After honing your skills with wingfoil jibes, the next progression is taking your wingfoiling to the next level by perfecting the tack. Tacks are not only practical for changing your direction swiftly but also add a touch of style to your wingfoiling performance. Mastering tacks requires practicing diligently, and once you’ve perfected them you’re sure to impress others on the beach, and enhance your overall wingfoiling experience. So, let’s get to it.

Step 1: Start from Toe-side Stance

Begin by attempting a tack from your toe-side stance. While riding toe-side, keep your wing elevated to maintain control. To set up for the tack, glide upwind while holding your top hand on the wing. Ensure that your wing is positioned correctly.

Step 2: Turn the Wing and Change Hands

Now it’s time to initiate the tack. Turn the wing over your head to the opposite direction while keeping your board on course. Quickly switch your hands, starting with the one on top. Simultaneously, use your bottom hand on the wing to pull it and catch the wind to continue riding smoothly.

Step 3: Weight Distribution

As you complete the tack, be prepared for your board to want to rise. Counter this by shifting weight onto your front foot immediately after the tack. Depending on the wind conditions, you may need to employ a slight pumping motion to maintain momentum.

Step 4: Practice and Consistency

With practice, you’ll become more consistent in executing your tacks. As you improve, you’ll notice a significant enhancement in your wingfoiling performance and the movements will all become second nature. The elegance of well-executed tacks will garner admiration from fellow wingfoilers and motivate you to continue progressing in the sport.

Step 5: Transition from Heel-side to Toe-side

Transitioning from a heel-side stance to toe-side can be a bit more challenging than the previously explained tack, but let’s break it down:

• Build speed while riding heel-side and turn your board upwind in the opposite direction.
• Keep your wing elevated and release your back hand. Swiftly rotate the wing over your head.
• Change your top hand to your second hand rapidly and position your back hand on the second handle to maintain speed.
• Balance your board and shift your weight from heel-side to toe-side. Place more weight on your front foot to maintain control.

Step 6: Heel-side to heel-side tack (Complete Tack)

For the advanced tack—from heel side to heel side—which is great for upwind progress, follow these subtle steps:

• Start similarly to the previous tack, but position your feet out of the back strap and toward the middle of the board.
• Throw the wing over your head while turning your board.
• As you change your hands and pull on the back hand, switch your stance on the board.
• The board will naturally rise during the turn, so shift your weight to the front of the board.
• If you lack sufficient speed, employ a pumping motion to keep going.

For additional tips, follow me on Instagram @paulanovotna. Happy wingfoiling and see you on the water.

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When the wind gets light and weird, a different approach to the racecourse is required says Racing Editor Mike Ingham. Priority No. 1 is to seek the breeze and from there, play the long game.

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Racing editor Mike Ingham shares his insight and expertise on how to handle puffs and shifts on a typical lake when the wind is strong.

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The importance of comparing your performance to another competitor during a race is an underrated part of sailing a boat competitively. We hear a lot about having good onboard communication about what’s happening on the boat. While that’s true, it’s also important to communicate what’s happening outside the boat and what’s happening relative to your nearest competitors. So, let’s cover some techniques to improve this aspect of your next race. For the purposes of this article, we will focus on calling upwind relatives.

It’s best to start calling ­relatives as soon as possible after the start. This first few minutes is a critical boatspeed part of the race, and the sooner your team can get locked in, the better. Oftentimes, the teams that get their performance going the soonest after the start are the teams that emerge from the fray in the best position.

Once you start calling ­relatives, do so with confidence, announce that you are calling relatives, and identify who or which boat you are calling relatives against. For example, “I have us with (name of boat).” Knowing who you are gauging performance against is important.

On a boat with true wind direction displayed somewhere, announce that number. For example, I might say, “Starting wind direction is one-eight-five.” If the wind direction changes during the lineup, this will be valuable information to provide accurate comparisons.

If there’s no TWD displayed on your boat, or you don’t have instruments, you can use your compass heading instead and say something like, “Starting heading is one-four-six.” It’s not quite as accurate as TWD, but it’s better than nothing.

Always refer to your boat first. For example, I might say, “Higher, same speed.” To avoid any confusion, don’t refer to them first. If they are higher than you, state, “We are lower.” Be consistent and always use the same process, no mumbling. Remember, the goal is to let your teammates know how you’re doing.

Some examples of ­describing clear-cut VMG differences are “higher, faster,” “lower, slower,” and “same angle, same speed.” However, if the speed and angle are split, you will need to judge which VMG is superior. For example, I might say, “Higher, slower, VMG them,” or “lower, faster, VMG us,” or “higher, slower, VMG even.”

