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STARTING STRATEGIES: LOW RISK, HIGH REWARD

Tricks for a better race start.

The first two minutes of a race is arguably the most important. Those first two minutes will define where you start on the line, and how much space is around you to accelerate. This makes starting one of the hardest skills to master in sailboat racing. Good news is there are a few tricks that can make starting much easier. These tricks focus on executing a start that is low-risk and has a high-reward. A low-risk start isn’t going to mean that you are leading at every windward mark, but it will keep your options open on the first beat so you can go where you want without being forced which will give you a better chance of rounding the top mark in the front of the pack. Once you are in the front, it is easier to hang in there.

In the video below, our expert Mike Marshall talks us through a ten-boat start where one boat, in particular, had the opportunity to contain the fleet and have a low-risk start with just one small decision change. Instead, because they were too early, they had to sail down the line which then forced them into a high-risk starting situation that gave them no control of the race, or their competition.

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Dave Dellenbaugh Sailing

David Dellenbaugh is a champion helmsman, tactician, author, coach, rules expert and seminar leader who has spent his career helping sailors sail faster and smarter.Here are the learning resources that he has created to help you improve your racing skills.

• The SMART Course

Starting Strategy and Tactics

The start of a sailboat race is certainly an exciting, and critical, moment.  With the entire fleet forced to sail through a very small area, the potential for gain or loss is huge.  While you don't have to win the start to win the race, it certainly helps to be in the front row.  And doing this consistently requires a good deal of tactical skill, boathandling expertise, sense of timing and strategic planning.

How Strategy Affects Starting

The goal of starting is to put yourself in a position so you can implement your strategy and get to the windward mark as quickly as possible.  Getting a good start is not an end in itself.  It will do you no good to "win" the start if this means you have to sail toward the wrong side of the course.
      The "big" picture  In general, your position on the starting line should reflect where you want to go on the first beat.  If you want to play the left side, start near the pin end. If you want to go right, start at the committee boat.  If you want to go up the middle (or keep your options open), start in the middle of the line.
      When your strategic plan favors one side quite strongly, then this will be the overriding factor in your starting plan.  At the 1984 Olympics in Long Beach, for example, it was usually quite favored to go all the way to the right side of the course.  For this reason, the race committee favored the pin end of the line (if the line was even, everyone would start at the committee boat).  Even with the pin end favored, the best strategy was often starting at the right end and tacking immediately.
      The "small" picture  To implement your strategy, it's important not only where you start on the line, but where you start in relation to the boats around you.  Consider the situation where you are starting in an oscillating breeze.  Here your primary strategic consideration is to get in phase as soon as possible.
      If you are in a header when the gun goes off, you will want to tack as soon as possible.  This means you must be far enough ahead of the boats on your weather hip so you can cross them cleanly.  The worst thing would be starting in a position where you were pinned on starboard and had to sail through the header.
      If you are in a lift when the gun sounds, you will want to keep sailing on starboard.  This means you better have a nice hole to leeward so you won't get pinched off.  When you're on a lift, you want to avoid bad air, and you certainly don't want to tack.

Finding the "Favored" End

When we talk about the "favored" end of the starting line, we usually mean the end that is closer to the wind. In other words, it's the end that is on the most upwind ladder rung.  As we've just seen, the favored end is not always the best place to start. It is usually crowded, and it may not be close to the favored side of the windward leg. So you should rely primarily on your strategic plan to help determine your starting position.
      However, if  everything else is equal, the best place to start is near the end of the line that's more upwind (on the higher ladder rung).  Here are five ways to identify the favored end and by how much it is favored.

Method 1:  The most commonly used method is shooting head to wind in the middle of the line.  When your sails are luffing on centerline, the favored end is the one that's closer to the direction your bow is pointing.
     

The advantage of this technique is that it's quick and can be used to check the wind direction continually during the starting sequence.  The disadvantages are that it's not always too accurate, especially if a) the line is long; b) there are boats creating a lot of bad air; or c) you have a hard time judging perspective.

TIP:   To avoid fouling other boats, always go head to wind from starboard tack.  As long as you do not go past head to wind, you remain on starboard and keep the right of way.

Method 2:  The most accurate way to find the favored end is by using your compass.   Go head to wind and get a compass bearing.  Then go outside one end of the line (the pin end is usually better) and line up the two ends of the line.  With your bow pointing right down the line, read your compass. Now use simple geometry to figure out which end is favored and by how much.
     

For example, pretend that the wind direction is 125.  You find that the line bears 200 (or 020 if you are looking from the committee boat toward the pin).  For the line to be "square," the wind direction would have to be 110 (90 degrees to the line).  Since the wind is actually 125, this means the starboard end is favored by 15 degrees. To figure out what this means in terms of boatlengths, estimate the length of the line and use the windshift geometry discussed in the Basics chapter.

TIP:  If you have trouble getting an accurate wind reading by going head to wind, use the following to find the wind direction:  Sail closehauled on each tack and note your compass headings.  The wind will be half way between these numbers.

Method 3:  Some racing sailors prefer another simple technique.  Sail from the committee boat toward the pin, and trim your sails so they are right on the verge of luffing.  When you get to the pin, tack or jibe around it, keeping your sheets trimmed (cleated) exactly as before. 
      Now look at the front of your sails. If they are luffing, you know the wind is coming more from ahead, so the committee boat end is favored.  If you can ease your sheets further without the sails luffing, then the pin end is favored. (By the way, this method gives you a perfect chance to time the length of the line.)

Method 4:  Here is an accurate technique to use if you have a friend and a bit of time before the start.  Have one boat start on port tack at the leeward end while the other starts on starboard at the windward end.  Both sail fast upwind until they meet.  If the starboard tacker crosses ahead by two boatlengths, then the windward end is favored by two boatlengths.  This works especially well for long lines when neither end is obviously favored.  Beware, however, of windshifts between the time of your test and the start.

Method 5:  Another easy guide is to watch the boats that are sailing closehauled off the line (and the fleets that start ahead of you). The key here is their angle on each tack. Figure out which boats sail more perpendicular to the line, and start at the end that's to windward of them.
      Remember that a shifting wind will change the favored end of the line, so you must be careful of tests that are carried out too long before the start.  Here is where a little preparation can save the day.  If you have been monitoring the shifts, you will be able to compare your wind bearing at the time you determined the favored end to the wind direction just before the start.
      Pretend, for example, that you found the windward end to be 15 degrees favored when the wind direction was 125.  A minute before the start, you check the wind again and find that it has shifted left to 105.  Now the leeward end of thie line is actually favored by five degrees.  To improve accuracy on a shifty day, take many wind checks, and try to postpone your decision about the favored end until the last possible moment.
      When the wind is shifting persistently, it's important to plan your start so you can head immediately toward the favored side.  In an oscillating breeze, your position on the line is less critical.  You may actually want to start away from the upwind end so you will be closer to the next shift.

Three Places to Start 

Think of a line in terms of its thirds, not its ends.  When we talk about starting at  the windward end of the line, for example, we are usually considering the windward third of the line.  In most cases, you don't have to be right at the favored end in order to reap the advantages of starting there; starting down the line a little will lower your risks.

Windward end:  This end is also called the starboard end (and is usually the committee boat end too).  This is definitely the place to be when your strategy calls for going right.  There are several other reasons for starting here:

Advantages:
      1) It's easy to judge where the line is.

      2) If you have a bad start, it's easy to bail out and get clear air on the other tack.

      3) You'll have no problem seeing the signals and hearing the gun.  In fact, you can often hear the race committee's countdown.

      4) If you're over early, you can easily hear your recall number.  And if the one-minute rule is in effect, it's easy to round the committee boat.

Disadvantages:
      1) The boat end is usually crowded, ecen when it's not particularly favored.

      2) You risk the chance of being caught barging, especially if there is any current pushing you to windward.

It is usually difficult to get the start right at the committee boat.  Everyone fights for this, and your chances of pulling it off perfectly are slim.  That's why it is better to start down the line a little. 
      Begin your approach slightly to leeward of the layline to the windward end. You have to be on starboard tack relatively early, because port tack approachers often find an impenetrable traffic jam.  Try to luff in position and maintain a hole between you and the boat to leeward.  Then accelerate so you hit the line at the gun going full speed.

Late at the windward end:  If you really want to go right, the best approach may be a slightly delayed start at the committee boat.  To do this, hang out in a barging position and look for a hole at the stern of the boat.  You may have to start behind one or two boats, but at least you will have the chance to tack right away.

Middle of the line:  Starting in the middle often seems less glamorous than starting at either end, but this position offers a much better chance to get off the line fast and clean.

Advantages:

      1) This is usually the least crowded part of the line.

      2) It's the best place when the wind is oscillating or when you're not sure which side of the course is favored.

      3) You can take advantage of the mid-line sag.

Disadvantages:

      1) It's hard to judge where the line is.

      2) Since one of the ends is favored almost all the time, you will lose some distance to the boats at that end.

      3) In a big fleet, the wind may be lighter and the chop bigger in the middle.

      4) You're in deep trouble if you're over early when the one-minute rule is in effect.

When starting in the middle, you can often get a big jump on the boats around you.  If it looks like there will be a mid-line sag, hold back and luff with the others.  Then, when you have just enough time to make it to the line at the gun, trim in and go full speed ahead.  Of course, you want to be close to the boat on your windward side with a big hole to leeward.

The main disadvantage of starting in the middle is that it's hard to judge the line.  This increases the likelihood of a mid-line sag (where everyone is late) or a mid-line bulge (where many boats are caught over early).  If you choose this approach, it's critical to have a line "sight" or "range."  After the race committee sets the starting line, go outside the committee boat end and sight through the flag on the boat and the leeward end.  Your goal is to line these ends up with an object on shore.  Then, as you approach the line to start,  use this range to help position yourself right on the line. 

Leeward end:  This end is also called the "port" or "pin" end.  A start here can be difficult to pull off, but it offers big rewards when your strategy says go left.  You can either drive off to leeward and leave the fleet in the dust when you get the next shift, or you can pinch like crazy and start a chain reaction that stops everyone in their tracks. 

      1) It's easy to judge where the line is.

      2) If you're right at the pin, you won't have any boats to worry about on your lee bow.

      3) It's easy to round the leeward end if you are over early when the one-minute rule is in effect.

      1) This end is usually crowded, especially if it's favored.

      2) If you get a bad start, it will be very difficult to find clear air.

      3) You may get pinned on starboard for longer than you want

A port-tack approach is usually the only way to get a good leeward-end start, especially in a big fleet.  Try to be the last boat approaching the line on port, and tack on the lee bow of the first starboard tacker.  It's best if you tack close enough so the other boat cannot sail over or under you.  This way, if you are early, you can luff the other boat and hold him back until you accelerate to the pin end.

Don't forget the possibility of a port-tack start.  This won't work very often, but if the leeward end is favored by quite a bit (especially if the current is making it hard to cross the line), you may be able to cross the fleet on port.

Starting Tactics

Once you've devised a strategy for where you want to start, you have to use the tactics necessary to get you there at the gun.  Here are some tools you may want to use.

The Vanderbilt start:  This is a simple out-and-return pattern used primarily by larger displacement boats that take a long time to accelerate.  In recent years, the master of the Vanderbilt start has been Dennis Conner.  In both the 1983 and 1987 America's Cup series, Conner used his excellent sense of timing to negate the better maneuverability of his competition.  Here is how the Vanderbilt start works:

      1) Pick the place you want to start.

      2) When you are ready to make your final approach, go past this spot on a port tack beam reach.

      3) Note the time remaining until the start.        

      4) Divide this time in half and add an allowance for time to tack or jibe.

      5) Proceed on a broad beam reach until the designated time; then turn around and go for the start. (In small boats, the Vanderbilt principle can be helpful, though the routine will be less structured.)

Dip start:  This approach works well when the fleet is late for the start.  Hang out to windward of the starting line until you have less than a minute to go.  Then reach down (dip) below the line and head up to start.  You will have excellent speed and a minimal risk of being late.  Of course, this won't work well when the whole fleet is crowding up to the line.

Starting Ideas I

• Appoint someone on your boat as the "official" timekeeper and ask him or her to call the time loudly at regular intervals.  Set your time by the race committee's visual signals, not by sound signals.
• Your sailtrimmers should always trim the sails for full speed ahead, unless they hear "Luff sails" from the skipper or tactician.
• If your boat is big enough to have a tactician and a helmsperson, let the helmsperson make moment-to-moment decisions while the tactician concentrates on the big picture.
• Remember that the racing rules go into effect at the five-minute preparatory signal (unless otherwise stated in the sailing instructions).  Make sure all members of your crew keep a lookout for other boats.
• Always stay close to the starting line (never more than half the line's length away), especially in light air.

Starting Ideas II

• When changing tacks to turn back to the line for your approach, remember that a tack takes longer, but a jibe will move you to leeward and is risky in heavy air.
• Unless you have a very good reason, always cross the line on starboard tack.
• On bigger boats, it may help to send a crewmember to the bow as you approach the start.  It will be easier to estimate distance to the line from there.
• For practice, pretend that the five-minute gun is your start. Go through your whole approach to work on timing, crew communication, etc.
• If possible, go on a close reach for a few seconds before the start, then luff up to closehauled as the gun goes off.  This will let you cross the line faster than closehauled speed.

Luffing in place:  One of the most valuable skills for starting is the ability to luff in place and keep control of your boat.  This helps in almost every start, especially on a crowded line or when you are early.  To luff in place, the key is maintaining a slight angle to the wind.  Do not go head to wind; this is the quickest way to lose steerage. 
      Once your boat is stopped, use your sails to maneuver.  To open a hole to leeward and squeeze up to a boat on your windward side, trim your main only.  To accelerate at the start, trim the jib first to pull the bow off toward a closehauled course.  Then trim your main.

The port-tack approach:  The port-tack approach has become quite popular during recent years.  The main advantage of this technique is the ability to pick and choose your place on the line, as well as your position relative to nearby boats.  It's also the best way to start on someone's lee bow, which is important when you are at the leeward end.
      The main disadvantage of the port-tack approach is that you can get "locked out."  This is likely to happen in bigger fleets, or when the windward end is favored.  In these situations, it's better to set up on starboard early to reserve a spot in the front row.
      When approaching on port tack, your object is to set up on the windward side of a hole between two boats.  To do this, make your tack onto starboard so you end up right underneath the boat on the windward side of the hole you've chosen.  You want to have your bow just slightly ahead of the windward boat.  This allows you to luff this boat and hold him in place; it also prevents him from bearing off behind your stern into your hole.

TIP:   When you're on port looking for a place to tack, pick a spot that is just to windward of a relatively slow boat.  You certainly don't want to start with the fleet champion on your lee bow.

Defending against a port tacker:  OK, you've carved out a nice hole to leeward and now you're luffing on the line with only a few seconds before the gun sounds.  You're getting psyched for a great start when, all of a sudden, a boat approaches on port, tacks into your hole, stuffs you and leaves you in the dust.  Your worst nightmare just happened.
      Creating a hole to leeward is only half the battle.  Protecting it from the vultures is the other half.  You must always keep a lookout to leeward for port tackers approaching your hole.  If they look seriously interested, bear off and aim right at them.  This forces them either to tack early or bear off below you. As soon as they commit to one of these options, head back up into the wind so you don't sail down into your hole any more than you have to.    

