Many articles have been written about what to do before the first start of the day, and while most sailors have a basic idea of what they need to accomplish, laziness or tardiness often get in the way. If you regularly find yourself unprepared or late to the start, get motivated and get to the racecourse 45 minutes to one hour before the first gun. The more “intel” you collect before the first start, the better off you’ll be.

Once you’re on the racecourse, there are four essential things you must do: make sure you’re going fast, figure out the wind, and research the starting line.

Step 1: Gather your wind readings

Skip Whyte, my Olympic 470 coach for many years, often said that, on any given race day, there are different waves of tuning groups. The best sailors get out early and sail upwind before the mid-fleeters get to the course. If you want to win, you need to get out early and join the first group. While your team is sailing upwind and tweaking sails and rig for speed, your tactician should be figuring out the wind pattern.

The key is to watch the compass and determine a range of headings on each tack. For example, on starboard you may be sailing between 220 and 240 degrees, and on port you may be sailing 310 to 330. The wind is shifting through 20 degrees. You should also try to determine the timing of the shifts. It’s not an exact science because the wind changes often, but getting the feel for a pattern will help you make educated decisions while racing. Once you have a feel for the pattern, note the true-wind direction by finding the midpoint of all your headings. In this case, it’s 275 degrees. The tactician should also be looking around for other important tactical factors, such as current, potential geographic shifts, and varying wind conditions across the racecourse.

Step 2: Find your fast settings

When tuning up with the good teams (or a designated tuning partner), compare your relative height and speed. In general, if you’re pointing well but not going forward, make your sails flatter. If you have speed but no height, make the sails fuller and tighter leached, especially the main. If you’re lower and slower, something, or many things, are off. Make sure you’re set up according to your sailmaker’s tuning guide, experiment with different settings, and ask your tuning partners how they’re set up if they’re beating you.

Once the first tuning group reaches the top of the course, its time to go downwind. If you determined you needed to change the rig, now is a good time to do so. While sailing downwind, try different angles and techniques to figure out what is fast for the conditions. When you’re about halfway down the run, start looking for the second wave of boats tuning upwind. Find a preferred competitor, douse your kite early enough to get your boat reset for sailing upwind, and join them. Now test what you learned during the first tuning session and continue watching the compass and looking around.

Over the course of your second lap, you’ll become much more comfortable with your boatspeed and the wind patterns. If you’re sailing a hiking boat, this pre-race tuning also helps your body get warmed up and ready for action. The benefit of tuning before the race is it allows you to gain confidence in your settings and boatspeed, freeing you up to look around while racing. Unprepared sailors spend a lot of energy with their head in the boat trying to go fast, and their tactics suffer as a result.

Step 3: Research the starting line

Once you’ve tuned twice and collected course data—headings, current, and pressure differences—it’s time to take a breather. Drink water, eat a snack, and make any final tweaks to the rig. It’s also a good time to process the data you’ve collected and start building your game plan. If you got to the course an hour before the start, you should have about 15 minutes left. Start monitoring the race committee.

Once the committee sets the line, go back to work. It’s important to do more starting-line research than you think you should. Truly understand the whole “starting box,” as match racers call it. The starting box is the area defined by the laylines to the pin and boat ends and the actual starting line.

To get a line sight, sail to one end of the line, on the side opposite the land, and sight through the race committee flag, picking out an object on land—a building or tree, for example—that’s in line with both ends. Then, run the line using this sight to get a feel for what it looks like to be right on the line. The longer the line is, the greater the illusion you’re on the course side when you’re actually not. This is especially true in the middle. (Paul Elvström says that, because of this illusion, when starting in the middle of the line, he makes himself feel like he’s half a length over.) Get used to the feel of being on the line and trust the sight. If there’s no line sight available, use a compass heading to run the line. Find the heading by luffing up to one of the ends, inside the line, then aim at the other end to get a compass direction. Run the line sticking to the compass direction to keep you on the line. Run the line three times, looking back and forth the whole time.

During one of your runs, time how long it takes to sail from one end to the other. This will help you position your boat on the final approach. This is a great assignment to give to a crewmember with little to do.
Next, find the boat and pin laylines. You must start in between them (inside the starting box), and if you start near an end, the laylines play a big part in your strategy. To find them, set up a few lengths off the committee boat end of the line (30 to 40 seconds away) and head up on a closehauled course on what you think is the layline; do the same with the pin layline. If you’re off, do it again.

Top match racers check their starting laylines over and over again before the sequence, especially at the end at which they plan to start. This drill also helps you practice heading up (which you do in the last few seconds of the start). Plus, every time you reach closehauled, it allows you to track the wind by checking your compass angle. The shiftier it is, the more beneficial the drill.

During your starting-line research, put the bow into the wind a few times to check the line bias and to track the true-wind direction. I recently sailed the Championship of Champions and witnessed Jud Smith doing this more than anyone I’d ever seen. Jud and his daughter Lindsay won the practice race and first two races of the championship, and they did more wind shots than anyone before each start.

Step 4: Double-check before the countdown

Now that you’ve completed your research, you should have a great understanding of the starting box. Do a brief upwind sail again to see if anything has changed. Check your compass again and make sure the boat still feels right for the conditions. When heading upwind, observe your angle compared to the line. Visualize how the fleet will come off the line at that angle and factor that into your final game plan. Your angle off the line should correspond to the favored-end research you did. If not, then there’s either been a shift, or the committee moved the line.

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Ever been lapped in a one-design race? The thought had never crossed my mind, at least not until I gave the Flying Dutchman class a try. My debut was the pre-Olympic trials, and I painfully recall a race when I had to look backwards to see the leaders. We finished so far in last that it was dark by the time we completed the long, slow trip back to shore. Fortunately my wife, who maintained a better sense of humor than myself, aimed the car headlights down the launching ramp, and with a smile asked if we had stayed out for some extra practice.

After such humiliation you might ask, “Why bother trying a new class?” After all, if you’re comfortable sailing your own boat and finishing pretty darn well at times, why rock the boat? The answer is simple: new boats demand new techniques, and if you want to become a sharper sailor, you have to expose yourself to alternative ways of sailing. Heck, the experience can even be enjoyable – if you have the right attitude and a good game plan.

The game plan is easy. The attitude is a bit trickier. Setting unrealistic, unattainable goals can totally derail your plan for learning the new boat. Remember that no matter how hot you are in your own class, there are accomplished sailors with equally impressive results in the other classes.

After our enlightening experience in the Flying Dutchman, we completely reassessed our expectations. For sure, we recognized that unless some incurable plague attacked the rest of the U.S. FD fleet, we didn’t have much chance of making it to the Olympics. Instead, I focused on just plain enjoying the exhilarating ride, learning as much as possible and applying what I could to the other boats I sail. That didn’t mean I suddenly discovered how to make a Flying Scot or a Lightning plane upwind, but I did, for example, learn a great deal about helm balance when sailing upwind in a breeze.

Let’s say you’ve picked a new class and you’ve got the right attitude. Now it’s time to get up to speed as fast as you can. To make the most of your new experience, you need a plan of attack.

