Leverage

A race on Sunday got me thinking about making and consolidating gains upwind. In the race there were a number of occasions I deliberately stuck close to or tried to get away from competitors sailing upwind.
If you are close to another sailor, and providing the shifts aren't massive, any wind shift will likely yield small gains or losses. As you get further apart gains or losses are likely to be bigger.
This is known as leverage. This diagram shows briefly what happens if all boats are struck by the same wind shift.



In the first diagram all 3 boats are making equal progress upwind 





The wind has now headed all boats, the boat furthest to the right now has the advantage. This situation would be reversed if the wind lifted.

 



As the diagrams shows, middle is close to right so loses a small amount. Left is further away, the loss is greater.

In addition to the consideration of leverage. If you are far from another boat you are more likely to get gusts and shifts that they don't and visa versa.

Back to the race. It was in Lasers, I was leading and wanted to stay that way. After one lap I was closely pursued by another sailor. I was keen to get a buffer between myself and him. Shortly after the leeward mark I saw more wind on the left of the course and it appeared boats over that side were getting a good lift on port. This corresponded with what I had noticed before the start (as it was shifty and gusty, this wasn't always the case, but seemed to be more often the favoured side).

 

I had an opportunity when my closest rival tacked early on to port, I stayed on starboard. I wanted to get a good distance from him to maximise any gains. It was a risk, but I was feeling very confident in my predictions. Fortunately it worked and I build a good 10 to 15 boat length lead at the windward mark. If it hadn't I would have had another lap and a half to regain the lead.

On the following beat (and last lap) I still had this nice cushion. I had two boats behind me who split tacks and went opposite ways. Knowing I could afford to loose some ground I kept to the middle watching my closest competition. When towards the end of the beat one appeared to be gaining I headed over that way to reduce the leverage. I lost just over half of my lead, but was able to go on and win the race. It wasn't the best beat I could have sailed in terms of tacking on the best shifts, but was controlled and calculated to allow me to hold on to a race win.

 

Two beats and two different tactics from the lead, first to build up a lead early in the race when I was feeling confident, then to keep the lead towards the end of the race.

Thinking in terms of leverage can also be very useful when trying to catch and pass people.

Sometimes it can pay to try to get far from your competition, big gains are possible. So are big losses though. Other occasions it is best to stay closer and chip away at a lead. Weigh up the options and decide the level of risk suitable.  

A few years ago I was racing a Queen Mary SC in a Laser. On this occasion, after a few laps I was coming second, a reasonable distance back from the leading boat. The wind was oscillating about every 4 minutes. The leading boat was close to being in tune with the shifts. There was little point in sailing away from him, as losses would have been likely. Instead I chose to tack on the shifts, gradually I closed the gap upwind, to finish a close second. On this occasion the win wasn't likely, but by keeping close I could have capitalised on any mistake, and could have got a good gust downwind, and didn't risk loosing any positions to the boats behind.

 

When you are next racing keep a close eye on your nearest competition. Do you want to keep close by, or increase the leverage by heading off on the opposite tack. It won't always work, but by considering the situation you can end up being a lot more consistent.

 

 

Starting weekend one.

Here follows an analysis on the first weekend in my aim to improve starting.

News to report.

A successful day of racing. Three races, one great start, one acceptable start and one fairly poor start.
What happened:
Before race one we spent some time finding a good transit, and then sitting on the line using the transit to get a feel of where the line was. Lesson learnt here was that sailing slowly away from the committee boat on port with the boat and pin in line was a good way to sight a transit. Stopping for long enough to identify a transit on starboard was hard.
The bias was moderately starboard, there was little advantage to be gained by going left, so starting next to the committee boat seemed the preferred option. Only problem was it was going to be busy. As stated in my previous post my goal was to be brave.
What happened and lessons learnt.

