Like a batter sets up for the pitch by positioning his body in a batting stance, a sailor must set up his boat near the line.
You must not only account for the time it takes your boat to get to the line. You must also account for the waves and wind that may push your boat back. Watch out for other boats. Be sure to set up early with a hole. Then if a competitor tries to snatch your hole, push out your sail completely and point your bow right at him.
Try a poker stare down or whatever to scare that competitor away from stealing your hole.
Most of how the race sorts out goes down in the minutes before the actual race. You can win the race before it even starts….if you set up for success close to the line.
You can see many interviews on sailgroove of the best sailors and regatta winners. If asked how they do it, they will just say a couple basic concepts.
The truth is you probably already know how to sail fast. In sailing, there is no secret pandora’s box of knowledge. You may learn a few tips and tricks when you pick your local sailor’s knowledge, but that knowledge will by nothing close to revolutionary.
They will tell you to get a good start. This means you have to be at full speed at the start line at a closehauled course. It will also help to not have a boat close to your leeward rail, so you avoid the pinch.
They will tell you to sail the favored tack and jibe. The key is to do this even when you get close to the top and bottom of the course. Most sail a bad tack over to the layline; if you are on a favored tack at this point, you will gain much.
This is only two things, but these two things seperate the payed professionals from the back of the fleet. They may both be doing these things. But the best of the best do these two things a whole ton better than the rest. Pefect these for a perfect race.
When sailing in wavy conditions, it’s important to steer cleer of big waves. Slightly steer to windward or leeward of the wave to avoid hitting it straight on. This will lighten the amount of speed lost due to the wave.
If you do this wrong, your boat will make a chomping sound. Your boat will smash up and down on the waves and that greatly reduces your speed. So steer cleer to avoid the chomp for maximum speed.
The first post on Buoy Logic was about the other end of the line: Starting – Win the Pin.
Winning the pin like winning the boat can be very hard to achieve. However, this start is very forgiving because an OCS boat can quickly re-round.
It’s time we talked about the other extreme.
Under normal circumstances, I would not recommend trying to be the starboard most boat on the starting line. There are many boats also fighting on the starboard end including many beginners that could end up in a traffic jam. But if you want to win a sailboat race, you have to get ahead early. To do this, you may just have to get the best start (assuming the starboard end is favored).
The starboard end is very difficult to win, but it does come with its advantages: the ability to tack to port immediately after the start and the ability to pinch to obtain clean air without being rolled. If you are over, you should be able to re-round very easily because you are so close to the boat.
To do this start, you must set up very early. Assuming starboard is favored, you should make your approach far enough to leeward of the judge boat to be able to turn up into the wind to stop your boat without heading over the line.
For this kind of start you must have very good boat handling skills and be able to stay in one place (next to the judge boat). If there is current or big waves or big winds, you may want to accommodate for them by setting up in a spot where they will push you in the direction you want to go.
If you are in the right spot, the actual start should be pretty easy. So the pre-start is what you have to worry about. Be aggressive with this start because if you are over, you can quickly re-round and also tack to port for clear air immediately after. So this start approach has a lot of forgiveness and you can gain clear air pretty easily…sound good???
The slower your boat becomes, the more important it is to have the boat at full speed before the actual start. But not only is it important to be at full speed, it is very important to have the boat sailing at close hauled.
In a track and field, it is illegal to have a running start. However, in sailing it is not illegal to be moving forward before the start. In fact, if you don’t use this to your advantage, you will be left behind.
Do a couple practice starts in the conditions you will be sailing in before the actual race. Record the amount of time it takes to get up to full speed and the angle of a closehauld course. This way you know exactly when to accelerate and how the start will go down. Don’t make sailing a guessing game when it doesn’t have to be.
So you wanna sail? You want the glory of being on a boat?
I have taught five years olds and adults it makes no difference.
Sailing is a sport people do until they no longer can. I know some people at the 90 age mark who keep on cruising in races. In this series, I will give you the gift of sailing…and you will have it for the rest of your life.
There is not one alike person in this world, so there are many different styles of sailing. You just have to find the one that is best for you.
Some classes require you to be physically fit.
While other classes such as the Yngling are not as physically demanding.
Sailing is like learning to ride a bike. Once you know how, you have the skill of sailing for the rest of your life. Recently I was at a regatta where the winner won after not sailing for twenty years.
Also recently, I have bought a boat from a man in his 80s. He was not selling the boat because he was too old for sailing; he sold it because he bought a new boat.
He still sails competitively in races. That’s not bad when you compare it to other sports. Take football for instance, you are considered very old when you play at 40.
But sailing isn’t like shuffleboard; there’s many opportunities for the youth too.
The optimist class, sailed only by kids under 16, is the most popular boat in the world.
An Opti is a very affordable boat for a youth sailor, but what if your older than 15? Is there an affordable option?
Meet the laser, a very popular and affordable boat sailed. It can be easily lifted by two people and stored on land. No trailer is required as it can be transported on top of a car. It is sailed by all ages from teenagers to adults. ...and if you take it to the olympic level, the class can be very competitive.
The laser is a boat that is also sailed in the highschool and college sailing scene. Many schools have sailing teams that compete during the school year. The school programs can range from recreational sailing to varsity sailing. You just have to look to find it.
Sailing can be school sponsored and very affordable or it can be very expensive such as the America’s Cup.
There is sailing in the Olympics and such. However, many of the best sailors do not have the means or motivation to put together an olympic campaign. So much of the best sailors you can find at a regatta open to all.