Step 1: Preparation

Research. First, gobble up all the written information that is available on the new boat. Call the major sailmakers and ask for a copy of their tuning guide. Be sure to contact the class secretary and ask for back issues of the class newsletter that have articles about tuning, sail trim and most important, boathandling techniques. Be sure to keep track of any questions that develop because there will be plenty of opportunities to ask them later.

Watch a race or two. The knowledge gained from watching the new class race can be a huge help. Watch how the fleet approaches the start. How do they trim their sails and handle their boats? Even the back-of-the-fleeters’ mistakes can be educational. If you really want to be fancy, take video footage. Watch the hot guys and take note of the questions you want to ask them later.

Set up your new boat. Armed with tuning guides, articles and the information you gained from observation, it’s time to set up your boat. Try to duplicate what you’ve seen and make notes on areas you don’t understand or can’t duplicate.

Call the sailmaker. After you think you have your boat set up like the hot guys, call the sailmaker and get the lowdown on the details of sail trim and boat setup. Be sure to ask, “How should the boat balance?” The sailmaker should give you some idea of the feel on the helm in the various conditions. Then ask, “How should the sails look in light, medium and heavy winds? What are the trim differences between normal speed and pointing, the high pointing mode, and the footing/ acceleration mode?”

Of course, you’ll have the tuning guide in front of you so you’ll be able to reference your questions about outhaul, cunningham, etc. For me, it helps to compare the trim and tuning that I’m used to on my old class to that of the new class. If the trim is different, try to find out why.

Step 2: Dry run on shore

Boathandling and teamwork is just as important as sail trim and tuning. Running through the rough moves for tacking, jibing, hoisting and dropping the spinnaker, etc. on shore can smooth out the edges before you and your team take to the water.

After my first day of racing in an MC Scow, a handful of near capsizes (it was blowing all of 8 knots) and getting stuck in irons while tacking, I had the opportunity to watch an on-land seminar by one of the class hotshots. As soon as he demonstrated his first tack, the light bulb came on. I realized I had been doing it all wrong. The only way I knew how to tack was to put the hiking stick in front of the tiller. This technique doesn’t work on an MC because the mainsheet is too close to the end of the tiller. As soon as I flipped the hiking stick behind and over the top of the tiller, my tacks were much cleaner. Had I spent just five minutes going through tacks on shore before I put the boat in the water, my first day of racing might have been a bit less humorous. Here are some of the things to concentrate on during your dry run:

Practice the hand-off. The skipper has to become comfortable with switching hands between mainsheet and tiller extension while facing forward, both tacking and jibing. It’s a good idea to hook the main halyard on the boom and hoist it until the boom is at sailing height to simulate actual sailing trim. Obviously the same is true for the crew with trimming the jib from tack to tack. Dry land tacking will also help the crew determine if they should be facing forward or aft when trimming the jib from tack to tack.

Perfect your footwork. How often do you come out of a tack in a breeze fishing for the straps while the boat heels precariously, slipping sideways? As you become comfortable with your hands, practice the placement of your feet. During a tack, you want to land on the new side with your feet finding the hiking straps automatically – not digging around for them with your toes.

Test your spinnaker handling. Without question, much can be gained by simply running through the basic drill of setting the pole and play acting a hoist, drop, etc. Going through all the moves beforehand will make your first sail more productive, and probably generate some more questions to ask your fellow competitors.

Step 3: On the water

Common sense tells us that our first race in the new boat shouldn’t be a major championship. Certainly not the Flying Dutchman pre-Olympic trials! Instead, pick an event you can approach with a light attitude. This is important, as the first experience will have a strong effect on your future attitude.

Getting up to speed in a hurry requires good onboard communication. The skipper needs constant feedback from the crew on how his experiments with trim and steering affect boatspeed. When I’m concentrating on steering and the balance of the boat, I rely on my crew to compare our speed and pointing ability with that of boats around us. Hopefully they say, “We’re higher and faster,” but there are often times when we’re lower and slower. That’s when it’s time to experiment. While the goal is to be higher and faster, learn to be content with equal height and speed.

Objective assessment of the situation by the crew is critical, but while I appreciate a crew who is brutally honest, saying “Geez, do we have a bucket out?!,” doesn’t help. The crew should pick a boat close by – a boat that isn’t in a different wind – and then describe its relative speed and height without emotion.

Kelly Gough, a multi-class champion, has a technique that his crew uses to feed him information. He calls it, “Good news, bad news.” His crew might say. “The boat to weather is slightly higher and nearly half again as fast.” When this happens, Kelly asks for the good news. His crew might reply with something like, “Now I don’t have to turn my head as far to see them!”

Step 4: Post-race assessment

When he got into the Snipe class, Ed Adams was not bashful about pestering the class hotshots with questions. After one race, Ed approached Jeff Lenhart, a perennial Snipe ace known for his economy of words. But before Ed could get his first question out, Lenhart rolled his eyes and said, “Ten questions.” “What?” was Ed’s response. “Now you have nine,” was Jeff’s answer. Ed made the remaining questions count, and within a year, became a Snipe hotshot himself. The moral is, if you don’t understand something, don’t be afraid to ask.

Remember the importance of attitude; the desire to win must take a back seat to the desire to learn. When your eyes and ears are open, you see and hear a lot more. Copy the fast sailors, then quiz them on it later.

There should never be a shortage of questions, especially if you involve your crew. Start with the start. What’s the best technique to get off the line? How much time does it take to accelerate? Does the boat slide sideways when you trim in? Be sure you understand how to “change gears” upwind, not just with sail trim, but also with steering, hiking position, etc. Learn each step the top crews go through when rounding a mark. Find out the best way to catch a wave or get the boat up on a plane.

The questions can be endless, so you must prioritize. Sit down with your crew on the way in from the race and mentally run around the course together, figuring where you lost the most ground to the leaders. Then you can focus your questions on those parts of the race.

I vividly remember my first heavy air downwind leg in an MC. I learned all too quickly that these long, flat boats have a tendency to bury their bows when it’s lumpy and breezy. I panicked the first time the front half of the boat stuck itself under water and stayed there. Just ahead of me looking back, as my crew and I scrambled to the transom, was the eventual regatta winner. That evening I tracked him down and asked how he kept his boat from doing the Titanic imitation. “I figured you’d come looking for me,” he said, then went on to explain that the boat had to be quickly heeled either to windward or to leeward so the bow could pop free from the water.

Step 5: Reality check

It should go without saying that, with all this questioning and research, you should keep a notebook. Then you can go back and review your notes. Often, answers to your problems will become crystal clear. Better yet, the creative juice will lead you to experiment in the other boats you sail. But sometimes your notebook may harbor what seem to be confusing, illogical or contradictory answers to your questions. That’s when it’s time for a little reality check.

These are universal guidelines that seem to apply to almost any type of boat. Sometimes you can use these rules of thumb to create respectable speed without a whole lot of research beforehand. But these rules are most useful as a reality check. If your notebook seems to tell you to do something that contradicts one of these rules, you’d better understand why. Oops! I guess that means you have to ask more questions! Isn’t learning fun?