Accurately and confidently judging performance and VMG differences takes time and experience, so if you’re new to it, there is no time like the present to start practicing. And speaking of practice: A great opportunity to get in the rhythm of calling relatives is during your pre-race tuning-partner ­lineups. (Of course, you do that already, right?)

At the beginning of an upwind lineup, try this technique: Imagine you were to tack. Where would you end up? Would you be behind them? Would you cross them? Would you hit them at their mainsheet winch? Their front hatch? Start every relative performance call with this information. For example, I might say, “If we tacked right now, we would miss them by 6 meters.” One minute into the lineup, I might say, “If we tacked right now, we would hit them on their transom; we have gained 6 meters since the beginning of the test.” Another minute later, I might say, “If we tacked right now, we would hit them at their mast; we have gained one boatlength since the start of the test.”

If you are clearly outperforming a competitor above you, or if they are in a compromised position, make the announcement that you are switching relatives to another boat. For example, I might say, “(Name of boat) won’t live there for long, switching to (name of new boat or sail number).”

If there are no boats above you to call relatives with, announce you are going to hike instead. This lets your team know why you’ve gone silent. For example, I say, “No gauges above us; I am hiking.” Or take it a step further and challenge your teammates to hike even harder. I say, “No good gauges above; showing the young guys how to hike.”

Having been a pro sailor and coach for a long time, I’ve experienced my share of situations where a lack of calling relatives or poor calling in general leads to unwanted outcomes. To prevent this from ever ­happening on your boats, let’s run through a few common scenarios.

Silence is deadly

What happens: We start the race and nobody says anything.

The result: We come off the line in a low mode that is not optimal VMG. The boats above us are able to live in an otherwise compromised position all the way to the layline, which costs us a lot of places.

The fix: Identify immediately who you’re calling relatives against and make it clear how your team is going against them.

Head in the clouds

What happens: We don’t take note of the TWD or heading when we start the relative calls. We state we are losing a lot to the boat above us, oblivious to the fact that the wind has lifted us 15 degrees.

The result: We start changing settings, away from what we know, to try to improve based on the feedback, but we only perform worse and lose a lot.

The fix: Announce the TWD or heading when you start the relative calls. Then you can allow for TWD/heading changes in your analysis of performance. For example, “We are doing well against the boats above considering we’re in a 15-degree lift.”

Comms breakdown

What happens: We say, “They are lower.” The helmsman puts the bow up to sail a higher mode because he only hears the words “are lower” (the other words err out in the wind), and the helmsman and trimmers assume we are the lower boat.

The result: We sail too high and slow, and get rolled by the boat above us.

The fix: Always talk about your boat first, not the other. In this case, we were already higher and should have said, “We are higher.” Instead, by switching between us and them, we ­create confusion.

Stay on task

What happens: We aren’t going well, so we stop calling relatives.

The result: At a time when we need to be honest and identify there is an issue with our performance, we go quiet. Nothing is done to address our performance issue, and we go backward because of it.

The fix: No one wants to be the bearer of bad news or a Negative Nancy, but this is an important part of the race. Be consistent. Be honest. Keep the process the same, rain or shine.

Lost in translation

What happens: We say, “Higher, slower.”

The result: Our skipper responds, “Is that good or bad? Are we gaining or not?”

The fix: If the speed and angle are split, finish your call with whether that mode is a gain or a loss.

Attention deficit

What happens: After a very long lineup, you are unsure as to whether it has been a gain or a loss over all the changes that have come and gone.

The result: You don’t really know how you have gone over the long term and just make something up.

The fix: From the beginning of the lineup, announce where you would be if you tacked. Five minutes later, you will know how you have gone by checking in using the same method. Maybe you haven’t gone well in the last 30 seconds, but overall you have moved forward by two boatlengths.

Hang up and dial again

What happens: The boat above you has a poor start, and now they are in your quarter waves going even worse. You keep calling relatives on them because they are closest to you.

The result: Your team thinks they are going very well based off your calls. But the boat you are calling is compromised. The next boat up is outperforming you, and you have not identified that your team needs to change modes to match.

The fix: As soon as the boat you are calling relatives against is compromised or going really badly, look for the next boat above them to keep improving your mode.

Lost in space

What happens: All the boats above you tack away. There are no other nearby boats to call ­relatives against, so you go silent.

The result: Your skipper yells, “Please keep calling relatives!” and loses focus in the rage.

The fix: As soon as there are no boats above you to call relatives against, announce that fact. And hike your butt off.