TIP:   In a competitive fleet, don't try to horde too much space.  Make a hole to leeward that's big enough to give you room to accelerate, but small enough so you don't tempt another boat to go in there.

Defending against a starboard tacker:  Sometimes, when you're luffing on starboard tack with a nice hole to leeward, the biggest threat is a boat that comes reaching in from behind.  The defense against these boats is usually tougher than against port tackers, mainly because they're coming from behind and are often obscured by other boats.
      Obviously, your first priority is to keep a lookout behind.  When you see a vulture approaching, quickly turn your boat and head off in front of the other boat before he becomes overlapped to leeward.  Your object is to get him to head up on your windward side; as soon as he does this, luff up hard so you save your hole to leeward.

TIP:   Position your boat so that when the mainsail is luffing, the boom sticks out as far as possible to leeward.  This is a great way to fill up some of your leeward hole and discourage another boat from trying to squeeze in there.

After the Gun

The first few minutes after the starting gun are perhaps the most critical moments of any race.  This is the time when everyone fights for clear air and tries to implement their strategic plan.  It's important to go flat out during this time. For example, straight-leg hike as hard as you can on a one-design.  Every foot gained off the line will help immensely in the long run.

Watermelon seed:  After several minutes, a few boats will squeeze ahead of the pack like watermelon seeds.  Your object is to be one of those boats.  Shift your sail trim into point mode for two reasons: 1) To make sure you do not fall into the bad air of the boat to leeward; and 2) To squeeze up in front of the boats to windward, which is important if you want to tack.

Bail out:  If you aren't lucky enough to be a watermelon seed, you will sooner or later end up in bad air.  Unless your strategy says you have to go left, tack away immediately and duck as many sterns as needed to get clear air.  Cut your losses by getting into clear air before the "seeds" have developed an untouchable lead. 

Downwind Starts   
The general principles of starting downwind are a lot like starting upwind, except  you have the added intrigue of spinnakers, and it's a lot harder to luff on the line.  This type of start is usually used for handicap racing with fixed marks.
     

Finding the favored end is not too hard.  Simply follow the same steps you used for upwind starts, except you want to identify the end that is most downwind, or on the lower ladder rung.  This is the "favored" end.
     

Like upwind, the approach to a downwind start should almost always be made on starboard tack.  A reaching approach along the line has three advantages.  First, you will be leeward boat and will have right of way over all others.  Second, you will be closer to the line, so it will be easier to judge how long it will take you to get there.  And third, you will have full reaching speed as you bear off at the gun.

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Race countdown: How to time the starting sequence perfectly

• September 23, 2019

Crossing the start line at the right time and maximum speed can be the key to winning a race. Mike Broughton explains how it’s done

Yachts approach the start line of the 2017 Fastnet Race. Photo: Carlo Borlenghi / Rolex

Starting a yacht at the right end of the line at target speed is very much a team game. On boats longer than 40ft, vital input comes from the bow person, trimmers, helmsman, tactician and navigator.

The role of the navigator has evolved in recent years to assist the tactician and helmsman by utilising navigation software to help the timed run into the start. Before the start of any competitive race fleet we now see over 90% of the fleet ‘pinging the ends’ of the line – GPS positioning helps us work out where the start line is and how far away we are at any moment.

We can now do the same with a modern sports watch with a GPS interface. However, to start a boat like a TP52 , there is a little more to it than just GPS positioning then using course and speed over the ground; but even this information can be very useful – particularly with long start lines.

I’ve been using software to help start races since I first discovered Deckman in 1989. It was developed to aid America’s Cup starting, but in those days many crew were pretty sceptical about its merits.

To work out our sailing time to the start line, the software needs to know our boat’s polars (how fast we will sail compared to true wind speed and true wind angle). One factor we need to refine is that normally we are not able to sail at 100% polar speed in the run into the start line as we have other yachts in close proximity and more ‘dirty air’ to deal with.

Simplified version of the B&G data for the two minutes pre-start on Y3K , showing time, distance to the line and boat speed as a percentage of polars

The solution is to use separate start polars and here I tend to reduce the normal optimum upwind boat speed target by about 12-15%. I also reduce the downwind polar speeds as we don’t usually have a spinnaker when downwind sailing pre-start.

For working out our time to the line, we also need to know the tidal stream or current. Some software will try to factor it in for you, but with a lot of manoeuvring it can easily give erroneous readings and it can be best to dial it into the software manually just for the start. A good habit is always to check the current on the start boat and pin end as you ‘ping’ their positions.

If the calibration of our sailing instruments is awry it can generate big errors in the software predicted ‘time to the line’, which is exacerbated if you need to tack or gybe prior to your final run-in. Instruments often take up to 45 seconds to settle down after a manoeuvre.

Quicker systems with high-speed GPS all help, but most software has a ‘t’ feature that allows the navigator to ‘hold’ or freeze the wind while turning. A useful tip here can be to just call boat lengths to the line while turning.

For good reasons, we sometimes slow the yacht down, then ‘pull the trigger’ or increase speed in the approach. Few racing software packages can handle yacht acceleration, and the afterguard need to be aware of that.

Once we have pinged both ends of the start line, we can instantly see the line bias, but that is only true for that moment. My tip here is to give the ‘square line’ bearing and compare that with the mean true wind direction over the last five minutes. It is always worth double-checking the line bearing with a hand-bearing compass as you get the line transits (a shoreline object that you can line up with the pin or buoy end).

Helping to work out where the layline to each end of the line is a useful feature of starting software. With a couple of practices you can often then identify another transit to help you quickly find that layline in the heat of the battle.

Using a countdown in boat lengths to the layline helps the tactician a great deal, particularly in placing your yacht relative to another already approaching the start line. When sailing in current you preferably need to know the ‘tidally adjusted layline’ transit.

Article continues below…

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It is usually a matter of the tactician’s preference whether to call ‘sailing time to the line’ or ‘time to burn’ and whether you are factoring in the time for a tack or gybe if required. My view is to switch to ‘time to burn’ from 2 minutes 30 seconds to go, though you need to specify ‘time to burn’ to the start line and your preferred start end.

Larger and heavier yachts really don’t want to be manoeuvring in the last 45 seconds prior to the start. So helping find the correct turn in is vital. One of the best yachts at starting I have raced on is the J Class yacht Velsheda , which weighs in at 143 tonnes.

The team never likes to have to alter course in the last minute as they start building speed. On a 140ft boat they use headsets for communication and the bowman has a key input in the last 30 seconds when it comes to calling the time to burn.

With practice, the crew can learn to have good confidence in the navigator’s calls using software, but it’s vital also to cross-check those calls with reality. This is particularly important in light and shifty conditions. Here you have to remember the software can’t see that shift that is 50m away from the boat. In light winds it is a useful to focus more on boat lengths to the start line (also when in the middle of a tack).

About the expert

Mike Broughton is a pro race navigator who has won many titles including World and European championships. He is a qualified MCA Master to captain superyachts and previously had a successful career in the Fleet Air Arm flying Sea King and Lynx helicopters.

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Sailboat Racing Tips: Rules at the Start

• By MIke Ingham
• March 7, 2022

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STARTING 2.0: ADVANCED SAILING START STRATEGIES

In a previous blog post, The Secrets of a great   Sailing Start , we looked at the fundamentals of getting a good start and why it’s important to your overall success on the course.

We identified five elements that go into executing a good   sailing   start: – Be as close to the line as possible – Be sailing as fast as possible as the start gun fires – Be as close to the favoured end of the line as possible – Have good space either side of you, especially to leeward – Make sure your start fits with your bigger course strategy.

If you need to remind yourself of the fundamentals of good starting, go back through that blog post first.

ADVANCED STARTING STRATEGIES FOR SAILING

Now we’ll dig into some more advanced starting strategies. One of the most critical is building a Pre-Start Routine. Why? Because the build-up to the start and the start itself can be hectic, and it can be overwhelming. Over time, if you build up a Pre-Start Routine, it will help you cope with all the different things to think about. A bit like an airline pilot running pre-flight checks before take-off.

PRE-START ROUTINE

Before you launch, run down your checklist and make sure you’ve remembered everything that needs to be done before going afloat.

BEFORE YOU GO AFLOAT

Have you registered that you’re going racing? Eg. is there a tally system or a sign-out system?

Got your watch, buoyancy aid, gloves, drinking water etc? If you don’t have a checklist, make one!

AS YOU SAIL OUT TO THE START

Make sure you’ve given yourself plenty of time before the start sequence gets underway. Check how the boat feels upwind and downwind. Is the rig set up right for the wind and wave conditions? Has the spinnaker been rigged without any twists etc? What compass readings are you getting on port and starboard tack? Make a note of them.

USING THE SAILING START SEQUENCE TO SET YOUR ROUTINE

10 minutes before the start.

Make sure you get back to the Starting Area in good time. Are there transits you’ll be able to take from one or both ends of the start line? Sit next to a mark or an anchored boat and watch for any current or tidal effects. If there is current, will it be pushing you over or back from the start line?

5 MINUTES BEFORE THE START, WARNING SIGNAL

Make sure your watch is running the real time accurately. A lot of race officers run their start time to the actual time, in which case you’ll have a very good idea of when the 5 minute gun is about to sound. Watch for the flag going up on the boat, and start your countdown as the flag is hoisted. This is more accurate than listening for the sound of the gun or the hooter, as sound takes longer than light to reach you.

Double-check your transits because once the start sequence is in play, the race committee is not allowed to change the start line. Do some timed runs towards the start line to gauge how long it will take to move forwards.

4 MINUTES BEFORE THE START, PREPARATORY SIGNAL

Watch out for which flag is being used ‘P, I, U, Z or Black’. Check your Racing Rules as to which ones to watch out for. With a P flag, the Blue Peter, you can afford to push the limits of the start line a bit more, knowing that if you start too soon you can still turn back to restart the race. It’s still an expensive mistake, but at least you won’t be disqualified. An ‘I’ flag means you have to sail round one end of the start line to restart before you can make your way up the course. This flag isn’t used much these days, however. The same with the ‘Z’ flag, where you’re able to finish the race even if you start too early, but will have 20% added to your finishing position. Pretty unlikely you’ll see the Z used much in your sailing career. The ‘U’ and the Black flag, however, are much more common, especially in high-level regattas like National and World Championships. If you’re over the line in the final minute before start time, you’re disqualified from the race. It’s a harsh penalty, but it helps the race committee get starts away for really competitive fleets where everyone is pushing for the best start possible.

In the minutes from 4 to 1 before the start, continue to check the bias of the line. Is the wind shifting? Where is most of the fleet stacking up? Continue to keep your options open, particularly on a day when the wind is flicking from side to side, or when clouds are appearing on one side of the course or the other.

1 MINUTE BEFORE THE START, PREPARATORY FLAG DOWN

Depending on the flag being used, at this stage in the start you need to be in your desired starting position and lined up with enough room to accelerate on to the line. Always keep communication about Time and Distance going. If you’re starting under a U or a Black Flag, remember you can’t afford to risk instant disqualification for crossing the line too soon. But this very fact means a lot of the fleet might be being too ‘line shy’. If you are confident of your transits, use them! Move forwards even if you think the rest of the fleet around you is going to be late. But if you think others are ‘pulling the trigger’ too soon. Don’t go with them unless you believe you can’t be spotted by the line spotters. Better to be late than disqualified.

THE START! CLASS FLAG DOWN

As the start gun fires, you should have already been accelerating in the previous 2 to 15 seconds, depending on how long it takes to get your boat up to speed and the strength of the wind. This is where your acceleration drills will really help you out as you aim to go from a standing stop up to full speed as quickly as possible.

WHAT’S YOUR PLAN B?

Even the best laid plans can go wrong, especially when it comes to starting on a busy start line in a big fleet. So what’s your escape plan? If you’re a singlehanded sailor, your own tactician, have a clear plan in your mind about what your ‘bail-out’ option is if Plan A goes wrong. If you’re sailing in a team of two or more, make sure everyone is clear about the Plan B so that there is no time wasted discussing alternative options.

EXAMPLE: LEFT-HAND FAVOURED COURSE AND PIN-END BIASED START LINE

Let’s pick one of the hardest options for a Plan B. Most of the fleet has identified that the race course favours going to the left-hand side because there’s more wind there. It’s also a pin-end biased start line. So the ideal place to start is to win the pin and have clear air out to the left. You go for it, but so do a lot of other boats. You fall out of your clear-air space in the front row with 20 seconds to go. Now is the time to accelerate to leeward of the fleet on starboard tack, gybe around, and duck the boats that are starting on starboard. Keep on ducking until you see a gap between two starboard tackers. Go for the gap and then keep on ducking and weaving through the gaps until you break out into clear air on port tack. Once you’ve got a clear lane back to the favoured left-hand side of the course, tack on to starboard. You might have given up ground to the best starters, but you’re now in clear air, sailing in the right direction. You’re still in the race!

PORT TACK STARTING

We just talked about a Plan B option where you bail out on to port tack as the least worst option. Sometimes starting on port tack can be your Plan A option. This applies mostly to faster boats capable of planing or foiling upwind. Nearly all catamarans, skiffs and foiling boats can benefit from starting on port tack because by the time any starboard tacker tried to tack on your wind, you’d be through the lee and out the other side of them.

If the right-hand side of the course looks favoured, the port tack start, behind all the starboard tackers, can be a really powerful move. Even on an even race course, starting on port can still work nicely because it gives you a much higher chance of getting into a clear lane quickly where you can sail the boat freely without other boats stuffing you up or taking your wind.

Look out for a lot more ‘go faster’ content coming your way from Sailmon. We’re keen to share more content on various topics that all add up to helping you sail better. Follow us on Facebook , Instagram or subscribe to our newsletter . Whatever you do, don’t miss out on this valuable content! We’re here to make you even better than you are today! ---- Check out this webinar! When the clock slowly runs down to zero and the last starting signal is near. You try to claim that ideal starting position in a race, but that doesn't always work out the way you planned. Sounds familiar? To avoid that situation in the future we invite the World Championship Medallist Hannah Diamond for our third webinar in the Sail Better series. Hannah will share all her knowledge on how to improve your start tactics in sailing races. Of course, she is once again joined by our hosts Kalle Coster and Andy Rice for an educational one-hour session. Check out the preview below or subscribe  here for the full recordings

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How to Graduate from Cruiser to Racer — Steps to Start Racing Sailboats 🔉

By: Zeke Quezada, ASA Learn To Sail , North U

So often in the sailing world, we’re presented with a question that takes binary form — “are you a cruiser or a racer?” Sure, people tend to have their preferences, but I’d like to propose one can embrace both dimensions of sailing in the same way one can appreciate both fine art and Formula 1.

