back up. But is there like, is there a little magic or  what is it between the writing and the pumping and sort of the sweet spot? Any  gems? I’m going to pass these to me and my friends.  Oh, I would say the gems are well,

23:41

it depends a lot on how big the wake the motorboat is giving off. If it’s a light little boat with no wake or if it’s a really heavy one with the sturdy wake. And it depends a lot on the foil that you’re using.  There are some foils that are very happy at slower speeds, others have to feel a little higher speed. But for your given boat, try to find the sweet spot with the foil. And then what you can do is you can

24:11

You can be towed onto foil. You know, you’re on the wake, let go of the rope, play around in the wake for a bit, and then go back in, grab the rope again, and  you can go through some cycles of that. Yes, that’s exactly, I feel like it’s exactly what we’re trying to do, but the key point that I just learned here, not all foils are the same. And so I think I need to do a little bit more research because in my mind, I’m like, I’ve got the foil, this should work.

24:41

and it might not be the right foil for the right speed. This might be a big precisely. I mean, it’s all about the equipment at the end of the day, right? Huge range of equipment out there. Okay. Okay. Very cool. And then I also tried one of the IQ foil boards.  It just wasn’t windy enough to get up, but I got out there and, you know, first time on a windsurfer and again, tapping into this intuition. I believe that I can do it yet. I probably need a coach to help me understand how to do it. And I think that’s

25:10

I don’t know, that’s the challenge with deciding to get a coach or not. here’s to the thank you for the side tour there. But this idea of this somebody who’s maybe a little bit uh later to coaching or has never never had coaching. How do you convince somebody  that a couple hours with somebody like you is really going to transform what they’re up to? You know, because I don’t I don’t think it’s. Again,  I’m somebody who has the experience, but I don’t know what I don’t know. I mean,

25:40

Yeah, I’m sure there are so many people out there. A lot of people. Yeah. So so talk to all of us sailors who are mid range life and we’re excited about sailing  and we know we could be better, but we might just think that we’re good. And so we don’t tend to look for that help. Well, uh yeah, I mean, it’s, you know, you when you have to open your pocketbook to do something  of the much heavier choice, but

26:10

I actually think  that  the times when I’ve said,  let me just go sailing with you for a day or coach you for a couple hours, that’s  just  a try. Come out as a friend, like, try.  See if you like it.  See if it’s helpful. Almost always  the person is

26:39

says, wow, this has been really helpful.  you know that there’s a there’s a world out there I didn’t really realize.  you you recognize that you’re on the wrong foil for what you’re trying to do. And no matter how hard you tried it, wouldn’t have worked just because of what you’re working with.  Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I  yeah. Like let’s say you’re in Orange County and I’m like, hey,

27:04

the schedules align like  I’m fine to scratch a check to have you go out for two hours with me whatever no I’m just saying what would that even look like like I don’t even know I mean okay I tack it and if I’m just by myself right like it’s not like I’m in a racing environment like  what would we do for a couple hours would you do we would on.

27:24

we would get the boat going as fast as possible in the water.  We would get the boat balanced, which would mean the right heel, the right sail trim to a certain extent, the right rig tune. Like basically, you know, the  whatever the right amount of weather helm is for that boat or that condition, you know. So it’d be a laser and an Ilka laser  laser. oh Yeah. Like, cause it’s Ilka.

27:53

You wouldn’t be on the boat obviously, you’d just be in a boat next and like- I’d be in a motorboat.  I’d be in a motorboat.  And you’d be able to tell all this stuff just from looking. You can tell a lot. You’d be surprised.  you have  to rely on different feedback because  you’re not the one in the boat, but you can more or less, I can more or less tell the feedback the boat is giving you by how you’re responding to the boat.

28:22

So you’re really a translator, translating what the boat is trying to tell me that I’m not listening. Exactly.  I’m assisting.  And  a very important part of it is  the conversation between coach and athlete where the athlete says,

28:47

I’m feeling this, I’m trying this, like this is what the system feels like to me. Every time I do this, it feels like this happens and then the boat feels good or then the boat doesn’t feel good and then we can work through that together. And so, a lot of times the athlete has all of the pieces, but just having another person there with them to

29:16

help them problem solve or  even just providing support and mentorship as they problem solve themselves or even creating an environment where  they can problem solve themselves. Like oftentimes the best thing a coach can do is to  put together a practice course where then the person

29:46

has to do a maneuver that involves the skill that they need to work on. And then just by  doing it in that environment, they get better at it. OK, so three things. First of all, I love that now I’m an athlete. I’m no longer a sailor. I like how you’re referring to me as an athlete. This is good. Number two, the way you described it almost seemed like a Stuart GPT, where  I’m just  going in and you’re the large language model that spits out real time based on all the input and output.