The takeaway from all these scenarios should be that it’s critical to continuously call your relative performance against your competitors, and when you do so, be clear, confident, accurate and consistent. Doing all of the above will help relieve tension on the boat and improve performance. If there is no one left to call relatives against, hike hard and do the rest of your tasks well. Enjoy yourself. And don’t forget to call your mom or dad after racing to tell them how well you went. If anything, it’ll be the most important call of the day.

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Pressure or windshift…which is more important? The simple answer would be both, says Racing Editor Mike Ingham in the latest episode of Sailboat Racing Tips. But there are times when pressure takes precedent, and Ingham has the data to prove it. Dive in to learn more about when and how to gain, one boatlength at a time.

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At the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in St. Petersburg we mic’d up Andy Horton and Travis Odenbach on the J/70 for the practice race. Listen in to hear how the top sailors get around the racecourse with fleet management, tactics and strategy calls.

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As the sailing coach at Point Loma High School, I spend a lot of time talking to the team about crewing. I also crew almost exclusively in my role as a professional sailor, so between those two experiences, plus sharing information about crewing with other pro sailors, I’ve been able to boil down the essence of a great crew into three manageable parts. Keep in mind that these are “big ­picture” characteristics.

Let’s first start with mindset. In the morning, before you even get to the boat, you should be thinking: “I’m going to help out today in any way I can to help the boat and the team be as successful as possible. I’m going to work really hard; I’m going to have a great attitude; I’m going to show up early, stay late, and figure out how I can contribute all day long.” To do so, research what your job is going to be before you go sailing. Find out who’s in charge of the boat. Ask them what you’re going to be doing, when you’re going to be doing it, and the steps it takes, whether it’s trimming the sails, doing the bow, calling the time or whatever. And ask what you can bring—food, water, etc.

Next, show up early to help rig the boat. Showing up early allows you to check out the boat and see how everything works. And when the rest of the team shows up, you will feel more confident and in the know. Then work hard—help rig the sheets (or at the least offer to help), pull out the sails, and do whatever is necessary to help get the boat ready to leave the dock. While rigging, you can earn bonus points by being safety-conscious, looking around to make sure there’s no chafe on lines, missing ring dings, or anything that looks like it may break.

When it’s time to get the sails up, take great care in handling them. Gently flaking them out or unrolling them before attaching them to the boat is key and takes coordinated teamwork by two or more people. Taking great care with the main and jib is not only fast, preventing wrinkles and encouraging longevity, but it also shows the boat owner that you understand sails are expensive, like to win, and are grateful for the ­opportunity to be on the boat.

If you’re not sure what you’re doing while prepping the boat and putting it away at the end of the day, ask someone in charge or watch the veterans on the boat. Learn what they’re doing so you can offer to help them next time. Eager and attentive crewmembers are hard to find and always asked back.

The positive mindset used when preparing the boat for the day is even more important once on the water. I’ll never forget sailing in an alumni regatta with one of the best high school crew I’ve coached. I had noticed that anyone she sailed with did better at practice, and in that event, I found out why. She was always happy and positive, even after a tough race. At that event, we started with two great races, but the third wasn’t so special. But we passed a few boats before the finish. After the ­finish, it would be easy to be a little bummed out, but instead with a smile she said: “Great race, Steve! Way to pass four boats on the final downwind leg! That was awesome.” She kept the vibe in the boat so happy and positive that we went on to have some good races and won the regatta.

Sometimes a good mindset means keeping the mood light. An example of doing that at just the right time was when sailing with my buddy Erik Shampain. After I made a bad tactical call, and then we had a poor leeward mark rounding, the skipper and I digressed into a nonproductive discussion about past events. Although we didn’t notice it, that discussion was distracting us from sailing well. After a couple of minutes of this conversation, Erik, having had enough, interrupted us by saying, “Hey guys, hold on, I have a goldfish.” We both paused and with curiosity asked, “What?” He said, “Oh, I thought we were talking about stuff that doesn’t matter!” We quickly got his point, and we all started laughing.

With the mood lightened and our focus back on racing well in the moment, we went on to pass 20 boats and finished the race on a positive note.

Here’s another way to think of maintaining the mindset of helping out and contributing: The skipper often has the most pressure and typically has invested the most time and money into making everything happen. Their reputation is on the line, and they feel it. So, when I show up as a crew, I think, How can I help the skipper do really well? How can I help ease their stress and help them succeed? That’s my main focus. I use all the skills I have to do that: sailing skills, but also people skills by being positive and a psychologist, saying the right thing at the right time, and keeping the mood light. If you can do the same, you’ll be asked to come back—probably forever.

