http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1hYEuJWjW8
Thanks to Anna and Tom Montoya and Garth for their work putting the race program into play. My Rob sent me this link to a fabulously fun match racing start from the Louis Vuitton cup some years ago between Oracle (Chris Dixon helming) and Prada (Jimmy Spithill helming) (you know, when they actually had boats they were willing to truly match). Spithill puts on an amazing match performance at the helm of Luna Rossa. I found this a cool example of experts in the sport applying the tactics Garth taught us, so thought maybe you folks would be interested, too, and figured I'd share it.
The advanced folks may pick it all up, but for the learners, I'd suggest watching the video (without sound if you speak Italian) and trying to figure out as much as you can of the strategy of what each is doing, maybe even writing it down. Then compare what you saw and scroll down to what Rob said was happening written below (that I have hopefully accurately transcribed and Garth or anyone else, feel free to add any observations). Helped me a lot to see this in action explained because I was having a tough time putting it all into context as a skipper.
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OK, so here Oracle (O) is Port Boat and Prada Luna Rossa (LR) is Starboard entering the box with rights. The object for Oracle is to try and prevent LR from getting on their transom and controlling them as Garth taught - In order for Oracle to gain rights they need to get below LR on starboard with an overlap to control as leeward boat.
Both boats timed the start perfectly and enter the start box evenly, so neither has an automatic advantage (this is different from today's cup where the port boat gets 10 extra seconds intended as collision avoidance). Oracle on port must keep clear so can't sail above LR unless they can cross, and if they try to sail below, LR can sail down with them and "hunt" (the big difference from fleet racing where starboard must maintain proper course), so the best thing O can hope to do is to get across LR bow and then tack immediately onto starboard.
The "Dial Up"-
You can see LR manage to keep the boom just enough on starboard, and these guys are fabulous at keeping control of the boats. Basically during this entire maneuver, each side is hoping the other side screws up and somehow loses control of their boat, but that doesn't really happen because they are both so good.
The leeward boat in the dial up (in this case Oracle) could choose to do nothing while sitting head to wind and simply wait for the starting gun to go off and then both boats could start... only Oracle would be in the wind shadow of LR and it is desirable to avoid if possible. It also looks like the dial up happened more towards the pin-end of the line and Oracle might not have been able to start at all from where they are positioned. IACC boats point incredibly high, but it is hard to tell if Oracle could have cleared the pin if they tried to start from where they were in the initial dial up, especially when sailing in the wind shadow of Prada LR.
So O finally gives up on the dial up as LR isn't making any mistakes for Oracle to capitalize on. Oracle's goal is now to sail away from Prada as fast as possible and jibe back for their start. Luna Rossa doesn't let that happen, and keeps pacing Oracle, looking to get their bow under Oracle's hip/transom.
Cat & Mouse-
A short second dialup happens when Oracle wants to bear away and gybe, and as Oracle starts to bear away (swinging his transom towards LR) LR turns down faster and is going for the hook. Oracle has to keep their transom away from LR's bow, and the only way to do that at that moment was to spin back to head to wind (swinging transom away from LR) and forcing LR to come up alongside again (and note that LR doesn't overshoot O in the second dial up, had LR overshot, O would take over and hook LR) - this gives Oracle a chance to bear away and gybe while hoping their boat will accelerate faster than LR. That doesn't work either as LR bears away equally well and keeps pace, and then it becomes cat-chase-mouse as Oracle tries to run away from LR.
LR continues control of O from below as leeward boat and forces O to sail ahead of the line, so O sails just enough below the mark to try and force LR to sail a little further by having to go above the mark as they must avoid hitting it. This was a smart tactic by O, but again it doesn't work as hoped. O gybes onto port to try and get back to the line, but LR stays on starboard. With Oracle on Port they must now avoid LR but instead they continue on port gybe headed for the line, and this forces Prada to gybe over to port to avoid collision - that's port not keeping clear of starboard, and what triggered the first penalty.
Bad Decision-
Now LR becomes windward boat after their gybe, and Oracle is leeward. Oracle cannot claim rights though, as they acquired the leeward position through an illegal maneuver (port not keeping clear of starboard). LR turns towards the line to start, but Oracle, now as leeward boat, tries to claim rights anyway and comes up hard to force LR into a foul on them. O muffs the turn and hits Luna Rossa, who naturally protests the contact. This foul will draw the second penalty on Oracle. O protests, as well, claiming leeward, but O is denied as stated above, because any leeward rights were only obtained from the advantage received during the previous fouling maneuver. Oracle's tapping Prada with their transom is a failure on Oracle's part and they stacked on a second penalty- the red flag -(not giving room and opportunity to keep clear and/or and causing a collision when you did not have right of way). Though Oracle continues on and
crosses the start first, they must complete two turns, one for each penalty, and they are now heavily disadvantaged. Good job on Spithill keeping it clean.
>________________________________
>From: Anne-Carlijn Alderkamp <notification+pl=fcd6f at facebookmail.com>
>To: Santana 22 SF Fleet <309838422484797 at groups.facebook.com>
>Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 7:13 AM
>Subject: [Santana 22 SF Fleet] Thanks to everyone who came out for the match...
>>Anne-Carlijn Alderkamp posted in Santana 22 SF Fleet
> Anne-Carlijn Alderkamp 7:13am Aug 27
>Thanks to everyone who came out for the match racing, it was great fun! For those of you who missed the fun last Sat, here is a short recap;Garth gave a brief and clear introduction on the rules of match racing and strategies for the start, and graciously shared a few secrets of Oreo's success. Then, Oreo, Meli'ki, Fun, Pueo, Fast Company, and Byte Size hit the water for 5 races, in which everyone raced each other in the shifty and sunny conditions on the estuary. Everyone tried to control the other boat, which wasn't all that easy. Most skippers discovered the use of the obstruction of the shore to break free from the control at some point, after which the dance could start again. During the races, Garth's advice was put into practice, but there were very few position changes after the start. Between races there was an exchange of crew, so they could sail with some other skippers and boats. The final was between Byte Size and Oreo, where we blatantly
overstood the windward mark, so Oreo beat us fair and square and became the winner of the event. This was followed by some tall tales over some tall beers and a delicious dinner at the Island Yacht Club! A big THANK YOU to IYC for hosting, providing a mark boat, and a delicious dinner, Tom Montoya for being our Race Committee, and Garth for his intro. I can't wait to do it again!
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> You see O is unable to clear LR bow because both boats do an excellent job of staying matched at speed (you can hear the tactician repeating "no" [not able to cross]) so as O continues they are either going to collide or have to do something. If O gybes away from LR they slow down enough during the gybe for LR to sail up to their transom and get below to control in a "hook" -not desirable- if O turns and aims at LR, LR will simply aim back, and O as Port still has to avoid LR, so all O can really do is come up head to wind. LR does not want to get their transom ahead of O so they too will luff up as much as they can, while still trying to maintain starboard rights and not losing control of the boat in irons.
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