For more on getting a new boat up to speed from Terry Hutchinson, click here.

A sailmaker for North Sails One Design, Greg Fisher has won championships in the Lightning, Flying Scot, Highlander and Thistle. However, he is best known for his dedication to helping others learn to sail their boats faster.

The post Getting Up to Speed in a New Class appeared first on Sailing World.

No.1 Most boats perform best upwind with a nearly neutral weather helm. At times, the boat will develop weather helm, especially when in point mode, but an excessive tug on the tiller indicates that the boat is badly out of balance. The quick fixes: sail the boat flatter, raise the centerboard, decrease mast rake or flatten the mainsail.

No. 2 In most conditions, trim the mainsheet so that the top batten is parallel to the boom, rather than pointing inboard or outboard. To judge this, cover the last 10 inches of the upper batten pocket with black tape. Then sight up the leech from under the boom, trim to the right spot and mark the mainsheet.

That said, there are times you can break this rule. When trying to accelerate, develop power in light-to-medium winds or when greatly overpowered in a breeze, the upper batten can be angled outboard 10 to 20 degrees.

Conversely, when trying to point extra high in moderate air, it’s OK to slightly overtrim the main so that the batten hooks to windward in relation to the boom.

No. 3 Figure out what is maximum mast bend, and then strive to attain it in most conditions. Maximum bend is the point at which overbend wrinkles (speed wrinkles, inversion wrinkles, etc.) develop in the lower quarter to lower third of the mainsail. Depending on the boat, you can bend the mast with mainsheet tension, vang tension, backstay tension, rig tension, mast blocks, spreader angle or a combination of all of the above.

No. 4 Every boat has its optimal rig tension. Find out what it is and maintain it. Most boats sail best with the rig just tight enough so that the leeward shroud starts to go slack when it’s blowing 10 to 12 knots.

If the rig is too loose, the jib entry will become quite full. The result is poor pointing ability. Too tight a rig, on the other hand, is sometimes indicated by overbend/inversion wrinkles in the entry of the jib – a small scale version of what happens to a mainsail with maximum mast bend. In addition, if the rig is too tight, the entry of the jib will be quite flat and the telltales will break on both sides of the jib at nearly the same time. In short, the jib becomes hard to steer to.

No. 5 Sail the boat on its lines. Usually, a boat will not perform when its bow or stern is buried in the water. Besides the obvious drag, this can affect the balance of the boat and the tug on the tiller (e.g. bow down creates weather helm). Instead, position the crew weight so the transom is just kissing the water. The result is a smooth, undisturbed wake. Watch where the top sailors sit and copy them.

No. 6 Trim your jib so that, if there were a batten in the middle of the leech, it would be parallel with the centerline of the boat. Put a piece of dark tape on this real or imaginary batten. Only in rare exceptions does a jib ever get trimmed off this position. One time would be for acceleration – ease the sheet so the mid-leech stripe is angled 10 degrees outboard from centerline. This trim is for “first gear” and should match to the mainsheet ease when the main’s top batten is also angled outboard for acceleration.

No. 7 Set your jib leads so that your jib luff breaks evenly from top to bottom. When the boat is overpowered, move the lead aft until the top breaks just ahead of the lower and middle telltales.

No. 8 Set your jib and main luff tension so that there are always some slight horizontal wrinkles along the luff. In very light winds, completely relax the luff tension so there are slight wrinkles all the way from head to tack. Tighten it gradually as the wind builds, so that in heavy air slight wrinkles appear only in the lower few feet of both sails.

If the luff tension is too soft, these wrinkles will be too big. But they’ll never be as long or pronounced as the inversion wrinkles from excessive mast bend or too tight a forestay. Those wrinkles angle from luff to clew. The wrinkles controlled by luff tension are much smaller and lie perpendicular to the luff.

No. 9 Every boat has a “sweet spot” – a precise steering angle for optimum performance upwind. Every boat also has a groove, which is the range of acceptable steering angles. It’s up to the skipper to learn both. The lower end of this range is for acceleration. At this angle, both jib telltales should be streaming straight aft. The luff of the jib should rarely break, but the leeward telltales should never stall.

The center of the groove is the sweet spot, where the boat should be sailed 75 percent of the time. Here you should steer so the weather telltale is slightly stalled. The other end of the groove is the pinching mode, which is used in breezy conditions, especially in flat water. This side of the groove is usually higher than simply letting the weather telltale lift. On most boats you can actually steer so the front of the jib breaks as much as a foot back from the headstay for short periods.

No. 10 When in doubt, check out what the fast guys are doing!

The post 10 Tips for Better Boatspeed appeared first on Sailing World.

Choosing the faster side of the first leg of a race is critical to getting an early jump on the bulk of the fleet, and it’s something you can usually predict. Careful study, a disciplined approach, and simply summoning up the courage to make the call are essential ingredients. Few sailors have the resources America’s Cup sailors enjoy, but both ashore, and on the water before the start, you can do quite a bit of homework to help you make the right call.

Make a habit of reviewing your tide tables (if you’re on the coast) and forecasts in the newspaper or internet, before leaving the dock. In addition, take the time to ask local sailors what to expect; beyond the normal wind and current info, you may learn some surprising things. On one Midwestern lake, the cows near the shoreline face downwind, and the stronger the wind, the more neatly they line up. In Newport, R.I., dense dew on the grass early in the morning indicates a strong southwester will fill. Some of what you hear may not help you choose the faster side, but the process always helps orient you to the race area.

Once you leave the dock, the same applies to watching the wind. Track changes in the wind by recording compass readings, including the time. Then, well before the start, study the water carefully. Look for dark patches of water indicating more wind or a significant current effect. Study one section of the horizon at a time, standing up so you have a greater height of eye. Use polarized sunglasses because they help contrast the color of the water, and let your eyes blink naturally. There are many sources to use when reading the wind: flags, smoke stacks on shore, cruising sailboats, birds taking off, ripples on the water, the direction of anchored boats, as well as your competitors. Look to see if the boats on one side are heeling in more wind. When you look upwind, split the leg into three sections: left, middle, and right. After a couple of minutes of study, make a guess as to which side seems better. Select a section to head for, and state your findings aloud—this is part of giving yourself the courage to make a choice. Your first instinct will usually be correct.

Now run a test; the best way is to arrange a tune-up with a competitor. While you sail upwind on one side of the course, your partner sails up the other. After 2 minutes, tack toward each other. Note which boat gains, and after crossing, head toward the opposite side for another 2 minutes. Tack back together and note the difference. Usually the boat on the same side will have gained.

Return to the starting area and make a second visual observation. Ask yourself, is the wind any different now? The key at this point is to make a definite decision to favor one section of the course. Sometimes you may think you’ll get a shift going one way but stronger wind, the other. If that’s the choice, I like to head for stronger wind because it gives me more speed and often more options.

