Regatta Series Tips – Sailing World https://www.sailingworld.com Sailing World is your go-to site and magazine for the best sailboat reviews, sail racing news, regatta schedules, sailing gear reviews and more. Wed, 31 May 2023 07:45:51 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3.1 https://www.sailingworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/favicon-slw.png Regatta Series Tips – Sailing World https://www.sailingworld.com 32 32 Chicago Local Knowledge With Quantum Sails https://www.sailingworld.com/regatta-series/chicago-local-knowledge-with-quantum-sails/ Mon, 15 May 2023 14:59:44 +0000 https://www.sailingworld.com/?p=75287 Late spring days offer some of the best sailing on Lake Michigan. Sailors with the most success will pay attention to the thermal shifts and look for the benefits of those lake breezes. Quantum Chicago’s Todd Basch breaks it down for the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in Chicago.

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Sailboat racing
If the gradient is from the south or southeast, the city thermal will shift the mean breeze left and toward the east. You will experience puffs and left shifts from the east/left on the racecourse. Paul Todd/Outside Images

During the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in Chicago, Quantum Sails will be providing free in-depth daily weather briefings with Sailflow’s meteo guru Chris Shea, via Zoom. Sign up here to register.

Combining my five years of experience on Lake Michigan with the wisdom of sailors who’ve been here far longer, we look at the typical—and atypical—conditions we’ll see the during the second weekend of June. For additional advice I’ve tapped Seth Morrell, a successful Chicago area racer, who offers his insight on local knowledge. So read on and get the inside on local knowledge Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series stop in Chicago.

Typical Summer Sailing

Gradient winds, when not under the influence of a frontal passage, are commonly from the south to southeast. On sunny days and early in the season, it is normal for a thermal lake breeze to develop as Chicagoland heats up, usually after noon or occasionally a little earlier on warmer days. Small cumulus clouds forming over the city are the telltale signal of rising air onshore, so expect the thermal to come in perpendicular to the city from the east.

If the gradient is from the south or southeast, the city thermal will shift the mean breeze left and toward the east. You will experience puffs and left shifts from the east/left on the racecourse. This combination of gradient and thermal breeze is common on most summer days, but the gradient can be so weak the racecourse will be light and variable and dominated by the thermal. In both cases, however, the breeze will fill from offshore/east/left. In these conditions, wind direction will vary between about 85 degrees and 130 degrees depending on how the gradient and thermal get along.

Once the wind has settled, you will usually see 8- to 10-degree oscillations every 5 to 8 minutes on either side of the mean direction. The rule of thumb in these conditions is to favor the left side of the beat and the right side of the downwind legs while watching for the oscillations.

On days with a solid, strong south/southwest gradient, the thermal has less impact, but it will be there and it will have an influence. Be aware.

Less Typical Summer Sailing

If a north or northeast gradient breeze arrives, it’s usually associated with the beginning of a front. Expect lumpy conditions from the long fetch, and when it cooler, the wind will be steady but can still oscillate.

If it is warm enough for a thermal, the breeze will again shift to the east—a right shift in this case—so the rule of thumb is to favor the right side of the beats and the left side of the run. Generally, these are the safest moves in these conditions.

West or northwest breezes are seen after a frontal passage and blow offshore. By nature, they are puffy and shifty, which is made worse by the many tall buildings lining the shoreline. These conditions are least predictable, so getting in phase with shifts and puffs takes a lot of work and focus.

Sailing during a storm
Weather systems move quickly through the midwest, so keep eyes to the sky and look out surprises. This frontal passage in 2022 instantaneously turned the racecourse inside out, producing some fast flat-water fun before the race was abandoned. Paul Todd/Outside Images

This is the least predictable condition we experience in regards to when and how strong the shifts and puffs are. Since this breeze comes from the shore, it is strongest but also shiftier close to shore. The rule of thumb is to go toward the shore for the best pressure; the majority of these shifts tend to be lefties.

 While you’re in town, our local Quantum team is here to help with any need — from sail repairs to tactical discussions. Good luck, and welcome to Chicago!

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J/70 Boathandling Tips with Willem Van Waay https://www.sailingworld.com/regatta-series/j70-boathandling-tips-with-willem-van-waay/ Fri, 18 Feb 2022 17:07:24 +0000 https://www.sailingworld.com/?p=73496 J/70 world champion Willem Van Waay explains the tips and tricks to getting the J/70 around the racecourse.

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Sailboat Racing Tips: Listen and Learn on the J/70 https://www.sailingworld.com/regatta-series/onboard-the-j70-with-willem-van-waay-and-stephanie-roble/ Fri, 18 Feb 2022 16:46:51 +0000 https://www.sailingworld.com/?p=73494 Onboard the J/70 with a world champion and Olympian.

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Practicing for the Mixed-Plus competition at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series, onboard the J/70 with a world champion and Olympian.

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Take A Low-Risk First Beat https://www.sailingworld.com/racing/take-a-low-risk-first-beat/ Fri, 03 Mar 2017 05:38:15 +0000 https://www.sailingworld.com/?p=66360 Steve Hunt gives us the guide on how to take a conservative approach to the first leg.

