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Steps to Winning a Regatta

Brett Bowden
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 Step 1. Work on your weaknesses. Steps to Winning a Regatta

 We all have different strengths and weaknesses, for some, it is light air and flat water,  for others they are faster in a big breeze and boisterous seas.

It is fun to practice in your favourite conditions but you need to get out of your comfort zone and spend more practice time sailing in the conditions that you are slower in.

Keep the Boat Flat

Step 2. Preparation. Steps to Winning a Regatta

Leading up to an event focus on reducing distractions, cross off all the items on your boat work list and let all work clients, colleagues and friends know that you will not be available during the event.

When a regatta begins you need to be rested and ready, and your first and only priority is going sailing.

Complete all tasks prior to leaving home

Step3. Go to a regatta with someone you have spent a lot of time sailing with.

If you are sailing in a multi-crewed boat resist the temptation to link up with a hot shot in your class for a big event.

In a crew-driven boat, the helmsperson only does about thirty per cent of the work. If you compete with someone that you have spent many hours in the boat with, you know each other’s weaknesses but also know each other’s strengths, and in tough situations, you remind each other to focus on those and let the rest sort itself out.

Step4. Nutrition and Hydration. Steps to Winning a Regatta

Proper nutrition and hydration could make or break your results. Carry adequate food, snacks and water during the race especially if you are competing in two or three races in one day.

Don’t neglect off the water fuel and hydration and resist the partying until the event is finished. Supply your own food rather than what the regatta organizers or canteen provide and don’t neglect to get plenty of sleep during the event.

 

Step5. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be better than the rest.

It’s easy to give up, but instead, focus on the opportunities that an event presents and sail hard, remember everybody else is hurting too and wrestling with the same issues as you are.

Fortunately, great boat speed, developed over the time of working together will allow you to move up through the fleet and this is where all your hard work pays off. 

How to Point, Foot, and Change Gears

Brett Bowden
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How to Point, Foot, and Change Gears

Gear changing is what separates the mid-fleet sailors from those who always seem to be a tad quicker and higher.

While most of the fleet starts the race with a similar setup created with the help of a tuning guide, the fast boats are constantly making additional adjustments. When conditions suddenly change—a puff hits or you sail into a lull, the fast sailors shift gears.

Fix Pointing Problems:

Trying to pinch to maintain height is most likely the reason for your pointing issues and by pinching, the boat is actually sliding to leeward. The remedy is to “foot then point”, a boat needs to go fast so the foils can develop lift, so ease the sails a little bear off a couple of degrees to get up to speed then point up and re-trim to the optimum setting.

Once the boat starts to slow down, be sure to ease the sails out, regain your speed, then start the process again.

While it may seem natural to let the boat heel more when trying to point, fight the urge, keeping the boat flat will maintain a balanced helm and maximize the efficiency of your underwater foils.

When sail trim is the cause of the problem, it’s usually the main, not the jib. The upper leech of the main provides most of your pointing ability so be sure to trim the main so the upper batten is at least parallel to the boom.

If you need more pointing ability, try trimming the main tighter. You can hook the upper batten as much as 15 degrees to weather for short periods but avoid the temptation to over-trim the jib to help pointing ability.

Fix Footing Problems:

The easiest fix is to ease the sails because more open leeches on both sails will help the boat sail lower and faster in a straight line but this can create a pointing problem. 

To correct this, first, check your helm balance because weather helm will hinder the boat’s ability to go fast. Instead of easing sheets try to sail the boat more level if you can’t keep the boat flat, induce more mast bend to flatten the main.

The next step is to ease the traveller until the helm is balanced. Other remedies are to tighten the outhaul, tension the Cunningham/jib halyard to pull the draft forward and open the leeches of both sails.

Gear Shift in a Puff:

When a small puff hits.

1. Ease the main.

2. Steer up to “feather” the boat.

3. Re-trim the main.

Because a puff typically lifts the boat due to a change in the apparent wind speed, you need to ease sheets and head up as it reaches you. Let the boat climb to windward and steer toward the upper end of your groove using the jib luff telltales.

If the puff is particularly severe, more adjustment may be necessary. If you can’t hold the boat down after making the above adjustments and there’s still too much helm, do the following until the helm is balanced.

1. Ease the traveller

2. Bend the mast (vang tension, backstay tension, etc.)

3. Tension the Cunningham on both main and jib.

Gear Shift in a Lull:

Lulls usually appear as headers and in a lull, it’s important that you bear off as smoothly as possible. Make sure the boat remains flat and resist the temptation to add heel to maintain “feel” in the helm.