30:12

And then thirdly, I heard a ship in there. So mentor ship, you went from coaching to mentor ship. And  so let’s go through all those one athlete. I think for all of those who want to get coaching, but they don’t know where they’re on the fence, I will say as soon as you get a coach, you become an athlete.  It’s like it traveled back in time, right? Okay. So that’s cool. Number two, do you really feel like

30:36

you are an all trained large language model when it comes to saling. I mean, you have probably such a unique database and assuming that you use JetChat GPT, you know about it, you’re AI proficient to some extent. Well, I mean, to really get to the heart of your question, yes, I do feel like I’m highly replaceable.  No, no,  no, this is like a custom, this is a Stuart GPT. Actually, OK, so.

31:03

Do you think, no, but this is real now, do you think that you as a coach, that AI is competing for your job? Because it’s very hard for me to type, I guess I can do voice. I think it’s a couple steps away from being able to, but  while I have not been intimately involved in the America’s Cup or  in SailGP, like basically disciplines where there’s a uh huge amount of data that they have to.

31:32

somehow process. I  think at least in the smaller boats, the reality is there’s, to  date, there’s no way that all of the relevant data can be exported to a computer to then be processed  and  deliver back to the sailor. as  you’re

31:58

As you’re  saying it, that is  pretty much  what a coach is. You’re  a wealth of experience and the athlete is doing their best and you’re providing feedback on that. Alright, so Stuart GPT. Let’s bring  GPT into the conversation. Alright, so I’m here with Stuart McNeigh. First of all, do you know about Stuart McNeigh? He’s a sailor, Olympian, a pro. Tell me what you know.

32:29

Absolutely, I can give you a little background. Stuart McNei is indeed a well-known name in the sailing world.  He’s an American sailor who’s competed in multiple Olympic games in the 470 class  and has been around the competitive sailing circuit for quite a while. He’s definitely got a lot of experience  and stories from his time racing at a world-class level. So if you’ve got him there with you, that’s pretty cool. Yeah, he’s here on a podcast with me and  I was just impressed with his.

32:56

knowledge base and I was like, know what, Stuart, you’re kind of like Stuart GPT,  you know, a large language model to help people coaching. And I was going to ask you, how close are you to replacing somebody like Stuart or is Stuart truly unreplaceable? Oh, I love that comparison. Stuart GPT has a nice ring to it.  Honestly, I think folks like Stuart are definitely one of a kind. I can help out with information and general coaching tips.

33:22

But there’s something pretty unique about having a real human like him with all that hands-on experience. So I’m definitely not here to replace someone like him. He’s got the real world stories and that personal touch that a model like me just can’t replicate. So in short, I’d say he’s definitely irreplaceable in his own way. Yeah, it’s nice. Nice. That’s what we thought. Thank you so much. Well, there you go. You are not replaceable. Well, thank you so much. You know, I was.

33:51

A while ago, I was with a sailor friend and the question was put to an AI, how do you win in the 470? And the AI came up with something okay, but it definitely did not hit to the heart of what it would take. I think…

34:18

OK, that’s good. Well, you are relevant. Let’s say I feel like what what do you think is another question that you could answer that will ask  it to answer and we’ll see what the comparisons are. Oh boy. Maybe maybe tied to laser like, you know, it’s it’s a yeah, me out there. OK, you know,  let’s you know, I was was racing in the IC 37 this past weekend  and on.

34:46

You know,  someone asked me how much curl do you put in an asymmetrical spinnaker? now bear in mind, you know,  most of my experience is with a symmetrical kite and I intimately know how to trim those. Let’s see what ChatGPT says for how much curl should the kite trimmer

35:15

put in the luff of a spinnaker on a downwind leg in the IC 37 class. OK, so here’s real quick what I’m going to do. Yes, yes, so I’m going to I’m going to take my ear my earpiece out now because I couldn’t repeat that question. I was taking notes on here. We’re getting her back online. Alright, so we’ve got Stuart back here and he has a question. We’re doing a little AI challenge. He has a question that he was asked recently.

35:43

which he wants you to ask. Are you prepared for the question? Absolutely. I’m ready to take on the challenge.  Bring it on, Stuart. Let’s see what his girlfriend is.  I was racing a 37 foot boat called an  IC37. It has an asymmetrical spinnaker.  And the question was raised, how much furrow  should the spinnaker trimmer put into the luff of the spinnaker?