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first leg
Big fleets mean big risk, especially in the first half of the leg one when boats are condensed. Benjamin Meyers/Sailing World

Assuming you’re enjoying the benefits of a great start, it’s time to settle in and sail fast for a while, letting those less fortunate fade away, and most importantly, allowing the racecourse to open up so you can control your race. From here, it’s a matter of sailing a low-risk beat, which means three things: sailing in the most wind available, sailing toward the mark, and sticking with the fleet. These are your most important goals and executing them will minimize your risk more than anything else. Another key is to keep your boat in a lane that gives you clear air, so protect your breeze by anticipating what others around you will do.

One of my top high-school skippers, Jake Reynolds, summarizes his game plan in a simple way: get a great start, sail fast, and stick with the majority of the fleet. By getting ahead early and sailing fast around the course with the majority of the fleet, he improves his odds of having a good race. The result? He has won six of his eight high-school regattas and placed third in the other two. That’s consistent.

Buddy Melges, another great mind in sailing, has a similar perspective on low-risk sailing. If you like the right, he says, position yourself just to the right of your competitors. If you like the left, position yourself just to the left. It’s that simple. There’s no need to sail off by yourself, splitting from the majority, hoping for the horizon job, because if you’re wrong, you’ll find yourself deep at the top mark and unable to catch up. By positioning yourself in the proximity of the favored side, you’ll be in contention if you’re right, and if you’re wrong, you’ll still be close enough to have a decent comeback. Taking a huge risk by splitting creates more of an all-or-nothing outcome. Winning regattas (or simply doing well) is more about avoiding bad races than it is about winning a few and placing deep in the others.

Having the mentality to play it safe requires discipline. It’s easy to let greed get the best of you and to keep sailing to the corner by yourself, hoping for the big win. If you really like a side, get to that side of the competition, and then go with the flow. The only time sailing to an edge is safe is in really light air, when the edges tend to have more wind and the middle is disturbed. My dad, who is a light-air expert, used to tell me, “You have a 50-percent chance of getting the edge right in light air, and a 100-percent chance of being wrong in the middle.” He’s always right.

Another thing I’ve learned is going the right way usually feels right. If you’re splitting from the fleet and hoping you’re doing the right thing, you’re usually wrong. Sometimes despair creates the motivation for a big split, and it’s usually brought about by being behind. Resist it. To be a winner, you have to control your emotions and do what is right. Remember, the wind doesn’t care what place you’re in; it’s going to shift regardless of your feelings, so stay in the wind and sail toward the mark. Let the other sailors go the wrong way and pass them when they do.

To be safe, if your game plan off the start is to go right early in the leg, and you had a great start near the committee boat, go with the fleet until others start tacking, and then tack and go with them. By doing so, you stick with the majority a little longer and reduce your risk should that right side not pan out. If your plan is to go left, your front-row start has set you up perfectly. Just sail fast.

If your start is not good, priority No. 1 is finding a better lane. This is a critical moment that can define the rest of your race, so you must get it right. It’s often best to be patient shortly after a bad start and wait for an open escape route. If you tack and have to sail deep, ducking a lot of boats, it’s hard to make up that lost distance. Usually, boats blocking your escape route had bad starts, too, and they’ll shortly tack away. No one likes sailing in bad air, so evaluate the lanes of those blocking you and determine if they will tack shortly or not. Once your escape lane opens up, tack and sail behind a few boats, hopefully emerging into an open lane. Once you’re free of bad air, it’s time to sail fast and smart, play the shifts, and see how many boats you can pass.

The more extreme the wind or shifts are, the greater precedence you should give them. For example, if the left side of the course has much more wind than the right side, it’s OK to sail a header to the stronger wind, and then sail the long tack toward the mark. The speed you’ll get from the increased wind will make up for briefly sailing away from the mark. If the shifts are big, or the course is such that one tack is obviously much longer than the other, make sailing toward the mark your top priority. In an ideal world, you should sail in the most wind and sail toward the mark. If you can make that happen, and you often can, life is good. When the windshifts are small, and the wind is consistent across the course, it’s more difficult figuring out where to go. In these races, getting a good start, minimizing maneuvers, and sailing fast is usually the best game plan.

Figuring out exactly how to sail a low-risk beat and doing the right thing is much easier if you arrive to the course an hour before the start and gain some insight into how to play it. Your pre-race homework will help you make educated decisions. The more you know, the more accurate you can be with your tactical calls. And for the times when you’re not sure what to do (you got to the racecourse late), be safe and go with the flow.

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The Right Time for Communication https://www.sailingworld.com/how-to/the-right-time-for-communication/ Thu, 02 Feb 2017 03:36:54 +0000 https://www.sailingworld.com/?p=67780 Every sailor eventually find himself in a scenario where boat-to-boat comms are necessary, but when it comes down to it, it's often better to shut up and sail.

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hailing
Protests are one of just two scenarios that require communication between boats. Most of the time, it’s better to simply keep sailing your own race. Paul Todd/Outside Images

The Racing Rules of Sailing only demand that we hail our competitors in two situations: when we need “room to tack,” and when we feel we’ve been wronged with “protest.” But somehow ours is still a noisy sport. All around the racecourse we have verbal exchanges, which are inevitable when a lot of boats are in the same patch of water all trying to win the same race. But somehow, and somewhat gracefully, our rules actually cover 90 percent of common situations without any need for a single spoken word. There’s good strategy behind it: We should avoid distractive chatter and concentrate on our boatspeed instead. The communication we need to use at critical points should be quick, concise, effective, and most importantly, limited. A few common situations come to mind where brevity is key, and with the exception of these, along with our two mandatory hails, we should generally just “shut up and sail.”