Ease the main so the top batten angles outboard from parallel to the boom, leave the jib trimmed initially until the bow is pulled down to the lower end of your groove with both telltales streaming aft.

At that point, the jib should be eased so the leeward telltale doesn’t stall.

To maintain boatspeed in a lull

1. Ease the main.

2. Allow the boat to heel to weather, creating lee helm, to steer the boat down.

3. Ease the jib.

4. Level the boat.

5. Pull the traveller up (if the boom is below centerline).

If a lull lasts for a longer time

1. Straighten the mast and induce luff sag in the jib

2. Ease main and jib cunningham to maintain correct draft position

 

Know When The Wind Is Oscillating.

Brett Bowden
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Know When The Wind Is Oscillating.

Know When The Wind Is Oscillating. Oscillating shifts are the most common type of wind pattern, so if you’re not sure what the wind is doing assume it is oscillating until you discover otherwise.

It’s very important to figure out whether the wind shifts will be oscillating or persistent, but this is not always easy to
do. There are some visual clues (listed below) that often mean the wind direction will be shifting back and forth.

The wind is blowing offshore.

When the wind is blowing from the shore, it’s almost a sure bet that the land’s irregularities will cause oscillating shifts.

Your headings on each tack go up and down.

Your pre-race compass headings on port and starboard tack fluctuate around an average direction (which stays
roughly the same). Shifts happen fairly quickly, not gradually.

Boats are lifted and headed on both sides of the course.

As you look across the course, you see boats on both tacks on lifts and headers in a somewhat arbitrary pattern. Boats that
are lifted then get headed and vice versa.

You are sailing in a gradient wind after the passage of a cold front.

Oscillating shifts (and puffs) that come with a vertically unstable air mass.

The wind on the water looks patchy and/or puffy.

You look across the course and you can see lighter or darker spots that show puffs or lulls. Sometimes you can even see ripples indicating changes in wind direction. This wind is almost surely oscillating.

On the first beat, each tack is sometimes longer to the windward mark.

As the wind oscillates, so does the long tack to the windward mark. That is, sometimes your bow points closer to the mark on port tack, and sometimes it points closer on starboard tack.

Boats gain (and lose) on both sides of the course.

As you sail up the beat, boats are as likely to pass (or be passed) on the right side as they are on the left. It all depends on who is in phase with the shifts, not on who goes farther to one side.

The ‘favoured’ end of the starting line switches from one end to the other and back again.

In shifty winds, most starting lines are set square to the median breeze. So when the wind is in the right phase the right (committee boat) end of the line is favoured. When the wind is in a left phase, the left (pin) end is favoured.

Deal with congested areas when sailing.

Brett Bowden
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Deal with congested areas when sailing.

Deal with congested areas when sailing. You may already have noticed that, shortly before the Start, when the boats have lined up, the wind is significantly weaker there, even if you are in the front row and have clear wind.

Effect of The Fleet On The Breeze

The reason for this effect is the congestion that forms in front of the regatta field producing a not insignificant resistance to the wind.

In addition to this effect, the wind blows around this congestion. It is significantly stronger at the edges, as shown by the narrower lines.

If we find ourselves on the left-hand side of the congested area, the wind flows to the right soon after the start and we can run higher. But take care, after the congestion zone the wind turns back to its original direction again.

This left wind shift should not be misinterpreted as an oscillation to the left. It could mislead us into a tack to the right-hand side of the course.

If we find ourselves on the other side of the congestion, we have the exact opposite effect and feel a header and the leeward boats can sail closer to the wind than we can. If we have the freedom to tack, a quick tack and a short run to the right is called for.

Sailing on port tack on the right side of the congestion we don’t have to sail against the wind shift and can also benefit from the stronger wind at the edge of the congestion.

Clear Line In The Middle

The starting line is often relatively clear in the middle. A group of boats forms on the right and left of it. Each group forms its own independent congestion ‘cloud’.

 In the middle, between these two congestion zones, the wind will be at its strongest for a short time. A further advantage of this position.

However, don’t forget: the pre-requisite for being able to use these effects is a start in the first row. Under the cover of other boats, you won’t even notice them.

