Starts IV- Notes - Conditions and Your Boat Type

My blogs on starts are so far meandering rants with scant structure and are a visualisation exercise.

Given enough monkeys with an idea of the rule book, then all the best tactics would evolve eventually. I just watched a North Sails Etchells 2010 start "chalk talk" filmed at San Diago YC and it's all there.

It also gave me food for thought because the etchells is actually heavier than a Melges 24. Also a little more on the geometry of prestart.

So here are some further notes:

The start area may seem a little chaotic and it may be hard to judge where you can get a lane in.
 - You should define the start area before the 5 minute gun by finding the starboard layline on the Boat end, sailing it and then sailing along the line if you can. Time how long it took you to sail up to the IDM roughly, noting your approximate distance, and the then time to sail along the line on a loosely sheeted reach. This helps you if you need to bail out on the line and it helps you with your final reaching approach knowing how long you need to sail on port until you are getting near the layline for the STB end for example.

The opposite is true for a pin end favoured start or your pin end strategy.

In both cases though, you should define the PORT layline into the mark such you can sail up to it on port or you if you may need to tack over you want to do it on or after you sail over the respective port lay line so as to move toward the starboard lay line.
Alternatively with a late start entry to the area at 1 minute you may want to sail right up to the  IDM on the boat end and start on port , or a gap may open when you are a bit shut out at the boat end, the pack are bearing off down the line and there are no threats to you to then tack over to port once you are a little over the layline.

Further to this, in a boat which holds its way, you can progressively pinch up to the layline which helps you control speed and position.

Boats then have a final committment distance and time to hit the line at max boat speed- the runway time. So in effect the start line can be decided as a line offset to the RHS of the real line and 1 minute or so back : once in lane and at 30 seconds latest, you have in effect started, you are now waiting to see if you hit OCS, get a bow out ahead of the next guy or get a great start with top speed and VMG.

The next use of lay line is then to judge a lay line for your lane : in our local heavy , under canvassed pretty classic fleet the boats are looking for a lay line on their stern by using the tyre fenders on a pier to leeward of the start line, or the pocket at the end of the pier. This is about 20 boat legnths progress up to the line, and you cannot luff very much without killing boat speed for 20 seconds!

So you may want to start a little back on the pack and choose a couple of holes with a speed built, or you may want to hold a line off the start by being early and just low of your acceleration zone - your runway.

Now the next issue is this with the final countdown and distance: You need to time yourself on the day for a 1 minute and a 30 seconds to see how far back you will need to be when you power on depending on your boat type and the conditions.  

This then gives you your reaching in line, because in effect you want to reach in and stop and then play a safe work up along your personal lane. Too early and someone else will call you-. they will "get the hook" as we saw so well on the AC 72 in San Fran when USA were 7 races down.

I would say just get lots of practice in and just try to judge your own time up to the line and when to power on.

In the North Sails pepp talk, they had a good bit of advice- helm looks for port tackers who may steel your lee and at the leeward boat to your lane. While the crew look and call the windward boat, and tell the helm if there is a poacher coming along on starboard reach, or a long point and shoot who wants the leeward gap.

Defending your gap is very well written about - bear away , wiggle in to it.

Another often used tactic in practice is to luff the guy to winward even harder once you see the boat is committed to coming in. If the boat coming in is a little low on the gap, then you have just bought yourself a bit back by luffing hard.  Another tactic as I say is to stay low on the transom of the winward boat, because this blocks the reaching tacker-  they cannot judge the gap, there is a risk a boat nearer the line will drop into it from above as they are blind .if they harden up on you out there,  they may miss standing the gap- so their pinching will run out of gas as you move forward gently and they break.

Different boats hold different way- as pointed out in the north's talk, an orderly etchells fleet with an early pack- these boats will most often avoid risking an OCS or a very slow start, and the pack will reach down the line if it can. If you see an early pack in such situation or you know the sailors own tactics, then you can point and shoot from the lay line to the highest boat able to bear away (likely to be a few  boats down from the IDM where there is usually a little gate keeping troll parked head to wind!

If you choose the more text book lane out start then you want to avoid either creeping up and being too close with the guys around you or everyone in that patch of boats being late to power on. You should squeeze the boat to windward up if they start edging forward too early, and lay about their midships with your bow. The guy to leeward can pinch hard up into this space, but he is more likely to be able to see now that boats are early and he should consider holding back and not risk stalling head to wind. The gap may suddenly open with you pinning all the windward boats up , and you have more time to accelerate- that is less time ragging.

In the north's video he calls this "Burn time" and this is actually the only time the helm and trimmers need to hear from the bow- how long before the "start" to power on goes. The helm must keep the boat in a position to fall off a little and not too far forward or back, while the trimmers must set up for the time to power on.

Using wind in meters per second and boat speed in the same can help greatly in learning how to do lines: you have the conversion factor, M/S wind to Boat Speed and then you have the meters per boat legnth and to the line on the tack you are on, and also directly up wind as a guide.

You really then need to have a feel for these boat lengths and angles to be confident in committing to a best speed start.