When the race officer sounds the starting signal for the Sunday race at Daydreamers YC, he can already see which boats are going to compete in the leading pack, which will be fighting with the mid fleet masses, and which crews will consider a recovery to the mid fleet a success. For most racers, the first five minutes set the agenda for the entire race. Yet, unlike sprinters or tennis players, who spend hours and days practising starting and serving techniques, most of us are content with the 15 minutes or so starting practice we get each weekend in our local club races, compared with the three hours course-racing practice which inevitably follows each start. We all experience elements of a bad start from time to time: no space to leeward so no opportunity to accelerate without being lee-bowed; blanketed by boats to windward; starting at the unfavoured end and seeing the fleet crossing boat lengths ahead within minutes of the start; in irons going backwards when the gun goes; or simply being pinned on starboard tack unable to follow any pre set strategy. Worse still, sticking out from the crowd in the event of a black flag or individual recall. Consistently good starters avoid these dangers by applying a mix of skills. Many are class specific: the fastest way to learn is by watching your class expert. Sadly these skills can’t be learned simply from reading. They have to be learned just the same way the expert learned them – through time on the water.
Strategic Awareness when Sailing
A clear race strategy leads to a definite starting objective. [Strategies for the beat were discussed in the December 2002 issue of Y&Y.] A starting objective enables realistic priorities to be set; rather than trying to win the start outright we might aim for a more conservative approach, which achieves these priorities. For example, in light conditions the top priority for a keelboat is generally speed off the line, while in a dinghy it’s clear wind. If there is a wind bend favouring the right hand side of the course, the priority will be a clear lane to tack onto port.
How handle the boat
Practising some specific boat handling skills will enable you to accurately position the boat on the start line: • Stop quickly by pushing out the boom, keeping the boat’s alignment constant. • Learn to manoeuvre at slow speed, using sails and body weight. • Practice holding the boat on station in semi-stalled mode; (between close hauled and head to wind) using rudder and sails; maintaining control all the time. Try bearing away fast without acceleration, then promptly returning to semi-stalled mode. • Learn to tack when in semi-stalled mode, using body movement and sails, without gaining forward momentum. • Accelerate quickly from semi-stalled mode.
Boat Awareness
Things we need to learn about our own class:
• What wind and wave conditions allow a stable semi-stall mode? (In big waves or wind, a controlled speed approach may be safer).
• How long does our boat take to accelerate from semi-stall to full speed (through a range of conditions) and what is the minimum space we need to leeward to achieve this?
• What are the techniques for ‘hanging in’ – maintaining a lane after the start when we haven’t created quite enough room to leeward?
• How fast does our boat move sideways through the range of conditions? • Time on distance – how long does it take to sail five boat lengths in each wind condition? (Sailors who have developed this skill well can judge the distance to the line in time as well as distance.)
Observational Skills
Practice measuring the line bias – judging how far you are from the line, observing the trends in the fleet, spotting the gaps and the hot spots.
Know your rules
To ensure good starting, we need a clear knowledge of the rules, make sure that our competitors are aware of this, and control close situations before they become incidents.
Sailing Routine
All good starters have their own favourite routine. As with any complicated task, a checklist, breaking the task into manageable portions, makes the whole procedure less daunting. Starting the first race of the club or world championship becomes as straightforward as eating your Cornflakes. If it helps, write it down.
Here’s an example:
• Practice beat
• Practice run
• Wind patterns?
• Is your boat set up for the conditions? Check shrouds, forestay, lowers and jib cars.
• Tide/current?
• Course?
• Beat strategy
• Which spinnaker/which bag?
• Line transit
• Line bias
• Start objective
• Identify the relevant starboard lay line
• Weed check
• Bias check
• I flag? Black flag?
• Where are boats lining up?
• Final decisions
• Final line up
• Check Cunningham, centreboard and vang.
Using a Transit
Especially in smaller fleets, a transit is a great indicator of where you are relative to the line. Without a transit it is easy to judge a long line when close to the pin or the committee boat, but much more difficult in the middle of line. Using a transit in individual practice also helps develop other ways to judge just where the line is.