Start one was ok, was on the line (pre start exercises worked) at the starboard end, but came in on a close reach and was a little at the mercy of other boats, could have been travelling a bit faster, and controlled the boats around us a bit more.
Before the second race we practised accelerating from stopped, working on a set procedure.  We made a note of how long in terms of distance and time it took us to get up to speed. In the Merlin in a force 2-3, seven to 10 seconds seemed about right.

Start two. Came in  to the line far too close to the committee boat and was prevented from getting a good start due to boats luffing and blocking our path. Big mistake.
On a positive note accelerated well, and managed to get clear wind soon after the start.
Lessons learnt. Find the starboard layline to the committee boat end of the line, and approach from just above it, controlling boats above to get a clean start.

Start 3. As there were 2 starts before ours, we used a lot of the preparatory signals to practise accelerating and hitting the line at full speed, as the gun went.
This time the approach to the line was perfect, luffed hard to protect the committee boat end of the line. Timed the approach well and hit the line flat out, only one boat (who was well over the start line) was in front of us.
Great feeling when all the practise paid off, hopefully wasn't OCS and converted the start into a win. Will have to wait until next weekend for the results......

Next time you go sailing try to have some similar goals, and really analyse how it went. Writing a log is a great way to reflect, and can lead to some really significant improvements in your sailing.
Looking forward to the next time..

Coming up with a plan

Unlike most normal sailors, for me, the shortening of the days and the onset of colder weather signals a time to get some regular sailing in.
The boat is rigged ready to go, all I need now is for the wind to blow on a Sunday (something it sadly didn't last weekend.)
The prospect of time on the water has got me thinking about my own sailing and what to work on over the next few months, and more importantly how to work on it.

First step is to identify the biggest weakness(s) that are going to make the biggest differences. More about this later.
For me my biggest issue is easy to find. My starts are shocking. Too much time coaching and not enough time on busy start lines has left me woefully inept at starting of late.
Ok so I need to work on starts. But starts are a big topic, I need to be more specific and identify which areas need attention.
I can find the correct end, and I am ok at coming up with a plan for after the start.
It all falls down when it gets busy, I'm not aggressive enough and I don't control the boats around me enough.
Consequently I get buried or find myself shying away from the busy bit.

Right, now what am I going to do about it?
For me personally I feel I'm sometimes not confident about exactly where the line is, so am worried about being over.
Plan
Next race day for all starts, I am going to spend 10 minutes before the race finding transits, and running practise starts so I am super confident where the start line is.
On the start itself I am going to concentrate on using this practise and make sure I am on the line. If I am over and it messes up my race I won't worry. I will see it as an opportunity to practise sailing through the fleet.
Hopefully this will help on this area.
Right now to look at the how to get in the mix a bit more.

For the two or three weeks after, I want to really focus on this and deliberately put myself in an aggressive starting position.
Skills needed to be in a tight fleet and get a good start, are close quarter manoeuvring, stopping and accelerating, and timed runs into the line. Get out a little early and practise these.

On the starts I want to try a range of tactics. If port biased I am going to try a few different starts. The first is getting on the line early and hold position, defend my leeward gap, and get a good start near the pin.
The second is approach on port, tack on to starboard to leeward of the fleet, and hold them up to win the pin.
If starboard biased, I will try finding a gap, then defending hard at the boat end to try to be in the first row at the start.
The other option I plan to try is a timed run in on the lay line for the starboard end.
My aim is not to just go for a good start, but to aim to get the best start, and risk being over. , which should then help me with the confidence to get a good start in the future.

Closely analysing what needs to get better and coming up with a specific plan to improve, is a big step to improving your sailing, and don't just think it, ink it.
Ideally find a bit more time to get on the water and spend a few hours dedicated practise, or if not possible get on the water 20 minutes earlier and practise then. If you are willing to potentially sacrifice a few race results it may pay dividends in the future.

I will let you know how the plan went.....
Fingers crossed for some decent wind, and some heavily biased, and very busy start lines.

How do the pro's tack?

