Starting

Consistency is the key to starting well and having a great regatta. This article is written by highly accomplished international sailing coach and good mate Adrian Finglas. Many regattas are won and lost in the final few seconds before a start. This is due to high risk moves, teams that are on edge and worried about others and not their team. FREE...

    Starting Strategy. I have copied below, excerpts from an interview with Mike Holt, multiple 505 world champion who is renowned for getting awesome starts and having an uncanny knack of digging himself out if things go wrong during or just after a start. Describe your overall start strategy For me, whether it is a line or gate start I am focused...

There are reasons why you should consider starting in the middle of the line. Starting towards the centre of the line offers more advantages than starting at the ends. This is so even if one end may seem to be favoured.  The first advantage is that it gets you away from the congestion at the favoured end thus lessening your chances...

  Why We Should Practice Our Starts - Former Olympic sprint champion Linford Christie used to say that winning the 100 Metres was all about starting on the B of BANG. In a 10-second running race, every millisecond counts. We can't claim that those last few milliseconds aren't quite so crucial in sailboat racing, but they're still mighty important. Get a Jump...

The Start. Starting is one of the most complex aspects of a boat race with many moving parts, sail trim, team communication, competitors' attack and defence moves and the overall strategic view. All aspects have to flow and come together all at the one time on the go Signal. Preparation Many teams spend huge hours working on perfecting crew work and...

If you find you have had or are about to have an ordinary start, there are multiple different ways to recover from a bad start. I have outlined a couple of my favourite ways to recover from a bad start below. Stay Where You Are And Foot Off - If you worked out that the left side of the course is...

TO WIN THE START, DON'T BE WHERE OTHERS ARE Most racers believe that they must always start at the favoured end but the favoured end is the crowded end and the crowded end is where most of the bad starts happen. Inshore races nearly always have oscillating winds shifting back and forth. If the starting line is set anywhere close to...

Top Tips For Starting Next Time You Race Holding Station on the line - Keep the boat flat to stop it from going sideways. If you end up head to wind, release the kicker/boom vang to help regain steerage.  If you wish to go sideways, lift the centreboard. If you want to go backwards, sit your weight forward to stop the transom from digging...

It's important to remember that a bad start is not the end of your day, patience and keeping a cool head will generally save you from a total disaster. You can recover from a bad start. Look for a clean exit If your start has gone wrong, don't panic and look for a clean exit sooner rather than later. Be patient though,...