I have two boys who sail. One kid has a nice cheeseboard and understands the art of sailing, eating, and drinking on the ocean. His crew is consistently composed of competent sailors that want to relax and enjoy the ocean environment. 

The second son wants to go fast. If he is not going fast, he would instead take a nap  — the non-racing aspects of sailing aren’t interesting to him. His crew is a group of competitive sailors who love to win. They work well together as a team and can be found trying to go fast on a leisurely Saturday afternoon sail.

So many times I have wanted for both sons to experience the strengths of the other son out on the water — to become complete sailors, fully appreciative of the entire sailing experience, and also fully capable of maximizing speed and performance all in one optimized, well-rounded package.

In fact, this is not only my wish, but at American Sailing, it is our goal for every sailor out there to fall in love with both aspects of sailing. If you are already a seasoned cruiser, or just getting started sailing, here are a few steps on how to graduate to full-blown racer while still sharpening your general sailing skills.

What Are the Prerequisites to Sailboat Racing?

Learning to race sailboats involves a combination of theoretical knowledge and practical experience. First, you do need to have a grasp of the fundamentals of sailing. ASA 101 certification can get you in the front door of the racing environment. In addition, you should have knowledge and experience on how to maneuver the boat, trim the sails, and use the wind to your advantage.

With the Sailing Basics Behind Me, What’s Next?

Once you have gained knowledge beyond the simple skills you learned in ASA 101, these are a few ways to get started with sailboat racing.

Join a sail club or yacht club that offers and organizes local races. Being part of the sailing community will allow you to meet others interested in the sport. While the super serious racers might not invite you on their race boat, you can find a few skippers looking for crew. Wednesday night racing is a fun way to learn about sailboat racing and an excellent way to make new sailing friends.

Attend a clinic. North U is a new part of the American Sailing curriculum, and they specialize in helping sailors become more efficient out on the water. In the simplest terms, they teach you how to go faster, and this is accomplished through lessons on . seamanship, technique, skills, and even your ability to work as a team. This curriculum can be accessed through online courses, webinars, workbooks and best of all, the North U clinics that get you racing.

These clinics are a great way to familiarize yourself with racing and racing technique. You’ll learn about strategy, tactics, and rules. Take a look at some of the racing clinics that North U offers at NorthU.com

Learn the lingo of sailboat racing. While some of the common sailing terms are included, sailboat racing also has quite a few terms that you should be familiar with:

Here are some common sailing racing terms:

• Beat – sailing upwind towards the windward mark
• Reach – sailing perpendicular to the wind, at an angle between a beat and a run
• Run – sailing downwind away from the windward mark
• Tack – turning the bow of the boat through the wind in order to change direction
• Jibe – turning the stern of the boat through the wind in order to change direction
• Windward – the side of the boat closest to the wind
• Leeward – the side of the boat farthest from the wind
• Start line – the line across which boats start a race
• Starting gun – the signal that starts the race
• OCS – “on course side,” meaning a boat crossed the start line too early and must restart
• Layline – the imaginary line that a boat must sail to in order to round a mark without tacking or jibing
• Mark – An object the sailing instructions require a boat to leave on a specified side, and a race committee vessel surrounded by navigable water from which the starting or finishing line extends. An anchor line or an object attached accidentally to a mark is not part of it.
• Mark rounding – sailing around a buoy or other fixed object on the course
• Finish line – the line across which boats finish the race
• Protest – An allegation made under rule 61.2 by a boat, a race committee, a technical committee or a protest committee that a boat has broken a rule.
• Penalty – a penalty imposed on a boat for breaking a racing rule, typically a time penalty or a penalty turn.
• Zone – The area around a mark within a distance of three hull lengths of the boat nearer to it. A boat is in the zone when any part of her hull is in the zone.

Familiarize yourself with the rules of sailboat racing. It takes time to fully learn the racing rules of sailing ; they are complex and very detailed. Having a cursory glance at the basic concepts of the rules can increase your enjoyment, and whet your appetite to enjoy the more strategic side of sailing. That said, you don’t have to master all the rules to get out there and join a crew in a race to start enjoying the racing side of the sport. Many clubs have friendly competitions and entry level races to help you learn the art of racing.

Here are some of the most common or interesting racing rules:

• Start: Boats must stay behind the start line until the starting signal is given. Crossing the line early can result in a penalty.
• Right of way: When two boats are approaching each other, the boat on the starboard tack has the right of way and should be given room to pass. When boats are on opposite tacks, a port-tack boat shall keep clear of a starboard-tack boat.
• Helping Those in Danger: A boat or competitor shall give all possible help to any person or vessel in danger.
• Penalty: A boat that breaks a rule may be penalized by doing a 360-degree turn or retiring from the race.
• Protest: If a boat believes that another boat has broken a rule, it can protest by flying a protest flag and informing the other boat at the first reasonable opportunity. The race committee will then investigate the protest and make a ruling.

Here are some resources to help you get started

• Online Class: Sail Theory & Upwind Trim This online course provides a fundamental understanding of the forces behind upwind sailing as well plus advanced techniques that balance the angle of attack, sail depth, and the twist of your main and jib in order to optimize speed and pointing in all conditions.
• Seminar: Racing Tactics This in-person seminar will teach the strategy and tactics you need to turn your speed into a podium finish. Starts, upwind, downwind, mark rounding: With top instructors and refined curriculum you’ll learn techniques to improve your game all the way around the course.
• On The Water Clinic: Regatta Experience These events combine training and racing with coaching every step of the way. The clinics cover every facet of regatta success: Strategic planning, tactical positioning, starting, boat speed, trim, helming, boat handling – everything!

So, how do I bring my entire family up to speed so that we are winning Wednesday night races in our marina? Lately, we have been racing any other boat that is out on the water. Sure, those other boats have no clue that we are racing. However, when the three of us are sailing together, we are slowly attempting to go faster. This is a foreign concept to a couple of us as we don’t usually focus on trimming the sails but we have found the ride becoming smoother, and we are covering a lot more distance on our day sails.

The best advice I have been given about starting to learn how to race on a sailboat is quite simple. Practice. Practice makes a big difference. As of late, I am adjusting the outhaul, I am checking the boom vang, and I am keeping an eye on the traveler.  While my day sails have become busier, I am starting to see the value in wanting to occasionally be a racer.

Son 1, the kid with great taste in food. Well, he still watches in disbelief as he spreads his camembert on his crackers, but son two is now getting faster.

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Sailing the Race Course – Starting for Beginners

In this series of articles, we will introduce the key concepts of sailing a race from preparation to the starting sequence, buoy roundings and finishing. The target audience for this information is sailors that may have never competed in a formal race environment or want to better understand what is going on during a race. The target could also include someone who spectates and wants to better comprehend what is happening. Throughout, we will link to more advanced information, but the body of the article will be the basics. We will not go into rules details, but will mention rule areas that pertain to various situations, for further study. If we missed a basic concept, feel free to comment below. There will be links to lots of articles at the end.

We’ll begin with Pre-race Preparation to Starting .

Weather Forecast and Current Conditions

• Wind shifting through the racing period? Persistent (shifting one direction further and further) or Oscillating shifts (shifts back and forth, but generally around the same average direction). For example, if there is a Persistent Shift moving clockwise , the starboard tacks will get increasingly favored, assuming that the marks are not moved.
• Will the wind speed be increasing? If so, you may need to adjust your boat and sail controls for the changing conditions.
• Storms – Is there a storm system moving through that might bring changes to the winds?

Preparation Checklist – Equipment

We suggest a checklist to remind you of things to look over and things to ensure that you have for the race. These might include the following:

• Fittings – Are they secure and all present? Do you have spares?
• Control Lines & Blocks – Are your lines (ropes) all in good shape, untangled and running through the blocks (pulleys) in the correct directions for any ratcheting?
• Spars – Are your lines clear of your shrouds (sidestays) for when you hoist your sail(s)? Have you adjusted your mast “rake” (tilt)? Does your boat require setting “rig tension”? Are your shroud fittings connected securely? Are your shrouds / stays in good condition without any broken strands / wires?
• Blades – Centerboard / Daggerboard, Rudder: Are these clean and moving smoothly? Do you have the safety line attached to the daggerboard, if appropriate.
• Sails – Are your sails all on board and connected properly? Make sure that nothing gets in the way of hoisting them and battens are all in place and secure. If you have sail ties, are they properly tied and knots tight? Are the “Outhaul” and “Cunningham (Downhaul)” attached?
• Personal Flotation Device (PFD) Safety Gear – Do you have approved PFDs for all crew?
• Racing Timer – Do you have your timer and is it set to the proper timing sequence? Usually 5 or 6 minutes, but will vary somewhat.
• Water – Do you have water to stay hydrated?
• Suntan lotion & Sunglasses – Is your skin protected? The water reflects the sun and can make burning more likely. Same issue with sunglasses. I prefer polarized lenses to reduce the glare off the water and the boat surfaces.
• Hat – While protecting your head, a hat can also reduce distracting sun glare when trying to see the water.
• Sailing Gloves – Purpose-built sailing gloves (properly-fitted) or gardening gloves can really protect your hands from abrasion and helps to hang on to the sheet lines.
• Launching – Are your bailers up? If launching with a trailer, is the lighting harness disconnected from the towing vehicle to prevent electrical shorts? Do you know where you will put the boat to finish assembling it while allowing others to launch?
• Current – Is there water flow / current that may impact your sailing? Which way is it moving and how fast? A tip is to look at any fixed buoys and see how the water is moving around them.
• Shoals / Weeds – Do you know where shallow areas and weedy areas are?
• Wind Obstacles – Look for hills, trees, peninsulas, tall buildings, etc that may reduce or bend the wind direction and think about how that will impact your sailing.
• Local Insights – Have you checked with local sailors for any insights they may have about the venue?

On the Water

Before the sequence.

Be Early – Try to get to the racing area no less than 30 minutes ahead of time so that you can get familiar with what is going on and form a “strategy” for how you want to sail the course.

A Strategy is the path you would sail with no other boats on the race course. Tactics are what you do when you encounter other boats to get back on your strategy. – Dave Dellenbaugh

Survey the Course – Sail both sides of the course and the top mark rounding and the starting line area to learn about the tacking angles and wind pressure (force) across the course. Take note of where the wind seems to originate, if there is any current and are the shifts happening the way that you predicted from the forecast.

Learn From Others – Watch how the other competitors are sailing, who is lifted (sailing straighter to the marks) and who is knocked and who has better wind pressure, where.

Benchmark Against Others – Try to get somewhat near another competitor and see how well your boat is performing versus the other boat. Are you pointing higher or lower while watching your sail telltales to make sure that your sail and point (how close to the wind direction you aim) is correct? Can you match or exceed their speed in similar breeze? Try adjusting controls if you need to to test things out.

Check-In – Check-in with the Race Committee to let them know that you’re sailing, if necessary. Home port fleet races may not require this.

Ready To Start

Anatomy of The Line

Typically, the starting line is between an anchored Race Committee boat with an orange flag on the starboard end and a mark (buoy) on the port end. The line is usually roughly perpendicular to the windward marks.

Getting Ready

So you’ve sailed around the race area and have a preliminary strategy. What should you be thinking about now?

• Wind angle has shifted right of center (looking up the race course).
• Wind is centered, but the breeze is stronger on the RC Boat end.
• Wind angle has shifted left of center.
• Wind is centered, but the breeze is stronger on the Pin end.
• The Mob: If a lot of boats want your spot, then it might be best to stay beside the pack, but on the starting line , and not stuck inside pack. You want clear air and ability to accelerate off the line.
• Line Length – A rule of thumb is that the line length should be 1.5 boat lengths X # of boats competing. If it’s less than that, be ready for it to be a tight start.
• Wind Angle Change? Watch competitors who are still sailing upwind and down to see what their angles are.
• Wind Pressure obviously better on one part of the leg? Again, watch competitors to see who is in the breeze.
• Wind Shifts – Are the shifts Persistent (more and more in one direction) or Oscillating (back and forth, but generally on either side of a similar direction)?
• Equipment and Crew Ready for action – Is everything untangled and gear is on correctly so that there is no last minute problem?

In The Sequence

This graphic show the timing sequence and flag signals and what they mean. The Preparatory Signal flag(s) are important because they tell you what is permitted during this start and what the penalties will be. Some penalties can be remedied and some disallow you to sail in the race.

Note the Racing Triangle diagram. The Racing Triangle is the area between each end of the line and the windward mark.

Ready, Set, Go!

• Timing to Get Your Spot – Know where you want to start on the line and position yourself to be there ahead of time, at least with enough time to hit the line at full speed at the gun.
• Make and Defend a “Hole” – For best results, you want space to leeward of your boat on the line so that you can bear off (point down) to accelerate before crossing the line. This is usually hard against good sailors and takes practice.
• What’s Your 0-60? – Know how long it takes for your boat to accelerate from a stop in different breezes. This will help you to know when to “pull the trigger” on accelerating during the countdown sequence. Drill: Stop next to a buoy (not during a race) and see how long it takes to get to full speed and review your distance from the buoy location.
• Prepare to be fast and smooth – lines clear, controls set, ready to hike, know who is around you and what they’re doing.
• Wind Shifts While Starting – See this article .
• Note the penalties for being over the line early and avoid them or know what your rights are if you mess up.
• Fouling Someone – Be ready to figure out how to save yourself if you have to take a penalty turn.
• Bail Out – If you get jammed in a spot, know whether the best option is to just stay in the bad spot or if tacking off will improve your situation. Many times tacking off will result in ducking boat after boat or being forced back, so assess the options quickly.

Further Learning: Starting well takes practice and has a lot of aspects. There are a number of links below that can help you to dig deeper into this topic.

Related Content

SailZing Category: Starting Strategy and Tactics Category

Individual articles:

Starting Strategy and Tactics for Youth: ILYA Seminar

Starting  Strategy and Tactics: Where to Start – SailZing

Starting  Mentality: Learn to Be Aggressive – SailZing

Starting  Line Approach: What Kind of Creature Should You Be …

Wind Shifts While  Starting : Impacts and Tips – SailZing

Starting  Tactics Quiz: Boat Thoughts at 30 Seconds – SailZing

Bad Start? Four Recovery Options

Line Sag: Illusions and Opportunities

Wind Shifts While Starting: Impacts and Tips

Execute the Start with Four Key Skills – SailZing

Related Posts

Pre-Start Routine – SailZing Aha! Insights

Starting Tactics: Six Tactical IQ Scenarios

Starting Performance Observations: Race Course Notes

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5 - Starting Strategies Episode Three - The Dinghy Start

Welcome to “Race to Win”, a sailing podcast brought to you by raceQs.com where we analyze raceQs’ 3d Regatta replays and review racing tactics, rules, and winning strategies.

Today’s podcast is the third one in a five part series about sailboat race starting strategies. Today we’re going to over the “dinghy start”, a classic small boat starting strategy that works well for almost any boat with quick acceleration.

You basically find your spot on the line and defend if without really moving around too much, and then bring your sails in and accelerate quickly to squirt over the line when the gun goes off.