How to Start – Before the start, sail down an extension of the line. Find a stationery object (in this case the clock tower), which is on the direct line of committee boat and pin end. Wherever you are positioned on the start line, if the clock is directly behind the pin, you are right on the line. If the clock is on the course side of the pin, you are over, and if the clock is on the pre start side, you are behind. (Note that if you don’t have a bowman standing at the front, you need to allow for the distance to the bow). Some like to try to find a ‘safe transit’ by lining up about two boats lengths behind the committee boat. In the example the Eiffel Tower has been handily relocated to our shoreline. Two boats lengths at the committee boat equates to one boat length at the mid point, less as you start closer to the pin. The transit frequently becomes obscured close to start time. Lining up alongside nearby boats (the sheep principle) will give an average start, but if there is a line bulge, an OCS. If there is a sag, we are giving away ground to those at the ends of the line. Line judging skills come with practice. I recently learned a simple trick from Paul Goodison, ‘Point the boat directly at the pin, holding the tiller dead central. Now sight aft straight along the tiller. If you are sighting behind the committee boat, you are behind the line. If you are sighting in front, you are over.’
Picking the Bias
One end of the start line is generally more upwind, i.e. more advanced up the beat, than the other.
How to Start – Blue takes the bias, and a two-boat length advantage over red. Note that even if the windward mark is offset so that the unbiased end of the line appears closer (windward mark B), Blue still crosses red with a two boat length advantage. Accurately identifying the favoured end gives us the opportunity, literally, to start the race ahead of the competition, especially if there is a significant wind shift shortly before the start. If you are using a compass, sail straight down the line and note the compass bearing.
How to Start -Add 90 degrees if on starboard tack (subtract 90 if on port) to get the line perpendicular bearing. Now at any time before the start, and anywhere in the start vicinity, check the instantaneous bias by luffing to this perpendicular number. If the wind is more from the starboard side of the boat (sails flapping on the port side), the line is starboard biased, if from the port, port biased. At any time in the starting period, a slow tack while just watching the sails as you pass the line perpendicular number will confirm if anything has changed. Without a compass, sail up and down the transit, noting on which tack the boat sails at a broader angle to the wind.
How to Start – If starboard is broader, it’s starboard biased. If port, port biased. Alternatively, luff head to wind on the start line. Sight down a perpendicular to the centreline (the mainsheet traveller or a thwart). The end of the line which is upwind of the perpendicular, is favoured.
Racing Rules
As part of the starting practice discipline, re-read the rules that apply most often at the start:
• Definitions: Definition of keep clear
• Rule 11: Windward boat
• Rule 12: Boat clear astern
• Rule 13: Tacking Rule 15: Acquiring right of way
• Rule 16: Changing course
• Rule 20: Returning to start and sailing astern when backing a sail.
• Rule 26: Starting signals
• Rule 29: Recalls • Rule 42: Propulsion And remind yourself of those rules which don’t apply at the start: • Definitions: Proper course • Rule 18: Rounding marks • Rule 19: Room to tack at obstructions
Tips when Sailing
• Keep clear: Just because there is a gap between a windward and leeward boat, it does not necessarily follow that the windward boat has kept clear.
• Rule 11, 16: A boat to leeward can luff to head to wind. But each time it changes course, it must give the windward boat room to keep clear.
• Rule 12: A boat clear ahead on the same tack has no obligation until the boat behind physically establishes an overlap to leeward. Shouting ‘up, up, up!’ when clear astern means nothing.
• Rule 15: The boat establishing the overlap to leeward has to initially give the windward boat room to keep clear. But the windward boat must immediately react: initially is an instantaneous situation. However, if the leeward overlap occurred because the windward boat bore away, and changed the angle of its transom, so long as the leeward boat did not change course, it does not have to give room.
• Rule 13: Once a boat luffs past head to wind, it is tacking until it bears off to a close-hauled course. A boat that luffs past head to wind to close a windward gap, or tacks below a starboard tacker, and stays above a close-hauled course, has no rights until it bears away to close-hauled. It’s important to be confident of your rule knowledge, and equally important that your competitors respect this. A clear (but polite!) hail establishing the status quo will generally establish this respect and prevent an incident.
Starting Techniques
We have discussed matching starting objectives with race strategy. Some possible starting objectives, though they will have different priority according to the strategy, are:
• Maximum speed off the line
• At the biased end
• Clear wind
• Gap to leeward to allow acceleration
• Right on the line at the gun
• Free to tack at will
• Safe and conservative, in top 10
•Win the start at all costs
• In the lee bow of closest rival
• Penultimate boat across the line, with closest rival just behind! With this range of possible objectives it’s clear that the same starting tactic is not appropriate for all scenarios. Let’s just look at a couple of starts, some of the thought processes, and the techniques that may be appropriate.
Starboard Biased Line
The whole fleet has spotted the starboard bias, fig.5 (below).