Special thanks – Article by Peter Czajka – The Tactics of Sailboat Racing

Sailing Instructions Checklist

Brett Bowden
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Sailing Instructions Checklist
 

Sailing Instructions Checklist – There are several things that you should check in the sailing instructions even if you don’t get time to thoroughly read them which of course I recommend if you want to prepare properly for a race or regatta.

  • The first is determining what penalty system is being used be it one or two turns, yellow flag or retire.
  • Next is the individual recall system, will there be a “hail” of sail numbers or bow numbers if provided, will there be one sound signal for each boat over or one sound signal no matter how many boats are over.
  • In the case of a General Recall, will it be a rolling start and you restart on the next 5-minute signal or will your class go to the end of the class start sequences?
  • Are there any special provisions for the I flag, Z flag or black flag penalties? For example, after a general recall is the one-minute rule automatically in effect, or will the RC fly flag I per rule 30.1?
  • Has the race committee made any changes or additions to the protest procedure found in rule 61? For example, are you required to notify the RC of your intent to protest when you cross the finish line? Is the filing time limit different than that stated in rule 61.3? 
  • At what time is your warning gun? 
Your Class Flag
  • What colour shape or flag will be displayed before and at your start?
  • What are the possible courses and how will each of them be signalled? 
  • On which side do you leave the marks? 
Compass Heading Display
  • Will the RC boat signal the compass heading and/or distance to the first mark?
  • Is the committee allowed to shorten the course? (They are unless the SIs say they aren’t.)
  • What is the time limit for each race?
  • If the RC moves a mark, what procedure will they follow, and what will the new mark look like?
  • What constitutes the starting and finishing lines?
  • Are there any other rules you must be sure to follow? For example: Do you have to check in at the RC boat before the start? 
Read The Sailing Instructions Thoroughly

There is no substitute for reading the sailing instructions thoroughly and in fact you should read them a number iof times so that they are indelibly etched in your memory.

In a multi-crewed boat, one crew member should be tasked with reading the sailing instructions and understanding and remembering them.

On the way out to the course, the crew member who is responsible for reading the SI’s should pass on the most important parts of the document to the team.

Your Head Must Be Out Of The Boat

Brett Bowden
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Your Head Must Be Out Of The Boat

Your Head Must Be Out Of The Boat. You have to train yourself to use your eyes, and this takes practice – Buddy Melges.

“Get your head out of the boat” is pretty much a universal catch cry of just about any coach who is tasked with helping you to improve your racing results.

This is a skill that must be practised but if you look around the best one design crews, there will always be a crewman whose express job is to continually watch their competitors.

They look for strategic positioning, locate marks, look for pressure and watch around the course for shifts.

Once the skill is honed, winning sailors can sail fast whilst looking around. A sailor who is constantly at the front of the fleet will be able to remember tactical and strategic details about a race and will be able to recount them during discussion post-race.

Things like who was leading at different times, and major shifts in both directions. Then there’s pressure and will be able to relate that to a particular leg of the course.

The main reason they are able to do that is that they had their eyes out of the boat.  They are constantly evaluating where their competitors were. Where the next shift was coming from, the next mark and changes in pressure.

A lesser sailor would be constantly watching telltales, adjusting trim, eyes glued to the compass or concentrating on steering thus missing many opportunities that are presented out on the course.

What should you be looking for:

  • Waves, both direction and size.
  • Wind on the water to anticipate shifts and pressure changes.
  • Watch other boats for changes in wind direction and pressure
  • Watch the position of other boats to plan strategy, especially when about to cross or approach marks.
  • Other indicators such as smoke, flags, current at fixed objects or cloud movements:

smoke-picture

Ways to develop your senses so you can keep your head out of the boat:

  • Verbalise the feedback that you are getting from the feel of the tiller
  • Note the sound of the boat as it moves through the water
  • Verbalise the angle of the heel e.g. flat, too heeled plus the fore and aft trim.
  • Predict the next wind shift, verbally calling – puff, header, lift or lull.
  • Verbalise whether you are underpowered or overpowered. 

When out training, make small changes whilst looking out of the boat and try to feel the effect, all the time trying to feel when the boat is in the groove. Another good way to develop this feel is to sail with your eyes closed,

Once you are able to sail fast without constantly looking in the boat, at the compass and up at the sails constantly stressing that something is not set perfectly and are able to continuously look around the course you will find your results will continue to improve.

 

Long Tack First is a Winning Move

Brett Bowden
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Long Tack First is a Winning Move

 

Why Sailing the Long Tack First is a Winning Move

The long tack is the one that points your bow closest to the mark. Its the one you spend the longest time on when heading upwind to the weather mark.