This is an easy start to execute, buts its also pretty easy to screw up. If you sheet in too early, you’ll be over early. And if you sheet in too late, you’ll be late to the start.

The thing is, in these dinghy starts, everyone is often doing pretty much the same thing, so you’re going to get a big line of people all lined up on the starting line. This can actually be helpful if you are a beginner, because you can just look at the guy next to you- and when he sheets in, you sheet in. Off ya go.

Let’s get into the details. Just like before I am using this replay of the 2013 Melges world championships. In case you missed the earlier explanations, this green line is the pacer line, giving me my proper pace to approach the starting line on time. If your boat is moving along, right on the pacer line, you’re going to have an on time start. It you’re in front of it you’re early, and if you are behind it, you are late. We also have the fleet rankings and time to start here on the right hand side.

Something we haven’t talked about yet, so I will mention it briefly, is finding the favored end of the line. I like to think of the favored end as the part of the line that is “closest”, or furthest upwind to the windward mark. If you aren’t’ sure which end is favored, it’s really easy. Just sail up to the line and turn dead into the wind so that your sails are luffing right down the middle of the boat. When you are head to wind, whichever end of the line your bow is pointed closer too, is the favored end. Easy, right?

So most of the time you would think, it would be better to start at the favored end of the line. Once you figure that out, the big question is, is it worth it to try and start at the favored end? Do you really want to be battling it out for position, right in the middle of the pack? Or, is it better to start on the other side, where no body is around? Maybe you don’t have as good of position, but you can get clear air and get away from everyone battling it out.

Once you decide where on the line you want to start, you need a strategy to approach the line.

Just find your hole on the line, and sit there. When the guy next you pulls his sails in, you pull your sails, and off you go. In a crowded fleet, there is a problem with running out of room. If you don’t secure your position early enough, you are going ot end up in the second row. And once you are behind in these competitive one design fleets, it can be very difficult to get ahead.

Most of the time, in these dingy fleets. Where you start ,is where you finish. So if you start last you are probably going to be finishing pretty close to the end. Let’s watch an example of a Melges 24 executing kind of a modified version of the dingy start.

So keep an eye on boat 37, you can see from that colored line which is speed coded GPS track, he’s kind of been hanging out in this area. Now he’s stopped, he knows where he wants to go. Did you see that little acceleration there? He was not going to let that boat get his spot. And now, he’s early, he’s too early to the start so he’s going to come right up to the edge of the starting line, stop, lay in wait for this boat behind him, and just when he thinks he might sneak by, he accelerates up to the full speed, starts just right on time. So that is a good example of a dinghy start, but it happened pretty fast so let’s take a look at it again.

This time we are going to watch it from head on. The boats are actually sailing away from us right now. They are playing around in the starting area, trying to pick out his hole. Remember, the place on the line where he’s going to start. SO now, we are one minute from the start and her he his, stopped, just completely stopped. So WOOSH there’s that little spurt of sped again. That was a little to fast, he’s a little to early so hes gonna slow down and let the sails out a bit, and now here again, he’s going to come a to a total dead stop. The classic dinghy start. Here s comes that guy up behind him again, he’s not going to get in front of him though! Hes got his timing down, accelerates hard, whoosh, right over the line. Looks like he was late by six seconds. That’s pretty good, considering that amount of boats there are in this fleet.

You can see with the fleet rankings on the righ its really interesting to see who used wihich methods and how their start was. That’s all I have for you today. I hope that watching this series is helping you get down the basics of your starting techniques, or brush up if its been awhile. We look forward to talking about more advanced topics soon!

If you enjoyed this podcast, you can find more on our website. Www.raceqs.com/podcast. Or, search or raceqs.com on iTunes and click subscribe. We would love to hear from you so please give us a review on iTunes.

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The Tactic of Sailboat Racing

• Introduction
• Track optimization
• Long distance
• Miscellaneous

In a hurry? You're an amateur sailor?

Then visit our Tactics Lite page

You know the rules of the game?

Nevertheless it might be useful to have a closer look at our page Rules Crashcourse

We all know that the start is the most deciding factor for the final result of a race.  With a bad start and post-start phase, the race is over. 

With good speed and tactics you might still overtake several boats, but you won't see the leaders until they come back on the downwind leg.  Because the start is so important, we are going to look at all aspects of it in detail.

The individual phases of a start form the headings of this page

• Preparation for the start
• Pre-start phase
• Post-start phase

Preparation for the Start

This phase begins with arrival at the race location about 10 minutes before the Start. The importance of this phase is under-estimated by many regatta sailors; they often arrive at the Start zone very late, especially when there is stronger wind. The reasons for this are often 'I don't want to wear myself out too soon', or 'Why should I ruin/damage my sails?

Young sailors in particular think its cool to be still standing on theshore, when everyone else is sailing to the Start zone. Watch your role models, the ones who always win races. It can be that even they arrive late at the course, but possibly only because they arent taking the race completely seriously and know that they can beat you anyway. At races where they are not superior and are sailing against others with equal potential, the will be among the first into the water.  This is because there are a lot of things that need to be done, time is short anyway, and unnecessary stress is the last thing you need at a start;  adrenalin levels are high enough there anyway.

So – when should be be in the Start zone? 30 minutes before, 60 minutes before? That's not so easy to answer. As always, it depends. How long before the Start the race organiser normally lays his course, what the starting order is how difficult the area is, whether currents can be expected, whether we have a helper on the water who will collect information and support us, or whether we are relying on ourself alone.

All these factors are important for judging the right moment to run out to the Start.   There's no sense in waiting around in the cold out there if it hasnt yet been decided exactly when you are going to sail.

So when should we be in the Start zone?  The only correct answer is – in time.  In time to be able to collect all necessary information and to formulate a plan for the Start.  We shouldnt forget, we are talking here about tactics.  In the preparation time for the Start we must also adapt our boat to the prevailing conditions and, depending on the boat class we are sailing in, choose the correct sail for them.  That too takes time.

So the first job in this phase is

Collect information

In most cases the marks won't be laid out when we arrive on the regatta course, so we have a little time to occupy ourselves with the weather conditions.

If wind strength and direction agree with the weather forecast generally, what do the clouds look like?  If our observations agree with the weather forecast overall, we can assume with some certainty that the other information we have taken from the forecast will be correct.

For our plan we need further information though:  is the wind oscillating around a constant direction or is it blowing steadily in one direction. Possibly the wind is blowing in one direction, but this constant flow will be overlapped by other deviations. On which side of the course is there most wind?  Are there land influences -  for example covered areas and obstacles caused by the shore formation? How do we get all this information?  Since we seldom have coaches with us on the water, who provide this information, we are obliged to get it ourselves. But even if a coach were to do everything for us, we shouldn't blindly depend on the data provided, but make our own observations and records and compare this in the pre-Start discussion.  The practice of recording the wind direction every 5 minutes has proved itself.  If our instruments are sufficiently well calibrated we can depend on the True Wind Direction they indicate. In most cases it will be most accurate if you position the boat against the wind and work with the compass. If we know the turning angle of our boat in the prevailing conditions, its not necessary to turn the boat against the wind, we simply need to note the course on which we are sailing.

We can test the supposed turning angle if, immediately after noting the course, we make a turn and note the new course afterwards. But be careful; first of all the boat must have reached its target speed for the prevailing conditions. 

If we have collected this data for some time, all that remains is to turn this data into information. From a simple graphic which one can easily produce, some information can already be gained. For example: main wind direction 20 degrees, oscilating 10 degrees around the main wind direction.  Amplitude circa 4 minutes, strength constant circa 12 knots.

In any case we should now know (or at least believe we know) what we need to do.

With regard to the wind direction:

• Winddirection turns constantly to the right
• Winddirection turns constantly to the left
• Wind varies circa x deg around the main wind direction
• There is no recognisable wind pattern

With regard to the wind strength:

• Wind is increasing
• Wind is decreasing
• Wind is evenly between x and y knots
• On the right of the course the wind appears to be weaker
• Because the course is far away from the shore, no land influences are expected

With regard to the current:

• The measurements and observations have given no indication for current

That is already quite a lot of information that we have in advance of our competitors, who are just arriving in the regatta area.  Isn't that a great feeling, always to be a step ahead of competitors?

Even if the course is settled, many more challenges await us. How far from land does the course lie? Will we have to reckon with land influences? Can we see all the marks?   If we are unsure about anything, we can ask one of the regatta organisers or another competitor who we are friendly with.

Towards the end of the pre-start phase, we should focus intensively on the situation at the start line.

Determine the favored side of the start line

Now is the time to determine how the line lies relative to the central wind direction. You should know, thanks to your preparation for the start, how the wind is going to develop and the preferable side of the start line depends on that.

As long as the windward mark cannot be reached without tack it doesn't matter whether a direct line from the starting vessel or from the Pin End is shortest.  The deciding factor is how the start line lies in relation to the wind.  If the wind is coming from the left of the start line, the Pin End is preferable.  If it is coming from the right, the starboard side is preferable.

The following diagram shows that the boat starting at the Pin End has an advantage over the one which started by the Start boat.  Just after the start the green boat gains the advantage by a tack and the following turn to the right.  As mentioned before, the position of the windward mark is irrelevant.

But what is the situation really? 

The wind varies by 20 degrees left or right.  The mean wind direction is 10 degrees to the right of the starting line. Just before the start the wind moves to the left.  Everyone tries to reach the Pin End of the line quickly to benefit from the supposed advantage.  Directly as the starting gun is fired, the wind changes to the mean wind direction. Finally, red will benefit from starting on the right hand side of the starting line and will reach the windward mark before green.

Take bearings to land objects

Because its very difficult to work out, from the middle of the starting line, how far away you are from the line, it makes sense to take bearings to land objects. With a land bearing it is significantly easier to estimate how far away from the line you are. But land bearings are not available at all times. Apart from this land bearings are often concealed by other boats at the critical moment.

Pin End bearing

Especially when the Pin End side of the line is favored, it is often sensible to take additional land bearings to enable us to realise whether we are to the right or left of the layline to the Pin End Mark. Normally a battle will develop before the start for the leeward position of the boats which want to start at the Pin End because only one boat can win the optimal starting place.

The following animation shows the typical approach of the boats at the Pin End mark. the port bias is about 10 degrees.

The red boat didnt break off the fight for the optimal position in time and has landed in the so-called death zone, from which there is no possibility to escape.  The green boat took a bearing of the maximum high course to the Pin End starting mark during the preparation for the start.  (Bearing between the anchored dinghy and the pin end mark).  Because green recognised that to defend the last attack by red would result in both boats being under the Layline, green decides not to defend the last attack by red so it can head for the Pin end and cross the starting line from the left with free wind and full speed.  On the other hand, this bearing can also help to recognise that one more attack can be made to reach the optimal position, which without the sounding you wouldn't have dared to do for fear of landing in the dead zone.

Electronic aids

Pre-start phase.

This phase begins about 10 minutes before the start and lasts up until about 1 minute before. It is important in this phase not to be too far away from the starting line.

Controlling the starting line

Are our conclusions which we made about the starting line in the pre start phase still correct?  Would/will the starting line change?  Competition organisers like to change the starting line by extending or shortening the anchor chain.  This can be done very discreetly by remote control of the windlass.  So it is necessary to watch the starting boat and the Pin End very carefully in this phase.  We know that the starting line can be altered up to the time of the preparatory signal, and good competition organisers will use this opportunity.  For larger boats with many crew members it can be a sensible to task one of them with watching to see if the starting line will be changed.

If your plan passes this check, or if it needs modifying due to new information, you should now know on which side of the starting line you want to sail.  Is your plan to sail more to the left or the right of the course, or rather to go to the windward mark in the centre of the course.

Where are my opponents?

Usually this question is less important at the beginning of a race., than towards the end, where you     don't have to sail against everyone any more, but only against certain boats.  There will be a special chapter on this on the 'Miscellaneous' page.

Positioning at the starting line

About 3 minutes before the start, you should have a plan for how to approach the starting line. If the wind is heading roughly straight towards the line, you should on no account think of port tack start.  Because you have decided that you will start on starboard tack, the next thing to decide is how to approach the starting line. There are two variations here, which both have their advantages and disadvantages.  The conventional beginning of an approach to the start position from the right has the disadvantage that you have to decide very early on from which position to move to the starting line.

The approach from the left offers many advantage, especially if you intend to start from the right hand side of the starting line, which doesn't necessarily have to be directly next to the starting vessel..

The following diagram shows a typical distribution of boats at the starting line.  We're now going to analyse the starting position of each boat.

Situation:   Boat 1 approaches the Pin End with the wind coming from the left.  Because the starting line lies neutral to the wind, this boat has no chance of passing the starting line. Boat 1 has to keep clear from boats 2 and 3.

Options: Boat 1 cannot pass behind boat 2 without hindering boat 3. The only option for boat 1 is a quick tack and then to pass the pin end mark on the wrong side. Immediately bear down and gybe to restart behind boat 2 and three. However, in this case Boat 1 must keep clear from any latecomers sailing on starboard.

What do we learn from this?   This, or a similar position, must absolutely be avoided. This boat, thanks to a bad approach, has already given up any chance of a good start, way before the starting signal.

Situation: Boat 2 finds itself in the leeward of Boat 6, but below the layline.  Possibly it went a bit too far in the duel with 6 during the approach to the Pin End. Directly to windward, below the layline, boat 6 is right behind boat 7.

Options:   Maybe there is a possibility, to luv in the wind to pass the line on the correct side. However, even if the momentum is enough to cross the starting line, there are two problems. If it is not possible to keep away from the mark and Boat 2 touches it, it is doubtful whether in this case there is a possibility to take a penalty under Rule 44.1a., because Rule 44.1b states that if a boat despite taking a penalty, gaines a significant advantage in the race she has to retire.

The second problem is boat 6, direct to windward.  According to Rule 11, boat 6 is the windward boat and has to keep clear. However, under Rule 16.1, boat 2 is restricted in its freedom to move and shall not make an abrupt change of course, which would be necessary to keep away from the mark. Accordingly, the only option for boat 2 is to break off the start, to pass by ileeward of the pin end mark, to gybe at the first opportunity, make use of the first gap in the starbors starterst, and to sail over the starting line on port tack.

What can we learn from this?   Avoid sailing below the layline to the Pin End at all costs; often you are so focused on the battle for the optimal Pin End start, that you make one more attack or defence to win the Pin End and then you find yourself below the Pin end layine. It is helpful in such cases, to have a Pin End layline bearing to a land object or anchored ship or something other not moving object. Have a look on chapter " Pin End Bearing ".

Situation: Boat 3 is a so-called late starter. At the starting signal he is a good two boat lengths behind the line and apart from that is sailing on starboard tack, below the left layline. There is non boat immediately to windward of him..

Options: Boat 3 can tack to approach the line on port tack. If boat 3 has to keep clear of other boats approaching the line on starboard tack. with right of way boat 3 can try a leeward tack and arrive at the left side of the course with relatively clean air. Another possibility would be to dive in behind the boats with right of way to look for the way to the starboard side of the course. But I think that if boat 3 had wanted to get on the starboard course side, it would have chosen a starting position near the starting boat.  Also the loss of distance caused by frequent dipping in behind is so great that it would make it impossible to stay in touch to the leading boats.

