Monday Morning Tactician Upwind Strategy

by Andrew Campbell on 16 Apr 2008 This week I have a more general point to make about upwind strategy in shifty conditions. More than half of the 10 days of training that we had here in Hyeres last week were from an offshore direction making for shifty and puffy conditions. In the last quarter of any beat into a weather mark, there is a huge priority placed on hitting the last shift into the mark. Even if you have been winning the race for the entire upwind leg, your positioning relative the fleet preceding that last shift can make or break the rest of the race.

An important skill to have to improve your positioning in this endgame at the top of each beat is the ability to see, anticipate, and pursue the next puff up the racecourse. For instance, if you are approaching the windward mark just shy of the layline on starboard tack even if you are looking at the entire fleet on the port layline in your window, they could be better position for a left shift into the mark.

When you find yourself in this position you are then forced to make a judgment between continuing on your starboard tack close-hauled angle and sailing as though the breeze will not change, or improving your position by footing off towards the fleet to leeward and closing the distance between you and the next puff. In the diagram below, I hope to convey the fact that the yellow boat is better off after and footing towards the rest of the fleet, moving into Position 1, than he would be having only sailed on a closehauled course, into Position 2.

Because most boats accelerate as they crack off from closehauled onto a footing angle, then it is feasible that most boats would be able to take advantage of sailing slightly more distance across the racecourse if they were at a higher speed. If the VMG (velocity made good) up the racecourse are similar between footing and closehauled, and even if it is slightly disadvantageous to foot on a purely VMG basis, it still may be tactically beneficial to position yourself better on the racecourse.

This is something that is not always easy to grasp for sailboat racers, especially those who have spent their entire racing careers trying to make their speed around the racecourse better. When sailing against most of the European Laser fleet it is clear that many of the sailors have been schooled in a sailing strategy that is wholly focused on sailing as fast as you can all the time. Here comes the biggest secret in sailboat racing: the fastest sailors do not always win regattas.

I'll try and write another column exclusively about this in coming weeks, but often champion sailors are the fastest boat on the racecourse. However there are many scenarios where holding up and not going full speed can be beneficial to your overall race results. This upwind positioning scenario is a perfect example of when it is not necessarily superior strategy to sail the most efficient closehauled course. By footing off towards an oncoming header, you are able to cut out the potential disadvantage of a left shift (a starboard-tack header) by closing the lateral advantage that the fleet has by being on the left side of the racecourse.

Monday Morning Tactician Says:
As soon as you realize that the next shift to affect you and the rest of the boats on the course will be more beneficial to the other boats, then it is often wise to cut your forthcoming losses and close the distance between you and the other boats. The diagram shows a scenario where you can not only cut future losses due to a left shift, but also consolidate the gains you've made up the rest of the beat by positioning yourself between the rest of the fleet and the next mark… always a sound strategy.

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