36:12

They want to know how much they should ease the spinnaker sheet in order to get a lot of curl or a little bit or almost none. Ah, that’s a great question and a very classic sail trimming scenario. So the general wisdom, especially on a boat like an IC 37 with an asymmetrical spinnaker is that you actually do want to see a little bit of curl in the luff, not a massive amount, not letting it fully collapse, but just a slight hint of that front edge curling.

36:42

That little bit of curl means you’re right on the edge of optimal trim, getting the best shape and powered out of the sale.  So in short, the Spinnaker trimmer should ease just enough to see that little bit of curl,  but not so much that it’s flapping all over the place. Now, I kind of call BS on that answer and Stuart’s shaking his head no, because that was just a very general like you just basically repeated the question.  How do you think you did on that answer? Well, I appreciate the honesty and hey, I’ll totally own that if it felt a bit too generic.

37:10

I was definitely going for the classic textbook approach,  but that’s the fun of having a real expert like Stuart around. He can totally call me out and add that layer of real world nuance.  So I’m happy to take the feedback.  Let’s just say I gave the broad strokes and I’ll let him fill in the expert details. All right, Stuart. So  what went wrong there in that talk? And chat GPT, be quiet here while he’s talking.  I’m not sure chat GPT understood it as an asymmetric spinnaker. I thought.

37:39

I thought ChatGPT repeated it back  as asymmetric, but perhaps that was just my own microphone issue. Well, let’s check. that, your answer change if it’s an asymmetrical? Absolutely. And thanks for clarifying that. I definitely heard it as an asymmetrical spinnaker.  And actually for an ASIM, the idea does hold true that you generally want a little bit of curl in the luff.

38:03

It’s great that Stuart is here to fine tune it. The exact amount of curl can depend on conditions and the boat, of course,  but I’m totally on board with letting the human pros steer us into the finer details. All right. What do you think? It’s just again, this very surface level. It didn’t wasn’t riveting. It’s not wrong.  I’d say  I mean, that’s pretty much the answer. Not too much, not too little. You need to be in touch with the curl, but.

38:32

You certainly don’t want to be  losing sail area or adding too much turbulence over the sail as would happen if you  have a substantial amount of curl.

38:44

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39:12

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39:41

And I think this brings up a point  of, and  in chat GPT we’ll ask your thoughts and then we’re gonna get back to the human-human conversation. There’s  never been more information available. And I mean, I’ve got sailing books back here with all this information. But for me, to pay somebody to coach me actually shows that I’m gonna be paying attention at that moment. And I could chat GPT all day long, but I don’t know if it would give me that sense of,  know, mentorship at the end of the day. Like it’s just data.

40:11

And so I think what it sounds like the other coaches did for you was they took the data that was available and they all had their unique way of doing it and presenting it. It really makes me think that coaching isn’t something that can be replaced. It’s something that can be helped supplement. Like you can give me GPT homework or you can say, hey, in between sessions, if you have a question, feel free to ask. But I think that there’s still that that valuable connection between you and the person you’re working with. uh Stuart, are you using AI in any way to help?

40:41

augment?  I am not, although it, hold  on. She interrupted, you interrupted, hang on, Stuart’s talking here. Hold on. It has been suggested to me before.  Although  I  am generally not using  AI to augment  once in a while, if there’s a  abstract technical question, like let’s say it’s in, it’s involving the physics of air or water flow.

41:09

chat GPT can be quite useful. I’ve found it  gives very good answers in that realm.  But  as you were saying, a lot of coaching is about the human connection, it’s about the mentorship, it’s about,  particularly higher performance coaching is about the athlete feeling like they have someone in their court.

41:39

You know, it is, uh, you know, you, it can be a lonely experience out there on the race course. And then at least  to, be  feeling the connection of, know, what you’re doing there is then also  connected to this coach. And you’ll talk about it together later or your, you know, even though your coach isn’t in the boat, they’re experiencing it with you that,  you know,  I’m.

42:07

You know, there are plenty of times I’ve heard athletes say, you know, I just wanted to give up,  but I thought about my coach. So, you know, I, I, that’s a very real thing. Yeah. All right, chat. You’ve got your final comments here then we’re going to go back to this conversation. Any thoughts on what Stewart’s talking about here? Absolutely. And I think that’s a perfect note to end on from my side.  I mean, Stewart really said it well.