What can we learn from this?    Definitely avoid sailing beneath the Layline at the Pin End. Nevertheless the options in this case are much better than those of boat 1 and boat 2.  Because  he is two boat lengths too late, more possibilities open up for him than for boats 1 and 2. This doesnt  mean, however, that it's generally better not to be up on the line.

Situation: Boat 4 sails 4 boat lengths behind the starting boat on port tack. Options:   The only option for boat 4 is to sail behind the field. The skipper of boat 4 is either not knowedgeable about the rules and because of that is trying to avoid all conflict, or he hasn't been involved very long in regatta sailing.

What can we learn from this? Before it gets to a regatta you should get to grips with the matter and practice the approach to the starting line in training competitions. Taking part in regattas with the lack of this knowledge is a waste of time and money.

Situation: Boat 5 has gone too far to windward.  His course on the wind leads direct into the stern of the starting vessel. It is known that on the starting marks normally Part C (At Marks and Obstruction) of the Racing Rules of Sailing does not apply. Therefor boat 15 is the right of way boat under Rule 11. 

Options:   Boat 5 has the possibility of quickly luffing and pass the starting vessel on the wrong side, then a tack and a gybe and a new start.  How far will the good starters then be?  If it is a small and light boat, there's a possibility for it to stop completely and wait until boat 15 has passed and then start. Then you would come away with a black eye.  

What can we learn from this? The start in the optimal place can quickly become a nightmare. Nowhere is it more important to weigh up risks than at the start. Especially with a neutrally laid starting line like this one, it is seldom sensible to want to be the first boat leeward of the starting vessel..

Situation: Optimal timing in pre-start phase enabled this boat to have the perfect Pin End Start. The boat has clean air and the freedom to tack.

Options: Boat 6 can now set its perfect plan in motion, without being hindered in its execution by another boat.

What can we learn from this?   With a perfect start we are halfway there. Things couldn't go better. Even a port wind shift would have been a problem for boat 6 thanks to its freedom to tack.

Situation: Boat 7 starts at the Pin End, but lies immediately behind boat 6.  Boat 7 hat freedom to tack.  Boat 7 abstained from the last duel with boat 6 in order not to end up below the Layline.

Options: Boat 7 has to tack immediately after the start in order to escape from the bad air of boat 6. With an perfect tack lee of boat 9, boat 7 could reach clean air again and get to the left side of the course that he probably prefers.

What can we learn from this?   Because boat 7 broke off from the struggle with boat 6 for the Pin End in good time, he is able to save his start and finally, although not the first boat, reach the side he prefers and can sail in clear after a few seconds after the starting gun.

Situation: Sails on port tack, relatively unbothered but almost two boat lengths behind the line at the end of the left hand third of the starting line.

Options:   Although boat 8 completely slept through the start, a quick tack offers him the possibility of beginning the upwind leg with reasonably free wind and that is more than could have been expected with that starting position. Boat 7 won't bother him for long after his tack. Because boat 6 will tack to avoid the dirty air of boat 6.

What can we learn from this? The important things is to predict the situation and the behaviour at the start and to deal with it quickly and proactively. If boat 8 does not realise that boat 7 will tack immediately to escape the bad air from boat 6, boat 8 would wait with his tack and then for long time will be dealing with bad air from the crowd on the starboard side of the line.

Boat 9 Situation:   Boat 9 starts from about the middle of the starting line, about half a boat's length behind the line. His competitors are neither direct to windward, nor direct to leeward. Options:    Because boat 9 isn't involved in any kind of duels, it has the opportunity to fully concentrate on the VMG to the windward mark.  No other boats can hinder the execution of his tactical plan. What can we learn from this?    If the starting line lies neutrally, starting from the middle of it is a good choice. The likelihood of being able to go across the line unmolested and with maximum speed is significantly greater from here than at either end of the line. The gap of half a boat's length arises because its not so easy to judge the distance from the starting line in the middle as it is at the sides.  Diagram 107 shows the typical sagging of a starting line in the middle.  In this case, the yellow boat has split up the slack and has moved far forward.   This encourages the boats in his vicinity also to move further forward. Die Abbildung 107 zeigt einen typischen Durchhang einer Startlinie in der Mitte. In diesem Fall hat das gelbe Boot den Durchhang geteilt. das gelbe Boot ist weit vorgefahren, Dadurch ermuntert es die Boote in seiner Umgebung ebenfalls etwas weiter vorzufahren.             Boat 10

Situation:   This boat is the one lying furthest to leeward of the group starting on the starboard side of the line. At the start, it lies almost half a boat length behind the line, but has free wind.

Options: Boat 10 can concentrate on his optimal speed.  An attempt to guarantee a windward position of Boat 11 by sailing higher could end with a collision with Boat 11.  A possible attack by by Boat 11 trying  to sail deeper and faster to get Boat 10 into his downwash can easily be countered by bearing away or, equally, acceleration.   Although Boat 10 started leeward of the first third of the starting line, it has no possibility in the immediate future to sail on the right hand side of the course.

What can we learn from this? With a well-designed / laid out line, it is a good idea to start leeward of the windward throng /group,  but, however, only if you want to be on the left of the course, or if you want to cross to the middle and catch the wind currents/gusts.  Due to the fact that you won't know the exact bearings of the boats at the starting line, you won't be so close to the line as the boats starting at the ends.   For this reason, it is not usually possible to sail to the right for some time from this position without having to pass behind several other boats, losing many meters' distance.

Apart from the situation of the starting line, the starting place directly next to the starting vessel is the most popular. Most boats try to start on the atarbord end of the starting line. On the one hand this is because its easiest when next to the starting boat to judge the distance from the starting line. On the other hand, its because after a start near the starting vessel, you can more speedily achieve the freedom to tack. This is a great advantage especially if your plan is to sail on the right hand side of the course to the windward mark. 

Its extremely difficult to give tips about starting near the starting vessel, because the most important skill for an optimal windward start is experience, and cannot simply be learned. One has to look ahead and judge how the situation will develop in the next seconds and minutes. However, it can be that competitors do something unpredictable, or even break the rules. Stay cool, don't let yourself be distracted from analysing the situation in a few seconds and coming to the right decision. Experienced sailors already know, minutes before the start, that their position at the approach is not optimal and can still react accordingly, while less experienced sailors fall into the trap and end up in the second row at the start, crowded by boats to leeward and windward. 

The most important thing is timing. Nothing is worse than arriving too soon at the starting line. You often see sailors who approach the starting line from good positions, but simply too early, and are only concerned to decrease their boatspeed in the last seconds before the start , instead of being able to concentrate on accelerating and crossing the line at full speed.

But enough now of mistakes and problems at the start on the starboard side of the line. What can we do to speed up the learning process and to belong to the good starters on the right side sooner? Timing can be practised; you don't even need a partner for that. You don't need anything more than a buoy and a stopwatch to practice it. You set two minutes on the watch and try to get as close as possible to the buoy, and to reach it within those two minutes.  At the end of the two minutes, depending on the size and weight of the boat, you should be 2-20 metres away from the buoy (2 metres for a small boat like a Laser, 20 metres for a heavy yacht). 

In the following animation you can see how important the positioning in the pre-start phase is:

Green positions itself relatively high behind the starting boat and realises too late the threat of danger of red and brown. Because Rule 18 of the RRS does not apply on the starting line, red and brown do not have to give way and can force green to break off his start, to pass the starting boat on the windward side, and to start again, with an additional tack and gybe, behind most of the other boats. It would have been better for green to reduce speed, to cross behind brown and red and to try  to establish an overlap leeward of these boats. Even if red and brown had averted this attack, and green had to abandon it, all three boats would have been further leeward after this manoeuvre, and green would no longer have been positioned above the starboard lay line. Nothing could then prevent a good start for green.

Red finds itself a little above the lay line too, but realises the danger from brown in time. He slows down his boat speed and crosses the stern of brown. He realises that brown has already got to reduce his speed, in order not to cross the line too early. This, together with the additional boost through bearing away helps red to establish a leeward overlap to brown. Unfortunately, with this manoeuvre, red gets to close to yellow. After the start it had to fight against the durty air from yellow. Luckily for red, yellow decides to sail a bit fuller to bring the turquoise boat under his control.

Brown has chosen an almost perfect starting point for the approach to the starting line. Not too high, but high enough to reach the starboard end of the starting line well. No boat to leeward. Already at position 1, one can see that Brown will have a good, if not the best, start. Brown reacts correctly to the attack by red and tries by luffing to win some space from him. Brown doesn't give in to the temptation to give up his optimum position, to prevent being overtaken by red.

Yellow Yellow forgoes from the outset the optimum position as first boat leeward of the starting boat, and positions itself below the lay line. Not very aggressive, but relatively safe.  In this position there is more room to manoeuvre and the opportunity to react to unexpected things is greater here than directly next to the starting boat.  Yellow can also cross the line at full speed, relatively unbothered, at the starting signal.  In fear of coming in a cover from red, yellow bears away a bit, accelerates and stays in clean air. The disadvantage of yellow's position is that it doesn't have any freedom to tack.  Yellow's plan before crossing the start was to sail more on the right hand side of the course. Yellow sticks to his plan and doesn't want to wait until red falls back sufficiently in dirty air before he can make a tack to the right.  Because of this, yellow bears away immediately after the start to gain enough space behind red to cross to the preferred side of the course.

The fight for the Pin End

The main problem with a Pin End start is that only one boat out of the whole field can have an optimum start. The following animation shows a typical battle for the best position at the Pin End. Each of the boats tries to reach the leeward position of the other which results in a typical snake-like course. At red's last attempt to position himself leeward of green, red lands below the port lay line of the starting line.

Green, due to his heading to the anchored dinghy, has recognised in time that another defence of his position no longer makes sense, because he would end up below the lay line at the Pin End.

Starting on port tack

This is really only an option in exceptional situations, and then only if you have good insurance.  One can attempt it in exceptional cases, if the starting line lies extremely badly.

A further criteria for a successful port tack start, as well as the situation of the line, is the width of the boat. With very wide boats, for example catamarans, it is simpler to perform a port tack start from the left at the Pin end, simply because the space from boats approaching the Pin End on starport needs to be significantly larger, in order to keep clear from the pin end mark of the starting line.

The start phase begins about one minute before the start and lasts until the starting signal.  Our aim in this phase is to cross the line in the planned position with maximum speed.

The most important thing at the beginning of the start phase is to defend our position. It is important to retain the ability of our boat to manoeuvre at all times. Only then can we defend our boat from attacks by the boats around us. Nothing is more frustrating than to have to give up our fought for place to a boat overtaking leeward from behind, just because we couldn't close the gap in time. In this phase, we must also not get too close to the starting line because that means we would have to reduce speed, lose our manoeuvrability, and with it our readiness to defend. We also need space up to the line to be able to accelerate to our target speed. Naturally, all that depends on the boat on which you are sitting; with a Laser you can sail closer to the line than you would with an 8 ton cruiser racer. The more weight our boat has, the further away we have to stay from the line to allow room for the acceleration phase.  The angle to the wind is also dependent on the size of the boat. With a small, light dinghy you can almost place yourself against the wind and still maintain  manoeuvrability, because with a short, abrupt rudder movement the angle of attack of the boat can be changed within seconds. With a heavy yacht without motion, there's no quick opportunity to change the boat's angle of attack to the wind.

Accelerating

According to the weight of the boat, you have to fully accelerate some time before the starting signal. This acceleration phase and the timing at the start can be well practised; all you need for this is a small anchored buoy. You approach this buoy from behind on a fictional lay line.The aim of the training is to get to the buoy with maximum speed within a pre-determined time. You should practice this with every wind strength until the timing becomes instinctive. With a different type of boat, conditions naturally change and you need to train again.

Post-Start Phase

The post-start phase begins immediately after the start and lasts until one is sailing in clear air to the windward mark. How we behave in the post-start phase depends on how our start went. Let's begin with the worst case; there's an individual recall...and we have a bad conscience. . 

We are on the course side

Now we have a case which though it isn't very comfortable, but is part of regatta sailing. It would be bad to start to think only now whether the race official showed the P or I flag at the prepatory signal. In the start phase we should already consider an escape strategy for the event of an early start. If we start to consider, after the start, how we can get back to the start side the quickest, without hindering the others we are losing further valuable seconds.  Sometimes if an early start appears unavoidable, it is also sensible to break off a start and purposely to sail over the line and so get back to the start side of the race course faster.

Sailing is a gentleman's sport. Often, fair treatment of a competitor pays, because perhaps you may be dependent on their goodwill in a situation later on.  But this doesn't apply for the immediate post-start phase. Her the principle 'eat or be eaten' applies.  If you have the opportunity to cut off a competitor sailing above you, then do it.  If you don't you will regret it in the next squall, if your opponent can accelerate a little earlier and then comes down on you to kill you with his cover. You must do the same if you have an opponent close to leeward.  If there's a chance to fall down on him and to give him dirty air, then do it.  That way a lead of a few centimetres at the start can quickly become a lead of several boat lengths, because your opponent will normally need two additional tacks to escape your cover.

In the following animation, Blue and Yellow are equal at the start.  Yellow makes use of a small speed advantage in the post-start phase (it can be enough there that blue has briefly hit a wave) to fall onto Blue. Blue finds himself in dirty air and can only tack away behind Yellow. If Yellow hadn't immediately used this situation to his advantage, he would then have landed in the dirty air of Blue.  Now that Blue no longer poses any danger, Yellow can fully concentrate on sailing at maximum VMG to the windward mark..

Here, all three boats are all on a par with one another. Green recognises in time the danger which Yellow threatens and uses every opportunity to get nearer to Yellow.  Finally he succeeds in reaching the safe leeward position near Yellow.  Yellow finds himself in dirty air and only has the option to tack and to try his luck on the right hand side of the course. 

Gain advantages

If you started on the good side, you must try to use this track advantage to the utmost. A quick tack brings you in between the main field and followers.  He who waits too long and waits until the wind comes back again has lost his advantage.

Everyone, even a World Champion, can mess up a start. But stay active , try to take action and adapt your plan to the situation. Try to reach free wind as quickly as possible. If your self confidence is right; with some good moves in the post-start phase, you will catch up with the field.

In the following animation Yellow lost the start and finds himself in the dirty air of Green after the start.  With two tacks, Yellow frees himself from this situation and a few minutes after the start finds free wind again.

Stick to your plan

In the pre-start phase you carefully considered how to sail to the windward mark. Your plan is good, so don't abandon it just because your start didnt allow you to put it into action straight away. Usually there's a good opportunity to stick with it without much loss.

I can show you that with the two following animations:

The Violet boat actually has the plan to cover the starboard side of the race course. Because Green started immediately to the right of him, Violet has no opportunity to tack.  If Violet were to stay passive  it would have to sail on with Green on the left hand side of the course, and wait until Green tacks.  Instead of this, Violet actively follows his plan, bears away a little and slows his boat down until the gap between him and Green is big enough to make a tack and bear away behind Green. The loss of not even one boat length is measured against the fact that Violet can now carry on with his plan and, if the plan was justified, could potentially arrive at the windward mark several boat lengths ahead of Green.