Leeward marks

Here is where we’ll find much debate about whether boats really do in fact have room. Sometimes exchanges can be civil and organized, but when there’s more than two boats involved, that’s rarely the case. To make the best of a crowded mark rounding, assess the situation, and think it through before you speak. For example, you might be thinking: OK, we’re not going to catch boat A, we’re going to round inside of boat B, but we have to make sure that C and D know they don’t have room. Once you collect your thoughts, share them with the boats around you early on—before you reach the three-length zone. You’re always trying to avoid surprises. Saying “hey B—we’re overlapped, and we need room” with the right authoritative tone will get B’s attention and let them know you’ve got it figured out. The worst-case scenario is that B responds, “You’re crazy, you don’t have any overlap, and I’m not giving you any room.” Or, “!Oye amigo, no tienes agua!”

If you start the conversation far enough out, you can react to either scenario. If B nods and starts clearing out, you round cleanly and sail away. If they say “no” then you need to assess whether continuing the conversation is worth the potential distraction. More talk means less time to set up a decent rounding. While you’re talking, never lose sight of the goal: to round the mark with a clear-air lane upon exit. Sometimes finding out that B doesn’t want to give you room early can provide you with the time to rework your plan. If you wait until the last minute, you’re more likely to have to make a crash maneuver, or you might find out that your Spanish isn’t as good as you thought. Regardless, don’t let the conversation distract you from your racing strategy.

Crowded situations

When there’s a group of tightly clustered boats on port approaching a starboard-tack boat, the leeward-most port-tack boat must choose its language carefully. This means giving the boat immediately to windward a “heads up” call well out from a starboard-tack opponent (maybe as much as 20 seconds ahead of time). The windward boat may not be able to see the starboard-tack boat, and that’s why there is a mandatory call in Rule 20.1 (“Hailing and Responding”). The leeward boat can ask for “room to tack,” and the windward boat must either tack or respond with “you tack,” at which point they must keep clear. The leeward boat, by hailing for room to tack, is then required to tack and keep clear of starboard. If the leeward boat delays in alerting the windward boat, they risk having the windward boat become a major obstacle. Remember, the back and forth of the mandatory hails can take a good 5 to 7 seconds to complete. If the windward boat hasn’t been given fair warning and isn’t ready to tack, they may end up fouling the leeward, which means neither team is sailing as effectively as possible. With anticipation, however, a quick shout over the shoulder 30 seconds out from the potential incident will help tremendously: “Hey, we’ve got a starboard-tack boat coming. I’m probably going to want to tack.” Then the windward boat can effectively prepare to respond, and because the language was clear, leeward is not yet obligated to take any action. Likewise, the windward boat is more likely to tack quicker when you ask for “room to tack,” increasing that small buffer to leeward after you put a tight leebow on the starboard tacker.

In a similar line of thought, the starboard tacker can put everybody’s mind at ease by shouting “cross” early on. Nothing inspires a port-tack boat to put the bow down and get out of your way like telling them to cross.

If the boat to leeward isn’t going to exercise their right to ask for room to tack, as a windward boat it may be necessary to remind leeward to leave a little extra space. “Room to duck” is an unnecessary but friendly reminder that a leeward boat doesn’t have the right of way when it becomes overlapped outside of an obstruction such as a starboard tacker. A quick “make sure you give us a little space” is all the windward boat needs to say to remind the leeward boat that they might have to bear away to keep clear of their windward opponent.

Similarly, as the starboard- or port-tack boat nearing a weather mark, a quick chirp of “don’t tack; you’re too close,” to your opponent, who’s using a close cross as a chance to plant one on your bow, can be just enough to get them to stop their turn and take a look to make sure they’re not going to foul you. That hesitation can ensure that no foul occurs and may allow you to squeak your bow even with them and into clear air as they finish their tack on your windward hip.

hailing
Good internal communication can help avoid scenarios where hailing another boat might become necessary. Martinez Studio

Clear intentions

Sometimes, around the leeward mark or in the middle of a beat, you might want to clear out but not spook the boat next to you in the process. Saying “I’m going to tack, but you’ll cross” can be precisely what the windward boat wants to hear to know that they don’t have to crash tack right on your face when you’re clearing out. Likewise, on the run, if you see breeze coming down the other side of the leg, you might want to jibe without taking the whole herd with you. Announcing your intentions might do just that, but more likely saying “I’m going jibe and go behind you” is enough of a concession to convince the other boats that they’re getting a sweet deal where they are allowed to cross you, avoid an evasive maneuver, and keep sailing straight. In that case, you’re free and clear to sail your own race.