Now, let’s talk about skills. In small, two-person boats, your job may be pretty straightforward: trimming the jib and using your weight to keep the boat at the proper heel angle. On bigger boats, like Lightnings, J/24s and PHRF boats, you may be trimming, have other jobs, or a combo of both. You may be doing bow or simply calling the time in the pre-start. But regardless of what you’re sailing, knowing what you’re supposed to do and when to do it. By doing those jobs skillfully, you can add value to the team.

One skill that everyone needs to be aware of, and probably one of the most important, is weight placement. Moving your weight around to keep the boat at the proper heel angle is everyone’s job, and it’s critical for boatspeed. If you grew up racing dinghies, you’re probably tuned in to this already, but if not, be sure to ask the skipper or whoever is in charge on the boat where your weight should be at different points of sail.

Terry Hutchinson likes to remind his crew to “mind the boat.” In other words, pay attention to what the boat’s doing—its heel, its speed though the water, and how it feels. Tune in and let the boat tell you what it needs. At the end of the day, as Buddy Melges always says, we are presenting the boat to the wind, from the time the sails go up until they come down. Our job as crew is to affect its heel angle for optimal performance and trim the sails well while the skipper controls the angle the boat is to the wind. These three attributes determine our speed. Therefore, always be thinking about the boat, minding and paying attention to it, and feeling and listening to how it moves through the water. Try to get to the point where no one has to tell you to move.

An easy way to think of weight placement and how much you should be moving is to break it down into two conditions: telltale sailing, which is in light to medium air, and hiking conditions, which is when the boat is overpowered. When telltale sailing, the skipper mainly drives to the telltales, and it’s up to the crew to move around and keep the proper heel angle, hiking in puffs and scooting in during lulls. Once the wind is up, hike hard and let the skipper drive to the heel angle while the trimmers ease and trim sails. Knowing the difference between the two modes makes it easy to define your weight-movement goals. You’re basically asking, “Should I be moving around and paying attention to the wind and heel angle now, or should I just hike really hard?” Knowing the right time to do each is super important.

Another consideration while moving your weight is the view of the skipper. Top skipper Greg Fisher tells his crew: “Don’t sit in front of the TV.” For him, the TV is the telltales, the forestay and the waves. The skipper wants to see what’s coming, and they want to watch the telltales, so as you move in and out, don’t get in their way. When you scoot in, especially on a dinghy, you should slide in with your hips first, keeping your shoulders out and down so you don’t sit right in the skipper’s view. On keelboats, when you scoot in, you might lie backward to keep the skipper’s view open.

When you’re part of a well-oiled machine—maybe you’ve been sailing with the same ­people a while—you can get to the point where weight placement rarely has to be communicated; everyone understands what you’re searching for most of the time. With that said, it’s also something the skipper should talk about based on the feel of the tiller. If the skipper’s not doing it, ask: “Hey, how does the boat feel? Tell me what feels good, and I will try to keep it in the sweet spot for you.” And if you do that, the skipper will love you for it because you’re helping them make the boat feel right—and go fast. On larger boats with more crew, it’s best to have a skilled sailor call weight movements for the group so the whole team can move as one unit.

About that communication: Once you feel your skills are pretty good and you are doing your jobs on the boat well and at the right time, you can start to add more value by communicating. There is a lot you can say and, just as important, should not say at any given time. On ­bigger boats, it should be defined who should be talking and who should not. On smaller boats, the communication may fall on you, so knowing what to say and when is very important. If your job requires communication, follow this basic rule: Communicate what is important based on the current situation, and realize that the situation often changes.

For example, on the way out to the racecourse, the discussion might center on what sails you’re putting up. Then, while warming up on the course, the discussion is on boat setup and racecourse features. In the pre-start, it’s calling time and communicating threats coming during your final approach to the line. Once the race is underway and you’ve had a good start, the focus will likely be on boatspeed; if you’ve had a tough start, it will probably center on escape routes.

Let’s say we just started the race, had a clean start, and we’re going to sail straight for a while. Communication might focus on puffs and lulls, or our speed in relation to others. Then, later, after tacking onto port, the best communication may be ­identifying right-of-way starboard-tack boats. Once there are no more starboard threats and your lane opens up, the attention shifts back to the most important thing, which is simply to go fast for a while. Later in the beat, as you get close to the top mark, you may ask the skipper the downwind-leg plan, then shift into calling traffic to help get around the top mark clean, with no drama or fouls. That’s what I mean by communicating what’s most important at any given moment.

You may have heard that a fast boat is a quiet boat. Jimmy Spithill spoke to our high school sailors recently, and they asked him about communication. He said, “You want to be as concise as possible and convey ideas with as few words as possible at the right time.”