There many single handed or double handed boats that require you to multitask. And there are boats where you only do one thing at a time.
Sailing doesn’t have to cost you anything. All you need is time to be able to do it. Many people who have multiple person boats are always looking for crew members willing to sail. You just have to get in touch with them. The best way to do this is to either join a club (which will cost money) or find friends who sail who need to crew.
If you get real good, people may pay you to sail with them. Or you can start to teach or coach sailing for money. People will even pay you to sail their boat home for them.
You CAN learn to sail for free. Yachting is no longer a rich man sport. The best way to learn to sail is to find a friend who knows how to sail. Ask him to go sailing to show you how to sail. Ask him if he needs a crew. Willing crew are in high demand today.
Networking will be well worth the effort once you have the knowledge of sailing. Whether you want to have a peaceful cruise…
…or high perfomance speed.
There is a type of sailing for you.
I want to make it clear that the easiest and best way to learn to sail is not to read this internet series. The best way is to get out there with a person who knows how to sail. You can do this by going with a friend or hiring an instructor.
This internet series is meant to help you along the way in your sailing education. I will start with the ground basics. However, in sailing there are many things I may skip over and overlook. I may not be able to answer all of your question. However, if you do have a question please ask by commenting.
The best way to learn to sail is through experience. You become good at sailing by doing it more. I have mentioned all the opertunities in this article. Next week I will tell you the basics of sailing such as points of wind, steering, and basic rigging.
There is an abundance of opertunities to sail out there. You only have to choose one. Many more opertunities will become available once you learn to sail. Along the way you will make new friends. You will enjoy the comradery of fellow sailors. By the way, the sailing community is one of the best parts of the sailing lifestyle. So why would you want to stay another second on this computer when you could be sailing? The opertunity is out there go get it.
At times, choosing which mark of a gate to round can seem to be like a game show guessing game. You know you want to pick the door with the prize, but what buoy do you want to pick?
What buoy is best?
The mark will be farther upwind.
The mark is closer to where there is the most wind on the race course.
In a steady breeze, you will want to round the mark so you have to sail less distance on the unfavored tack. In a oscillating breeze, you will want to round the mark so you can get to the next shift first.
If there are many boats and you have been unable to gain inside positioning, you may want to round a mark with less traffic than round the mark on the outside of many boats as shown here.
Take all three into consideration. If there are good qualities at both marks, you are going to have to use some personal judgement. If you don’t have good judgement skills, watch which buoys the boats ahead round; then look at their positioning on the new windward leg. Just make sure you make your buoy decision far in advanced so you have time to gain inside positioning.
Sailing will only be a guessing game if you make it so. You can’t see through doors of a game show, but before rounding the marks you can look around to gain the knowledge of the best mark to round. Don’t gamble when you don’t have to.
Many beginning sailors feel the boat goes fast when heeled. The boat may initially move faster because of less water resistance, but we know upwind this is not true because the boat tends to “side slip” off course. But what about downwind?
Downwind you are using very little centerboard to steer your course because you move in the same direction as the wind. The wind pushes you. Because the rudder and centerboard are a “non factor”, heel is no longer important. All of us tend to forget our beginner instincts on the downwind leg when it is legitimately important.
If there is enough wind, you want to heel the boat up as high to windward as possible for three reasons:
1. A heeled boat minimizes water resistance.
2. A heeled boat will raise the sail higher to where there is more wind higher in the air.
3. A heeled boat allows you to use less steering to sail a lower course because the boat turns down to the rhumb line due to windward heel.
Of course, use some common sense when it comes to the amount of heel you should use. Don't go overboard on the heel.
Bring back those beginner instincts where it matters: on the downwind!
It’s the last beat to windward. First place tacks on you to cover. Now you have to settle for second…right?
Wrong.
Before you start your upwind leg, know what side will receive the next wind shift. It does not matter if the boat ahead is “covering” you. All that matters is that the boat ahead is not between you and the next wind shift. Make that happen by getting in a tacking duel.
Get to a side of the cover like shown here. Then sail lower and faster to get to the next shift first.
Once the boat is not between you and the next shift, it does not matter if that boat is on the same tack as you. Now put your bow down and sail lower than you normally would to get to the next shift faster. If you tack on the shift first, you will gain.
Tacking skills can make or break races in many classes. The boat slows up dramatically when you tack. Slow is not good when you are trying to win a race, so every sailor tries to reduce the speed lost during a tack.
The structure of the tack can be broken down into three stages:
The initial turn is the beginning of the turn while your sails are still full. Steering should be gradual and slow. The main should be pulled in tight.
The middle of the turn is the part of the turn where you are luffing. Luffing is not fast because your sails are not full, so you want this part of the turn to be as fast as possible. The driver should give a quick jab to the tiller to get the boat around past this part of the turn.
The last part of the turn your sails are filled on the new side. Slowly and gradually steer the boat to close hauled. If the wind is light you might have to head down past close hauled to gain speed after the tack.
The basic steering maneuver is slow – fast – slow. Sail luffing should be minimized as much as possible. Of coarse, you have to do all the fancy foot working, hand switching, head ducking, and side switching. With all that shenanigans going on at once, tacking should be practiced as much as possible.
It should also be mentioned that tacking (and jibing) should be done when there is the most wind pressure. Since tacking slows you down the most, it makes sense to do it when you are going the fastest.
If you minimize the times (like during tacking) you are going slow, you will maximize the chances of reaching your goal.
What buoy is best?