How to Start – ‘Pushy’ Pete wants to win the start at all costs. He approached the line on port tack a couple of boats lengths behind the line with a minute to go, tacked close under the windward boat, and has been defending his chosen space. He has been holding station in a semi-stalled mode, watching for encroachers. When any port-tacker approached, threatening to tack close under his lee bow, Pete dropped sheets and bore away hard, straight at the porttacker. The attacker tacked early, allowing Pete to luff and regain his space to windward, or chickened out and took Pete’s transom. Pete has also been watching for starboard attackers looking to dip his transom and sail into the space to leeward. To prevent this Pete has positioned himself close enough to the boat to leeward to deter incomers without putting his own start under pressure. A quick bear away and ‘No space there’ hail helped. ‘Chancing’ Charlie has been watching Pete’s performance. He is in the ‘danger zone’, above the starboard lay line. He knows that these high performance boats with fully battened mains go sideways fast. He believes that the stalled boats are going to drift away from the committee boat, and leave him a gap to sail into with 10 seconds to go.
To achieve this, he needs to luff to a close reaching course with sails flapping, put the tiller hard down, and burn time by drifting sideways into the gap he believes will be there. He is not entitled to room, as rule 18 does not apply, so needs to keep clear of Steam Roller. Steam Roller hasn’t been practising his boat handling. He is doing a timed run, coming in at half speed on the close hauled lay line, controlling speed by easing or sheeting on sails. He may have to shout loud to prevent Charlie infringing, but with luck will find a way through the stalled fleet to the front row. If his timing is right he will be able to roll through the fleet, especially if the wind is light and the boat is slow to accelerate. ‘Smart’ Alec saw a fair amount of congestion at the committee boat end. He is leading the series so does not need to take any risks. He believes there is less tide to the left so wants to lead the fleet to that side. He made a late approach on port, picked his gap, and will be able to sheet in and accelerate before Pete to hold his clear lane to the left.
There is so much bad air from the waiting fleet that ‘Gasping’ Gary won’t get to the line even if the start gun is two minutes late. He is praying for a general recall.
Port Biased Line
Gary, though closer in a straight line than last time, is actually twice as far from the line in sailing terms. When lining up for a starboard tack start on a port biased line he needs to be much closer to the line than with a starboard biased line.
How to Start – That’s why race officers like port biased lines. Gary’s only solution is to tack onto port now, accept starting at the wrong end, but be thankful for clear wind. Charlie failed to check the starboard layline to the pin. There is no way he will be able to get around the pin without fouling. He needs to bail out now, bear away and tack onto port and try to find a way through the fleet into clear wind. ‘Nice’ Nick was lined up with a minute to go for a perfect starboard tack start. He failed to control the pin.
As Alec approached, Nick should have bore off hard aiming straight at Alec’s bow, to force Alec to bear off behind. A sharp luff would then regain his controlling position above the starboard tack lay-line. If this failed, and Alec managed to tack close without infringing, Nick could either continue with speed behind Alec’s transom, then luff to the controlling leeward position, or concede the pin to Alec, luffing to slow down, keep height, and create a gap between them. This is his only option now. Pete wants to have his cake and eat it. He knows there is more wind on the right hand side of the course, but wants the line bias as well. He needs to ensure he is the only candidate for a port tack start, and be sure that the starboard approachers are going to be late. He needs perfect time on distance awareness, and to approach the pin on a beam reach for maximum acceleration. He also needs dark glasses and a fall back plan.
When it all goes wrong
A clear head, calm, and decisive action are normally more effective than shouting, or radical solutions. First priority is clear wind. Usually this means tacking onto port as soon as possible, taking transoms as necessary. If the start is already lost with 30 seconds to go, consider tacking onto port and sailing across to clear wind early – races have been won by the boat which sailed behind the fleet, just scraped around the anchor chain of the unbiased committee boat, into clear wind. Once in clear wind, don’t try to make the rest of the distance back on a lucky shift by splitting with the fleet. Apply your race strategy and accumulate small gains: the winning strategy is unlikely to change to suit your bad start. Concentrate on smooth, fast sailing, and congratulate yourself on not being in the ‘stuffathon’ at the port lay-line. Watch the leaders: it’s possible to see the shifts as they come through the fleet, and position yourself to make gains on each one. Consistently good starters have a mix of skills, all of which have been developed through practice. The variety of starting scenarios is infinite, as are the solutions. You can devise exercises to practice these skills individually, in pairs, or in groups. Persuading your race officer to give you three practice starts before the club race start, will quadruple the chance of developing these skills.
Discover more fantastic sailing tips in every issue of Yachts and Yachting!