Another time when it’s advantageous to be vocal is to alert others of your presence. Anticipation is a sailor’s strongest asset, and surprise can be their biggest enemy. When boats race downwind, especially with asymmetric spinnakers, there’s often a blind spot to leeward, either under the mainsail or behind the spinnaker. If you are converging with that blind spot, as the leeward boat, you have the right of way. The trouble is that the windward boat can’t keep clear if they don’t see you. While the onus is on them to keep an eye out for you, sometimes a quick “heads up” is all the downwind-sailing boat needs to duck under the boom, get a gauge on the impending collision, and then take avoiding action. Shut up and drive

Three cases come to mind when it might be better to shut up and drive instead of wasting time being distracted by chatter.

First, unless you want the port tack boat to leebow or avoid you, please don’t yell “starboard!” Everybody knows you’re on starboard tack. And if they don’t, you’re not going to solve the problem by yelling the word. Instead, let the port-tack boat know your intentions by telling them to “cross.” If you want them to tack, say “tack” and then continue on your way with a friendly smile.

Secondly, when the lead boats go around the windward mark, they often set and try to sail as low as possible to extend down the leg. Each respective boat behind them sails a little higher to exert pressure on the boat ahead as well as to defend a clean lane behind them. Then we hear the pained voice of the leader pleading: “C’mon guys. Go down!” Such pleas tend to embolden the trailing boats because now they know the pressure is getting into the leader’s psyche. Instead of complaining, give the trailers some incentive to sail lower: “Hey, mark is low.” Better yet, don’t worry about speaking at all and concentrate harder on extending low and away from the fleet.

Lastly, after an incident, why rehash the entire situation with your competitor when you should be racing instead? Yelling and screaming at other sailors after a possible foul never did anybody any good. The rules demand that you hail only one word: “Protest.” Take the incident in stride, assess your risk in the foul, and either exonerate yourself, or hail “protest” and sail away. Instead of continuing to yell and be distracted, all the while sailing off course, go and try to win the race. That’s what we’re all here for, isn’t it?

Read More: How To | Downwind Communication

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Angles of Attack https://www.sailingworld.com/how-to/angles-of-attack/ Sat, 14 Jan 2017 00:31:28 +0000 https://www.sailingworld.com/?p=68089 The next installment from The Art and Science of Sails examines the term "Angle of Attack" and the fundamental forces at play.

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The Art and Science of Sails Revised Edition
The Art and Science of Sails Revised Edition The Art and Science of Sails Revised Edition

There are many ways to describe the forces around sails — in fact, around any foil. One of the most straightforward ways is to split the forces into lift and drag. The lift force is, by definition, perpendicular to the apparent-wind direction; drag is parallel to it. The primary way to get more lift from a sail is to increase its angle of attack. More lift is more power.

Two ways to increase a sail’s angle of attack: trim it, or turn the bow off the wind (fall off) without easing the sails. The most important thing to know about angle of attack is the greater it is — or to put this another way, the more the sail deflects the airflow — the greater will be the lift, up to a point. Heel force and flow separation are two of the nasty results of too high an angle of attack. A secondary way to get more lift from a sail is to increase its camber, or depth.

[As discussed in a previous chapter] the leading edge of the flat plate requires the wind to make an abrupt turn around it. Aft of the separation bubble, this abrupt turn causes the wind to change direction severely, which raises the likelihood that the boundary layer will separate from the foil. Correct camber provides a gentler turn. This, incidentally, is a benefit of the curved airplane wing: to provide a gentler introduction of the wing to the flow, which helps to keep the flow attached to the foil. This is also an advantage of a wing on a sailboat, as we first saw on the Australian C-class catamaran Miss Nylex in 1971, if not before. Contrary to the old lore, it is not curved to provide a “longer distance” for air molecules on the upper surface to travel.

Sail trim is, however, a balancing act. Too much camber also can present problems, as the flow has difficulty staying attached to a deeply curved section. With too much camber, the likelihood is that it will separate — the nice, even curve above becomes an abrupt hairpin — and the flow will depart prematurely from the sail. Too much camber can decrease lift, while increasing drag even faster. This is why steeply pitched roofs are less likely to blow off in high winds. With a steep roof (effectively deep camber), the wind’s boundary layer has difficulty making the sharp turn at the peak of the roof and separates. So attached flow is only working on half the roof, at most. With a low-pitched roof, the flow may be attached to the entire roof.

For sailors, the practical reality of this discussion is that creating lift is a cinch. All it requires is oversheeting the sails or sailing a course too low for the sail settings (both of which increase angle of attack), or sailing with sails that are too full (show too much camber) for the conditions. Unfortunately, sail trim is not so easy because its undesirable cohort — drag — offsets lift. Reducing drag, primarily because it is so difficult to see, is the tough part.

The plot of the lift-to-drag ratio, the top curve in Diagram B, shows how both of these component forces are changing together. Note that the best ratio of lift to drag (which means that the highest proportion of the force of the sail[s] is going to drive the boat) is at a point only halfway up the lift curve. At the point at which the lift is at its maximum (middle curve), the lift-to-drag ratio is well on its way downhill. Keep in mind that sails tend not to stall as abruptly as high-performance airplane wings do, so a distinct stall point is difficult to detect.