So, your job may be to be quiet in the pre‑start, or it may be to call the time, and you should do that really well. You should focus on being great at it. Ask the skipper or tactician, “How would you like me to call the time?” Is it every 15 seconds down to two minutes, then every 10 seconds down to one minute, and every five seconds down to 30 seconds, and then every second down to zero? Again, you’re communicating what’s important at that one moment in the race and working to be as concise as possible. Not overcommunicating during a race helps the skipper and tactician concentrate on making the boat go fast and making good decisions. And in Jimmy’s world, when you are foiling at 40 knots, things are happening so fast, there’s ­literally no time for long communications.

I heard one of the coolest tips for short and sweet comms while on a US Sailing team call. Tim Wadlow, a two-time 49er Olympian, mentioned his team had a communication for going straight. They just say “happy.” It comes from one of their favorite movies, Happy Gilmore. “If we’re ever in a situation where we’re in a big lane, sailing toward the mark, and we’re not thinking about tacking, our goal is just to go fast for a while. So, basically, we’re in our happy place,” Wadlow said. “So, we say ‘happy,’ which communicates that we’re going to focus on speed and heel angle, and simply go straight for a while.”

Knowing this, the crew can get low on the wire and fully focus on heel angle and sail trim—concise and in the moment. He also gave an example where they’ve just rounded the bottom mark, the lane’s kind of thin, and they’re pinching. “I’m thinking about tacking, but I’m not sure I need to yet, so I just say ‘looking.’ That one word lets the crew know not to get super low on the wire and be ready to tack because I’m looking around and considering bailing out.”

These two words convey a lot of meaning, and they mean something to the people on the boat. Come up with your own words for short and sweet comms, and have some fun with it.

In sum, know each step of your job and have a repeatable process that you follow every single time. If you do your job at the right time in harmony with everyone else, the sails will go up and down well, the heel angle will stay consistent, and the boat will go fast. Olympian Dave Hughes, who is one of the best crew in the world, says: “Be a student of the game. Ask questions, be curious, work hard, and you’ll always be invited back.”

The post Three Steps to Becoming a Great Crew appeared first on Sailing World.

After two years of ­campaigning the Olympic 49erFX, I recently returned to the Laser Radial (now known as the ILCA 6), and my enthusiasm for speed was ripe on one day of training in Fort Lauderdale. With the breeze pumping at 18 knots, I trimmed the sail for the first lineup of the day, feeling the load in the deck and the power in my quads. Then, with a big smile on my face, I eased the mainsheet 5 feet or so and let the boat rip. It felt awesome until I heard my coach, Erik Bowers, yell at me from the RIB, “Erika, it’s not a skiff! The boat’s not going to take off. Bring it back up!”

As much as I was enjoying essentially reaching around, Bower’s reality check was a good reminder for me to recalibrate what we all call moding, which is sailing the best angle for the given wind strength. The top sailors know how and when to shift between three different modes: high mode, velocity made good (VMG) and low mode. Each mode has its unique features and applications on the racecourse, but the key to speed is to select the correct one at the right time, so let’s explore how.

On an upwind leg, consider your high mode as the closest angle you can sail to the wind without the luff of the sail starting to break. Your best indicators in this mode are the windward telltales dropping slightly and the leeward ones streaming straight back. This mode sacrifices some forward speed and is similar to walking a tightrope; you have to balance speed versus height, and the sea state is especially critical because one small error in sheeting or steering will make you “fall off the rope” immediately.

The VMG mode is defined as the quickest way to make distance toward the mark. In other words, this can also be thought of as the best average speed toward the mark. This mode is a bit more forgiving because its boundaries are somewhere between the high and low modes. Oftentimes, true VMG touches both modes as you sail upwind.

The low mode is just below your VMG angle and somewhere above tight reaching. Placing the boat in this mode increases the load in your sail(s) and hull appendages, thus increasing your overall boatspeed. However, if there’s too much force over the sails and the underwater foils, drag increases and your boatspeed drops. Finding a low-mode sweet spot is important because having the same speed but sailing a lower angle than another competitor on an upwind beat never ­produces a good outcome.