One area of sailing that has been on my mind lately, in terms of coaching and my own personal sailing is the tack.
In tacks, it seems to me that there are several consistencies through most wind strengths, and between boats that are fundamental to a good tack.

As a manoeuvre it can be done at a fairly simple level, success comes easily.
Some will be happy with coming out of their tack with the wind on the other side of the sails, and sat on the new side of the boat. Others strive for a more complete tacking experience, aiming to control the rudder through the tack and steer tidily through the minimum distance required coming out plum on the wind on the new tack.
Others will delve further into the mysteries of maintaining speed through the turn seeking out the roll tack.

However I have found from coaching and sailing at club level and at open meetings, that there is a difference from most of the tacks I see (and most of the time do myself) and what the best in the world are doing.
Have a look at this video and see what you think.

I am sure most can identify a few points that could do with practise in their own tack, myself included.
I am always impressed by the speed that is maintained throughout each of the tacks.
How is this done? It is subtle and needs a good watch of videos to really appreciate what is happening.

 The key areas that I find really sets these tacks apart from the average, is the entry and the flick through the wind.
First the entry. Focus on the tiller movement in the videos. It isn't a sudden movement, but rather a gradual progressive action.
The boat is gradually introduced to the tack, very slight leeward heel and the main sheeted in encourages the boat to sail in to the turn.


The Flick. Just before the boat reaches head to wind, as the power starts to come out of the sail, the boat is rolled aggressively to windward, coordinated with an increase in the amount of rudder used.
The timing and force of this is probably the hardest part of the tack.
Done well, as can be seen from the videos, the boat spins through the eye of the wind with speed.

For me the second tack by Paul Goodison is about as near to perfect as I have seen, and leaves me with no doubt of the countless hours he has spent honing his skill, and why he is deservedly one of the best sailors in the world.

What I see are main advantages from the above are....
The entry being gradual, carries speed into the tack, and also gains ground upwind on every tack, compared to tacks that are initiated with a more aggressive rudder movement.

The flick through the wind gets the boat through the no power zone quickly, and also seems to give a pump to the sail to give the boat speed at this critical moment.

YouTube is a fantastic resource, spend a while analysing a few of the best tacks on the web, and picture yourself in the boat. Then put it in to practise.

Happy sailing
Andy

Let your competition be your coach.

On Saturday I was running some windsurf training.
Running alongside was a junior windsurf regatta, (T15 for those that are familiar with the RYA initiative.)
After the racing one of the racers who I know (age 12) came and spoke to me. I asked him what he learnt from the racing today. His answer was one that many racers could learn from.

Tom "I watched the guys who were sailing better than me, if they were pointing higher or going faster, I tried to do what they were doing. I also tried to be more consistent than they were over all the races"
As it turned out this tactic served him very well as he managed to win his class, against, by his own admission better windsurfers than he was.
I tried a similar tactic at a recent Laser open at Frensham pond SC.
In the second race I finished second, the sailor who won was very strong in two areas.
Firstly his leeward mark rounding's were very efficient, gaining him half a boat length over the competition at the start of every beat. He was also consistently fast and pointing well upwind.
In between the races and over the next two races I worked on this, and managed to improve on my performance in these areas.
Unfortunately other areas of weakness held me back, and a 4th place finish was the best I could manage on the day. Never the less I left with a sense of satisfaction that I had taken another step forward, and had identified some areas of my sailing to work on.

Next time you go sailing try taking a leaf out of Tom's book. Treat the sailors ahead as your own personal coaches. It takes the sting out of being beaten, and gives you a way of getting better.

Happy sailing
Andy

Welcome

Hi
Welcome to my first ever blog.
The aim of the blog is to collect some of my musings, with regards to the ever complicated subject of racing dinghies.
Hopefully some of the blogs will help you to get more out of your racing, in terms of enjoyment and ultimately results.
If anything works for you, or you have found something out as a result of trying any of my tips, please let me know so I can continue to develop my own coaching.
Happy sailing
Andy