Start for the NM

The start is really where I lose the top fleet placings and get stuck behind the well heeled bunch and the back markers : a hare to the hounds !

5 knts is 2 m per second in a 6 m boat that is 3 seconds per boat legnth at top speed.


The information I need:

A) how long does it take us to go from ragging to speed to close hauled?

B) how long it takes us from ragging to reaching off to harden up to close hauled

C) for A and B, how many boat legnths does this mean?

D) does the line have a bias?

E) where is the fleet at 2 mins and 1.30

So start is very important:

1) go out and TRAIN before: find a bouy, go to leeward and right of it, hold off from ten boat legnths and then count the time to sheet in, get on the wind and go.

2) shoot the wind on the line when it is set: see which way the bow points

3) reach the line, count the time: tack and reach back with the mainsail sheeted, see if it backs

4) look for transits on the start line.

5) check for tide ; with , against, side to side??

6) go for a run into the mid line from the boat end from about 15 boat legnts back: keep it high ish, and luiff : count the time to sail close hauled up to the line

7) go back for a right hand end to mid way start line up, at 1 min 30 and about 10 boat legnts back from right of the boat.

8) sail out and go left to check :

a) lift or bend?
b) lighter waves
c) less tide

9) sail all the way over to the right: does the wind scalloping make it worth being longer on stb




Friday is to be windy so I favour not being pinned out to the left by piles of windward boats on stb- I favour going right

1) VERY EARLY FLEET. the fleet is boat end and piled up and ragging early: we are come along a little later and maybe see no space until half way down the line. It is 50 seconds, and they are creeping to the line: we tack onto port and go up to start 5 seconds late ON PORT at the boat IDM at speed.

Or the fleet are a little further back: we tack back and reach at 1 min, keeping clear of all stb boats: the top end breaks loose a little and we see boats pinning others up near the boat while an obvious gap opens, tack over into it.


Fleet on time: We are with the fleet then, we are lined up at 40 secs and ragging, we then need to get near to a group of boats and stick into leeward: then we need to slow down and come up close; without pushing too hard; we then need to level the bows and let the boom way out to discourage close contactsers. We need to look over our back shoulder and lee qaurter.

fleet on time; us late! We need to start at the nearest gap to us: we need to bear away to get there, not tack twice. we want to do a reach over and dive up on the gap so we aim for the stern three boats up from it: when we arrive 1- 2 boat legnth we rag and creep up to windward with out bow behind : it will then take us 10 to 12 seconds to reach behind then and start fethcing up under the third boat.

Fleet on time: us early: we need to look at either gybing round or crossing and going back round the comittee boat to start right.


Okay so max speed, 3 boat legnths per second at max speed, likely to be 5 seconds, so it will take 10 seconds to sail two boat legnths: at 45' to the wind,

.....this means that a 2 boat legnth direct to line distance is almost three boat legnts to sail at 45' , and that will be in practice 10 seconds from sheet in and go.

3 boat lengths will be 13 seconds

One boat legnth back from the line means though 1.41 boat legnths (one, one, route 2 on a 45*,45*,90* triangle) which in practice means about 7 seconds.