Set up your starting strategy so you’re heading toward the side you favor. If your plan is to sail to the right side, start on the right end of the line. The less sure you are of your choice, the closer to the middle of the line you should start (see diagram). Once the race starts, head for your side at top speed. Right or wrong, speed always counts. Strategically, your biggest decision now is to monitor the rest of the fleet and consider whether to carry on or switch sides. My first instinct is always to stick with my original call. But conditions change, so one crewmember should continually analyze whether you’re gaining or losing; if you decide your side is losing within a minute or two, that’s the time to tack and stay in contact with the leaders. Key indications may be that a new wind is blowing in from the opposite side, or maybe a few boats are making huge gains. But before taking action, ask yourself, “Will the new wind still be there when I arrive?” If you have any doubt, avoid chasing the new wind. If you decide to go for it, pick a spot just after a boat has crossed ahead of you or close behind. This boat will become a blocker as you cross the course. It’s OK to dip behind several boats if you see better wind; an early loss may translate into a big gain later.

What’s the biggest mistake sailors make when they’ve decided to switch sides? It’s second guessing themselves and tacking back again. The extra tacks cause you to fall farther behind, and your indecisiveness will make it even harder to catch up. Later in the race watch for major windshifts or current shears (abrupt shifts in the direction the water is moving), and, when planning to go downwind, consider what you learned upwind. When you cross a current shear marked by surface debris or irregular, choppy water, analyze your performance. If you’re suddenly sailing slower than boats on the other side of the shear, consider tacking back across it.

Some years ago in a Finn Olympic Trials race, I learned the value of getting on the course early and having the courage to believe in what I discovered. I found a current shear halfway up the beat during my pre-race tune-up. To the windward side of the shear, the water was flowing toward the windward mark. All week long at this regatta, the right side had been favored thanks to a predictable starboard windshift. But in this race, after the start, I headed left and crossed the shear while the fleet headed right as usual. I rounded the first mark with a comfortable lead.

Don’t forget which part of the course was most beneficial when you consider your strategy for the downwind leg. Well before rounding the windward mark, announce where you plan to sail on the run and if you should do a bear-away spinnaker set or jibe set. My rule of thumb is that if the other jibe is favored by 15 degrees or more, a jibe set is a better option. However, with many boats, and in many fleets, it can be more efficient to set, accelerate to full speed, and then jibe, being careful to keep your wind clear.

Wind patterns caused by the surrounding land repeat themselves on the water. When you learn what works, put this knowledge into your game plan. Keep notes for future regattas. Recently I sailed in a college alumni regatta in Chicago. I reviewed my notebooks from racing four times in the Timme Angsten college regatta between 1969 and 1972. Once I started sailing I was pleasantly surprised to find that my old observations still held true and, in fact, they helped me win the regatta. Afterwards, I added a few new passages to my youthful thoughts in case I ever have to pick a side in Chicago again.

The post Choosing the Faster Side appeared first on Sailing World.

In the last race of the 2008 Etchells Worlds, as we were sailing upwind, I was trying my best to keep our heel angle consistent in the puffy offshore winds. In addition to my main-trimming duties, I was also calling tactics, so, while looking around, I missed a few gear changes that would have kept us at our desired heel angle. Our speed started suffering, at which point my skipper, Bill Hardesty, said to me, “Steve, I need you to trim and call tactics really well right now!” With the regatta on the line, I concentrated on keeping the boat heeled right and going fast. It worked immediately, reminding me once again how important heel angle is to speed.

Observe the leader at your next regatta, and you’ll notice their boat always looks the same as they sail upwind, even as conditions change. In light air, they’re powered up with a consistent heel angle; in heavy air they look flatter than the competition, and their masthead is unwavering. They don’t tip over in puffs or stand upright in lulls—they’re rock steady and in total control of their boat.

When your heel angle is steady, flow stays attached over your boat’s blades and sails, allowing it to move through the water efficiently. A consistent angle is also a sign that your boat setup is correct and your sails are trimmed well, allowing you to sail the boat with ease. The ultimate beauty of focusing on your heel angle, though, is that it simplifies your thinking on the racecourse: it will force you to steer, trim, and hike well.

Every boat has its optimal heel angle, but as a rule of thumb, dinghies should be sailed dead flat, and keelboats anywhere from 10 to 30 degrees. Ask your class experts what the angles should be in different conditions. Once you’ve got this information in hand, going fast is only a matter of keeping your boat on its lines as the wind changes.

The first step—yes, it’s obvious, I know—is setting up your rig for the racing conditions. Get your hands on your sailmaker’s tuning guide and don’t be afraid to ask your class champions for advice on baseline setups for specific conditions. Once you know the proper boat setup, you’ll be able to control your heel angle with weight placement, steering, and trimming.

Weight for heel control
Weight placement is the most important factor when the crew is not fully hiking. Until this point, using the crew to compensate for puffs and lulls by moving inboard and outboard helps adjust heel angle and reduces the amount of steering and trimming that needs to take place. As a skipper, you should communicate target heel angle to your crew based on the amount of helm you’re feeling. In other words, let them know if the boat feels balanced. Relating the optimal heel gives your crew a working target. Comparing the forestay angle to the horizon is a great way for the crew to judge heel angle and adjust their weight placement as necessary. It also helps to have someone calling the puffs and lulls so the crew can anticipate their next movements and work together to keep the boat level.

Once everyone is fully hiking, the hardest-hiking team is usually the fastest—there’s no way around it.

Use your power tools
Both wind and waves change the power of the boat and thus the heel angle, so, as the wind changes, steering and trimming are the primary tools you’ll use to keep that consistent angle you’re looking for. They’re similar in that they control the amount of power in the boat: with steering, the helmsman can head up slightly to depower the boat, and bear away slightly to power it up for micro heel changes.

Trimming your sails to add power or reduce power is especially important in controlling heel angle. Different boats, however, react differently to certain controls. For example, a 470 sailor mostly uses mainsheet and vang to control heel angle. Etchells sailors rely mostly on traveler and backstay, while mulithulls often play the cunningham to control heel angle. FJ sailors use mainsheet and jib sheet in combination.

Tuning guides and other sailors can help you determine the best approach for your boat if you’re unsure which combination is the most effective for a given condition. Regardless of the specific combination, using these tools in conjunction with steering and weight is crucial.
Recently, I was trimming main during an Etchells regatta in San Diego for Dave Ullman. The breeze was a puffy 16 knots with 8-foot swells, and the variable wind and waves changed the power in the boat often, affecting our heel angle every few seconds. We were sailing upwind on starboard tack, the boat felt good, and the heel angle was where we wanted it (slightly flatter than the competition).

Then a puff hit.
Dave headed up slightly, and I dropped the traveler a few inches to prevent the boat from heeling more. As the puff disappeared, I pulled the traveler back up, and Dave bore away slightly. During this whole sequence our heel remained constant.

But let’s say the puff was a long-term increase in pressure. At the onset of the increase, I would lower the traveler. Then, as the pressure builds, I would depower the boat with the backstay, then pull the traveler back up to our sweet spot. If I happen to see a lull coming, I start easing the backstay to power up the boat as the breeze dies. The key to all of this is a keen focus and awareness of the boat’s power and heel angle, and adjusting steering and sheeting to keep it constant.