42:32

That human connection  and the feeling that someone’s might there in your corner is just not something I can replace.  I’m here to be a helpful resource,  a supplement, maybe a homework assistant, if you will, but the actual mentorship and that inspiration you get from a real coach.  Yeah, that’s all in the human realm. So thanks for letting me jump in and I’ll let you two take it from here. All right. Sounds good. Well, that’s refreshing. I mean, at the end of the day, this is all coming down the chute  and it’s a matter of how  we are.

43:01

looking to utilize it.  yeah, I think  having somebody  along with the ride  and somebody to debrief with afterwards,  you know, I can’t just have my phone on the boat and have it experience that with me. So I think that’s cool. And it sounds like full circle. There was something about the people who you initially worked with, with Brett Dawns,  Andy Hurley, Mike Can’t Remind Last Name writing, and then Jake Catato.

43:31

Brett Davis, Andy Hurley,  Mike Zani and Jake Hehoe. if we were to go back, Skip White, Luther Carpenter, Thomas Barrows, Morgan Reesor, all these, you know, and I’m sure there are plenty  I haven’t said right now, but you know, it’s  they’ve been critical, critical parts of my journey. Yeah. And this comes back to that question initially of like what

44:00

is a common thread line or what’s the through line and they’re human and there’s some sort of connection. And so I guess my final question is how does someone go about choosing the right coach? Cause I can imagine that maybe somebody’s not all about the fun and maybe they’re hardcore. And just like I’ve had different wrestling coaches, some resonated, some didn’t, some kicked my ass, some, you know, some didn’t. What would you say for all of the 45 to 55 somethings who are listening to this and they’re like, all right, Ryan, you’ve convinced me.

44:30

to go hire someone,  whether it’s Stuart or this list of names, how do you even approach that? Because it’s kind of, I need a coach to find a coach, coach.  Oh, that’s one of the challenges in the industry.  How does client connect with expert and expert connect with client? That is a real challenge and there’s no real database there. So it’s all  referral and word of mouth.  And there are plenty of

44:59

experts  who don’t seem so expert and you know,  what are you gonna get?  I think, mean, with the best, I’d say great coaching experiences are often moments in time or periods in time. And when it’s right, you know it’s right.  It’s very few times when I’ve thought to myself,

45:27

you know, when I’ve been in the moment feeling that it’s not working and, you know, the right thing has been just to tough it out. Like there’s, you know, not many times where that was the right response.  And it’s, you know, there are  so many factors that go into play for, you know,  you know, two people can work well with each other. you know, I’m mostly on boats  with

45:57

with teams in my Olympic class, that was a two person boat. And now as a pro sailor, I work with larger teams. And so it’s, you know, it’s not just,  this working for me? There’s also, has to, has to work for the team.  And, uh, you know, there are times when a less emotional, more technical approach has been exactly what the situation’s needed. There are times when

46:24

It’s not at all about the sailing and you just need a friend by your side. so some coaches can shift into different roles, other coaches. And actually, towards that end, I’ve very rarely had success asking a coach to

46:52

coach to fill a role that I think I need. It’s usually more been let the coach be who they are in their best self. And when that’s interacting with who I am,  that’s  when the magic happens. That’s a really interesting point because  that kind of answered my question. Instead of me looking for a coach to do something that I think I need, probably just find somebody, give them a chance, and they would

47:22

as the expert be able to let me know  where like where I need the help, right? Because if I don’t know what I don’t know, how do I feel comfortable finding a coach? Right. It’s kind of like that clay that might be that barrier of doing it. Now, does it need to be proximity? Like, I mean, can I only hire you when you’re in town? Is there is there a world in which what I do a GoPro videotape or something? Or is it  really just need to be in person?

47:50

Well, that’s a great question. A couple of times, either friends or people I’ve worked with in the past have sent me videos of them sailing said, hey, what do you think? And you can get a bit out of the video. I’ve found I can give relevant feedback. I would certainly resist the temptation to overreach, even though that temptation is there.

48:18

I mean, I, you know, I’ve certainly heard other other coaches try to do remote coaching more extensively. You know, it’s far, far better in person. Yeah.  I, you know,  remote has relevance as well. Yeah. All right. Well, hey, you know, I might be looking for a coach so you never know. So we’ll kind of dance around that when it gets to it. But I am convinced that a coach would help. And I think that’s a

48:45

You know, it’s not really even an ego thing. It’s just sort of like, I don’t know.  I like the idea of  being an athlete and not being responsible for  knowing what to do  and it being something that’s fun, which comes back to it because if you’re out there and you know what you’re doing, I feel like things are more fun. And as I get onto bigger boats, I’ve got a 1977 Cal 34 and I was out sailing this weekend and I was having a blast. I took a buddy and his parents out. But like, I mean, I’m just aimlessly sailing.