The long tack takes you towards the centre of the course and the centre of the course is directly downwind of the mark. 

When sailing the long tack first, you still need to be mindful of what the wind is doing but if you are not sure of what the wind will do next it is a rule of thumb that you must use.

The reason it works is that staying centred gives you more options when the wind shifts in either direction.

If you are certain about what will happen with the next shift or puff you can disregard sailing the long tack first. 

The benefits of sailing the long tack first are greatest when:

  • You are uncertain about what the wind will do
  • The longer tack is much longer than the short tack
  • You are either in the early to mid part of the beat. Getting close to lay lines too soon really limits your options but remember as you get close to the mark, tactics and position become more important than the long tack.

How to use this rule of thumb in the context of various conditions:

  • Oscillating Breeze – In a truly oscillating breeze, with regular shifts around an average direction,  sail the shortest distance by sailing the lifted tack as much as possible. 
  • Random Shifts – When you can’t find a pattern to the shifts, sailing the long tack might become your primary strategy. Tack on the large headers, but don’t be a slave to your compass. If you’re not pointed at the mark, think about tacking.
  • One side is advantaged – if due to more wind or a persistent shift, you may end up sailing the short tack first to get to that side. However, once you reach that advantage, continuing further on the short tack becomes much riskier.
  • Light or variable pressure – either connecting the puffs or sailing to the side where there is more wind means that we should ignore the long tack strategy.

When sailing off the wind, the same principle applies, sail the long gybe first. The exceptions above as they still apply even though you are travelling downwind.

Reaching Trim and Strategy

Brett Bowden
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Reaching Trim and Strategy

In these days of windward-leeward courses reaching legs provide a bit of variety but how you sail them is no less important and plenty of gains can be made remembering that many competitors treat these legs as a procession and perhaps relax a bit. That’s why we should develop a reaching trim and strategy to gain places on these legs

As you bear away around the mark be mindful of what is going on ahead and around you. Be careful not to get tangled up with other boats, especially those that try to cart you off the course.

The best strategy is to ‘push’ the boats ahead of you by following behind them and not threatening their breeze.

The goal is to get farther ahead of the pack behind than worry about passing them later in the race.

Passing On The Reaching Leg – Reaching Trim and Strategy

If a slow boat is holding you back, try to pass several boat lengths to windward of them, by the time they realize you are about to pass them it is usually difficult or impossible for them to head up.

If possible, go for the pass in a puff and if you can get planing first it will be difficult for them to head up and defend.

On a typical reach, the leading boats extend because the bulk of the following boats sails an arc which takes them above the rhumb line, they not only sail more distance but then have to sail low which is slower leaving them with not many options in the last part of the leg.

Wherever possible sail close to the rhumb line, bearing off in the puffs and heating up in the lulls.

REACHING SETUP – Reaching Trim and Strategy

Ease the jib and for best performance move the lead outboard and forward, keep the halyard firm to hold the draft forward and prevent the back of the sail from becoming too round.

If the lead is not moved as the sheet is eased, then the top of the sail will twist open. This spills power, and the bottom of the sail will hook in toward the boat, creating excess drag.

With the jib trimmed outboard, ease the main, keep the vang tight, and ease the mainsheet or lower the traveller. As the main goes out, heeling forces decrease, and the boat accelerates. As the boom goes out, the vang is critical to control the twist.

When overpowered on a reach, easing the vang will spill power, reduce heel, and balance the helm. Use the telltales to fine-tune trim, the leech telltales should be flowing. If the sail luffs, then trim in.

Your Helm Has The Answers

Brett Bowden
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Your Helm Has The Answers

If you are looking for speed, your helm has the answers.

The more you limit excessive helm or rudder drag, the faster you go and because of this, you need to evaluate what your helm is telling you.

If you have an excessive helm, the driver is working against the boat’s natural course. Each movement of the tiller is creating drag.

elm on different boats varies quite a bit but one thing is consistent across them all and that is excessive helm equals drag and drag is slow.

There are 3 factors that contribute to excessive helm and these are:

Sail Trim:

The jib pulls the bow down away from the wind and the mainsail, when trimmed in, pushes the bow up into the wind. Using this knowledge, you must set your boat up in balance to eliminate drag by getting each sail to work with the other.

Adjustment of each sail will affect the helm, trim the main in and helm will increase, ease it and the helm will decrease. Using this information, consider other powering up and powering down factors such as vang sheeting, outhaul adjustment and traveller movement up or down.

