SAILING: SANTA CRUZ TUESDAY NIGHT SAILING: JULY 1, 2014 CATALINA SAILBOATS RACING IN MONTEREY BAY: THE IMPORTANCE OF A GREAT START

JULY 1, 2014

THE IMPORTANCE OF A GREAT START

Another beautiful Santa Cruz evening. This time it was overcast, but there was a steady 10 knot breeze coming from the northwest with a little south in it. Since there was no hint of the wind dying off, we decided on our most ambitious course: course number one with a 6:10 start time. There were 9 boats out for the fun.

On Sailing Pair A Dice, we were early to the mark and had to stall to prevent going over the line early. Meanwhile, both Pacific Spirit and Makani timed the line perfectly and came charging across the line, right on time with speed. At least three boats had the idea to get outside to more wind, but with both Makani and Pacific Spirit to our windward we had to tack over to clear our air. Makani sailed a little further, then tacked over attempting to cover us. Meanwhile Pacific Spirit got the better of it with increasing wind outside and nobody giving them bad wind. After we tacked over toward the wharf, we noticed that Makani was slightly upwind but behind us. We slowly pinched up to the point where we were lee-bowing them, giving them bad wind and slowing them down. We went clear to the lay line for wharf and tacked over. Pacific Spirit did very well outside and rounded wharf comfortably in front of all of us. Pair A Dice rounded just ahead of Emeritus and Aeolian.

On the slog to Mile, Emeritus tried valiantly to steal our wind, but we were just able to keep clear. When just downwind of a competitor, you can tell if you are in their bad wind by looking at their windex on their mast: if the tail of their windex is pointing at your sail, you are screwed. You must do everything you can do to prevent this position!

We rounded Mile and headed to Blacks. With our whisker pole working well, we pulled ahead of Emeritus and closed some of the distance between Pacific Spirit and us, but they rounded Blacks comfortably in front of us. Pacific Spirit won tonight with a wide lead over Pair A dice which came in Second, followed by Aeolian then Makani.

Another great night of sailing exemplifying the importance of a good start.

Great Starts:

Learning how to start well comes with practice. What better way can you get practice starting than Catalina Tuesdays? From my experience the best starts in our heavy boats consist of hitting the line right on time (better to be late than early) at speed in clear air. Sounds pretty complicated and it can be for sure. Starts always seem to have more boats in close proximity, so it is critical to know the rules and how to use them to your advantage. Tonight was a perfect example of how difficult it can be to overcome the advantage of a great start. Pacific Spirit and crew executed a perfect start and never looked back.

There are several things a sailor can do to improve starts. I think the most important way is to learn time and distance. Simply how long will it takes to cover a certain distance? The good starting skippers always have a sixth sense for this skill. This is something that comes with practice in normal sailing. Pick a spot in the water and estimate how long it will take to get there at your current speed. With practice you will get better at this. After learning this skill, it is also important to know rules and tactics which can be learned by reading the many books on these subjects.

We will see you next Tuesday.