Yachts & Yachting – August 2019

FEATURE COWES WEEK PREVIEW

constant vigilance as the tide changes

around the Solent. It’s worth studying

starts before yours, from a distance,

before your own start line preparation,

in the nal 10-minute sequence.

Providing you are able to keep clear

of others, try practice starts by following

other eets. Aim to get good transits for

your chosen spot on the line and to make

timed runs. is is particularly useful

for downwind starts, where it’s easy to be

too conservative and therefore very late.

4. ON THE COURSE
   With typical Cowes Week courses the
   next leg is always more complex than in
   your average windward-leeward race,
   so it’s vital to think one leg ahead. For
   example you need to know how you
   will get up the next beat well before
   you get to the leeward mark. For those
   not familiar with racing in the Solent,
   tidal strategy is always more important
   than wind strategy. Equally, the side
   on which the spinnaker is best hoisted
   at the end of an upwind leg may not
   be immediately obvious in advance.


5. CROSS-TIDE REACHING LEGS
   ese are a common feature of
   Cowes Week courses, yet many boats
   fail to take an optimal straight line
   course to the next mark, which hands
   opportunities to competitors further
   down the eet – in a big eet there are
   occasions in which boats can gain as
   many as 20 places. If the mark can be

seen at the start of the leg, the optimum

course keeps it stationary against the

background, on a transit. If it can’t be

seen, boats using GPS can compare

the COG data with the bearing to the

mark. For those without GPS, use a

hand-bearing compass to keep the mark

you’ve just rounded on a back-bearing

that leads you to the next mark. e

Buoy Racer chart from Winning Tides

is pre-marked with these bearings.

In both cases, as soon as you have a

visual identication of the mark ahead,

again steer to a transit, keeping it

Above

Tidal strategy

is often more

important than

wind strategy at

Cowes Week

Below

Entertainment

ashore is never

in short supply

stationary against the shoreline beyond.

Whether or not to hoist a spinnaker

for part of the leg can be a dicult

decision if there’s no chance of holding

it for the entire leg. Aer rounding

the windward mark, the leaders may

need to sail a little high to protect their

wind, which points towards a late hoist,

carrying the sail into the mark. On

the other hand a mid-eet boat may

choose an early hoist if it enables them

to sail a lower course in clear air.

If two-sail reaching, the headsail

should be sheeted as far outboard as

possible to reduce twist, while the

main should be fully powered up,

with backstay and outhaul eased, but

enough vang tension to keep the top

batten just out to leeward of the boom.

6. LEEWARD DOWNTIDE
   MARK ROUNDINGS
   A late spinnaker drop downtide is
   not just simply a case of losing one
   boat length – to regain that distance
   against the stream takes a lot of time.
   It’s important to get the kite down early
   and make a clean rounding. A common
   mistake is to use the visual distance to
   the mark to call the drop, but for classes
   that are allowed instruments, the GPS
   ‘time to waypoint’ function gives a much
   more accurate indication of the time le.
   In both cases an early drop will result
   in minimal time lost, whereas a late
   one can easily cost many boat lengths.


7. SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
   Given that Cowes Week racing is more
   complex than short windward-leeward
   courses, more head-out-of-the-boat

Use a hand-bearing compass to keep the

mark you’ve just rounded on a back-bearing

PHOTOS: PAUL WYETH/LENDY COWES WEEK; ALEX IRWIN/SPORTOGRAPHY.TV; INGRID ABERY

24 Yachts & Yachting August 2019 yachtsandyachting.co.uk