49:14

I was probably not trimmed properly and  I could have been headed differently and there’s just so many things that I know I could learn.  guess part of that in this conversation has helped me realize that it doesn’t have to be something that just stops. The learning can just continue to start and start again. I don’t know if I’m going go back and wrestle again because I’ll get my ass kicked,  but I feel like I could put up a good fight with a couple of my solid moves and it’s those moves.

49:43

you know that I’d rely on. So it’s interesting.  I like that. like that. Well, if I want to hire you or somebody wants to hire you or they want to get in touch with you or they want to check out all the crazy cool resources that you’ve developed and put online to answer questions that they might already have, how does one connect with you? Well, the best thing is you can you can find me on social media, on Instagram. I think Stu McNay is my handle.

50:14

I,  you know, there’s always my email and my phone, but  if you send me a message, you know. Get them in the DMs. I’ll likely reply.  Nice. Now, I do think that no one can message you unless you follow them back. Oh, interesting. Because I tried to message you, so that’s why I had to go through Nicky and Ryan in that group chat because you did. maybe  if they drop you a comment.

50:41

maybe you give them follow and then they can get in the DMs or something. Just I found that as like a  quick little bridge. Well,  perhaps I’m harder to get in touch with than I think. ah But I, you know, you know, I always what’s your email for the 55 year old that’s not on Instagram to work dot Mcneigh at gmail dot com. That is that is a surefire way to find me.  And, you know, I

51:09

I love the sport of sailing and I always like engaging with people over the sport. So I would say. Very cool. Shameless plug, but I just I just launched the first book in my new series, Getting Your Ship Together. And there are a series of ships mentorship, which is on the line. This is Speakership. And then I have next coming up entrepreneurship and then leadership. And then my wife’s going to co-author relationship with me. And so there’s a good chance.

51:39

I might hit you up even just as a fun story or anecdote or  something from a coach  to help others get their ship together.  That would be lovely.  I really didn’t think about the coaching aspect as much, but we’re going to definitely feature you in mentorship when that ship sails. Good.  All right. I  feel honored to have made a ship. Yes.  And I mean, I feel like we can all level up our

52:08

I’m all for boats. Yes, yes. I like big boats and I cannot lie and small ones too.  Well, hey, this has been so much fun. I feel like this is good start. I might continue to bother you into the future and hopefully  hire you at some point or maybe when I’m in your area. But yeah, it was just a fun, honest conversation about coaching. And I think after this, I’m a lot more open to it. Whereas before, I didn’t think that it would be for me or that somebody like you wouldn’t even really give the time of day because I’m not

52:37

you know, an Olympian. And so there’s hope for all of us who are just excited to become more experienced on the water. I would assume you work with people who are not only. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ve I’ve I work with a very wide range of people and I it’s really exciting to meet people where they are, wherever that is. All right. Well, hopefully we’ll see you out on the water soon. And I hope people blow up your inbox and get you booked up and then

53:07

That’s the better problem to get a hold of was when you’re just book solid. And then you can  develop some sort of AI interface to help all the population wants to connect with you and create some sort of a waiting list technology, something or other. And we’ll call it Stuart GPT.  Perfect. All right. Well, thank you. And hey, everybody who’s listening, get a coach. When I talk with Ryan and his advice on I asked him to coach me, he’s like, you need to get a coach.  So.

53:34

The advice keeps coming around and you you’re never too old to learn. And I think that if you don’t know what you know, if you don’t know what you don’t know, then nothing’s going to change. So it just might re-spark something about sailing for you and you know make you kind of feel like a kid again. So thanks Stuart. And for all those, if this is your first podcast, listening to good jobs and don’t make it your last, you can subscribe where you get your podcasts. And speaking of social media, you can follow Latitude 38 on all channels and you can find and follow me.

54:03

I am on all channels. You can find me and my website at Ryan.Online. And if you want to pick up a copy of my new book, Speakership, you should go to Amazon and search Speakership. I’m the only one out there and I’d love to see what you think about it. Stuart, let’s get our ship out there to the ocean for the rest of the day and the rest of the week. And I appreciate you taking the time. And I’ll tell Nikki and Ryan, you said hi. And when they win the Olympics, we can all be part of the team and celebrate. Exactly.

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Thank you for having me on board here, Ryan.  All right, buddy. Sail fast and  trim tight.  And thanks again to OceanPlanetEnergy.com for sponsoring this latest episode of Good Jibes!