But – be careful: its best not to bear away to early. in order to take away the possibility of Green tacking windward and in front of Violet.

In the following case, Violet wants to begin his upwind leg on the left side, but is prevented from carrying out his plan by Green, who had a perfect Pin End start, because the loss of distance and time caused by Green's dirty air would simply be too great. Instead of tacking and giving up his plan, Violet decides to be offensive, bears away behind Green until there is free wind and this way can continue to follow his plan on the left hand side of the course.

Webdesign by Peter Czajka

Introduction to Sailboat Racing [Rules and Classes Explained]

True, when you first witness a sailboat race, you might believe it’s too confusing and chaotic (it can be both). But, like with anything new, you may ease into it gradually. This is intended to allow you to take several actions at once.

Racing a sailboat is a lot of fun. It blends the excitement of sailing your own boat with the raw rivalry of trying to beat another boat of comparable size. Racing also teaches you boat handling and sail trim in a manner that cruising cannot: by comparing your speed and handling to those of other boats.

Let us jump into the article to learn more about sailboat racing.

Basic Insights Into Sailboat Racing

Sailboat racing may be separated into three parts: start , headwind , and tailwind . During a sailboat race, it is important to ensure that the beginning of the race must be strong. The start determines the overall outcome of the race and thus is considered very crucial for the race. It brings great advantage to the competitor and this is often very underrated.

As soon as the countdown is complete, it is necessary to make sure that the competitor has crossed the starting line effectively. Generally, warnings are given at 5mins and subsequently at 4mins and 1min .

Another very important aspect to consider is the path . The competitor must be able to determine a clear path to sail through and the direction of the race course must also be perceived correctly to ensure a favorable outcome. Free lanes enable the competitor with ideal angles to the wind with which they can easily navigate without having to go against disturbed wind or wind shadows from rival boats.

The Starting Line

Oftentimes, the first leg of the race will be upwind, after the starting line is crossed. At this point again, it is important to note that starting strong is crucial for an upwind race as more free lanes are accessible the further ahead the competitor is in the convoy.

The necessary determinants to be noted and kept in consideration throughout the race for effective upwind sailing strategies are the following factors: wind direction, wind speed, and rivals. But the last aspect can be tricky as everyone’s goal is ultimately to win.

Competitors need to base their choices for sailing downwind on the same findings, but with a few minor variations. Being at the forefront and tagged by rivals can be seen as a mode of suffering when the competitor must keep sailing in the wind shadows of all the boats behind. Here, there’s an advantage to be thought of if the competitor can position themselves at the rear. Any lane can be chosen at proper intervals to make up for the lost ground.

However, usually, down winds result in shorter wins and losses than up winds . This is because there is less transverse separation during down winds when compared to up winds.

Different Types of Sail Racing Classes

Sailboat racing can be done in different ways. Each race lasts for about 45min to 1hr and is conducted on a course marked by buoys mounted by the racing committee. One can also take part in “ distance races “. In this case, the “ natural ” surroundings will typically provide the race course.

‍The points of sail during the race depend on the predominant wind direction factors on the day of the race, which is the other major variation besides the length. While racing on the course, the race committee places the buoys in such a manner that the race course is adapted to the wind , this mostly enables the competitors to accurately identify which sail has to be deployed for the upcoming leg .

At the race course and during the distance races, the sailboats that participate are usually of various types and are commonly very diverse. As a result, the organizing committee frequently employs intricate “ handicap ” mechanisms to even out variations across boat types . The system is often country-based and it has been developed based on the most common types of boats in a country. The RC , ORC , and IRC systems are the most widely used on an international scale .

These systems compute a factor that should be multiplied by the exact time required to sail one nautical mile using complex formulas . They are based on the dimensions of the boat’s length, weight, sail size, types, and design of the boat along with the materials used .

To find the adjusted race time that can be used to compare with other competitors, this f actor is multiplied by the amount of time it took you to complete the race and the distance of the race .

It is very necessary to remember that these systems are not entirely accurate and they cannot be completely relied on. They can only be used to a certain extent for performance comparison . Hence it is advised that one must compete in races where the competing boats are similar to accurately assess the racing skills of the competitor.

Main Rules in Sailboat Racing

These races are administered and authorized by the International Racing Rules of Sailing . It lays down rules and safety measures to sail safely across the race course along with the entire fleet, whose goal is to sail successfully during the race as well.

A rulebook is laid down with fundamental rules providing explanations and specimens about ensuring how to maintain and regulate according to the laws during a variety of circumstances that can arise between competing sailboats during the course of the race.

The most fundamental rule is that vessels with their starboard side windward must give way to vessels with their port side windward . This implies that the port-tack boat must either tack or bear away to pass behind the stern of the starboard-tack boat when two boats on opposite tacks come together . The leeward boat always has the right of way over the windward boat when there are two boats on the same tack.

Although this is the case, it is essential to note that the boat with the right of way must always ensure to leave other sailboats adequate space and time to avoid collision and accidents . While trying to maintain contact with other competitors, one must be very safe and secure as a significant level of rule interpretation can be enforced.

Violation of any rule can cause you to self-forfeit from the race . Hence it is advised to make amends and surrender upon having committed a conscious foul. Most admitted fouls are looked over following a penalty turn of 360 degrees or 720 degrees . Sailing instructions can be seen as a guide in all circumstances to find more detailed information about the same. A few rules can also be helpful when it comes to knowing what to be worn during the race apart from obvious determinants like the weather and climate conditions.

Main Equipment Used In Sailboat Racing

The sport of sailing is generally very physically taxing and hence requires e xtraordinary energy throughout the course of the race especially while rounding marks and sailing downwind.

When the atmospheric temperature falls due to wind-chill effects , it makes much colder winds frequently. In such circumstances, making use of a windproof outer layer will guard against the wind chill and this material is also breathable . Such measures must be ensured to avoid being cold and clammy. Wearing boots can also ensure to keep yourself warm and comfortable.

Looking into the technical aspects , sailboats need to ensure they are fully equipped with communication and navigation devices such as VHF, GPS, Sat Phones , and so on.

Different Types Of Sailboat Races

Sailboat racing is a diverse and dynamic sport that encompasses a wide range of different race types , each with its own unique rules, tactics, and strategies . Understanding the different types of sailboat races is crucial for sailors looking to compete at a high level and succeed in this exciting sport.

One of the most common types of sailboat racing is fleet racing, which involves a large number of sailboats competing in a single race. In fleet racing, the sailboats start together and sail a predetermined course, with the first boat to cross the finish line being declared the winner. Fleet racing often requires a high degree of tactical maneuvering, as sailors must navigate around other boats and adjust their tactics to account for wind shifts and other factors.

Another popular type of sailboat racing is match racing, which involves two sailboats competing head-to-head in a series of races. In match racing, the emphasis is on tactical maneuvering and outsmarting your opponent, rather than simply being the fastest boat on the course. Match racing typically involves a complex set of rules and regulations governing how boats can interact with each other on the course, and sailors must be highly skilled at reading wind shifts, controlling their boats, and outmaneuvering their opponents.

Team racing is another type of sailboat racing that involves multiple sailboats competing against each other in a team format. In team racing, each team consists of multiple boats, and the team with the best overall performance across all of its boats is declared the winner. Team racing often requires a high degree of coordination and strategy, as sailors must work together to achieve a common goal and coordinate their tactics to maximize their chances of success.

In addition to these main types of sailboat racing, there are also a variety of specialized race types that are popular in different parts of the world . For example, ocean racing involves sailing across the open ocean over long distances and requires a high degree of skill and endurance. Inshore racing , on the other hand, takes place in protected bays and harbors and often involves short, fast races with frequent wind shifts and other challenges.

Regardless of the type of sailboat racing, one thing remains constant: the need for skilled and experienced sailors who can navigate their boats through a wide range of conditions and challenges. Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a beginner just getting started, mastering the different types of sailboat racing can be a highly rewarding and exhilarating experience, and can lead to a lifetime of excitement and adventure on the water.

Classes Of Sailboats Commonly Used In Racing

Sailboat racing is a highly competitive and dynamic sport that encompasses a wide range of different classes of sailboats, each with its own unique characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses. Understanding the different classes of sailboats used in racing is crucial for sailors looking to compete at a high level and succeed in this exciting sport.

One of the most common classes of sailboats used in racing is the dinghy , which is a small, lightweight boat typically sailed by one or two people. Dinghies are highly maneuverable and responsive and can be sailed in a wide range of conditions, from light winds to strong breezes. Popular dinghy classes include the Laser , the 420 , and the Optimist , each of which has its own unique rules and specifications.

Keelboats are another popular class of sailboats used in racing, and are typically larger and heavier than dinghies, with a fixed keel that helps to provide stability and control. Keelboats come in a wide range of sizes and designs, from small one-design boats like the J/24 to larger performance-oriented boats like the TP52. Keelboats are often sailed by a crew of several people and require a high degree of coordination and teamwork to sail effectively.

Multihulls are another popular class of sailboats used in racing and are characterized by their multiple hulls providing greater speed and stability than traditional monohull sailboats. Multihulls come in a variety of different designs and sizes, from small catamarans to large trimarans , and are typically sailed by a crew of several people. Multihulls can be highly competitive and exciting to sail, but also require a high degree of skill and experience to handle effectively.

In addition to these main classes of sailboats, there are also a variety of specialized classes that are popular in different parts of the world. For example, in Australia and New Zealand, the 18-foot skiff is a highly competitive and popular class of sailboats, characterized by its large sail area and high speed. In Europe, the Dragon is a classic one-design keelboat that has been popular for decades and is known for its elegant design and excellent performance.

Regardless of the specific class of sailboats used in racing, one thing remains constant : the need for skilled and experienced sailors who can navigate their boats through a wide range of conditions and challenges . Whether you’re racing a dinghy, a keelboat, a multihull, or some other type of sailboat, mastering the unique characteristics and challenges of your boat is key to achieving success on the water.

To become a successful sailboat racer , it’s important to not only master the technical skills needed to sail your boat effectively , but also to develop a deep understanding of the rules, tactics, and strategies that govern sailboat racing . By immersing yourself in the world of sailboat racing and learning from experienced sailors, you can build the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in this exciting and challenging sport.

In conclusion, participating in a race can be very enjoyable in both cases. The first case is where someone is learning the art of sailing or like in the second case where one could be trying to gain some prior expertise on the sea.

If winning the race is one’s main aim then the key thing to remember is to make sure that you tack at the right moments. To trim the sails to completely catch the wind and last but not least, to communicate well with the rest of the crew.

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Guide to running sailboat races

Published on April 17th, 2023 by Editor -->

John Palizza, a Regional Race Officer and Club Judge from Lake Bluff, Illinois, shares this practical guide to acting as a Principal Race Officer:

The best race committees are transparent, races start on time, courses are clearly designated, the starting sequence runs smoothly and scoring is done quickly and accurately. The competitors come in after racing and they don’t even think about the race committee. Alas, in the real world, it ain’t necessarily so.

As a competitor, how many times have you headed out to the course area ready to start racing only to be forced to sail back and forth for what seems to be an interminable period while you waited for the race committee to do its thing? Or how many times on weeknight beer can races has the starting line been so skewed that there is a pileup at one end because you can barely lay the line on the other tack?

Or it’s your turn to run your club’s weekly races, which everyone has to do once a year, and although you’ve been racing for many years, you only have a vague notion of what occurs on the race committee boat?

What I hope to lay out in this article is a practical guide to acting as a Principal Race Officer so that you won’t embarrass yourself and to help you can avoid some of the mistakes I’ve made over the years. It won’t make you ready to run the Olympics, but it should allow you to competently run most club events.

If I’m lucky, I may even persuade a few of you to give back to the sport, take US Sailing’s Club Race Officer certification and to take on a regatta or two.

Step One: Do the Paperwork All races are governed by a Notice of Race and the Sailing Instructions. These two documents form the blueprint of what the race committee has to do.

Important things such as a requirement to check in with the race committee, the starting sequences for the classes of boats sailing, the class flags being used, the courses that can be sailed, what the marks and the starting and finishing lines look like, time limits, and scoring are all covered in these documents.

If you have been asked to run a regatta, you should be intimately familiar with them, as you should have either written or reviewed them.

With season long series, it’s a little different, as the Notice of Race and the Sailing Instructions are usually posted to the club’s website at the start of the season and often thereafter forgotten. Competitors who have been sailing in the season series for years are often guilty of not re-reading the Sailing Instructions each year.

So here’s Practical Tip Number 1: Just because a competitor hasn’t read the Sailing Instructions doesn’t mean the race officer can skip them. It is absolutely crucial that the race officer knows the content of the Notice of Race and the Sailing Instructions.

The ideal is that you know them off the top of your head, but practically, it’s enough to know where to look when a question arises. So take 10 minutes to give a close read to these documents, and have them with you on the RC boat. It can save you a lot of heartburn later.

Step Two: Get Your Ducks in a Row When I was a Boy Scout, I was taught to “Be Prepared”. The same holds true for a race officer when it comes to equipment. At a primitive level, you can run races with just a piece of string on a stick, a good sense of direction, and a watch. However, if you want to do things right, there is a lot of equipment that is needed.

This is complicated by the fact that you are never quite sure what is going to be provided by the club. Some venues do a great job.

For example, at the Houston Yacht Club when I first started working on race committee, the harbor master prepared a bag with all of the flags, zip ties, score sheets, and everything else you needed. You just went to his office and picked it up. If the bag was zip tied shut you knew that he had checked it and you were good to go.

Many clubs, especially smaller clubs, are not as well organized and will have some, but probably not everything you should have, scattered around the club and the RC vessel.

The very best race officers I have known assume nothing will be provided and show up at regattas with their own flags, GPS, startbox, and assorted paraphernalia they need to get races off. As this is not practical unless you are planning on doing a lot of race officer work, here’s Practical Tip Number 2: Work from checklists to see what they have, what may need to be gathered up, and what you need to bring. Click here for checklists for both the RC vessel and mark set vessels.

Step Three: Let’s Get Things Going There is an easy, but commonly overlooked way to insure that races start on time and it occurs when you set the schedule well in advance of race day. This is because most schedules leave inadequate time between the competitors’ meeting and the first warning. This results in sailors being forced to sail around under a postponement flag and wait for the race committee to get the course set up.

Now it’s time for Practical Tip Number 3: When writing the schedule in the Sailing Instructions, leave adequate time between the competitors’ meeting where the race officer is expected to speak, and the first warning.

The amount of time will vary depending on the venue, how far you have to go to set up the course, whether you are using drop marks, and other factors. But, I guarantee that the 30 minutes you often see in SIs is not enough time to get things ready to go.

None of this means that you have to delay the start of racing for the day. There is no rule that says that the competitors’ meeting has to be after the skippers have rigged their boats and are ready to go. Simply hold the competitors’ meeting earlier in the day and then let the skippers go back and rig their boats.