The Art and Science of Sails Revised Edition
The Art and Science of Sails Revised Edition The Art and Science of Sails Revised Edition

The genoa’s luff telltales are rough indicators of where you are in terms of lift and drag, at least from the perspective of angle of attack. As we now know, this is most important in terms of sail trim. When the windward telltale is just lifting, the lift-to-drag ratio reaches its highest point. As the angle of attack of the sails increases, both the windward and the leeward telltales start streaming. Here lift is near its maximum, but now it’s at the expense of drag.

The result is that the lift-to-drag ratio is lower. Keep increasing the angle of attack (trim the sails more or fall off the wind without easing them), and the boundary layer separates, and the total flow can stall. This can be seen in Diagram C with both telltales drooping.

From the preceding, it might seem that the first angle of attack — with the windward telltale lifting — is optimum for sailing to weather. This is correct, except for one additional point. That particular angle of attack does not always generate the fastest velocity made good. Some sailboats in some conditions have a higher VMG by sheeting sails relatively hard and “pressing on them,” meaning footing slightly. Other boats in other conditions improve VMG by creating deeper sectioned sails and sailing them “high,” pinching. More lift is often needed — despite the problem of even more drag — to accelerate the boat to its hull speed or to power through chop.

For example, in smooth water and medium air, if the main is trimmed such that its lift-to-drag ratio decreases, that loss could be more than offset by a higher angle of attack from the rudder, or from the fact that more of the total force created is turned into drive force. It’s why modern racing sailboats are characterized by having two upwind speed modes — underpowered (typically defined as not requiring all crew to be hiking) and powered up (all crew hiking). In the former, more drag is happily traded off for more lift, all because heel force is not yet an issue. Once powered up, heel force, therefore, becomes a big driver of sail trim.

As mentioned, creating lift is the easy part; the difficult part is minimizing drag and preventing the separation of the airflow. Obviously, drag reduces the driving force. It increases the amount of side force (heel) for a given amount of lift, and this increased heeling component can overwhelm those factors that work to counter­balance it: the keel, rudder, underbody and ballast.

Bear in mind that this discussion focuses on sailing upwind. When sailing very low downwind (high apparent-wind) angles, the name of the game is to increase drag or to stop the flow of wind. Reaching is a combination of the two, and the fact that drag becomes a benefit rather than a liability, as it is when beating, is one of the reasons why a 90-degree reach is the fastest point of sail. Another reason is that on a beam reach, the sail forces point much closer to the direction the boat travels, increasing the drive force and reducing the heel force.

The Art and Science of Sails Revised Edition (2016), by Tom Whidden and Michael Levitt ($39.95), published by Seapoint Books (seapointbooks​.com), is available at Amazon, select bookstores and North Sails. It’s a perfect addition to any sailor’s library of knowledge. If you’re feeling slow, you’ll know where to go.

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Choosing the Faster Side https://www.sailingworld.com/how-to/choosing-the-faster-side/ Wed, 14 Dec 2016 01:06:10 +0000 https://www.sailingworld.com/?p=68148 From the Archives: Gary Jobson shares his insight on the best way to recognize and choose the favored side of the course.

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sailing tips
Picking the right side is key, especially on long beats. Go where the wind is to stay at the top. SLW Archives

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.

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Top of the Beat Tactics https://www.sailingworld.com/how-to/top-of-the-beat-tactics-2/ Wed, 14 Dec 2016 01:02:19 +0000 https://www.sailingworld.com/?p=71918 From the Archives: Bob Merrick explains how to gain at the top of the first beat, even when you're in the pack.

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Being in the middle of the pack is undesirable on the first beat, but a well time tack can help you avoid bad air on layline. Martinez Studio

As you approach the weather mark in a crowd and sail in a progressively smaller cone of water, finding a clear lane becomes more difficult. It’s important to know what boats are ahead of you, anticipate their next moves, and react accordingly. Doing so will allow you to sail in clear air for as long as possible while sticking close to your overall leg strategy. Here are tactics for dealing with situations you may encounter at the top of the beat.

Just behind, approaching a long layline

You’re just behind a pack of boats as you approach a long port or starboard layline. In this situation, tacking on the layline will result in a lot of time spent sailing in bad air. It may also force you to overstand in an effort to find clear air. Both scenarios will cost you boats. You can avoid this by tacking before the layline. The tricky part, however, is choosing exactly when to tack.

It’s likely that you, as well as the boats around you, are sailing towards the layline because it’s the correct way to go. Maybe you’re waiting for a shift or sailing toward a puff. If so, you may have to tack early to avoid the layline and stay in clear air. To avoid tacking any sooner than you need to, anticipate when the boats in front of you will tack. How early you need to tack depends on how many boats are ahead. You don’t want to give up any more than is necessary with regard to the shift or puff. Keep in mind that everyone else will be trying to stay in clear air as well.

International 505 champion Peter Alarie explains this concept by thinking of clear lanes as numbered in order of desirability. The lead boat is going to take lane No. 1. The number one lane may be right on the shift or on the layline. To keep its air clear, the second boat will take lane No. 2, to leeward of No. 1. The third boat will take No. 3 and so it goes down the line for all the boats that are close enough to affect your air. If you’re in fourth position, you can’t tack in lane No. 3. If you try, you’ll end up in bad air.