Understanding the ­limitations of each mode is critical, but knowing when to exploit specific modes in different wind strengths is how the best sailors win the boatspeed race. For example, in light air, a high mode always trumps a low mode because sailing a lower angle doesn’t create fast-forward speed toward the mark. Thus, in underpowered conditions, the objective is to go the same speed and higher than other boats. When the wind increases in velocity, the challenge becomes finding the shifting point from forward speed in a low mode to optimal VMG. How to get to this point is different for every boat in different wind strengths and sea states. In the ILCA 6, for example, the transition to a low mode becomes favorable at about 13 knots. At this wind strength, the boat is able to pick up enough speed to overcome the benefits of a high mode. In the 49erFX, this crossover happens much lower in the wind range. At around 8 knots, or when both skipper and crew are fully trapping, the skiff wants to take off and tap into apparent wind sailing. During 49erFX races, it’s easy to identify boats stuck in a high mode off the starting line as they immediately drop back because the speed difference between high and low modes is colossal. In this case, the low mode produces the optimal height toward the mark without sacrificing speed.

Races are most often sailed in transitional wind strengths. On a single upwind beat, there can be moments where the high mode is the dominant VMG, and then a 1- to 2-knot puff causes the low mode to take command. The skill is realizing the subtle change in wind strength and instantly adjusting your mode while considering your tactics. A good rule of thumb is that your high mode will be your best VMG until your low mode becomes significant enough to be a real boatspeed weapon. For example, if you’re able to put the bow down to then promptly tack and get a cross in, the low mode becomes the best VMG to the weather mark.

Using relatives from other boats to check in with your mode selection during a race is extremely helpful for deciding which mode to maintain. The sailors on top of the results page have their mode selection dialed in. Though practicing these nuances before an event is great, the best VMG angle for a race can easily be determined during the pre-start. Going upwind and teasing the extremes of each mode only takes a few minutes, and testing what you find against another boat will confirm or deny your hunch. No matter what, establish a feel for the limitations of each mode. Once you have a good feel for them, find your room to play.

The post How to Find Your Speed Mode appeared first on Sailing World.

When approaching the ­leeward gate, there are a lot of possibilities to consider: Which mark to round? How to best round it? What’s the exit and the next windward leg plan? All of this needs to be discussed on the run so your overall game plan is clear well in advance. It’s much easier with a single leeward mark, in which case you can jump ahead to the next ­section—the approach—and focus on techniques used for rounding the left-hand gate, which is likely what you’re doing when there is only one leeward mark. But when there are gate marks, things get complicated, and the tactician has a number of factors to consider. Let’s start by defining your choices.

Closest and most windward mark: If the gate marks are in place before the start, it is usually possible to sight them with a hand-bearing compass and then determine the wind direction that would make them square (add or subtract 90 degrees depending on which way you sighted). The mark that is farther upwind should be closer, similar to the favored end of the starting line.

Most favored from where you are: The mark that is farthest upwind (or highest ladder rung) might not be the most favored from where you are in the moment. In other words, if you approach from one side of the course or the other, the mark which you can round soonest is probably favored for you.

Least crowded: This is important, especially if you’re stuck in a pack of boats.

Cleanest air: With the approach and the exit looking upwind, consider where the ­fewest obstructions and the best wind will be. One good test of the favored-gate mark is when two boats round opposite marks simultaneously and continue on opposite tacks. After the fleet is cleared, if both boats tack, the boat that is ahead probably had cleaner air and perhaps rounded the favored or closest mark.

Most advantageous current: Rounding the down-current mark will usually make an easier and faster turn. However, there may be tactical or strategic advantages to the up-current mark. When the current is running across the course—i.e., from one gate mark toward the other—it’s usually best to round the down-current gate (the mark toward which the current is running) because the rounding will be easier and the boat will get there faster due to the movement of the current.

The Final Approach

The goal here is to work hard to be the inside or farthest ahead boat. One way to do so is to stay out of the “no-go zone” in the middle. Approach one of the gate marks from outside the funnel and maintain boatspeed while avoiding bad air.

We learned about the no-go zone the hard way at an Etchells Worlds. We were caught back in the pack (50ish in a 90-boat fleet) and stuck smack in the middle of the funnel, with boats pouring in from both sides. The race committee had set the marks so close that there were less than six boatlengths between them, which meant the three-boatlength zones for each mark overlapped. We intended to round the left mark, but boats to the left of us were telling us to turn right for the right-gate mark while boats to the right of us, who also wanted the left mark, were telling us to turn left for the left mark. Eventually, the funnel overfilled and the whole group converged, locked rail to rail with no one able to turn. The lesson here is to prioritize being inside—with rights, of course.