If you are race committee for a season long series where there typically is no competitors’ meeting, the solution is even simpler: leave the dock with enough time so that you are not rushed in setting up the course.

Step Four: Getting Things Set Up Race officers should always keep one important maxim in mind: The competitors did not come out to watch the race committee set up courses; they came out to race. Therefore, setting the course quickly and efficiently goes a long way towards making for successful races. This means you get to the race course well in advance of the racers and decide where the start line should be and then start taking wind readings.

After 15 – 20 minutes you should have a pretty good idea of what the wind is currently doing. That, combined with the forecasts you have looked at and, if you are lucky, local knowledge, should allow you to formulate a plan for the race(s). Now you can set your windward mark and start line, announce the course and get the starting sequence going.

Wait, you say, don’t all of the marks need to be in the water and the course completely set before you start the sequence? The answer is no. As a matter of fact, although I don’t recommend this, the windward mark doesn’t even have to be set before you start the race and you can be moving a starting mark up until the preparatory signal.

So if you really want to move things along efficiently, I recommend you get your upwind mark set, get your start line done and start your first sequence. Your mark set vessels can worry about setting the other marks while the fleet is headed up to the first mark. This will save the fleet from sitting around waiting for everything to be set up and it really speeds things up if you are working with limited resources, such as only one mark set vessel.

Step Five: Things Change As sailors we all know that the wind is not constant; it changes speed and direction with some frequency. This is just as true for race committees as it is for sailors. It is a rare occasion when the wind direction remains constant throughout the day. And on inland lakes? As they say in New Jersey, “fuhgeddaboudit”.

A corollary to the maxim listed in Step Four is that most sailors would rather be racing on a course that is slightly off than waiting around for a perfect race course. If the wind is oscillating, find the median of the oscillation and get your race off before things change dramatically. If the wind is shifting persistently, try and anticipate where it is going and set your course a little ahead of it.

I’ve worked inland lake regattas where we were getting oscillations of up to 60 degrees. If we had waited to set a perfect course, we would have made the fleet wait all day. Sometimes you just have to pick a course you think is reasonable and fair, given the conditions, and go with it.

If you are running multiple races, you may find that the wind has shifted enough during a race that you want to reset the course for the next race. Here’s Practical Tip Number 4: Don’t wait until all boats have finished to reset the marks.

Have your mark set vessel waiting at the windward mark to move it to its new position as soon as the last boat rounds the mark. Then you can reset the start line, get the fleet off and worry about the other marks. Obviously, if you are using a combined start/finish line, you can’t move the line until the last boat finishes the race.

Step Six: Starting and Finishing As a race committee, the two areas you can get into trouble are the starts and the finishes. Racers may grumble that the course was not perfect, but there is no rule that says that it has to be. But, if the race committee doesn’t get the start right or screws up the finishing order, you may be spending time in the protest room as a competitor may ask for redress for those errors.

The standard five minute starting sequence is relatively simple; two flags and four horns. There is simply no excuse for getting it wrong, yet I have seen it done multiple times at beer can races. Charitably, I put this down to inattention.

The person who is responsible for the horn or the flag is chatting with a friend or otherwise distracted and is late with the horn or the flag. Don’t let this happen!

The principal race officer or timer should be counting down to each action, for example, “30 seconds to P flag up and one horn.” Never assume that people know how the sequence works or where they are in the sequence. A little attention to detail here can save a lot of pain later.

The opportunities for distractions or missing something are even greater at the finish, as competitors may be sailing up to the committee boat and informing you of their intent to protest, just as a bunch of boats are approaching the finish line or five or six boats all finish at the same time and your scribe simply can’t keep up.

So here is Practical Tip Number 5: always have the scores taken down by at least two sources – the race officer dictating into a recorder (almost all smart phones have voice recorder functions these days) and a scribe writing things down.

I can’t tell you how many times this has cleared up things post race, when you discover that a finisher did not get written down in the heat of action. Having a voice recording to go back to sure beats tracking down competitors and asking them who finished around them.

Step Seven: Work from a Playbook Commercial airline pilots still utilize a checklist every time they take off. There is no rule that says you have to remember everything that you have to do to run races and when to do them. With the multitude of things that should happen to run a good race, it makes sense to work from a checklist. For people who don’t run races all of the time, using a checklist will insure that all of the bases are covered. Click here for the PRO checklist.

Step Eight: It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over Once the races are over, the race committee needs to record the time and publish the time limit for filing a protest or request for redress. The rules state that this is two hours last boat finishes, however, this is often changed by the Sailing Instructions.

Commonly used at events are when the committee boat docks or when the last competitor reaches the shore or docks. Once you’ve done this, it’s time to score the event. Finally, put away all the RC stuff and strive put it away better than you found it – DONE!

Reprinted courtesy of US Sailing Race Management Committee, [email protected] .

Tags: education , John Palizza , race management

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Sailing Race Starts

Sailing race start system by dan zwerg, sailing race starts free.

Sailing Race Starts is the ultimate yacht racing starting system. It provides the sound signals to start races and voice countdowns for use on the racing yacht. The Free version contains a limited set of features and options; the Pro version has them all.

Sailing Race Starts works especially well on phones and tablets, and has many features! Here are some of them: 5-minute RRS Rule 26 horn starts, 5-minute RRS Rule 26 gun starts, 3-minute ISSA starts (high school), 3-minute ICSA starts (collegiate), 5-minute voice starts, 5-minute match racing starts, 3-minute voice starts, ISSA 2-minute and 1-minute starts (for practice), ICSA 2-minute and 1 minute starts (for practice), selectable heads-up sound, selectable heads-up time, rolling starts, individual recall, general recall, postpone up, general recall/postpone down, abandon, exact time race began, countdown timer continues in the negative after start to measure time after start and race duration, sound pad for finish sounds (beep and whistle) and all other other needed sounds, quick user presets, and visual cues for flags. All ISAF Racing Rules of Sailing race signals are shown and explained. Voice countdowns include an additional synchronize function.

Sailing Race Starts is the latest development of Dan Zwerg’s proven start system. Dan Zwerg created the sounds and created the program to play the sounds. He is the Director of Technology and coaches sailing at St. Stanislaus College. His experience and passion for sailing in combination with his technology skills led him to put this project together.

You can use this app to start races, of course. Just connect your device to a loudspeaker system via wire or Bluetooth and you are all set. High school and college students can use an Android device and headphones to practice starts over and over. During an actual race, you can play a voice start on your boat synchronized to your race committee’s sound signals. It will count down the time verbally, freeing up a crew member to do more important things. A race committee that is determined to produce sounds manually can use it as an accurate visual and audio timer with beeps at all the right points to remind you to get ready with the flags.

This is a premium app built by an avid sailor, sailing team coach, and race official. You will love it.

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Basics Of Sailboat Racing Explained

‍ Key Takeaways

• Knowing the race rules and the type of boat you are using are key parts of joining a race
• The type of race may vary depending on location and the rules could differ too
• You should have a lot of practice if you are new to sailing races to keep safe
• It is recommended you take the ASA classes if you have limited experience
• A good sailing watch is recommended so that you do not miss the start

‍ Racing a sailboat requires basic rules that are typically set forth by a racing committee. But what are the sailing racing basics?

The basics of sailboat racing consist of racing rules and a basic course outline. The type of boat you are using also is relevant. The type of race you are competing in also matters with how many people you have since the rules might only apply to certain one person boats.

In my experience sailboat racing is a fun and rewarding time on the water. You must understand the basic racing rules before you begin to ensure you are safe and so you do not have any penalties for your time.

Table of contents

‍ ‍ ‍ Sailboat Racing Basics

Before you begin racing a sailboat it is recommended that you brush up on your knowledge beforehand. If this is your very first time trying to sail a boat then you definitely need to take the time to get acclimated to sailing.

For beginners with little to no experience on the water you should check out the American Sailing Association ( ASA ) classes and find one that is best for you. This is great for learning the basics of sailing and the safety procedures.

Know the Rules Before Racing

A typical race will have common racing rules of sailing that you should know. These rules will help shape the format of the race.

You do not need to know every single racing rules of sailing in order to compete but rules help keep the framework of the race intact if everyone is following them. For example if you cross the starting line early you will typically be penalized by having to complete a turn or two which will cause you to lose distance on the competition.

Common Rule You Should Know

One of the most common rules you should know is when boats have their starboard tack they have to give way to boats with opposite tacks or the port tack. A port tack boat has to pass or back off of a starboard tack boat if they come across one another. A leeward boat gets the right of way over any windward boat if two or more boats are on the same tack.

Selecting the Best Race to Enter

If you are new to sailboat racing you might want to stick to something that is competitive but not completely serious. There are plenty of racing events that are geared towards a benefit or fundraiser that is meant to be fun but also raise money.

You also need to figure out if your boat matches the type of sailboat race being held. A lot of races are done with one-design boats which are vessels that are similar in size and shape. One-design racing is the most popular form of sail racing.

Try Without the Spinnaker

There might be a race that is simply from the starting line to the finish line of a designated route. If you can get by without using a spinnaker this will help you focus on other key areas of the boat for performance.

Be Familiar with Notice of Race Details

Each club that hosts a race will post important information about the race on their website. It will cover pertinent information such as the course outline and the right communication channel. It also covers the start time and any particular order of the start line.

It also would help if you attended the skippers meeting about the race in order to learn more about the sailing instructions. This will give you the opportunity to ask important questions or if you are unsure about something you can get help from other experienced sailors.

Try to Get a Good Start

Once the race is getting close to starting you need to carefully watch the time and everyone else around you. It will be somewhat hectic as everyone will be hovering around the start line. As mentioned if you cross the starting line too early you will be penalized.

This is when a good regatta watch is used to help keep track of the time. Sailors will use a countdown timer once the horn has been blown to indicate how much time is remaining to start the race. The horn might be blown at the five minute mark and then again at one minute but this could vary.

Following the Pack

If this is your first sailboat race there is nothing wrong with letting a lot of people pass you at the start so that you can work on your sailing skills. This will give you the opportunity to watch how others compete and see what they do in order to succeed.

Ask to Be a Part of a Crew

If you do not have a boat or have friends that are sailing you could always ask to be part of the ride (if the boat can handle more people). The weight of the boat matters in smaller boats but you could see if you can be a part of their sailing race and maybe learn some inside knowledge.

What are the Various Types of Sailboat Races?

There are many different variations of sailboat races to consider if you are interested. The boat you have will help determine the type of race you can enter and the type of rules and strategies you must think about. You will likely find one geared towards your boat if you look hard enough.

Fleet Races are Most Common

Fleet racing is the most common type of sail race you can find. It features tons of boats that are similar in nature and it can be difficult with the amount of people to navigate through. The first sailboat to cross the finish line is the winner.

Match Racing is Tactical

Match racing features a series of races between two sailboats that have to navigate a course. The fastest boat is not always the winner since you have to complete various legs of the race. The faster boat will have the advantage if they can block the wind for the second boat but they must stay one step ahead in order to remain the faster boat.

Team Racing Requires Strategy

Team racing features a few boats per team that all compete against each other. The first team to cross does not win as they earn points based on when they crossed the finish line. The team having the lowest total of points wins.

Various Shore Races

Inshore racing takes place near protected waters such as bays while offshore racing is out in the open. Inshore races are quick and to the point but offshore races can last up to a few days or longer depending on what the crew has to go through to get to the finish line.

Types of Sailboats Used in Races

There are different types of races that are geared towards certain boats. The type of boat you have will help point you in the right direction of race you can enter. You do not have to have these boats exactly but they likely will need to be close to the boats they will use in the race.

Small Dinghy Boats

Dinghies are small sailboats that are under 20 feet in length. These are great for one person or for youth wanting to enjoy races. The most common types of dinghy sailboats that are used in races worldwide include the Laser and 49er but also the 420.

Boats That Have Keels

Keelboats are larger than dinghy boats and have a keel underneath the boat to offer stability. A lot of smaller boats will also have keels but they are characterized as dinghies.

The most popular sailboats with keels that are used in races the J/24 and Jet 14. The Capri 22 is also a great choice for its sailing performance.

Multihull Racing Boats

Multihull sailboats are types of boats that have more than one hull. These can be catamarans with two hulls and trimarans that have three hulls.

The most common multihull sailboats include the A-Cat and Hobie 16. The Isotope is also great for being an alternative for multihull races.

Why do Sailors Want to Race?

Racing with sailboats requires discipline and determination. Sailors must know how to effectively handle sailing upwind and sailing downwind against other sailors while trying to cross a finish line. If you are unable to handle your boat efficiently then it will show in your racing performance.

In order to be a successful racer you have to master your sailboat. In addition you also must understand the racing rules and strategies involved to becoming successful. If you fail to understand certain rules then you can be penalized on your time or potentially kicked out of the sailing event if you cause harm to others.

This creates a competitive drive to show how good you are on your boat. Not everyone is good at sailing or even pushing their boat as hard as it can go. Once you are good at racing it offers an excellent pastime and great camaraderie among other sailors with similar boats.

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Daniel Wade

I've personally had thousands of questions about sailing and sailboats over the years. As I learn and experience sailing, and the community, I share the answers that work and make sense to me, here on Life of Sailing.

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Time and Distance

The ProStart has revolutionized how competitive sailors start races. As well as providing a simple way to measure distance-to-line, the ProStart shows speed and course over ground in a compact, distraction-free, easy-to-use instrument.

The Best Start Line Tool Ever

The ProStart, is specifically designed, from the ground up, to give you the easiest, most accurate distance to line measurements ever.

Setting the line is as simple as telling your crew to press the boat button as you sail by the RC and then the pin button as you sail by the pin.

Once you’ve pinged both ends of the line, the ProStart uses the latest WAAS-augmented GPS technology to spit out an accurate distance to line measurement twice a second.

Sailing World called the ProStart "Possibly the greatest electronic racing gadget of this decade,” and Practical Sailor gave it their prestigious Editor's Choice award.

Speed and Course Over Ground

Ten seconds after your start, the ProStart automatically switches to showing your speed over ground (GPS speed) and course over ground. The accuracy and responsiveness of the speed measurements make the ProStart an unparalleled tool for optimizing your speed.

Since COG and SOG describe your course over the bottom (where the marks are anchored) the ProStart is also an extremely powerful tool for determining the influence of current on your performance. When you cross a tideline, the numbers on the ProStart jump and you can instantly see how favorable the new current is.

No distractions.

Our number one goal in designing the ProStart was to make sure that the product would never undermine your crew’s performance with unnecessary distractions during the pre-start.  The front surface of the ProStart is reserved for the three most important start-related buttons: the pin, boat and gun buttons. The large size of these buttons makes them easy to press, even with gloved hands and easy to find in the midst of chaos. Big numbers make the instrument easy to read with a quick glance and helps you keep your attention focused outside the boat.

COUNTDOWN TIMER

With the ProStart, when you hear or see any type of start signal it’s the always the same drill: just hit the GUN button. If the timer isn’t running, it will start. If the timer is running it will sync.