There’s often an opportunity to be the “vulture.” If you’re in fifth position and you see the fourth boat sail past lane No. 4, then it’s yours. The fourth boat will end up overstanding or sailing in bad air. If this is the case, you will most likely pass them on the next crossing even though you sacrificed some of the shift or puff.

Make sure you consider how much you’ll give up strategically and weigh it against the gains you’ll make by sailing in clear air. Occasionally it pays to spend some time in bad air in order to get to a good spot on the racecourse.

Just behind, approaching a short starboard layline

Imagine yourself behind a pack of boats, approaching a short layline. This is similar to the previous example except that you’re closer to the mark. When approaching the port layline, it’s usually best to tack out early any time you’re not leading, especially when you’re in a pack of boats.

Approaching a short starboard layline is a common scenario. If the group in front of you is tightly packed, consider overstanding. As the lead boats tack on the layline, boats approaching on port will be tempted to leebow rather than duck a long line of starboard tackers. A boat that successfully leebows outside the two-length zone may have to pinch in order to make the mark, forcing the boats to weather to also pinch. The result can be a large group of boats all sailing slowly towards the mark. An extreme case of this can result in a pile up at the weather mark.

In these cases, you can make a big gain by coming in above layline at full speed and sailing around the pack while your competitors luff each other at the mark. How much you need to overstand will depend on the boats in front of you. You may need to overstand slightly more than a boat ahead of you trying to do the same thing. There’s a point of diminishing returns. If a lot of boats in front of you overstand, you’ll have to overstand too much in order to have clear air. In this case, it’s better to slightly overstand and sail in bad air. Tacking below the pack should be avoided. If you’re close to the mark this is likely to force you to the port layline and ultimately present you with a wall of starboard tack boats on the layline.

Just ahead, on the port layline

Sometimes you can’t avoid approaching the mark on the port layline. If you’re not crossing boats on the starboard layline, you have to duck them to avoid fouling. If you’re crossing, be careful not to break Rules 13 or 18.3. Be sure to completely cross starboard-tack boats before you start your tack. You’ll probably round after the boat you crossed, but that’s better than doing a 720.

Just ahead, approaching a short starboard layline

If you’re ahead approaching a short starboard layline, you’re in good shape but not quite out of the woods. It’s important to tack right on the layline. By nailing the layline you force your competitors to either leebow—and risk not making the mark—or duck. Since you would much rather have your competitors duck, it’s good to give them a little encouragement.

If it looks as if they’re going to try a lee bow, bear off a little bit. One of two things will happen. A savvy competitor will realize that you’re about to force them to tack below layline, and decide to duck you. A less experienced sailor will be forced to tack sooner than expected and probably botch the lee bow. In this situation, you should be able to use the extra speed generated by footing to pinch up and make the mark. Be careful not to overdo it. You don’t want to foul (breaking Rule 16.2) and you still want to get around the mark without having to tack.

All of these situations call for a good deal of anticipation. Ask yourself, “what would I do if I were in their position?” If they behave as you anticipate, you’ll have had plenty of time to plan your move in response. If they do something you don’t expect, it means they’ve probably made a mistake. This means you’ll have an opportunity to take the better lane and make a gain before you round the weather mark.

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Mastering Blow-Through Jibes https://www.sailingworld.com/how-to/mastering-blow-through-jibes/ Fri, 14 Oct 2016 22:49:38 +0000 https://www.sailingworld.com/?p=67190 Could there possibly be a faster, better way to jibe the asymmetric? Top sportboat teams have perfected a skiff technique that will change the way you jibe.

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blow-through jibe
The key to making this work is to not let the backed sail go too early. You can sit there all day with the spinnaker backed, and the boat will be fine. Nothing will rip. Watch the top of the sail. The bottom of the sail will back at first, and the head may still be open the wrong way. Paul Todd/Outside Images

While technological developments usually “trickle down” from bigger boats to smaller boats, advances in technique usually trend in the other direction. That’s the case with blow-through jibes. Imagine if you told your Melges 32 team that you had a great new idea for jibing in a breeze that began with turning the boat down really fast and then backing the spinnaker on the windward side of the boat. They’d wonder how long you’d stayed at the bar the night before. On the other hand, if you told your team that this is how 49ers jibe, and it’s really fast, they might be willing to give it a try. That’s exactly what has happened with blow-through jibes, and they’ve become the go-to jibe for modern, high-performance keelboats.

The reason this technique is so fast is that it keeps the boat more controllable than in a conventional jibe. The boat is going faster when you’re turning the rudder, keeping more flow across the rudder, which means more control and a reduced chance of stall. The cost? You give up a nice, long turn down and the accompanying VMG gain toward the leeward mark. But most have concluded that it’s clearly worth it.

Blow-through jibes can also be a real tactical weapon because of the speed of the jibe. In a normal jibe, you need to start turning down and casting off the sheet to pull the chute around. That whole process, from start to when the main comes across, might take as long as five seconds. In essence, you’re clearly telegraphing to your competition that you’re jibing. A blow-through jibe is so fast that by the time your competition reacts, you’ve completed the jibe.

