Yachts & Yachting — March 2018

(fig 2, position 2). That is the concept

of leverage. But if all the boats

continue on the same tack, a right

shift to the original direction will

eliminate this ‘paper gain’.

However if the boat on the left tacks

and crosses the boats on her right, she

has banked the gain and is immune to

the wind shifting back to its original

direction. Having banked her gain she is

now ready to position for the next one.

Can I stop them

banking their gain?

Red, Orange, Yellow, and Green are

on starboard tack, equally advanced

up the course but separated sideways

across the course (fig 2). If the wind

shifts left, they are all headed, as

above. Green tacks to bank the gain.

While the wind remains in a left phase,

she is consolidating her gain all the

time that she is converging with the

boats on starboard tack. To prevent

this, Red tacks as soon as Green

tacks, maintaining the status quo and

setting up for the next right shift.

Ignore paper losses

If Green had not tacked in fig 2, Red

would be seriously tempted to tack on

a header as soon as the boats to her left

Oh D’oh

Don’t let them bank

IN ASSOCIATION WITH MANUFACTURERS OF PERFORMANCE HARDWARE

Avoiding the laylines:

leading back

As we get further up the course, and

closer to the laylines, look for any good

opportunity to lead back towards the

centre of the course. A favourable shift,

a clear lane, a patch of pressure might

all give that opportunity. The ‘long leg

fi rst’ principle applies equally when

we are three-quarters of the way up

the beat. Closer to the layline, the fl eet

gets more congested, and as we have

seen, a shift in either direction gives

more chance of a gain to the boats

closer to the centre of the course.

Where are the shift lines?

Once on the layline, any shift will

give a signifi cant advantage to the

boats inside the layline. If you do fi nd

yourself approaching a layline before

the last quarter of the beat in random

conditions, don’t wait until you can

lay the mark. Tack when you’d lay the

mark in the most extreme favourable

shift likely: the grey lines in fi gure

1. If the wind shifts, this will give an
   advantage over boats that have sailed
   If the boat on the left tacks and crosses the all the way to the traditional layline.

boats on her right, she has banked the gain

Remember: You are

still in the race!

The fi rst boat at the windward

mark may not have used a

conservative positioning strategy,

but unless he is exceptionally fast,

or he knows something that you

don’t about the conditions, he

won’t be fi rst every time. Applying

the principles of positioning in

tricky conditions may not be

a race winning strategy, but it

could be a series winning one.

start appearing in front of her mast. That

is great if the port tack takes her to the

centre of the course, or, for example, if

she knows that the wind will clock back.

However, if she does not really know

what is going to happen next, she is then

increasing the leverage unnecessarily,

leaving herself exposed to a potential

shift further up the beat. The gain to

the boats on the left is not consolidated

until they start to converge, the

conservative move for Red is therefore

to keep going in the same direction

as the pack until they start to tack.

Wind left overstood!

Wind right: header!

Track if no change

Shift lines

Laylines at start

Wind’s gone left: let’s bank

1

2

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