With the above example, you can see that it helps to be able to anticipate the puffs and lulls, and even anticipate their magnitude and duration. If they are brief, we can take short-term actions to keep the boat stable, such as traveler changes. But if they are large enough, or last long enough, we can make bigger changes for the long haul, such as backstay.

All of our actions were a result of our singular focus of sailing at the proper heel angle. Keeping the heel angle correct, with telltales streaming a majority of the time, is very fast. Work on improving a consistent heel angle next time you race, and I guarantee you will get around the racecourse faster, and have more fun.

The post From the Archives: Heel For Speed appeared first on Sailing World.

Good coaches in any sport usually advise their charges to focus on just a handful of ideas when they compete. This advice is especially potent in sailing because there are so many variables. Try to focus on them all, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Putting your emphasis on what’s important will keep you at the front of the fleet. Here are six general rules I keep in mind whenever I compete.

1. Stay in line at the start
Generally, the worst starts are a result of getting to the line too early. All of the other boats are just behind you, and when you slow down to avoid being over early, the trailing boats overlap you and steal your speed and maneuverability. At the gun, you’re in the front row, but going nowhere, and everyone else leaves you in the dust. Conversely, if you get behind the line of boats that set up 50 to 20 seconds before the start, you may never get through—especially in light air—and find yourself sucking bad air off the line.

Try this: When everyone starts to line up, get in there and keep your bow even with the other boats. Focus half of your energy on staying in line with the other boats and the other half on determining whether the line of boats is early or late. If you can’t determine where the line of boats stands relative to the starting line, when the guy next to you sheets on, do the same. Nine times out of 10, if you’re in the line of boats and sheet on at the right time, you’ll be in better shape than if you try something else.

** 2. Develop an anti-pack mentality**
Packs of boats go slow. This is especially true in light air. On the starting line, stay to the edges of the packs: maybe it’s just to leeward of a group of boats fighting for position at the committee boat, just to windward of a pack trying to win the pin, or on either side of a pack in the middle of the line. Staying on the edge keeps your options open and, more importantly, keeps you from being controlled by other boats. Plus, it usually keeps you in clean air at a very crucial time.

The same principle applies on upwind and downwind legs. When you see a pack forming, get to one side or the other. Tactical issues, such as trying to hold the inside position at an upcoming mark rounding, may determine the side you choose. Regardless, avoid running with the herd.

3. Stay lifted
This is Racing 101, and I’m sure you’ve read or heard this nugget of advice a million times, but it’s always worth repeating. Stay on the lifted tack as much as possible. It’s very difficult to predict the wind. The key is to take a little bit of a gain whenever you can and minimize the risk. Sailing on the lifted tack—the one where your bow points more toward the mark—always makes your VMG to the mark, at that moment, at least as good as any other boat out there.

If you’re on the headed tack, you should have a good reason to be going that direction, such as better pressure or a known geographical shift. While you’re on the headed tack, however, anyone on the lifted tack is making better progress toward the mark. There are a lot of reasons to sail a 5-degree header, but there are few good reasons to sail a 20-degree header.

4. Take the under
If you’re contemplating a tack, and there are boats coming the other direction, the smart move is to leebow instead of crossing, or letting them cross and tacking on their windward hip, or “hipping up.” The boat to leeward, and ahead, always has cleaner breeze. The boat to windward, and behind, is always in a compromised position. There’s also a psychological advantage to being the leeward boat. Seeing a boat in the window of your sails tends to make you pinch and go slower.

If you’re thinking about tacking because you’re getting headed or approaching a layline, you’ll want to lead the other boat to the next shift. If you cross them, or let them cross you, before tacking, you won’t be leading your opponent to the next shift. You’ll be following them. An exception to this would be when you’re sailing the lifted tack. If you leebow a boat that’s sailing on a headed tack you’ll obviously end up on the headed tack, too. Then, once the wind shifts and starts to lift, the boat you leebowed will gain because they are closer to the shift.

5. Plan ahead
Before you round a mark, determine in which phase the breeze is in and use this information to formulate your plan for the next leg. For example, if you’re on the lifted tack as you come into the windward mark, you’ll want to think about jibing after rounding the mark. And if you’re coming into the leeward mark on a headed port jibe, you’ll want to get on starboard tack as quickly as possible after rounding the mark. Make sure to discuss these plans with your crew before you begin any preparation for rounding. Then execute the rounding that best fits your plan. That means before the crew begins preparing for the spinnaker set while going upwind, and before the takedown begins going downwind. If you decide to continue on starboard jibe after the windward mark rounding, you don’t want to get caught low immediately after the mark and risk a trailing boat sailing high and stealing your breeze.

6. Warm up right
A common rule of thumb for sailors is to get to the racecourse at least an hour before the first start, giving you time to learn the course, work on your boatspeed, plan your start, etc. But there’s never enough time to do everything. So you must plan your warm-up time to suit the conditions.

If it’s really shifty, sail upwind and focus on learning the maximums and minimums (high and low headings) on each tack, and whether there’s a pattern to the shifts. Sail through a whole phase on one tack, from all the way headed to all the way lifted. When I sailed collegiately on upstate New York’s Lake Seneca, we would have races with 40-degree shifts. On one tack you’d be sailing toward the mark, and on the other you’d be sailing away from it. In such shifty conditions you’re better off spending your warm-up time on learning shifts than on boatspeed. Conversely, if the conditions are such that one side is usually favored, and there might be just a small shift or little bit of a pressure difference, 90 percent of that race, assuming you’ve had a good start, will be boatspeed related.

If you’re slow, there is no way you can have a great race. In this scenario, use your warm-up time to focus on boatspeed. Try to tune with one of the best teams. When they tack, you should do the same to stay with them. Make sure you start the race with a good idea how to set up your boat for the conditions. While doing this, however, keep an eye on the shifts. A timed split with another good team is one quick and effective way to learn the subtleties of the breeze. In those conditions, knowing that passing lanes will be few and far between, I would also practice starting, focusing on details such as accelerating off the line.

If there’s a favored side, practice a start that will set you up for that side of the course. The general idea is to pick an important factor for the upcoming race and practice that beforehand instead of, for example, something more general like spinnaker takedowns or roll tacking. Ideally, by the time you’re on the course, you’ll have those key basics down, and you can focus on what’s most important for the prevailing conditions.

Like anything in sailing, this list is far from foolproof. It’s all about playing the percentages, and avoiding unnecessary risk. Stick to this list—write them down on your deck or review them before each race—and more often than not, you’ll benefit. They will not win you every race—they may not win you any races—but they will prevent you from making many regatta-losing mistakes.

The post The Six-Point Success Plan appeared first on Sailing World.

In Olympic sailing, there’s a pretty good case history of favorites not performing well, and at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, my crew Magnus Liljedahl and I almost joined those ranks. We went into the Games as the anointed ones in the Star class, at least according to Sports Illustrated. We had won the Star World Championship a few months before the Games, so we were the logical choice.

