http://www.boatinternational.com | June 2017ON BOARD
PHOTOGRAPH: LAND ROVER BART
he America’s Cup racing starts in the
next few weeks and when the action
gets going, watch out for the pre-start- it’s one of the most critical stages. We expect
that by the time the Cup has been won, the
statistics will show that around 75 per cent
of the boats that lead at mark one will have
gone on to win the race.
The pre-start routine assigns one boat to
each end of the line, with the port boat entering
the start area at two minutes and 10 seconds
before the start gun. It gives it the opportunity
to cross ahead of the starboard boat, which
enters at two minutes. Once both boats are
into the start box, the fight for the favoured
position on the line begins. The key points
to watch out for are the boat positioning, an
accurate estimation of time on distance to the
line and the acceleration. Those are
really the three key factors that will
determine the outcome at the start,
and it all happens so fast that this
one is really on the helmsman.
On the way to mark one, the
boat in front is likely to extend its
lead because at the speeds these
boats go the breeze will deflect
back to the boat behind. The loss
from being behind at the start
carries on for quite a long period,
until the boats have exited mark
one and are at least 100 or 200
metres into the downwind leg.
At this point it’s generally the decision of
the boat behind whether to gybe away early,
looking for better breeze, or to stick behind
the lead boat. The boundary becomes a key
factor at this point. The decision is whether
to go all the way to the boundary and save on
the number of manoeuvres, or to do extra
manoeuvres and try to be in a better breeze.
The other factor with manoeuvres is the
energy consumed in dropping and lifting the
daggerboards. The grinders need to retain
enough energy to get the boat to the finish.
The first leeward gate is often a really
critical moment in the race, particularly for the
boat behind. It must try to find an opportunity
to split away because traditionally we have
seen that if you follow the lead boat around the
leeward gate it’s then very, very hard to find
some kind of split and make a pass.
The boat ahead is trying to ensure that it
can be on the same rounding – rounding the
same gate mark as the boat behind and, if not,
then at least to force the other boat into an
extra manoeuvre. Obviously it is the opposite
for the boat behind, which wants to create the
split with as little fuss as possible.
The next upwind leg will be about using the
boundaries to minimise the number of tacks
and energy consumption, but with the wind
coming off the land you can’t totally ignore
the wind shifts and the puffs coming down
the course. It is a big trade-off on how hardto push the boundaries and how
much weight to put on the wind
shift, and it also depends on what
the opposition is doing. If there has
been a split created at the leeward
gate, it is very hard for the lead boat
to get control of the boat behind
again, because of the energy
consumed in these manoeuvres.
Then we have the final
downward leg to the leeward gate and the
reach to the finish. Once the boats get through
that final leeward gate there aren’t any options
left for the boat behind.
Finally, the manoeuvres are going to be
really important this time around, with teams
sailing laps in the right conditions without
touching down (coming off the foils and
back into displacement sailing). If you get a
manoeuvre wrong and touch down then the
race is pretty much over, unless the opposition
also makes a mistake.
So although boat speed is critical, the start
and the manoeuvring will also be key, and
executing them perfectly could well decide
this Cup. No pressure on the big day then... BTactics for
triumph
It’s not just your speed but your positioning
and manoeuvres that make for victory
on the racecourse, says Sir Ben Ainslie012345678934
BLACKYELLOWMAGENTACYAN 91BOIJUN17115.pgs 21.04.2017 14:26ART
PRODUCTION
CLIENT
SUBS
REPRO OP
VERSION
OB Ben