Synced to the wrong signal? No problem; the ProStart lets you independently adjust the number of minutes on the timer while the seconds keep on rolling.

MAXIMUM SPEED RECALL

Recall your session’s absolute maximum and best 10 second average speeds with the click of a single clearly-marked button.

GPS DATA LOGGING

In addition to providing you real-time, on-the-water data, the ProStart constantly records your speed, heading and position to keep a running log of your most recent 30 hours of sailing. Once you get back to shore you can download this data to your Mac or PC and create race replay animations.

The ProStart has been tested to IPX-8, the most rigorous industrial water-resistance standard. This means that you can count on the ProStart to survive wipeout after epic wipeout.

MOUNT THE PROSTART ANYWHERE

Each ProStart comes packaged with a mounting cradle that can be bolted to the ProStart Mast Mounting Bracket or directly to a bulkhead. The cradle is also compatible with any bracket designed for the Tacktick Micro Compass.

Displays heading, speed and wind shift indicator, updated twice a second. Each wind shift indicator bar graph segment represents 2.5° of deviation from the initial tack angle.

Displays timer, distance-to-line and distance-to-line bar graph, updated twice a second. Each distance-to-line bar graph segment represents 10m.

Ready to race?

Connects to devices by Bluetooth

*requires Bluetooth 4.0

Controlled by SailBot App

SailBot products are controlled by the SailBot App available for free from the App Store and Google Play Store. Operation is extremely simple and convenient, and software is always up to date! New features are automatically added in app updates.

SailBot products are the only automated starting horns that allow you to edit your starting sequences with a built-in sequence editor! Choose from and edit many included ISAF sequences or create your own.

Connects by Bluetooth 4.0

Save your race committee's ears by placing SailBot outside of the boat cockpit. With long-range Bluetooth Low Energy, the unit can be placed anywhere on the boat and is easily controlled by the app on the iDevice.

SailBot is cross platform and our free app is available in both the App Store and Google Play Store. Click the badges here to go to your respective store.

Read all about our exciting Version 2.0 app in our blog post here .

The most flexible and advanced sailboat race starting horn

Audible signal hassles are a thing of the past. let your race committee focus on the on-water action and visual signals and leave the sail race start timing and audible signaling to your sailbot., sailbot makes it simple.

Sailbot is simply the most flexible and convenient way to automate the Race Committee audible signals at the start of any sailing race. It is an automatic sailboat race starter system consisting of our self-contained horn unit in conjunction with our free app running on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device. Sailing schools, yacht clubs, and sailing teams will love the ease of use and durability of construction. Compact, robust, reliable and ready for action; SailBot was designed from the ground up to be an integral part of any RC toolkit.

Make your Race Committee job easier by automating your starting sequences today! SailBot is a self-contained and portable unit that connects to your mobile device by Bluetooth technology. Horns are automatically fired at the proper time during a start sequence, freeing the RC to do other things.

• Long Battery Life
• iPhone 4S and newer
• Long-range Bluetooth Low Energy
• Battery level indicator in app
• Loud (135dB)
• Can be mounted remotely
• 100+ Start sequences per charge
• iPod Touch 5th gen and newer
• Simple Bluetooth connection with no passcode

SailBot Starter

Controlled by an App

SailBot is the only automatic sailboat race starting horn that offers custom start sequence editing and modification. Choose from one of the many included ISAF starting sequences, modify them or create your own. The options are limitless.

All software for controlling the horn is contained in the app on your phone or tablet so updates are automatic and your device is always up to date. Say goodbye to hard-wired sequences forever.

Placing the controlling software on a mobile device allows flexibility and future expansion that other solutions will never be able to match. Go ahead, install the free app from the App Store and Google Play now and see for yourself how easy it is to have perfect, effortless starting sequences!

Designed with Race Committees in Mind

With no pairing codes it could not be simpler to setup and go. Place the SailBot starter anywhere on your boat away from Race Committee ears, turn it on, open the app and tap "Connect" and you are ready to go!

You can choose from a number of predefined sequences or program your own. Watch this video to get an idea of how simple it really is to have perfect audible sequence signals.

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GET COVERED FOR 2 YEARS

We get it. The marine environment and volunteers can be rough on your gear. SailBot Care provides two years of accidental damage coverage.

THE RACING RULES OF SAILING 2021-2024 - AVAILABLE NOW 2025-2028 Coming Soon

US Sailing makes the rules available whenever and wherever you want. Our premier product, the Racing Rules App, ensures you have access to the rules at all times.

US Sailing has expanded the menu of App features to streamline your overall experience. This NEW App provides you with optimized and searchable access to the rules and media resources to help you reference them in real-time.

You can submit a protest or request redress from your device, draw and submit animated protest diagrams with the Whiteboard feature, and much more using the NEW Racing Rules App.

App Features

Rules products, more resources, coming soon.

The RRS 2025-2028 and Study Pack will be available soon in an upcoming update. Please check back later.

The Racing Rules of Sailing is published every four years by World Sailing, the international authority for the sport. These rules, amended by US “prescriptions,” govern sailboat racing in the United States and in the portions of international races that pass through U.S. waters. The Racing Rules of Sailing for 2021-2024 take effect on January 1, 2021.

Access the Rules on Your Mobile Device

The optimized and searchable text, and device-resident files allow you to have the rulebook in your hand at all times, whether you have Wi-FI, network connection, or no internet at all.

Submit a Protest or Request Redress Online

A built-in form allows you to submit a protest or request redress from your device – no paper needed!

Whiteboard Feature

Need help drawing protest diagrams? Our whiteboard feature makes it easy. When you are finished, you can submit up to six diagrams or automatically combine them into a motion graphic to make your case.

Media Library

Explore video, web and print resources that expand your comprehension of the Racing Rules and how we play the game.

Need Help with the Rules? Let Dave Perry Be Your Guide!

Champion racer and renowned rules expert Dave Perry offers clear, concise explanations of common rules situations in both video and text – right inside the app.

Looking for More Resources?

Coming soon: In-app purchasing gives you access to popular titles such as the Sailor’s Guide to the Racing Rules and Dave Perry’s Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing through 2024 and a variety of other rules-related resources without leaving the app.

US Sailing features a series of products to help sailors understand and interpret the rules from experts, access the latest US prescriptions and corrections, and purchase supporting materials for race officials.

The RRS for 2021-2024 Paper or Waterproof Books

Available from the US Sailing web store

Dave Perry’s Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing through 2024

Dave Perry’s 100 Best Racing Rules Quizzes

Sailor’s Guide to the Racing Rules

The Rules in Brief 2021-2024

available from the US Sailing web store

Signal Flag Sticker

Racing Rules for 2021-2024

Us prescriptions to the racing rules of sailing for 2021-2024.

READ the prescriptions

Changes and Corrections

Changes and Corrections to the RRS for 2021-2024 effective 1 January 2022.

WS Changes & Corrections to the RRS 1.1.2022

CHANGES & CORRECTIONS TO THE US prescriptions

Changes to RSS 2021-2024 that Affect Race Management

An Overview of the Significant Rule Changes in The Racing Rules of Sailing for 2021-2024 by Dave Perry

(Excerpted from Dave Perry’s Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing through 2024 – posted December 10, 2020)

dave perry's overview of changes

2022 Test Rule 18 Information

The World Sailing Rule 18 Working Party is trying to find ways to simplify rule 18 (Mark-Room) without making significant changes to the current game. At the link below, you can find the text of the 2022 Test Rule 18 and guidance for using it.

Appendices KG and LG, Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions Guides and Templates for 2021-2024

World Sailing has provided guides and templates for writing the Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions. Please consult Appendix J, Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions, for detailed guidance, and read the notes in the PDF Guides for suitable language to use in writing race documents.

NOR and SI Guides and templates

Hearing Request Form

Use this form to request a protest hearing, redress hearing or reopening (formerly known as the protest form)

Download hearing request form

The Racing Rules of Sailing for 2021-2024 Study Version

"This document is designed to provide you with the explanations for each change in the Definitions and the rules of Parts 1-7. The first two pages contain instructions designed to help you get maximum benefit from time spent studying this special version of the RRS. We hope you find this ‘Study Version of the Racing Rules for 2021-2024’ helpful!"

- Dick Rose, Chairman of the World Sailing Racing Rules Working Party

rrs 2021-2024 study version

Submit a suggestion

Dave Perry Discusses One of his Favorite Rules Rules 17: On the Same Tack; Proper Course

Quiz yourself.

Copyright ©2018-2024 United States Sailing Association. All rights reserved. US Sailing is a 501(c)3 organization. Website designed & developed by Design Principles, Inc. -->

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• The Rolex Swan Cup Is One of Sailing’s Most Illustrious Races. Here’s What It’s Like to Attend.

The five-day, invitation-only event is the most coveted among Swan owners. This year did not disappoint.

Tonya russell, tonya russell's most recent stories.

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Four Seasons Yachts Wants to Take You to the Caribbean for the Holidays

The Rolex Swan Cup is one of multiple events held each year for Nautor Swan owners. Costa Smeralda’s superyacht marina is packed with Swans bearing the familiar arrow on their hulls. Green Rolex flags fly on the masts, flapping in the breeze, and even the superyachts in the area are upstaged by the packs of Swans racing against each other, many with billowed black sails, around the area’s stunning waters.

“Every day the boats go all around the islands on different courses, which depend on wind conditions,” Federico Michetti, head of sports activities at Nautor Swan , told Robb Report at the event. “They are scored based on position, so if there are 15 boats and yours is first, you get one point. Last place gets 15.” The lowest scorer by the end of the week is the overall winner. 

The boat classes range from Maxi yachts to the historic S&S Classic group to multiple One Designs—boats with the same hull configurations and weight that make racing a game of skill rather than superior technology. “In the one-class, the sailors are what differentiate the winners from everyone else,” says Michetti.

Fashion magnate Leonardo Ferragamo, who purchased the yard in 1988, has transformed Nautor Swan into the luxury cruising/racing brand in the sailing world. As president, he expanded the brand across multiple segments (from the custom 131-foot Custom Maxi to the recent Nautor 28) while also enhancing both the luxury and technical components of the fleet. It launched its first hybrid yacht in June.

Ferragamo was also tireless in establishing a Swan race circuit with an average of six to eight annual events in different yacht clubs, typically in glamorous locations. This year, 101 Swans of all sizes from 30 countries made the trek to Porto Cervo, hailing from different European countries, California, and Japan.

Ferragamo also races his hunter-green Swan 50 Cuordileon e. “When choosing my first yacht, I decided to buy a Swan, specifically because I wanted to take part in the Swan Cup,” he tells Robb Report . 

The event has improved every year, Ferragamo says, thanks to the participation of Rolex, which has long sponsored sail-racing events around the world. “We’ve been able to bring three marvelous brands, Rolex, Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, and Nautor Swan into one event,” he says.

The Rolex Swan Cup is by invitation only for Swan owners, attracting more than 700 sailors and a few hundred loved ones as well as many race-sponsor clients. In the mornings, owners and their crews buzzed around the docks, readying giant, high-tech sails, tying off lines, and loading gear. Many teams were easily identifiable in what amounted to colored uniforms, donning matching UV shirts in ocean blue or bright yellow. A few local yachties watched the preparations, almost meditatively, from their decks, enjoying fresh cornettos and espresso.

Californian Don Macpherson comes to Sardinia every two years to race in the cup. His racing career started as soon as his 90-foot Freya was launched 12 years ago. He originally had a professional captain, but with the help of a crew that now includes his children, he chases grand prizes by skippering the boat himself. Macpherson also races in the Caribbean (where he’s headed after Sardinia) but considers the Swan Cup the “premier” racing experience. “There is no place better to sail than Porto Cervo,” he tells Robb Report . “The club here does a fantastic job organizing events.”

Freya , easily identifiable by its yellow sails, has come a long way in the last decade. “In the first race, we came in dead last,” Macpherson recalls. “Then we did better and better.” His boat won the Maxi Class Group 1 Division A in 2016, 2022 and also this year.

Fellow Californian Al Ramadan hopes to have a similar record one day. He is the newest ClubSwan member, but he wasn’t able to sail his Swan 28 until a week before the race, since it had just been delivered to Italy from the factory. His shakedown cruise was from the mainland to Sardinia, with a five-person crew aboard. Like many sailors, Ramadan had always been attracted to Swans. He was determined to own one and race it someday.

From the outside, Ramadan notes, the Nautor Swan community can look pretentious, unapproachable. But in Sardinia, he had an entirely different experience. “I went to the parties, and they were very glamorous, but Swan is a wonderful, helpful community that I’m proud to be a part of,” he says. In other words, he was instantly adopted into the club.

But the second post-race party, hosted by Rolex, was the place to let loose, dance, and enjoy Sardinian pasta specialties made in front of you. With more than 1,000 people in attendance, the space was packed with dancing, singing sailors who were lip-synching to American Top 40 hits on large video screens.

This year’s winners, in different classes, included Freya, Sea Quill, Isabella, Mascalzone Latino XXXIII, Katima, From Now On, Moonlight, Ulika, Canopo, Fra Martina , and Marcello.

“The Rolex Swan Cup is not just a race,” says Michetti. “It’s a lifestyle, a state of mind, and all these guys coming from all around the world enjoy being part of the Swan family. That part always amazes me.”

Read More On:

• Nautor Swan
• Rolex Swan Cup
• Sailboat Racing

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Follow our news, recent searches, sailgp to make waves in germany with 2025 sassnitz debut, advertisement.

FILE PHOTO: SailGP F-50 teams compete in front of the Manhattan skyline during day one of the SailGP sailboat races event in in New York Harbor in New York City, U.S. June 22, 2024.. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo

SailGP’s adrenaline-fuelled spectacle is heading to new waters with the elite sailing championship making its much-anticipated German debut in August 2025, with the coastal town of Sassnitz on the island of Ruegen to host two days of high-octane racing.

Some of the world’s best sailors will battle it out in fleet races just off the shore, bringing the thrill of SailGP to German waters and fans for the first time on Aug 16-17.

SailGP sees national teams go head-to-head in cutting-edge, 50-foot foiling catamarans, skimming the waves at speeds over 60 mph.

The events are a showcase of speed and precision, and Sassnitz will be the latest in a string of iconic venues worldwide, which for next season will include among others Dubai, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Sydney and Geneva. 

"Bringing SailGP to Germany is a huge milestone," said SailGP CEO Russell Coutts. "We’re thrilled to give German fans a chance to rally behind their team on home waters for the first time. It’s going to be an incredible event."

Few athletes understand the rush of competition like four-times Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel, co-owner of the Germany SailGP Team. His home race carries extra weight.

"There’s nothing quite like racing in front of your home crowd," he said. "It will be a huge boost for the team and an opportunity to inspire a new generation of German sailing fans."

Led by double Olympic bronze medallist Erik Heil, Germany's SailGP Team will be entering their second season when the action hits Sassnitz. Fresh off a 2024 debut, they are hungry to build on the first-year and prove they belong among the SailGP elite.

Spain won SailGP last season after Australia had claimed the previous three titles.

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