It used to be that blow-through jibes were used only when the breeze was on, but as techniques have developed, the velocity floor has been pushed down. The Melges 32 used to use them in 20 knots. Now it’s done in as little as 11 knots. The limiting factor in lighter air is that it’s hard to get the chute to back and blow through. Plus, these jibes require a really fast turn, which is never a good thing to do in light wind.

Boat size is also a limiting factor. On larger boats that use winches for chute trim, such as TP52s and RC44s, even with efficient winching, trimmers cannot keep up with the speed of this maneuver. But for small and midsize high-­performance boats, it’s perfect. The most important part of an effective blow-through jibe is the speed with which the helmsman turns the boat. The turn needs to be so fast that it almost throws you off the back of the boat. For the helmsman, one trick to help find the rate of turn is that, if you find you’re losing your balance or getting thrown around and just can’t see what’s happening, then go to leeward just before the jibe. In the Melges 32 Worlds in San Francisco, we got our helmsman to move to the other side of the boat before he turned. We’d say, “Stand by to jibe,” and he would go to leeward and sit there while turning the boat through the jibe. That way, he didn’t have to move in the middle of the jibe; he could really nail the new jibe angle. Moving the weight to leeward is not a perfect solution, as it will slow you down, but it can make the jibe easier, especially if it’s new to you.

The fast turn is necessary because it reduces the apparent wind on the chute by rapidly moving the bow downwind. On a skiff such as a 49er, you can actually see the spinnaker get soft during the turn. That decrease in pressure allows the crew to trim the spinnaker sheet in preparation for the turn. On a 49er, it’s basically a little pump as the bow turns down. On the C&C 30, we sometimes need two people to pull on the sheet. The goal is to get the spinnaker clew trimmed in to the shrouds, or to maybe a few inches behind them before the main comes across. If the geometry works out right, at certain windspeeds, the spinnaker clew might end up there anyway. I sometimes put marks on the sheets where they exit the turning blocks so the crew knows how far to trim it. They can easily look down at the turning blocks and see exactly where they are.

blow-through jibe
At the same time, the new spinnaker sheet has to be tensioned to minimize the amount of trimming needed once the old sheet has been released. As soon as the chute has backed, someone says, “Cut!” The person at the shroud releases his or her hold on the clew, and the wind pressure pushes or blows the sail through, between the front of the jib and the end of the spinnaker pole. Paul Todd/Outside Images

As you say, “Start the jibe,” one person runs to the leeward shroud, grabs the clew as the boat is turning down, and pulls it down really hard. If that person can get the clew to hit the deck, that’s great. The downward pull keeps the leech vertical and tight, which prevents the sail from twisting. If the clew is up and loose as the boat turns down, the head of the spinnaker will stay set in the wrong direction, and you’ll get an hourglass. The goal is to have the clew at the shrouds, leech vertical, and the sail backed against the jib before letting the sheet go.

The key to making this work is to not let the backed sail go too early. You can sit there all day with the spinnaker backed, and the boat will be fine. Nothing will rip. Watch the top of the sail. The bottom of the sail will back at first, and the head may still be open the wrong way.

At the same time, the new spinnaker sheet has to be tensioned to minimize the amount of trimming needed once the old sheet has been released. As soon as the chute has backed, someone says, “Cut!” The person at the shroud releases his or her hold on the clew, and the wind pressure pushes or blows the sail through, between the front of the jib and the end of the spinnaker pole. You’ll probably never see a spinnaker move so quickly. And because there is already tension on the new spinnaker sheet, the sail will be almost trimmed as it goes out on the new side.

Typically, the new sheet will need one or two quick pulls after the chute blows through. That’s why it’s important for the helmsman to keep the boat a little deep coming out of the jibe — not quite on the new jibe angle yet. At that point, communication is vital. Often, someone who can see the angle, like the mainsail trimmer, has said, “One pull” or “Two pulls,” letting the trimmers know how far they need to trim. Once the sail is in, the boat will accelerate, the helmsman can turn up, and you’ll start ripping again. Done well, the entire jibe will take only two to three seconds.

If it’s windy and you don’t have the power to get the spinnaker in quickly on the new jibe, the helm might need to stay a bit low and coordinate coming up with the trimming. It also helps to have a big person doing the trimming. If you don’t have someone like that, you can have two people trim. Depending on your personnel and the cockpit layout, the two can pull together, or the person who is holding tension on the sheet when the sail blows through can take up the slack, and the next person can then jump in and do the next pull in a sort of handoff.

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Starting Line Games https://www.sailingworld.com/how-to/starting-line-games/ Tue, 30 Aug 2016 22:11:57 +0000 https://www.sailingworld.com/?p=71735 The favored end of the starting line may be favorable most of the time, but when it’s shifty, ignore the opposite end at your own peril.

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The conduct of the first few minutes of a short race, between the start and the first shift, determines where the boats will be when the first crucial shift occurs. Paul Todd/Outside Images

We prepared to start the final race of the two-day Severn Sailing Association Soling Summer Series at about 2 p.m. on a warm July afternoon. Our lead was precarious. If we failed to beat Peter Gleitz in this race, we would fall into a tie, which would be broken in his favor. This was the third of three short, windward-leeward races, using the same unaltered line in an amalgamated sea breeze—a mixture of the local sea breeze and the ocean sea breeze coming overland and onto the bay from off the Eastern Shore.

