Sailing Start Line Tips: How To Avoid a Bad Race Start
A good start cannot win you a race but a bad one can lose it for you. Jon Emmett takes a look at some of the classic errors made on the startline.
In a previous article we highlighted that in order to win, you first have to finish! While this is most definitely true, getting a good start can make a huge difference to the outcome of a race. Now while many coaches will tell you that starting is 70% of the race, or a similar figure… my answer to that is 47.5% of statistics are made up on the spot but of course good starting is very much a key part to becoming a championship-winning sailor.
So how to have a good start? Well, a good starting point would be to avoid the biggest errors which is the key idea of this article. After all you generally have a much better chance of winning a 10-race regatta if you have 10 good starts rather than five amazing starts and five awful starts. Consistency is vital.
A side note is perhaps the start (and I include the pre-start in that) is where the most focus of the entire race is required, because often there is the most at stake. If we look at the modern trend of sailors, then the tendency now is towards much leaner and more muscular sailors. This is especially true for the explosive nature of starting. Simply put, full time sailors are in general stronger and leaner than they have ever been. An improvement in fitness is not only good for your general health, especially as you get older (lean muscle mass is a good indicator of life expectancy) but will definitely help you sail faster, and the ability to explode off the start line at nearly 100% work rate is a must.
At the beginning of the article we said in order to win you have to finish, well in the same theme in order to have a good start you have to be able to cross the line. So let us deal with this first because sometimes it is simply not possible to cross the line at start time:
The pin end
The danger at the pin is that you cannot cross the line and indeed, if you tack you could be trying to cross the line on port against a wall of starboard tackers, meaning a wall of dirty air or even ducking most of the fleet, or a gybe around could mean going behind the entire fleet. Bearing in mind that your decision to start at the pin may not have been just line bias, but the fact it makes it easier to go left.
Another consideration is if the pin end of the line is biased it means that on starboard tack you are “crossing the line” much slower than on port tack because of your relative angle to the line (if the line was ridiculously biased you might not be able to cross on starboard tack at all). So factor in how much space you need to cross not only the line but also the anchor chain on the pin-end boat.
Worst case scenario is hitting and getting stuck to the pin. Avoid this at all costs. If in doubt access the risks/rewards and consider baling out early. Remember if you can cross the line and you want to go left, then as long as you can cross the line, even with a poor start, you can probably foot off to find clean air and avoid getting into a large number of tacks to clean area / find a lane which is often associated with a poor start towards the middle of the line. For every race you need a plan A but you also need a plan B!
Committee boat (or starboard end)
The danger here is the door is shut! You have to avoid the leeward boats already on the line and you literally cannot get to the line because there is no gap. Generally speaking for most classes, the higher the level of competition, the earlier the whole fleet starts to line up, especially on a very biased line.
The waiting area to windward of the committee boat is rarely a safe place to be in a highly competitive fleet and still not a good place to practise being in, for a club race! What you practise becomes permanent. The committee boat is often popular in a right-hand favoured course, where you want to be one of the first boats to tack after the start. If you are near the boat, even with a poor start, there should be the opportunity to tack, find a lane and go the way you wish. The key assessment is whether you’ll be able to cross the line at start time.
This is perhaps the most common error when people are new to racing, they end up in the ‘waiting’ area to the right of the committee boat looking upwind, hoping a gap will open up. Often it doesn’t, perhaps because you underestimate the drift rate or the wind went right. You will have to wait for those in front to start first, putting you at a huge disadvantage, but whatever happens don’t be tempted to barge in and infringe, and possibly damage a leeward boat, you won’t have a good race and certainly won’t make friends this way.
If either end of the line is a boat not a buoy with a flag this also makes several differences: a large (wide, tall and long) committee boat can have a huge effect on the wind behind it. That wind shadow may well extend for quite a long way. This impacts both the ability to hold station and to accelerate.
The actual start line is also the orange flag. Be careful there may be more than one mast of the boat so which one actually has the flag? A flag at the back of the pin-end boat may mean it is hard to cross the start line, especially if the anchor is not weighted down. It won’t do you much good if you are behind the line at start time, comfortably cross the line, then snag your rudder on the anchor rope.
Likewise, if the flag is well forward then the difference between starting behind the line or behind the boat may be several boat lengths and close boat manoeuvres like a double tack can be pretty sketchy on the line in close proximity to other boats, and you may also have to factor in not crossing the line if in the final minute of a U or black flag start.
The fact is that starting by both ends is a time and distance exercise: if I am here at 90 seconds, where will I be at 60 seconds, 30 seconds and the final 10 seconds (or whenever you start your acceleration). Wind strength, direction, sea state, and perhaps especially current, can all be measured. If the start line is busy then you can look at the downwind gate/leeward mark to get your time and distance. At 90 seconds you should be confident you can get to where you want to be. At 10 seconds to go you probably already know if you are going to have a good start or not.
The biggest mistake with a midline start is usually being behind the line, because with or without a transit it is much easier to judge the line near an end. A true midline start is rarely a good idea because effectively 50% of the fleet can start ahead of you (depending on line bias) and 50% can get to the favoured end of the course quicker than you. Therefore I would only suggest a near the middle of the line start when you truly are not sure the best course to sail or maybe, just maybe, in super shifty conditions!
Boat speed is the key
The expression late out of bed, late to the club, late to launch, late to start and late to finish has never been truer. Give yourself the time you need, not only to plan your start but your strategy for the day, weekend, week or however long the race/regatta lasts. A good routine will make everything better.
The higher performance the boat the quicker everything can happen, likewise for big heavy boats the acceleration to top speed may take much longer and rely on many members of the team. What you practise becomes permanent, so try and learn how your boat performs in many different conditions/scenarios.
We should at this stage think about risk reward. How important is a good start in this particular race? If it is a long race and you are very quick in the conditions, it would be a big mistake to risk an OCS, UFD or similar. Likewise if a good start in a really important race perhaps in really light airs, a one way track, or conditions you don’t find easy, then the start becomes more important. If racing is really heavily favoured to one side of the course, not starting at the correct end could be considered very risky.
You may also, depending upon the event/race number in the series (near the end of the series it may only be possible to beat/be beaten by a few boats), want to pay special attention to a rival(s) maybe starting near them to keep the leverage down. One thing is for sure if the whole fleet is at one side of the line, you would have to be pretty confident to start at the other end of the line all on your own. If the fleet is completely evenly split down the line it either means the race officer has set an amazingly square line with an unbiased course, or most of the fleet don’t know which side of the course is going to be favoured.
Often, we talk about flat off the start line in dinghies (for many keelboats optimum lee heel increases waterline length and foilers need windward heel so perhaps we should say optimum balance). Certainly, the first 100 metres are crucial in any race to establish a clear lane and the options to go where you want. Indeed, more places are probably won and lost in the first 30 seconds before and 30 seconds after start time than any other minute in the race. However, is flat always the fastest way to sail, this is a worthy topic for another article!
Finally, timing… It should go without saying but all the boat speed and positioning is pointless if the timing is wrong. Too early and you are OCS, too late and you are rolled and in dirty area. This is why when training, time and distance exercises are so important and, in multi-crewed boats good communication is vital. Time on distance can change with the smallest shift, gust, lull, current or just a coming wave set so keep your head ‘out of the boat’!.
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