Clear air
Using windshifts
Light air
Heavy air
Current
Reaching
Running
Small fleets

A Strategy and Tactics Primer

by
Shevy Gunter


This piece is mostly based on Stuart Walker's Advanced Racing Tactics.


Avoid Major Mistakes, such as:
· Failing to understand the instructions
· Failing to check the wind and the current
· Failing to attain clear air at the start
· Failing to attain freedom to tack early
· Failing to recognize wind shifts and oscillations
· Failing to recognize wind and current strength differences over the playing field
· Failing to avoid right of way boats
· Failing to plan the best approach and departure from each mark
· Failing to steer properly due to lack of concentration

Attain Clear Air:
· Avoid being backwinded more than being blanketed

· Upwind:

Bear away and foot through to leeward, or
Tack away

· Windward mark:

Overstand and reach in, or
Approach on port and tack close to mark

· Reaches:

Sail high in gusty or increasing winds
Sail low in steady or decreasing winds

· Runs:

Luff away and foot through to windward, or
Gybe away

· Leeward mark:

Sail wide and reach in high

Upwind Use of Shifts:
· In a persistent shift, sail the headed tack toward the shift first, and then the lifted tack to the mark.
· In an oscillating shift, sail the lifted tack, tacking on each header.

Downwind Use of Shifts:
· In a persistent shift, sail the gybe away from the shift first, and then the headed tack to the mark.
· In an oscillating shift, sail the headed tack, gybing on each lift.

Light Air Strategies:
· Avoid the middle, head for the windier side.
· Stay away from other boats. Achieve speed rather than pointing.
· Treat all shifts as oscillations.
· Tack only when an advantage is acquired, or
· Tack only when there is a major increase in wind on the other side of the course.

Heavy Air Strategies:
· Achieve low leeway and speed, before trying to head up and point.
· Avoid tacking, especially lee-bow tacks and especially before the start.
· Shoot for long approaches to the start line.
· Stay away from boats to leeward.
· Tack well short of laylines.
· Utilize waves to increase speed.

Current Strategies:
· Current pushes all boats at the same rate regardles of their angle of attack!
· Select the side of each leg that provides the most favorable (least unfavorable) current.
· Steer to the next mark to take into account the current's drift effect.
· Approach a mark on the tack (or gybe) on which the current is more favorable.
· Compensate for the current's drift effect more when the exposure to current will be longer.
. In an uneven cross-current and anything but light winds, use the current-induced persistent shifts.

Reaching Strategies:
· Decide whether to go high or low on the next reaach before rounding the mark.
· Adjust sail trim continuously.
· If leading, reach low at the beginning of the first reach until the followers round the mark.
· When the wind is moderate and steady, sail the rhumb line.
· When the wind is variable, sail high in the lulls and low in the gusts.
· When the wind is dying, sail low first and then high for the mark rounding.
· When the wind is light but increasing, sail high first and then lower for the mark rounding.
· When the wind is strong, sail the waves to facilitate planing and/or surfing.
· Sail to stay inside at the gybe mark.
· Go high immediately at the beginning of the second reach.

Tight Reaching Strategies:

· Go high initially without a spinnaker, and set spinnaker later if:

- the wind is light but increasing,
- the wind is moderate and variable,
- the wind is expected to shift forward.

· Go low initially with a spinnaker, and douse later if:

- the wind is light and dying,
- the wind is strong and planing or surfing is possible,
- the wind is expected to shift back.

Running Strategies:
· Survey the course downwind before reaching the weather mark!
· Break away from any congestion at the mark before assuming the preferred gybe.
· Round to a higher course than the optimal to stay to windward.
· Helmsman should not handle the mainsail rounding either the weather or the leeward mark.
· After rounding the weather mark, sail the gybe better aligned with the rhumb line first.
· Ceteris paribus, the favored tack upwind is the unfavored tack downwind.
· Sail at the optimal angle to the apparent wind for the wind speed experienced.
· Blanket the boats ahead.
· Approach the leeward mark wide and then, sail high to round, unless approach is dead downwind.

6-10 Boat Races are Match-Races!
· During the starting sequence, hold competitors close to windward, or follow them close astern.
· Ignore wind shifts unless absolutely certain you will gain by tacking or gybing.
· Once you gained on other boats, consolidate your gain and cover loosely.
· Tack or gybe to stay between followers and the next mark.
· Tack dead ahead or to lee-bow of competitors instead of crossing them ahead.
· If crossing astern, tack to weather quarter of leader boat to prevent her from tacking.
· If not leading, initiate tacking and gybing duals (only if competition is close).
· Carry windward boats past laylines.
· Slow down to force boats taking your stern to either crash-tack or fall off (going upwind). Do not forget to hail!