Hi Keay
I (mostly) agree with Pat. A port tack start is very high risk-high reward, and
the pin end has to be pretty favored and you have to hit the line going full
speed to clear everyone. Even the pros pull that off maybe once a season and
remember it fondly....
Determining the favored end of the line is important BUT keep in mind that
everyone else should be doing the same thing. So, if one end is favored by 10
degrees or more, there is likely to be a big clump of boats at that end.
Tactically, I think it's much better to be away from the pack. Clear air, with
no one above you giving you dirty air, and no one below yoyu so you can put the
bow down and accelerate when you want, is much better than being in a big clump
of boats at the favored end.
From your diagram (recognizing that it's not to scale), it may have been a good
move to tack to leeward of the pack-from there you control your own destiny.
Before the gun you can luff anyone above you who threatens to roll over you, and
you have plenty of space below you, so just before the gun you can put the bow
down and accelerate. One general principal to keep in mind-if there is a boat
or pack of boats approaching on the other takc that you won't cross, you're
usually better off tacking to leeward of them. You keep clear air and maintain
the chance to cross them later. If you cross behind someone, you've
consolidated your loss rather than keeping the chance of maybe crossing ahead
later. There was a very good article about this in Sailing World recently-when
you want to tack to leeward vs when you want to cross behind to the other side
of the course, depending on how far up the course you are (i.e. the closer to
the mark you are, the fewer tacks there are in your future, and the more you
want to get to the right to have starboard advantage).
The main thing at the start is to be on the line going full speed with clear
air. That takes good knowledge of your boat's acceleration and an ability to
judge how quickly it will cover the distance to the line. A good drill is to
sail past bouys when you're out sailing, both maintaining speed and starting
from a dead stop. From some distance away, guess how quickly you'll pass the
bouy, and then time yourself. For example, on the way to the start as you pass
then channel markers, look for a bouy 25 yards away and guess how long till you
pass it. Look at your watch and see you you did as you go by. You can even do
this motoring, just to guage the time and distance. Then get used to timing how
fast your boat accelerates from a tack, or a dead stop. I'd say the ability to
judge that is the #1 skill to good starts. Then, when you're actually on the
line, be going fast with as much room around you as you can manage, for maximum
clear air and as many options as possible. Then just sail clean and fast for
the first couple minutes, and you'll find that half the fleet was sailing in bad
air, or had to ytack 2-3 times while you were going fast, and then you're at
least in the top half or third of the fleet on the first beat, just for having
stayed out of traffic.
Good luck this weekend-have fun
Mike Kennedy
Pariah #146
________________________________
From: Nancy & Pat Broderick <broderic at sonic.net>
To: keay at keay3.net
Cc: tuna at myfleet.org
Sent: Mon, November 29, 2010 5:45:32 PM
Subject: Re: [Santana 22] More questions
Keay,
Starting is probably the most difficult part of racing. It's usually
the most crowded, it calls for timing, get your race off to a decent
start - or it screws things up so badly that you can't concentrate on
the first leg. Here are some ideas based on your diagram.
A lot depends on what kind of boats. If it's One Design Santana 22,
they should all be moving and pointing about the same. If it's PHRF
Start with mixed boats, there will be different speeds and angles of
sail.
How the line is set also comes into play. The "closest" end might
not be the "best" end. Prior to "Warning" get your boat in the
middle of the line and come head to wind. If the bow points directly
at the next mark, the RC has done its job. If the bow points at an
angle to the next mark, one side of the course is favored since a
beat up that side will bring you closer to the mark since you're
sailing "higher" on that tack.
If the line is set square to the wind, each tack up to the first mark
should be equal. Of course in SF Bay you also have to take into
account the current and what it's doing, but equal tacks is the theory.
In a mixed fleet, Tunas are often the small boat, with shorter masts,
so it's easy to get blanketed by the larger boats, who are often
moving faster since they're bigger. The pack at the committee boat/
favored end of the line is not a good place to be small and slow.
1. A port-tack start is very tricky if the line is set square to the
wind. You'll encounter all the other boats right at the Start Line
and have to duck them all - bad air, sailing low, end up to windward
of the entire fleet. It looks like that's what you did in this race.
If the line isn't set squarely, you might be able to "port tack" the
fleet and cross in front of them since you'd be sailing higher than
boats starting on starboard. Or, if the fleet is mixed, you might be
able to sail through "holes" at the starboard boats spread out.
Talk with Frank or Cathy about doing that on the Knox Course when the
line is set badly and there's a heavy flood current!
2. If the line is set square, and if the line really is as long as
you say, and if the starters all bunch up at the committee boat end
of the line, you might want to pick a "hole" part way down the line
instead of joining the pack and getting blanketed by their sails.
Run along the line a few yards back, being careful about leeward
boats, pick a hole just before the gun, and get a good clean Start.
Tack to Port when things there's a clear path if the right side is
the favored side.
3. Another way is to latch on to a boat that's about your size/speed
that you think does well. Check results of the previous races.
Follow them around, trailing them by a few yards. It will drive them
crazy, but if you pay attention to what they do in the pre-start and
Start you can learn.
Pat Broderick
ex-Tuner
On Nov 29, 2010, at 4:47 PM, Keay Edwards wrote:
> All,
>> I have been running over in my head how I can do better in my next
> mid-winters race. I made several errors in both the start as well
> as my sail trim. I know I turn to you guys, maybe a little too
> often, for information, but hope you might still pass along any
> thoughts you might have on a diagram I have posted to my santana page.
>> Thanks Much,
>> Keay
>>http://keay3.blogspot.com/2010/11/stratageecal-thinking.html> _______________________________________________
> Tuna mailing list
>Tuna at myfleet.org>http://myfleet.org/mailman/listinfo/tuna>
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