Growing up around Dennis Conner and working for him, I considered “no excuse to lose” part of the path to winning. I think this approach was one reason I never felt too much pressure on the course — that, and my ability to keep calm, never getting too ­excited or too down. However, there was still a lot at stake for me in Sydney. I’d won a gold medal in 1992 in Barcelona, but there had been missed opportunities as well, some under my control and some not. There was President Carter’s decision to boycott the 1980 Games in the USSR. We were the leading team, but like many, we didn’t sail the trials because of the boycott. Then, when I got my next chance eight years later, in Seoul, a broken mast netted us silver. And the last time I’d been in the Olympics, in 1996 in ­Atlanta, I’d finished eighth.

That wasn’t the way I wanted the story to end, so I entered the 2000 Games with intensity, but true to my Southern ­California ­upbringing, I did so in a laid-back manner. I had the drive to win; I just didn’t wear it on my sleeve.

Magnus was from Sweden — about as far away from Southern California as you can get, and not just geographically. When I first met him in 1979, he had finished second in the Finn Olympic trials, one place away from going to the Olympics. Even thought that was years before our Sydney campaign, I’m sure being that close drove him even harder to make the team this time around. He was well prepared for this competition, as we both were, but his intensity was palpable.

I recall him being taken aback by the fast-food restaurants at the Olympic Village. He pointed at them and told me, “Those shouldn’t be here.” He ate only the right foods, paying close ­attention to calorie count, protein levels and so on. He went to bed at 8:30 every night and rose at 6 a.m. to work out. In a way, he was ahead of his time, because routines and close attention to nutrition are standard for Olympic-level sailors today. Back then, that approach was the exception. On the water, when we did well, he pumped his fists in the air with ­excitement and enthusiasm, and when we didn’t, he used the setback to drive himself even harder. Early in my ­junior sailing days, I went through a period where I would get ­emotional about wins and losses, but over time I ­became almost stoic, so at least outwardly, Magnus and I ­presented quite a contrast.

My success often came from consistency — not trying to win ­every race, but rather having good races and trying not to have bad ones. Sometimes I didn’t win, but I was always near the top, and when the opportunity was there, I took advantage of it and would win. I’ve learned to let other sailors make mistakes and to only get aggressive at the end of a regatta, if necessary. In ­Barcelona we were consistently at the top of the fleet right from the beginning, leading from start to finish. In fact, we didn’t have to sail the last race. That’s rare, but it happens.

Sydney was a different story. On the first day, my tactics were way too aggressive. I was trying too hard to make big gains. In the first race, halfway up the first beat, we were the farthest boat to the right. I was confident it was the place to be, and the Australians were with us — always a good sign. But the wind went left, and at the first mark, we were at the back of the fleet. To add ­insult to injury, we always carried two whisker poles, and whether it was Olympic jitters or not, we managed to drop both of them overboard and ended up crossing the finish line with the jib held out by hand. Between the whisker pole debacle and my tactical blunder, we found ourselves starting the Olympics in 14th. We finished the final race of that day with a third. That helped somewhat, but we knew that first race would be tough to overcome.

It was obvious to our coach, Ed Adams, that we were both trying way too hard. He sat down with me and stressed the importance of returning to the way I’d always sailed — conservatively. That approach had brought me to the Olympics, and if I wanted to do well, that’s what would do it. He reinforced the idea that I had to fight for each place, even if it meant not finishing in the top few positions; I didn’t have to win every race. We continued to struggle for the next two days, and halfway through the regatta, we were sitting eighth overall. Ed also spent time with Magnus, but took a different tack with him. He took Magnus to the Cruising Club and treated him to a burger and a beer, which was a radical departure from his training regimen. Magnus even stayed up a bit later than normal, and I understood that he stopped off for at least ­one ­other beer — maybe more — on his way home. The next day, it was clear he was starting to relax. As for me, I was ready to return to the way I had always sailed. We won the only race sailed that day.

Halfway through the regatta, we were only in eighth place. Anybody watching would have looked at us and said, “Those guys don’t have a chance of medaling.” But we felt otherwise. Each day on the way in, we’d see the Sydney Opera House, which was visible from just about anywhere on the water, and it seemed to speak to us, ­reminding us of the cliché “It’s not over until the fat lady sings.” And at that point, we were convinced she wasn’t even onstage yet.

As the regatta went on, we became more relaxed and went out to race as we’d done so many times before over the previous four years. On Day 5, we were second, fourth and first, while our competitors began to make mistakes, increasing their points, and suddenly we found ourselves set up for the final day with a guaranteed medal; we were tied with the Brits and five points behind Brazil. The only question was who would get which medal.

We were sailing in the ocean just off the Sydney Heads, and there had been a fair amount of current the previous two days, which was keeping the fleet off the line. The wind was moderate, and everyone was more aggressive. With about 20 seconds to go, we realized we were going to be over-early. We were near the pin, so we decided to just go ahead, cross the line, and loop around the pin. We had one boat, Brazil, below us. We were barely able to cross their bow as the gun sounded. We looped around the pin and started on port. We saw that the X flag didn’t drop, indicating someone else hadn’t returned.

We had catching up to do. Our speed was good, but things got even better as we got headed while sailing off on port tack. When we thought we had gained enough, we tacked and could see we had almost the entire fleet below us, with only Canada, who had led us to the right, ahead of us. The left had been better the day before, but this time the right paid off, and we rounded the first mark in second, behind Canada. Of course, we were paying close attention to the positions of the Brits and Brazilians. The Brits were just a few places back, and we only had to beat them to break the tie. The Brazilians were in about eighth, and even though we had at least the five points we needed on them, we still wanted a buffer between the two of us, in case someone in between us was over-early. It was hard to count exactly, but we appeared to have what we needed. However, we knew that a lot could change during the rest of the race. In this regatta, there was no provision for notifying boats that were over-early; you’d find out after the finish.

Up the second beat, the Brits moved into third, but we had a bit of a lead on them. We considered how aggressive we should be in order to catch Canada. It would be nice to have that extra point in case we needed it to beat Brazil, but it would also most likely mean not covering the Brits, and we couldn’t afford to lose them. We had the points we needed on Brazil, so we covered the Brits. We crossed the finish line second. The Brits were third, and we started counting the boats between the Brazilians and us. It looked like we had the points needed. The wild card would be who was over-early and whether they were in between Brazil and us.

Ed couldn’t come up to us until every boat had finished, but when he approached, my first question was “Who was over?” Ed answered, “Brazil.” We breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out that as we’d sailed over Brazil at the start, they’d broken the line. It was lucky we hadn’t risked trying to catch Canada and possibly losing the Brits.

It appeared we had the gold, but there was one more hurdle. The Star class has a weight rule, so we had to weigh in after coming ashore. The tow in was painfully slow. We had learned that Ed always had a reason for everything; we just weren’t always able to figure it out. Sometimes we were towed a longer distance if Ed knew it would be quicker because of the current, wind or waves. This time we figured he must just be running low on fuel. As it turned out, however, Ed knew we’d be weighed as soon as we came ashore, so he kept us sweating in our foul-weather gear to make sure there was no question we’d make weight, even though we’d been very careful to weigh in every morning. We didn’t have a problem. In fact, Magnus said he’d be willing to cut off a body part if necessary.