Approach the three-boatlength zone with the most speed possible to obtain or break later overlaps. It’s imperative to be vocal if you have rights, or if another boat does not have rights and is trying to take inside room. The observation moment for whether an inside boat obtains an overlap and therefore has rights to room inside is when the leading boat of your group that is overlapped and rounding together reaches the three-boatlength zone. If you have been overlapped or not overlapped with another boat for a minute or more as you approach the leeward gate marks, and it suddenly changes, be sure to let the other boat know you have either broken the overlap or established it as soon as that occurs. And remember, Rule 18.2(e) (Giving Mark-Room) says: “If there is reasonable doubt that a boat obtained or broke an overlap in time, it shall be presumed that she did not” (obtain or break the overlap before the first of the two boats reached the zone).

If a boat tries to establish a late overlap to windward of you, your best defense is to luff them above the three-boat-length zone, and then bear off sharply to break the overlap and get your bow into the zone. This defense works well on both port jibe to the left gate and ­starboard jibe to the right gate.

A common ­mistake is getting pinned beyond the laylines when both boats are outside the zone. Rule 18 (Mark-Room) does not apply until one of the boats is in the zone, so it’s important to understand the nuances of the rules in this situation.

And here’s a quick tip on spinnaker handling when approaching the zone: Count down the drop for the crew to hear. Usually, the tactician will provide a 30-second warning and then a 10-second countdown. Once the count is established, the pit, crew boss or bow person should also voice the countdown. For boats with string takedown systems, the sheet is released (slacked) sometimes as late as 2 on the countdown.

The Strategic Rounding

Once we’ve decided which gate mark we want and where we want to go on the second beat, we have to manage and optimize the rounding strategically. Let’s first tackle the standard reaching approach, which is by far the most common and generally regarded as the easiest method.

Some types of boats may require a brief bear away to unload pressure on the spinnaker and facilitate its drop. So, we need to reach into the mark a little high of the layline, allowing the time we need to finish the bear away, and then head up to a fast reaching course.

Another approach is to jibe around the left-gate mark (aka the “Mexican”). Here, we come in, usually at a hot angle, on starboard with rights until reaching the protection of the three-boatlength zone, where the mark-room rule begins to apply. The spinnaker is usually coming down on the left side of the boat, and a wide jibe rounding makes the douse easy for the crew. The douse is ideally left so late that the boat is already jibed and on port jibe, so the spinnaker falls on the new windward (port) deck.

We perfected Mexican drops on the TP52 Spookie using a string takedown system. The crew trained me to pause the turn, nearly dead downwind, as soon as the boom jibed. At that moment, the chute was dropped onto the port (and now windward) deck. It was ­counterintuitive at first, but it worked so well, I readily adopted the technique. We proceeded to mimic the maneuver with a new name for the right-gate mark called the “Rodeo” drop. That way, the crew always knew exactly what type of drop and rounding to expect. The Rodeo goes like this: We’re on port jibe and want to go around the right-gate mark. We stay wide outside the funnel to ensure an inside overlap at the zone and jibe onto starboard around the mark. The spinnaker is still coming down on the left side of the boat. The Rodeo differs from the Mexican in that the spinnaker will end up to leeward.

A third approach—the “Flop”—is a specialty maneuver for certain asymmetric-rigged boats that is used when you can’t quite lay the mark without jibing, but don’t really want to complete a full jibe. A similar technique can be used on symmetric spinnaker boats, possibly by removing the pole and trimming the sheet and guy outboard by hand or foot. The Flop should only be attempted in moderate winds, flat water and clean air. It does not work in light or heavy winds. In light air, there simply is not enough wind pressure to keep the spinnaker full; in heavy air, it can become unstable and hard to handle, and lead to a ­spectacular wipeout.

When flopping, the boat goes wing-on-wing, meaning the main and asymmetric sails are flying on opposite sides. Ease the tack line by 15 percent of the boatlength as you bear away to by the lee to encourage the asymmetric to fill, and then return to slightly above a dead-downwind course. A successfully performed Flop is a very sharp arrow for your quiver and should be practiced to perfection. There are several variations of the Flop, and it is possible to jibe either the asymmetric or the mainsail. We have even tried a “Double Butterfly” by jibing both the main and asymmetric at the same time. I have never seen it attempted before—or since—and I wouldn’t recommend it again, but it did work.

Executing the Rounding

With approach determined, the next focus is the execution of the rounding. Here’s where we need to address the term “seamanlike.” When the inside boat does not have right of way, it is only allowed enough room to make a seamanlike rounding of the mark (see the definition of “room”), which is a smooth, curved rounding that maintains speed and stays within a boatlength or so from the mark.

The next term to remember is “tactical.” When the inside boat has the right of way, it can make a tactical rounding, which basically means “swing wide and cut close,” all the while keeping maximum speed.

