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