These too will affect the helm so when you or your crew make these adjustments communicate with reference to the effect the new trim has had on the helm and thus drag and make adjustments to renew balance.

Heel and Fore & Aft trim: 

Heel induces tug on the tiller and many boats load up quicker than others. Communication again is very important and you need to discuss the effect that sideways heel and fore and aft trim are having on the helm.

Generally the flatter a boat is the faster it will go but you need to establish the transition point between windward and leeward helm. That’s the sweet spot and where you should aim to be.

In light winds, you may need to establish a little windward helm to generate a little lift off the blades and this can be achieved by heeling slightly to leeward. As the breeze kicks, you will feel the helm load up so flatten the boat to reduce the rudder drag.

Centreboard Position: 

In classes or boats where you are able to adjust centreboard depth or rake, pay particular attention to the effect that board position has on the helm.

In boats where the board can be raised, by pulling the board up you move the centre of lateral resistance back which reduces helm and therefore drag.

As a guide, when sailing in waves, a little bit of board up will ease the helm and allow you to steer more effectively around waves.

You should always be thinking about the helm, by easing the mainsail, adjusting the centreboard or depowering you will be balancing the boat and achieving the best upwind performance

Roll Tacking – How and Why

Brett Bowden
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Roll Tacking – How and Why

Roll Tacking – How and Why

Tacking the boat is one of the first things that we learn when we start sailing. We also learn what head to the wind is and that most boats sail upwind at about 45 degrees to the wind. This is basic knowledge but is not something simply to be learned and never revisited.

Perfecting a roll tack is not easy, and has many parts to it. However, when perfected, your advantage over other boats is significant.

Differences between a Good and Great Roll Tack

One of the biggest differences between a good roll tack and a great roll tack is the timing of the roll. 

Unless it is very windy, rolling the second the jib backwinds is not ideal for effective tacks.  Many sailors get really excited, and roll before the boat is ready.  It’s natural to think that the faster you start your roll, the faster the tack is.

 By rolling too early, you will get less help from the sails to turn the boat. This will actually steer the boat down with your weight while turning up with the tiller.  

This creates a lot of friction between the rudder and the water. You will have to steer much more to turn through the wind, slowing your boat down.

Backwind the Jib 

Backwinding the jib helps the boat turn during a tack significantly, therefore, the longer you allow the jib to backwind, the less rudder you will have to use to steer through a tack.

As a general rule of thumb, you want to wait till the boat is at or just past head to wind before rolling the boat.  Waiting until this point will allow you to use less rudder, and will also allow you to use the wind to help roll over the boat.  

If you go earlier, you will roll the boat against the face of the wind, forcing you to use much more effort to roll the boat over.

There is no exact time to wait before rolling the boat over, and it will change depending on the wind.  For example, in light air, you want to wait a relatively long time before rolling over the boat, as it will take longer for the sails to help you steer through the wind.  

If it is really windy, you may want to cross sides quickly, as soon as the jib backwinds.  As soon as both sailors are hiking, you should not roll at all.  

Instead, you should still use the sails to keep power in the boat the entire time, and simply switch sides and start hiking, when the jib backwinds.

HOW TO ROLL TACK

  • To initiate a roll tack, heel the boat to leeward to initiate the turn into the wind.
  • Steer smoothly into the wind and squeeze in on the mainsheet.
  • Uncleat the jib and be ready to move. As the boat reaches head to wind, both crews stay on the windward side. 
  • The sails will depower – the jib will flap first – and the boat will roll on top of you.
  • Remain on the (old) windward side until the boat has turned through the wind. 
  • Back the jib until the boom comes over and ease the mainsheet a bit as you begin to move
  • Keeping the steering smooth, centralise the tiller as both helm and crew now move to the new windward side.
  • Time your movements to be at the same time with the helm and crew hitting the new windward side.
  • Bringing the boat flat helps you to bear away onto the new tack without needing to over-steer.
  • Sheet in on the mainsheet as you flatten the boat. This is where you feel the speed gain. Set the jib for a fast mode then squeeze on once you’re up to speed.

WHY ROLL TACKING IS IMPORTANT 

Being fast upwind is usually the key to winning and tacking well is an essential component of this upwind speed.

As is always the case with sailing, there is no limit to how often you can practise tacking and still improve.

Even at the highest level of our sport, this basic manoeuvre can be the difference between victory and defeat.

 

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