That night on the steps of the Sydney Opera House, we received our gold medals as the American anthem played and the Stars and Stripes were raised. As I said, I’ve always been able to stay very composed, but not in that moment.

The post Owning the Moment appeared first on Sailing World.

A few years ago I was sailing a J/22 East Coast Championship in a standard, beautiful Chesapeake Bay sea breeze. The waves had built, providing the opportunity for some exciting surfing. We rounded the top mark in decent shape in one race but quickly realized we weren’t holding our own with the boats that rounded close by. We were unable to plane, and the boat was difficult to steer, almost like the bow was full of water. After a frustrating first half of the leg, my best buddy planed over the top of us and pointed at our bow. I then noticed that his bow person was standing behind the mast while my wife was standing in front of our mast in her normal position. Once Jo Ann stepped behind the mast, just 18-inches aft, the boat came alive, and we felt competitive again.

Although our revelation didn’t exactly bring back the boats and distance we’d lost, it showed us how much one little adjustment can mean to boatspeed and a race finish. This thought occurred to me recently, and I started to make a list of the little things that can really add up. To broaden the scope, I enlisted a few of colleagues at North Sails One-Design. They had a bunch of great ideas; I picked out the best.

1. Think Big Picture

The best way to improve is to race as many different boats as you can and learn from the masters of those classes. I am constantly amazed at how much knowledge one can bring to and take away from other classes. Secondly, consider a coach. Coaching brings perspective on the priorities of the race, both on and off the water. When you’re only involved in your own racing, it is easy to become consumed with details that ultimately may not be the most important. Coaching forces a broader mindset and the ability to boil down big lessons to concrete, usable items. Thirdly, athleticism is truly what separates good sailors from champions. Looking back on my best regattas, I’ve realized that physical preparation played a significant role. Fitness bolsters confidence and mental focus, it allows you to do more, longer.
–David Hughes

2. Quick Pole Height Check

While there are many guides often associated with proper spinnaker pole height for symmetric spinnakers, the most popular and most consistent is to position the pole so the tack and clew are parallel with the deck of the boat. However, for the trimmer, gaining a clear shot of the leeward clew is not always possible because the clew is usually hidden behind the main. A great option instead is the relationship of the spinnaker’s vertical center seam to the mast. When this seam is set parallel to the mast, the spinnaker pole is the ideal height.
–Greg Fisher

3. Smooth Water Off the Transom

We try very hard to sail the boat flat in order to have a neutral helm. Weather helm is the boat’s way of telling you that it’s out of balance. You should see smooth water behind the boat when the boat has no or little helm. Conversely, when you have a lot of weather helm, there will be a large wake coming off of the rudder. In extreme cases, the rudder will stall out and the boat will round up. You want the boat set up so that it’s not so overpowered that it’s on its ear. Instead, set up the sail trim and tuning so the boat sails flat and water just glides off the transom.
–Allan Terhune (Chesapeake)

4. Make Your Notebook Your Sailing Bible

I mark and measure everything on our boat so we can duplicate settings. It’s very important that from leg to leg or day to day, you can repeat what you did the last time you were fast. You can do this by keeping a notebook, in which you should include all your tuning and sail settings, but also weather conditions (especially if you travel), special tactical considerations, and even logistical information. It will make planning your next event easier and also help you study what you did well and what you should improve upon.
–Allan Terhune

5. Determine Your Speed Wrinkles

It’s often difficult to determine exactly how much mast bend is appropriate for a given mainsail in a particular condition. Your sailmaker’s tuning guide is the best place to start. But in lieu of their suggested numbers, an effective guide is to tune the mast so that there is a hint of overbend wrinkles developing in the lower quarter of the main. Encourage pre-bend in lighter breeze, allow bend in heavier breeze. These diagonal wrinkles (often called “speed wrinkles”), angling from the mast toward the clew, are an indication that the mast bend is just enough that the main’s designed shape has matched the mast bend for that condition.
*–Greg Fisher *

6. Get It Together Early

A good day on the water starts with some pre-start rituals. For me, that includes waking up on time and eating a medium-sized breakfast. Be one of the first boats to leave the dock, and sail by yourself until you feel dialed, so you’re not wasting your training partner’s time time once you hook up. When you do get with your training partner, spend time on both tacks, and then run back down to the line and talk about what was happening on the racecourse. Then, head upwind, split tacks, and try to determine if one side is favored. Run back down to the line and talk about what was happening one more time. Once you’ve done this, hydrate and prepare to start by sailing parallel to the line. Get a bearing, compare it to a head-to-wind reading, and then compare that to the course axis. Keep taking wind readings and identify a favored end. Start in that third of the line, away from other boats, with your objective in mind. Stay on starboard, and be able to flop right away.
–Charlie Enright (Rhode Island)

7. Watch Those Telltales Stream

Many boats have simple guidelines for jib-sheet trim, such as leech distance from the spreader, the position of the skirt as it lays on the deck, or even how far the clew is from the block. However, the most consistent and precise tool is a telltale or two off the upper leech of the jib. When the sheet is set properly, the telltales will flow straight off the leech. If the jib is either over-trimmed or under trimmed, these telltales will indicate a stall in the flow and will either flip around the backside or the front side of the jib. A spreader window in the luff of the main allows the crew to view the telltale from the windward side while hiking.
–Greg Fisher

8. If You’re Not Planing, You’re Dragging

It doesn’t matter whether you’re sailing a downwind leg in a Melges 24 or a reach leg of a triangle course in a Snipe; planing is king. As soon as you round the windward mark, if it’s windy enough for your boat to plane, it should be your No. 1 priority. Once you get the boat planing, you have to do everything within your power to keep it that way. With your immediate boatspeed increase, your apparent wind will move forward allowing you to sail lower angles to the mark. This makes planing the easiest way to sail lower and faster with optimal VMG.
–Brian Bissell

9. Start The Run Right

Once it’s determined that bearing off as deep as possible at the top mark is the proper tactical move, good boathandling makes the maneuver much more efficient. Here are some suggestions: 1. Don’t cut the mark rounding too tight. Make sure you make a wide enough rounding so the boat doesn’t slow down due to too sharp a turn. Too often we pinch as we approach the mark and the turn around the mark carries the boat wide on the far side and therefore well high of the rhumb line downwind. 2. Ease the mainsheet and keep the jib trimmed tightly to help the boat bear off with minimal rudder action. 3. Ease the vang before turning down around the weather mark. A well-eased vang will better balance the helm and make it much easier for the boat to bear off without using much turn of the rudder. 4. Raise the board halfway before you actually turn around the mark as this will help balance the helm and minimize drag.
–Greg Fisher

The post Little Things, Big Difference appeared first on Sailing World.