One of our options during our rounding is to intentionally slow down once we reach the zone. A brief slowdown can pay big dividends if it improves your rounding, especially if you would have been forced to the outside of the boat ahead had you maintained your speed. You always want to round behind boats you are giving room to and round close to the mark. The slowdown can be achieved by taking the spinnaker down early, overtrimming the mainsail, or weaving with the helm (using your rudder as a sort of brake). When and how much to slow the boat is an art form ­practiced by team racers.

On rare occasions, we might plan to tack around a leeward gate mark. This is usually a bad idea because it sends us straight back into the funnel, with its attendant bad air and confused sea state. The main reason to tack around a leeward gate mark is to take advantage of a windshift, especially if you have just made a big gain and are unsure it will continue (and may perhaps oscillate back the other direction, thereby ­negating or reducing your gain).

In special circumstances, it’s better to round outside of an inside boat we are giving room to; this we call “Round the Outside” (or “Buffalo Girl”). This move helps ensure we can punch out, getting our bow forward of the inside windward boat. This approach works only if we have our bow well forward of the inside boat as we approach the mark and are ­confident we can maintain a safe leeward position. The technique is simple: Keep speed up by making a more gradual rounding than the inside boat, which might have to do a sharp head-up, causing it to slow. If the inside boat sails over and blankets you, it’s game over. It’s a high-risk move, and if it goes bad, it usually results in losing several more boats rather than the one you tried to get around.

The Exit Is Equally Important

The goals coming out of the gate include the following modes: fast, maximum VMG and boatspeed, with sails always correctly trimmed. As you round, the main must be trimmed ahead of the jib to add helm, thus reducing the amount of rudder angle needed for the turn.

Clear wind: Use your approach with reaching speed to coast slightly high of closehauled in order to hold a lane for as long as necessary while the tactician executes the exit plan. The tactician might want to hold high of the bad air from the boat(s) ahead by pinching in order to keep clear air to either maintain a lifted tack or continue toward the favored side of the course. Or the plan could be to tack as soon as the downwind traffic clears out. It’s rarely advantageous to foot through to leeward of the bad air from the boat(s) ahead.

Advantaged: If the gate you chose is favored (more upwind), then you should be able to tack and cross a boat that rounded the other gate. But just being ahead is not enough reason to tack. You need to continue on the lifted tack, heading toward the favored side of the course, and with clear air.

The ideal exit is all about ­flexibility, having the ability to tack when and if we want to, or just go as fast as possible and execute your strategy like you’d planned it on the run.

Rules at the Leeward Gate

Let’s now have Dave Perry, author of Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing, take us through the roundings:

When two boats are overlapped as they enter the zone of a leeward gate mark, the inside boat will either be the “keep-clear boat” (windward or port-tack boat) or the “right-of-way boat” (leeward or starboard-tack boat).

An inside keep-clear boat is entitled to “mark-room” from the outside boat under Rule 18.2(b) (Giving Mark-Room), which is room to sail to and around the mark in a “seamanlike way” (see definition of “room”). If it stays within a seamanlike course, it is exonerated by Rule 43.1(b) (Exoneration) if it breaks Rule 10 (Port/Starboard) or Rule 11 (Windward/Leeward). Typically, that means the inside boat needs to stay closer than a boatlength away from the mark throughout its rounding. It is not entitled to room to make a “tactical” swing-wide or cut-close rounding.

On the other hand, an inside right-of-way boat can sail wherever it wants to, subject to a couple of limitations. Because it is a right-of-way boat, it does not need the protection of mark-room. Furthermore, Rule 18.4 (Jibing), which requires inside right-of-way boats to jibe around single leeward marks, does not apply at leeward gate marks (see the second sentence of Rule 18.4). Typically, inside right-of-way boats sail a tactical swing-wide or cut-close rounding. But with no Rule 18.4 at a gate mark, an inside right-of-way boat can sail farther from the mark than its proper course and delay or attack ­outside keep-clear boats during their roundings.

However, there are two ­limitations on how aggressive an inside right-of-way boat can be at a leeward gate mark:

1) If it became the leeward boat from clear astern, Rule 17 (On the Same Tack; Proper Course) applies and requires it to sail no higher than its proper course. Typically, but not always, when a boat enters the zone of a gate mark, it is fastest to round that mark. In that case, the leeward boat would need to jibe when its proper course was to jibe to round the mark.

2) Anytime a right-of-way boat changes course, it has to give the keep-clear boat room to keep clear under Rule 16.1 (Changing Course). If the right-of-way boat is changing course away from the mark, it is not sailing within the mark-room to which it is entitled, and so it is not exonerated by Rule 43.1(b) if it breaks Rule 16.1.

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