Before the start of the final race, the wind had been in a prolonged back (at around 150 degrees) for four to five minutes, and the pin end of the line had become heavily favored. I asked myself and the crew whether I should start on port on the lifted tack or make my usual pin end start and then tack. I presumed that with a good start at the pin, I would have the nearest boats in my bad air and would soon thereafter be able to tack and cross the fleet. The gain I would make by starting ahead would put me in control of Peter from the outset.

I made the start at the pin alright, but because another boat had tried to drive through to leeward, I had needed to go down below the layline with speed, come up in a sharp luff and, in the last 8 seconds, bear away, hold below the buoy, and start without a foot to spare. So I was slow and low at first and had to sail about 100 yards in the header before the boat on my hip tacked. But the back was holding, and we looked great, at least for a minute or two. Then, as the wind gradually veered, I could see that Peter, who had started up the line and had tacked to port immediately, was working out on my leebow. He tacked on the layline and crossed us by three boatlengths.

We couldn’t tack to port, so we continued, our only hope being the possibility that the back would return before we reached the port layline. It did, and we tacked. For a moment, I thought we’d have him. But no, the wind gradually veered to its median position, and, near the mark, he crossed two boatlengths ahead. And there went the Summer Series. Now, if I’d hit those shifts in a different sequence—if I’d used a different jib and had been faster, if I’d been faster downwind—if, if, if. And the biggest if was: if the beats had only been longer. On short, half-mile legs, there’s typically time for but one shift of an oscillating series, and that one shift becomes a persistent shift. If (at the average speed of a racing sailboat, five knots) it takes about eight to nine minutes to sail a half-mile beat, and if oscillating shifts occur about once every five to eight minutes, it’s unlikely that more than one shift will occur during a beat. If the shift extant at the start persists for two or more minutes after the start, then the first shift of the beat is almost certain to be the only shift.

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On a long leg with frequent shifts, all you need to do is start on the lifted tack, on shorter more consistent courses, nailing the start is key. Paul Todd/Outside Images

On a long leg with frequent shifts, all you need to do is start on the lifted tack, tack when headed beyond the median wind direction, and sail another lifted tack until you reach another header. Classic Category I oscillating wind strategy. Simple. But if the leg is short and/or the oscillating shifts are infrequent, and you start at the favored end of the line on the headed tack, you may never catch up!

Consequently, strategy for short legs and infrequent shifts must be based on moving immediately toward the side of the course from which the first shift will emanate. There may never be another! The problem is, of course, to determine which side that will be, and the solution is to select the side opposite the direction of the shift extant.

The conduct of the first few minutes of a short race, between the start and the first shift, determines where the boats will be when the first crucial shift occurs, and therefore, who will gain relative to all the others. Big gains or losses are made at that moment, and on a short leg, they will persist for the remainder of the leg or, at least until near its completion. And even if another shift occurs, there will be little time for the advantaged boats to consolidate their gains. Thus, the boat that gains the most in the first shift is typically the winner.

Of course, if one is to start in the direction of the next shift, one must monitor the wind before the start and particularly during the final few minutes. Many sailors do this merely by luffing head to wind on the line, sighting in each direction and judging toward which end the boat is headed. But this technique provides no insight into subsequent shifts. It is far better to obtain the compass direction of the line (by sighting from one end or the other, or by sighting along the boat’s centerline when sailing along it), and compare that heading with the wind direction detected by luffing (and to calculate the direction that causes the line to become square). This knowledge permits a subsequent shift to be detected by a brief luff head-to-wind, a maneuver easily accomplished during the minutes before a start, and a comparison of the new wind direction with the previous. A reasonable alternative is to judge the difference in trim resulting when reaching parallel to the line in one direction and in the other, and to note (while reaching back and forth) subsequent changes in that trim. Armed with this information (and being alert to the possibility that the committee is adjusting the line), one can determine the shift extant at the start, and, if the course is short and/or the shift frequency long, arrange to start at the end of the line opposite that shift, typically opposite the favored end.

If a back (a shift left) is evident before the start, start at the right end of the line, to windward of your opponents, and tack toward the veer to come (and vice versa). If only one shift transpires, you will win. If two, chances are that the first will be of greater duration, and you will make a net gain; if three, you will have benefited from two shifts in your direction visa- vis your opponent’s one and will win. When there is time for only a few shiffs, bet on getting the first one right!

If the windward leg is short or the oscillating shiffs are of long duration, where you start on the line relative to other boats, and the length of the starting line, matter. The gain achieved by starting at the upwind end of a short line (typical of short races) is overwhelmed by even a slight shift toward a boat at the initially downwind end. This maxim is particularly applicable when racing against one other boat (and explains why, in match racing, the boats are preoccupied with starting nearer to the side from which they expect the next shift to emanate).

Starting at the upwind (favored) end of the line is appropriate in Category III Conditions, when there is no favored side of the course, but it is altogether inappropriate in Category II Conditions, when one side, obviously advantaged, and in Category I Conditions when the wind is oscillating, the leg is short and/or the shifts are infrequent. I lost the SSA Summer Series by starting the final race at the favored, pin end of the line and allowing my opponent to start to my right, nearer the side from which the next shift would emanate.

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