The best sailors stick to the fundamental rules. After all, the premise of a fundamental rule is that it works most of the time. If you are right most of the time and have decent speed, you will do very well. But what if you are a perfectionist and want to be right all the time, not just most of the time?

In sailing it’s a lofty goal, especially because we are trying to figure out something we cannot see—the wind—but it certainly does not hurt to try. When calling tactics I try my best to be right all of the time, and at the same time I try not to beat myself up when I make a mistake. One key to success is to have a short memory about mistakes and keep moving forward in the race, staying in the moment and making the best decisions possible until the race is over. After the finish you can think through any mistakes and learn from them.

When it comes to fundamentals, stating that a rule works most of the time is an admission that it doesn’t work all the time. Therefore, there are times when following the basic rule is not the best move, or perhaps two basic rules conflict, for example, “sail in more wind” and “sail toward the mark.” Sometimes you are on the lifted tack, but the wind is dying and you see more elsewhere. Should you tack and sail a header to get more wind?

The exceptional sailor knows when to break from the basics and which rule applies when two conflict, giving them a higher level of tactical accuracy. Here are a few examples to help you do so, as well.

Cross when you can unless you’re certain that continuing on your present tack will give you more gain. For example, you see there’s more wind the further you go, or you know that continuing takes you toward favorable current.

Sail in more wind unless you’re on the extreme long tack on a shifty day, and you know that, if you sail straight, you will get a massive shift to tack or jibe on. A 20- or 30-degree shift will give you a bigger gain than a little more wind. In tough tactical situations like this, you have to make a judgment call on what will give you the biggest gain. For example, sailing in slightly more wind will give you a two-length gain on those you tacked away from (in the absence of a shift), but getting a 20-degree shift that your competitor missed will give you an eight-length gain. In this situation, go for the shift.

Sail in more wind unless you’re sailing upwind and you’re already overpowered, ragging your main. Once you’re at this point, you’re going to be slower in more wind. If you are in 28 knots, you probably don’t need 35. Downwind would be different, so long as you can control the boat.

Sail toward the mark unless there’s a racecourse feature that will give you more of a gain, such as more wind, favorable current, or a better lane. Estimate your gains and pick the best option. When in doubt, favor the option to sail in more wind.

Keep it simple by not tacking or jibing too much unless it happens to be very shifty and playing the shifts will make up for extra maneuvers. Often on a 20- to 30-degree shifty day, sailing toward the mark is extremely powerful, and to do so requires tacking or jibing on all those fast-moving shifts.

Start at the favored end unless, after the start, you will be pinned from going to the correct side of the course. If the pin end of the line is favored, but you like the right side of the course, you may want to start near the boat to get right quickly. Sometimes you can win the pin, then tack and cross, but not often, so if the gain from going right is greater than the gain from starting at the pin, it’s better to start near the boat and assure you can get right.

You may also want to avoid the favored end if it’s overly crowded. Packs of boats are slow, and starting in a crowd can seriously reduce your chances of getting off the line with a lane. In this case, slide away from the crowd and understand you may not be winning after the start, but you will also not be deep, with a series-damaging race.

Don’t overstand the layline unless there’s significantly more wind past layline, or the layline is extra crowded. The speed from the increased wind or clear air sometimes makes up for the greater distance sailed.

Get to the racecourse one hour before the start unless it’s cold and windy. When it’s windy, tactics can be less important. Boatspeed and boathandling are paramount, so less tactical research is needed, and you don’t want to wear out the crew before the first race starts. Get out 30 to 45 minutes ahead of the first starting sequence instead, depending on how prepared you are.

Use sails that are fast in a variety of conditions unless you’re sailing a short regatta and the forecast confidence level is strong for a particular wind strength—then break out the specialty sails.

Tack and jibe on the shifts unless the maneuver costs too much, which is often the case on big boats or in catamarans that are slow to maneuver. Again, weigh the skills of the team and the potential gains and losses accurately.

Your head is probably spinning from these exceptions to the golden rules, but don’t fret: When in doubt, always stick to the basic rules first. Veer only from what is tried and true when you’re confident there is a better option.

The post From the Archives: Exceptions to the Golden Rules appeared first on Sailing World.

Frequently, the first portion of a run in a large fleet can feel like a cruise-ship conga line, especially when all the boats are sailing in displacement mode. Everyone rounds the windward mark on starboard tack, sets the spinnaker, and then points their bow right at the transom of the boat ahead of them. The only thing missing is the annoying soundtrack and umbrella drinks.

The head of this train is an enviable position—everyone wants to be in front—but it also means making a difficult decision: how and when to bail out of the parade and head back toward the center of the course, hopefully without all the trailing boats on your breeze.

The first thing you need to consider is the skew of the run from your position. The longer the port jibe, the more you need to think about leading the pack back toward the bottom mark.

On a boat with a navigator, the computer will tell you the leg bias and time remaining on each jibe. For a typical TP52 downwind leg, for example, a perfectly square run would have along the lines of 9 minutes on starboard and 9 minutes on port. But the racecourse is never perfect. And as you proceed away from the windward mark on starboard tack, you’re pushing off to one side. So you should always be thinking about the run in terms of the long jibe.

All things being equal, the tipping point to bail out of the starboard parade is when the port jibe is getting so long that the first boat that jibes will have clean air on port and any boat that
extends farther on starboard runs the risk of sailing to the leeward mark in dirty air, or overstanding and being forced to come in at a tighter than optimal angle. Usually, I find that point is when you have approximately 2 minutes of sailing on starboard jibe until you reach the port-jibe layline for the leeward mark.

But what if you don’t have a navigator, or a fancy GPS-based computer to study? Think about the previous beat you just sailed. Did you spend more time on starboard or port? If the majority of the beat was spent on starboard, then port will be the long jibe downwind and vice versa. Don’t get too lost in the math of determining which jibe is the long one. If the beat is close to square, you’re going to have to spend some time on port. Getting your air clear for that portion of the run is key.

When I’m getting down to the final 30 percent of my time on starboard, assuming all things are equal with pressure and current, I will match the first boat in the line-up that jibes, be it the second, third, or fourth, or even farther back. Hopefully it’s the third (or farther back), as that requires less effort to defend. When the two lead boats jibe simultaneously, they often end up in a grudge match, which can present a great opportunity for trailing boats to sail past both. By matching the third or fourth boat in this scenario, the lead boat creates a wider wind blanket for anybody that sails farther toward the port-jibe layline, reducing the possibilities of the second-place boat passing through to leeward. Most importantly, though, you are keeping your bow out, in clean air, and you’re on the long jibe to the leeward gate.

Tactically, it is important to be in line with the boats behind. You don’t want to be high and have somebody a half a length inside your line behind. This puts the trailing boat in position to match your jibe and be in a very strong spot once you’re both on port. If that happens, it will be all but impossible to prevent them from getting on your air and closing down the gap, or rolling over you altogether.

The entire team needs to be tuned into doing a smooth maneuver. That means everybody is ready to execute a jibe but doesn’t signal the impending maneuver. The element of surprise is key.

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